Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

The witch still had a hand on her stomach, her figure clearly showed pain. "Augh... a lot happened while you were here," she said, lifting up her shirt to show Zoe the large bandage covering her abdomen, before pulling it back down. In that split second, however, Zoe's eye caught the image of the massive scar the woman was trying to hide from everyone.

Zoe's face paled when she saw the bandages, exactly where the fox had kicked her in reflex. She also caught a glimpse of a massive scar, but the one thing on her mind was whether she had really hurt Maya. "Oh my god, Maya, I'm so sorry, I didn't know, are you okay? Please don't tell me I messed something up..." The distress on Zoe's face was palatable, and was a far cry from her usual bravado. Even Maya would be able to tell: Zoe wasn't quite her usual self. Some part of Zoe couldn't deny that she was kind of happy to see her, though.

Normally one would notice there was something different with the scruffy fox girl, one that would be exposed to her normal behavior; Maya wasn't such a person. The witch had, for the majority of time, saw Zoe at her lowest, most vulnerable. There was always something bothering her and bringing her down.

"Yeah, shouldn't hurt for too long," the witch mumbled the last part, not taking into account Zoe's acute hearing. She held on the fox girl for leverage and sat on the bench next to her, taking in the cool air of the night. "So, last time I left you, I got into a fight, traded my soul a bunch, and met a very special person. Turns out I'm getting pretty bad at my job," she chuckled, patting Zoe on the back. "All of that made me feel something strange, that I needed to check on you two, otherwise I'd get stressed. So here I am, I suppose."

Even though she tried to hide it under her breath, Zoe was quick to notice that little statement. It made her feel even worse about it, although she knew Maya probably didn't want to hear her worrying about her. Something about having someone to talk to made her feel just a little bit better. It helped get her mind off of things, at least. One thing stuck out to her, that she met 'a very special person', which for Maya must be someone really special.

"...trading your soul? You're sure you're okay, right? Like, that might be a bit above me right now, but, even still..." Zoe wasn't sure what to make of these details, but her dismissal of it and general lax attitude towards it all meant it wasn't anything too serious. Is this just another day in the life of Maya?

"Well, things here have been...I guess complicated, too. But, good. Mostly. We might be getting some work, soon, both Eri and me. We met some people, some that I feel like I can at least...mostly trust. I don't have all the answers yet, but I at least know Eri's safe. And they might be able to help her! Hopefully, anyway...I'll wait to see that with my own eyes, first."

Zoe's hands balled up a little as she kept going. "I...I think the stress of it all is getting to me, a little. I snapped at Eri because of it, and...and I went out to get some air. I still think about those damn cows, and I think Eri's getting worried about it. Sometimes, I kind of...zone out, thinking about it, and...I dunno, it scares me a little. I'm terrified that one day I'm going to end up losing it and walking back there, and there's nothing I can do about it, and...and..." Zoe forced herself to stop and take a deep breath. The more she talked about it, the more she could feel that taste bubbling up from the back of her throat.

"So, don't worry about Eri, even though she's not here. She's safe, and she's resting. And, I just came out to clear my head, a little. And...I might have broken some sort of law. Maybe. I dunno yet. That cat person gave me a weird look." Zoe sighed in exasperation. "This night started out okay and then just kept getting worse. Maybe I should just go back and sleep...

"Kept getting worse? How can you say that when I came to visit?" Maya sighed, smiling slyly at the fox girl. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me."

She was relieved to hear Eri was doing well, even if a little worried that she was left unguarded by Zoe. But with this city's regulations, she could believe it. After all, its security was the tightest she'd seen, though not tight enough to stop her from sneaking in under an illusory guise. There was a bunny girl she recalled looking straight at her all the time, but it must have been a coincidence - and it was in the middle of the night to boot. No one's stopped her so far, so she could only assume her infiltration was a complete success.

Zoe tensed up as Maya caught her in her own words. "Uh, no, that's not what I meant! I..." Zoe stumbled over her words for a few moments, feeling kind of embarrassed at how that came out, complete with a small blush. "I...I'm actually really happy I got to see you, tonight. If I hadn't, I would have just gone home feeling miserable about myself. So...thanks."

Having her throw things back at her, however, was enough to bring her confidence back up a little. It was her turn to have a small little grin on her face. "So...a "very special person", huh? If I had to guess, I'd say Eri was one of the only people to have that in your eyes beforehand, so they must be pretty amazing." Zoe leaned on the back of the bench with her arms crossed behind her head. "And, I dunno about you being bad at your job. You're plenty strong. Way stronger than I am, that's for sure. After all, you're still invincible, right? As long as you're still kicking, I'd say you're doing well enough." She gave a side glance towards the witch, internally hoping it'd do something for her. She didn't really know for sure whether or not it would, though. Or if she even needed it. But, she couldn't help but try.

Maya rested her head on the back of the bench, gazing at the starlit sky. Zoe got that right, she really was an amazing person, so much so that the witch felt torn by this distance between her and the foxes.

"Being strong is one thing, being committed? That's another story," Maya said, turning her head to Zoe. "I may be stronger than you, but I doubt I could beat you in a fight. Knowing you, though, you'd probably just trip and fall over, so I'm not too worried about that."

"Y-You think so?" Internally, she was kind of happy to receive some level of praise, especially from someone that she knew was really powerful. That is, until the insult. "Hey!" She looked almost insulted, before letting out a little chuckle that grew into real laughter. "I still wanna get stronger, but...well, I guess you're right. I go all in when it comes to a fight. I guess...my body's used to it being life and death." She looked over a Maya with a smile that went to a cheeky grin. That look of happiness on her face had not escaped the wary fox.

"Alright, spill it. I can't help it, I'm too curious about this person. I don't think I've ever seen you this happy. What're they like?"

"How about I keep you curious? Sounds more fun that way." Maya gave her a wink, turning her entire focus to the fox girl. Her expression softened, lacking the silly front of before. "Remember when I made that offer? About helping you become stronger? Well, I'd like for you and Eri to visit me... visit us, regardless if you need me or not. I'm not asking too much, right? And when you do, you'll see exactly why this person is so special."

Zoe couldn't help but be a little annoyed at her shooting down her chance to learn more about this mysterious person. She could only imagine the kind of person she had met that made her so happy. A lover, maybe?

At her offer, though, it was enough to make her smile change from a wry grin to a genuine one. "Well, truth be told...I was already considering taking you up on that offer, depending on how all of this goes. We're still really early in things, but I was at least thinking about it. But, I'm sure Eri would be thrilled to meet them, if they make you this happy! And, I can't deny I want to meet them, too. We'll make time for it. No matter what happens here." Her layer of sarcasm was gone, and she spoke from the heart. Whether Maya realized it or not, she brought out some of Zoe's more positive emotions just by being honest with herself.

A figure was observing the duo, out of sight from their vantage point.  The black haired woman in blue blended very well with the night and looked as if she was minding her own business while occasionally glancing over to the pair.

This was an illusory decoy.

The real observer was the out-of-sight white haired moon rabbit whose body was veiled in an illusion that resembled a filled up trash bin.  She was on the hunt for a perpetrator that had earlier placed several Alexandria guards asleep into a dream-state.  Only through the rabbit agent's dream intervention were they able to wake up when normal rousing would not.

The fox girl wasn't a person of interest, but the blue haired woman is.  She is a known danger within the outskirts around Alexandria and now she had bypass the checkpoint entrance to the city with an invisibility spell; but Luna's aptitude with illusion had allowed her to discern discrepancies in the invisibility spell.  Her acute rabbit ears picked up the words that were exchanged between them vividly as there were very few people going about their business at this time.  

From the words that she could pick up, the words did not indicate that they had any clear connection to the perpetrator.  It does not explain, why is the witch snuck into Alexandria and  what is her purpose here.  For now, Luna continued to keep still and listen in while her decoy illusion was relaxing.

As the pair chatter, Zoe's ears catch some eerie giggle coming from down the road, she didn't recognize it but for Maya, that was a pretty familiar sound. Soon, that laugh started to echo around the pair, coming, seemingly, from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "Aww, such a sweet heart to heart, I might even start to feel bad for ruining it~"

In the middle of their conversation, the two conversing and ribbing on each other with a smile on her faces, Zoe's ears caught something that put her fur on end. They twitched a little, as she tried to focus on the direction of the sound. This was the second time someone had tried this on her tonight, and she wasn't going to let it catch her off guard again. This time it even spoke to them, and from Maya's expression, she could tell it wasn't her doing this time. That, or she's going through pretty big lengths to spook her. Which didn't seem likely.

"Uh, Maya..? You hear that too, right...?" Zoe's eyes darted back and forth, trying to pinpoint a location. She was too used to using sound to keep track of targets, and having them appear all around her was messing with her head enough to keep her from focusing.

Maya conjured her cane. "It's trouble, and she's after me," she whispered, slowly distancing herself from Zoe.

Inwardly, the witch cursed her luck, that now of all times did this psychotic woman try to mess with her. Now she knows of Zoe, she has her weakness... weakness.

"Aww~ Is that the way to treat a friend? I'm not trouble... Well, maybe a tiiiiiny bit..." The voice giggled. "But I just want to have some fun and you know what they say, the more the merrier~" The voice was getting closer but neither Zoe nor Maya could see the owner.

Maya of all people saying that voice was "trouble" was enough to make her even more alert. Someone that gave her problems, and Zoe was still having trouble with the echoing voice that was everywhere at once...was she out of her league, here? For once, however, she wasn't going to let her nervousness get the better of her. She had to get stronger, and if she couldn't look today's challenges head on, then she'd never get to the level where she could keep Eri safe.

So she forced herself to keep calm, scanning the area around her. Even as she came into view, it was easy to see her senses were being thrown out of whack from the voices surrounding the two of them. She was closing in on them, with her voice growing louder...but Zoe saw this as a positive. The second she showed herself to the two of them, she would strike first. She would just have to fight through this growing headache she was causing.

Luna's ears perked at the voice.  There was someone else within the vicinity and judging from the exchange of voices, it was trouble. The demeanor of the person was maliciously playful; it may possible be the perpetrator that she was looking for.

Fortunate, it doesn't seemed that the presence had noticed either her or the decoy.  

Still in her illusory disguise as a trash bin, she peeked from behind the corner with her rabbit ears trying to discern the source of the sound.  The rabbit was not going to engage yet, nor would she stir her decoy yet to interfere. She needed more information about the situation.

Maya smiled, trying to put on a confident face, much like she did when playing the role of a villain. It was much harder now when she had someone to protect. All the situations where she made others suffer like this, threatening the ones they wanted to keep safe, it all flashed before her eyes - this time she was the proverbial hero. Giving Zoe one last reassuring smile, the witch readied herself for Tenebria's attack.

---

A fight was about to ensue. Ever since getting past the gate, the pink-haired girl lied under the unseen gaze of the silent watcher. Her eyes could not see, her ears could not discern, the watcher was completely invisible. The actions of both illusionists were displayed on a small monitor in a remote location.

"Angie, a security breach has been unanswered for seven minutes and thirty seconds," a voice like no other echoed through the small laboratory. It was very heavily distorted, not sounding even remotely human. It came from a white, bulky suit addressing a half-woman half-octopus. They both appeared to be hard at work tinkering with wires and other strange objects. "Does your field agent require assistance?"

The woman kept giggling, she was amused by the fox girl, acting to tough but she was nervous, scared even. Without none of the two noticing her, Tenebria appeared behind Zoe. "Boo!" After that, the woman took a few steps back to avoid retaliation. "Ahahaha, it's hilarious~"

Zoe's whole body tensed up as the voice she was listening for appeared right behind her. However, if the figure expected the fear that was gripping her to overwhelm Zoe, she was greatly mistaken. In a swift motion, Zoe dispensed a needle from her sleeve and swung her arm around to meet the intruder, purple tipped needle in hand and tipped forward, instinctively going for the neck. Because of her sound based tricks, the blow was more sluggish than usual.

The only thing it collided with was air, the figure jumping out of the way with surprising speed, but she was quick to retract it and assume a fighting stance, taking in everything she could about the figure in front of her from a visual perspective. Definitely young, or at least visually so. Lithe, and fit. Clearly capable of some kind of magic she didn't fully understand. Her posture was extremely casual, as if she wasn't taking this seriously. From Maya's original reaction, she had definitely met her at some point before, and she definitely smelled like trouble.

Noticing Maya's reassuring smile out of the corner of her eye, Zoe pulled a few more needles out of her sleeves, one for each open spot in her clenched hands. Her eyes never left the new figure, silently evaluating what her next move should be. She hadn't been in a real fight since she had gotten here. The fur on her tail was standing up on ends, agitated, but focused. It was almost like she could hear the crowds again, just in the back of her mind. As long as she stayed focused, and in control, she could do this...

The scylla engineer looked up from her current experimental project at the sudden announcement.  A tentacle reached to a lower panel and slide against some controls to bring up a few more of the same scene from different perspective.  She only was able to get a brief glimpse of a kitsune trying to stick several needles into some braided pink haired woman that had struck but seemed to have no effect. The visual of the action were provided by 3 flying white spherical shaped objects flying overhead of the conflict.

"Hmm, that might be out of the Alexandria's league."  Another tentacle wrapped around a blue box and moved it so her hands to can grasp over it to see all of the agents' current location in Alexandria.  The closest one was Luna whom Rain confirmed.  She pressed a button icon and fiddled with the device a bit before the octopus woman spoke into it.  "Hey, Luna, what's going on over there?"

-----------

Luna followed the motion quickly.  The fox woman reacted to the attempted spook with swift ferocity but only to meet with no substance to the woman.  So this this trickster is also an illusionist.  Luna's first suspicion is the source of the problem was not too far away and is most likely within visual sight of the two being harassed.  At the break of the fight, the remaining people started to quickly rush off to the other direction, not wanting to get caught in this.

As she was formulating a few method of trying to discover where she was, a voice within the her earpiece spoke up, it was Angie.  "I am at ground zero.  We may be dealing with a rather powerful conjurer.  We need to flush out the source."  Luna replied very softly using the moment of the conflict to mask her voice even from her distant from here.  

She returned her attention to the fight.  Her attention focused on the decoy for a moment.  The illusory woman looked up briefly toward the scene before she made a hand gesture.

"I see. Don't hesitate to call for assistance if you need it," said Rain, gazing away from the monitor and back at the equipment being worked on. The invisible watcher was still in effect, should Angie require an extra pair of eyes.

---

Trying her hardest to react, Maya shot off a volley of purple projectiles towards Tenebria's position. Two of them seemed to connect on her leg and torso, the latter forming a seal on her other leg, but whether that was truly the case or nothing but an illusion, she did not know. Her sight lied with Eri now, while she herself remained blind, not that different from Zoe. There was only one way out of this.

"Really? You're just going to pull off the same prank I did? Where is the subtlety, the setup, the payoff?" The witch smiled mockingly in Tenebria's direction. "You copied me ever since we met and you still can't get it right. The fact that you're still attempting it amuses me, like watching a stupid kid trying to impress her idol."

Tenebria should have been paralyzed now, but Maya did not feel any mana coming from her through the seals. As she expected, they faded within seconds. This was not her real body, just like when they first met.

"Hmm... I guess you are right." The fake girl vanished in a poof of smoke. "Also, a dear friend comes to visit and you don't even introduce me to your other friends? A bit rude don't you think, Blue~?" The voice now came from behind them again, as both women turned around they found Tenebria resting on a tree branch. "What? No tricks this time, believe it or not, that's up to you." The woman giggled.

The figure she was watching disappeared right in front of their eyes. What was this woman, some kind of magician? Instantly, Zoe was alert, looking around her to find where she had moved to next. The voice from behind the two of them was enough to make her jump a little, as she whirled around to face it. Caught off guard in an instant...there was no doubt in Zoe's mind that she was more than a little outclassed, here.

She'd already botched one attempt at an attack, but she wouldn't do it for another. She had to patient, wait for her to get overly cocky. If she blew it again and made the first strike, both of them could pay for it. Outwardly, she kept up her focused appearance, her gaze trained on the woman. The poison on her needles dripped onto the ground, the only sound that was coming from her direction. The fox's posture was poised to strike, like a coiled snake, ready to pounce if she got too close.

Completely ignoring the confident Tenebria, Maya walked over to Zoe. If they weren't under attack, she might as well use it to communicate a plan, and if Tenebria did decide to attack, then all the better. The witch pulled Zoe towards her, whispering in her ear. "I'm going to shoot at her until I hit the real thing. If my seals disappear, that means they hit a fake, alright? I wouldn't want to make too much of a scene, considering... those flying things watching us."