Bring her back with you

You three start walking back toward the town after the attack.

Bibi follows closely behind you. Her body is mostly covered by leaves around the important parts, though every now and then she plucks one from her outfit and casually eats it.

"Isn't it a bad idea to eat your own clothes?" Midori asks, watching her curiously.

"Clothes? Oh, yes. We're taught to cover ourselves like this for some reason. I thought they were meant to give us something to snack on!" Bibi replies innocently.

Midori stares at her for a moment.

"...I see."

Soon, you return to the guards who called for you.

"Hey, welcome back—what is that thing doing here?!" one of the guards exclaims, startled when he sees Bibi.

"H-hey, that wasn't nice..." Bibi mutters before hiding behind Midori.

""She was the one being attacked by the Beedrills. We simply saved her" you explain.

"B-but now the Beedrills might be even more determined to come here and get her!"

"Maybe. But I couldn't just leave her to her fate" you reply firmly.

The guards exchange a quick glance before sighing.

"F-fine. We'll trust your judgment, Sir Scarlett. We'll head back now."

The two guards turn around and begin making their way toward the town.

"If you don't mind, Bibi, we'll bring you to the mayor. You can explain what is happening to her directly," you say.

"Sure... though, what's a mayor?" Bibi asks.

"Let's just say she's the boss of the city," Midori explains.

"Ooooooh, I see!" Bibi nods enthusiastically.

You three start walking, and within a few minutes, you arrive at the town hall. You enter the building and head toward Delia's office.

She is already there, waiting for you with Emma.

"Hey, dears. How did it—" Delia begins before noticing Bibi. "Oh... you seem to have a new guest."

"Hello!" Bibi cheerfully says.

"This is Bibi. She was being hunted by the Beedrills we spotted. She comes from their hive, so she might know more about what's happening," you explain.

"Oh, I see. Welcome, dear. Would you like a cup of tea?" Delia asks warmly.

"Sure! ...What is tea, though?" Bibi asks.

Delia blinks.

"...We'll explain."

A few minutes later, all of you are sitting either on the chairs or couches around the room, enjoying a cup of tea.

"Wow! This is so good! I never thought liquids could be hot! And with honey it's even better!" Bibi says happily.

"Glad you like it, dear," Delia replies with a smile.

"Yeah, but I think we should get to the main topic now. What exactly is going on at your hive, Bibi?"

Bibi's cheerful expression fades.

"Ah... right..."

She lowers her gaze before taking a breath.

"My hive sisters and I lived far deeper in the forest. We were just a small group of musus whose homes had been destroyed by conflicts with stronger musus or other dangers. There were only four Weedles and about six Beedrills, and we lived a relatively peaceful life while trying to survive."

She pauses.

"One day, though, a mysterious woman wearing a cloak came to our hive. She offered my older sisters a way to become stronger..."

Bibi's fingers nervously play with the edge of one of her leaves.

"They were reluctant at first... but then I saw her infuse that strange energy into their bodies. After that... they accepted."

"I see. So your sisters are probably acting differently because of that energy. We're already investigating it, and everything we've seen so far suggests that it's extremely dangerous," you say.

"After that, the mysterious woman told them to test their new power by preparing a raid on this place. So we moved closer to the village and quickly built a new hive. It was rather ugly..."

Bibi gives a small, almost embarrassed smile.

"I didn't like the situation, but the other Weedles were happy to help our sisters, so I did my best too."

Her smile disappears.

"But then..."

Her voice begins to tremble.

"Hey, hey... it's okay. You don't have to tell us everything at once," Midori says gently, placing a hand on her back.

She is the only one who can comfortably touch Bibi, since Weedle's fur is irritating to anyone who isn't resistant to poison.

"N-no..." Bibi wipes her eyes.

"This story is important. You need to know what happened. You're the only ones who can stop them before they hurt someone..."

She takes a shaky breath.

"After the nest was finished, my sisters pushed us Weedles to evolve so we could help them with the attack. I was scared, but the others were so eager... Soon, they evolved into Kakunas."

Bibi's voice becomes quieter.

"My sisters were waiting for them to evolve so they could storm the village. But early this morning, I tried to run away because I was scared. They had become so mean... so rough with me..."

She clenches her hands.

"They kept asking why I wasn't evolving. They treated me like I was some kind of useless burden."

A tear rolls down her cheek.

"I thought they were still my sisters... I thought they would understand that I was scared."

She takes another shaky breath.

"But they followed me."

Her voice cracks.

"They tried to kill me for 'betraying' them..."

Bibi lowers her head.

"Or... or maybe they didn't even want to kill me. They wanted to drag me back to the hive and force me to become just like them."

She starts sobbing.

"I just wanted my sisters back..."

Midori gently pulls Bibi into a hug.

"I know..." she whispers.

Bibi's shoulders tremble as she cries.

"I don't understand what happened to them... They were never like this before."

Delia sighs sadly.

"So, in a few words, this poor group of musus is being influenced by this mysterious power, becoming even more violent than usual and preparing to attack us..."

She shakes her head.

"What a terrible story."

"Well, it's not like we have many choices," you say. "Tomorrow, once everyone arrives, we'll raid the hive and put a stop to their actions. Maybe there's a way to remove the energy from their bodies and free them. I managed to do it before, although I had Lady Mew's help."

"Then we'll have to capture them," Midori says. "I think we can do it with the help of the others."

"I know we're a handful to deal with, but... if you can..." Bibi mumbles.

"We'll try our best," both you and Midori say.

The rest of the day passes with you preparing equipment for tomorrow and waiting for the others to arrive.

Late in the evening, a wagon stops in front of your house.

As you step outside to check, you suddenly see a blur of orange leap toward you.

"Eriiiiik! I missed you!" Charlie happily hugs you and nuzzles her face against your chest.

"Hey, Charlie. I missed you too" you say as you gently pet her head.

"Charlie, don't be so clingy" Leaf says as she approaches, with the other girls following behind her.

"Hey, stud. Came to back ya up" Marcy says.

"Hello, Sir Erik. It will be a pleasure to fight by your side again" Sig says.

Amber doesn't say anything and simply floats behind them.

"Come in, girls. I'll tell you what we discovered about the situation" you say, inviting them inside.

While waiting for them to arrive, you and Midori prepared a quick dinner that everyone can enjoy while you explain everything that happened.

"Beedrills are bad bitches to handle. They fight almost like machines, and they're pretty damn dangerous. Especially because they're resistant to my punches" Marcy says.

"Hey... my sisters aren't bad bitches..." Bibi says quietly.

"Oh, right. Sorry, newbie" Marcy replies.

"If our numbers are correct, the hive should still have five Beedrills after you defeated one, along with three Kakunas" Sig says.

"That means we outnumber them, assuming the Kakunas haven't evolved yet" Leaf adds.

"Isn't it too dangerous for Charlie? She's still quite inexperienced" Midori says.

"Don't worry, Midori. I can handle it" Charlie proudly declares.

"I'll cover her back. Besides, we need her firepower against them. Fire is usually effective against Beedrills. Though I'm also worried about our sleeping princess over there" Marcy says, glancing toward Amber.

"I'll be... fine..." Amber mutters sleepily.

"I think the best course of action is for us to handle the other Beedrills while you and Midori deal with their leader. Luckily, the Kakunas shouldn't be much of an obstacle" Leaf says.

"Then I guess we have a plan," you say. "I've prepared some supplies in case we need them tomorrow, but we all need to be careful." you say to everyone

" Once you will guides us to the hive Bibi, you must stay hidden. I don't want you putting yourself in danger."

"O-okay," Bibi says.

"Very well. If everything has been discussed, let's enjoy one last drink and then get some sleep."

Everyone raises their cups, and for a brief moment, the tension of the coming battle fades away.

Tomorrow, you will enter the Beedrill hive.

And this time, you won't be going there just to fight. You'll be going there to save Bibi's sisters.