a Witch well known

The teams settled with surprising speed once the rules were clear.

Team 1: Xilonen, Citlali, Mualani, Zibai

Team 2: Dehya, Candace, Collei, Nilou

Team 3: Rosaria, Lisa, Barbara, Ganyu

Team 4: Jean, Amber, Mona, Eula

Team 5: Yae Miko, Mizuki, Ayaka, Kokomi

Team 6: Navia, Emilie, Chevreuse, Lynette

Team 7: Ningguang, Beidou, Hu Tao, Yanfei

Team 8: Cloud Retainer, Yelan, Shenhe, Yun Jin

Lynette accepted her draft into Navia’s group with a quiet flick of her tail and no complaint whatsoever; any arrangement that kept her near the Passion Claimer was acceptable. Yun Jin looked mildly surprised to be included at all, yet adapted with a performer’s quick composure.

Yanfei raised her pen to call the start.

“Oooh, a water-tag free-for-all across a whole island? That looks fun. I want in.”

(https://im.ge/i/QMnw8cS)
(artist: Huanai)

The witch’s voice was bright, cheerful, and completely unbothered by the fact that half the contestants had just jolted in pure startlement. Several hands went to weapons; more than one seal almost got wet from pure reflex. Alice beamed at the circle, hands clasped behind her back.
“I don’t need teammates. I’ll just be my own team. That’s fine, right?”

Alice was already leaning over her shoulder as if she had been standing there the entire time.

Yanfei opened her mouth, closed it, then looked down at her own rules and found nothing that explicitly forbade a solo entry.

Aether’s attention flicked sideways.

Yae Miko’s expression had not changed much, yet something subtle had eased around her eyes. The look was not surprise. It was closer to quiet relief — the exact face of someone who had placed a carefully calculated bet and watched the final horse clear the finish line by a margin so thin it still left the heart racing. Her fan hid the rest, but the impression lingered.

Alice rocked on her heels, already eyeing the nearest water barrels with open, innocent interest, while the rest of the thirty-two women tried to recalibrate around the sudden ninth “team” that consisted of a single, cheerfully dangerous witch.

Shenhe’s usual blank expression cracked into something close to open embarrassment; the memory of the last time the witch had toyed with the group still sat uncomfortably close to the surface. Rosaria’s ears pinked for the same reason, as if the earlier humiliation on the road to Natlan had just walked back into the present. A few other women voiced half-hearted protests — fairness, team balance, the general chaos Alice tended to leave behind — yet none of them pushed the objections very far. The quiet, collective understanding that arguing too loudly with the mad witch was a good way to become the next test subject kept most complaints soft and short-lived.

Alice only beamed and raised both hands in a cheerful, innocent gesture.

“I’ll play nice. Promise. I’ll even hold back a little.”

Whatever “holding back” meant when it came from a being who could rewrite local reality for fun remained an open and mildly terrifying question.

Weapons were distributed without further debate. Oversized soakers, smaller pistols, water balloons, and a surprising number of soft, absorbent pool noodles that could still deliver a heavy splash made the rounds. The nine teams (eight proper groups and Alice by herself) scattered across the island in loose clusters, already murmuring tactics as they walked. Some planned aggressive early hunts. Others spoke of ambush points near the brewery or the underground roleplay district. A few quietly agreed that certain teams — anything containing adepti, and especially the solo witch — were best avoided until the field had thinned. The balance was openly lopsided and everyone knew it; raw power sat unevenly distributed, and Alice’s presence only tilted the scales further.

Aether stood at the edge of the dispersing crowd, still half-processing the fact that his entire vacation schedule was about to be decided by a water fight he was not even allowed to join.

Rosaria stepped in close enough that only he could hear her. Her voice was flat, practical, and carried the last residual edge of protective authority.

“Sit down. Relax. Drink something. We’ll settle the order ourselves. You’re not part of this discussion.”

She gave his arm one firm squeeze, and walked off to join Lisa, Barbara, and Ganyu without looking back.

Aether was left on the warm sand ,the distant sounds of thirty-three women spreading out across the island to decide, by splash and strategy, who would get to claim the Passion Claimer first.

He was officially out of the picture.The women would handle the rest.