Continue the hunt.

You stretch your arms high above your head. "So, who do you think--"

Yin appears next to you in a cloud of smoke, causing you to jump in place and stumble backwards. When she realizes what happened, she reaches out to you in desperation with tears in her eyes, like a pet that accidentally bit its master. "I'm so sorry, Master!"

"It's all right." You place a hand on your heart. "I'm good. What is it, Yin?"

"Someone is at the door. It's a girl that says she knows you."

"What does she look like?"

"Young, short, long white hair, a pointed black cap, a matching outfit with a skirt, long socks, and bright blue eyes."

"Good memory, Yin. I--Wait a minute. There's no way."

You and Niki immediately stand up and storm your way to the front door. Neither of you need to say anything. You're thinking the same thing. Meanwhile, the others follow behind, concerned about how quickly the two of you reacted. Before you can even open the door, Niki shoves you out of the way, grabs the knob, and yanks it open. There you see her, just as you suspected.

The witch from the forest stands at your door. You can see Peony in the courtyard behind her watering some flowers.

"What are you doing here?!" Niki yells

"You know her, Niki?" Eva asks.

"Do I know her? Back when we went on that quest with Tesgella, this witch kidnapped me and Kyle here had to come rescue me. And that's all that happened too. Nothing else."

"Why didn't you tell us about that?"

The witch giggles. "Yeah. Why didn't you?"

Niki starts getting flustered. "Just tell me why you're here!"

But it's actually the witch that starts to blush this time. She fiddles her thumbs together in front of her stomach. "Well, you see.. It's uhm... I..." She starts muttering until you can no longer understand what she's saying.

"Speak up!"

"Sorry! Look. I didn't mean to cause you any harm. I was just having fun. After you left, I did a lot of thinking, and I realized I hadn't ventured out of those woods in a long time. I didn't even realize how lonely I was. So I honestly just wanted to stop by and say hello."

"So you're not gonna do stuff like that anymore?" you ask.

She raises a hand up to poorly hide a devious grin spreading across her face as she looks away. "Oh of course."

What a terrible liar!

"Wait a minute. This is perfect!" you say.

"It is?" Niki squints her eyes at you.

"Hear me out. We need one more girl, and this witch is probably powerful if she was messing with everyone's compasses and stuff."

"Hey! Don't talk about me like I'm not here," the witch says.

You look back to her. "How would you like to come up to the capital's coast with us to help summon and slay a ghost? We'll probably bring snacks and hang out by the water. Then when midnight comes, some kind of Wicked Witch of the Sea is going to show up apparently, but we need--"

"Eighteen maidens. I see."

"You know of the legend?"

"Of course. She was my oldest sister."

"What?!"

You hardly know what to say to that. Before you can pick your jaw back up, Delphi flutters up over the fence around your land and spots the stranger ahead. She makes her way over, but when she sees her face, you can see something horrific in her gaze. Delphi's face contorts into one of pure rage, and you didn't even think such a small person could sound so terrifying and loud.

"You bitch! I'll kill you for showing your face here!" Delphi screams.

"Aah! Who are you?" the witch replies.

"Who am I? That's rich! You took me away from my home and experimented on me, night and day!"

"I did no such thing!"