Try it!

"RUN!"

Against Janette's command, Syri looked around stunned as her back pressed against the muddy walls as this figure began walking towards them. Heart racing, paws glued ankle deep into the floor she walked on as she watched the young elf tug at his foot. Poor Spi'Reto found his leg caught within the barrier of ice, trapping him from the other side leaving the others defenseless just as Raz planned.

The others had cried and hurried back the other way around.

"I can't let you do that." Raz spoke to them, his outstretched hand pointing at Syri. "Father requests you and your sister to return should the ceremony begin tonight."

Being much closer in proximity to them, the girls were able to get a better look at Raz. Janette briefly doubted her book, his look was very much different from the boy who stood beside the ever-so-boisterous priest from before. Gone was the silver knight armor he wore just like their followers, and gone was the emblem tunic fitted on his chest. Now before them, he changed into a darker leather gear, light armor pads on his shoulders and forearms as well as his shins and thighs. No mask, his face reassured her that this was the same boy they once took as prisoner last week.

Stretching her neck, Janette was able to make out a number of small pouches tied to his waist, as well as an odd pottery-looking vase he wore tied to his back. Some rope coil on the opposite side of his belt, and brown fingerless gloves with light padding around his palms for grip.

"Neat wardrobe change, thought the sunflower emblem was too silly?" Janette asked, her hand frantically reaching for Syri's paw and squeezing tight. Pulling her Nekomata behind her, she swallowed heavily as the two slowly stepped backwards by now.

Raz flexed his hand, squeezing his fingers into a fist. "The sunflower is usually overlooked by most, I expect no different from you two. It represents the convergence of the seven sins painted as the seven petals surrounding the common man reaching for the light. A flower seeking the sun, you can see how the sunflower came to be used for our symbol."

"You can see how far that's reaching, I doubt anyone would guess that. It's rather cryptic, really." Janette pushed herself in front of Syri, stalling with small talk as Raz stepped closer with every second. Spi'Reto appeared to be screaming at them, his sound was muted but his frustration was apparent as he began striking the ice around his foot with his knife.

Raz turned to view him with indifference before locking eyes with the two girls. "Don't expect him to be free anytime soon. I doubt a knife can remove a six inch chunk of ice with much haste."

Now appearing to be five feet away, Raz reached out with his hand to them. "Syri, is it? Come with me. I only need you and your sister, no one needs to get hurt."

Syri's eyes grew twice their size as she held Janette tight from behind, her fur standing on edge staring at his hand. Janette too looked down, noticing the peculiar tattoo on his palm.

"Interesting... are you a fan of triangles or is there something more to that tattoo on your hand? I'm guessing they come in pairs right? One on the other hand."

"You're quite accurate when it comes to guessing." Raz pulled his hand back, revealing an upside down triangle symbol on both hands. "They're easy to hide, can you guess what they are?"

Janette swallowed, her mind racing back to her childhood days of reading into magical talents. "I-I-I would guess those are alchemic symbols for either fire or water, but since this is ice than that makes it a pretty easy guess."

"Not bad. So then you know what I can do?"

"What is he talking about?" Syri whispered to her left ear, her voice whimpering as she shook.

"Remember when we spoke about magic two weeks ago? Some people have a talent for it and others don't. Those who don't usually choose to study magic and try to define its nature, learn how it works. But those who can use magic take advantage of those studies and use it to enhance their own. It's already rare to be able to utilize magic, but even rarer is managing to control one of the four elements."

"Umm... okay... what does that mean?"

Janette leaned back. "Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. He controls water really really well."

"Not well enough, I require a few extra tools to make this work without hurting myself. I don't carry all of this out of sport or fashion, after all. I'm not a magician. I am not a spell caster or a conjurer or a necromancer. I'm an elemental, more or less."

"With that level of magic, why even chase cats at all?"

He shrugged, rubbing the symbol in his hand. "It's not what father needs to turn the girls back."

"Back! Back, back into what?" Syri cried out.

"Back into felines, we're removing the girls from cat girls. Should it be a success, we will then move on to restoring all Monster Girls back to their pure states, without dark essence."

"Monster Girls are born from dark essence, that's a fools plan! You're lying to yourself if you really think that's possible." Janette snapped, gritting her teeth and baring her fangs.

Raz paused as his eyes looked down to her teeth. "Those are sharp for a human, are you... with her? ... You are, but why?"

"That's a vague question." Janette muttered, glancing behind them. "Care to elaborate?"

"You're J'nette, you run a successful marketing business so why mate with her, why not look for someone normal instead? You have a good home, a successful business, I would have guessed you had a list of men or women to choose from. Why choose to corrupt yourself with a Monster?"

Syri held her breath, feeling a punch to her heart from those words. It was a bitter reflection on who she was to the rest of the world, they lived away from society for a reason after all.

"So this was why Mommy didn't let us." Syri whimpered with a pained expression. "I forgot about being a Monster."

Janette squeezed Syri's paw tight, stepping forward in between her and Raz. "Now you listen here and you listen good! I had a good home and had a good business, you're right! The key word here is HAD, thanks for that. But I didn't have a list of people I wanted to fuck, because I'm a shy, reserved gal and do you know how fucking time consuming it is to run a business? I barely ate in my own damn house, I couldn't even fix the bed on most days. You know how I met her? I didn't find her or look for her, she found me! I took her in, shit happened and you know what? There's no one else I'd spend my life with over her. She's silly, adorable, always has something nice to say, carries the cutest smile on her face and has a way with making me feel good inside. Hell, I can't even be mad around her because when I look at her I wonder what the hell had me so uptight to begin with when I have her in my life? She's a lot of things but a Monster is not one of them, in fact the only Monster I see here is YOU!"

"Couldn't agree more." Raz stepped back as a sharp arrow struck where he once stood, forcing him apart from the girls. Syri pulled Janette back, hugging her and retreating as Alma, Felix, and Dimyri had arrived. Dimyri hugged her sister and friend, taking them with her as they turned around.

"Those two are coming with me." Raz stated.

Alma readied her bow, aiming her arrow to him. "Make a move."

"Careful! He's an elemental, he controls water and ice!" Janette informed them. Felix looked over at Spi'Reto struggling to chip the ice.

"I'm getting what I came for. The rest can walk away."

"Like father, like son alright." Felix mentioned, aiming an elven sword with wobbly hands at him. "You're not getting the girls, we won't let you."

Raz began to step back, his eyes scanning the setting as Alma slowly stepped closer to her son, while Felix stood where Syri, Janette and Dimyri retreated through the small earth tunnel under the giant tree.

"I believe communications are out of the question. You really want to resort to violence?"

Felix gripped the blade with all of his strength.

"Try it!"