Tifa flew back from the Malboro, landing and skidding across the grass as she met its foul, large mouth with a determined glare. She flexed her fists and held them up before her as the creature began heading towards her after emerging from Anne's room. It roared at her again and she clenched her teeth as she made a mental note to have another stern word with her younger sister. She would have thought to have gotten the hint after Tifa found that cage of Cactaurs under her bed last spring. It took over a week to get rid of the needles that littered the place when they got out. Tifa wasn't sure if she wanted to know how Anne managed to hide this thing in her room.

Tifa began charging at the Malboro, fist up as she began planning a strategy to take the beast down.

"Parstin, reld, wyanstaq!"

Tifa gasped as she forced herself to fall over when Anne leapt between them and slammed a bloody palm into the ground. Vines sprouted out and caged the Malboro in place, a soft growl coming from it. Anne jumped to her feet, putting her knife away and reached in to stroke one of the tentacles.

"Oh, Max, are you OK?!" she cooed as Max crooned softly "I know, I know, she startled you but it's OK, Mommy's here…"

"Annabelle Susanna Lockhart!" Tifa barked as she got up to her feet "The Cactaurs I can forgive you for because they've been considered cute to girls your age but a Malboro?! Look at the damage that thing has done!"

Anne sheepishly looked at the hole that was her room before lacing her fingers together.

"I can fix it, no problem…" she murmured.

"No!" Tifa screeched "Enough! I've had it up to here! This is the final straw! No more magic!"

"I can fix it before anyone can see it!" Anne protested "Nero and Weiss might be coming soon to see what the commotion was about, along with the rest of the village and I'll be very quick about it, I promise!"

"No, Anne, enough!" Tifa screamed as she shook her fists "The Cactuars was easy enough to explain to Cloud but this? Anne, can't you for once consider others that are around you? Can't we just be normal?"

Anne's eyes brimmed with tears as she continued holding Max's tentacle.

"But…" she hiccupped as she shifted "I'm sorry and I just…"

"And remember what I told you about Mom and Dad!" Tifa continued "They died because of the very magic you're practicing! This Malboro could have killed you in your sleep!"

"No, no!" Anne shook her head as she reached in and got a different tentacle "Max has a taming pendant, see?"

Tifa stared at the navy blue pendant that was clasped around Max's tentacle as Anne fondly stroked the appendage.

"And he was perfectly secure until you unlocked his cage," Anne glared at her sister "That's what happened with the Cactaurs too! You were the one who let them out!"

"How the hell did you fit this Malboro in your room in the first place?" Tifa asked and stepped back as the vines shrunk back into the ground and Anne was met with several tentacles hugging her.

"I used a dimension expansion spell," the younger sister shrugged as she kissed a tentacle affectionately "It took a lot of energy and time but it was perfectly stable until you messed it up. Now I have to go through all of that again to put him back in…"

"No!" Tifa raised her voice again "No more monster pets! Certainly no more Malboros! Why the hell did you tame a Malboro anyway?!"

"Malboros can be harvested for pus, teeth and once I master the technique, their bad breath," Anne shrugged.

"For more Wiccan rituals and alchemy," Tifa sighed impatiently "No, this has to end now, Anne. You need to let…Max go, get rid of your Wiccan books, ingredients and other things and please, for the love of Shiva, Ifrit, Odin and all the other gods from all religions, please just be a normal girl."

"You mean marry a blockhead and birth out babies," Anne huffed moodily.

"Anne!"

"Halz, wynt, qyrm!"

Anne flicked her bloody hand as pieces of wood flew into place around her room and she ran off, covering her face. Max warbled sombrely as he chased after her into the woods, leaving Tifa running a hand through her hair as a group of confused fighters arrived on scene.

Anne cried as she found an old stump to sit and wallow in her misery. She looked up as Max arrived and whined, petting her with his tentacles, as if telling her that it was all alright. Anne sighed as she sat back, her bottom lip wobbling as she reached out for the tentacle that had the taming pendant. Max pulled it out of reach and she dropped her hands.

"You heard her, Max, and you might cause some more damage if I kept you," she said as she stood to reach up for the pendant.

Max growled as he reached down and tickled her mid-section. Anne squealed and giggled as he hissed contently, pulling away when she rolled around on the grass, sighing softly. She looked up at him and held her arms out for him to pick her up and hold her above him, bouncing her up and down. Anne stroked the one around her waist whilst gazing down at Max's maws that held his bad breath. She remembered when her father did this when she was a little girl and the tears continued to fall.

"Max, put me down now," she said "Come on, I have to let you go."

Max growled and wriggled his spare tentacles to which Anne shook her head.

"No, Max, Tifa's right, enough is enough, I crossed the line when I tamed and domesticated you."

Max lifted her up and sat her on one of the branches of the trees around them and Anne sighed, folding her arms.

"Max…"

Anne could see and understand Max better than any other humans. He looked seriously upset in her eyes and she mirrored his sadness.

"Max, come here, let me take the pendant off so you can return to the wild," she said patiently as she held out a hand.

Max turned around and wandered off, leaving Anne stuck in the tree. The young girl sighed, folding her arms and waited whilst Max disappeared through the woods, most likely going to retrieve a dead body of sorts to try to cheer her up. She lifted her head when she heard footsteps and perked when she saw Cloud come running with his sword in hand.

"Cloud…" she called for his attention as he saw the basket by the stump.

Cloud looked up at her and looked back at the basket with a frown.

"Um, how did you get up there?" he asked whilst scratching his head.

"Uh…" Anne stared at Cloud for a beat before replying "Malboros tend to trap their victims if their attention is called away to something else."

Cloud frowned and she held her hands up.

"Exhibit A, reading history is a good thing now, huh?" she grinned.

"Well, we'd better get going before it comes back then," he said as he sheathed his sword and held his arms out "Jump, I'll catch you."

"From this height?!" Anne exclaimed as she stared down the approximate seven foot drop.

"Trust me, Tifa would kill me if anything happened to you."

Anne swallowed as she closed her eyes and tried her best not to scream as she fell from her place and into Cloud's arms. Cloud grunted as he set her down and held her steady as her legs quivered. Anne glanced back in the direction that Max went before collecting her basket and following Cloud back to the house. It was only a few minutes later that Max reappeared with a horde of Cactaurs, a couple of Tonberries and a Bandersnatch only to find her gone. He let out a mournful croon before letting the taming pendant slip off his tentacle, its power fizzling out once it hit the grass.

Anne lazily flicked through the Book of Shadows, reading in the dim candlelight as Tifa spent some time with Cloud downstairs. Her face was neutral, nearly bored, as she deciphered the runes with a translation spell, too lazy to put the effort into translating them herself. It was night time and Anne was still grumpy from the fight earlier, fixing a normal lock instead of a magical one on her door as she read in peace. Her thoughts were scattered as a knock was heard.

"Anne, can we talk?"

Anne glanced at the door balefully before getting up and unbolting her door. Tifa came in as she went back to her bed, closing the Book of Shadows and placing it under her pillow.

"Anne, I'm sorry if I was too harsh on you," she said whilst sitting next to her younger sister.

"No, I'm sorry, I never listen to you," Anne muttered as she brought her knees to her chest.

Tifa smiled with a soft sight as she hugged Anne close.

"Anne, it scares me so much," she whispered "I know, I want to explore Wicca too but after what happened…"

Anne shifted as she looked away and Tifa kissed her head dotingly.

"You're all I have," she murmured.

"You have Cloud," Anne interjected.

"Please, no man could ever replace my sister," Tifa scoffed as she ruffled Anne's hair.

She smiled down at her and Anne returned the smile.

"I'll always be there if you need me," she promised.

"I know you will," Anne nodded "Oh, um, what time are you leaving for that tournament?"

"Early morning, probably before sunrise," Tifa shrugged "Cloud promised to take good care of you whilst I'm gone."

"Or else you'll castrate him," Anne giggled and Tifa snickered with her.

The sisters sat there, cuddled in the dimly lit room. Tifa glanced down at Anne's bandaged hand and held it carefully.

"You really haven't been using magic this afternoon," she concluded when she saw the tell-tale signs of the wound "Good girl."

"I couldn't get that pendant off Max, he might visit sometime," Anne grimaced "I'll try and get it off to release him back into the wild."

"Silly girl, why did you name him?" Tifa giggled.

"Well, I couldn't just keep on calling him Malboro," Anne shrugged.

"You couldn't just keep a massive Malboro like him in a tiny room like this," Tifa shook her head as she glanced around the room "I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that you had been hiding him in here. How long has he been here?"

"Two weeks after the Cactaur break out," Anne looked annoyed at Tifa for that incident.

"You've been hiding him for over three months?" Tifa raised both eyebrows at her.

"I needed the teeth for an experiment," Anne shrugged "Then I got attached and before I knew it, I was using that dimension spell to secure him in my wardrobe."

"Then how was it until today that he managed to get out?" Tifa asked.

"What did you do with my wardrobe?"

"Well, I was sorting out your clothes and it was when I brushed against the back of the cupboard, he was there."

"Tifa, you must have done something," Anne sighed and folded her arms "Did you cut yourself and let blood touch the back of the wardrobe?"

"Well, I was training earlier so that is possible," Tifa looked guilty now.

Anne snickered and shrugged.

"You can hide it all you want, Teef, but you do have Wiccan blood like me. It's as magical as mine and it will disrupt any spells or charms I leave around."

"Except, you're going to stop all of those magic tricks now," Tifa said sternly to which Anne pouted and shied away "I'll be going to bed now. I'll see you in a couple of days' time."

"Night, Tifa," Anne smiled as she kissed her older sister on the cheek "Knock 'em out cold!"

Tifa smiled back as she got up and left the room. Anne sighed mournfully before bowing her head.

"Lakt zykt," she whispered and her candle blew itself out before she burrowed into her warm bed.

She closed her eyes and slumbered. Shortly after she was sound asleep, a lone tentacle slipped into her room through her window and placed down a golden pendant with a navy blue stone on her nightstand.