In a remote corner of Unova, a Pokémon village hides from the omnipresent, mysterious humanity. Through cooperation, they flourish despite their small size, rising above the uncaring brutality of the natural order. Which works remarkably well...
...until a half dead girl shows up on their doorstep.
Will this hidden pocket of Pokémon civilization remain a secret once humans come looking? Are its denizens prepared to learn just who this unwelcome stranger is, and what impact they've already left on their village?
Drama-focused mystery thriller with a heavy focus on humanity being "the other", trauma, and trust.
Cover art by the wonderful @anthrodyniacoms on Twitter!
Chapter 1: Stranger
"There is a human at the clinic."
The unthinkable fact reverberated through the gathered minds as the gentle glow of the earliest dawn filled the tiny side chamber.
Everything that needed to be said had already been exchanged, leaving the three figures shrouded in expectant silence as they awaited the last person they were waiting for. The only sounds piercing the quiet were an occasional held-in yawn from the pair of diurnal scouts and the bustle in the room beside theirs.
The bustle of their healers tending to the sole reason behind all this commotion.
Even if most present wished they had gotten another hour of sleep instead—or four—they all agreed that said reason was… important enough to warrant being here. Even if begrudgingly.
If only Aria could finally show up to let them discuss the mess that they were in—
"^Apologies for the delay. I had a hard time putting Bell back to sleep, but I'm here now. Anyone care to fill me in beyond 'oh no, human'?^" The crystal-clear words filled the minds of everyone gathered as a pale, tall figure stepped into the room. Her dimly glowing, red eyes squinted as they tried to make out a large object in the corner. Before she could work out what the item was, though, another voice finally responded.
"So far, there's not much beyond that, really. Sprout found it crashed and dying in the ravine east of the village, and carried it over here. Then she woke us up while the healers got to work to watch over it and went back to clean all the blood up." Lumi spoke up with quiet, rough woofs, black fur arcing as he picked himself up from the carpeted floor.
"^The ravine? Isn't it ways off their path? Rather close, considering.^"
"That's what we ended up at, yes. Though, even if they had been spying on us, Sprout would've found them in that spot eventually, and I doubt they would've just fallen like that." The faint golden sparkle on Ruby's forehead was the only sign of her being there, the rest of the Weavile entirely obscured in the shadow.
"Perhaps their contraption malfunctioned on them. That possibility does not explain their presence there in the first place, however," a loud, harsh voice added, its source just as attention-grabbing. Ori's towering exoskeleton of red metal stuck out from its surroundings as he investigated the nondescript object in the far corner.
It was very narrow and split between metal for its center, and an unknown black material for the pair of attached wheels and a T-shaped segment at the front. Aria's attempt to figure out its purpose failed so utterly it threatened to give her a headache.
Since it had wheels, it might have been meant for carrying objects? With how little room it had to carry anything, that sounded very unlikely. Whatever that human had used it for, its front wheel now being bent at a harsh angle rendered it unusable.
At least the object beside the metal contraption was much more self-explanatory. It was a colorful, closed bag with a pair of straps on it, obviously meant for carrying items.
"^No, it doesn't indeed. Hopefully Sprout has enough experience with human watching to know what... this is, and help us figure out a plan for this mess.^"
"Plan? Not sure what there is to plan Aria, at least beyond 'we help it not die in here and then dump it off back at the human village'," Lumi said dismissively, flicking his paw off to the side.
"What if another human comes searching for them? What if they had found what they were looking for before falling down the ravine, and we're at risk of our cover being blown now? What if they wake up and start fighting?" Ruby cut back in, eyeing the Luxray down.
"Are you implying that all of us couldn't take on a single half-dead human without all its silly objects?"
"Hopefully not. Either way, we have to know why they were there before deciding what to do with them next," the Weavile summed up, her posture deflating with a sigh.
As the tall psychic kept trying to make sense of the damaged contraption, she felt attention being drawn back to her. She groaned inwardly at being expected to dig into the subconscious of a human, of all things. Her coworkers were right, though. There wasn't much else they could do right now. "^I can take a look once the healers are done with them. How long have they been tending to them?^"
"Couple hours, give or take. Their injuries must be nasty; the crash site had blood all over. Hopefully covered it all before any wilding could get too good of a sniff." Ruby shuddered, the gruesome scene still fresh in her memory.
"I don't get it. Why move it here in the first place? Why not have human healers deal with their own injured and save us this mess?" Lumi grumbled, the annoyance in his voice growing with each word.
"Sprout wasn't sure whether they'd survive long enough for her to carry them to the human town. Better to have a bit more of a hassle on our paws than condemn someone possibly innocent to death, don't you think, Lumi? Besides, as I said, we don't yet know what they had seen. Better to be safe on that front as well," Ruby snapped back, eyes narrowing ever more at the Electric-type's complaints. The Luxray sighed before relenting and laying back down on the cold floor.
"What if they indeed had seen too much? What is your contingency for that outcome, Ruby?" Ori asked, voice as flat as ever. Despite how it may have sounded like, the others knew it wasn't intended as a gotcha—the most metal speaker in the room merely wanted everyone to be on the same page.
"Well," the Weavile looked up at the green-haired psychic as she stepped out of the shadows, "from what I know, targeted memory removal is an option. And we're certainly not lacking in skilled psychics."
"^I appreciate the flattery, but it won't make what you're describing any less difficult—or messy. Not that I won't try my best should the worst come to it. But it's something that can go wrong in more ways than one, and I don't even want to consider it until we're absolutely sure it's necessary.^"
"But it's always an option, got it. Hopefully, we won't need it. Either way, let's not preemptively antagonize them any more than we need to. They've already been through a lot."
Everyone nodded with various levels of reluctance, exactly none of them looking forward to having to deal with a human, even if an incapacitated one. They understood that fate didn't leave them with any other choice, though.
At least, any other choice that wouldn't make them worse than these very beings they were hiding from.
As the sun rose further, pushing through the snowy, white sky, the commotion in the human's room gradually died down. Eventually, Aria walked over to take a peek, the sight hard to make anything out of.
Most of the human either laid under a thick blanket, or was covered in bandages. Their left arm was entirely enveloped in a bulky, blocky cast, and under the effects of paralytic venoms to numb the pain. The only part that was clearly visible was their head, remarkable in how unremarkable it was. Pale skin, two small eyes, a mouth, a pointy, comically shaped nose, a pair of ears. A decent bit of long, brown hair.
Utterly nonthreatening.
And maybe, in some other world, in some other time, they might have very well been.
"^How are they doing?^" Aria asked the Leavanny healer as she cautiously approached the human's bed.
"About as well as possible for someone with their injuries. Their left arm was shattered; must've landed on it. Took a while to put the bones back into place. Plenty of bruising and trauma elsewhere as well. The recovery won't be quick. Though, judging by some of their scars, it's hardly their first scuffle."
As if Aria needed even more reasons to dread all this.
"^What do you mean?^"
"Wish I had a better idea of what I was looking at myself. A few burn scars like I've never seen before, all the same size and rounded. Signs of past bone bruising, too." Maple wrapped up her work with a light pat before pulling the blanket over the human's arm.
Aria didn't want to even think about what that implied. She just hoped they would figure out how to move this human back to their world before they woke up and started making trouble—and preferably without her having to dig into their unconscious. "^Thank you for your work, Maple. Hopefully, you won't have to put any more effort into them before we hand them over to their own healers to deal with.^"
"Eh, unsure how much they're ready to be carried, unless you're intending to hover them all the way over there yourself. Too much pressure on the injuries and they're likely to reopen. Human or not, I don't appreciate my efforts being wasted."
Oh joy.
Aria nodded, acknowledging the Leavanny's concern. She spared one last glance at the bedful of trouble on their hands and paws before heading back to the other room and interrupting the idle chatter, "^So, turns out our... 'guest' might be something of a troublemaker. Have you all had a sweep through what they brought with themselves to make sure there's nothing dangerous in there?^"
The trio glanced at each other before slowly shaking their heads. Nobody was exactly eager to go digging through human creations, the horror tales of what they were capable of far from alien to them. Aria didn't even have to inspect their thoughts to realize that the expectation was being silently placed on her. After all, why should anyone have to physically touch it if she could handle it all at a safe distance?
Which—yeah, they were right.
The realization didn't make her eyes roll any less as they lit up, surrounding the beg in a bright white shimmer. As the Gardevoir moved the bag to the opposite corner of the room, Lumi and Ruby scooted over towards her, giving the potential threat as wide of a berth as they could. All the while, Ori remained focused, bracing himself to Protect them all should the need arise.
Before the group of scouts could investigate any further, though, they ran into a… conundrum.
"^Does—does anyone know how to open this thing?^" Aria muttered, drawing everyone's attention to the bag in question. On a closer inspection, it didn't seem to have any visible openings. The fabric was connected to what looked like a metal seam, but was otherwise uninterrupted.
Humans were dedicated to making sure nothing they ever did or created made sense, weren't they?
"Wait, maybe there's... no, no wait, how's this thing even work?" Ruby asked, no less confounded by the one object they all expected to be self explanatory.
As the scouts were about to start arguing about how this 'bag' even worked, the shuffling behind them caught the attention of the two that weren't busy either holding up a potential danger or safeguarding against it. They turned around to see the owl who'd found the human in the first place step in, her exhaustion mixing with bafflement at the scene in front of her. "What... are you all doing?"
"^Trying to see if the human was carrying anything dangerous with themselves without getting ourselves killed,^" Aria responded without budging her vise-like mental grip on the hovering bag.
"In the immediate moment, attempting to open this bag they had brought." Ori looked flatly at the Decidueye, hoping she would crack the mystery of the hole-less human bag.
Sprout let out a tired, drawn-out sigh as she buried her face in her wing, plunging the room into silence. Once she was done getting that out of her system, she stepped around the Scizor and grabbed a dangling bit at the end of the largest metal seam and gave it a solid yank. Before anyone could react, the seam came undone, showing off the bag's insides.
"That's how ya do it. And that's not how... these work, nothing's gonna blow up in your faces, heh. Besides, I really doubt this human was carrying anything dangerous with them. How are they doing, by the way?" Sprout asked, weary smile creeping onto her beak.
Aria could only blink, dumbfounded at the Decidueye's apparent recklessness as she lowered the bag down closer to the floor "^The healers finished patching the human up for now. I've heard them mention they found some scars of past fighting on their body, so if anything, I'd be even more suspicious of them. What makes you so doubtful, Sprout?^"
The news woke the owl up from her morning exhaustion, sleepy expression turning concerned as she looked back at the psychic. "I certainly wouldn't expect a child to have anything too dangerous on themselves, Aria dear. Or to be the aggressor in any fighting they might have been a part of."
...
A... child?
The bag landed on the carpeted floor with a faint thud as everyone stared at the owl in astonishment. Her revelation painted every single detail in a whole new light—a much more unsettling one.
"S-Sprout, are you sure of that? What if it's j-just a small one—"
"I sure haven't seen a grown human this tiny in all my time scouting, Lumi. Adults are easily my height if not taller, and this lil' one would fit snugly under my wing," the owl cut in, lifting the brown limb up for emphasis to stress the size difference.
As much as the Luxray was unsettled by the news, his piercing eyes staring with unease at the sleeping human behind a nearby wall, the Weavile was deep in thought. Her sharp claws rhythmically tapped against the damaged contraption's metal frame before she asked for clarification, "Humans are diurnal, correct?"
Sprout answered with a nod and a chuckle. Being nocturnal teaches one to not assume on that front, after all.
"A diurnal child getting into a lethal accident, on their own, at night, away from their settlement... something's off about all this."
It was hard to disagree with Ruby's assessment, even if the conclusions the scouts' minds went to couldn't be further apart. They ranged from assessing the situation as a deliberate subterfuge, knowing that a child in distress would be helped and taken in no matter what... somehow, to an even more disturbing possibility of said child having tried to run away from a danger that had already claimed its family.
...the latter more so than the former.
"Undoubtedly. With any luck, an inspection of this bag's contents will let us establish what led them here," Ori explained, his voice gaining the smallest hint of excitement.
"I hope you're not seriously considering the idea that this is all some nefarious action, Ori."
"Certainly not, Sprout. That sounds... incredibly foolish to consider. Disregarding that, I still think we can glean much from the items they have brought with themselves."
With everyone else nodding and Lumi innocently looking away from the rest of the group, their attention once more shifted to the inert bag. Its open seam was enveloped in a bright aura before being parted wider. The entire bag was then lifted and flipped upside down, pouring all its contents.
Which, to everyone's relief, featured an absence of those round, wretched things.
And a marked presence of... a whole lot of cloth.
Which, at a closer inspection—namely, Ori walking a couple steps closer and picking the topmost item up—turned out to be clothing. It was obviously tailored for a human, and simultaneously of higher quality than any craftsmanship their village could produce, and in an objectively rough state. Full of holes at the seams, discolored yellow in places, and creased all over from the haphazard packing.
As much cloth as there was in there, though, the other loose items were even more interesting.
A small metal object, thin and about as long as one of Ruby's claws, pointed at one end. A larger, tubular… thing, black and flaring out towards one end, its material an enigma to everyone gathered. On top of the pile, a simple if high-quality knife, sized for a human hand.
And last... a Fennekin doll, a really well made one at that.
"That is an unreasonable amount of clothes for one person."
"Well Ori... yes, but humans do wear lots of clothes constantly, so it's only appropriate, I suppose, ha. This one was wearing three layers in places when I found it; sure baffled the healers!" Sprout chuckled, amused at her coworkers' surprise.
As confusing as that insight was, it could ultimately just be swept under 'Humans are weird'. It didn't tell them much if apparently all humans each wore about as many clothes as a dozen denizens of their village combined—
"Though I can't say I've ever seen them carry this many spare clothes. Not without setting camp somewhere for the night, at least."
Or maybe it did?
"Well, what then could it mean, do you think?" Ruby cut to the point, the entire mystery unnerving her more and more by the moment.
The Decidueye could only sigh and shrug as her expression grew increasingly tired. The sun continued with its late, but unrelenting ascent, making thinking harder and harder by the moment. "I only keep watch of them, not their thoughts. Though, taking a gander at these would probably help as well—"
"^After we're done with these.^" As much as their guest being a youngling changed how she felt about them, Aria was still far from eager to dive under a human's skullcap for no reason.
"That's a remarkably well made knife, but why would they need one?" the Weavile asked as she inspected the knife from all around, taken aback at how flawless it looked. She had heard plenty about the human mastery of metal despite them being neither Fire nor Steel typed, but never had a chance to see it for herself until now. Hell, she'd even managed to sharpen a claw on this thing's edge, and effortlessly at that.
"No clue about that, either. I've never seen a human with a knife on them, not one this large at least. I guess it'd be helpful in food preparation on the go—though why would they even bring one instead of just preparing a meal beforehand is beyond me, *yawn*..."
This was even more confusing than the clothes' sheer quantity.
They knew humans had to use knives without either claws, blades or Psycho Cut in their stead—but even then, why would this child bring one with themselves? Maybe they were a cook of some sort, though they still wouldn't get any use out of it unless they went foraging. It couldn't have been a weapon, because if humans most definitely weren't something, it was hunters.
"^Guess it's just one more unknown in the end.^"
"Now, this item," Ori said as he leaned to pick up by far the most obviously human item on the pile. Its cylindrical body was made of a smooth, yet ever so slightly bendy, material. Its wider end had a large opening with what appeared to be like glass inside it, and something too small to make out behind said glass. "To have access to so much pristine glass and use it for what appears to be decoration. I do not understand it."
The barely noticeable confusion in Ori's voice caught the others' attention. Aria took the risk and stepped closer to investigate, reaching over towards the Scizor with an unspoken request. The seemingly perfectly clear glass fascinated her in particular. It was so unlike the dirty, colored beads the village's own craftspeople made, to where—if not for hearing tales of humans knowing how to manufacture clear glass in abundance—she wouldn't have been able to connect the two as being the same material—
*click!*
As Aria inspected the item, her hands shifted along the smooth material. One finger eventually landed on a softer part that gave in when pressed, until an unexpected click made the glassy end of the device explode with light.
The sudden, blinding glare aimed at her face made the Gardevoir psychically toss the item away out of reflex. It bounced off the floor and rolled for a bit before coming to a stop; the light still shone out of the glass-tipped end.
After a few moments for everyone to calm down after the abrupt action, and for Aria to blink the glare away, Ruby cautiously picked the device up. The cone of light moved along with it, making its purpose clear. "Guess that's quite handy if you can't see in the dark. You alright there, Aria?"
"^Y-yeah, just caught me off guard all wide eyed. Ugh, that stung.^"
Even if it was much too weak to be a Dazzling Gleam on a stick, Ruby still handled the item carefully. She kept the light away from everyone before spotting a differently looking spot on the handle—
*click!*
—and turning the sudden Flasher off.
"Mikiri will have an incredible field day with this item."
"Will she now?" Sprout asked, her tone making it clear the only correct answer was 'no, she will not'. The tinkerer in Ori let out a tiny, metallic sigh of disappointment as the owl continued, "One thing to find some abandoned scrap out there and pick it apart to see what makes it tick, another to destroy something that belongs to someone under our collective care."
"An unconscious human," Lumi attempted to cut in, but Sprout had none of it.
"Someone under our collective care. A child, no less."
"Even then—if you're not planning on keeping all their junk in here, taking up a clinic room, maybe handing it off to someone who knows what they're doing so that they can watch over isn't the worst of ideas?" the Luxray persisted, his point more agreeable now.
"The best of ideas would be stashing it all for nobody to touch until the human's awake and can decide for themselves. Though... *sigh*, there isn't exactly anywhere else appropriate or with as much free space as her workshop now, is there."
It was way too late in the morning for her to be dealing with any of this.
"Just—just tell her not to touch anything once you move it over," Sprout instructed, trying to blink off her exhausted daze As much as her knowledge was helping the ongoing investigation, she more than deserved some shut eye. Aria laid her hand on her shoulder, combining it with a caring expression to get her suggestion across, the Decidueye nodding deeply in response. "Yeah, just move all the human things over there, tell Mikiri to contain herself, and I suppose any further decisions can wait for now..."
"If it is a child, what happens when their parents come looking for them?" The eventuality in Ruby's question gave everyone a pause. Sprout sighed again and muttered the best plan she could come up with on the spot.
"I told Lucere to contact you all if some human does come looking, and I trust your combined judgment to think of an appropriate response when that happens, as much as I hope it doesn't come to it."
The other scouts were torn between appreciating Sprout's trust and dreading the exact situation she'd just described. Either way, it was as good of an answer as they'd get. With that in mind, they gently urged Sprout out—even experienced scouts have bedtimes, and she was way past hers.
"Rest easy, Sprout, we'll figure it out," Ruby chimed in as the owl shambled out the clinic.
As everyone else bid the owl goodbye, the Fennekin doll in the corner, overlooked until now with all the other, more eye-catching trinkets around, caught Aria's attention.
Upon a closer inspection, that certainly wasn't a fabric she was familiar with, simultaneously slicker and rougher to the touch than any she'd ever felt. It made for a poor imitation of fur, even though the actual craftsmanship was once again finer than any doll she's ever seen. So much detail, such a cute expression, even got little fabric paw pads—oh?
Aria's glance at the doll's underside revealed a newly familiar—if utterly unexpected—element. A metal seam ran down the length of its tummy, with a small metal element hanging off one of its ends.
"It appears humans enjoy using this kind of metal seam."
Aria could only shrug at Ori's comment as she recalled the trick Sprout used to open the bag. She carefully grabbing the dangling bit and gave it a firm pull—
*ring-ring-ringringRINGring-ring*
Well, at least it worked.
The immediate result of that action, though, was a handful of small metal disks falling out of the opening, bouncing off one another as they scattered across the carpeted floor. Even if it was nowhere near as abrupt or blinding as the black device from earlier, everyone still needed a moment to process what had just happened. And, naturally, leaned in to get a closer look at the metal disks afterwards.
"Would they forget what they are if they didn't have these... reminder circles?"
"It wouldn't hurt you to try and be less snarky sometimes, Lumi. They're too well made not to be decorative, maybe some kind of charm?" Ruby rolled her eyes as she inspected the tiny disk in her claws. The intricacy of its etchings was stunning, especially the Serperior motif wrapping around the outer rim, though its function was nowhere near clear.
"^Why would you carry several identical charms, and keep them so hidden while at it?^" Aria shot down that possibility, though she'd be lying to say she had any better ideas.
With a bit of focus and her psychics, the Gardevoir picked up all the disks littering the floor all at once. Ruby flicked the one she was holding up for Aria's mental reach to grasp as well. If there's anything the item seemed to be made for, it was that.
"A human custom, perhaps? The more charms, the better, or something," Ruby suggested offhandedly, paws already itching to flick these disks again.
"Sure wouldn't be out of character for them," Lumi mumbled under his breath.
As Aria was about to slide the disks back into their hiding spot, she spotted something else in the small pocket. Her gentle tugging slid several rectangular pieces of a canvas-like material out of it. The artwork on them was incredibly detailed, though seemed to be identical on all the smaller rectangles.
"More charms I suppose?"
The Gardevoir ignored Lumi's sarcastic comment as she focused on the one rectangular object that stood out. It was larger, stiffer, and much smoother to the touch. Its artwork was also incredibly detailed, but… in an entirely different way.
Whereas the metal disks and canvas rectangles bore art that was as detailed as it was abstract, this stiffer item featured a scene so realistic it looked as if Aria was observing it with her own eyes.
It pictured a human—seemingly the same human that ended up here—looking up directly at the viewer with a smile as they held an actual Fennekin in their arms. The little mon seemed no less happy than the human as they followed their gaze, staring motionlessly at the Gardevoir.
It looked so much like a window to a real place that Aria tried moving it around just to see if the perspective would shift. To her slight disappointment, it did not. Suppose it was just a painting after all, even if an apparently infinitely detailed one. The backside was blank aside from a few symbols of what must've been the fabled human writing, contents as inscrutable as ever.
The depicted scene was so quaint that the Gardevoir had a hard time not smiling at it, even despite the seriousness of their current situation. The human was clearly happy, the Fennekin also looked content—though, was there something wrong with their eye—
"Did you find something interesting, Aria?"
The psychic wordlessly passed the realistic artwork over to Ori, sliding all the disks and other rectangles back into the doll. The Steel-type brought the rectangle right in front of his eyes, seemingly no less baffled by all the detail.
"I have no idea how one would create a painting like this. There does not appear to even be a visible paint texture anywhere. It's as if a piece of reality was directly etched into thin wood."
Such an interesting curio couldn't resist being passed between all the scouts. The red pincer soon handed it off to a white, clawed paw, the attached face forming a small smile. "That's cute. Wonder how long they had to hold the pose for the artist to finish painting it."
"^Do you think it was made after an actual scene?^" Aria asked, wholly dumbfounded by the tiny painting.
"Sure can't imagine it not being. Creativity's one thing, but making all this detail up from scratch doesn't exactly sound feasible."
The Gardevoir couldn't help but agree the more she thought about it. She wondered what connection there was between the doll she was holding and the real firefox that the human apparently knew and had an affection for. As she pondered on, the picture was shown to the least handed scout in the room.
"Wonder how much the little one was actually enjoying it, hmph..."
"It wouldn't hurt you to not assume the worst of people for once," Ruby jabbed in, not appreciating Lumi's snark any.
"Humans sure ain't people—"
"Let me guess, they're just some mindless beasts that only want to harm and prey on 'us', the enlightened species?" Silence fell over the chamber as the Weavile leered at the Luxray. Despite her best efforts, exhaustion eventually tempered her glare, prompting her to take the picture away and wordlessly pass it back to Aria.
While Lumi attempted to shrink or preferably collapse underground under the ice-type's scalding gaze, Ori took it upon himself to diffuse the tension by redirecting everyone's attention towards something more productive. He peeked out of the room, glancing over at the sleeping human. To the scouts' relief, the unexpected guest was still right where they'd last seen them. "How difficult is it to investigate a person's memories, Aria?"
With the detailed image slid back into the doll, the Gardevoir closed its metal seam and looked up at the Steel-type. She shuddered at the begrudging reminder of her upcoming duty, but knew all well there was no other way through but forward. "^Harder than it would be if they were awake to cooperate. Though, ultimately, not too difficult either way. Not waking them up will be the trickier part.^"
"All four of us could easily restrain a half dead, juvenile human even if that were to happen," Lumi quipped in, only to be swiftly rebuked again.
"Either of us could probably pacify them with a stern look in their current state. The point is to not put them through any unnecessary fright and pain, Lumi," Ruby snarled, the Luxray taking his cue to shut up this time.
"Do you need us to do anything while you are in the middle of that process, Aria?"
"^Not wake them up, preferably.^"
With a deep breath, the Gardevoir entered the chamber with the sleeping human and approached them once more. Her hands shook slightly as she examined the unconscious child.
"What if it ends up being too much?" Ruby asked with tired concern in her voice as Aria took her position beside the bed. A bright, pale shimmer enveloped her eyes and hand alike while she concentrated on the task ahead.
"^What do you mean?^"
"Well, you're the expert here. I don't know the specifics, but I'd imagine some memories could be a bit too much to bear, especially ones as... potentially traumatic."
Aria paused for a moment, not paying the possibility much mind before proceeding. "^In theory, yes, though I heavily doubt it will be anything I can't snap myself out of.^"
"And what if it will?" Ruby asked, but it was too late. Aria's shimmering hand was already resting on the human's forehead, their minds melding together as the psychic descended into the child's subconscious.
Traversing through an unconscious mind was just similar enough to the usual awake existence to lead those who had accomplished it to describe it with regular, commonplace terms—but also just different enough for these same terms to fall far short.
The analogy Aria opted for most of the time was a walk through a sparse forest or an orchard. Each tree was an individual memory, and related memories were physically bundled together.
Of course, this analogy too was woefully flawed.
Trees—most trees at least—didn't move or change shape in real time, had reasonable minimum and maximum sizes, and couldn't conjoin themselves with other trees on a whim. The latter process was always particularly gruesome to imagine with actual trees, but only made sense in the quasi-dreamscape Aria was now wading through.
A headspace that even knowing the underlying truth of what she'd have to do, stripped of the layers of abstraction inherent in an analogy, couldn't have prepared Aria for.
It was far from her first time diving into an unconscious mind. Even if their owners weren't awake to help guide her towards what she needed to see, she usually had no issue finding her way towards the specific events or knowledge she was interested in.
This one was different. Darker, colder. The usual mist that shrouded asleep minds was so thick in here she could barely see even a few feet in front of herself.
This must've been what a comatose mind was like.
With a bit more focus, Aria attempted to clear the way ahead of her. She'd pushed the fog just back enough to give her some breathing room, before steeling further into the murky realm. She examined every 'tree' she passed by, looking around blindly for the child's recent memories.
Normally, they'd be the first thing she saw in here. But, as it was growing increasingly clear, these were not normal she or the other scouts were dealing with. Her own unease at what she would find in here wasn't helping one bit either, especially as it was steadily fueled by the scattered noises, bits of human speech, and especially distant screams she occasionally heard echoing through the desolate mindscape.
Fortunately for Aria's resolve, they weren't too common, lest the whole thing devolved into a haunted cacophony. Each time they reached her, though—sometimes painful, sometimes wrathful—Aria couldn't help but feel a shiver run through her fin.
The sooner she found her answer and got out of here, the better.
As dark as this place was, it was only a temporary setback. Her dislike of empty flattery aside, Aria was good at this, quickly honing onto and following along with whatever traces of awareness she could sense. Each step brought her closer to where the child's consciousness had last faded.
Or, more realistically, was abruptly snuffed out.
As she got closer, the surrounding shrieks grew louder, and she could sometimes just barely glimpse shadowy outlines at the edges of her vision. She knew she had nothing to fear—they weren't real, merely a reflection of how the beings that had cast them haunted the poor mind she was wading through. She might've only been caught in the crossfire of the child's subconscious torturing itself, but hell if it didn't provide further motivation to up her pace and get through this faster.
And, considering the hour of the day and the emptiness of her stomach, get some breakfast afterwards.
It was hard to estimate just how long it took for her to find what she was looking for. It could've been anywhere from minutes to hours. All that Aria knew was that she was becoming desensitized to the unnerving stimuli around her at a pace her aware mind would've found disturbing.
And then, one final step later, she finally saw it.
The sapling of a memory looked paradoxical, dead and alive in equal measure, a decayed trunk topped with freshly grown branches and leaves. Traumatic start, with an indeterminate conclusion.
Aria would do everything in her power to make the latter a good one, but first, she needed to see how it had begun...
The point of view Aria was forced into was far from a clear one, in a very literal way.
The corners of the human's vision were blurred beyond all comprehension. Even the center was slightly frosted over, obscuring the scene even further—a scene that was far from clear to begin with. The human was surrounded by almost complete darkness, with only the weak light coming from somewhere below their point of view illuminating the snow-covered path ahead.
After she got over the initial disorientation, Aria made out the T-shaped part of that metal contraption in the lower part of the child's vision. Judging by how the blurry scenery shifted around her, they were using it for locomotion, somehow. Confounding as the sights were, the sounds she heard painted a much clearer, much bleaker picture.
The rumble of the contraption's wheels against snow and dirt, night ambiance, strained panting, and the hammering of a racing heart.
how long still
it's so far
what was that noise
please be just me
I'm so tired
The recollection was murky, even beyond what Aria could see and hear. Their entire thought process appeared to have almost melted into one continuous stream, any specific focus difficult to discern from the mental flood. What wasn't difficult to make out, though, was the sheer fear saturating their mind.
Fear, exhaustion, and strain at what this child was pushing themselves through. They were only barely pushing through, and every single movement had their body screaming for them to stop, even if just for a moment—
But they couldn't.
What they were afraid of wouldn't let them.
I can't stop now
keep going
I want to go home
keep going
keep going
keep going
can't turn back now
Despite the growing panic in the child's thoughts, the view itself scarcely changed at all. The human path they were on cut through the woods in a largely straight path, letting Aria try dissecting the panic filling the human's head.
No matter how hard she tried to make out what they were afraid of, though, the answer remained out of her reach. The little one was running away from home, that much was clear, but the 'why' didn't cross their mind even once. It made for a confusing, but no less disturbing, spectacle.
A spectacle with a foregone conclusion, no less.
my legs hurt
how much more
need to stop for a moment
need to catch my breath
can't
can't
CAN'T
they're already after me
have to be
or maybe they're not
The view shifted slightly as the child squinted towards something barely visible in the distance. They soon determined it to be a fallen log cutting the forest path in half, forcing the human to slow down as they approached, their body shaking harder and harder.
need to stop
carry bike over
have to stop
maybe catch a breath
I'm thirsty
just a couple min-
"ANNE!"
To the best of Aria's ability to tell, the voice was little more than the echo originating from their own mind, not unlike what she experienced while traversing their subconscious. It couldn't have been anything else—it was much too clear, too directionless to be anything but that.
But it didn't matter.
CAN'T STOP
GO AROUND
KEEP GOING
CAN'T GO BACK
What mattered was that the girl thought it was real.
That she just heard her name being barked out by a gruff, masculine voice. The thought made the fear's grip on her body even tighter as she bolted onward, eyes frantically scanning the path ahead.
GO AROUND
THROUGH THE TREES
CAN'T STOP
THERE
With a yanking motion, the view swerved into the tree line, dodging the fallen log. The uneven terrain turned an already barely coherent scene into a blurry patchwork of light and dark, of black trees and white snow around them. Grunts of pain escaped the girl with every rougher spot as she kept giving it her all; her body screamed for a reprieve that wouldn't come.
hurts
everything hurts
legs hurt
can't stop
don't let me stop
The view rattled on as the human made their way through the trees at alarming speeds. Her eyes madly darted from side to side, trying to find a path back to the road without stopping; the density of the surrounding forest rendered that task nigh impossible.
ow ow ow
back to the road
can't stop
just keep going
ow
there has to be an opening ahead
hurts
head hurts
Despite the nigh-delirious state she was in by that point, the human eventually spotted a way back onto the road. In her focus, however, she failed to notice the ravine quickly closing in on her current path from the other side as she pushed the contraption to its, and her limit.
there
THERE
don't stop
keep at it
it's gonna be over soon
I'll be safe
safe
hurts
Anne let out a strained grunt as she tried pushing on just that bit harder. Giving it her all, she turned the contraption to scale the incline and get back onto the path—
Only for the snow and ground under her to finally give in.
The crumbling edge of the ravine dragged her in along with itself, toppling the contraption and its rider alike. The human's eyes got the briefest of glimpses at the endless abyss she was falling into before they turned skyward.
For a couple of heartbeats, there was nothing. No more thought, no more movement, not even any screams; the human's breath stuck in her own throat. Only once she was into freefall, staring at the brilliant moon above, did more thoughts come through, slow and staggered.
I'm gonna die
I don't want to die
I don't want to die
please don't let it hurt
I'm sorry ember—
And then; the vision tore itself apart in an instant.
Aria was ejected from the girl's mind with enough force to physically stagger her, the violence of it all leaving her stunned. The child in front of her shook and sobbed fearfully in her dreams; the limbs that weren't paralyzed jostled as if trying to run away from an impossible threat.
"Aria, are you alright!? You were gone for almost an hour, what's—what's going on?" the Weavile shouted, only managing to stay awake out of concern for her friend. Her worst fears were confirmed—Aria looked thoroughly spooked; the human was suddenly having a nightmare; and neither could immediately speak up about what had just happened.
The Gardevoir didn't respond, beelining for the bed once she'd snapped herself out of her daze. Once there, she laid a hand on the child's forehead again, shaking as she drove away the nightmare with a bit of applied Calm Mind.
At that point, though, she could've probably used some as well.
"^They—she—was running for her life.^"
Silence fell over the room as everyone chewed through Aria's words, including the two scouts that until now have either been examining the once-moving contraption or taking a nap. Thankfully, the psychic's intervention was effective, letting the girl return to as peaceful a slumber as was possible after a crash like that.
"Running for her life from what in specific?"
"^I'm... uncertain, Ruby. She was too exhausted to think coherently. All I gathered was that she was running away from home, likely because of some other human, but I couldn't figure out who that was.^" Aria didn't want to move, didn't want to let go of this scared, traumatized child. Her innermost nature called for her to protect her as much as she could; to do everything in her power to keep her safe—before being overruled by the eventual realization that she already was. Once she'd calmed down, she finally took her hand away, hoping Anne's dreams wouldn't include any more recollections of what she'd been through.
"Can't you dive into its head again and find that part out?"
"^I'd rather spare her the pain for now. Not like any other human is gonna find her here, anyway—^"
"Are you done with your psychicing, Aria?" a low, feminine voice asked, pulling everyone's attention over to the room's entrance. The elderly Blissey looking in might've only been about as eager to deal with the human as Lumi was, but her vows took precedence.
"^Yes, Esther. Did you want to administer another treatment?^"
"More so, just double-check everything. I'm sure Maple and others did a great job, but you never know with humans…"
Aria winced internally at their chief healer's tone as she took a few steps away from the bed. It was easy to dismiss the Luxray as just being abrasive and prejudiced, but the Blissey, with all her lived experience? Much less so.
Esther's moderate annoyance at having to deal with a human again after all these years wasn't difficult to sense. Thankfully, it didn't manifest beyond just a few minor grumbles. In a few quick moments, her check-up around the sleeping human's body was done, finding nothing amiss.
Before the healer left, though, the Gardevoir had something to ask her. "^Esther, is she really just a child?^"
An immediate, thoughtless nod, the truth plain to see.
"^How old is she?^"
Now that was an interesting question, one that the Blissey had to chew on. She walked back over to the bed and took a much closer look. Her recollection wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, leaving her uncomfortably uncertain about the girl's age. "I'm… unsure. Could be anywhere from seven or eight to maybe eleven."
The description left most gathered confused, rendered very ambiguous by the lack of a unit. 'Seasons' made the most sense considering this being a child, but an elaboration wouldn't hurt.
"Seven or eight what, moons?" Ruby asked.
"Years."
…
The Weavile blinked in confusion; the answer taking her aback. To think that this human that wasn't just a child, but was clearly a child, could've been almost her age was… weird to think about.
"^Is there any way you could know with certainty?^"
This wasn't anything Aria needed to know, but… it still could help in piecing together what could've happened to her. Or, at least, that was the Gardevoir's justification to herself.
"Not without checking her papers, hah, doubt that's gonna be happening," the Blissey chuckled to herself. Right as she was about to turn for the exit, doubt crossed her soft, weathered face. "Though… she brought some items with herself, didn't she?"
"Yes. They are located in the side room."
Esther didn't even wait for Ori to finish before heading over there. In her wake, an array of rustling, clicking noises, leaving Aria worried the healer would unintentionally damage some of the girl's possessions—before finally, a louder "aha!".
"There we go; I think that's an ID. Let me try to read this… 'Student'… 'Identification'—yep, an ID," Esther spoke triumphantly, her words going squarely over the heads of everyone gathered. She was much too invested in her little investigation to notice, though. "First name 'Anne', last name 'Martin'. Date of birth—10th of February, 538 AR. Which…"
Esther flicked the card against her other hand as she stepped out of the side room. She grumbled quietly at realizing that even that clue wouldn't amount to much, not without knowing what year it was in the human calendar. The last date she remembered seeing with confidence before making her escape was 528—or was it 529? It couldn't have been more than a couple of decades since.
She hoped.
"…I'd guess she's nine, then." The number meant little on its own, and the Blissey was well aware. "Around Cadence's age, relatively."
Now that was something everyone could work with—and be unnerved by. A stray human child, still far from maturity, ending up with such injuries on her own…
"^Thank you so much for your help, Esther. I hope Anne will be able to clarify it for us herself in not too long.^"
"I don't," the Blissey commented acerbically as she departed, leaving the room uneasy. Her tone, Anne's situation, all the unknowns still surrounding it… it all sent shivers down their backs.
"I suppose with everything said, keeping her here until we know more would be an appropriate course of action, even once she does sufficiently recover enough to be transported. There is no purpose in potentially exposing her to the threats she originally ran away from." Ori's proposition was met with an almost unanimous agreement. The peril that Anne had been in, combined with her age, made most everyone see her in a very different light, even if the mystery at the root of it all remained unanswered.
Not a lot they could do about it at the moment, though.
"Guess that's about it for now, then?"
"^Seems so. Go get some rest Ruby, we can take care of her items on our own.^"
With the question she was actually asking answered in the way she preferred, the Weavile sighed out loud and headed for the exit, sending everyone off with a wave. "Have a good day everyone—and keep Mikiri off all this stuff. I'd rather not find her workshop in pieces when I wake up."
After Ruby's sendoff, the rest of the group started preparing to leave as well. Ori hoisted the metal contraption over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing while Aria put all the assorted items back into the human's bag.
While the Gardevoir clumsily tried to close its metal seam, she noticed the room grow darker for a moment, looking at the small, Safeguard-protected window on its other side. She might've only glimpsed the Whimsicott there before they flew off, but knew instantly what their sight implied.
There goes any secrecy they might've had about this entire human mess.
Aria sighed, distracting herself from that realization by focusing on grabbing the small pile of clothes in the corner—the ones Anne was probably wearing when she crashed—up together into the air together with the bag. Yep, definitely the ones she was wearing when she crashed; the reek of blood Aria could recognize anywhere. Why did she have to disturb that pile, ugh...
"Can I help with anything?" Lumi asked, catching the other two's attention. His anatomy didn't let him easily carry a whole ton—maybe the bag in his mouth, but that was about it. With how little it weighed, though, there was no need for that, especially while he could help them in some other way.
"^No, we're good, I think. Though—if you could run ahead to Holly's and get us some breakfast in advance, that'd be very appreciated.^"
Rumbling of her stomach was the only comment Aria needed to motivate the Luxray into action.
As she was about to leave, she looked over her shoulder one last time, wishing she could do more for Anne as she watched the Leavanny check up on her again. With a deep breath, she put that thought aside and followed Ori out. They had their own duties to take care of.
Their village wouldn't keep itself hidden, after all.
The pair's walk was uneventful as far as their cargo went. To little surprise and more than a bit of relief, the human items continued to be as inert as metal, cloth, and some other materials could be.
Unfortunately, that didn't extend to the passersby.
The massive contraption attracted a lot of attention in particular, only feeding further into the rumors already spreading through the village. They could understand some of it; much of what they carried was rather unusual, but in any other circumstances, the items wouldn't have earned more than a curious look or two.
Alas, these weren't any other circumstances.
"M-Mrs. Aria?" The quiet, palpably unnerved woofs dragged the Gardevoir's attention away from tired annoyance. She smiled weakly at the Braixen, extending an arm towards her as she marched on.
"Good morning, Ember. I take you've already heard the 'news'?" Aria spoke with her physical voice, the sound helping soothe the Braixen's nerves as she scooted over and hugged the Fairy-type's side. The fox's shudder answered for her while the icy wind made her eye patch flutter; the Gardevoir sighing inwardly in response.
Thanks, Sol.
"I know a human in our village sounds scary, sweetie, but I promise we've got it under control. They're badly injured, comatose, and don't have any human items on them. We're all safe," the Gardevoir reassured. She meant everything she said, but she knew there was one thing in particular that the lil' fox needed to hear more than anything else.
"Nobody will hurt you again, sweetie."
Ember nodded fearfully, her shaky hug tightening for just a moment. Aria came to a stop, giving the Braixen all the time she needed and then some. Saddening as the sight was, it doubled as a dire reminder of how important her duties were, filling her with some well-needed motivation on the cold winter morning.
"Th-th-thank you, Mrs. Aria…" Ember steadied her breath before leaning back and swiping the wetness out of her eyes. Her smile up at the Gardevoir was so weak it only barely qualified as one, but its intent was appreciated all the same.
"Take it easy today, okay? Pearl and Jovan will understand if you can't help with the little ones today—"
"N-no no, I can! I-it calms me down, and without that m-my mom would keep trying to train moves with me and…"
Ember shuddered, earning herself another pat on the back.
"I know it's a lot of effort to catch up, but you'll get there in time," Aria said, smiling at the fox.
"It's—it's not that, it's… n-nevermind." Whatever the cause might have been, this seemed to be a topic the Braixen was even less keen to talk about. Enough so that she excused herself soon after, her mix of embarrassment and badly hidden anxiety much easier to sense than she would've wanted.
No matter how much Aria wanted to help, her duties took precedence.
As they resumed their march on, the pair of scouts had to constantly answer questions about a scary human in their midst, growing ever more absurd as the rumors evolved and twisted on themselves. They were the guardians of this place, though, and soothing everyone's fears about this most unusual visitor was a part of their duty.
It sure didn't help Aria keep herself from eye-rolling at the third question in a row about this half dead child Cadence's age being a 'trainer', though. Especially since even if that was the case, Anne wouldn't have any of her human tools with her once she woke up. Unless the humans had developed an uncanny ability of kidnapping other living beings just by looking at them, they would all be more than safe.
Thankfully, not everyone was so afraid of their unintentional guest.
"I-is the human okay?" The chirped out words got both scouts looking up at their source, one particular Dartrix that had perched on top of the contraption's metal handle. Ori was quite literally too strong to care, not even having noticed her landing, while Aria answered shortly after.
"^She's not doing the best Blossom, but is already much better than when your mom found her thanks to our healers.^"
The owlet nodded somberly at the news—she was glad they were being tended to, even if they still were in a rough state. With how hard they had apparently been injured, guess it only made sense for them to need a long while to feel better. "O-okay. A-are the rumors true?"
"You will have to be more specific than that, Blossom," Ori said.
"Is she really just a child?"
Blossom's sleepy expression grew startled at the crazy rumor turning out to be true as both scouts nodded. She had a hard time not empathizing with the stranger in a situation like that, no matter what terrifying species they might've been.
"Oh, gosh. Her parents must be so scared..." the Dartrix muttered, afraid for the human. Her mom would've scoured every single last inch of the woods if something like this had happened to her. Even if humans couldn't fly, with all the wild things they supposedly could do, they probably had some other way of accomplishing the same goal.
A fact the pair of scouts underneath her were acutely aware of.
The longer all this took, the higher the odds were that despite their best efforts, humans would eventually stumble upon them while searching for the girl. And if there were enough of them, the risk that at least one human would slip through the cracks and blow their cover grew higher and higher.
A nightmarish situation, no matter how they sliced it.
"^Yes, they likely are. The healers are working on getting her back into shape as fast as they can, though, so hopefully she'll be back home safe before humans can do too much searching.^"
Blossom nodded firmly, wanting to support their healer as much as she could with that. Even if it just meant avoiding hurting herself in the meantime to not take up any of their attention.
But maybe… she could help in some other way, too. "Mhm! Oh—could I visit her once she feels better? She's gotta be so lonely in there..." The Dartrix might not have known much about humanity—though still more than others thought she did—but figured that being friendly was universal enough.
Sadly, friendliness wasn't an option, either.
"^She's still unconscious, Blossom, so sadly not. Even if she comes to, she's not supposed to know our village exists and we won't let her see more of it. Once she's ready to return to the human town, we'll have to make her forget everything she saw here before she leaves, anyway.^"
Bleh, this would be a messy job, and Aria wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest.
"Awwh... b-but, if she'll forget it all, won't it end up not mattering what she saw?"
"^I know what you mean, but it doesn't work like that, sweetie. It's not as simple as just me snapping my fingers and suddenly she doesn't remember any of this anymore. It's slow and messy, and there's always a risk of me either forgetting to erase something which could have her potentially start recalling it all, or worse—erasing too much by accident. The less there is to remove, the lower the chance something goes wrong.^"
The Dartrix chewed through Aria's words for a moment before nodding with a slump. It wasn't fair; she just wanted to help and give the poor human some friendship, but she couldn't even do that.
"^It's rough. I know, sweetie. It's still very nice of you to offer that, though. And, who knows, maybe once you're older and your mom lets you fly all the way over to the human village, you'll find her there and become her friend then?^"
It was certainly a Farfetch'd theoretical, but hardly impossible. It lifted Blossom's spirits up a bit, but also left her nervous in a way that Aria wanted to follow up on—only for the owlet to speak up first. "Yeah! I hope I'll be able to do that... um, where are you taking her things, anyway?"
"We are moving them to Mikiri's burrow for storage," Ori explained.
That made sense—if there was anyone who knew how to handle human things, it was Mikiri.
But if there was anyone who knew how to break human things, it was also Mikiri. And after one too many accidental fires her tinkering had started, Blossom knew better than to get too close to her cobbled deathtrap of a burrow.
"Oh, I hope it goes well! U-um, I have to go now!"
Wasting no more time for politeness, Blossom took off in the exact direction away from their destination. Aria only barely held in a chuckle at overhearing her thought process. She had to admit the owlet's concern wasn't baseless though, growing antsy as they neared the burrow.
The structure itself escaped simple description.
It was massive compared to other dwellings in the village, embedded into the side of a large hill, and made of equal parts mud, stone, brick, wood, and several of those weird wavy metal plates that humans occasionally littered the woods with. It was chaos, but—to the best of everyone's knowledge—it was at least somewhat controlled chaos.
And currently, a very loudly rumbling chaos.
The scouts glanced at each other before Ori knocked on the oversized door—at least relative to the inhabitant's actual size. The noise ceased shortly afterwards, the silence soon followed by heavy shuffling and quick steps toward the patchwork door. Mikiri stepped out right away, looking up at the unexpected visitors.
Her eyes and a good chunk of her front face were covered by something neither of the two scouts recognized. Black, reflective, and vastly oversized eye coverings, with thin extensions that wrapped around her head, kept in place with some string. Her front mouth might've expressed the words 'what now' without even needing to speak, but that changed the moment she noticed the contraption on Ori's shoulder. She wasted no time on greetings, calling out right away, "That! Gimme that!"
"^Mikiri, these aren't for you to toy with.^"
The Mawile was about to protest, only forcing herself to stop because of not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to at least inspect a non-corroded instance of that particular human contraption. One deep breath later, she spoke more calmly, eye coverings still on her face, "Alrighty. What's all this then?"
"^I take you've already heard of the human ending up in—^"
"Human? What human?" Mikiri's head and maw alike tilted to the side, both left slightly agape as she waited for an explanation.
"You have not gone out today yet, Mikiri, have you."
"Nah Ori, not until I get that dumb mess inside to stop getting stuck every few minutes, just can't get these dumb gears to align right, ugh! But that's all besides—what human? A useful one?"
"^A young girl that almost died on the outskirts of our village tonight, and is now in the healers' tent until she recovers,^" Aria answered, chilling the Mawile's enthusiasm significantly. Both because it was just a messed up situation, and because she doubted someone in that state could explain a few trinkets she had been wondering about. And that was assuming Aria would even facilitate such a conversation in the first place.
Which sure didn't sound likely with how stern her expression was.
"That's... rough. What about this thing then? Is it hers?"
"^Yes, it is. But we're not moving it here for you to take it apart, but because... *sigh*, there isn't exactly anywhere else where all that'd fit, so we now ask you to keep an eye on it in your workshop.^"
"And trust you not to meddle with it."
Both scouts thought an unspoken 'too much' afterwards.
Getting to inspect a less-broken example of the contraption she'd been curious about for a while for the price of just using up some space in her oversized burrow? A deal she'd take any day, even if it limited her ability to take the device apart and figure out what makes it tick. Hopefully, she'd at least be able to figure out its purpose. "Hmmmmm—deal. What's all the other stuff and why does it smell of blood?"
"These are her other belongings. A bag of clothes and a couple other items, and the clothes she was wearing at the time of her accident."
"...why so many clothes?"
"^Why are you wearing this thing on your face?^"
Aria couldn't wait with the pressing question any longer. Mikiri blinked in confusion before remembering that there, in fact, was something on her front face. She reached behind her head to untie the string that held the object in place before holding it up. "Helps a ton with sun glare. Or when welding metal. Or when stuff messes up and there's a ton of sparks everywhere. No clue what it actually is—looks cool, at least."
Mikiri underlined the last point by putting the eye covers back on and re-tying the string behind her front head as she led her guests in. The inside was unusually well lit by her standards; the sunroof opened up all the way.
Most of the space on the inside was taken up by a massive mess of gears, rust-covered metal ones and makeshift-looking wood ones alike, all connected to a grindstone in an arrangement Aria knew better than to even attempt to understand. The only part that she could figure out was a crank at the side of it all, placed high enough that it required a small ladder next to it just for the Mawile to reach it.
"Just drop it off in the back. Though, I gotta ask, what's up with that bag? Not seeing any openings there."
Despite the sheer cool factor of her eye coverings, Mikiri couldn't deny them being rather cumbersome to use in the dimmer parts of her burrow. She blinked a couple times as she took them off, holding them by the side extension in her maw as she inspected the pile of human stuff.
"There is a peculiar mechanism within it. It requires one to grab the loose part and pull it across the metal seam," Ori explained, intriguing the metal fairy. She did as instructed, eyes going wide at the ease with which the formerly hole-less bag was opened. She experimented a few times by opening and closing it slowly while paying close attention to the lines of metal teeth on the sides of the seam. Her hands and maw itched for more tinkering—
…
She didn't even have to look up at Aria to know the Gardevoir wouldn't be approving of any tinkering. With a dejected sigh, she zipped the bag closed once more, half groaning and half asking, "You sure you can't let that human stay just so that I can take a proper look at their stuff?"
"^Only if you house her here, keep her safe and content, keep her from escaping, and fend off all the dozens of humans that will come in search of her.^"
"You're driving a hard bargain there Aria, but I might just—"
She might not have been even tangentially related to any Ice types, but Aria's glare was very good at freezing people in their tracks, especially when backed by a subtle, yet firm expression of 'this isn't funny'.
"You're a killjoy, Aria."
"^Better to be a killjoy than to even consider letting us all do something we're more than likely to really regret. I'm already dreading when the first of their 'search party' will show up, though Lucere will at least inform us of that when it happens.^"
"Something tells me you and your brother won't have too much of an issue leading a couple clueless humans astray when that happens," Mikiri chuckled.
"^Maybe not the first time, no, but that same something tells me they won't give up after just one search. Sooner or later, they'll force themselves here no matter what we do. Hopefully, the girl is off our hands long before that can happen.^"
"Then why not just dump her back on their doorstep and not have to worry about any of that? Y'know, return to sender and all that."
"She is much too badly injured for that," Ori explained.
"^That and because she almost died while running for her life away from something or someone, and until we can figure out what it is, we'd rather not leave her in certain danger.^"
Well, shoot.
Mikiri rocked in place as her every idea was shot down, finally drained of enough fixated momentum to actually think things through. She sure wasn't arriving at anything reassuring, whistling to herself before admitting the obvious, "Sounds like you've got a big ol' bloody mess on your hands."
Both scouts could only sigh and nod in response. This was way too much to think about on an empty stomach this late in the morning.
"Well—don't let me hold you up then. You gotta do what you gotta do to keep this whole place safe and all, and hopefully it won't include a humanling kicking the bucket in all this mess."
But if she does, dibs on all this stuff.
Aria was about to scold Mikiri for that thought, but after the emotional rollercoaster of this morning, she couldn't help but burst into giggling at just how abruptly morbid it was. All the while, Ori was looking at her with visible concern.
"^Pffft, can't promise anything, but hopefully it won't come to that, anyway. Take care, Mikiri.^"
"Ha, and you best don't go mad over all this—someone's gotta keep your brother in check from getting too annoying!"
Truly, her most important duty.
With a light stretch of their limbs, the pair of scouts left the spacious burrow, Aria's mental reach closing the door behind them. Their village was quickly getting to its busiest, the winter sun already close to its zenith.
"Breakfast?" Ori asked.
"^Right away. My stomach is already screaming at me.^"
The Scizor didn't have to be told twice, his steps as brisk as possible as they took off towards the pantry as Aria levitated beside him. A direct Teleport would've gotten her there even faster, but would also leave her exhausted before even noon.
And the little of the future she could intuit told her today's mess was nowhere near over.
"Do you think humans can eat Holly's cooking?"
The robotic words took the Gardevoir out of her thoughts; the topic unlike the Scizor. "^Considering she told me a decent chunk of her cooking was inspired by human recipes she'd heard about, I'd guess so.^"
"How does the idea of saving some for the girl once she wakes up sound, then?"
"^Hah, a welcome gift?^"
"It appears to me that it would help her recover sooner. Nobody has ever not felt better after having some of Holly's food."
Ain't that the truth.
"Yeah, good call, Ori."
The intensifying aroma of freshly baked goods, combined with the rumbling in their stomachs, encouraged the two scouts to keep at their haste. After one last turn, the pantry finally came into view—larger than anything nearby, built with brick upon a stone foundation, extending a floor underground, and doubling as Holly's dwelling.
Only barely sturdy enough to contain the cook herself.
If not for the morning rush having already passed some time ago, Lumi would likely still have been waiting in the queue for their portions. Then again, with how chatty the Azumarill was, she would have probably offered them a shortcut through the queue in return for a scoop on the topic the entire village was buzzing about.
Not like that hasn't happened in the past.
To their relief, Lumi had already waited his turn. He was busy going through his own portion as he laid beside the pantry's counter, keeping guard of his coworkers' meals. The kitchen's ambient heat helped keep them warm, but it only did so much.
Even a lukewarm breakfast beat no breakfast, and Aria wasted no time levitating their portions over, catching the Luxray's attention while he was busy stretching and discharging into the snowy ground. "Got Mikiri under control?"
"^As much as anyone can hope to, yes.^"
"So, not at all?"
Aria rolled her eyes as her and Ori's portions arrived into her physical reach, letting them finally sate their hunger. After swapping them, of course. A metal scrap reinforced roll would likely... not go along too well with her fairy physiology.
As they bit into their meals, the cook herself noticed their arrival. A drawn out whistle caught their attention as they were waved over; the Azumarill standing on her toe tips on top of a stool to make sure they noticed her.
It was incredibly hard not to notice, and that applied to Holly's presence in general.
"Oi! Grumpypaws here wouldn't say anything about the whole affair, but I know you two were there too. Get to spillin'!" Holly commanded as she opened the front counter of the bakery and placed a stool in the snow to sit on and stare at the scouts expectantly from.
"I imagine an appropriate place to start from is to ask how much have you heard already," Ori responded. As disappointed as her was at being unable to dodge the cook's gossipy questioning, he figured he could at least skip some of it by not being redundant.
"A whole lot of nonsense is what I've heard. Human in the healers' tent, and then everyone tells the rest of it differently. I need the truth, babes, and only the truth."
Guess they wouldn't be skipping anything after all.
"^Well, to be more accurate, a human girl—^"
"Wait wait wait, you mean just a young'un?" Holly cut in, eyes narrowing. A firm nod confirmed her suspicions, genuinely surprising her—something rarely seen from her. "Well, I'll be damned. So a kid got themselves messed up enough to need our help bad enough to get taken in, eh? That's... poor thing."
"^Yes, it's awful. Especially since it looks like she was running away from something, or someone—^"
"Wait a bloody minute, a kid running for her life? Don't they literally have a town a couple of hours from here?"
"That is where she came from, to the best of our knowledge," Ori clarified.
The Azumarill silently mouthed out something that was probably obscenities before shaking her head, eyes wide at the insanity of it all. "So what, did a bloody Tyranitar just stroll in there and level the place!? Why would she be running!?"
"^We just don't know yet. I'll have to dig into it deeper, just not today to spare her any more stress.^"
"Can't y'all send someone over to check up on their town in the meantime? This—this makes no sense!" Holly shouted.
"If something destructive had happened to their town, I would expect to see a lot more than a single child try to flee from there," Ori said.
"^That, and from what I could make out, it felt like she was running from another human and not a mon or some sort of natural disaster. If it was the latter, we'd probably feel it over here too.^"
"Not like we have the spare manpower to watch their weird settlement, either."
Lumi's addition in particular shut down Holly's idea. This was the one time where they really couldn't afford to divert anyone from their regular scouting duties, not with the heightened risk of humans sending their own reconnaissance. The Azumarill pondered through it all for an approximate three seconds before groaning in frustration. From the outside, it sounded like an absolute mess, and even her hyperactive brain couldn't figure any of it out. "Whoever hurt her best sleep lightly—if I ever get my paws on them, I'll make them fear water alright."
With the assorted grumbling and smacking of her bulbous tail against the snow, Holly was done venting her anger out. Now that her anger had been dealt with, it was time to switch gears into something actually constructive. "And until then, might as well make her something nice. Now what do humans like..."
"Cruelty?"
Lumi's badly timed joke was rewarded with his head becoming surrounded in a shimmering aura before being forced down, planting into the snow.
"^She's unconscious, so preferably something that can be reheated without too much difficulty, and can last a couple of days. And... thanks, Holly. We meant to ask you earlier if you could do something like this, make something for her once she wakes up.^"
Holly scoffed at that, flicking her wrist limply. She couldn't keep a prideful smile from creeping onto her expression for too long, though. "Babes, babes, thought you knew me better than this—of course I'll cook for anyone who needs their stomach filled, that's hardly even a question. I'm already itching with ideas... Salac to give her a kick of energy once she's back up, Pecha to help fight off any disease, Kasib for flavor... oh oh oh am I loving it already. Now, you three!"
The Azumarill's sudden call startled the scouts, stopping them in their tracks as the cook picked her stool up and moved it back into the pantry. She almost dove into more cooking there and then, before remembering to follow up, "Enjoy your meals! And good luck with your duties, not like y'all need it, hah! Keep safe."
With their portions wrapped up, the scouts departed for their duties shortly afterwards.
A couple of Agilities let Aria get to the area she patrolled relatively quickly, and without exerting her too much. 'Too' was definitely the load-bearing word in that sentence, but she could keep sensing for nearby humans while catching her breath.
Most of the time, her shifts were uneventful. The forest in which their village was located might've been sandwiched in between two human settlements—one of which was very sizable—but very few humans ever ventured close enough to be of any danger. They tended to stick to that neat, straight path of theirs, and even then it saw maybe a couple of humans a day, if that.
Still, they had to remain ever vigilant. If even one human had learned the truth and walked away with it, the rest would inevitably know too before long.
And once that happened, they were doomed.
Aria remembered thinking that humans were some sort of collective organism, back when she first wound up here. Her mentor had to explain to her that wasn't the case, which only confused her even more. At least, until he offered an alternate explanation—there were just too many humans to handle.
Their village had somewhere around two to three hundred souls the last time they counted. The larger of the nearby human settlements, however, had thousands upon thousands. Even if very few of them enslaved Pokemon for fighting, many others still had access to those terrifying 'balls' of theirs. More than enough, taken together, to leave them horribly outmatched—and that's without taking reinforcements into account.
For as large as that nearby town was, it paled compared to humanity's largest. The sheer scale of the human world made Aria's head spin whenever she attempted to comprehend any of it.
To her chagrin, this wouldn't end up being another day of steadily patrolling between a couple of abandoned human structures without ever spotting anyone. Shivers ran down her spine after spotting a distinctively human aura in the distance, snapping her away from pondering and back to reality.
Sneaking up on people was much easier than she had thought it'd be growing up.
Full invisibility, while possible, was difficult and draining to maintain. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary most of the time—all she needed to do was to make herself hard to notice and most living beings, mons or humans alike, grew almost completely blind to her presence. Their eyes would just glaze right over where she was whenever she had accidentally made a noise.
Though, just to be sure, she mentally reached over and blocked all stimuli coming from her as well. The goal was to redirect them without them ever consciously noticing, her typing awarding her that leg up above most of the other scouts. Her brother and Cypress could also confuse them in into leaving, but everyone else had to resort to intimidation.
Which—while just as effective in the moment, no doubt—always carried the risk of drawing further attention down the line. Especially when done by a scout whose species didn't live here natively.
Part of why Ori only handled wildlings that tried to predate on them. That, and he just really wasn't good at being threatening beyond his sheer size, tried as he might.
The human Aria had snuck up on seemed to be there on their own. Any companions wouldn't have been much of an issue for her either—unless they were Dark-type, of course. After making sure they weren't able to see, hear, or otherwise perceive her at all, she dove into their surface thoughts, the human stopping to look around at the sudden sensation of being watched.
The immediate good news was that this human had nothing to do with Anne.
The slightly worse news was that she was a 'birdwatcher', and that she was venturing over in the approximate direction of their village in order to get 'photos' of the Rowlet family after hearing of them being here. Aria had no idea what some of that meant, but the Rowlet part was clear, at least.
Clear and odd—Sprout was much better than to ever let herself get spotted by whoever she was observing. Sigh, Blossom has been getting out there on her own, hasn't she? Something to bring up once she was back. And in the meantime—
"^There aren't any Rowlet in these woods. Whoever told you that made it up.^" Aria spoke telepathically; her mental utterances were much more so commands than words. A light form of Hypnosis let her steer the human's thoughts without them ever realizing anything was afoul. "^There's nothing to see here. Also, you... forgot about a 'stove' back home.^"
She wasn't sure whether that suggestion would accomplish much beyond confusing the human further. Most of the concepts she dredged up from their mind were only partial at best.
*GASP!*
Well, it looked like her idea worked almost too well. The human turned around on a dime, breaking into the fastest panicked jog they could manage with such a heavy bag bouncing on their back. That went smoothly, thank gods—
"Aria, Aria!" The bird cries filled the woods, loud enough for Aria to worry about the human doubling back to investigate them. Before she could do anything about it, though, Lucere perched on a nearby branch and continued, "The humans are on their way!"
Aria's attention narrowed, "^How many, where, how far along are they?^"
"Two with one mon, slowly following the human path! Lumi is keeping an eye on them!"
"^Where's Marco?^"
"I don't know, I found you first! Though, between the two of us, I trust you more than your brother to handle this with the delicacy it needs…"
As serious as the atmosphere was, Aria couldn't help but chuckle weakly, before relaxing her body for another Agility.
As the Altaria guided her through the forest, Aria couldn't help but keep replaying what she'd seen in Anne's memories to herself. So much of it didn't make a lick of sense, answering almost nothing beyond the girl having ran away from something. Despite her confusion, she still felt protective of the human girl out of reflex, more so than she probably should've been. Guess a child was a child in the end, and wanting to protect those who couldn't protect themselves was her innermost nature.
Even if that child also happened to be human.
Don't worry, Anne, we'll get you back home safely.
"^Lucere?^"
The Gardevoir's call had the Dragon-type dive to fly beside her, easily matching her pace. "Everything alrighty, Aria?"
"^Yes, yes, just… goodness is this entire topic a mess.^"
"Yep yep. Just awful, I hope the healers hurry up!"
"^They're already doing what they can, I'm sure of it.^"
"Hope to bits that's true! We need to get rid of the human before they wake!"
"^It would be the best for our security, yes.^"
"And more~! Nobody wanna deal with an awake human!"
The forcefulness of Lucere's words made Aria raise an eyebrow as she ran through the nondescript woods. She wasn't aware of the Altaria having had any particular experiences with humanity in the past, but it was always a possibility. "^Why so?^"
"Oh, you know! They're awful and think of us as dirt! They hate us; why wouldn't we do the same?"
It certainly was an interesting conjecture, based almost entirely on concentrated 'trust me'. A part of Aria doubted that she'd get anything out of this discussion at all, but figured she could at least push it a bit further and see what reasoning the Altaria had for her claim. "^And why would that be, you think?^"
"Oh, Aria, we and humans are different! Everyone hates difference when it's this big!"
Now that was a much more concrete, and yet much broader reason. It also made Aria immediately call nonsense, but the last thing she wanted to do right now was engage in an argument with her coworker.
Especially since they were finally coming up on where Lumi had been waiting for them.
The Gardevoir gradually undid her Agility as she slowed down, trying her hardest to keep her breathing quiet. She then put up a small Safeguard for them all, making Lumi step down from the small hill overlooking the bespoke human path and bring the other two up to speed. "Two humans with a leashed Growlithe. They're following the trail that the crashed human left behind themselves," Lumi said matter-of-factly, keeping his snark down for the time being.
"^Any chance they're just using the same path and not following her?^"
"Very doubtful. It seems they're having the Growlithe track the human's scent. Came close to picking mine up a couple times earlier."
That settled it, leaving Aria no other choice than to get in there herself while hopefully remaining undetected. As she prepared herself for it, though, Lumi followed up, "They're walking very slowly, for some reason." He was no less confused than Aria at hearing that, the bewilderment in his voice unlike him.
"Can confirm!"
Lucere's chirped confirmation had the psychic reconsider her plan for a moment. She soon realized that it didn't matter for much, though—sprinting or crawling; their purpose here was clear enough.
As was her need to stop them.
"^Alright. I'll try to follow them, and see if I can put any of this together. Lucere, scout along the path towards their town to see whether any reinforcements are on the way. Lumi, be on your guard in case I'll need backup.^"
"Okie-dokie!" / "Aye aye."
Once the Altaria flew off, Aria got to work. With a deep breath, she extended her mental reach; sensing and effortlessly breaching into the three minds on the other side of the hill. Once that was done, she approached them, keeping a close eye on their appearance as she scanned their surface thoughts.
Their outfits were very bulky, making them look much larger than they would have otherwise. Almost all their clothes were an almost black shade of blue—thick jackets, leg coverings, large belts with a multitude of pouches. The only exception was a sleeveless garment on their upper half, colored a very… unusual kind of yellow. On it were a couple of stripes and an unknown human symbol, possibly writing, made of a reflective silver material.
As many layers as they wore, though, noticing how cold they felt wasn't exactly a feat. Aria was eternally grateful at how much more effective the thin Safeguard sheen surrounding her body was at keeping her warm compared to human clothing, even if the result was still only just bearable. The bulk of the Gardevoir's attention, however, was placed on someone else.
The Growlithe pup was likely only a couple of years old at most. They constantly kept trying to outrun the reach of their leash, the jolts of pain every time they tried to do what they were supposed to—follow the scent—clear to sense.
In any other circumstances, Aria would have seriously considered teaching the humans a lesson, or at least giving the lil' Fire-type some much-needed reprieve. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that this time.
Not with so much at stake.
To her dismay, the group remained silent for a while. Aria cursed herself for ending up just late enough for them to have wrapped up their previous conversation topic.
Right as she was preparing to dive deeper into their thoughts the hard way, though, the Growlithe perked up in her direction. Fortunately, their human handlers didn't immediately get the significance of that—
"~What is it now?~" the human voice snarled, their voice gravely and unamused as they glanced over their shoulder. All they could see were snow and trees, making them grumble at the puppy.
Even if their handlers' senses were too limited to spot her, the Growlithe's most definitely weren't. The little one tried to bolt towards her, only to find themselves thrashing against the limits of their leash.
"~Get back here, you dumb fucking dog,~" the second human muttered in exasperation, hangover tainting their words and actions alike. They yanked at the Fire-type's leash out of spite to get back at them as Aria ensured the puppy couldn't smell her anymore.
"~Even it's going nuts at this pointless shit.~"
The second human chuckled at the remark, breaking into a harsh cough before shaking it off with a low groan.
"~It's just a straight path, isn't it?~" the first human asked.
"~It is!~"
"~So why the fuck do we have to track that kid all the way over to Lillywood!?~"
"~Fuck if I know!~"
"~Of course that bitch is in Lillywood, where fucking else. C'mon, let's get back, write it in and be done with it.~"
As unenthused as the second human was at them being here to begin with, such a blatant disregard for procedure made them pause and second guess themselves. They looked over at the unending path ahead and back at the other human, Growlithe yanking at the leash in their hands all the while. "~You sure?~"
"~Didn't look hard enough is what it is, not our fucking problem.~"
The second human was quite unnerved by that. They were torn between being eager to turn tail and get back to warmth, and genuinely concerned about the remote possibility that some dumb kid got themselves hurt on a straight stretch of path.
"~Besides—the fuck is her bum mother gonna do, throw a bottle at us?~" the first voice chuckled under their breath.
"~What about Tom?~"
"~What about him!?~"
The non-answer left the second human speechless for a moment, before they finally relented with a quiet 'yeah'. The two humans turned around, leaving the Fire-type beside them thrashing against their leash before one stronger yank finally made them obey with a painful whine.
As stunned as Aria was at that entire sequence of events, this one she wouldn't let slide. Suddenly, the human holding the leash lost their footing, falling face first onto the snow-covered dirt. The first human offered only snark, "~Speaking of bottles, you'd do well to skip on one or two.~"
"~Shut the fuck up, ugh—no idea how I even slipped there.~"
As the second human picked themselves back up, Aria backed off towards Lumi. Her expression was as flat as it ever got as the Luxray spoke with appreciation, "Nice work. As far as I'm concerned, that asshole deserved worse, but I'll take what I can get."
"^I didn't do anything.^"
Aria's quiet admission caught Lumi off guard, leaving him unsure how to interpret that. "What do you mean?"
"^They backed off on their own. All I did was trip one of them over.^"
"They did? Why—were they not looking for the girl after all?"
"^They were, it's... I-I don't know. They were searching for Anne, but then at some point, they just... didn't want to bother anymore. Decided to go back and lie that she had made it to the town on the other end of the path.^"
"That's..." Lumi mumbled, speechless. Sure, his expectations for humanity were already nonexistent, but this was somehow even more loathsome than anything he could've imagined. Despicable as it was, though, it still left questions.
"Are they just not gonna search for her anymore?"
"^It would seem so. They mentioned something about her mother maybe doing that, but weren't taking that idea seriously either.^"
"Humans just keep finding ways to sink even lower, eh?"
"^I don't know if I can even argue with that, I...^" Aria grasped for words, unable to find any.
"Take your time, Aria. At least this threat is averted. I'll spread the news so we're all on the same page."
"^Good call, thanks Lumi. And,^" she followed up, the words catching the Luxray right as he was about to storm out. Light blue arcs of electricity jumped around his fur as he looked over his shoulder, ready to take off. "^Let's meet again at the healers' tent, tomorrow morning.^"
"Gonna dig through more memories after all?"
"^Not sure if there's a way to avoid that anymore, I'm afraid.^"
"Hah. Sure thing—take it easy today."
Much as Aria didn't want Lumi to end up being right in the end, she didn't see any other way out of this mess. She was left alone with her thoughts as she watched him head out, the winter cold stinging harder than ever. The sheer attitude with which these people had treated not just a missing one of theirs, but a missing child, was harrowing.
Was that just how humans were deep down?
She sure hadn't felt anything near this despicable from her previous interactions with them, their minds not too different from her own. But these two… Aria had no idea whether they were uniquely horrible, or if that was humanity's true nature. Her soul kept trying to convince her it was the former, but her mind couldn't shake all the doubt off.
Who knows—maybe the potential for that kind of indifferent cruelty lied in her, too. She couldn't imagine herself ever acting like that, the mere idea so against everything that made her a Gardevoir, against everything that made her… her, that it made her feel ill.
That didn't mean it was impossible, of course.
What Aria knew for sure, though, was that after several hours of thoughts running in circles around that topic and ultimately getting nowhere, the only thing she wanted to do was to go home and fill her soul with something warmer.
If there was one part of winter that Aria liked, it was the much shorter scouting shifts.
Nothing stopped humans from sneaking over in the dark, of course, but very few were foolish enough to attempt that even in the summer. Sprout could count all the instances where she had to actually give some potential intruders a scare on her talons over her many years of scouting. After what she'd witnessed earlier today, Aria doubted any humans would come looking for Anne overnight.
Or ever again, for that matter.
Thankfully, she wouldn't have to think about that unpleasant subject for much longer. A smile crept to her face as she beelined for the entrance to the large burrow, under a larger hill, under an even larger oak that crowned its peak.
Her home.
As puny, downright miserly, as the wooden door at its front was, the light flowing out of the gaps between it and its frame gave its homeliness away. Aria closed her eyes and undid her Safeguard as she stepped in and made her way down these familiar, worn steps, the warmth and pleasant smells making her shudder.
"Good evening, honey," her husband spoke, his voice harsh, bestial, angry even—to an untrained ear, at least. Aria knew, however, that this was his happy voice. His species left him with an unfortunately limited vocal range, and what he had of it came off as intimidating for many. His face suffered from the same issue, the always-visible fangs especially unnerving in a vacuum.
"Hey, sweetie."
Regardless of how he sounded to strangers, Aria knew the person underneath the demonic Grimmsnarl facade well enough to be as comfortable around him as she got. She walked over with a dreamy expression and let him pull her into a gentle, warm embrace as he worked on the dinner. "Long day?"
"Very."
The squirmy sensation of his individual hairs moving around was equal parts ticklish and comforting. Aria let herself get moved and held even closer, nuzzling into her husband's shoulder.
A part of Garret wanted to ask about the murmurs about a human in their village he'd heard earlier, but there was no need to rush. His head leaned on hers as they basked in the hearth's warmth, the Gardevoir's lithe body getting warmed up fast.
"Smells delicious."
"Thank you~. Holly's advice never fails, hah."
"Indeed, it does not. She recommended some new ingredients?"
"Spices! A bit less pepper, a bit more salt, and to try out a bay leaf or two. Aroma wise I have no complaints so far, and I doubt the flavor is gonna disappoint us either."
"Nothing you ever make is~."
It was hard to spot a blush on the fiercely green skin of his cheeks, making knowing how to do so feel extra special to Aria. Her tired smile grew wider as she allowed herself to close her eyes and focus on all the other, more pleasant stimuli. Though, as she focused more on her psychic senses, something unusual became apparent. "Where's everyone?"
As much as she appreciated some peace and quiet after a long day, Aria wasn't used to seeing her dwelling be so calm after dark. She sensed a couple of minds playing in an adjacent room, and had a very good idea of who they were, but that still left a few heads absent.
"I know Cadence and mom went out to grab something, haven't seen Marco all day, Bell and Elric—"
Before he could finish, the door to the kids' room flung open, a pink blur scrambling out of it right away. His every motion filled the burrow with rattling noises as he was being persistently, yet futilely, chased by a teeny Ralts. The lil' psychic's best efforts only earned him laughter from the Gligar as the bat kept shaking the rattle in his tail's grasp, making the Ralts try even harder. The Ralts' glow surrounded the toy before it was inevitably yanked out of his mental grip again and again, pushing him to frustration. "Give it back!"
As amused as the bat was at the situation, his smile washed from his face the moment he saw the tyke's mom having made her way back. Her unamused expression told it all, distracting the Gligar for long enough for the Ralts to finally yank the rattle out of his tail's grip.
"Elriiiic..."
"I'm sorry Mrs. Aria, I-I just got carried away with it—" the Gligar tried to explain himself, pincers clicking in anxiety.
"I know, I know, you're not in trouble, sweetie. I just want you to be careful and know when to stop so that it's fun for you both," Aria explained with a tired smile. She couldn't even pretend to be upset at any of this, especially now that Bell had gone from frustrated to happy at reclaiming his toy. He excitedly waved it around as he ran around the room—before finally spotting his mom having made it back home.
"Mommy!"
"Hey Bell~."
The tyke giggled in glee as his mom psychic'd him into her arms and held him close. Aria's tired expression softened as she looked back at the Gligar. The last thing she wanted was to make the boy think he was in trouble, moving her little one off to one arm and outstretching the other one for a hug.
Elric accepted the invitation right away, flying over and clinging onto Garret's arm as he let the Gardevoir provide some well-needed affection. "Sorry..."
"It's okay Elric, it's okay. Bell really likes you—right, Bell?"
"Yeah!" the Ralts squeaked out, filling everyone else with warmth, and especially his bat friend.
"I-I'm glad."
"I just don't want that to change because you went too far by accident."
"H-he's not angry at me, right?"
"Oh no, not at all. Just something to keep in mind for the future," Aria smiled, stroking the back of Elric's head as the last of his worries left him. "You've already grown up a lot this winter, you know? Your dad is gonna be really proud of you once he wakes back up."
The comment did wonders at lifting the bat's spirits back up as he held onto his temporary guardians. He knew it'd be at least a month more before his dad would snap out of his hibernation, but that didn't stop him from checking on him every morning, just in case.
"Y-you think?"
"Absolutely, Elric! I remember how scared you were the last winter, and look at you now, you're taking it like a champ!" Garret said, fueling the Gligar's fluster as he settled into the affection, the dinner getting wrapped up in the meantime.
"Thank you, Mr. Garret..."
Comfy as the scene was, Aria realized it'd get even comfier soon. She let go of her husband and carefully lowered both kids down on the floor before instructing them, "Everyone's on their way, let's lay things out for dinner~."
"Yes, ma'am!" Elric chirped before swooping to grab a handful of wooden bowls while Aria pulled the short table from the corner to the center of the chamber. She then whisked a few pillows from her bedroom and laid them around; some of the Whimsicott fluff leaking out of the slowly tattering fabric.
Bell helped by clapping and squeaking at the sight of so much motion happening around him.
They got done with the preparations just in time, the front door opening right as Elric set down the final spoon. Before the gust of icy wind could chill the atmosphere in the burrow, Cadence reignited it by excitedly running down the stairs and shouting, "Mom mom mom is it true with the human!?"
"Cadence sweetie, one thing at a time," the Indeedee behind her chided.
"Okay, grandma!"
The Kirlia-shaped bundle of energy bounced into the kids' room to drop her scarf off before running back over to her mom. "Is it true, mom!?"
"What's true?" Bell asked confusedly, looking up at his sister and her red cheeks.
Cadence groaned under her breath at him not following along and answered, "The human!"
"Human?"
"We can talk about it over dinner sweeties, now get yourself seated," Aria instructed, catching the tykes' attention.
"Okay, mommy!" / "Okay mom!" / "Okay ma'am!"
Aria chuckled at the three squeaky voices responding nearly simultaneously before they took their seats. The Gardevoir lowered herself onto the pillow next to Bell as her mother-in-law took a seat beside Cadence. Right as they did, the final missing member of the family made his way back home, the Gallade's expression even more focused than usual.
"Evening Marco, something on your mind?" Aria asked, making her brother chuckle—the subject of his thoughts was obvious enough. He knew better than to rush that topic ahead of dinner, sitting down as Garret carried the entire pot of stew over to the table with one arm.
With the portions getting handed out, the wooden spoons got to work—Bell's under his mom's careful watch. As the rich flavor rejuvenated the family's bodies, Autumn noted her son's tweak in his recipe, "^Hmm. More salt this time?^"
As used as the Indeedee might have been to mentally communicating with her Dark-type son, she couldn't deny that it grew more difficult as the years kept coming. No matter how hard Garret tried to lower his mental guard around his family—letting them link up to him in the first place—doing so remained incomparably harder than linking up with anyone else.
Thankfully, this was just a fallback—spoken language was more than sufficient most of the time. It didn't stop Autumn from feeling down at the realization of just how much her abilities were slipping by the season, though.
"Mhm! Holly's recommendation."
For a few solid minutes, the only sounds filling the burrow were the scraping of wood on wood. Even Cadence waited until she was done through most of her portion before bringing the talk of the day back up, "^Is it true with the human, mom?^"
"^You'll have to be more specific than that, sweetie.^"
"^Is there really a human in our village?^"
"^Yes, yes there is.^"
As obviously true as the news was to her, Aria saw her husband, her mother-in-law, and the boy her family watched over all pause at the revelation. Their eyes went wide at the incredulous rumor being confirmed; Cadence squeaked giddily,"^Eeeee—what's their name? Are they scary? Can I meet—^"
"^Cadeeeence.^"
"^Sorry grandma.^"
"^Don't be sorry sweetie, just take your time. Your mom isn't running anywhere, and neither are we. Now—what was that with the human Aria?^"
The Gardevoir chuckled at the elderly Indeedee's barely veiled enthusiasm, emptying her bowl as she continued, "^Her name is Anne. Sprout found her before dawn. She had gotten hurt near the human road to the east, and was in a very rough state.^"
"^Ooooh... was she mean to someone so they hurt her—^"
"^No sweetie, no, it was an accident.^"
"^How come she was there in the middle of the night in the first place?^"
"^That is a very good question, Autumn,^" Marco spoke with a knowing tone, catching his sister's attention. The two locked eyes as the rest of the table ate on, switching to communicating directly without anyone else overhearing.
"^Do you know something more about it?^" Aria asked.
"^Followed the trail back to their town while you dealt with the group they sent. I think I even know which building it started from.^"
"^Any finds there?^"
"^Whole place reeked of spoiled wine and looked ransacked. It was just that single building, though.^"
Aria had no idea about just how significant that find was, but it didn't sound pretty in the slightest. She nodded deeply before asking, "^Found anyone there?^"
"^Regrettably, no. The whole place had a miserable aura, and there was a lot of human attention around it, so I didn't stay long.^"
"^Makes sense. Could her family be ostracized in their own town?^"
"^Not impossible, but... something tells me that's not quite it.^"
The Gardevoir nodded as she continued with her meal; the mystery refusing being neatly answered—or even having any meaningful progress done with it. Seems she would have to have a sweep through Anne's memories after all—
"^What are you two chatting abooooout~?^" Cadence chimed in, unable to resist at seeing her mom and uncle talking covertly for any longer.
Marco chuckled in response, while Aria answered vaguely enough to not be lying. "^Scouting stuff.^"
"Are other humans looking for her?" Elric asked, his words making both siblings glance at him and nod simultaneously.
Marco picked up the slack of explaining it this time, "^They sent a search party earlier today, but Aria diverted them.^"
"^Not even. It was...^"
By the time Aria realized she'd spilled more than she should have, the entire table's attention was already on her—including Marco, apparently out of the loop about what had happened earlier that day. Ultimately, there was no real reason to keep secretive about all this beyond it just being… upsetting.
"^They just backed out on their own, didn't want to bother. Treated the whole thing more like a nuisance rather than a search for a lost child.^"
"^A child!?^" Autumn shouted, taken aback in a mix of disbelief, worry, and outright disgust. Her thoughts and attention kept glancing over to her adoptive son, something deep inside her refusing to accept such a vile state of things.
"^Yes, she's a child. Around Cadence's age from what Esther told us.^"
"^To get treated like that by one's own kin...^"
"^Can we visit her, mom?^" Cadence asked. Aria considered her request more than Blossom's earlier in the day, but only just. As unnerving as Anne's circumstances already were and kept growing, it wasn't like they could just send visits to her freely.
Sooner or later, they'd figure out what had happened to her and get her home, safe and sound.
"^No sweetie, we don't want her to know she's here. Besides, she's still comatose, so it'd be a very one-sided visit,^" Aria explained. Her response deflated all three kids, even if Bell didn't quite grasp everything being discussed. He may not have understood the significance of the village's unexpected guest, but was disappointed at not being able to visit a potential friend all the same.
"^But that's just mean! She's here on her own and hurt, she'll be so scared when she wakes up!^" Cadence pleaded.
"^I—I know, sweetie. We'll have to figure something out if that happens while she's still here, but we're not doing this to be mean, I promise. We just want to keep you all safe.^"
Aria might've spoken for the scouts as a whole, but she couldn't deny that her daughter's remark got to her in particular. Each new revelation made her increasingly doubtful of whether it would be possible for them to just return Anne back home peacefully. She didn't have any ideas about what they could do instead if the push came to shove, either. It was probably for the best to leave that topic for now, and just hope that things would sort themselves out.
Fortunately, Cadence wasn't privy to her mom's doubts. The lil' Kirlia sighed as she tried to accept the explanation at face value. She didn't fully believe it, but knew she wasn't gonna be getting anything different.
The rest of the family dinner passed on mostly silence, only occasionally interrupted by the more mundane, daily topics. Aria kept quiet throughout, her mind busy churning through all the uncomfortable facts on her own. She was the first to excuse herself back to her and Garret's room once she'd wrapped her portion—she knew she'd need all the rest she could get her hands on before tomorrow's meeting.
Sunroof closed, Will-o'-Wisps extinguished, door shut, Safeguard to muffle the commotion in the living room raised—
Dreams stubbornly not coming.
The harrowing possibility of Anne not having a place to return to swirled around in the Gardevoir's head. It didn't feel too likely—not yet at least—but couldn't be eliminated entirely, especially with the apparently awful state of the building she ran away from. If that truly was the case, deciding her fate would most likely come down to the Elders.
Which didn't exactly fill Aria with confidence.
They wouldn't kill her, but they wouldn't let her stay either, both possibilities equally impossible. Anne would have to be returned to humanity, but who was to say she'd be treated well in the town she came from? Or even in the town at the other end of the woods?
Was there anything they could do to guarantee her safety?
…
…
Aria laid still as she grappled with the question, answers refusing to show themselves. Her husband's eventual arrival helped soothe the worst of her worries, replacing them with his most familiar, most welcome warmth. His soft snores provided a steady rhythm to mimic with her breathing, letting her slowly rein the emotional whirlpool in.
Things would turn out alright. She had nothing concrete to base that hope off, but… she felt it deep inside her all the same. Any details could be hashed out later—for now, she just had to breathe in, and out. And in, and out.
And in, and...
As welcome as her rest was, it had to end eventually. Much earlier than she would've preferred, no less.
The bedroom was completely dark as Aria came to. The sunroof getting opened with her telekinetic reach didn't help either—no sun or moon to be seen; whichever stray starlight there was couldn't illuminate anything at all.
Guess duty called whether the sun was up or not.
The Gardevoir grunted at yesterday's exertion as she slid out of her husband's embrace, the contrast between his warmth and the surrounding chill making her shudder. She remembered to apply her Safeguard just moments before she opened the front door, drowsiness not doing her any favors.
Onward.
Even at night, their village was nowhere near lifeless. A bunch of Dark and Ghost-types were making their way around, greeting her as she passed by. She drew a couple of curious looks, but only by the arguable virtue of being up so ungodly early.
Far from the earliest one around, even for the village's diurnal inhabitants.
"Aria darling, why in the blazes are you up so early!?" Holly's shrill greeting snapped the Gardevoir out of her half-conscious stupor, prompting her to try shaking the remaining tiredness aside as she answered.
"^Scout meeting, we gotta discuss what to do with the human.^"
"Help her, that's what! Speaking of, got around to fixing something for her—oughta get her right back on her legs once she comes to!" Holly said, accentuating her words by slamming the small bundle on the counter with much more force than needed.
A pair of very thick, very buttery pastries weren't the healthiest choice—especially with how sugary they smelled and looked—but if anything would be effective at filling the little one with energy, it'd be that. She wasn't sure what the wooden bottle beside them held—knowing the cook, though; it was her own special blend of sweetened berry juices.
"^Thanks, Holly.^"
"Anytime, darlin'! Same ol' for you?"
"^Same old for me.^"
"Coooomin' up!"
Alas, Aria couldn't deny having a sweet tooth herself—much to her kids' chagrin when she kept nudging them towards heartier meals than Holly's sugary goodies, while herself being no better. Granted, her nutritional needs were much different than—
"Aria."
The low hum accompanying the buzzed-out words clued the Gardevoir as to the speaker. She tried to shake what remained of her worries off before looking to her side, staring the weathered Vespiquen in the eye.
"^Good morning, Liz.^"
"I need the rundown of the human situation."
Aria knew better than to sigh out loud at the understandable question—or to answer it straight. Messy as the situation was, most only cared about one specific angle of it, and the Vespiquen's was very easy to guess from experience.
"^She's approximately this tall, and in a coma. She had extensive damage over the left side of her body, needed a full limb cast. Build similar to mine, apparently similar to Cadence's age mentally. Her items were moved to Mikiri's burrow.^"
Liz stared at nothing as she reached a claw up to drag it along the front of her horns, using the tally marks carved into them for counting. New head to feed was unsurprising, even if everything else about them was unusual. Them being comparably large was a concern, as was their rough state—dressings and salves were a limited resource, after all.
The last remark made her stop dead in her tracks and refocus on Aria, the little she had of an expression growing concerned. "Why there?"
"^Couldn't think of anywhere else with enough space.^"
Mikiri's human know-how was also a contributing factor, but one that would make the Vespiquen quartermaster drop in despair if stated outright.
"Bad choice. Too late to change. Need to ask Lavender and Sol for more dressings."
It'd be nice for the latter to do something productive as opposed to snooping and spreading rumors; Aria wasn't about to disagree with that…
"When will the human be gone?"
The one question everyone was asking themselves, if each for very different reasons.
"^We don't know, I'll let you know once we do.^"
Liz was well aware she wouldn't be getting any further revelations about the human case this early on. She accepted the response with a faint nod and headed off, leaving Aria to endure the rest of the wait until her meal was done.
As the Gardevoir waited, she looked up at the sky; the sight lifting her spirits. Eastern skies were shifting into lighter purples and darker reds by the moment, dimming out the surrounding stars. The sunrise brought with itself as much calm as it did uncertainty.
Before the unnerving topics of the day could worm further into her mind, the bubbly whistle snapped her out of her daze, to the sight of Holly waving her meal around. "There ya go. Pass on good wishes from me over to that kid once she comes to."
"^No guarantee she will today, Holly.^"
"Then tomorrow, or wheneva'—I just want her to know she's got someone in here cheering for her, is all."
Aria forced out a weak smile, picking up both hers and Anne's portions before responding. "^I will, thank you. We'll make sure she's alright.^"
"Oh, I know that, silly. Nursing them back to health ain't the same as treating them friendly though, and that's the thing I'm less certain on."
"^I'll... do what I can to make her feel welcome.^"
"That's the spirit! Now off you go, you have this whole place to keep safe, don't lemme keep ya waitin'!"
For once, Aria wasn't the last one to show up at the healer tent.
The few minutes until Lumi showed up were spent in tense, if somewhat amusing, silence. Aria could feel Ori's hungry attention at Anne's meal, even if he didn't let it get to his expression. Ruby's shifty eyes, constantly trying to force themselves away from the levitating meal, betrayed her focus as well. Sprout looked about one lapse of judgment away from devouring it in an instant.
Once the Luxray had finally arrived, he didn't remain inconspicuous, either. "Lemme guess, that one's for the human?"
"^Indeed~.^"
"Let's get this over with. That smell's gonna drive me insane without anything in me," Ruby grumbled.
"I concur," Ori followed.
Aria rolled her eyes at her coworker's reactions, levitating the bundle into the air before enveloping it in its own Safeguard bubble. The gesture might've dulled the meal's scent, but the associated shimmer only drew more visual attention to a warm meal that others lacked.
"^Let's get to it, then. Any overnight developments, Sprout?^"
"None. Ain't seen any humans tonight, neither on the path nor anywhere else. Heard about what happened with the group they sent yesterday, bloody despicable."
"No better words for it, are there?" Ruby concurred with a growl. She might not have thought of humans as all that different to them in the end, but goddamn if these two made that particularly difficult in the moment.
"^Marco had checked up on their town yesterday. The building the girl's trail originated from looked and smelled absolutely run down.^"
The group grew quieter at that revelation. Their minds all ventured in a similar direction, and not one they were keen on delving deeper into—at least not yet.
"I don't like the sound of that one bit."
"^Me neither, Ruby. I really hope it won't come down to that, but it might be a good idea to figure out what we're gonna do if it turns out her home isn't safe to come back to.^"
"Well, that sounds obvious enough to me! If she doesn't have a safe home outside our village, we give her one here until she can go back to her kin," Sprout said. The rest of the group stared incredulously at her, the idea equal parts obvious and unimaginable. A human in their shelter against humanity?
Was she out of her mind!?
"You can't seriously suggest that, Sprout," the Luxray pleaded, hoping his coworker had simply fired a woefully ill-timed joke.
"I can and I am. She's a battered child, about as dangerous as a Metapod. Denying her safety because of her kin sounds like the kinda things humans do, and we are supposed to be better than them, aren't we!?" the Decidueye raised her voice, leaving everyone in the room feeling uneasy. Most of the group was stuck in a bind between not necessarily disagreeing with what she was saying, but being instinctively opposed to what her words implied.
Eventually, Ori broke the tense silence. "Perhaps it is wise to change the subject for the time being. For all we know, we're just entertaining a blatantly incorrect possibility."
The group took a deeper breath each at that. They all agreed with the Scizor's suggestion at a rational level, but their hearts lied in very different directions about what should happen to the human.
"Aria, you had mentioned investigating further into the human child's memories. Do you still want to attempt that?"
"^Yes Ori, I... yes. It's a good idea to get that done, just so we have a better idea of just what in the world is going on with—^"
AAAAaaa-AAA!
The shrill, hoarse scream coming from the human's room made the entire group's hearts skip a beat. In just a few seconds, it turned into whimpers of pain, accompanied by the sounds of scrambling healers.
Quick clarification on the formatting of the dialogue:
"This is Pokémon speech."
"^This is telepathy.^"
"~This is human speech.~"
Chapter 4: Facade
The sight awaiting the scouts in the human's room was less scary than it was sudden.
The healers tending to them had backed off, unsure how to proceed or what had even caused this outburst. Once Aria stepped into the room, they turned to face her, wordlessly asking for advice.
Advice she wasn't about to give, deciding to intervene directly instead.
Anne's eyes were clenched shut as she shook on the soft bedding, feebly trying to twist her body onto its right side. A cursory check of her thoughts revealed her screams were caused by the pain in her left arm, unceasing even as she quietened into pained whimpers.
Aria's medical expertise was very limited, but she still knew enough to put a Calm Mind to use. Her touch on the cast-wrapped arm numbed the nerves, gently cooling the panic building inside the human child. In just a few moments, Anne's whimpers gave way to quiet gasps, and then deep breaths as pain left her be for now.
"^She was in pain,^" Aria explained, her comment making the Leavanny's eyes go wide.
"Must've underestimated the dose, damn it. Can you hold them like this for a moment?"
Close watch over Anne's thoughts let Aria know she'd heard Maple's words—and that she was much too tired to pay any attention to what she perceived as incoherent insect noises. The Gardevoir shuffled off to the side as she held the human's arm in position, giving space for the leafy nurse to walk over.
Maple looked for the right spot before administering the fastest Poison Jab of her life, blissful paralysis soon returning to Anne's left arm. "Better now?"
"^Much better, thank you Maple.^"
"Are you gonna put them back to sleep?"
"^I may, but it'd be good to see if I could figure out what—^" Aria spoke, before Anne's mumbled words cut the hushed conversation short. The rest of the room froze at realizing they still had an awake human in their midst. They watched as Anne shakily rotated herself onto her back, before Aria instructed them, "^Back off for now, I'll handle this.^"
Aria waited nervously as the human girl looked at her, torn between helping her and protecting her village in her secret. Anne's condition, though, skewed the Gardevoir mostly towards the former. Everyone watched closely as the girl pried her eyes open, immediately squinting as she stared at the ceiling. Her gaze took its time moving around the walls before landing on Aria and trying even harder to focus. The room's collective beat skipped as they awaited their inadvertent guest's reaction—
"~Th-thank you, nurse...~"
Out of everything Anne could have muttered in her miserable state, Aria expected gratitude the least. It made her feel warm, but the uncertainty about just what the girl meant soon eclipsed that sensation. The Gardevoir walked half a step closer in silence, eyes closing as she dug into the girl's thoughts, trying to piece together just what was going on in here.
...
Figures Anne wasn't scared; she could barely see her.
Peeking through her eyes revealed the resulting image to be unfocused beyond all recognition. Aria's appearance was reduced to a tall white and green blur that Anne was interpreting as some sort of human in a full body outfit and a face mask—
"~N-nurse?~"
The confusion in the human's voice left Aria unsure how to respond. After chewing through it for a moment, she went along with what the girl thought she was seeing, and answered in character, "^I'm here Anne, I'm here. How are you feeling?^"
Aria sighed inwardly in relief at Anne not suspecting something was afoul. As her's slow, muddled thoughts coalesced to come up with a response, the Gardevoir glanced at what remained of her group. Sprout and all healers but Maple have taken their leave in the meantime, leaving just the Leavanny and the scouts. Before any of them could try catching Aria's attention, Anne said, "~I'm thirsty. C-could I have some water, please?~"
Aria wordlessly passed Anne's request over to Maple as her expression continued to soften. Anne's miserable state fired up every last bit of empathy in her system, making her inch just that bit closer. Still, her duty weighed on her mind, forcing her to maintain an impersonal facade of a human nurse. "^Water is on its way, Anne. Would you want something to eat as well?^"
"~Mhm,~" Anne mumbled before closing her eyes and relaxing into the bedding, giving Aria an opportunity to dash over and grab the meal Holly had made for her. The sweet, buttery aroma immediately filled the air as the pastry was taken out of its protective bubble and set down on the bedstand.
The girl was much too exhausted to think through the weirdness of food being provided so quickly. Most of her senses that weren't busy hurting focused on how wonderful the smell was, making the cold room feel so much more welcome. "~Th-that smells so nice...~"
"^It does, doesn't it?^"
The allure of a warm meal made the injured girl try to squirm around on her bedding; wincing as she tried to get closer. She managed some steady, if slow, progress towards that before suddenly stopping, the outburst of anxiety in her head taking Aria aback. "~C-could I have m-my clothes back? If there's n-nothing medical stopping that. A-and glasses...~"
The first part of the request was easier to understand, if difficult to fulfill in the heat of the moment. The second part, though, had the Gardevoir completely dumbfounded. She froze for a moment, eventually deciding to buy herself time, "^We'll get to looking for your clothes, sweetie. In the meantime, could you describe what do the 'glasses' look like?^" Once she had answered the girl's request, she spoke to just the Luxray, "^Lumi, run to Mikiri's and bring over Anne's bag and all the clean clothes it had in it, right away.^"
"Aye aye," Lumi answered before bolting out of the tent, passing the leafy nurse holding a cupful of water on his way out.
The part of the exchange Anne could hear confused her almost as much as the 'nurse's… oddly phrased question. "~V-very t-thick lenses, metal rims and temples. Black, b-but some paint is flaking.~"
As unhelpful as the description on its own was, the mental visualization that accompanied it was a godsent. It let Aria get a good look at the item in question—and made her realize they had seen nothing like that when digging through the girl's bag. She focused on passing the imagined image over to Ori and Ruby, making their heads spin a bit as she spoke up telepathically, "^She asked for this item. There wasn't anything like it in her bag, right?^"
Ori opened his mouth before remembering their guest could hear him, too. He tried putting on the quietest whisper he could manage, to… mixed results. "None to my recollection."
"I'll have a sweep through where Sprout found her, just in case," Ruby added. Despite her trying to keep her voice down as well, it was unsuccessful at avoiding catching Anne's attention—or at least it would've been, if not for the green-yellow blur much closer to her occupying her entire focus.
This weird, tiny hospital she must've been in only got weirder and weirder at the moment.
Anne asked, figuring one question wouldn't hurt, "~I-is this a Leavanny?~"
Aria thanked the stars for their facade remaining unbroken as she looked over at Maple. She only barely avoided a mistake of her own; her mental reach stopped an instant before it would've become visible. Instead, she grabbed the cup with her physical hands, cursing the close call under her breath.
"^Yes, Anne. She... helps us with our patients.^" Thankfully, the girl took the answer at face value, as vague as it was, especially once her 'nurse' continued, "^I've got the water. Will you need help with drinking, Anne?^"
"~Mhm.~"
As Aria made her way over to where Anne could reach, the girl slid towards the back of the bed. She was holding the covers with her good arm as close to her front as possible, not letting them slide even slightly. A rather confusing behavior, but Anne's discomfort at not wearing any clothes was trivial to sense, and this tied into that in some unclear way.
No matter what exactly was the reason, Anne had a spare pair of hands to help her out, regardless.
The pretend nurse had to help herself keep the cup stable with a bit of telekinesis as her pretend patient drank. Anne downed the entire cup without pausing even for a moment, gasping afterwards. She got a much closer look at her 'nurse' now—but even though some details weren't adding up, she wasn't focusing on that. "~C-could I have more, please?~"
The unnecessary nicety of the question brought a soft, sad smile to Aria's face.
"^Of course Anne. Will you need help with eating as well?^"
"~N-no, I think I'll manage that one. Though, I-I have a question if that's alright...~"
"^Go right ahead, sweetie.^"
Once the cup was passed to Maple, Anne once more had Aria's undivided attention as she reached into the bundle of Holly's meal. She kept her hunger in check for just long enough to stammer out a question, "~W-where am I?~"
The one question Aria hoped she would not have to answer.
Her silence unnerved Anne while she waited for a response. Fortunately, while the Gardevoir had no idea on how to respond to that without making the girl more suspicious, Anne herself did. She mumbled quietly as her train of thought was investigated, together with the name of the location she hoped she was currently in.
"^This is the Lillywood hospital, sweetie. You... had a very rough accident in the woods, but the rescue came in time and moved you here.^"
Anne sighed as her hunch turned out to be correct, before freezing at the mention of her accident. What she had previously assumed to be a nightmare turned out to be exactly what had happened last night, the realization making her gulp. Aria felt the accompanying pang of fear clearly, reassuring her right away. "^Don't worry Anne, you're safe now—^"
"~A-a-are they here?~"
The fear dripping from Anne's words gave Aria a pause, her attention narrowing as she responded, "^They?^"
"~M-m-my parents...~"
...
The Gardevoir could only stare as the pieces of the rotten puzzle suddenly came together in the most disgusting, harrowing way imaginable. Something deep inside her cried out at the realization; her body trembled as she spoke up, "^N-no, they're not, Anne.^"
"~Oh, oh good.~"
The girl was still thoroughly shook, the reassurance and her delicious meal providing only a fleeting reprieve. As she wrapped her portion up, though, fear crept into her mind once more while she eyed up the 'nurse' and the Leavanny beside her. She knew full well that her request wouldn't be honored, but she had to do something, say something, try to fight what felt like the inescapable—tears welled up in the corners of her almost-blind eyes as she stammered, "~P-p-please don't make me go back...~"
Anne's whimper almost made Aria break her facade there and then as the child shrunk into her bedding; her terror the likes of which the Gardevoir wouldn't wish even upon her enemies. "^I-I—^"
"~P-please! I-I'll do anything, PLEASE—~"
"^We won't let them hurt you again.^"
The girl's teary eyes snapped open at hearing that, staring at her nurse in all her blurriness. A desperate question bubbled up from the depths of her terrified mind, carrying within it the tiniest spark of hope, "~R-r-really?~"
"^Yes Anne, really. Y-you're safe here, I... I promise.^"
It was the one response the human wasn't expecting in the slightest. Even if a healthier, less exhausted Anne would've immediately doubted the truthfulness of these words, the pained, blind, tired her couldn't help but to latch onto the stranger's promise, shaking as she tried to process it all. "~T-thank you n-nurse...~"
Her relief was as immense as its effects were immediate.
The release of tension, combined with her exhaustion, knocked Anne out in moments. Before long, the room was plunged into a thick, confused silence once more. Nobody but the Gardevoir was aware of what was said before them, having just been observing their coworker for the last few minutes.
Anne falling back asleep brought relief to everyone around. Maple set the cup of water down on the bedstand next to the unfinished pastry while Ruby attempted to catch the Gardevoir's attention, "Aria?"
Her name being spoken out loud finally got the Psychic-type to face her group once more. Nobody expected to see a handful of stray tears flow down her cheeks, or to see her body shudder.
"We're—what happened?" Lumi asked, his tone unusually not dismissive, the distraught state of his coworker stopping any snark in its tracks.
"^We—we need to talk.^"
Nobody could deny that.
After sparing one last look at the bedful of trouble on their paws, the scout team returned to the side room. Lumi dropped the human's bag in the middle of the room; Ruby held onto her spoils. Took a fair bit of raking the snow with her claws, but she eventually found the glass-and-metal trinket.
Everyone remained silent as they awaited Aria's words—words that kept not coming. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to force anything out, before resorting to telepathy, "^I figured out what she was running away from.^"
"Great. What is it and how do we deal with it—"
"^It's her own family.^"
The answer cut Lumi off mid-sentence as a cold shudder ran down his and everyone else's spines.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"^I wish I had a more concrete idea. But... the fear she felt when asking if her parents were here was more than just worrying about being chewed out. She was scared for her life, and if they're the reason she ran away... what do we even do?^"
The rest of the group looked among themselves as they thought back to their earlier spat with Sprout. Nobody liked where their imaginations were ending up when attempting to think through it all.
Still, the girl's parents being terrible didn't quite mean she didn't have any other family.
"I find it hard to believe she was running towards nowhere on that fateful night. She must have some other relatives she intended to reach before suffering her accident. If we can ensure she reaches them, then that will be all our problems solved," Ori said. While most of the group was persuaded by his argument, Aria most definitely wasn't, not after feeling it all for herself. She couldn't imagine someone gripped with that much fear had a plan beyond their immediate future.
Though, it's not like either of them had any concrete evidence to base further decision making on, and they both knew that. The Gardevoir sighed and nodded along—they'd have to dig into it further once Anne was awake again and could answer questions.
But, at the same time... what if she indeed had nowhere else to go?
"Besides, judging from what Mikiri just found out, I kinda doubt we'd ever want this one of all humans staying here longer than necessary," Lumi commented. Aria was about ready to snap at his remark, but ultimately held herself back. Everyone watched as Lumi opened the bag by yanking on the dangling bit with his teeth, and reached in to clumsily grasp the Fennekin doll. "Look inside, at that weird painting again. That's our Ember."
The revelation chilled the room almost as much as the one from a few minutes earlier. Aria's psychics yanked the doll out of the bag before forcefully unzipping it; her hand shook as she reached into its pocket. It couldn't be true, it wouldn't make any sense with what she'd seen of Anne—
...
The doll landed on the carpeted floor with a weak thud, spilling out some of its metal circles and canvas rectangles. Aria could only stare transfixed at the tiny detail inscribed on that thin piece of wood, Lumi's words unfortunately coming true.
The little Fennekin's left eye had the same misshapen iris and almost nonexistent pupil as she had seen on the Braixen the few times she took her eyepatch off in public. Aria kicked herself for overlooking the detail in earlier chaos, and her spirit burned up in flames as she passed the picture to other scouts.
"That is... terrible." Ori's response summed up the group's thoughts about the matter. Lumi felt a slight pang of guilt at shattering everyone's spirits, even if the reason for it was one they would've had to tackle eventually, anyway.
"Not like it changes much. Her staying here was never an option. All this means is we'll have to pay closer attention to her and make sure she's out of here and someplace safe as soon as possible."
"Do you really think she deserves safety anymore, Ruby?" Lumi responded with contempt, more so towards the subject of their discussion as opposed to the Weavile.
"If this is true, then no. But if what Aria said is true, and the girl really ran for her life, then sending her back home would sentence her to death. That ain't a punishment I'm comfortable condemning anyone for, no matter how severe a crime."
Even Lumi knew better than to argue a philosophical matter like that, swallowing his disagreement as the tiny painting was passed over to Ori. The Scizor expressed more emotion after glancing at the image than he usually did in a week, immediately closing his eyes and sticking his pincer out for Aria to grab the cursed item again.
"Though... what is this for? Do you know, Aria?" Ruby asked as she showed off the trinket with two large glass circles and bits of metal surrounding them. Two longer metal pieces stuck out to the sides of the glass, one of them bent harshly.
"^I'm uncertain. Considering her eyesight was so terrible she couldn't tell me apart from a clothed human, I suspect these to have something to do with alleviating that.^"
Lumi blinked dumbfounded at that claim. He had a difficult time imagining a vision so crippled it couldn't differentiate his friend from one of those despicable creatures. Though, compared to what his eyes were capable of, almost every other creature was stunted in that regard.
"Sounds like she should stay parted with them, then," Ruby commented.
Aria felt like she ought to disagree, to claim that intentionally keeping someone blind was cruelty, but… she couldn't bring herself to say that out loud. Not when knowing that the injured human had something to do with what had befallen Ember all these years ago. No better way to maintain their facade of this being a human facility than to keep Anne unable to tell what she was even looking at.
That silver lining couldn't conceal how conflicted Aria felt about all this. Her desire to comfort Anne clashed violently with the scorn she felt like she ought to be showing the girl; her expression twisted before settling back down. The conflict left her unable to move on even as the rest of the group took their leave, the glass trinket left on the floor beside the bag.
In desperation, Aria took another look at the image in her hand. The human was unmistakably Anne, and the Fennekin was unmistakably Ember, but...
How could both of them look happy if that was the case?
A part of Aria considered bringing the painting with herself, before deciding against it in the end. If it was all true, if Anne was indeed one of Ember's tormentors, then the last thing the Gardevoir wanted was to subject the vixen to more trauma.
She wouldn't ever forget the night when she, along with so many others, first arrived at the village. Based on their recollections, there was a human facility some distance away, where many mons were housed before eventually breaking out.
The conditions they described were barbarous. Bright lights, minimal space, being trapped in cohabitated cages behind metal bars. And yet… it was apparently a marked improvement for many there, purely by the virtue of food and water being provided regularly. That fact did little to make it all sound any less monstrous, any less…
Human.
Many escapees ran off wherever the wind took them, never to be seen again, but the rest eventually stumbled upon their village, Ember among them. Terrified, scarred, traumatized, the cruelty she'd been on the receiving end of monstrous beyond words—
Before Aria could mull through her thoughts any further, she felt her attention be psychically grabbed by a passerby. Her pose slumped a bit at seeing who it was, but she didn't let it get to her voice or actions. "^Good morning, Cinder.^"
"^When will that thing be gone?^" the Delphox asked, leering at her.
The Gardevoir had to commit the entirety of her willpower to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the Fire-type's pointed question. Sure, hardly different from what most of her coworkers had expressed in content, but much more insufferable in tone. "^We're doing what we can to resolve their situation as soon as possible. We'd rather take a bit longer to avoid tossing an injured child out to die.^"
While the first part of her response had Cinder snarl at her, the second managed to shut her up for the time being. Much harder to overlook the 'injured child' part than the 'human' part.
Especially with her daughter also fitting that category.
"^Do hurry. Ember could barely sleep last night in fear, and I have no doubt that many others are suffering just as much because of its presence.^"
"^I'm aware,^" Aria responded.
The uncomfortable silence lingered until the Delphox took her leave with a barely concealed side eye. Even once she'd left, it took Aria a while to get going again, the mental murk about the older vixen fighting against the realization that she had a point. She ought to get this dealt with as soon as possible.
Still, the hateful scorn with which Cinder had referred to a child made Aria shudder, even if said child was human and possibly had hurt Ember in the past. She understood why; she was there when Ember told her what she'd suffered through; she witnessed her burning rage turn into an unbreakable resolve to let no harm come her adoptive daughter's way ever again.
And if said resolve didn't keep veering all too close to wishing for a bloody, fiery vengeance, it might've even been laudable.
Regardless of any objections Aria held towards her mother, she only had sympathy for Ember. Even beyond her harrowing past, she'd soared during her stay here. Evolved, started catching up to other kids, and even started volunteering to help look after the village's little ones. Bell adored her, and his mom wasn't far behind in that regard.
As expected, Ember was busy tending to the kids today as well. While most tykes were gathered around the Torkoal resting at the center of the large, open tent—many of them asleep—a few other, smaller groups played around the tent.
The tots sitting on the Braixen's lap looked to be taking a nap after a playing session earlier, basking in the warmth trapped underneath her off-white shawl as they grazed on a handful of nuts. Even beyond the bliss of having someone warm to snuggle into on a cold winter day, the shaking of her paws made any casual affection all the more pleasant.
And while much of the shaking was because of what humans had done of her in the past, the fear flowing through her mind was clear to sense, much starker than yesterday. Aria loathed to add to that misery, but… she had to know.
"Good afternoon, Ember," Aria greeted with her physical voice. Mellow as it was, it still made the Braixen jump–and sneeze. Thankfully, not even the louder sound managed to wake up either the Riolu or the Shinx on her lap. The Gardevoir remembered Cinder blowing sparks and flames by the lungful when she got sick, and was surprised to not see any with the younger vixen.
Curious, but nowhere near as much as the reason she was here.
"G-good afternoon Mrs. Aria! B-Bell is with the rest, next to—"
"Oh no, no, I'm not here to pick him up. I wanted to talk to you, actually."
Even through her shawl, the Gardevoir noticed Ember's shaking intensify as a stray gust of wind made her white eyepatch flutter. "Oh. Wh-what about?"
Aria need not have been a psychic to tell just how spooked the vixen was, or even what she was so scared of, one-eyed glances towards their clinic telling her everything. Entirely understandable, and sure didn't make the Gardevoir regret having to ask her about all this any less. She telekinetically shoveled some snow off to the side before she sat down beside the fox and offered her a shoulder to lean on. "Well… it can wait a bit. How are you doing, sweetie?"
Ember eagerly accepted the offer, huddling in as she tried to keep her breathing under control. "W-when will that human b-be gone?"
Aria pet the fox's head as she took a deep breath. The answer was as straightforward as it was unsatisfactory, Ember's body language shrinking as she explained, "We don't know, sadly. Their situation is... a complex one, and we want to avoid potentially harming them even more through acting hastily."
The Braixen leaned further into the Gardevoir as she churned through her thoughts. As she did so, the Riolu on her lap woke up with a big yawn and an almost as large stretch, tail immediately wagging at seeing Aria. "Hiiiiiiii Mrs. Aria! Oh no, is Bell leaving—"
"No no, I'm not picking him up yet, sweetie," the Gardevoir explained.
"Yaaaaay. Oh oh, did you see dad around?"
The Gardevoir shook her head, internally thankful for that fact. Lariat was as dependable as anyone got, sure, but nuance… wasn't his strong suit. Not much of it needed when repelling any wildling predators that might take their village for a free meal, but that couldn't be said for their current mess of a situation.
Or any other one that included humans, for that matter.
"Not yet today, nope!" Aria answered.
"Awhhhh. I love dad!" Reya woofed.
"He loves you too, sweetie~."
The brief, cutesy distraction did wonders for Ember's nerves, letting her gather her thoughts and continue, "H-he really does, Reya! A-and as for the human… I hope they get well soon, I-I really do—"
"Even just so they'd leave sooner?"
Ember froze as Aria completed the sentence for her, before looking away in a small, shameful nod.
"Don't worry, sweetie. If there's anyone justified in wanting them gone from here, it's you."
"It feels m-mean to say..." Ember mumbled.
"Maybe, but I know you're not doing it out of malice."
Speaking of possible malice...
"But… I wanted to ask about something else." The clarification might've been a lie and Aria might've been a terrible liar, but fortunately for her, Ember was too focused on her worries to notice. The words perked her up, making her look at the taller psychic as she continued, "Does the name 'Anne' ring any bells for you?"
Aria had to smudge the pronunciation to hide the name's obviously human origin—and judging by Ember not immediately panicking at hearing it, she was successful. She didn't expect the Braixen to focus so much on it either, enough so that it made her stop shaking for a moment. It didn't last long until uncertainty and… frustration joined the fray. The vixen tried to mask it as well as she could as she answered, "N-no, I don't think so. Why do you ask, Mrs. Aria?"
"Oh, it's—it's nothing."
The Braixen might've been distracted last time, but this time she caught onto Aria not being honest with her. She looked uncertainly at the Gardevoir as the latter got up, swiping the leftover snow off her skin dress. "Alas, it's time for me to return to my duties. Come visit sometimes, sweetie. Cadence enjoys hanging out with you more than she'd admit~."
The thought brought a smile to Ember's snout, distracting her away from her previous doubts. As Aria returned Reya's excited waving, she thought about whether there was a point in returning to the clinic, or if she should just resume her usual duties.
Before she could decide on either, a low, heavy voice caught her attention, "Aria? A private word if you could."
The Torkoal's words caught the surrounding tykes' attention for a moment, before it went right back to the stories being woven by their caretakers. Said Wigglytuff and Grumpig waved over at her as well; the wordless gesture returned as the Gardevoir addressed the fiery tortoise, "^Yes, Elder Ana?^"
The Fire-type might not have been capable of telepathy proper, but she made up for that by thinking about her words really hard. It let Aria and any other nearby psychics pick up on what she was trying to convey with minimal effort.
Which—considering the group in question currently comprised a handful of toddlers, most of them asleep, and one very occupied caretaker—was good enough.
"^What's the situation with the human?^"
"^Improving quickly health-wise, she woke up earlier today for a moment. It appears she was trying to escape from her family when she suffered her crash, and it is very uncertain whether she has any safe place to return to. We are in the process of figuring out what to do with her once she recovers. And,^" Aria paused briefly, the fact still not sitting right with her, "^it seems she is one of Ember's past tormentors.^"
Ana grew quiet at that, old age helping the speed of her thoughts any. She wasn't gonna let that stop her, though. "^How... confident are you of that claim?^"
"^Not at all, but there is some evidence towards it I cannot argue with.^"
The Torkoal responded with a slow, thoughtful nod. A part of her clearly wanted to say more, but she resigned to wrapping the chat instead, "^Very well. I trust your judgment. Proceed as you were.^"
"^Understood, Elder Ana.^"
"^May the winds hasten you, Aria.^"
The Gardevoir's walk back to the clinic took a while, her pace dragged down by conflicting thoughts swirling in her mind. They took up enough of her attention to make her overlook a couple of very critical facts until after she'd stepped into the large, multi-chambered tent.
One, Anne was awake.
Two, Autumn was with her.
One hurried dash later, the Gardevoir entered Anne's room, thankfully finding the situation under control. The Indeedee was pouring the girl a cup of Holly's concoction as she watched with curiosity; the green glow of Autumn's telekinesis captivating despite being little more than a blur to her eyes.
"^Autumn, what are you doing!?^" Aria shouted telepathically, her private message going unnoticed by Anne—which couldn't be said about Autumn turning her head to look up at her daughter-in-law. Her motion made the human glance over in that direction as well, mood improving at the sight of her 'nurse'.
"~H-hello, nurse!~"
"^Making sure the girl's comfy! I'm not even sure if she can drink anything like this, Aria. Someone had to come help her.^"
"^She thinks she's in a human hospital—^"
"^And she still does, don't you worry. I didn't try to talk to her.^"
A quick check of the human's surface thoughts confirmed the Indeedee's words, much to Aria's relief. All Anne perceived was a mon nurse checking up on her and helping her have a drink.
"^Alright, I see. Sorry, I—^"
"^Shhhh. Don't go around worrying Aria, you're just trying to—^"
"~N-nurse?~" Anne asked, interrupting the mental exchange. Aria cleared her throat as she refocused on the girl, taking a couple of deep breaths before responding as calmly as she could.
"^I'm here Anne, I'm here. How are you feeling?^"
"~Better. T-this Indeedee came and helped me w-with the drinking while you were gone!~"
Even if her phrasing wasn't ideal, Anne's gratitude was downright palpable to both women. The nearly blind human looked at the shorter psychic with a weary, tired smile, before asking uncertainly, "~Um... c-can I thank them in a w-way they'll understand?~"
Autumn had to bite her tongue not to chuckle at the silliness of the question. The small smile on Aria's expression was thankfully much harder to spot for their guest.
"^Just say it out loud and she'll get what you mean, don't worry,^" the 'nurse' explained.
"~O-okay. Um... thank you, Mrs. Indeedee.~"
The elderly psychic answered with a light bow before hovering a freshly refilled cup of juice over to the girl's mouth. It was some of the best tasting… anything she's had in years now, unable to keep herself from downing the entire portion at once despite how intense the flavor was.
While Aria was glad Anne was feeling better, the pressing questions remained, regardless of how unpleasant they were to talk about—or difficult to segue into. She didn't want the girl to get the impression she was being interrogated, but… she had an idea. "^We've found your bag, Anne. I'll move it over to your bed.^"
The news had the girl drink faster, spilling some juice onto her face as she tried to nod in response. Aria was conflicted about what to do with the eye-related glass trinket, ultimately following the conclusion they had all settled on earlier and leaving it be.
The Fennekin doll peeked out of the bag's opened metal seam as the Gardevoir picked it up by the weird-feeling handle. Even if Anne couldn't make out much of it, she reacted immediately to getting her bag back, "~Thank you s-so much, nurse! What about t-the glasses?~"
"^We're... still looking for them, unfortunately.^"
"~Oh, o-okay. I really hope they're alright, they're so ex-expensive...~"
The thoughts about the trinket's price didn't translate into anything Aria was familiar with, leaving her confused about what the 'expensiveness' actually implied. That unknown was soon swept off to the side, though, replaced by a cautious observation of what Anne would do with the bag's contents. Autumn wasn't any less curious, watching from behind her daughter-in-law.
Reassuringly, the Fennekin doll was given a close, one-armed hug. Internal warmth mixed with somber longing as Anne held onto the toy for a few moments longer, before setting it down and reaching in for her other items.
"^That's a nice doll,^" Aria commended. While her precise phrasing confused Anne a bit, the gist was understood all the same. Shaky fingers brushed through the fake polyester fur as her almost blind eyes tried to hold back tears, taking both Aria and Autumn by surprise.
"~Mhm. It's nice, a-and I'm glad I found it...~"
There was a lot left unspoken in that sentence, prompting the Gardevoir to keep going with the topic, despite how upset it was making the girl. "^Is there something wrong, Anne?^"
"~Oh n-no, no, no, it's just... I-I miss her, the real her.~"
"^Her?^"
"~My F-Fennekin, Ember. We... we had to separate, and I p-promised her I would find her one day and we'd both finally be safe...~"
Autumn's resulting gasp startled Anne, making her look in the Indeedee's direction as she shook.
"~W-what was that?~"
"^Don't worry Anne, she just... sneezed. So, Ember used to live with you?^"
The Indeedee slowly backed out of the room, confused and disgusted by what she'd just heard. What followed right after, though, gave her a pause.
"~Mhm! We've known each other since sh-she was tiny. I loved her, and she l-loved me too, it felt like. We'd go everywhere together, she'd snuggle i-into me at night, we'd hide together from the other kids, o-or my parents...~"
This wasn't adding up.
Anne's recollection was so utterly different from what they 'knew' about Ember's upbringing that it felt almost insulting, but… it was as genuine as it got, every word of it. Aria and Autumn stared at each other in shock as they tried to figure it out. They weren't about to take some random human's word over the Braixen's, but the former meant it in a way that left no room for deceit.
Could a tragic misunderstanding have taken place? Was Anne's 'Ember' even their Ember? Or, most distraughtly, could what Anne thought to be affection have only harmed Ember? While the two psychics exchanged thoughts on how realistic either possibility was, the girl they talked about had stumbled upon a mystery of her own.
As she reached up to wipe the tears from her face, she noticed a stark absence of something very expected. The shocking realization made her keep going, sliding the rest of her right arm along her nose and mouth before feeling along the cast covering her left arm. Her movements grew shakier by the moment as they continued around her body—her neck, shoulders and stomach all coming up clear as well.
By the time Anne was done, the anxiety building within her was acutely palpable, made more unnerving by neither psychic having an idea of what could've sparked it. Keeping her cool, Aria put the earlier confusion aside and spoke up calmly, "^Anne? Is something wr—^"
"~W-where's the IV tube thing... o-or the nose thing with oxygen, o-or—~" Anne rambled before taking a long, careful look around the room, trying to spot anything white or metallic from the oddly brown and tan decor. Nothing, nothing that looked even remotely like any medical equipment or like what an inside of a hospital should look like. Anne shrunk into her bed by the moment as panic built inside her.
"~O-or anything...~"
Aria had no idea how to respond, slowly backing off from the bed. Their entire facade had come undone in an instant, leaving Anne to whimper out in terror,
Aria and Autumn remained frozen out of shock as Anne's fear grew by the moment.
The Gardevoir wanted to immediately reassure the girl that she was safe and that she had nothing to fear. At the same time, though, their village's safety depended on Anne being kept in the dark about where she was, and this wasn't a responsibility she could just ignore. The two forces clashed inside her as the room stayed at an impasse. The Indeedee didn't want to endanger everyone here either, forced to painfully overrule her caring nature and just watch.
Anne's thoughts darted around the place, trying to come up with a way out before reminding herself that she was blind, injured, and that this 'nurse' had a psychic with them. What was that woman gonna use that Indeedee for—
"^Anne. You...^" the 'nurse' spoke, finally decided on what to do, "^...you are in the middle of the Lillywood forest. We found you after you've suffered your accident; and took you in to patch you up. You are safe here, I promise.^"
Autumn stared aghast at her daughter-in-law for giving out their secret, her shock clear for the Gardevoir to notice. Aria responded telepathically without looking away from Anne, "^At this rate, she'll need her memories cleaned, anyway. The least we can do is make sure she feels safe.^" She knew full well her justification was a flimsy excuse, one that wouldn't pass muster if she were to hear it from anyone else.
Regardless of what the human girl had done, she was injured, blind, and utterly terrified. And to stoke the flames of her empathy even further, Anne felt so like her actual daughter with her age and voice that the mother within her couldn't resist the desire to comfort her further, even if her stoic expression gave little of that away.
Before Autumn could argue with, or even acknowledge that justification, the girl spoke first, "~Wh-what do you—is th-this a cabin or—~"
A harrowing thought forced Anne to take another look at her '''nurse''', eyes squinting harder than ever. Her mind was sufficiently wiped of any idea of what she ought to be looking at, to finally realize what she was feebly trying to stare down. No amount of disposable scrubs could ever result in an appearance like that. No way someone would wear red protective glasses when just facing patients. That wasn't just some red patch sewn into the outfit—
…
The realization hit the girl hard as her vague fear of the unknown solidified into a very concrete terror of something very known. She froze with a pitiful whimper before doing the only thing she was capable of—hiding under her blankets and hyperventilating.
"^I'll take care of this mom, just make sure nobody disturbs us.^"
"^Please be careful, Aria.^"
"^I will.^"
With Autumn gone and taking the post right outside, the room now only had the human, and the Gardevoir she was so terrified of. Their mental link let the latter see just what was writhing underneath the girl's skullcap, many of the fears ones she was all too familiar with. Fear of death, immense distrust of psychics, the acute awareness of just how powerful the wild mon sharing the room with her was, and that she could do nothing to stop them.
The knowledge that, if so desired, that Gardevoir could kill her a dozen different ways before she could even scream, including some particularly disturbing ones Aria had never conceived of before.
Others were related to ideas Aria only knew of faintly. She remembered hearing from her family, many years back, that humans attached a particular amount of frightful reverence to their kin. And while the Gardevoir usually thought little of the 'knowledge' her old clan had passed onto her, she couldn't deny that chills ran through her fins at sensing the term 'ghost bride' in the girl's panicking thoughts, referring to her.
Trying to tug at that name, to find out more about its associations, made Anne shake in fear even harder. Ultimately, the specifics didn't matter—they were all baseless nonsense, made viciously potent by the girl believing in them. Most of them Aria would've just internally scoffed at coming from anyone else. She couldn't bring herself to do that here, though.
The shaky, pathetic sight on the bedding was much too pitiful for judgement like that.
All she could think of was comforting the girl, but didn't have many good ways of accomplishing that. A Calm Mind would've helped, but only in the moment. Sooner or later, Anne would've realized her mind was being toyed with, and her distrust would only deepen. The only way to regain her trust was the slowest, riskiest, and most mundane way.
And so; Aria spoke again, "^Anne, we...^" She considered her words for a while, before deciding to reveal the whole truth, and continued, "^We found you injured and unconscious in the snow. Even if we knew how to bring you to the human healers, we wouldn't have gotten you there in time. I—I know this isn't what you expected to see, and I wish I had been honest with you from the get go. But I wasn't, and I'm sorry for that.^"
It all hurt to admit, both to herself and to the girl, but she knew she had to.
"^I know you don't trust me, I know you're terrified of me, Anne... but I—I promise you're safe here. Neither us nor... your parents will lay a hand on you while you're under our watch.^" The Gardevoir closed her eyes, keeping a close eye on the child's emotions. Eventually, she had no choice but to admit what felt like defeat, wincing as she spoke, "^If you would prefer, I can leave you alone for now. There's water on the stand for you, and I could bring you more food, if you wish.^"
To say Anne's thoughts were turbulent in response to Aria's words would be the understatement of the Gardevoir's life.
From fearful shock at what had happened to her, to enmity towards the psychic for deceiving her, to terror of the wild creature's fearsome power, to self-deprecating shame at even trying to hide from something that could kill her with a passing thought, to an attempt at actually considering its offer, all those in a matter of moments.
The intensity of the negative thoughts aimed towards her was enough to almost give the Gardevoir a headache of her own, but she persevered. Her stoic appearance cracked into the tiniest frown as the girl admitted internal defeat, so convinced she was going to die that she didn't see any point in even hiding any more.
As harrowing as it was, though, Aria could tell at least some of her words had wormed their way into Anne's mind, making her slowly doubt her assessment of the situation. For the longest time, the girl didn't acknowledge her words, and the Gardevoir thought she should just leave to give her some space to cool off—before hearing the weakest of whimpers, clear to her mind, "~Why d-did you s-save me?~"
The question gave the Gardevoir a pause—not because of what it said, but what it implied.
It stung, but she tried not to focus on that. Anne talking to her at all was immense progress on its own, her fear palpably fading by the moment. That realization was corroborated further once Aria opened her eyes and spotted the human peeking out from underneath her covers—and immediately stopping with a whimper once she realized the Gardevoir was staring back.
"^Isn't that what anyone with a shred of heart would do? An injured child out in the cold, about to bleed and freeze to death... why wouldn't we do what we can to save you?^"
The last question echoed in Anne's mind, refusing to let itself get overlooked.
Of course, she tried to answer it, multiple times no less, with each response only getting more prejudiced and absurd alike. None of them could withstand being scrutinized for any amount of time, though, immediately falling apart when faced with what the girl knew she'd been through so far, and how many chances that Gardevoir and other mons have had to end her.
The only idea that resisted that scrutiny was of her being played with for that Gardevoir's perverse amusement. It was no doubt finding a lot of joy in filling her head with a false sense of safety before pulling it out from underneath her. After all, it had already done so once; who said it wouldn't do so again? It was illogical, incoherent, and incredibly resistant to being disproved. Aria was well aware, considering giving up for the time being, but… even it didn't stick around for too long.
As terrified as the girl was, not even her panicking mind could contort the facts enough to make that idea feel realistic. Not with what that Gardevoir had said to her, be it as a pretend nurse or as, presumably, itself. Gradually, that dangerous possibility that the wild psychic was actually telling the truth began taking up more and more of her mind. Her certain fear burned into uncertain doubt—about the Gardevoir, about herself, about whether any of this was even real.
As Anne's mind tied itself into knots, Aria took a deep breath before daring to get closer. She stomped as loud as she could with each step, wanting to make sure the girl had noticed them. And notice them she did, shrinking further underneath the blankets, trembling as she awaited her fate.
Eventually, the steps stopped, making the girl's heart skip a beat before she felt the bedding underneath her shift as if weight had been placed beside her left leg. The gentle rustle of fabric on fabric only provided further evidence towards what she thought had just happened.
After getting over the shock of that Gardevoir having sat down on the edge of her bed, Anne dared peeking out to see what the hell were they doing, lifting the covers just a bit—
Only to see the psychic's green hand laying down in front of her, palm side up, ready to be grasped.
The sight transfixed the girl as her exhaustion-dulled thoughts churned through what the intent of that gesture even was. Before long, though, that voice reached her mind again, "^I won't hurt you Anne, I promise. You don't have to fear me.^"
The previous time the human had heard this message, she'd immediately dismissed it as a cruel joke at her existence. As safety being dangled in front of her, only for her to get stabbed should she reach out for it. The book she'd been reading before her doomed escape provided more than enough fuel for terrifying mental imagery of psychic abilities being used to harm her, but… she didn't let her imagination get the better of her.
It was all still scary, terribly scary, but as hard as Anne's mind tried—and try it did very hard—it couldn't convince herself that the Gardevoir was out to get her, not this time. In the absence of a concrete reason for that wild mon to hurt her, the maelstrom inside Anne's mind finally began to calm down. Enough so for it to take a sober look at what had happened, and put it together into a coherent image.
An image that had the Gardevoir sitting beside her been trying everything they could to make her feel safe.
It was all unbelievable in the most literal sense, especially once she thought about just where she was. The structure she was in was unlike anything she'd heard of in these woods, and was seemingly tended to entirely by mons, with no people around—
Unbelievable, and yet here she was.
Injured, blind, scared; but as far as she could piece it together on her own, safe.
Another peek from underneath the protective blanket revealed nothing had changed since the last time. The green hand was exactly where she'd last seen it, though now Anne had enough composure to look further along the arm, at the Gardevoir beside her. She didn't dare look all the way up at their face though, not yet.
If she was safe here, with this powerful creature talking to her, trying their absolute hardest to comfort her, then maybe what she'd heard about wild mons wasn't all that true in the end.
For a while, the girl could only stare at the green hand in front of her, still too uncertain to do much of anything. The longer she laid there, though, the more the uncertainty within her boiled, condensing into more fear. Her mind desperately wanted to cling to the idea of safety and to not let itself get torn by terror again, but had no idea how to avoid it—
Except, of course, by acting.
Slowly, very slowly, Anne's hand reached out from underneath the pretend cocoon of her blanket, towards the Gardevoir's. Half of the girl's mind screamed at her to stop while the other half cheered as loudly as it could for her to continue, the cacophony making her thoughts impossibly hard to follow for a few moments. For a moment, Aria worried about the girl backing out—but thankfully, she pushed through.
Anne flinched slightly as her pink, bruised hand made contact with the green one, the immediate sensation almost indescribable. The wild mon's skin was silken smooth, somehow so human and yet so very different. Softer than a baby's bottom and almost electric to the touch, slightly numbing in the most comforting way. It emanated an odd warmth, beyond just physical heat—a warmth of safety, refuge, love.
It felt like it could out-protect the raggedy blanket covering her body.
"^It's okay Anne, you're safe. Take as much time as you need.^"
By the wonderful @anthrodyniacoms on Twitter!
Despite the inhumanity of the being that spoke towards her, Anne only nodded in affirmation. The comfort emanating from the Gardevoir's touch stilled the relentless worry inside her head bit by bit, calming her heart along with it.
Until all that was left was silence and peace.
At least, initially. Freed of the panic that had gripped it, the girl's mind began drifting towards confusion at everything else going on, and with it came curiosity, bright and innocent. Anne felt her hand being held that much closer at that, but didn't connect the dots herself. Instead, she focused her entire resolve on facing the world around her as it actually was, and that extended to the being that had helped her out. Slowly, she withdrew her hand before reaching around to pull the blanket away from her face. The sudden light made her squint even harder before she looked up at the Gardevoir beside her.
She still felt a shudder go through her at that sight, the rambling of a small part in the back of her head about how afraid she should've been. She refused to give it any more power, though, focusing instead on the psychic's expression and barely managing to make out the wide smile filling it.
"^Hello there, Anne. How are you feeling?^"
Aria thanked whichever deities were nearby for the girl overcoming her fears enough to make that first, crucial step on her own. Her Calm Mind-infused touch only sped up what Anne's mind was already well on its path towards.
The curiosity she felt bubbling to the forefront of the girl's mind only made the Gardevoir happier still, making her want nothing more in the moment than to comfort this poor child further. And that, of course, included satisfying her understandable confusion. "~I'm... I-I think I'm okay. Th-thank you... um—what's your name? And how do you know mine?~"
"^You're very welcome, sweetie. My name is Aria. And how I know your name... there's a fairly strong mental connection between us right now. It lets me see some of your surface thoughts—your name, how you're feeling, and such.^"
It was a great simplification, true, but entirely appropriate for her needs at the moment.
As the Gardevoir scooted closer to the girl, she thanked the stars that her explanation did not inspire any further fear or disgust inside her. Even without those, Anne's mind wouldn't remain entirely peaceful, though. Instead of fear, came self-consciousness, thoughts about everything the girl thought about the psychic while she was panicking—and how messed up and offensive it was. "~D-does that mean you could hear what I was th-thinking all along? If so, then... I-I'm sorry—~"
While Anne may have wanted to shrink away in shame, Aria had other ideas.
The girl flinched at her body suddenly being enveloped in the same kind of warmth as the one emanating from the Gardevoir's hand. It was as soothing as it was surprising, and the former reaction soon won out in her mind.
"^Shhhh, settle, settle Anne. No need to apologize for panicking. It's only natural to be scared of those you don't know, especially in a situation as scary as yours. You did nothing wrong here, I promise.^"
The reassurance helped immensely; Anne responded with a gentle nod as she looked up at the Gardevoir. The sheer gratitude for her gaffe not being held against her welled up inside her small, roughed up body, making her shake a bit. "~Thank you, M-Mrs. Aria. That's a p-pretty name...~"
Aria giggled at that remark and shifted closer still, leaving the human squirming a bit. "^Thank you Anne, your name is really pretty too.^"
The same green hand she'd held moments before reached over towards Anne's head, gently petting her brown, unkempt hair. It emanated more of the same pleasant, tingly, loving sensations, melting through her worries even more effectively than earlier. It felt so, so very nice...
And Anne couldn't even remember the last time she was touched in a comforting way like that.
Before Aria could investigate that stray thought, she heard the Indeedee reach out to her from the other room, "^Feels much better now! Is it alright if I come back in?^"
"^Anne?^"
Hearing Aria's voice interrupted the girl's train of thought before it could venture into a dark place again.
"~Y-yes, Mrs. Aria?~"
"^The Indeedee you saw earlier... her name is Autumn. She's my mother-in-law. She's asking whether she could come back and chat with you too.^"
A part of that sentence took Anne aback for a hot minute.
The girl was much more used to the mental image of an Indeedee as a nameless assistant at a hospital or a clinic more than she was to them being sentient beings with names, families, and personalities. However; much the same was true about the Gardevoir she was now talking with, making her shake the disconnect away from her mind with a firm nod.
"^Come in, mom.^"
Autumn wasted no time before waddling back in, smiling widely at the sight of her daughter comforting the poor child. "^Hello there sweetie~. I am so, so glad to see you doing better! Do you still need a drink, dear?^" she asked, her old, slightly croaky mental voice throwing Anne's mind for a loop. The girl was deeply unused to mons speaking up and sounding like pe—humans. Though, with how alluring the offer was, confusion had to take a distant second place.
"~Yes, p-please, Mrs. Autumn.~"
"^Oh hush now sweetie, no need for formalities, just 'Autumn' is more than fine. Oh, seems you've dropped this~.^"
As the Indeedee made her way to the bed's other side, her eyes briefly lit up with a green sheen, levitating the Fennekin plush back onto the bed. The moment it touched the bedding, Anne pulled it into a close hug, sighing in relief. The two psychics might've still been deeply uncertain about just what the relationship between the human girl and the Braixen helping with the little ones was exactly, but they had a terribly hard time imagining that Anne had ever intentionally harmed the fox.
All the while, the realization that she'd just blown up their entire facade in front of Anne was finally sinking into Aria's mind. Still, she was good at this. Once the need arose, she could remove all traces of this having ever happened from Anne's memory.
Or, at least, that's what she told herself to excuse what she was about to do.
A glowing sight in the corner of her vision distracted Anne from watching the Indeedee grandma pour her another glass. Aria's eyes were aglow with faint white light as she retrieved an important item from the side room, her find soon landing on the bedding before the girl.
"^I'm sorry for keeping this away from you earlier, Anne.^"
Anne had no idea what the Gardevoir was referring to, not managing to make it out even when squinting as hard as she could. The suspense made her quickly down the rest of her drink before feeling around in front of herself—and squealing in relief at finding her glasses. "~O-oh thank you, thank you, they're alright...~"
Despite her overjoyed reaction, a closer examination revealed a nasty crack in the corner of the left lens, and one arm to have been bent at a harsh angle. She'd have to at least deal with the latter issue if she wanted the eyewear to stay on her head. A quick attempt at fixing it herself only made her realize her fingers had nowhere near the strength to fix the thin piece of steel.
"^Do you need help, Anne?^" Aria asked.
"~Umm... y-yeah. I can't wear them like this, th-they're bent here...~"
The link between them let the Gardevoir figure out what the girl was referring to. She nodded as her white aura enveloped the metal stripe, straightening it out in a single motion before Anne could elaborate. The effortlessness of it all caught the girl off guard. Thankfully, she was calm enough by then to end up towards the latter end of the terrified—awestruck spectrum.
"~T-thank you, Mrs. Aria...~"
Seeing the glass trinket be used for its intended purpose caught both psychics' attention. Anne's sight returned as her squinting eyes opened all the way, letting the mons make out her hazel eyes.
And cementing the realization that, indeed, all this was happening.
That she was indeed conversing with two very real mons tending to her, mere feet away. A glance around the room made her recognize that this wasn't a cabin as she'd previously thought, but instead a large tent; thick canvas surrounding her from all sides. There was an opening up on the wall to her right, letting in light but seemingly not the cold, courtesy of the sparkling sheen covering it.
Somehow.
"^Huh, so this thing helps you see~?^"
Autumn's creaky voice pulled Anne's attention back towards her. The Indeedee was even cuter in as high of a definition as anything ever got for the human.
"~Mhm! My s-sight is very bad, a-and these curve the light to make up for that,~" Anne explained. For once, she wasn't the one that ended up being utterly confused about something. Her explanation didn't make a ton of sense for either Aria or Autumn, making her second-guess herself and try coming up with a better one.
Before she could get too far into that task, though, the Gardevoir interrupted her, "^We'll have to ask you some more about it sometime. Right now... would you mind answering a few questions, Anne?^"
Anne nodded in affirmation and leaned in, listening intently. It took the Gardevoir a while to actually say her questions out loud. She wasn't exactly racing to get back to the topic of the terrible things that had befallen the girl and ruin the serene mood.
Alas, she knew she would have to, eventually.
Still, that didn't mean she had to get to the worst of it right away. Though, the question of which of the two topics she wanted to ask about was worse wasn't exactly an easy one.
"^Sooo, I was curious... you and Ember. How were you two like?^"
Even the slightly less awful question instantly drained much of the room's warmth away. Instead of the expected fear, though, Aria felt somber sadness fill the girl's mind, her good arm holding the plush much closer as she reminisced.
"~W-we were... it was us two against the world. She meant everything to me. We'd go everywhere t-together, even to school. I wasn't allowed to bring her there, a-and she'd always get really scared wh-when I had to hide her in the backpack, a-and I'd apologize every time, but I-I had to, or they'd hurt her...~" Anne whimpered, the two psychics growing aghast with each word. The lead the girl had left at the end was one they had to investigate further, as much as neither them nor the girl really wanted to.
Aria's slow, gentle pets helped a fair bit, but they could only do so much.
"^Who was hurting her?^"
"~O-other kids at school. They made fun of me for bringing her, b-but if I left her outside the class, they'd chase her down and hurt her and she was too scared to fight back. O-or if they found me during recess, they'd corner me and beat me until I let go of her. Most of the time I'd run or hide o-or find a place where teachers were watching, or just endure it, b-but...~"
Anne's tears kept flowing despite the psychically enhanced affection, her words filling out the terrifying picture one bloodstain at a time. The elderly Indeedee felt a wrath within her she had never felt before; a desire to storm into the human backwater and enact justice on those responsible in as ruthless of a form as she could think of—
But it only lasted mere moments before dimming into just feeling sorry for the human and the fox.
As terrible as it all was, enough to force Aria to Calm Mind herself lest she'd lose composure, she knew she had to continue, asking, "^I-I see... were there no safe places for her?^"
"~S-sort of... when I could I left her at Mrs. Graham's library, b-but it wasn't always open in time, or on all days... a-and I couldn't leave her at home, o-o-or,~" Anne paused, shaking even harder than before as tears leaked from underneath her eyelids, "~or they would hurt her so much more...~"
"^Your parents?^" Aria asked.
Anne nodded, breaking Autumn's heart. She wished she could do or say something to help the poor child, to somehow prevent all the suffering from those that should've been the ones closest to her. Alas, all she could do was watch as her daughter proceeded with her questioning, the resolve to make things right building up inside her by the moment.
Before Aria could ask another question, Anne continued on her own volition, mind fraying as she retold it all, "~Th-they hurt me a lot when I went back to them, and when I stopped crying as much, they started hurting Ember, a-and I couldn't do anything...~"
Aria had enough.
The girl's retelling was genuine and painful enough to cast away any doubt the Gardevoir might've had in her mind. However, it meant that someone else wasn't telling the full truth about what had happened, and there was one person involved in all this Aria's doubts immediately leaped towards. Still, that was a topic for another time.
The Gardevoir nodded slowly as she kept petting the abused girl, a touch of Calm Mind steering her away from reliving it all. Her other question remained, though, and with how intimately it tied to the current topic, Aria figured it was the best time to ask it, just to get it over with, "^I'm so sorry, Anne. When you were running away from your parents, on the night we found you... were you headed towards someone? A—a family member that would take you in—^"
"~N-n-no.~"
The answer was as straightforward as it was damning for any ideas Aria might have had. Her free hand clenched in a brief flash of the same anger that Autumn had felt earlier. She couldn't comprehend anyone hurting and abusing their own little one, deep down—but that made it no less true in this situation.
"~I-I just... I had to run. I-I overheard my father saying he was g-gonna kill me if I pissed him off again. I stayed up that night, crammed as much as I could into my bag, stole a neighbor's b-bike and took off. I thought I'd have the best chances in Lillywood, that m-maybe I could take a train from there to C-Castelia and find someone who'd help me out, s-someplace I'd be safe...~"
Like here...
A pang of pain shot through both psychics at overhearing Anne's stray thought. No matter her previous composure, or even Aria's constant help, the girl's tears continued to flow. Her plea from earlier came back in force, even with the fake human place being replaced by whatever non-human place this was. It felt just as hopelessly impossible as it did last time; her fear turning her words into a pitiful whimper as she begged, "~P-please don't make me go back...~"
As different as the circumstances were now, as utterly unthinkable a course of action as it would imply... Aria's response to that request, deep down, remained exactly the same. "^We won't let them hurt you again, Anne.^"
"~B-but... I-I don't have anywhere to go—~"
"^Then let this be your home until you do.^"
As much as Autumn wholeheartedly agreed with her daughter's verdict, she still turned to face her in shock at unilaterally deciding on something so unheard of, so against the purpose of their little shelter from humanity. It was difficult, almost impossible, for her to wrap her mind around all the implications of Aria's words—and yet, that didn't make them any less inarguably correct.
Before Anne could whimper out a quiet "~Really?~", a tearful glance at Aria's expression told her everything she needed to know.
The Gardevoir's composed neutrality had given way to fierce determination, and then a gentle smile as the girl kept looking. And then, at last, one final firm nod sealing the promise. The next thing Aria knew, Anne had grabbed her petting hand, and moved it in front of herself to hold in a tearful, one-armed embrace. Neither expected, nor something she could leave at just that, especially with Anne's yearning for comfort being downright palpable.
Anne's eyes went wide at the sensations that followed. Covers were telekinetically held against her front, before she was lifted and pulled closer to the Gardevoir, leaning on her. She couldn't argue with the outcome, though, finding herself position to not just hold the psychic's hand, but her entire body.
There was not a shred of hesitation in the side hug that followed.
Anne's impromptu embrace was shaky, tearful, rather awkward—but so, so needed. A kind of comfort the girl worried she'd forgotten entirely by now. The mess of thoughts stirring in her mind was just as if not even more chaotic than earlier.
Awareness that she had no idea where or even what 'here' was. Worries about this place seemingly not having any other humans. The intense relief Aria's promise of safety brought. Realization of just how deeply comforting the Gardevoir's presence was,
And an unspoken desire to have it last forever.
Unfortunately, it had to end only a few minutes later. Aria shuddered as she felt a familiar aura approach fast, one honing on her in particular. She squeezed the girl one last time before looking up at the room's entrance and taking a deep breath.
Just in time, as the Luxray blitzed in mere seconds later. His fur arced as he came to a stop, piercing eyes turned to look at his coworker—only to go wide at what he actually saw. He had no idea what was going on in here, but liked exactly none of it.
"^What is it, Lumi?^" Aria asked, shaking him out of any grumbling. His thoughts returned to the issue at hand as he watched the human look up at him. It wasn't supposed to have that glass trinket, goddammit Aria…
"Another human searching for this one. One, with an Arcanine. Nobody is following them, and Marco is keeping track of them for the time being."
The news wasn't what Aria expected or wanted to hear. As she thought about who this new human could've been, her ideas ventured in the most unsavory direction. The earlier impulse to hurt those who had hurt the girl came back in full force, making the Gardevoir's expression narrow and her free hand clench into a fist. "^I see, I'll be on my way there, I have an idea of who that may be—^"
"~W-what's going on?~"
Anne's quivering voice took Aria out of any further bloody thoughts. She felt the fear of the intimidating Luxray staining it, making her stroke the girl's hair before responding, letting everyone hear this time, "^I have to leave for my duties, unfortunately. I'll be back as soon as possible. Autumn, do you mind keep—^"
"^Say no more Aria~. I'll stay with you Anne, as long as needed.^"
Despite the reassurance, the girl felt distraught at the unexpected symbol of her safety leaving so abruptly. It wasn't like she had any room to argue, though, nodding as she let go of the Gardevoir. The room felt so empty the moment she left, making the human shrink into her bed.
As she departed the healers' tent and then their village, Aria knew one thing more clearly than anything else in the world.
If she ran into Anne's parents, there would be hell to pay.
The old woman stopped to catch her breath on the side of the snow covered road. Any hopes of doing so without grabbing her companions' attention were dashed as the Arcanine stopped with her, looking up at her with clear worry on his snout.
"~Don't worry Leo, I'm good, I'm good. Just—just need a moment. Much more walking than usual, but I'll manage,~" she spoke, stroking the hound's rich mane to counteract the stinging cold. It did little to reassure Leo himself, however, especially with his human's obviously pitiful state. The Ribombee that scrambled out of the cream fur shortly after was similarly doubtful.
She wasted no time before trying to convey that to her human, buzzing softly as she flew over to the woman's free hand. The pretend attempts at dragging the limb in the direction they came from sent a clear message, but they only made the recipient sigh. It's not like the lil' bee was wrong, even.
The old woman's years were catching up with her. She was in absolutely no state to be undertaking this expedition. It shouldn't have been her tired old self pushing deeper and deeper into these cursed woods in search of a lost child—but if not her, then who?
Anne's damnable parents that fled the place the moment the police got involved?
The cops that did barely any searching themselves, and only put up a handful of disposable 'missing person' posters?
The rest of this anemic, half-dead town?
She shouldn't have to be the one doing this. But if she didn't at least try looking for Anne, even if just to confirm what felt like the inevitable by now, nobody else would. "~L-let's keep going for now. Still got the lead, Leo?~"
The constant snowfall of the past few days had almost completely obscured any trail the girl had left, visual and olfactory alike. The Arcanine let out a low woof before sniffing the air again, finding himself increasingly unsure despite the straight path not leaving many other directions for Anne to have gone in.
His human knew what to do.
Leo's head perked up as he saw the old woman pull the book out of her purse once more. He gave it an intent sniff, before picking up on the trail again, walking slow enough for his guardian to keep up. 'Understanding Pose and Motion, Illustrated', hah. The woman could bet a fair bit of change that nobody aside from Anne had ever borrowed that one.
As the group resumed their trek, the Ribombee flew into the pocket of her human's jacket, and snuggled up to her free hand. She was torn between not wanting to be outside in such bitter cold, eager to go back home, and loathing the idea of staying back while her guardian was putting herself at risk.
The human responded to her tiny hug by embracing her with her thumb, her voice tired and croaky, "~I'm okay, Luxie. Don't worry, sweetie. It's... cold, and scary, I know, but we can do this, one step at a time. Hop back into Leo's mane and warm yourself up. Don't feel you have to be freezing yourself in there for me.~"
Her words thankfully had their desired effect. The lil' bee soon squirmed out of the woman's pocket, about ready to dive back into the Arcanine's mane—before stopping at the last moment. Instead, she flew up to her human's face, its determined expression making it clear there would be no arguing about their trip.
Instead, Luxie flew closer to nuzzle the old woman's cheek with her entire body. The elder's features softened as she closed her eyes for just a second, savoring the sensation before the Ribombee retreated into Leo's warmth.
Brief as it was, the moment of comfort was appreciated all the same. It softened the impact of yet another frigid gust that came soon after; the frost forcing a quiet grunt out of the human before she doubled down in response. She pushed on as hard as her body still allowed—for a few moments at least, spite proving to be a very fickle fuel for tasks like this.
Fortunately, she wouldn't have to rely on it for much longer.
A bump in the blanket of snow right ahead of them caught the entire group's attention. The couple inches of bark peeking out from underneath it wordlessly explained its presence.
"~Guess we have to go around it, through the white menace,~" the old woman sighed—only for Leo to stop dead in his tracks. He then did a nasal double take before slowly, yet confidently, leading them off into the trees. Gentle as it was, the downwards slope of the sudden detour made trekking through it that much harder for his human.
The hound didn't leave his guardian's side even for a moment, providing constant, constantly needed support. Every pebble or root deviously hidden underneath the snow made it even harder to follow the doomed path, for them and Anne a few days ago alike.
"~Goodness Anne, what happened to you...~"
Both her companions shared that thought, Luxie's quiet squeaks especially unnerved. They all knew, at a certain level deep down, that the girl didn't make it. Seeing her tragedy unfold like this only made that clinical realization even more viscerally disturbing.
Thankfully, the path evened out eventually, making it that much easier on the old woman. It wasn't long until the Arcanine leading the party stopped once more; at what felt like random.
"~Leo? What hap—~" the woman asked, stopping after taking one more step and noticing what her Arcanine had moments earlier. Her eyes went wide as she backed off in reflex; the ravine in front of them as deadly deep as it was hard to spot in the uniform whiteness.
"~Verdammt...~"
Much like the sinking feeling in their stomachs suggested, a glance down revealed Anne's ultimate destination. The handful of specks of red on white couldn't have been anything else,
But…
The snow layer down there wasn't even so thick as to fully cover the muddy dirt. And yet, there was no sight of either Anne's body, the bike she stole, or anything she had worn that night. As Luxie gasped at the sight as loudly as her tiny body was capable of, her human was already thinking through what might've actually happened there.
No matter what, they would have to see this to the end.
"~There's no way she survived that fall. Something must've dragged her, but... carnivores would've likely done their deed on the spot, especially in such a hidden location. Even the few species that store meat for later wouldn't bother with dragging a body whole and just cut out the good bits. And I'm not sure any of them even live in this area to begin with...~"
As the human muttered to herself, trying to make sense of the situation at hand, it was Leo's turn to suddenly realize something. He froze as he sniffed the air some more, finding another, incomparably stronger lead. Stronger, fresher,
Nearby.
The Arcanine turned in the direction his nose was guiding him towards and bolted without waiting any longer. His mind was deadset on either rescuing the lost youngling if it was her, or avenging her if he'd caught a whiff of the beast that had eaten her.
"~Leo, WAIT!~" the old woman shouted before bustling to catch up with the Fire-type. Between old age, the weather, and her exhaustion, she only reached the pace of a light jog, even as she pushed herself to her limit. Luxie was unsure which of the two to stick with before zipping towards Leo, utterly confused about what was happening.
They wouldn't have to run for long.
Leo had stopped in his tracks only a couple dozen meters in front of them, once he'd dashed within view of his target. Or rather, targets. He felt intimidated at being outnumbered, but he had no idea what he was even looking at. He might have been a town hound, but these two... kinda-humans-but-not-really sure didn't look like the creature to feast on someone else's flesh. Then again, one of them was downright rife with the girl's scent, so what did he know? The black quadruped that accompanied them did look very carnivorous, but barely smelled of Anne.
Something wasn't adding up.
Without any idea how to proceed, the Arcanine assumed a defensive stance and backed up a couple of paces. He locked his eyes with the opposing group, shifting from one potential threat to another as he growled quietly. The Ribombee that followed had a similar reaction—though in her case, a 'defensive stance' meant diving into Leo's mane to hide, and occasionally peeking out to keep track of what the wildlings were doing.
Or rather, presently, not doing.
It took a while for the human to catch up. Even the brief burst of exertion at a downright sluggish pace left her completely out of breath, and supporting herself heavily on her cane. Once she came to a stop behind Leo, the hound shifted to shield her as she recovered, just in case.
Eventually, she found enough strength to look up at the scene before her—and recoiled immediately.
While her mons' reactions to the creatures in front of them were mostly unfamiliar confusion, the human's response was a stark clear of something well familiar. Of what these beings were, what they could do, and why crossing them was a mistake one only made once.
"~L-Leo, Luxie, back slowly a-and don't make sudden moves...~" the human muttered, following her own advice as she inched backwards, The freezing air hurt her airways as she panted in a mix of strain and anxiety. She kept trying to figure out what was going on—did Leo catch a cold to lead them there, right into the maw of danger? Or did these three do something to Anne and... oh god, oh god, Reshiram merciful—
"^You're looking for someone, aren't you?^"
The entire group felt a feminine voice manifest in their minds. It was like an icicle—crystal clear, freezing cold, and pointed like a dagger. Leo and Luxie were taken aback at hearing such a clearly understandable message for the first time in their lives, though the former didn't acknowledge it.
Their human, on the other hand, only grew more afraid. The neutral question felt taunting to her already terrified mind, as if offering to lead them to Anne's fate. Even beyond that fear, the textbooks she taught from years ago were clear on telepathy being a tool for intimidation, not communication. 'You can hear me clearly, back off now' and all…
"~K-keep going until we make it back t-to the path sweeties, keep going...~"
Before her elderly heart could give out, the voice elaborated, slightly less tense, "^A young girl named Anne.^"
Her worst fears being confirmed made the old woman stop in a mixture of terror and grief, shaking at the ghost bride's 'words'. A rational part of her knew she should've kept going, to not let herself be taunted. But deep down, she had to know what had befallen the girl, even if it would come at the cost of her life.
After a few excruciating moments, she replied with words drier than sand, eyes affixed on Leo's head, "~I-I take it you know what... b-became of her, then...~"
To even acknowledge the wraith's words was asking for trouble, to invite further interaction by responding to them was to sign one's own doom. Though, considering the circumstances, it's not like they weren't doomed already.
As the small group awaited a response, they huddled closer. Leo's piercing gaze locked with the Luxray's, before jumping to stare down the white humanoid that stepped forward, his low growl making it stop in place.
"^She had suffered a serious accident, but is now safe, and is being tended to.^"
Despite how utterly infeasible the admission sounded, it still made the woman gasp. It felt impossible, but… what use was lying for a ghost bride, anyway. It had her on a platter, if it so desired. The tiniest bit of relief crept into the elder's mind, and much more of it into the heads of her companions. It still left the big, and almost as morbid question of what would happen to Anne now, at the wraiths' mercy. "~T-that's... good. Wh-what... what will happen to her once she recovers?~"
The long pause following the question was only interspersed with the Luxray's intermittent growls and barks. They sent freezing shivers down the human's spine as she kept trying to back off, bit by bit, with her companions soon getting the cue as well.
Before her group could skitter away too far, though, the woman saw the wraith's eyes light up with a white flare. An instant later, she bumped into an invisible wall right behind her, letting out the most pitiful whine at realizing her own entrapment.
"^Who are you, and what brings you looking for her?^" a different voice asked. Masculine, less pointed, but just as distant. Fear of being essentially held at gunpoint left her thought process, glib despite her age, sluggish and miserly.
"~M-my name is Olive Graham. I'm—I'm Mylock's librarian. Anne used to visit me all the time. She'd spend most of her afternoons i-in the library and stay until closing, doing homework or reading or t-trying to relax, with Ember or alone, later on.~" Olive's miserly body did not appreciate the tension in the air one bit. She leaned on her cane more and more as she shook in place, too afraid to even warm her hands in Leo's mane.
"^That does not explain why would you push yourself though this cold in search of her,^" the masculine voice said.
Indeed, it didn't.
"~We never t-talked much, but... if I didn't go find out what happened to her, then nobody else would. M-My library was one of the few places she ever felt safe in, I—I want to do right by her,~" Olive explained, finding herself reminiscing about some of their shared memories, not even considering that these recollections might not have been of her own volition.
One spring evening, a couple years back. She was sorting through the recent arrivals and stocking the shelves as Anne and Ember exchanged giggles and woofs respectively, just out of sight. Goodness, was that fox a fixture on Anne's lap. She wanted to get the whole box done in one go and not put the rest of it off until the next morning, with her library staying open a couple hours longer than normal because of it. Long enough for its most frequent visitor to doze off after a couple cups of sweet tea, together with the little one in her lap.
Even now, she teared up thinking just how much she wanted to let them stay in the only safe space they had left. Alas, they had to return to their horrid house eventually, day after day.
She remembered Anne being startled awake by the lightest touch on her shoulder.
Another scene, back when she briefly substituted as a biology teacher, when Leo was still just a Growlithe pup. He was just as keen on her lap as Ember was on Anne's, and they spent many recesses watching the school's courtyard together.
Alas, their attention was too scattershot to notice the brawl brewing off in the corner.
A couple of boys from the rougher families cornered Anne as she knelt down beside the fence, comforting the lil' fox. One of them taunted her, making her stand up while still facing away from him. Olive was about to shout to make them disperse, before Anne cut her off with a sucker punch right to the taunter's nose. Knocked him right on his ass; made his group scatter. As much as the librarian wanted to cheer for her at that, she limited herself to looking the other way and making sure Anne wouldn't get in any trouble over that.
While she reminisced, the old woman felt her body become lighter. As if some of the unceasing pressure was taken off her elderly joints, leaving together a massive weight off her chest. Couldn't have been anything but her conscience.
After a long, increasingly less tense silence, the feminine wraith spoke again, sounding… different. Less imposing, warmer, notably uncertain, and with a clear gratitude in its voice, "^Thank you. As to your question... we aren't sure. We don't know how safe she'd be to return to... the human world. We hope you can... advise us, somehow.^"
The sentence made all the grammatical sense in the world, but it still stunned Olive to hear. To hear a cruel, deceiving spirit suddenly turn… questioning, asking her for help and not the other way around, sounding so… normal.
Like a person.
Olive breathed deeply as she chewed through that conundrum, the lessened pain around her body making that task easier than usual. Unfortunately, she wasn't arriving at any particularly reassuring conclusions. "~I'm... unsure. She'd eventually end up with a foster family. Though, given her age, I don't know how likely she'd be to find one before she turns eighteen and gets kicked out of that system. With how underfunded that entire program is, I can't imagine the places she'd be staying at in the meantime to be all that better than her present house...~"
The situation got even grimmer the more she thought about it all. It was bad enough to where she wondered whether Anne staying under the woods' and ghost brides' protection really was the best possible outcome for her, as outlandish as that was to consider. To think the very society from which she sprung failed her so much that her safest option was being given shelter by spirits...
As her thoughts were being picked up by others beside herself, Olive thought back to how normal that ghost bride sounded. She couldn't get that out of her mind, making her wonder whether all this wasn't yet another cruel trick its kind was said to engage in, or… if it was being genuine here.
The sound of snow being waded through cut her thoughts off, sending a shiver down her spine. An upward glance revealed the feminine wraith to be approaching her. She knew better than to ever meet eyes with them, only daring to sneak the briefest of glances.
All she saw was a calm, sad expression, lacking any ferocity aside from the vivid crimson of its eyes. "^I see. With how unsafe the human world sounds for her, it sounds like she'll have to stay with us for some time longer, then. She told us she has no family left either...^"
"~None that she should be with, no. Heard her mother ran off to her folks when the news broke. That whole rotten bunch shouldn't be let anywhere near her, even if she's not nearly as awful as Anne's father.~"
This really was it then, wasn't it?
She'd found out what had happened to Anne, even if the answer in its fullest was one she had a hard time comprehending the full impact of. She didn't entirely trust the beings that had conveyed it to her, but knew well she was in absolutely no position to argue for a more appropriate end for the girl.
Both because doing so with a ghost bride was how people end up being buried alive, and because she really had no argument for a different outcome. There wasn't anywhere else safe for Anne—and if nothing else, the wraiths of the Lillywood Forest were at least powerful enough to keep her from harm. It was an answer; it was the answer, but... Olive wasn't satisfied, not one bit. She couldn't just let it happen like this, not if she could help it.
And help it, she wanted to.
"~Is there... is there any way I could possibly help her out? I owe at least that to her.~"
There was another long pause from the wild group, once more interspersed with Luxray barks. They sounded louder and more forceful this time, harsh enough to make the old woman back off—and realize there was no longer any barrier keeping her trapped.
As much as she wanted to flee and bring her companions to safety, her duty wasn't done here yet, the resolve to help Anne outweighing her waning fear. A couple more minutes of a mostly inaudible exchange later, the wildlings seemed to have arrived at an agreement, even if a tenuous one.
The sound of fast steps trailing off into the woods made Olive glance up and see the masculine wraith run off, leaving just the other one and the Luxray. Leo was much too confused about what was going on anymore to keep on posturing. He kept shielding his human from the stranger, but wasn't otherwise trying to scare the wild mons away anymore. The snarl on the Luxray's expression still concerned him, though.
"^I would greatly appreciate any help, and I'm sure so would Anne. I don't—I don't know what a human girl like her needs. I will do all I can to keep her safe and cared for, but I am completely clueless on any specific human requirements or wants,^" the ghost bride explained. To meet one in person was surreal enough; to witness them asking for help was so dumbfounding it melted through much of Olive's fear of that kin. Enough so for her to finally dare do the unthinkable.
Her body shook as she looked up the rest of the way, finding the white creature's expression soft, uncertain—and that bit warmer in response. Their red eyes were still as striking as the fairy tales had her believe, but there wasn't any malice within them for once.
"~Well... shelter, food, and water are the obvious basics. Being wanted, cared for, clothes. Beyond those, there really isn't anything that's strictly needed, I don't think—especially in Anne's case, hah. Give her a book or something to draw on and watch her sink into her own little world,~" Olive spoke.
The spirit acknowledged her words, calming down. She was glad beyond words that the little one she had already grown fond of was almost just like everyone else—but only almost, and there definitely were places where Olive could help. "^We can provide most of those, thankfully. Though, clothes and 'books' are something we lack.^"
"~Hah! Books are my specialty, you could say. With how few people visit the library, I don't even see an issue with her getting to take a few of them for good. Though, knowing her, she'll be done with them in days. As to clothes... I imagine rifling through her wardrobe would be helpful here; no way she took everything with her, after all. Beyond that... I don't think I have anything that fits her particularly well, but a poor fit is better than no fit, and there are definitely a few things that spent the last decade in my closet uninterrupted. Plus, she'll grow into it, assuming she stays there for long enough.~"
"^This would involve heading over to your town to retrieve these items, wouldn't it?^"
As obvious as the answer was, it was worth stating it clearly. Olive's free hand reached into Leo's mane as she nodded, the hidden Ribombee snuggling into it all the while.
"You can't be seriously considering that, Aria," a low, gruff voice cut in, catching the human group completely off-guard. There wasn't anyone that could've said that, aside from the intimidating Luxray staring up at the spirit and them alike.
"^I don't see why not. I know my stealth, and unless a sight of a Luxray accompanying Olive's group is enough to send that whole place into a panic, I imagine we'll be inconspicuous enough. And—I figured it'd be the best for us all to be able to understand each other, if this is gonna take a while,^" the freshly named Aria said.
The Luxray looked about ready to blow up at her, before her addendum made him look at the human group wide-eyed, only able to spit out, "Have you gone completely mad!?"
"A-all of us?" a quiet, squeaky voice asked, making the whole group look over the Ribombee daring to peek out from Leo's mane. Aria's affirmative nod sent her whizzing over to her human's cheek, nuzzling and hugging it as hard as her little body could manage.
"T-thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! O-Olive, I—" Luxie paused, never in a million years expecting to have an opportunity like that. Everything she wanted to say welled up inside her fairy body. Words kept getting stuck in her throat, leaving her sniffling as she snuggled in, her human's hand gently petting her in return.
Olive was similarly taken aback, but knew just what to whisper in response, "~Love you too, Luxie.~"
Leo was nowhere near as talkative, instead just nuzzling into his human's cane hand. As the human's companions expressed their affection, the pale creature off to the side gave the Luxray a smug smirk, making him roll his eyes. It took a while for the librarian's group to compose itself again, but once they did, Olive spoke again, "~Would—would following us back to our town be something you'd be interested in?~"
"^Anything, if it means I can help Anne out that bit more.^"
Olive smiled at Aria's conviction, especially as it matched hers. A newfound sense of purpose renewed her strength, as tired as she still was. "~Well, I suggest we get a move on then. The snow sure ain't stopping anytime soon, and I'm feeling myself slowly lose sensation in my legs, hah...~"
The off-the-cuff remark made both of her companions look up at Olive with worry on their faces. Waiting no longer, the entire group turned around and headed out, fresh snowfall having already slightly obscured their tracks.
Before the librarian could get properly going again, she saw yet another on an already very long list of unexpected sights today. The spirit held her green hand towards her with a smile, ready to be grasped.
At any point in her life prior to now, she would've thought herself having mere minutes, if not seconds to live in a situation like that. But now… now she felt just about ready to take her chances.
And boy, was she glad to have done so.
The warmth that filled her body as her hand took the spirit's was almost the complete opposite of what she had expected it to be. It worked away at her numbness and aching while undoing decades of strain and wear, making her feel almost weightless. "~Ohhhh. Definitely not what I imagined this to feel like.~"
The ghost bride just giggled at her words as they got going. The sound was so unlike anything she expected from her kin, while also just being very pleasant at the face value. It made the librarian feel just that bit more self-conscious about the spooky stories she spent her life believing in.
"^Hah, I gathered. I've no idea who came up with half the things you were thinking I could or would do.^"
Despite most of the terrifying myths turning out to be lies, this seemed to be the one part that was indeed true, enough so to make the stranger casually admit to it. Olive wasn't sure how she felt about her thoughts being read like that, but it was a concern for another time.
"^My name is Aria. I... can't thank you enough for agreeing to help us, Olive.^"
"~My pleasure... Aria. I braced myself to find a dead body, if even that. To hear she's doing alright is... the best news I've had in a long while, that's for sure.~"
"M-me too... that ravine looked so, so scary, h-how did she survive that!?" Luxie asked, her voice bringing a smile to the librarian's face. The sound was such a dead ringer for how Olive imagined the lil' bee would sound like if she could talk that it was almost baffling. Baffling, and so sweet that she had no reason to doubt it sounding the way it did.
"^Barely. Thankfully, we... found her quickly.^"
The pause in Aria's voice to carefully pick her words was noticed, but Olive was of no mind to pry into it. Even if she wasn't a vengeful banshee that the human expected her to be, she was still a magical creature, one that likely kept many secrets.
"Yeah... I-I was so scared for her when she went missing; I thought she was dead for sure a-a-and it'd probably just break my heart. A-Anne's too sweet to have something like that happen to her..." Luxie rambled.
"I knew she'd make it. She's much more resilient than she looks," Leo said, making the Ribombee raise an eyebrow as Olive chuckled.
"~Indeed, even if it's by necessity.~"
The Luxray grumbled at Olive's words as the group made their way back onto the forest path, "If you apparently 'care' for her so much, why didn't you help her before?"
The Electric-type's snarled gotcha drew glares from most of the rest of the group. Olive, instead, just sighed quietly. It stung, despite her knowing on a rational level that she'd done everything in her power to help.
"^Leave judging people's hearts to me, Lumi—^"
"~No, no, he has a point, I think,~" Olive sighed.
"No, he doesn't!" Luxie shouted. "You g-gave her a safe place all the time in the library, made her feel as welcome as you could—you even called for people to come and investigate what her parents were doing to her—"
"~And what came of it?~"
Luxie couldn't respond to that; the simple lack of knowledge shutting her up. Though, considering Anne's situation didn't improve at all afterwards, the answer was likely 'not much, if anything'. "B-but, didn't someone come to look at what was happening?"
"~They did. I saw a single police cruiser roll up to their home, then her father talking to one of his coworkers and blowing that entire thing off. Then, the next day, a couple new bruises on her neck,~" Olive said.
The pangs of fury Aria felt back at the clinic came back in force, even as she tried to control herself. These were some evil people she was saving Anne from, the realization giving her more motivation each time she thought about it. Lumi wasn't entirely convinced yet, but at least his next question wasn't dripping with as much smarm, "Then why not take her under your own wing, if her own family is so monstrous towards her?"
"^Lumi—^"
"~Do you think I wouldn't have done so if I could?~" the old woman asked, voice dripping with contempt for the Luxray's words. Contempt, and more than a bit of regret at her own impotence. She'd wished so, so many times she could just spirit the girl away from her day-to-day hell, but…
Alas.
"~I'm not her relative, and she has a living family. Best case she'd spend a few days with me before I end up behind bars for the rest of my life and she would be forced to get back to her house, and I can't even imagine what her father would do to her afterwards.~"
Aria didn't need to know what 'behind bars' meant to realize it referred to a punishment. Her heart shuddered at such an obviously generous act being held against the elderly woman. As much as her perception of how virtuous individual humans could be changed by the minute, humanity as a whole remained little more than a monstrous, vile mess inside her mind.
One that brought misery to everything it touched, including itself.
The terrifying mental image chilled the discussion for a long while afterwards, enough for the group to approach the end of the forest path. Luxie hovered out of her warm shelter to nuzzle her guardian's cold hand, catching her attention.
"~We're getting close. Whatever stealth you had in mind, Aria, now's a high time to exhibit it—~"
The end result spoke for itself, enough so to leave Olive speechless at how effective it was.
She was still holding the spirit's hand, her attempts at clenching it were returned by Aria moments later, but attempting to look at her, or even at the hand she knew she was holding, yielded no results. Her eyes just slid over the spots she would've been in.
"^How's that for stealth~?^"
"~What in the...~"
Aria's disembodied giggle warmed the atmosphere from its previous gloom as they neared the entrance to the human village. The psychic herself almost never ventured this far, especially not during her duties, but there was one curious sight in front of her she needed to ask about.
"^I've always wondered what was the purpose of that… object.^"
"~Hmm?~"
The partially faded and grossly out-of-date sign that flanked the gate to the woods was a sight Olive had turned out completely over the years. She found the wild creature's curiosity of it charming, almost cute.
"~It has the name of the town—Mylock—written on it, and its population. Says it's sixteen hundred, nowadays the actual number is closer to eleven hundred.~"
Beyond the confusion at what 'written' meant, the meaning of the sign took Aria aback. The town's population might have been pitiful by the standards of human settlements, but it was enough to leave the Gardevoir genuinely surprised. "^T-that's a good few people, goodness. And on the other side?^"
"~Name of the town at the other end of the path, Lillywood, and the distance to it.~"
"^And how big is that one? I've heard it's quite bigger than even this town.^"
"~Not a high bar to clear. Hmm... last time I checked it was something like forty, fifty thousand.~"
As underwhelming as Lillywood was, when compared to the regional capital of Mistralton, the number was still enough to completely stump both Lumi and Aria. Olive couldn't see the latter, but she felt her arm suddenly being yanked backwards as she walked on, as if her impromptu companion had stopped. "~What's wrong?~"
"^That's an astounding number of living beings, good heavens...^"
The librarian just chuckled, amused at Aria's innocence. "~I've a feeling that if I told you Castelia's population you'd faint on me.~"
"^May be if it's substantially higher than that...^"
Did two and a quarter orders of magnitude count as substantially higher?
Once Aria had snapped out of her daze, the group finally crossed the threshold between wilderness and humanity. The sight that met them on the other side was firmly underwhelming for Mylock's inhabitants, and confusing otherwise. The dirt trail opened into a wider one, lined with a multitude of stone slabs, many of them cracked. A massive black path ran beside it, also apparently made of stone. The faded white markings covering it gave little clue as to its function.
The most eye-catching sight, by far, was the pair of large, metallic objects off to the side of the black path. Each was large enough to comfortably contain their entire group—and probably another copy of it on top of that, if they squeezed in the right way.
"^What are those...?^"
"~Cars. Used for getting around much faster than we can on foot,~" Olive explained. Her description left a lot to be desired, and a part of Aria was just about ready to ask the librarian's ears off about all the human objects around them—but unfortunately, their mission here had priority.
The sooner they were done with it, the better, especially with her stealth having suddenly become much, much more draining with so many more minds around. Altering one person's perception to erase her was already far from trivial, and with all the humans up ahead, Aria had to concentrate just to not let herself be spotted.
Thankfully, Olive guided them right where they needed to go.
Their destination wasn't too far from the entrance to the woods, one of a row of ugly, rectangular copies of the same design built decades ago. Multi-story, single-family, mostly abandoned. Or, in case of the specific building they headed towards, worse than abandoned.
The sight of a Luxray accompanying Mrs. Graham's Arcanine turned a few heads as they passed by, but it didn't deserve any stronger reaction than that. Especially with Lumi leering down at any onlookers as he scouted the area.
Even beyond having way, way too many humans for comfort, this place was just obscenely ugly. The tide of gray and black around them was only occasionally broken by a 'car' of a different color, or a stark outfit of one of the locals. The massive, multi-story building on the other side of the wide black road cutting through the middle of the town was rendered off-putting by the drab color it was painted with.
Raw stone and dark smudges peeking out in places didn't help any, either.
"What an ugly place," Lumi commented.
"~Harsh, but true. Can't believe they still haven't renovated the school after all these years, good gods.~"
A glance at the building they were heading towards had Olive put on a snarl of her own. The litter strewn around the front yard was a perfect company for the opened front door and the reek emanating from within. Luxie, in particular, couldn't resist dry heaving before diving back into her human's pocket.
"~Just a couple days and this place already feels like it's rotting. Only befits her family, if nothing else. Hold your breath,~" Olive instructed. Lumi and Aria didn't have to be told twice.
The atrium opened up into the kitchen immediately in front of them. The town-dwellers soon realized, with vivid clarity, that it was the kitchen—and more specifically, the opened fridge—that was the source of the putrid odor. To their right was a small closet full of junk, while the other side had the stairs up to the first floor. As Olive led everyone up there, the two wildings among them paused mid-step at the unknown, concerning sounds coming from above.
"^Is there someone up there? I can hear voices but can't feel anyone...^" Aria muttered.
"~No, no, it's just the TV. The bastard didn't even turn it off.~"
There was enough contempt dripping from Olive's voice to make her spit it out as they stepped onto the first floor. The human voice emanating from one of the rooms was now clear enough to make out—if one spoke Unovan, that is.
"~—and now for the recap of Hoenn Pro Series 149!~" the announcer shouted. "~Following twenty tense weeks of battles, Trainer Brendan and Gym Leader Flannery with scores of sixteen to four and fifteen to five respectively have managed to secure the top two spots, giving them a possibly once in a lifetime opportunity to challenge the Hoenn Elite Four to potentially replace one of their members—and if they succeed at that, potentially even Champion Wallace himself! In anticipation to the no doubt grueling fights that await them and their teams, let's take a look at the best, most tense moments of all the battles that had led them here, right after the message from our sponsors, on League24 Extra 2!~"
The sensation of hearing a voice without any attached mental activity—or even just physical presence—was an extremely dumbfounding one for Aria. Her aura's subconscious efforts to probe towards where the sound originated only found a quasi-metallic slab, the mismatch between her senses making her head spin. "^What is that voice even saying...^"
"~You don't want to know,~" Olive responded, her answer as short as it was definitive. Thankfully, Aria didn't have to concern herself with it for much longer. The elderly human beelined to what had to be the girl's now-abandoned room, its sheer mess making it look like it's been ransacked several times. "~Here we are.~"
This might've been much more furniture than Aria was used to seeing in a single room, but the despairing state of it offset that realization. Desk and shelves were falling apart, wardrobe missed one of its doors and chair one of its legs. Half of the outer wall was reduced to bare brick and mortar, with a few plumes of mold on the ceiling completing the picture.
Smaller pieces of variously colored fabrics and white, rectangular sheets laid all over the floor. Some of the latter had unknown black or blue symbols on them. None of this made any sense to the wildlings, but they went along with their human guide for now.
"~Might as well grab everything she has left, underwear especially.~" Olive pulled a colorful, glistening bag out of her handbag and unfurled it open. It was large enough to contain this entire mess, evidenced by the librarian walking over to the wardrobe and grabbing whatever clothing that remained by the handful. "~Luxie, take a look at shelves and nooks. She had a whole pencil case she kept hidden.~"
"On it!"
Lumi and Aria were too unfamiliar with humanity to contribute much. The former stood guard outside the room as the latter paid close attention to everything the librarian and her friend were doing. The lil' bee was zooming around the room and collecting small, stick-shaped objects, slowly building a pile on top of the nearby desk. A good dozen pens and a couple pencils was a good haul, but the actual pencil case remained stubbornly hidden, even as Luxie double and triple checked every corner, much to her frustration.
"^What does that... 'pencil case' look like?^" Aria asked.
"About as big as I am, tubular I think... I remember seeing it just a few weeks ago, it has to be in there somewhere!" Luxie explained.
"^Lumi?^"
"Hmm? *sigh*, Fine."
The Luxray's eyes glowed dimly as he swept the room through the adjacent wall. Solid objects were reduced to mere outlines and other living beings, to what humans would call anatomical diagrams. Not a perspective he enjoyed seeing the world through, but it came in handy sometimes. "Inside the top layer of this... bedding, I think?"
The rest of the group all focused on the unkempt bed, with Leo pulling the covers off in a single, firm motion. Underneath, just a stained, bare mattress—one with a barely visible hole in the side facing the wall. Luxie spotted it first, buzzing right over in an instant. "Got it, thank you!"
She didn't expect Anne's pencil case to be this heavy or well-hidden. Considering how much the girl valued being able to draw, though, doing everything to keep it safe from her parents' prying eyes only made sense. It also turned out to not be the only item stuck in the mattress. The large photo frame that lied beside it only barely fit through the gap, forcing the bee to give it her all to pull it out. Her efforts, thankfully, were more than worth it.
An elderly woman sat on a couch, gray hair tied in a bun and a sea of wrinkles dotting her smiling expression. On her lap sat Anne, and on Anne's, Ember, all three snuggled together as tightly as they could.
"Oh my goodness, we have to take it!" Luxie squealed.
"~Of course. Pack it in, all the pencils too—we're scavenging everything in here. Aria, could you help us with the paper?~"
Olive's mental image was clear enough for the psychic to realize that the word referred to all the scattered white rectangles. A shimmering glow surrounded them all as they were lifted in unison and gathered into a neat heap, making Luxie 'wow' under her breath.
"~There's more of it on the shelves and inside the desks, and a few notebooks too. I think she'll appreciate everything we can grab.~"
Aria didn't have to be told twice. All the doors and drawers were rattled open as her mental reach scoured every inch of the room, picking up everything that either was paper, looked like paper, or had paper in it.
The sheer quantity of objects even in this single, rundown room was utterly baffling for the psychic, making her own dwelling look ascetic by comparison. The heap of paper ended up being a few inches tall by the end—and even if only half of it was usable for drawing, it'd still be weeks, if not months, of canvas for Anne. Combined with the drawing supplies and clothes, it was enough to fill Olive's bag to the brim.
"~She took almost everything that wasn't falling apart with herself as far as clothes went, not much else left. One more sweep and I think we can get going—~"
"Someone's coming," Lumi said, his words freezing the group as he tracked his target from behind several walls. A figure shambled in after leaving one of those metal cages on wheels, slamming the front door behind itself after it had walked in. Everyone heard the gruff grumble that followed,
And some of them knew very well who that was.
"~Can only be the homeowner,~" Olive whispered. Her words made all the wrathful thoughts from earlier slip back into Aria's mind as she pieced together the identity of the newcomer. Her hands clenched into tight fists before she addressed the group with a cold, pointed voice,
"^Leave him to me.^"
After acknowledging Aria's call, Olive headed for the stairs, her fear of the person who awaited them subsumed by the Gardevoir's emboldening presence. She didn't even try to keep her footsteps quiet as she reached the atrium and turned to face the kitchen, heart racing.
The brown bottle shook in the man's grasp as he emptied the last of its contents with staggered, uncoordinated gulps. Excess whiskey splashed onto his unkempt, short beard, and the vomit-stained police uniform underneath it. His face, already marked with a permanent grimace, twitched harder as it turned to face the intruder in HIS fucking house.
"~Tom. Fancy meeting you here after all this,~" Olive spoke.
Anne's father let out an animalistic grunt as the librarian's companions stared him down. As obvious as especially Leo's intimidation was, his inebriation and aggression were even stronger. Without letting out a word, he grabbed the freshly emptied bottle by the neck and lunged towards Olive, "~Get the FUCK out of my house you FUCKING BITCH!~"
Before Leo or Luxie could do anything, they felt something deep inside their minds stop them from acting. Olive's scream was caught in her throat before she saw the other human's arm become enveloped in a bright white light; frozen in place as if the air itself was holding it in a vise.
"~Wh-what the FUCK is—~" Tom screamed at seeing a ghost bride emerge from behind that worthless bitch of a librarian, its eyes burning up in a brilliant flare. He put his entire strength into trying to pry his arm out of the demon's grasp as it approached, only straining it further. His mind was equally entrapped, forced to focus entirely on the fiend's eyes as tendrils of pure terror stabbed deeper and deeper into his psyche. "~G-get THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME—GAAAAAHHHH!~"
His spat out demand was interrupted with a visceral crunch as the bones in his wrist twisted and broke at the sudden application of more force, deep blue bruises enveloping his hand moments later. The agony broke out through his grimace with a pathetic shriek, his thoughts full of pain and anger—and not even the tiniest shred of remorse or regret.
There was no doubt left in Aria's mind.
Before Tom could do anything more, his entire arm was yanked backwards, bending his elbow the other way as he was flung into the kitchen. The cracking of bone and snapping of ligaments mixed with the shatter of glass from the stove he impacted. He wasn't thinking of relenting, though.
His drug-induced haze muffled enough of his pain for his rage to keep him going. The trash bag of a human stared the demon down as he pushed through the pain, physical and mental alike. Near-blinding migraine did little to slow him down as he tried to bolt to the other side of the kitchen, eyes set on the dirty knife on the countertop—
Another disgusting crunch filled the room as his ankle was crushed into a thousand pieces; his shrill scream cut off once he'd impacted the filthy floor. Utensils and shards of glass dug into his skin with every motion, the suffering magnified by the psychic's influence—but it wasn't enough for him to stop yet.
In desperation, his unbroken hand reached for his holster and aimed his service pistol at the demon. He shrieked in hatred as he tried to pull down on the trigger—only for the hand holding the gun to smash into his own face with enough force to break them both. A cacophony of cracking of bone, the deafening gunshot, a bullet ricocheting off a metal pipe, and finally, Tom's pained cry as the bullet pierced his leg saturated the air.
And snapped what remained of his resolve.
Even as the monster of a human was reduced to a sprawled, agonized mess, capable of little more than twitching and bleeding, a part of Aria wanted to keep going. To not stop until she'd fully reciprocated the enormity of the suffering Anne had experienced by his hands.
Her eyes burned up with white once more—and stopped shortly after as her anger-fueled high began to die down.
An eerie sensation filled her as she stared at the pathetic heap of a man. Not joy or hateful glee, nothing as uplifting as that, more so… contentment. Of the awareness that he wouldn't ever be capable of hurting anyone else again. Of at least some of Anne and Ember's pain being avenged. Even if he eventually recovered, the pain would remain his lifelong companion, its burning presence accompanying him until the end of his life.
As he deserved.
"^Let's... let's get going...^" Aria whispered. The rest of the group was too aghast by what they had witnessed to even think about disagreeing. The display of violence was so utterly unlike Aria it left even Lumi worried, making him look at his coworker in uncertainty as they hurried through the front door.
"D-did he really d-deserve all that..." Luxie whimpered, her and others' fear stinging the psychic's heart. The air was so saturated with that emotion it was making it hard to think, leaving Aria unsure of what to even say in her defense—
"~All that and worse. Hold on.~"
Olive's grim tone caught everyone's attention as she pulled out a small item from inside her purse. She put her bag of spoils down as she talked to the metallic device, its purpose unknown to the wildlings. "~Afternoon. There's a man with a broken leg in here. I'm not sure if he can move. 17 Central Avenue, ML4 468, Mylock. My name is—~"
*click*
"~None of your business. Alright, let's go, before the ambulance gets here. He'll live.~"
Autumn was left speechless after her daughter had departed for her duties, uncertain how open she should be with Anne. One thing was clear, though—she wanted to cheer the poor girl up, especially with how her mind felt like it was withdrawing more and more by the minute. Maybe a few pats on the arm could work—
Anne recoiled the moment the Indeedee touched her, letting out a sound somewhere between a whimper and a gasp. She stared at the Psychic-type wide-eyed as her brain played catchup, feeling self-conscious about her abrupt reaction. "~O-oh, sorry Mrs—~"
"^Shhhhh, it's okay, sweetie. My fault for not asking first,^" Autumn reassured. Her words soothed Anne's mind before it could start tying itself into knots again. She nodded with a shy smile as her arm returned to its previous spot within Autumn's reach. Once there, the Indeedee went for it again, her motions slower, more telegraphed, and much more effective at calming the girl. "^There, there, I'm here Anne. If there's a way I can help let me know, okay?^"
Anne nodded along automatically, before pausing to actually consider the Indeedee's words. Her gaze roamed away from the psychic as she gathered her words, mumbling out, "~C-could I ask some questions?~"
Autumn responded with a beaming smile and a nod of her own. Being able to climb on the bed would be useful for this; there should've been a footstool around or something… welp, guess not.
"^Of course! Answers are the least you deserve in here after all this. Actually, lemme try—^"
Before Anne could ask what the little psychic was going to do, the grandma answered for herself. Her old body didn't appreciate the minor display of athletics as it attempted to climb onto the edge of the bed—and neither did her old mind that had to help her with a touch of telekinesis.
Autumn might've made an awkward, clumsy joke out of herself, but with it being enough to break through some of Anne's anxiety, she didn't regret it one bit. The girl did tense up once she realized her giggles were noticed, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be helped by the Indeedee getting in on the joke and laughing, too. "^Oh don't you worry, Anne. I know full well I made a bit of a show of myself, hah!^"
"~Yeah, heh.... Umm, as to the question... wh-where are we?~"
Autumn hesitated, unsure how much of their secrecy was now fair game with the girl. Eventually, she settled on 'all of it'—they wouldn't be sending her away anytime soon, anyway. "^Well~, we never agreed on a name for this village; none of them sat right with Orion, hah. I know it's smaller than your human town, though, and nestled in between two of them.^"
Anne's eyes shot wide from behind her glasses as she leaned in and whispered, "~L-like, an entire village? A village of Pokemon?~"
"^Mmmhm~!^"
"~Wow...~"
The girl's mind couldn't help but think back to a book she'd read years ago, its plot so similar on the surface. A secret Pokemon society away from prying human eyes, rescuing abused mons and fighting criminals. She'd read and re-read it so many times the spine started to wear out. And with her being too self-conscious to bring it up to Mrs. Graham, eventually she just stopped borrowing it to not accidentally break it.
Granted, a prehistoric-looking settlement in the middle of the forest didn't have the sophistication of a futuristic underworld, but Anne would take Aria and Autumn over every single character in that book combined.
"~That's... I-I had no idea places like that really existed. I-I remember reading a fictional story about it, but just that...~"
"^Yep, we sure exist! I don't even think we're unique or anything—if we could make it work in such a tight bind between two human towns, then there have to be many more in more accommodating places.^"
The mention of a bind between towns made Anne think of what that actually implied. She didn't remember the local geography perfectly, but she could still try sketching out the broad strokes. Hopefully, it'd be enough for Autumn to point at where this magical place in the woods fit in the area. "~O-oh, in between Mylock and L-Lillywood? Like this—~"
Autumn was left taken aback at just how quickly Anne's thought process sped up in the few seconds that followed, jumping between a few increasingly anxious topics. The little one wanted to show her something, but in order to do that, she had to pull it out of her bag. This made her shuffle over to the edge of the bed, shifting the blanket before her and her immobilized arm before admitting the inevitable to herself.
The reasoning behind each individual action was completely lost on Indeedee, and so was Anne's anxious resignation at the end. Confused, she slid over and asked cautiously, "^Is everything okay, Anne?^"
Anne's gaze was glued to the covers as she 'umm'ed and 'eh'ed for a moment. The awkward search for words took Autumn off guard with how out of nowhere it was.
"~I'll have t-to put my clothes on...~"
Sounded difficult without one arm, but nothing the Indeedee couldn't assist with. "^Okay! Let me know if you need any help with it.^"
As confusing as Anne's anxiety was, the blank, deadpan stare she gave the psychic grandma in response only dumbfounded her even more. The two remained at an impasse before Autumn spoke up again, raising an eyebrow in return.
"^Is something wrong?^"
"~I-I... okay, right, I forgot. Umm... c-could you leave the room while I do it?~" Anne asked, her words as clear to Autumn as the intent behind them was hard to understand.
She was about to ask for an explanation before sensing just how much of the girl's anxiety was tied to the mundane-sounding part of putting clothes on. Sure, Anne's clothes were both more plentiful and fancier than anything anyone in the village wore, so maybe they had some cultural importance? Or were a ceremony one did on their own, like Celia's secluded rituals?
"^Alrighty, I can do that. Shout if you need help Anne, I'll be waiting outside.^"
Autumn felt palpable relief fill the girl's body in response, cementing her decision. She would have to talk about all this with Aria later, but for now, there was no harm in giving Anne her privacy. The moment the Indeedee stepped out of Anne's impromptu room and stood guard, she heard cloth being shuffled and items rattling about. As good a confirmation as any that her anxiety had something to do with being watched.
Maybe it was related to her holding the covers to her front, too? Something to ask her about once she was done, either way. Autumn was in no rush, watching their healers either chat with or tend to the other patients in their clinic. The mysterious human in the next room over was brought up a few times, but the mix of emotions was much fear as it was good wishes.
Eventually, the Indeedee closed her eyes and started humming to herself to burn time—only for a low, croaky, feminine voice to break her impromptu meditation soon after, "Autumn?"
"Good afternoon, Esther. Is something the matter?" the Indeedee answered in her physical voice.
"You have been standing like this for a while now. Is there something wrong with the human?"
"No, no, she is just putting on clothes, and asked me to step out until she's done."
The Indeedee opened her eyes to reveal a Blissey staring her down. Surprised that the human had woken up, annoyed that she wasn't kept in the loop about it. "I wasn't aware she woke up again. Well, once she is done, let me know. We ought to take another look at the mess of her arm and see if it needs any further intervention."
"Hah, your expertise coming in useful again after all these years?"
"I wish it wasn't," Esther grumbled, taking Autumn back.
The Indeedee didn't like the tone of it one bit, making her prod further. "Well, from what I and Aria have been talking with her so far, she's been nothing but sweet."
"From my experience, many a human are until they're in a position where they can be terrible without suffering repercussions."
"That's a rather cynical way to look at it all."
"And one I have experienced more times than I can count," the Blissey asserted, making Autumn renege. Only one of them had the lived experience necessary to form an opinion like this, and it wasn't the Indeedee.
"Right, right, my bad. Well, I certainly hope that she'll be an exception to that rule, then. If you don't mind me asking a question, though..."
"Hmm?"
"Could you have a clue why the whole clothes thing had her get so anxious and ask me to step out?"
Esther blinked before chuckling under her breath. It might've been decades since she'd last seen a human—until this whole mess began—but she wouldn't ever forget respecting patients' privacy being drilled into her back at the human hospital. "Ah yes, the human so-called modesty," she began, trying her hardest not to roll her eyes. "I think it is a cultural thing. There's some big rule against the front or the groin being visible without any coverings in their society. Or just the groin in case of males. I've no clue what the reason is for it—I've seen what's under these coverings plenty and it's about as normal and mundane as I am. Some fatty lumps for females on their front, and the usual set of bits between the legs. More exposed than with most species, so that may be why? I genuinely have no idea."
As their chief healer gave her answer, Autumn listened in on what was going on in Anne's room. The shuffling noises had mostly ceased by then, but the girl hadn't given them an all-clear yet. Hell, she only got more annoyed by the moment.
"I see... well, don't see a reason to disrespect it if it's that important for them. Though, she's been at it for a while now. ^Anne? Are you alright?^" Autumn called, switching to telepathy halfway through. Her words startled the girl, resulting in several drawn out 'umm's and 'eh's as she shuffled around the bed.
"~Oh no no, just c-can't get this stupid knife to go through, ugh...~"
Anne's response left both Autumn and Esther dumbfounded. The Indeedee almost went back there and then before asking again, more urgently this time, "^Anne, what's wrong?^"
"~Nothing, just I-I tried to tear this sleeve a-and… *sigh*, you can come in.~"
The girl's clarification cleared up precious nothing, but a go-ahead was welcome much the same.
Esther and Autumn stepped in to a messy sight on Anne's bed. At least some of her dress-up had gone successfully, as evidenced by a sock-clad foot dangling from the side of the bed. Upper body clothing was clearly the main obstacle, its left sleeve trying to be torn open with the big girl Anne had gotten from… somewhere. Unsuccessfully.
"^Goodness Anne, what were you trying to do there?^" Autumn asked.
The girl looked away in embarrassment at the situation, more so because Autumn having to step in, as opposed to the mess on her bed. "~The cast won't fit through, so I-I tried to cut the sleeve open and c-couldn't manage...~"
As straightforward as the explanation was, it still left questions. Autumn walked over to inspect the knife, utterly confused by its presence there. Esther, however, took it upon herself to solve the problem directly. Anne gasped as the Normal-type grabbed the shirt's left sleeve and tore it open in her hands, leaving only a thin strap to rest on her shoulder.
"~Oh—like this! T-thank you... M-Mrs. Blissey?~"
Human speech was one of these sounds that had only grown more grating in hindsight for Esther, but she couldn't deny that being thanked, so honestly and innocently, felt rather nice. The Blissey settled on a curt smile, equal parts forced and genuine, and a small bow.
"^Her name is Esther, Anne. But, the knife—were you carrying it with yourself in that bag? What for?^"
"~Thank you, Mrs. Esther. A-and, um... I...~"
Needing help with tearing a sleeve open was embarrassing, sure, but the topic ahead was even worse in that regard. Autumn regretted asking, about to clarify that Anne didn't need to respond before the girl went ahead anyway, "~I-I was scared... thought that I c-could at least try defending myself with a knife like that if I-I ended up on the street...~"
Autumn's comprehension of Anne's explanation was limited by not entirely understanding the meaning of 'ending up on the street'. That wasn't an obstacle Esther faced, though, melting through much of her hesitation. Even the Indeedee understood the desire for self-defense, which… made little sense either. At least, until she remembered how weak humans stripped of all their inventions were said to be. The mental image of a child waving a knife much too large for her hand for intimidation was just… sad.
"^Oh, dear... I'm so sorry.^"
"~It's okay now, d-don't worry Mrs. Autumn! It was silly of me to bring it, I-I know...~"
"A bit, but I doubt you'd be able to get a hold of a gun. Autumn, could you tell her we'll be looking at her arm, and it might get bloody?" the Blissey asked, her mumbling, squeaky voice catching Anne off-guard.
Autumn was there to convey the gist, thankfully, "^She's saying that they'll need to take a look at your arm, and it'll be rather bloody.^"
"~O-oh...~"
The Indeedee barely needed her sixth sense to realize how spooked that idea made Anne. She wanted to suggest something else before Esther cut in, "I think if we slide the bed a bit, we'll be able to use the curtains as a divider. Yeah, that'll work. Tell her to finish changing and then we'll get to it."
The Indeedee passed the message on before leaving the room with Esther. She felt the relief and triumph that shortly followed, calming her down as the Blissey got ready. It took Anne a bit longer than expected to get ready again, and once the two women stepped back in, Autumn spotted the reasons for the delay—a few items scattered beside Anne, away from her broken arm.
Before the elderly psychic could even offer help, Esther sprung into action, reaching down and dragging the entire bed, patient included, about a foot or so. Anne gripped to the bed tight at the sudden motion, but couldn't get a word in before the curtains around the bed were rolled down. A bit of fine-tuning later, the Blissey had them just down enough to obscure her arm from the girl's perspective, while avoiding any further slack.
In the meantime, Autumn scooted over to the bed's other side, not particularly caring for the bloody sight underneath the cast, either. Comforting the human through the checkup—now that was up her alley. As her hand was being stroked, Anne got a good feel for the weird sensations coming from her broken arm. The entire limb was still almost completely devoid of any feelings—slight coldness once the cast was taken off aside. Before she could grow distraught, thinking about how messed up her arm must be now, Autumn distracted her with a topic from earlier, "^So, what was it you wanted to show me Anne—and what are those?^"
Despite how self-explanatory the slightly chewed large format notebook and an equally worn down pen were for the human, the chubby psychic was clueless about them. Anne didn't realize that before she got into it, flipping the pages until she found a large enough clean spot for her drawing and explaining, "~Oh, just my notebook and a pen. S-so, this village is like—~"
The bird's-eye sketch of the surrounding area did little to clarify Autumn's confusion, including about how Anne was even drawing it. Her thick, rectangular canvas looked like it was made of an uncountable number of smaller, hair-thin rectangles, most already drawn on.
A closer inspection revealed the short stick in Anne's good hand to be adding black lines onto the sheet with its every motion. The color made Autumn think of decals being burned in wood, but with none of the associated warmth or smoke. As the human worked on her under-explained idea, the Indeedee's attention shifted to the sketches in every corner of the opened pages. More than a few Fennekin, two drawings of an Arcanine roaring and sleeping respectively, a lovely drawing of some small insect creature buzzing around, and… all of them looked really pretty.
Much of the exact detail was absent, sure, likely owing to the limitations of the medium and Anne's tools. But what was there was clear enough for Autumn to make out what species she was looking out, what they were feeling, and especially what they were doing, each pose livelier than the last.
It wasn't the most intricate artwork even in the borders of their village, but that didn't make it any less aesthetically pleasing. The Indeedee was so entranced by all the tiny sketches to where it took Anne tapping her paw to catch her attention after she was done, only for the psychic to speak up, "^Goodness Anne, these are all really pretty!^"
The girl shrunk and blushed at such a direct compliment. She tried her hardest not to move as her gaze darted all over except at the Indeedee. "~Th-th-thank you! I'm glad you like them! If—if you want I can draw you too, Mrs. Autumn!~"
The reception of Anne's art and the offer that followed were equally unexpected. The girl didn't expect her meager artistic skills to ever get appreciated this much, especially not in a village of mons who could all do much more impressive things.
Meanwhile, Autumn got downright giddy at the opportunity to be depicted by someone so skilled. "^Oh, I'd love to! Should I try a specific pose, or—^"
"~This one works q-quite well, if you could hold it! N-need experience with more unusual poses like this, anyway...~"
The realization that her arm was having a surgery done on it less than two feet away from her didn't have room to settle into Anne's mind as she got into her element. With every line drawn, more of her shakiness and anxiety evaporated, until only the flow remained. Autumn watched close as a large empty spot in the girl's notebook was filled up with her likeness—or at least, with what would become her likeness.
Bit by bit, the handful of basic geometric shapes became so much more than just angles and lines. One circle turned into her waist and got more of a definition, another became her head and horns, a small cylinder became her upper arm. Many gradual changes, all smooth yet skillful enough that to the Indeedee it might as well have been magic.
Occasionally, Anne's left shoulder twitched before she reminded herself of that limb being out of service. It made her put the enchanted stick down and bring her good hand up to her eye, muttering something about perspective and horizon as she stuck her fingers out in all sorts of ways.
It really let Autumn notice how weird her hands were.
She was far from unused to defined hands—Aria's and Marco's were firmly on the more intricate end of the spectrum, with quite a few degrees of freedom. They paled compared to Anne's, though, and it wasn't even close; both in terms of the number of fingers and their flexibility. And with that came the less-than-pleasant realization of just how thin and sinewy they were. The individual bones that underlaid them were much too visible for comfort, making Autumn feel squeamish. If nothing else, Anne was getting as much use out of them as possible, giving her a very intricate and accurate grip of her stick.
Her immense focus helped, too.
It was enough for her to not even notice Esther wrapping up their handiwork on the other side of the curtain. She was done most of the way with Autumn's sketch by then, with only the surrounding detail left. The window with someone peeking through it, the creases on the covers, the corners of the irregularly shaped room, even the specks of dust in the air.
And then; she was finally done. "~Alright, I-I think I'm finished! W-what do you think, Mrs. Autumn—oh?~"
It took the girl until now to consciously notice the curtain having been pulled up and her cast replaced with a new, slightly less bulky one. As she blinked through her confusion, the Indeedee gasped at seeing the completed sketch, "^Anne, this is gorgeous! I've never seen myself drawn like this—this is incredible! I can't thank you enough for this, sweetie.^"
While Anne attempted to not combust in a fluster at the Indeedee's praise, her exhaustion began to creep up on her. After a few groggy blinks, her attention shifted to the sour pick-me-up juice from earlier—or rather, the empty bottle that once held it.
"~It's really n-nothing, it's just a sketch, so much missing detail and oversimplification—~"
"^But it looks so nice! I'm sure most of our artists could even learn a thing or two from you~.^"
That particular compliment had Anne blush bright red and glance away. She was equal parts embarrassed and giddy at Autumn's words, trying to figure out how much of an exaggeration it was.
Her body answered with a drawn out yawn.
"^Aww, tired?^" Autumn giggled.
"~No no, I-I don't think so at least. I didn't f-feel tired before...~"
"^That's what Heal Pulse does to you, honey. I'm sure some of Holly's concoction will help you push through that—oh?^" The sight of an emptied cup made the Indeedee try to telekinetically weigh the bottle, predictably finding it empty. No matter, she knew exactly what to do. "^Sounds like you need a refill, then! Would you want me to get you some while you nap or just rest in the meantime?^"
Nap, not really, but rest... Anne could use some of that, yeah.
The idea of not having anyone around that could understand her was a bit worrying, yes, but forcibly distracting herself away from it was as good an antidote to that as any other worrisome thought. Not perfectly, but well enough to last her until the psychic grandma got back—
Anne blinked in confusion at feeling her hair being ruffled without any physical touch. She looked around the room before it finally clicked together at the sound of Autumn's departing giggle. And then, it was just her, with clothes this time. Trying to just close her eyes and clear her mind had drowsiness creep up on her fast enough to almost knock her out there and then. Instead, she tried a different approach, reaching into the side pocket of her backpack and pulled out the stashed book; the makeshift bookmark of a card left bent from handling.
Suffice to say that a crime thriller about a murderous, vengeful Gardevoir had lost all its scare factor after her chat with Aria. Especially with it having been more comforting than anything she'd experienced since her grandma was still around. And with Autumn acting much like her grandma once did, too…
A-anyway—it was really hard to take any of that book's events seriously now. It left her giggling as she started flipping through the pages to where she'd last left off—before seeing the shadow being cast on them move, making her look up at the window.
How long has that Dartrix been staring at her for!?
The Rowlet family had always sat in a weird spot for Anne, right between 'cool' and 'very intimidating'. They looked neat, but the mental image of being shot or impaled by one of their quills sent chills down her spine every time she read their entries in the dexes.
On a rational level, it wasn't any more dangerous than the myriad of other methods of hunting or self defense almost all mon species had available to them; she knew that well. It just felt… so much more viscerally unnerving in a way Anne had a hard time explaining. Kinda like her father when he started waving his service gun around—
Her train of thought was interrupted by the grassy owl leaning in closer after being spotted. It then took the gun analogy to another level by waving its loaded wing at her, its expression inscrutable. Anne had no idea what the gesture implied and was too scared to think of what to do in response. Maybe if she'd just waved back, it would leave her alone? As opposed to other terrifying possibilities, such as interpreting it as her own attempt at intimidation.
Neither, as it turned out.
Anne flinched backwards with a yelp as the Dartrix breached the magical window and perched on the edge of her bed. It spoke up in birdsong, not stopping even as it eyed her out from all sorts of angles. She could only imagine it was trying to speak to her, and hoped it would get the clue soon after. As scared as she still was, the lack of any aggressive displays slowly melted through her fear, bit by bit.
Thankfully, the bird seemed to be aware of having accidentally spooked her. The movements that followed were much more telegraphed as it inched towards her, steps clumsy from inexperience. Its head craned as it scanned over her book and notebook alike. Anne hoped she'd be able to speed its visit along by holding up her most recent scribble for it to get a better look. Its reactions were lively, if nothing else—loud, drawn out chirps as it looked all around, before its attention snapped back over at the girl, much to another, smaller startle.
Her reaction made it pause, one wing stroking its chin as it clearly tried to think through something. It even looked… quite cute while doing so, even if Anne was still unnerved as hell. Soon after, it finally settled on a plan of action, taking the girl aback even if she couldn't disagree with the results. Before she could react, the owlet hopped the rest of the way over and… hugged her.
For a few long moments, all she could do was freeze as her brain played catchup. Once it had caught up to what was going on, not even it could deny how clear the gesture's intent was. It was all scary, but… it—no, they—seemed to mean her well. After letting go of the notebook, she returned the embrace. The grassy birdie was much warmer to the touch than she would've thought. Even their cooing really sounded like they were trying to comfort her.
"~Th-thank you...~"
She felt them perk up at her words as her eyes grew damp. For a while, she just held them like this, relaxing to the backdrop of their incomprehensible bird noises. Their hug wouldn't end up lasting all that long before they hopped back a couple of paces and smiled at her; the expression clear despite their unemotive beak.
"~D-did you come here to check on me?~" she asked. As expected, they only responded by tilting their head. Anne didn't let that discourage her, lightly bowing to show her gratitude instead—and giggling at seeing it be returned moments later "~Heheh. Wonder if..."
Struck by an idea, Anne grabbed her notebook before flipping through the pages in search of another spot large enough for a sketch. The birdie watched with interest all the while—until realizing that they were the one the girl had just started drawing.
The realization caught them off guard, leaving them looking around the spot in search of the right spot to perch on before settling right in front of Anne—on her legs, even. Once they landed, they struck a pose of either waving at her or showing off their wing.
Quite a difference in possible connotation.
"~Hmm... I-I think I can salvage this, yeah—~"
The pen whizzed over the lined paper as the Dartrix began to take form on the page. At some point, Anne didn't even need to glance up at them anymore, filling the detail in from memory. Once the birdie had caught onto that fact, they finally lowered their aching wing and leaned in, cooing at the progress of the drawing.
Right as Anne was getting into shading, though, loud bangs from nearby startled both her and the owlet alike. The Dartrix couldn't get more than a couple of confused chirps out before the noises got more defined, turning into loud squeaks and honks. They sounded like they came from right around the corner—before the unexpected guest showed themselves.
A Dartrix watching her through the window was one thing, at least they were covert in their… curiosity. Something that couldn't be said in the slightest about the bouncy, bubbly Azumarill that half-stepped, half-hopped into the room. Anne only got a brief glimpse of the gourd and a tied bundle in their hands before they got to speaking—and didn't stop until the owlet chirped in.
Their silence ended up being very temporary, though at least once it had resumed, it was aimed the other way; loud honks towards the room's exit answered with quiet, panting squeaks. The source of the latter emerged moments later; Anne feeling bad at seeing Autumn completely out of breath like this.
And with the little psychic came clarity.
Anne's mind itched as the Indeedee focused on providing a translation for them all again, following up with a telepathic comment as she caught her breath, "^There, there Holly, she can hear you now! I told you that you didn't have to run—^"
"There we go! Now," the freshly identified Holly spoke, "here ya go, Anne! Your meal."
The Azumarill's delivery was grasped by Autumn's green shimmer and hovered over to the bedside table as the psychic sighed in exasperation.
"~Th-thank you! Wait, d-did you make these?~" Anne asked.
"Sure did! Your personal juice blend and a hearty batch of cookies. Ya needed a proper welcome gift in here!"
Cookies took Anne aback in particular. Even the mention of the treat evoked memories of a better, safer time, making the girl shake a bit. "~Th-that's—that's so nice of you. I-I—~"
"Doncha fret about it Anne, my pleasure! Ya sure deserve an actual welcome after all the dumb worrying the scouts were doing earlier." Holly brushed off. Anne wasn't sure what the Azumarill meant, but was more than content to just appreciate the gift.
Still, she really wanted to return the kind gesture, somehow. "~But, I-I want to pay back—~"
"Hush hush now! I mean it when I say I'm glad to do this. I don't ever need anything in return, sweetie."
"~H-how about a drawing?~"
For once, the Azumarill was the confused one in the room. Anne clarified by bringing over her notebook for Holly to get a better look. The rabbit's eyes turned wide as saucers as she scanned the pages, commenting, "Hot damn we're got an artisty girl in here! Jovie's gonna have a field day with you sometime, hah!"
"^Maybe let's not rush ahead that far into the future Holly...^" Autumn chided.
"Right right right. Anywho—prolly best I haul myself back over to the pantry, hah! The rush is gonna pick up anytime now—you take care of yourself Anne, stop by sometime once you're better!"
With the encouraging words dispensed, the Azumarill turned on her heels and headed out. Her tail bounced on the carpeted floor as she turned the corner, calling out towards someone unseen, "Hey—"
Her greeting got abruptly cut off, dumbfounding Anne for a moment. It was probably just a limitation of Autumn's translation or something. The Indeedee, on the other hand, smirked at the Dartrix still perched on Anne's legs, asking with a voice equally chiding and curious, "^Blossom~?^"
"Good afternoon Autumn! I-I—umm..." the owlet chirped back, searching for words. Anne sure didn't expect their translated voice to sound like a teen only a couple of years older than herself. Autumn broke into a quiet chuckle, shaking her head as the Grass-type replied, "I wanted t-to check up on her!"
"^And how is she~?^"
"She—"
The realization that the lanky, pink artist could now understand her took its time to hit Blossom. Once it did, though, the Dartrix wasted no time hopping towards the girl and speaking back up, excited, "Aaaaa hi! My name is Blossom! How do you draw so nicely!?"
Anne couldn't resist laughing at the question; the owlet's earlier excitability made all the sweeter. "~I'm A-Anne! And hehe, I've b-been drawing for a few years now, had a lot of practice w-when I was younger.~"
As simple and obvious as the answer was, Blossom grew even giddier at hearing it. Her curiosity soon spread to other items, especially the medium on which Anne's art took place.
"That's so cool! What is that stick you draw with? It looks so weird! Oh oh oh, are you gonna be staying here!?"
The mostly drained, clear pen was as boring as it got—for Anne, at least. Its brass tip shone faintly as the girl held it up for the owlet and grandma to see, which, combined with the translucent material, made it look downright magical. Right as Anne was about to get into the weeds of how the simple device worked, the follow-up question made her freeze in uncertainty.
"^So far all the signs are pointing to 'yes', Blossom, Anne will likely stay here for a while,^" Autumn answered. Her words weren't entirely confident, but it was enough for the human girl to go ahead with showing off her tool.
"~A-anyway. This is a pen. It lets out a tiny bit of ink when I move the tip over a surface. Doesn't even have to be paper,~" Anne explained. She proceeded to demonstrate that fact on herself, holding the pen with her teeth to draw a crooked line on her right hand. After making sure both Blossom and Autumn had seen it, she rubbed the spot against her chin to smudge it off, to limited success.
"It comes off, r-right?" Blossom asked.
"~Yeah! Well, not from paper, b-but skin eventually just sheds it. I-I think that's how it works...~"
The mention of shedding skin confused both listeners. They only really recognized it from the handful of reptiles living in their village. And, sure, they shed fur and feathers too, but that was these and not… skin. The Dartrix chirped, alarmed, "Y-your skin falls off!?"
"~W-what!? No, I-I mean—it's like when just a tiny bit of it falls off, l-like hair, and regrows back.~"
Autumn and Blossom sighed in relief at the clarification. Whole body skin shedding would've made the mysterious humans even weirder—not to mention sounded incredibly painful.
"Ooooohhhh. And this white thing? How does it break down like this!?"
"^Blossom, I think we should take it easy on Anne. She's had a very, very long day so far.^"
As much as Anne wanted to object to Autumn's words and explain the little she knew of how paper worked, she couldn't deny her own exhaustion—especially after a quiet yawn cut her off right as she was about to speak. She had no choice but to wordlessly admit defeat, acknowledged by Autumn with a wink as she poured the girl some more of Holly's concoction.
"Awwwwhh, okay... O-oh oh, Anne, you're from that nearby human place, right? I think I've seen you before!" Blossom said.
Autumn stared blankly at the Dartrix admitting to venturing to the village her mom had told her not to go so blatantly. Anne was stunned too, but for different reasons—thinking back, she remembered overhearing a couple of kids mentioning having seen a weird brown and white bird on a lamppost a few weeks back.
The mental image of Blossom being so curious about their middle of nowhere she flew all the way over just to see it made her chuckle.
"~Yeah! T-though if you've seen me outside, I-I was wearing a gray hat and had my hair t-tied up like this,~" Anne spoke as she scooped her hair into a messy ponytail, making the Dartrix nod even harder.
"Yes, like this, I remember you now! I-I never thought we'd ever see anyone f-from there in here, teehee," Blossom giggled, glancing out the window toward the human village—and froze at what she saw, her voice aghast. "Wh-what's all that smoke?"
The cue had Anne lean over and Autumn climb onto the bed to see for herself. A massive plume of black smoke was rising from Mylock's direction, its sheer size worrying.
"~Looks like something's b-burning—~"
*rumble!*
The aftershocks of a distant explosion were too weak to do more than rattle Anne's cup a bit, but the sheer tension accompanying them almost made Blossom panic there and then. "W-what was that!?"
"~I-I don't know! I've no idea what's even b-burning,~" Anne shouted, wanting to look over at Autumn for reassurance—but couldn't. Regardless of how hard she tried to move her head or eyes, her gaze was frozen facing the plume of smoke. The confusion of it all quickly gave way to terror, making her cry out, "~M-Mrs. Autumn, what's g-going on!? I-I can't l-look away!~"
"What do you mean," Blossom asked before her voice was cut off, scaring Anne further.
Whatever comfort the girl might have previously felt had given way to fear, making her hyperventilate as the Indeedee spoke up again, somber and apologetic, "^Anne, I'm sorry for all this, b-but this is important. I need you to... think back, back to the dearest memory of Ember you have, and focus on it. Can you do that for me?^"
With all the fear gripping Anne, it was hard to reminisce about her and Ember. She still tried her hardest, though, and eventually memories started flowing. Their fondest moments together, their hardships, every single instant of comfort they ever shared. In no time, it didn't even feel like she was the one looking back anymore. The flashbacks felt like a thread being pulled out of her head with more force than she could've ever managed alone; each vision was completed by another perspective.
From the beginning, to the end, and much, much too intense for either the weary human or the chubby psychic. Just a few seconds later, Blossom was left chirping in panic at suddenly seeing four people faint all at once,
The gunshot that rang out from the rundown building startled the passersby, but considering the history of the family that lived there, most of them dismissed it as the father of the household having yet another aggressive episode. And with Mrs. Graham leaving the building soon after, looking like she saw a ghost, they felt affirmed in that hunch.
Knowledge that an ambulance was on its way helped Luxie calm down after the violent display she'd just witnessed. The lil' bee worried whether it was right to ever inflict such a harm on anyone else, but after thinking back to what she'd seen of Anne, she couldn't find any empathy for the girl's father in her. She just felt… so very cold.
Lumi was surprised his coworker was even capable of a violence like that, the bloodthirst so unlike her. He sure wasn't gonna object to an awful human getting put in their place, though. "Where are you leading us to now? Is this not everything the girl had?"
The translated barks made Olive flinch, startling her out of her shock at what she'd just witnessed. She shook her head, trying to push it aside, before answering, "~It is, yes. I want to add something from myself, too. If she's gonna live away from other humans, she'll need... a few things sooner or later. And a few books she liked wouldn't hurt either.~"
"Things? Such as?" Lumi asked.
"~Personal hygiene. Knowing what will happen to her body in the next few years.~"
The latter aside got the Electric-type particularly confused. His vocalizations caught the attention of a few bystanders as they ventured deeper into the town, the surrounding buildings growing denser and taller. "I thought humans didn't evolve."
"~No, no we don't. This is something else.~"
The aside explained precious nothing, making Aria concerned. Hopefully, whatever that mysterious process was, she'd be able to help the poor girl through it—assuming Anne would be allowed to stay for that long. Alternatively, having Olive nearby to help answer any further question would help too, but… that wouldn't be an option, unfortunately.
The Gardevoir had to put in more effort with her every step, the growing number of onlookers straining her psychics. Erasing the image of herself from one mind was straightforward, but by the time she had to split her attention a dozen ways, she could barely keep walking straight. Her breathing grew loud enough to make a few passersby glance over their shoulder as they walked past.
Lumi wasn't a fan of more humans either, sticking close to the local half of the group. The metal monstrosities whizzing past them kept startling him, though less and less each time.
The town center was less drab than the outskirts, but much of the colors it had were visibly flaking paint or weathered storefront decorations. Some of the promotional posters were eroded down to just cyan and white as they proudly advertised an upcoming music festival here in Mylock, in just seven years ago.
Lumi had no idea what any of it meant—only that it all just looked tacky. There was something he did recognize, though, scattered all over the place. He asked, "Is that the girl's face on those white things flopping everywhere?"
Olive sighed and nodded. The missing person posters had only been put up yesterday, but many of them were already illegible because of snow or vandalism. They proudly displayed an out-of-date school photo, Anne's thousand-year stare visible even then.
MISSING
ANNE MARTIN
Missing from: Mylock, Lillywood County, ML
Date of Birth: February 10th, 538
Date Missing: January 29th, 549
Height: 4'5"
Weight: 61 lbs
Hair: Shoulder length, Brown
Eyes: Brown
Anne was last seen wearing a green jacket, a pair of blue jeans, and a gray cap.
CAN YOU HELP?
Please call the Lillywood County Sheriff at
555-252-1221
Callers may remain anonymous
"~They're missing person posters. Supposedly, they're there so that people can be on the lookout for those who've gone missing. In practice… they're an excuse to not do any searching for those with the resources to do so,~" Olive explained, trying hard not to audibly scoff at them—and especially at the people that had put them up.
The Luxray nodded along as they kept going, looking around for any suspicious humans. "How long until we'll get there? This place gives me the creeps."
"~Hah. It's ugly, yes, but most have a better idea than to bother strangers like that.~"
"It's such a shame, Mylock feels so gray and boring," Luxie commented. The librarian couldn't help but concur, sighing as they all turned the corner. The side road was much narrower, leaving less of the sidewalk usable—especially with much of it occupied by parked cars.
Outside of a miserly church that she couldn't force herself to attend anymore, there weren't any social spaces left in the town. The small park on the southern end? Swallowed by the woods. The plaza where a small basketball court stood once? Converted into a supermarket, struggling to stay afloat just a few months in.
"~That's because it is. And we're almost there, the library's just up ahead,~" Olive explained. As much as she meant these words, they weren't *entirely* true. Sure, the town wasn't doing well, but there were some signs of life left in it.
One of them was right ahead, no less, trying to open the library's front door. A few attempts to budge it later, his mom finally spoke up after making it across the street, profoundly exhausted, "~Liam, it's closed, don't you see?~"
"~But it's Thursday! It should be open!~" the little boy responded.
"~But it's just not. Mrs. Graham isn't in, let's head back home—~"
"~I'm here, I'm here!~" Olive spoke up, perking up the attention of both the tyke and his mom.
The former immediately scrambled over towards them, waving excitedly in the air, "~Hello Mrs. Graham! Hello Leo, hello Luxie!~"
The Arcanine sped up as the boy approached, both of them at approximately the same eye level. It let the latter hug the former with ease, the warm mane returning sensation to his nose as he nuzzled into it.
"~Good afternoon Liam! I apologize, I was busy earlier, but I can stop by for a moment and let you grab something.~"
"~Thank you!~" Liam said. Without wasting another moment, he turned around and bolted towards the library's entrance. Leo took off in a slow jog next to him, starting an impromptu race he tried to not win too hard.
With fewer minds around, Aria found herself able to do more than just walk and hide. The boy's excitement soon grew contagious to be around, bringing a smile to her face. "^Aww, he feels like one of my own kids...^"
"~He's sweet, isn't he? Guess expecting a sibling in not too long really gets one excited about reading to them, hah,~" Olive whispered, a soft smile filling her weathered face.
Leo predictably won the race against a four-year-old, but the consolation prize of more puppy hugs and kisses made the bitter defeat more than palatable. As the group approached the library's entrance, more and more of the spray painted mural on the building's front facade came into view. The passage of time had left it tarnished, and hardly of highest artistic quality even when it was new, but the picture of a Dragonite enjoying a book while surrounded by piles upon piles of other books still beat bare glass and stone.
"~M-Mrs. Graham, there's really no need,~" the boy's mom pleaded.
"~Oh it's no problem, Julie. I need to grab something from there myself, anyway.~"
Once Olive made her way to the door, Liam stepped away to give her space. He was giddy to rush in as soon as he could before spotting someone he hadn't seen before. The Luxray's expression wasn't particularly friendly, but the boy wasn't about to let that stop him. "~Who's that?~"
The sight of a proud Electric-type backing off at being approached by a little child made the two town mons giggle. His mom wasn't quite as amused, though, unnerved by the lack of any collar on the mon, "~Liam, give the Luxray some space, they're not used to you.~"
"~Mhm! His name is Lumi and... I'm looking after him while his owners are on vacation. He doesn't enjoy being touched, so listen to what your mom said, Liam,~" Olive explained.
"~Awwwh, okay...~"
Even if hugs were off the table, the boy wasn't gonna waste the chance to at least greet the hound. He waved excitedly at him, much to Lumi's confusion.
"W-what is he doing...?" Lumi asked, his growls making the boy's mom gulp. She grabbed her son's hand and dragged him into the library proper the moment Olive unlocked the front door.
Luxie just found it all amusing, laughing in her twinkly voice, "He just wants to say hi!"
Despite Lumi being taken aback and not exactly feeling like meeting any more humans, even he couldn't deny that this was one of the nicest possible answers to his question.
The mons made their way in shortly after the humans. Aria immediately scurried further in, searching for a spot to catch her breath, while Lumi took in the view. Out of everything he'd seen in this bizarre human town, this was the most confusing place yet.
Almost every wall was filled with colorful stripes. The few shelves that weren't full let the Luxray see how it was all laid out. As it turned out, the colors he saw were just narrow sides of larger, rectangular slabs that filled the shelves up, both those against the walls, and a few freestanding ones. The realization didn't make the end result any less overwhelming, though.
What space wasn't being taken up by shelves of colorful blocks, was instead filled with a couple of tables, and a few chairs—one of them getting immediately taken by the boy's mother. The only other element of note was an unpainted counter that Olive soon walked behind. After a few clicking noises, the off-white rectangular object on the counter spun back to life, ancient fans whining and rattled as they begged for mercy. The similarly colored object that stood on top of the box soon shined light, but only in the librarian's direction.
"~I want to return these!~" Liam said, following his cheerful call by grabbing the bag next to his mom's chair, and pulling all the books out onto the counter. They may have had more pictures per page than the words on them had syllables, but that didn't make the librarian any less happy to see them be taken out and read.
"~Sure thing, Liam. I'll take care of them, you go and look for more in the meantime.~"
"~Okay!~"
Off in the nook between bookshelves, Aria took her time getting her bearings after taking her disguise off. Olive's explanation of why they had ventured here made sense, but the Gardevoir didn't expect just getting here to be so draining. If she was ever going to repeat this, she would need a less demanding way of hiding—
"~*gasp*!~"
The Gardevoir's eyes snapped open at the sound; the sight of a young human boy in a funny-looking outfit looking up at her froze them both. Most of the rest of the library as well, with only the boy's mother ending up confused instead of shocked at hearing the telltale sound.
In the tense silence that followed, Aria moved a finger to her lips to try shushing the boy.
Before she could even get halfway there, though, Liam erupted with excitement, running away and shouting, "~Mom mom mom there's a big mon and white and green in there!~" To everyone's relief, Julie's reaction to her son's words was only an exasperated, tired sigh. She pried her eyes open as her son ran towards her, desperately trying to catch her attention. "~MOM!~"
"~Liam, what are you talking about...~" Julie groaned.
"~Mom there was a big mon there!~" her son explained.
Realizing there was no way to get out of being dragged along, Julie slowly stood up and followed his son. Olive hoped that Aria had this under control, despite letting herself be seen like that.
"~Where did they go?~" Liam asked the empty space before him.
"~I truly wonder,~" his mom answered. Her dead tired sarcasm went over her son's head as he looked all over that part of the library. Meanwhile, Aria slowly inched away with the aid of levitation, making no sound as she hovered over to Olive's side.
"^Sorry for that, I was catching my breath and let my guard down.^"
The librarian shook her concerns off. Liam's mom didn't see any of it; there was no reason to panic. She whispered over to the psychic, hoping to calm her down, "~Don't worry, she just thinks he made it up.~"
"^I know, I know, thank goodness.^"
"~But it was right there!~"
"~Big and white and green mon, right in that corner?~" Julie asked, somehow sounding even more done than before. As she passed by the counter on her way back to her seat, Aria saw—and sensed—something extremely off about her, even beyond the unusually large belly. The realization made the Gardevoir freeze as the mom kept chatting with her son.
"~Yeah! I told you!~" Liam said.
"~Sweetie, a Snorlax wouldn't even fit there.~"
"~Not a Snorlax, they're not green!~"
"~They kinda are,~" Julie argued.
"~No! And it wasn't fat, it was just big like you!~"
Olive and her companions had to focus to keep their amusement to themselves, the librarian managing that much better than Luxie. The bee's twinkly laugher made her human break the facade of calmness as she finished checking the books in. Julie didn't mind, glad that someone was enjoying the silly stuff her son was saying, but Liam remained determined. He ran up to the librarian and asked, "~Mrs. Graham, are there any big and white and green mons out there?~"
Aside from the one standing almost shoulder to shoulder with her?
Olive chuckled softly at the thought as she returned the thin books to their proper spots, smiling at the boy and answering, "~I don't know Liam. I really don't know Pokemon all too well.~"
It was a convenient enough lie, if nothing else.
Even if Julie saw right through it on account of the elderly librarian being her biology teacher back in the day, Liam didn't know that. He deflated as he thought about what to do next, the burning mystery frustrating him. If not for the answer to that particular riddle giving her away, Aria wouldn't be able to resist giving him a hand, all too familiar with Bell getting stumped on questions like that.
Unfortunately for their secrecy, Liam soon reminded himself of one way to figure out what that mon was. It was a very slow way, but a guaranteed one, making him dash over to the large shelf filled with massive tomes bound in fake leather and ask, "~Mrs. Graham, can I go through the dexes?~"
"~Sweetie, we don't have time...~" his mom pleaded.
"~But mooooom!~"
"~How about I let you borrow one and then you can go through it at home, Liam?~" Olive asked. Julie looked at her in concern, not just at the prospect of listening to her son's excitement every time he saw something vaguely tall and white, but also at the librarian letting anyone take the expensive-looking tomes out.
Then again, there were digital versions now, even some on smartphones—figures that the big books weren't as valuable anymore. Still, it made her feel bad to have the librarian cave to her son's silly demands. "~You really don't have to, Mrs. Graham.~"
"~Don't worry Julie, it's not an issue. So, how's that sound, Liam?~"
"~Yes please!~"
"~Alright! I'll get it checked out for you while you look for other books to take home, okay?~"
"~Mhm!~"
The boy's mom shook her head with a sigh as she leaned back in the chair. Her tummy didn't leave her with many comfortable positions, and this one was the least bad, she supposed. Leo's warmth helped immensely as well, taking the edge off her strain as she closed her eyes and reached her hands into his mane—catching Lumi's attention. Wonder what was up with that massive stomach—
...
Oh heavens.
"Aria, are you seeing this?" he growled, perking the drowsy woman up. She eyed him out with more than a bit of uncertainty, creeping ever closer to fear.
It made him lie down to look less intimidating as Aria responded, "^Yes, yes I am. O-Olive, what is—what is going on with her?^"
"~Hm?~"
As the librarian grabbed the books for the girl they were here for, a quick glance around the nearest shelf let her see that nothing had changed about the expectant mother since the last time she'd seen her, approximately thirty seconds ago. She whispered her response, hoping Aria could still hear it, "~I have no idea what you're referring to.~"
"^Her... stomach.^"
Olive blinked in confusion a few times before the question finally clicked for her. An amused smile filled her face as she kept whispering, building a pile of books on the counter all the while, "~Forgot that all mons lay eggs for a moment, hah. Well~ humans don't. Instead, we... how do I put it. You could say that instead of growing in an egg, the baby grows inside us. And then later instead of the baby hatching out of the egg, we... lay the baby, already formed and breathing.~"
Both Lumi and Aria were left dumbfounded at the revelation, though to a very different extent.
As weird as an idea of growing offspring inside one's body was, it was the part at the end that shocked the Luxray the most. That baby was massive! There's no way this human was going to 'lay' it, it wouldn't fit! Though… it's not like their normal, proper eggs weren't similarly sized, either. And these got laid all the time, which—how in the world did that work either, what—
Amused laughter at his expense filled his mind, chilling Lumi's racing train of thought. Aria snickered at seeing a father to a lil' cub not having any idea about how that entire process worked beyond the immediately pleasurable part. That's not to say she wasn't confused at Olive's words. In her case, though, the broad strokes made enough sense that the Gardevoir could at least visualize it all.
It sounded… very unpleasant, much more so than what she had to go through with Bell and Cadence. "^I see... that sounds so, so much worse compared to just laying an egg.^"
"~Oh, I've no doubt it is. Thirty-nine weeks as opposed to what, three?~"
"^More or less, yeah.^" Aria answered.
"~Hah, I would've gladly taken the egg option after my oldest, believe me. Alas, we have to go through that entire process the hard way.~"
And a hard way it clearly was; the wear on Julie clear to the Gardevoir. She could only do so much to help without getting herself spotted again, but a touch of relaxing warmth applied to her joints and muscles wouldn't hurt. As much as the expecting mom's body appreciated the gesture, her mind was taken aback by it, making her look around the library in confusion. Just the Luxray off the side, Leo snuggling her, and Mrs. Graham and her son assembling a stack of books each, the latter with Luxie's company.
"~Something wrong, Julie?~" Olive asked.
"~No, no, Mrs. Graham, just...~"
"~Tired?~"
"~That too, yeah, heh...~" Julie chuckled, shaking off her earlier surprise as she tried to stretch a bit. Her past teacher's caring nature was appreciated even now, long after her graduation.
"~Managing to get some sleep in?~"
"~Barely, though today was especially hard with all the news of Anne.~"
As Olive acknowledged her former student's words, Aria kept close attention on the conversation being had, just in case.
"~Terrible situation, isn't it?~" Olive said.
"~It is, poor girl. Hope she ends up somewhere safe.~"
Everyone gathered agreed with that sentiment, with many present contributing to it more directly than Julie could've ever known. Her worry for Anne reassured Aria, a gentle and well-needed reminder of not all humans being malicious—especially with her clearly having known the girl at some level.
"~I'm sure she will,~" Olive reassured with confidence, though not as much as to feel suspicious.
Julie appreciated some feel-good reassurance, even if she didn't believe it deep down herself. "~I don't know. Did you hear about what the police said?~"
"~Hmm?~"
"~I heard she was spotted in Lillywood yesterday, but apparently that wasn't true. Nobody has any idea where she is. She took a path through the woods, has to be in Lillywood or nearby, but if nobody spotted her there… I-I don't know, it's nightmarish. I can't wait to get out of here,~" she muttered, voice growing wobblier as she continued. Olive paused her book hunt to walk over and reassure her with a pat on the shoulder. As she did, the expectant mother wiped off any tears before they could finish forming.
"~How's Ethan's job hunt going?~" the librarian asked.
"~It's going well, thank the gods. Has a couple interviews in Mistralton scheduled up this week, the house is mostly packed up and ready to move whenever. This whole mess gave us a kick in the butt to get that done before the due date. Once we get a go ahead, I'll start looking around for school vacancies there. Hopefully, there'll be some spots somewhere.~"
"~I'll miss you all, hah. Not many bright spots left in this town.~"
Julie nodded somberly, wishing she could disagree with that assessment. Even after teaching here for a few years, it was very hard for her to do so. She replied, "~Y-yeah. It's just an hour by car away. Wonder if Liam will be up and asking us to take him to visit you all again, hah.~"
"~I'll try to keep the library well stocked for him, just in case.~"
The boy peeked around the corner at hearing his name—only for the Ribombee to interrupt that by tickling his exposed neck, lighting up the atmosphere some more.
"~How's the book search going, Liam?~"
"~It's going good Mrs. Graham! Just one more! Can I take out one more, mom?~"
"~Yes, yes sweetie, go ahead. Remember, you're the one carrying them,~" Julie chuckled.
"~Mhm!~"
As the adults chuckled, the distant sound that had been creeping closer caught their attention, though not all of them knew what it meant. It got everyone looking through the windows as it grew even louder. The wildlings winced at the sudden intensity, before being taken aback by something very large and very red moving past their building.
"~Oh shoot, hope it's nothing here,~" Olive said.
"~Oh no, did I miss it?~" Liam asked, visibly deflating with an 'awwwh' as he dropped off the final book, sighing to himself.
"~Yeah, it was a fire truck, sweetie. I thought your preschool took you to see them recently?~" Julie asked.
"~We did, yeah! It was so, so cool and the Blastoise wore a big cool yellow glowy suit! I wanna see more!~"
"~Hopefully we won't have to see it from up close...~"
As the mom and son chatted, Olive checked all the books out and packed them into bags. Quite heavy for Liam's size, but she had no doubt the boy's excitement would let him carry it all. "~Alright, all checked out!~"
"~Thank you, Mrs. Graham!~"
After the boy moved the bags over to the front door to the library, he scrambled back over to the librarian and hugged as much of her as he could. He then did the same to Leo, Luxie—as carefully as he could—and, mistakenly, to Lumi, too. "~Hehe, tickles!~"
The Luxray was as startled as the boy's mom, both of them too taken aback to react, if for vastly different reasons. Thankfully, Liam's hug was short-lived, his hair frizzled out as he dashed over to the front door.
"~L-Liam, Mrs. Graham told you he doesn't like being touched...~" Julie reminded, aghast.
"~Oh! Sorry!~"
Aria passed the apology on; herself trying not to giggle at seeing her coworker so startled by a literal harmless child.
"~L-let's get going, sweetie.~"
"~Mhm! Bye-bye, Mrs. Graham! Bye-bye, Leo! Bye-bye, Luxie! Bye-bye, Lumi! Oh, Mrs. Graham, if you see any big white and green mons can you tell me when we come next?~"
"~Teehee. Yes, yes I will sweetie, pinky promise!~"
Liam was convinced, so excited at the possibility of finding the mysterious mon that he literally ran circles around his mom as they walked out of sight. Once they were gone, the librarian turned towards the now-visible Aria and whispered, "~Found them.~"
Luxie broke into chirping laughter, with others soon following in her steps. The release of tension was well appreciated as the librarian started to check out Anne's fill of the books, their covers much less eye-catching than Liam's.
"How did he even see you, Aria?" Lumi asked pointedly, the question making the Gardevoir sigh and roll her eyes.
"^I had to catch my breath without the disguise. Believe it or not, keeping oneself hidden is much harder than just staring grumpily at everyone,^" Aria answered, her voice almost as tired as Julie's was moments prior.
"~And besides, nothing came of it now, did it,~" Olive chuckled.
"But what if it did?" Lumi persisted.
"~I really doubt anything would, even if Julie caught a glimpse of Aria too. She'd maybe freak out a bit, but eventually she'd just think she hallucinated something in her exhaustion, and that would be it.~"
"Do humans lie like that to themselves all the time?"
"~From what I know, confirmation bias is hardly a trait that's exclusive to humans—as demonstrated very well by you, Lumi,~" Olive explained, not looking away from her current task.
Luxie and Leo giggled at the Luxray's grumbles to a backdrop of repetitive beeps. As each book was checked out, Olive put them into a hefty bag, the sight catching Aria's attention. She figured this was a good time to find out what these things even were, asking, "^These books. What are they?^"
The phrasing gave Olive a pause. Eventually, she decided to just go through the titles already in the bag, one by one. "~This one's about puberty and how it impacts one's body, this one's a fantasy novel she liked a lot for a good while, this one's about processing trauma—~"
"^No, I mean... what are they as items? How does Anne get these abstract concepts from them?^"
Without skipping a beat, Olive laid the book she was holding on the counter, and opened it to a random page. Aria was taken aback at the block just splitting in half like that, and even more so at the ocean of tiny, black symbols filling the off-white interior, their sheer number making her eyes glaze over.
"~Simply put, they're stacks of pages with words written on them. You read the words in order to get what the author was saying.~"
Even though it felt weird to explain books on such an abstract level, it wasn't entirely unexpected here. As much as the adjective 'illiterate' clashed with the graceful, almost ethereal appearance of Anne's guardian, it's not like it was inaccurate.
"^And all these symbols are the human writing?^" Aria asked.
"~Unovan more specifically, but yes.~"
"^And if I don't know that writing, then I'm not getting anything out of these books?^"
"~I'm sure Anne would be happy to teach you.~" Olive reassured.
The librarian's assertion took Aria off guard. She watched, confused, as the librarian gestured at Leo to help carry the books before asking, "^Are you sure? I don't know if I could even learn it—^"
"~I'm much older than you, and I'm learning a new language right now. You'll figure it out.~"
"^I mean, I'm not human—^"
"~And?~" Olive cut in. The blunt question left the Gardevoir uncertain how to word her worry before the human continued, "~It's just a language and a bunch of symbols. There's nothing inherently human to it. We have to learn it too when we're very little. You'll manage, honey.~"
As much as Aria worried about Anne getting properly acclimatized to and learning about the village, she didn't consider the possibility of the knowledge exchange happening the other way around.
Which… the more she thought about it, the more useful it sounded.
"^And these books, the other ones in here, what... 'words' do they have in them?^"
"~Hundreds of stories, large and small in scope. Religious texts from many religions. A hoard of knowledge about our world, both the natural and manmade parts, and its history. How do we breathe and eat, what are the migratory patterns of birds in southern Galar, what's the chemical composition of the Moon, who were the peoples that lived here before the Kantonian Conquest and the Unovan Expansion massacred them, how are these very books made. If you're curious about something, anything, it's likely that someone has already written down their knowledge about it.~"
"^And—and all you need to get that information is to just know how to read the human writing?^"
"~Pretty much, yes. Hope that was a good pitch for getting you into reading, hah. Alright, ready to get a move on again?~"
Aria might have heard Lumi's thought process shrugging it all aside as just silly human nonsense that wouldn't ever matter for them—but she knew better. Those that had lived amongst humanity didn't shy to share the stories of their contraptions, ranging from merely handy to society-warping. Even something as basic as being able to write down their knowledge to make passing it down over generations easier would help a lot—and that didn't come close to half the wonders human inventions were supposedly capable of.
"~Aria?~" Olive asked, growing concerned.
"^A-ah yes, yes. Let's move on.^"
She couldn't deny that some of Lumi's objections did hold water—such as the question of how much Olive could even help them with in the end. The uncertainty and its implications refused to wash from her mind as the librarian led them out of the building, leading their impromptu pack. As they turned the corner back onto the town's main road, an odd sensation struck Aria. The humans' attention wasn't anywhere near as hard to redirect anymore, almost all their focus honed in on something behind the group—
...
"^O-Olive...^" Aria whimpered, making the librarian look over her shoulder—followed by the rest of the group.
A pillar of thick, black smoke rose from a burning house in the distance, reaching up for the clouds. The firefighters' attempts to douse it proved ineffective until the second fire truck showed up, their combined efforts finally making an actual dent in the blaze—
*BOOM!*
The group gasped at the massive fireball that suddenly engulfed the building. The already-present paramedics wasted no time before jumping into action, before the smoke even cleared. Once it had, though, it revealed Anne's former house to have gotten completely leveled by the blast, leaving nothing but a soon-extinguished charred ruin.
"~Mein Gott...~" Olive muttered, taking a few steps back.
"I-is that—is that Anne's house?" Luxie whimpered. Her human nodded in affirmation, making the lil' bee huddle closer to her. Nobody knew how to process the sight before them—
Or rather, almost nobody. Lumi smirked, "Well, that's that for that rotten place."
"^Now she really has nowhere to go back to...^" Aria whispered to herself, sobered by what she'd just witnessed. As true as that sentiment already was, having the building disintegrate in front of them only drove another nail into the coffin of Anne ever coming back to this place. A coffin that, by now, was just about ready to break the floor underneath it from the sheer weight of all the nails that had been hammered into it.
"~I don't think we'll be doing ourselves any favors by staring into it. What's done is done. I just hope not too many were hurt,~" Olive commented, calming herself down.
"B-but—what if we caused it?"
"~Nothing was burning when we left, Luxie.~"
"What if we just d-didn't see it—"
"~I-I don't know. I,~" the librarian tried to answer, voice catching in her throat at the possibility of being indirectly responsible for all that. It didn't take long for her to compartmentalize the worry away in her mind, the lil' bee's concerns acknowledged with a sigh. "~I doubt we did it. Even if we indirectly caused it somehow, Tom only has himself to blame for this. Let's move on.~"
Luxie wasn't wholeheartedly convinced, but supposed the explanation made sense. In time, the group resumed their march, if more slowly this time. Olive and the lil' bee aside, they weren't anywhere near as concerned about the moral implications of their actions. Be it because of not having any direct impact on what had happened, or by having an ironclad moral justification.
Still, they hoped that nobody but the homeowner got hurt in that blast.
Silence hung heavy over them all as Olive led them into one of the several multi-story buildings. Its inside was weirdly barren, especially when compared to the library. Undecorated stone of the floors contrasted with the walls, full of variations of the same plain wooden door. The only color present was the plainest of white paints covering the handrails of the serpentine staircase winding upward in the building's center.
"What is this place?" Lumi asked, confused.
"~Oh? My apartment building, I live here.~"
"You mean in this entire building?"
"~No, no, obviously not. I mean in one of the apartments here.~"
Lumi didn't consciously recognize the word, leaving him confused as the group made it up a few flights of stairs. Eventually, they stopped before one of the less barren doors, the worn out, muddied mat in front of it providing some much needed color.
"~Here we go, make yourselves at home.~"
Even if Olive's apartment was nowhere as massive as the building as a whole, it still dwarfed Aria's burrow, and was more densely decorated while at that. The individual chambers were all perfectly rectangular, most painted in bright, if muted, colors. The furniture was no less eye-catching than the paint, all the shelves and drawers adding up to an overwhelming, cluttered, colorful mess.
"~Tea?~" the librarian asked.
Aria wasn't a stranger to the drink, and even if in any other circumstance she would've loved to sit down and get a sip or two... it wouldn't be possible here.
"^We'll pass, thank you.^"
"~Suit yourselves. Come and take a seat in the living room while I grab everything.~"
The Gardevoir took her time taking all the detail in as the Luxray was just glad to see something soft he could lie down on. Still, he mumbled as he went through the rooms, "This place is still massive..."
"~For just poor old us? Yeah, not disagreeing—though back when this was a family of six even all this space felt cramped much of the time,~" Olive explained, Aria spotting the large family portrait beside the living room's entrance on cue with her words. It looked similarly magical to the smaller painting she'd found in Anne's doll, but much larger and depicting a much more populated scene.
A younger Olive, another adult human, three human children, and an oddly light-colored Eevee, all bundled underneath a large blanket, watching something out of frame.
"^Was this how your family used to look like?^" Aria asked.
The librarian peeked out of the kitchen and gave the Gardevoir a firm nod, before bringing her cup of tea over shortly after. She didn't sit down, though, immediately dipping for the bathroom as she answered, "~Yep! This was... twenty-five years ago, I think—same year as when that circus truck crashed nearby, remember driving past the wreckage to get the developed photo. Anyhow—husband's gone, boys have all moved out, and now it's just us three, a makeshift bunch.~"
"^What about that Eevee?^"
"~Oh, Lovelace. She and my oldest were inseparable. He moved to Hoenn with her, and she evolved into an Umbreon, and now both of them have started families. Speaking of,~" Olive paused, chuckling to herself as she exited the bathroom and stuffed a few packs of something into the bag. Afterwards, she grabbed the book laying on the living room table, its front cover two colorful rectangles, and resumed an earlier topic, "~Been trying to pick up some Hoennian so that I can visit them someday without making a show of myself, hah. It's slow going, but if I can learn a third language at seventy, then so can you at... however old you are, really. Let's see, how did the greeting go... a-ri-ga-to... lemme check the glossary... saa-na-i-to.~"
Seeing a human having difficulties grasping one of what turned out to be many, many human languages was quite reassuring for Aria. Yeah, she could definitely do it if Olive could, and gave it enough time.
"I wonder how the mons ended up being included as a part of this 'family'," Lumi grumbled, keeping his tone just down enough to not appear accusatory. His intent was crystal clear to Olive by now, though, making Aria facepalm at him even trying to be coy about it anymore.
The librarian continued to fill the bag with everything Anne could need out there, including a few of her own clothes, as she answered, "~Lovelace was adopted, way back. Most of the details are blurry by now. Leo... my youngest worked as a firefighter for a while, got wind of some Growlithe runts looking for homes since they would be unfit for working with the cops.~"
She glanced over at the hound with a warm smile; the Arcanine wagging his tail in return. "~And so, one day he just showed up on my doorstep with a tiny puppy in his arms. By then I was living alone and loneliness was really starting to wear me down, but I was too hesitant to adopt again because of my age. Instead, he did it for me, and I've been grateful ever since.~"
Once his human wrapped her recollection up, Leo picked himself up with a big yawn and eagerly nuzzled her some more. Before Olive could continue, Luxie spoke up first, cutting her off, "Oh oh oh, can I tell this one?"
"~Of course, Luxie! Who's better to tell it than someone who it's all about?~"
"Okay okay! I was much much younger, just a Cutiefly far far from where I hatched, and it was so cold and I couldn't find many flowers anywhere anymore. I was so hungry and cold and it was starting to rain, and then I finally sensed some pretty flowers nearby, I went straight for them and I really wanted to get to them! And then I hit a weird barrier I couldn't see and was so frustrated and angry and kinda despairing a-and then Olive opened the window and let me in! And she helped me dry myself, and gave me some sweet water to drink, and I could sip the nectar of all the flowers and she was so nice! And then a few days later when the weather got better she let me back out again, but I came back because I liked it here, it was nice and warm and I had food... and then I stayed!"
As the lil' bee finished recounting her experiences, Olive was filling in the last of the free space inside the bags with whatever potentially useful clothing she could squeeze in. Once done, she smiled up at the littlest member of her household, Luxie wasting no time in flying over and hugging as much of her human's face as she could. "Thank you for making my life better..."
"~Thank you for being a part of mine.~"
With a couple of gentle pats on the Ribombee's back, the human let go of her and grabbed the two sizable bags and brought them over to the wildlings. "~Alright, I think that's everything I can fit in. Clothes, paper, pens, books, a couple snacks, hygiene—thank goodness I kept some extras of these for other girls from rougher families. I hope they will be of help.~"
Aria eyed down the spoils with a mix of trepidation and relief. She lifted them in her pale glow for a couple of moments before dropping them back down. Bulky as they were, they were nothing compared to what her mind could bench press on a good day.
"^I can't thank you enough for all this Olive. I'll be forever in your debt.^"
"~Then repay it by making Anne's life as good as you can, Aria.~"
The Gardevoir nodded deeply, "^I will. I promise.^"
"~Godspeed, Aria. She counts on you.~"
Aria acknowledged Olive's words as she closed her eyes, mulling through an internal conundrum.
One that a whole lot more light was about to be shone on.
"C'mon, get it over with and let's get out of here," Lumi muttered.
"~Get what—~" Olive tried to ask, before she and her companions were surrounded with the same white sheen as the bags from moments prior. Aria's mental grip bound them in place, only letting them breathe and mutter. "~W-what are—~"
"^I'm sorry. I can't express how much I appreciate everything you've all done for us, but... I, we, can't risk you knowing where Anne is, or about our involvement. The stakes are too great. I wish I didn't have to do this,^" Aria explained, her tone apologetic.
"Wh-what are you gonna do…" Luxie squeaked. The lil' bee's fear cut deep into Aria, her expression flat aside from the fiercely growing eyes.
It brought all the terrifying mental imagery of ghost brides into the forefront of Olive's mind, making the Gardevoir wince. "^You will forget everything that has happened today. You'll only know that Anne is safe, but nothing more.^"
After a long, painful pause, the psychic's eyes lit up brighter still, making the whole group recoil in various ratios of fear and anger. Luxie was obsessively going through the events of the day in her little head, trying to hold onto the memories as well as she could. About as effective as pushing back a tidal wave with one's bare hands.
"^I'm sorry.^"
The mental grip grew tighter, almost painful, as the family either stared back or braced themselves for the inevitable. They waited for the evil deed to happen, moment by moment…
Only for it not to.
Before the group's expressions could change to confusion, they heard Aria's voice again, little more than a hushed whisper this time, "^Keep your faces like this. Don't speak, think aloud.^"
The instructions made little sense, but the trio were much too shaken to even think about not following them. They kept their faces frozen as an expectant space filled Olive's living room.
"^I... don't want to do this. But I must know, with absolute certainty, that no word of this will ever reach anyone else. Your aid and knowledge has been invaluable, and will continue to be so if Anne stays with us, and it would be cruel of me to reward it like this. But I cannot risk our safety—ours, Anne's, the safety of hundreds of other beings that would be in peril if the human world at large knew.^"
A heavy pause followed, mental grip relaxing ever so slightly as Aria took a deep breath.
"^Can you all, especially you, Olive, promise me that? Promise that no word of what had happened beyond the pretense you've already set up will ever reach anyone else, not even your loved ones?^"
As much as the Gardevoir's actions made sense with how much was at stake, the group in front of her still felt betrayed at a threat like that being held over their heads. Leo in particular wanted to bark something back at her, literally and verbally alike, before ultimately keeping himself down. Soon after, Luxie's thoughts reached the others first, "^I-I promise! I want to keep you all and Anne safe, I don't want to forget you, forget knowing she's gonna be alright.^"
"^Hmph, fine. Promise,^" Leo added.
"^Olive?^"
The old woman remained silent for the longest. Terror of the situation, sting of betrayal, fears of losing her memory, and affection towards Anne all swirled under her skullcap. Her hand clenched briefly as she got a grip on herself, before responding at last, "^Just as you promised me her safety, I promise you your secrecy, Aria. If she ever needs anything, I want to be able to help.^" Her words were hurt, dripping with resentment towards the Gardevoir for even considering just using them all like that.
Resentment that wasn't at all unearned, as sad as Aria was to admit that. Alas, that was the only way Marco and Lumi would've ever agreed to confide in a human. As much as she was growing to hate the forced secrecy of their village, she couldn't deny things being the way they were for a good reason.
"^From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you all, for everything. When I let go of you, pretend to be dazed and confused.^"
Aria's grip held them for a few more moments before fizzling as suddenly as it had initially appeared. Olive blinked at her surroundings as she took a few steps back, Luxie buzzing straight into Leo's mane, and the hound flopped onto his side, staring up at the ceiling.
"^Quick, before they come back to,^" Aria urged Lumi the moment she ended her part of the charade. The Luxray didn't have to be told twice, bolting out of the apartment as Aria levitated the bags with herself. Just before following him out, she passed the group one last, brief smile before running out.
Into the vastness of the human world.
Interlude I: Rupture
CONTENT WARNING: Graphic Depictions of Violence
That BITCH will PAY for this.
Tom's grunts and whines of pain were but one of a whole host of noises that rang through the decrepit kitchen. Droning hum of overhead lights, ominous hissing of ruptured pipes, unceasing drops of leaking water splashing against the metal sink. Whether the trashing wretch of a man could hear any of them, obscured by the deafening sounds of blood rushing through his veins and the racket of his racing heart, was another matter.
That fucking THING too.
The pain of his mangled limbs barraged his mind, but his unceasing fury eclipsed even that. At that WORTHLESS BITCH daring to enter MY house, MY fucking property, and DARED to fucking speak to me like that. How dare she, how FUCKING dare she disrespect me like that.
Another pained gasp cut off the bestial snarl of anger before it could escape his throat, leaving him shaking even harder on the messy floor. It's ALL her fault. Blood, bile, and water pooled around him as the natural gas in the air above turned it hazy—none of that was consciously noticed, though.
Much, much too late for that.
A slow, grinding facsimile of laughter pushed its way through gritted teeth as he fantasized about everything he was going to do. I'll have her FUCKING dog turned into a PELT. His justice would be glorious, they would all suffer just like he has.
SHE fucking went in and DARED to raise her voice AT ME, AT ME, I AM THE FUCKING LAW! Too late for discipline for that bitch, I'll have her fucking HEAD on a STAKE, and then EVERYONE ELSE in this fucking town.
For all the skeevy looks they gave him, for their disrespect. He was their superior. It's MY fucking town, they are just background decoration, they are NOTHING. He could have them all thrown behind bars.
They think their fucking mons can save them?
If they even tried to look at him wrong, he would have them hunted down. He had immunity. If I wanted I could unload my ENTIRE fucking mag in them until they stop twitching. They were below humans and humans were below him, he had authority over them all.
He was the protector of the law, and they were NOTHING. Don't they fucking DARE backtalk me.
He saw what they thought of him, how they dared to talk about him when the topic of Anne came up. Already good for fucking nothing, NO FUCKING RESPECT, and then that Graham WHORE kept teaching her worthless fucking shit.
How dare she run away from ME. I OWN her, she is nothing without me, would never be ANYTHING without me.
It was Lisa's fault. She corrupted her. That fucking BITCH.
This time, Tom's anger-filled shout overcame his incapacitation, ringing through the decrepit building. He was already on his way to shape that little brat into something proper before she even left her diapers, but of course SHE had taken it away. Just wouldn't suffice to keep HURTING him, she had to fucking take his PROPERTY too.
But now you're fucking dead, Lisa. Anne's mine, she will ALWAYS BE MINE.
Snarls and shouts gave way to laughter as his bloodshot eyes stared straight into the fluorescent lights above. For a moment, he thought he saw her, he saw Anne, he saw Lisa, stare down at him from above. DON'T YOU DARE LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT. From beyond.
He struck the air with his bare, broken hand. The pain was unbearable, but the anger was just barely stronger.
That FUCKING demon's head will be mine, too.
A crooked grin twisted his bloodied expression as his imagination took him for a tour. I'll burn down that entire FUCKING forest, kill every single last THING there, if it means getting my hands on that thing. Did it think it could just come at him without any consequences?
*wee-woo-WEE-WOO!*
I knew that bitch wouldn't have the balls.
As the approaching sirens pierced Tom's veil of agony, more and more vicious glee dripped into his train of thought. All she had to do was fucking RESPECT me, and she and her FUCKING dog couldn't even do that. With each drop came just enough relief, sating his urges just enough to let him endure until the ambulance got here. I will make that Graham BITCH regret everything, especially her being weak enough to call for help.
Fantasies of violent torture raced through his mind as his working hand—or what remained of it—reached into the pocket of his vest. The boys will appreciate getting to rough up an old BITCH on the LAW's dime. They made the mistake of letting him live, and he would make sure it cost them everything. He pulled out a cigarette, bent in half, and stuck it in his mouth.
They'll pay for this.
None of them would get away scot-free. Not that BITCH, not that THING, not that worthless girl for DARING to run away from me. If she'd fucking died out there, then fucking GOOD, it was all that fucking bitch ever deserved after Lisa filled her head with WEAKNESS.
THEY'LL PAY FOR THIS.
The thought echoed in his mind, reverberating ever louder. She finally tossed that THING and still wouldn't behave. His grin grew with each repetition, his body calmed down, the hissing pipes and the distant sirens grew louder. Oh yes, he would make them all pay, without mercy. I'll have a field day going with a HAMMER over their EVERY limb and joint.
As the bloodthirsty fantasy gripped his mind, he reached for the cracked lighter in his pocket, too drunk on revenge to feel any pain anymore, and brought it to his lips.
Marco had no idea why his sister was so insistent on getting help from that random human and her band. She shouldn't have needed to be convinced to wipe their memories after they were done helping, but at least she agreed to it in the end.
Sure, the human in their village was an injured child—he knew full well how much that fact tugged at his sister's heartstrings. The strangers' actions would help Anne out, but… she was still a human. Her days in the village were limited by how long it'd take her to recover—and they sure didn't need another pile of human stuff to look after in the meantime.
He wasn't opposed to being nice to her until she got better, but knew it wouldn't matter much in the long term. Eventually, she'd be left without any memory of said kindness, and there were very few things that could've changed that outcome. Said number wasn't zero, though, even despite Anne having something to do with Ember's predicament.
That involvement confused the psychic in particular as he sprinted back to the village. Ember's and Olive's versions of the events were drastically different. And, if Aria was to be believed, Anne's recollection matched the latter. They couldn't both be true. If not for him having personally reached into that woman's memories with his sister, he wouldn't have given the human's retelling even a single moment of consideration. But he did see it all, genuine and untampered.
Something wasn't adding up.
Even if Aria's attempt at reconciling the two versions of the events failed, that didn't mean he couldn't give it a stab of his own—as doomed as that idea felt with even his sister having failed at it. The real question was how would he bring the subject up. The last thing he wanted to do was to give Ember a panic attack, and there was no way Cinder would take kindly to the topic either. He'd have to be diplomatic about it, but how to go about it remained a mystery—
"Outta the way!" a shrill voice called out nearby.
Marco dashed back out of reflex, just in time to see a large, reddish blur barrel through where he had been just moments later. It was trying to brake through the means of Ori's leg stabbing the snowy ground, and came to a stop the hard way shortly afterwards.
Namely, by falling apart.
The corroded metal parts holding the front wheel gave up and snapped, plowing the frame into the dirt. It launched the passenger on the Scizor's shoulder head-first into a tree, leaving it shaking as the Mawile bounced off and dove into the snow Once all present had processed what just happened, and Ori had climbed off the pile of junk, Marco finally spoke up, a mix of concern and annoyance in his voice, "Mikiri, are you alright?"
"Ya, ya, ya, I've been through worse, this is nothing. Wonder what broke there, ugh," Mikiri grumbled before demonstrating her perseverance by wading through the almost-as-tall-as-her snow, stepping out of the worst of it soon after. The small gash on her forehead undermined her carelessness, with a few drops of rust-colored blood soon flowing down her face. "Ah, this bit. Annoying, I think I have enough scrap to make a replacement... oh, Ori, you alright?"
"Affirmative. You should try to test the integrity of it more next time before asking me to help."
"This was the integrity test," the Mawile corrected.
"Didn't Aria ask you two to not touch any of the girl's items?" Marco asked, his tone now firmly on the side of annoyance. At their antics, at the Mawile going against what had been asked of her, and at his coworker slacking off while acting as a test dummy.
"I'm not! This one's not hers! Hers just let me figure out how it all fits and then I made this one out of all the broken parts I scavenged!"
The Gallade sighed and shook his head as he buried it into his palm. Mikiri didn't notice, getting right back to trying to analyze the failure mode she'd just been on the receiving end of. As her fingers felt along the freshly snapped piece of rust, Ori pointed out the obvious, "Mikiri, you're bleeding."
"What?" The Mawile patted her forehead, wincing slightly and groaning at seeing the rusty blood. Less so because of her injury, and mostly because it was yet another distraction from her object of interest. "I'll be fine, I'll be fine. Now now, could I reinforce it some more somehow... welding a thicker piece here could work. Though then I'd have to balance it somehow or the steering would get worse—"
"Mikiri."
"Ughhhh... fine, fine, I'll go get it checked. Can you move all this back to my workshop in the meantime?"
"Someone has to," Ori grumbled.
"Alright, alright, see you once I'm patched up. I'll need your input with some changes I have in mind—fine, fine, I'm going, I'm going!"
Thankfully, Ori didn't have to speak up again for the Mawile to finally get going, the snow growing thinner as she marched towards the village. As the Scizor turned to face the destroyed two-wheel, Marco asked, "What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you be scouting?"
"I can ask you the exact same question, Marco."
"I'm trying to figure out what's going on with that human kid and Ember," the Gallade excused himself.
"Are you? Because presently you seem to just be idly watching."
Marco rolled his eyes at Ori's callout. It wasn't undeserved, making him grumble to himself as he resumed his trek further into the village while the Scizor picked up what remained of Mikiri's contraption. As the Gallade withdrew into his own thoughts once more, he heard Mikiri grumble again, "Yes, yes, I know. I'm going to the clinic."
A glance up revealed the Mawile's words to have stopped the Wigglytuff in his tracks before he could speak up about the unnerving sight. With the tinkerer walking away, the fairy's attention wandered towards Marco instead. He waved as he bounced towards the Gallade, "Hello Marco~. How's your day?"
"It's... going, Jovan."
"Something on your mind?"
"A lot, and I like none of it," Marco sighed.
The Wigglytuff grew a bit concerned at the unenthusiastic response, looking up at the scout with his green eyes. "Something to do with the human, I assume~?"
"Yeah."
"I see, I see. All that mess does sound like a big ol' pickle. Even the kiddos are starting to ask about them, hah. Holly has had some run-ins with humans in the past, so I tried to recount them and try to get some morals in. Truthfully, I'm just stringing words along for the most part. Any specific questions and I have to change the subject, heh. Bell asked me what color are humans and I just couldn't figure out what to tell him! I was thinking you could help me answer some of it, if you don't mind."
"You'd have to ask Aria. She's spent a lot more time with them," the Gallade advised.
"But surely you have to know something yourself~?" Jovan pleaded.
"Picked up a couple things, but that's about it. It's nothing big."
"Well, even if it's little, I'd love to discuss it over a cup of something nice and warm, someplace comfy. How's that sound, maybe later today~?"
Jovan's point flew right over its recipient's pointed crest. The Gallade briefly considered the idea, before shaking it off. He wouldn't have the time for a detour this big, especially with him not knowing a lot to begin with. He answered, "I'm afraid not. Again, Aria's the one to ask about them. I know little and truthfully, I hope that won't change."
Marco noticed the blip of flat dissatisfaction in the Wigglytuff's mind, ascribing it to him not being able to get the information he wanted. Unfortunate, but nothing he could help with, making him march on without a second thought.
"I see. Well, why not~? They are just a child, from what I've heard."
"A human child. And... *sigh*, I'm trying to figure out some unknowns surrounding them, many of them on the unsavory side," Marco explained, shuddering at all the unknowns around the human's circumstances.
"Oh dear. Unsavory...?"
"Very much so."
Jovan didn't need any further explanation to get Marco's gist—or at least to guess what he might've been getting at. Obviously, nobody would want to talk a lot about a young 'trainer' that treated them all as objects. It made sense, and it made the fairy feel that bit worse for even asking. "I see. Well... I'll be off grabbing a drink at Viv's if you have a change of heart. Hopefully, your search proves successful~."
"I hope so too, would be nice to finally figure something concrete out."
"See you around, Marco," Jovan waved.
"See you."
As the purple Wigglytuff changed course, the green-white knight marched on. Right before turning the corner, he saw the fairy pull aside a Skuntank for a presumably similar chat. As much as Marco grumbled quietly at yet another fellow scout not being on their patrol, he was at least glad that Jovan would get his answers.
There were few people in their village better equipped to answer them than someone who had been a 'trainer's' property for so much of her life.
The thought made him shudder, before he forcibly discarded it from his mind—what awaited was scary enough. He was still unsure how he'd bring the human girl up with the foxes beyond a vague outline. It'd be for the best if he could have a chat with Ember one on one, but was doubtful how much would the Braixen trust him on this. She was fond of his sister, yes, but have had very few interactions with him directly.
Being as good at sensing emotions as his sister was would've been very welcome here as well...
Marco didn't let that thought get to him, mentally resetting at hearing the whizzing sounds from around the corner. It was accompanied by two mental presences, one dignified and steadfast, and the other uncertain and scared. The practice he soon walked in on broadly matched along these lines.
Cinder's Psybeams struck true every time, bright and vivid, with enough force to chip the boulder where they hit. Ember's, on the other hand, had a tendency to miss and fizzle out with her shaky grip. Even when they hit their target, though, they had no force to them, and didn't look powerful enough to even bruise someone.
Much the same was true of the fireballs that followed. The Delphox's flame roared as it soared towards its stone target, leaving it glowing dimly where it hit as the sparks it left in its wake melted the snow where they landed.
The Braixen… had a hard time executing the move at all. Her mind was too gripped by anxiety of fear, both of the obvious and of something else that Marco didn't quite catch, to attain the necessary focus. The umpteenth attempt to calm herself down, first by deep breaths and then by trying to concentrate on the flickering flame tipping her wand once she remembered her mom was watching, accomplished little. Each time, her grip on herself inevitably fizzled when it was time to let loose, receding into more fear.
Of her very own flame, of the human in their midst.
Even Cinder had to admit this was going nowhere. She tried to quell her disappointment in both herself and the rest of the village as she walked up to her daughter. The lil' fox shook in her shawl, pulling her mom into a hug the moment she could. "I-I'm sorry, I-I—"
"Shhhh, it's alright sweetie, it's okay. They'll be gone soon, don't worry," the Delphox reassured. Before she could continue soothing her daughter, she narrowed her gaze at seeing the Gallade approach. Any earlier warmth evaporated from her tone as she spoke, "What is it, Marco? Shouldn't you be out and helping to resolve this... whole human situation? Because if you scouts want to, I can help solve it quickly and very effectively."
The veiled threat in Cinder's words had Marco narrow his eyes as Ember clung to her mom. She felt cold, even with her typing and her shawl, and the hostility in the air didn't help. As much as the Gallade wanted to snap back with 'what do you think I'm doing', he knew that it'd just make the older vixen blow up on him for implying a connection between Ember and their unwelcome guest.
Likely not even figuratively at that.
"I only want to ask Ember about a couple of things," he explained.
"Such as?" Cinder snapped back.
The lil' fox perked up at Marco's words, ears lying flat. She always wanted to help others, but had no idea what someone as important as a scout would want to ask her about. All Marco could do was sigh and consider his words one last time, keeping his cards close as he tried to tease out the truth one detail at a time, "Well, I've been told that an old friend of yours had recently turned up in our village, and they've been looking for you."
Thankfully, Cinder didn't get the implication right away. The hostility in her expression waned as her daughter thought through that claim. Most of the friends she'd made at that bright place were still here, and others had just run off for good when they all broke out… maybe one of them ended up wandering here in the end? That'd be lovely, but didn't sound realistic; it's been over a year since then.
Someone else?
Was there even anyone else?
They'd have to be from before then, and…
Everything prior to the bright place was hell, but… there was—
The Delphox grew consternated at the unpleasant territory her daughter's thoughts veered into. She held the Braixen closer as she grew upset, petting her to distract her from the horrors of her past. It could only do so much. "Shhhh, it's okay, sweetie. As you can see, Marco, it doesn't ring any bells for her. Mind leaving us alone now?"
Marco was about to do that before spotting the hesitation in the fox's thoughts. He ignored her mother's response and provided another hint in its stead, "An old friend named Anne."
The clarification didn't help the Braixen any, but it resulted in an immediate change on Cinder's end. In an instant, the air surrounding her went from frosty to scalding, immediately battering Marco's front. With it came painful, sharp prickling in his mind, the kind that could only come from a very angry psychic.
The kind his own psychics were much too weak to nullify.
"How dare you bring that thing up like that!? How DARE you claim any of those monsters as anyone's friends, especially one of her friends!? It being let live is already injustice enough, but you DARE bring it to our doorstep, and make her suffer even more!?"
Before Marco could respond, he was telekinetically shoved backwards, splaying him onto the snow as the unrelenting Heat Wave burned his front.
"Don't you, or any other scout, dare speak of this again. If you, your pitiable sister, or anyone else are too maddened to see what must be done with that vile thing, I will eagerly demonstrate. Begone."
The Gallade only caught a brief glimpse of Ember's mortified, confused expression as she was ushered back to her dwelling. She wanted to speak up, opening her mouth, before a light push cut her off. Before she knew it, she was back in her den; the door getting psychically slammed shut behind her.
Somehow, he had outdone even his worst-case scenario.
As covert as he had tried to be, Cinder saw through him, and Ember didn't seem to have come up with anything either. He had one task, and he had fumbled it completely, the disappointing reality much more painful than even the burns on his front.
Enough to make him overlook the Delphox having recognized Anne's name.
Once he'd picked himself up from the muddy puddle of freshly melted snow, Marco took his leave. Much as he tried to maintain his usual poise, the constant pain barraging his point made it so much harder. An attempt to Meditate the aching away only resulted in him losing his balance, and the winter cold didn't offset the burns either.
He only had himself to blame in the end. Should've waited for a better moment—or just given up on that entire undertaking. Just toss the shared human delusion aside and let Ember rest while they work on moving the human trouble back to their own rotten world. Guess... a drink wouldn't hurt right about now.
There was no point in dwelling about what he'd seen; he knew that well, but… it still stung. A lot. Especially when compared with Aria's successes at calming the humans down and getting knowledge out of them. If there was any silver lining, it was that he doubted all this would've ended any better if it was his sister doing the talking. Even worse, if anything. Not much of a reprieve, really—
"Maaaarco! Areee you okay, daaarling?" a croaky voice asked, pulling the Gallade's attention out of the dark pit it was threatening to fall into and redirecting it onto the elderly Lilligant. Only her head poked out of her hand-knit shawl, the bulb where her flower would sprout from come spring wrapped in a small beanie. "Marcooo?"
"I'm—I'm fine, Lavender. Just heading to get some tea."
"Pleeeease let Maple look at theeeese burns, they look horribleee! I need to prepareeee more dressings soooon, oh dear…" Lavender fussed, looking over his body.
"I will, in just a bit. They don't hurt that much. I'll be okay."
The Lilligant remained unconvinced, orange eyes squinting as they looked over his front. "Whoooo hurt youuuu—"
"I really need to get going, I'm sorry," he muttered, walking away before the Grass-type could finish, feeling even worse about his injuries. Now they didn't just hurt him, but they made others concerned for him too, something he really doubted he deserved after his failure.
The rest of his slow march towards the makeshift cafe was spent staving off any further feelings of inadequacy—mostly unsuccessfully. Thankfully, the rich, herbal aroma that spread far and wide from the building was effective at dulling the unpleasant thoughts.
Jovan perked up from his pondering the moment Marco stepped in. His obviously sorry state left the Wigglytuff immediately alarmed, making him call out, "M-Marco? What happened, a-are these burns?"
His high-pitched, alarmed words made the dragon behind the counter look over in concern as well. It was enough for them to step out of the warmth of their makeshift stove, clad in an almost full body, fluffy outfit to keep the winter frost at bay. "Oh my, Marco?"
"I'm—I'll be fine. Yeah, j-just light burns, I think. I'm gonna be alright," Marco reassured.
"You don't 'just get' this many burns, not all over your front like that! Marco hun, what happened!?" Jovan pleaded.
As the Wigglytuff tried to get answers, the Goodra took it upon themselves to help the scout more directly. Their raised purple hand wordlessly asked for permission, before reaching over and touching up on the reddened spots along the Gallade's body. It might've felt icky to the touch, but the aloe vera-like relief it brought was both inarguable and much appreciated.
The relief released much of Marco's tension, making him relent and explain, "Just... I had a good hunch that Ember could have an idea about what's going on, maybe recognize the human. Cinder... didn't take it well."
The answer startled both the fairy and the dragon before the latter resumed their help, speaking up in their soft voice, "That does sound like Cinder. I doubt that asking Ember about all this was a particularly good idea to begin with..."
"It's more complicated than that, Vivian, but… yeah. It was doomed from the start, I think..."
The Goodra nodded uncertainly as they wrapped up the first aid. They scrambled back behind the counter to pour their guest a cup of their signature sweet tea—and a few more for themselves right after. The pot of water was immediately refilled and set over the fire once more. In a cold as bitter as this, there was never any downtime in needing a drink to warm oneself with.
"More complicated~?" Jovan asked.
The Gallade just sighed, unenthused about the idea of dredging up all the worthless 'details' he and his sister have gleaned so far. The Wigglytuff relented with a disappointed nod, looking down at the ground as Vivian handed the scout a cup of tea and asked, "Would you fancy something nicer to sit on than these chairs? Got a spare pillow in here and you look and sound like you could use it."
"I... I suppose," the Gallade relented.
"It's really no problem, Marco."
"I-I know, I know, just... *sigh*, thanks Viv."
"Anytime," the Goodra smiled.
Marco less sat down and more so collapsed on the large pillow behind the counter as he sipped on his cup in defeat. He passed Jovan a thankful nod once he'd joined him, though only interpreted it as the Wigglytuff's near-universal friendliness. The cafe's mellowness came back in full swing once he was done with his cup. He tried to shake everything that had happened so far off, before deciding to clear his head with a bit of Meditation. And, once he'd wrap that up, get back into his usual duties.
This place wouldn't protect itself, after all.
As he cleared his thoughts, the purple fairy beside him dozed off and started leaning on him. In the meantime, the Goodra a few feet away from them alternated between sipping on the warm tea and knitting another layer for themselves to brave the cold with. Right as they were about to start on another cup, they saw someone peek into the cafe—and did an immediate double take before speaking up, "Ember? Are you okay, sweetie?"
The Braixen was very evidently not okay.
Her expression was somewhere between uncertain and terrified, her whole body shook—and yet, she was here. For her troubles, she was offered a cup of tea the dragon brewer hadn't gone around to drinking yet. "I-I—did Marco c-come here earlier?"
Before Vivian could explain that the Gallade was still here, the unpleasant situation the psychic had experienced gave them a pause. Instead, they responded with their own question, not wanting to expose their friend to even more of Cinder's wrath, "What makes you look for him, sweetie?"
Ember shook even harder at the direct question. The stick in her tail looked about ready to fall out as she huddled up, making Vivian nudge the cup of tea again. This time, their gift was accepted, even if the fearful fox spilled some of its contents in her shaking.
"He c-came over to us earlier, a-and asked about something. My mom got really angry at him, and I don't know why, and... and I've been thinking. There's something weird going on; it's hard to explain. I wanna help him, m-maybe he can help me with that weird thing, I-I don't want my mom to know..."
That was all the dragon needed to hear. They walked over to the other end of the counter and leaned down, shaking the Gallade out of his trance. Not without startling him, sadly, but the aura he sensed right after pulled his focus away from that. "Ember?" he asked, shocked.
The Braixen grew equal parts reassured about him being alright, and apologetic about what had happened earlier. "I-I'm really sorry, Mr. Marco, I don't know why m-my mom—"
"It's okay Ember, it's okay."
As much as Marco envied his sister's form at all times, he would've really appreciated having a better grasp on the Ember's emotions right now in particular. His emotional intelligence was enough to tell the lil' fox was clearly sad and panicky, but not enough to have a good idea of how could he help.
Suppose that imitation was always an option.
Marco pushed on as he tried to mirror what his sister would do when Cadence got really sad. He kneeled before the Braixen and opened his arms wide for a hug—one immediately accepted. The fox's uncertain warmth aggravated his burns through her shawl, but the comfort it brought them both more than made up for it.
For a while afterwards, both the psychic and the vixen tried to get a better grasp on their emotions. The Gallade was relieved to feel his gesture working and Ember's anxiety waning, even if slowly. Guess even if he didn't have the body he wanted after their parents forced him into this one to act as the family's 'protector', he could still help like his sister. It was obvious, but… it still reassured him to think about. "Did you want to talk to me about something, Ember?" he asked.
"Y-yeah..." the Braixen muttered.
"Take your time. We're not rushing."
The Braixen nodded as she mulled through her thoughts, taking small sips of her tea here and there. Vivian watched over them both, keeping a steady supply of the soothing drink. After gathering her thoughts, she spoke, "Mhm. It's... when you mentioned a friend with that name, I-I tried to think back and see if I remembered, and I didn't, but... it's like, it's—it's like there's something weird, something I can't remember in a weird way."
Ember's words didn't immediately clarify anything, or even provide much of a hint toward their ongoing mystery. But they caught Marco's attention all the same—even if he failed at his original task, he could still try to help the lil' fox. "Do you think it could have something to do with that friend I mentioned?"
The fox was less certain on that front. Though, considering that thinking about a friend like that had set her on a path towards figuring out there was something wrong with her memory, there could have very well been a connection there.
"M-maybe, yeah..."
Marco sighed deeply. As much as he genuinely wanted to help, there was an obvious limit to how much he would be able to, considering the actual identity of that 'friend'. He was unsure how to break the news to the fox, trying once more to gather some nice words to soften the blow—and arriving nowhere. "There's... something you have to know first, though."
"Oh, what is it, M-Mr. Marco?"
"That friend I mentioned, the one named Anne... that's the human in the clinic."
Predictably, Ember's immediate reaction at the news was a frightful freeze. Marco was torn between not wanting her to feel entrapped by holding her closer, and wishing he could comfort her somehow. A frown broke through his mask-like expression, letting her know she wasn't alone in her reactions to the unpleasant fact.
Just as he thought he'd only end up failing Ember again, though, she began to compose herself once more. Her thoughts were rapid, uncertain, afraid—but not panicking anymore. She held strong as she gave that fact, and her own memories, some more thought.
"I-I see..."
Ember had no recollection of 'an old human friend named Anne'. The very idea was messed up, and her mom wasn't that wrong in reacting to it like she did. However, besides the memories of the horrible humans that hit her, the two big ones and the several smaller ones, with all their fists and kicks and screaming, there was… something else. Something that had been driving her crazy ever since Marco first brought up the idea of an old friend. A wound in her mind that had been there all along, but which the Gallade's words had shone a light on. Not a memory, but…
An absence of one.
So many of her older memories had an imprint left on them by someone that didn't exist, that she didn't recall. Someone that—to the best of her ability to tell—wasn't evil towards her, and with whom she enjoyed interacting with. Any details about them, though, were entirely absent.
Even then, they weren't perfectly nice, made clear by the tattered memories she could piece together. Being confined to small, dark, shaking places for long amounts of time, moved from a warm and nice place to the hell where her abuse had taken place, being—being abandoned…
Marco's concern only grew as he listened in to the fox's thought process. Any relief at her not freaking out even harder was offset right afterwards by the disturbing half-memories she dredged up from the depths of their mind. He had no idea what might've caused them, and before he could offer any guesses, the fox spoke up again, her shaky voice unusually determined, "I-I... can I s-see that human?"
There was no chance that this was it, that the nice not-person was a human, but… if just a mention of the girl at the clinic made her aware of this gash in her memory, maybe seeing her in person would clear it up further.
Who knew; maybe she was just one of the nasty small humans that tormented her and the nice person. Maybe remembering the abuse she had experienced on her hands would reveal more about the missing piece of her memory. Ember didn't know. All she knew was that she had to try something, that she couldn't just live with this awareness of her mind being so broken. Even if it meant seeing that human.
Ideally, without getting seen herself. "A-and make sure she won't see me?"
The Gallade and Goodra were both too dumbfounded at her request to respond before she clarified. Marco nodded eagerly in response—he would do whatever he could to help, especially now that there was a chance of answering the mystery he'd initially tried to solve. He answered, "Absolutely. You don't have to do this, Ember—"
"B-but I want to! I want to help, I want to know w-what—what's wrong w-with my head..."
With one last, tighter hug, Marco got up. Vivian could only stare at them both in shock before offering them some more tea, muttering in disbelief, "That's not something I ever expected to hear from you, Ember, that is for certain..."
Despite the stress of the situation, and the terrifying reality of having to approach that human to have her questions be answered, Ember still chuckled that tiny bit. The levity helped, even if the fear it was based on returned soon after.
"I-I know, it's just—"
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, sweetie. It's okay," Vivian reassured. The fearful fox appreciated that sentiment greatly, dashing over to give the Goodra a hug of her own. Her warmth, figurative and literal alike, was greatly appreciated.
"T-thank you..." Ember mumbled. With the hug gone, she faced the Gallade once more. Her resolve held as she walked from behind the counter and grabbed his. No matter how it would end, she was ready to get to the bottom of all this.
"L-let's go..."
Every step closer to the clinic made the vixen shake harder and harder. The creeping reality of what she was about to do thrashed against knowing that there was no way around this, no other way of resolving the mess in her head.
But gods, did it not make any of it any less scary.
Ember clung closer to Marco as they stepped into the clinic tent. The sight of the vixen in these particular circumstances gave the onlookers a pause. It didn't last too long, but it still made Ember even more self-conscious about what she would have to do.
"^She's in the room over there,^" Marco said.
Gathering enough focus to respond to the telepathic comment in kind was hard. Ember only persevered after a few drawn out breaths, silent to any onlookers and especially to the object of her fearful interest. By the time they made it over to the pulled-aside flap, though, something else caught the fox's interest. "^I-is that Holly's voice?^"
Marco might've been too focused to notice that right away, but once the Braixen had brought it up, he couldn't think of anything else. His eyebrow twitched at their cook having decided to blatantly ignore their efforts to keep the human in the dark. The last thing Aria needed was it being even harder to get rid of Anne's memories once the time came for that.
"^Ugh, it is. She shouldn't be there, why is she—^" he muttered, but before he could finish his sentence, the Azumarill turned towards the entrance of the human's room—with them right behind it.
"Hey—" the Azumarill spoke, her overzealous greeting cut off with haphazard Safeguard.
"^Holly, what are you doing here!?^"
"Bringing the girl something to eat, that's what!"
"^She's not supposed to know any of us are here!^" Marco reminded with a grimace.
All the Azumarill could react to that with was lifting her hand and making a speaking gesture with her paw as she let out incoherent squeaks—the closest thing to a 'blah blah blah' she could manage. "You're all so silly paranoid over her, she's just a child! What's she gonna—Ember!? What are you doing here, sweetie?"
The Braixen was at a loss for words, the entire situation too much of a mess to even try to summarize.
"^It's complicated, Holly,^" Marco answered.
"I've gathered that much!"
"^Just—just leave us alone for this. We don't have time to explain this.^"
"Fine, fine, fine! Goodness, you scouts are all the same scaredy, paranoid bunch it feels like," Holly groaned. As much as Marco didn't appreciate her Parting Shot, his attention was squarely on the fox beside him.
More and more fear crept into her thoughts, making him kneel beside her and pull her into a tight hug once more. "^I'm here Ember, I'm here.^"
"^M-mhm...^" she muttered in response.
"^Take your time.^"
While Ember gathered courage for these few final steps, the Gallade kept a close watch over everything going on in the other room. He grumbled to himself at sensing Blossom there, and didn't have one iota of an idea about why Autumn was there, either—but these could wait. Suddenly, he sensed the entire group turning and focusing on something from the door—just the opportunity they needed. He spoke up, "^They're looking at the window, this is our chance.^"
Before Marco could come up with some motivation to help the fox push through in the end, she took the first, terrified, determined step on her own. And then; another. Out of his embrace, through the door frame, the scout right behind her as they leaned into the room.
"^N-no...^" Ember whimpered.
The column of black smoke in the distance might've been a worrisome sight in its own right, but his attention was entirely on the fox beside him. Her mind had come to a screeching halt at the sight of the human on the bed. It wasn't fear; it wasn't just fear. The memories stirred by seeing them were the same half-erased ones she was so scared about earlier.
She remembered the stimuli, the sensations of seeing that human. So many individual threads in her mind had something to do with them, but all of them led nowhere. So many broken memories forcibly brought to the forefront of her mind, combining to make the hole in her recollection so much more well-defined. Its outline was shaped exactly like the human in the room; its edges so sharp it felt like she had been cut out of Ember's mind with a scalpel.
As grimly revealing as that fact was, it didn't provide answers by itself. The memory hole at the core of the Braixen's being was clear to see now, but that didn't diminish its effects. It left Ember paralyzed even as the room was shaken by a distant rumble, making Blossom chirp out in panic.
Marco couldn't risk the human interfering, not when they were so close to cracking the mystery. He reached over with his psychics and froze Anne's focus in place—which the girl unfortunately noticed moments later, trying to look at Autumn only to find herself unable to.
The Indeedee sensed what had happened, gasping as she looked over at her son and family friend. She had no idea why Marco was doing something like that, taken aback before he spoke, "^I'll explain later, Autumn—I'm sorry, this is really important. It seems like Ember used to remember Anne but something happened to her memories, I'm not sure what to do—^"
"What do you mean," Blossom tried to ask before Marco forcibly severed the mental link between her and the Indeedee.
The situation quickly grew too intense to manage for everyone involved, the fear seeping from Ember and Anne alike saturating Autumn's senses. She pushed through regardless, trying to make heads or tails of the scene, before coming up with an idea, "^Maybe a powerful memory from Anne will help, I-I don't know—^"
"^We have to try, mom.^" Marco responded, determined.
Autumn kept enough of a grasp on herself to act right away, speaking up towards the human girl again, somber and apologetic, "^Anne, I'm sorry for all this, b-but this is important. I need you to... think back, back to the dearest memory of Ember you have, and focus on it. C-can you do that for me?^"
The Indeedee reached into the human's mind immediately afterwards as her son-in-law did the same with the Braixen to his side. Vivid memories were coaxed from Anne's recollection and passed from one mental hand to the other, both adults anxious to see how Ember would react to them.
An instant later, they had their answer. The vixen's mind got a glimpse of something it had been missing for so long, and it wanted more, needed more—
And more was provided to it.
Voluntarily at first, but it wasn't long before the sheer burning need emanating from Ember overwhelmed the strained psyches of the other three. They were dragged along as it clawed out a torrential flood of moments, images, sounds, experiences, scenes, and thoughts—too much for anyone to handle, and yet greedily taken all the same.
Ember's mind replayed it all to herself, every last recollection Anne had of them together, forcibly excavating the Braixen's versions of the events from underneath the mental spell that bound them hidden.
Everything, from the beginning...
"~Annie, Annie, come here!~" the loud whisper yanked the almost-six-year-old's attention away from her scribbles. She dropped the yellow crayon on the wood panel floor as she pulled herself up, before running out into the corridor. There, she saw her granny holding a tiny towel-wrapped bundle in her arms, more alert than ever. "~Could you grab a cup of water from the kitchen and bring it here, darling?~"
Just as quickly as the tyke had run over, she was gone again. After helping herself reach the sink with a stool, she brought the glass cup over, only spilling a little bit. What awaited her in the living room, though, made her stop on the spot.
A tiny red-yellow shape was curled on top of the towel, now laid out on her grandma's lap. Their fur was disheveled and stained with soot, wriggling as she held them closer, gesturing to her granddaughter to hand the cup to her. The old woman concentrated on keeping her arms from shaking as she brought the cup over to the little one's snout. Her other hand lifted their head up a bit, to help them drink.
"~Drink baby, drink. You've been through so much already, goodness...~" grandma whispered.
In the meantime, Anne sat down next to her gran, trying to not make a noise. She intently observed the furry bundle, watching them calm down as they drank, bit by bit, until their delirious exhaustion gave way to rest. "~Is-is that a Fennekin, grandma Lisa?~"
The old woman nodded lightly at Anne's whispers. "~Sure is. Poor, poor thing... the entire building caught fire. Awful, awful fire...~" she shuddered at the firefighters' description of the events as she placed the cup on the table, rocking the now-asleep fox. "~We're gonna be looking after her for a while until she grows up some. Hoping you'll help me out with her a bit Annie, heh.~"
Anne nodded rapidly without her gaze ever veering away from the fox. Her grandma chuckled at the sight before carefully lifting the entire bundle up and offering it to the lil' girl. Anne's eyes went wide as she looked up for approval, granted with a gentle nod right after. She was afraid to even breathe too hard lest she stir the little Fennekin awake as she pulled her legs up onto the couch and nestled the bundle between her knees and front. Her body rocked to the sides as she cautiously reached in, stroking the soft fur behind the fox's large ears with a couple of fingers.
"~What's her name?~" Anne asked.
"~Well... we don't know, sadly. Probably will have to give her one soon,~" grandma Lisa answered, watching as her granddaughter remained transfixed by the fox in her arms, continuing her comforts. After patting the girl a few more times, the old woman stood up and got to working on a list, scribbling it down on the back of a receipt.
They'd have to take a trip to the town and grab some food for the lil' kit. Hopefully, she was old enough for berry pulp until then. She would need to get her some bedding, bowls for chow, a few other things… and get her checked up at the vet, of course. And then ask that same vet about so many things…
Heh, just like when Annie first ended up under her care. Thankfully, with nowhere near as many bruises…
Time flew by as one child comforted the other. Anne soon sank into a peaceful rhythm, carefully petting the tiny Fennekin every once in a while. Eventually, their breaths synchronized as the fox continued her rest—rest that ended not long afterwards.
The fox's body ached as she slowly came to. All around her, softness and warmth. They made her feel safe, even if her last memories were full of chaos and screams and crashes and fire; so much fire—
"~Oh? Are you waking up?~" a soft, hushed voice asked, one that the Fennekin didn't recognize or understand at all. Its closeness made the aching fox turn towards it and pry her eyes open, making the voice gasp and hold her that bit firmer. She tried to focus on the human holding her, especially their wide, hazel eyes hidden behind thick glass circles, as they spoke up again, "~Hiiiii. I'm Anne.~"
The human smiled wider before she felt a pleasant touch on the back of her head, purring quietly as she wriggled her head. "W-who are you..." the Fennekin asked.
"~No no, everything is alright now. Don't worry lil' Fennekin, you're safe here,~" the girl reassured at hearing what she presumed to be just whines. As the two talked past each other, the tiny fox saw the human's expression turn to worry before she was held even closer. "~Oh no, wh-what's wrong with your eye?~"
Was something wrong?
The lil' fox nestled in closer at hearing approaching steps, before spotting a second, bigger human in her peripheral vision.
"~Oh, she woke up already?~" the bigger human asked.
"~Yeah. H-her eye looks really bad, though...~"
Before the Fennekin could get worried at the other human's presence, the comforting touch on the back of her head resumed. Together with the nearby heartbeat, it put her at ease as the bigger human examined her eye, "~Oh dear, I see. Hopefully, it's not some infection. We'll have to make sure at the vet tomorrow.~"
More gentle, loving pets on the fox's head, calming her in this unknown place. She purred as she pressed herself into the human's petting hand, making them smile.
"~Poor dearie. It almost looks like a little ember. Hopefully, it's not painful for her...~" the older human sighed.
The little human pulled her in closer before continuing her slow rocking. In no time, the exhausted fox gave into the comfort and closed her eyes as the girl had an idea, "~Ember... i-is that a nice name, grandma Lisa?~"
"~Haha. It is, Annie. Let's hope she won't mind its origin.~"
"~C-can she stay with us for good?~"
Lisa's expression turned pained as she chewed through the question. All the while, the fox continued to relax under her granddaughter's touch, under her calm heartbeat, under the room's warmth. Her surroundings remained unknown, but…
They felt safe.
"~I'll... I'll think about it, sweetie. I don't know if a hamlet like this will be the best place for a Fire-type like her. Though... *sigh*, we'll see,~" the old woman flinched, holding back tears as she slowly petted her granddaughter. So alike her, bringing all those fears back in force. Was it right for her to take another soul under her wing at her age? With her health risks?
She didn't know.
"~It's an enormous commitment, Anne, looking after someone like that. Taking care of their needs, protecting them if need be...~"
"~I can do that, I promise! I-I won't let anything happen to her!~" the girl pleaded.
"~Shhhh, I think she's trying to sleep some more. I don't doubt you will do your best, sweetie, but... *sigh*. Heh. She'll be lucky to have someone like you.~"
"~I won't let a-anything happen to you Ember, I promise...~"
I promise...
...through their greatest loss...
"~P-please pick up...~" Anne pleaded, making Ember shudder as she woke up from her nap. The fox stretched a bit before scrambling out of her cot and walking towards her best friend—
Only for the scene that awaited her to send a chill through her tiny body.
Grandma was sprawled out on the floor, face down. Unmoving. Anne shook as she held the large C-shaped end of the ringing contraption, tears flowing down her cheeks. She gasped soon after, focusing intently on the talking object in her hand; the bits of muffled speech Ember had overheard were too quiet to make anything out of. "~M-my grandma fell down a-and I'm not sure if she's breathing, p-please help...~"
As the girl listened in and nodded long, Ember made her way over, wanting to help their grandma after the obvious accident she had. It was only after that the realization of her being unconscious finally hit her.
"~M-main Street 12, w-we live in Hilltop, near Mistralton, p-please come soon... no, I d-don't know the postcode... It's just her a-and me and our Fennekin, Ember...~" Anne continued. Soon after, the person on the other end of the talking device finally advised the girl what to do. The curly cord stretched as the eight-year-old kneeled down next to her unconscious grandma, free hand reaching for her neck. "~I-I don't know if I can feel a pulse. N-no, she isn't breathing…~"
More instructions followed right after. Anne nodded to nobody before trying to flip the old human over onto her back with shaking hands. Ember got her intent right away, helping her human as much as she could with her snout and body—anything to make it all just that bit easier.
With a loud, strained whine, they just barely pulled through. Anne tried to give the Fennekin a reassuring smile before her focus was yanked away by the instructions continuing. She tried to hold the end of the device between her cheek and shoulder; the simple procedure made that much more difficult by the horror of the situation. "~In the center of the chest, b-both hands together... shoulders a-above, okay, I-I think I have it.~"
The series of repetitive, fast-paced presses on her grandma's front that followed didn't feel like they were accomplishing much. Their pace grew steadily irregular as first exhaustion, and then despair sank in, tears flowing down Anne's cheeks as she tried her hardest to do something, anything, only for it all to have no effect.
Ember could only curl up next to her human, trying to comfort her at least that much in the increasingly dire situation; the sheer impact of it all not having the time to sink for her yet.
Eventually, Anne was snapped out of her futile trance by the person on the other end saying something. It made her scramble onto her feet and almost trip over Ember as she dropped the phone and dashed out of the kitchen. The heavy lock on their front door clicked before she opened it—just in time for the distant sirens to get close, making both girls get out of the way and huddle in a corner as they listened.
Listened as the paramedics stepped in, two humans and an Indeedee. They all wore dark green outfits with yellow, shiny decals; carrying a stretcher as they briskly stepped into their home.
Listened to their alarmed words as they examined her grandma.
Listened as one of them brought a defibrillator over while the other pressed on her chest hard enough to snap her ribs.
Listened as another set of sirens approached from a distance, combining into an overwhelming cacophony that left Anne frozen and staring at the floor as more adults showed up.
Listened to their audible exertion as they lifted her up onto the stretcher before carrying her out.
Ember tried to help as much as she could, climbing onto Anne's tummy as she'd done many times in the past. She tried nuzzling her front and cheeks to comfort her, something, anything to help her friend—most of it for naught.
Eventually, shock gave way into grief as Anne's stunned expression broke down into pained, terrified sobs, holding Ember as tight as she could at the realization her grandma was
gone.
"I'm here Anne, I'm here, I don't know w-what happened, but I w-want to make it b-better..." Ember woofed. Her human held her closer, but her tears only kept flowing. Flowing, until she had no more left to shed.
No matter what would happen to them now, Ember would be there for her, the only hope Anne had left...
...through their darkest hours...
"~You ate it didn't you!? We fucking told you not to!~" the woman shouted.
"~I-I was hungry, I—~" the girl pleaded.
"~Shut up! Just fucking wait until your father hears of this!~"
"~No, no p-please don't I—~"
The pained shriek of her human being struck made Ember whine and curl up even closer to the girl's bed. She shook in a mix of fear, grief, and her own pain, one side hurting with her every breath after having been kicked earlier that evening.
"~If you're gonna eat whatever the fuck's in the kitchen like a fucking dog, then go and fucking join it!~"
"~I-I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to!~"
"~SHUT UP!~"
The back door of their house was flung open with a loud bang before Anne was forcibly shoved through it in nothing more than her pajamas. She tripped on the concrete stairs and fell onto the cold, October mud, her whine of pain barely audible above the sound of the door getting slammed shut again.
"~Where the FUCK is that thing...~" a gruff, masculine voice snarled. Ember panicked at hearing it, desire to comfort her friend mixed with the fear of further punishment as she leaped onto Anne's bed and then the window sill, aching at even that slight exertion.
Thankfully, she scrambled out of the room and down the building's exterior the moment before the door to Anne's room was flung open with a kick. A couple of angry grunts left the man before he slammed the door closed. The voices of their tormentors mixed in from inside her house as Ember looked for her friend.
"~WHERE IS IT!?~" the man shrieked.
"~I don't fucking know!~"
"~I FUCKING told you not to use that TONE with me, you BITCH!~"
Ember had learned to tune out the kinds of shouts and screams that followed.
Her small body soon made its way onto the patchy grass of the backyard. She just barely glimpsed Anne making her way inside the crooked shed up against the fence, limping at her every motion. Gusts of icy wind hastened her as she broke into a sprint, desperately wanting her human to feel better, to bring her some reprieve from the constant hell they've spent the last year in.
Anything to make up for her being too afraid of her own fire and of the two big humans to stop it.
Anne squealed in pain as Ember pushed the shed's door open, the sound stabbing the fox's heart. Pushing on, she scrambled in further underneath the plastic tarp Anne was using as a blanket, nuzzling the girl's front.
"~E-Ember, no, you d-don't have to—~" Anne whispered, her words cut off by a drawn-out whine as Ember's unfortunate step aggravated a fresh bruise on her arm. It gave the fox even more fuel for her warmth, pushing her to help even harder, to provide whatever comfort she could. Just like she'd done so many other times in the past, all appreciated more than Ember could ever know.
Anne's resolve to keep going burned bright while her less painful arm held the Fennekin close. She curled up around the fox as she shed bitter tears, feebly trying to maintain a semblance of composure. "~D-did they hurt you a-any more?~"
Even as she was being comforted herself, Anne's hand reached in to stroke Ember's back, her affection as loving as always even if much slower from all the pain. Their suffering grew that bit dimmer as they tried to be each other's reprieve.
"Shhhhh, shhhhh... I-I'm here, I'm here, I love you Anne..." Ember purred. Her whines may not have been understood, but their intent was clear as day all the same. Anne held her friend that much closer as she tried to deepen her breathing, one painful inhale at a time.
"~You d-don't deserve to have to suffer like this E-Ember, I'm sorry...~"
"Shhhhhhh..."
Their shared pain and grief steadily gave way to exhaustion and strained rest as the two held each other close. Anne's worries about hiding all this in time for tomorrow's P.E. class and from Mrs. Graham clouded her mind for a few minutes longer, before they too relented under the Fennekin's outpouring of warm love.
Today was hell, tomorrow would also be hell, but here, now... they had each other, and that was all that mattered.
...to the very end.
*breath*
*breath*
Heavy, strained breathing mixed in with an arrhythmic scraping of limping legs against the cold gravel. They were only occasionally interrupted by a loud rumble of the passing car, their headlights blinding in the darkness shrouding the country road. Each time they did, Ember huddled up closer in Anne's arms, the unsettling surroundings only adding to the physical pain from earlier that day. Even looking up at the girl's usually reassuring face did no good, even when she could make her out in the dark.
Large bruises on the side of her head, left eye almost swollen shut behind the glasses. Dried bloody streaks between her nostrils and mouth, various cuts and scrapes all over. But it wasn't these that made the lil' Fennekin shiver as much as she did—she was sadly much too used to seeing these.
It was Anne's expression.
Not scared, Ember had seen her scared many, many times, and been there to comfort her every time. It was something else, something much more unnerving. Detached. Hopeless.
"You've been walking for so long now... A-Anne, what's going on? Why aren't y-you going back to your room?" Ember ruffed, making her human glance at her and give her a few more pets as she pushed on.
One limping leg played catchup with the other as Anne whispered, voice entirely flat, "~I'm sorry.~"
Ember had no idea what these words meant. She'd heard the sound that underlaid them enough to associate it with Anne being apologetic, making her try to reach her friend even harder. "Are we going somewhere safe now? A-Anne, I'm scared, please... it's so dark and cold and you're looking so unlike yourself, please just go back to your house, Anne..."
Anne paused for a moment, staring ahead with a vacant expression for a few seconds before she shook painfully. Her posture curled up as she held her friend just that bit closer. Stinging tears formed in the corners of her eyes, making her sniffle before pushing on and whispering, "~W-we're almost there now... Just a bit more, and then y-you'll finally be safe, Ember...~"
"A-Anne, you're hurting bad, I'm hurting, why are we out here in the dark like this..." Ember asked.
Her human didn't answer.
Instead, she pushed on through the side of the barely lit road, their destination finally coming into view as they cleared the last corner. The building was unwelcoming, the dirty white walls and cold, bright lights illuminating its front facade giving it an even more intimidating appearance than it would've already had.
Anne came to a stop next to the scary building, not calming Ember down any. The kit bundled in closer as the human looked around, before stumbling towards a trash container in the corner and scanning through its contents. Soon after, she grabbed a slightly damp cardboard box off its top, holding her friend with one hurting arm.
"W-what's that for? What are you doing, Anne?" Ember woofed.
Anne recoiled at the sound as she set the box down. She then stared at it for a few moments, keeping tears at bay before giving her fox one last hug and carefully laying her down inside the box. Ember looked at Anne in alarm as she reached into her school backpack, the leaky pen's ink staining her hand as she wrote 'EMBER' on the side of the box.
If her ball hadn't been left behind at her grandma's place, she would've placed it there, too.
"Anne, I'm scared. Wh-what is this for, I wanna get out," the kit pleaded as she tried climbing out of the slightly too tall box, back into the safety of Anne's arms.
The human could only stare at her, painful regret slowly filling up the once blank expression. "~I-I know it's scary, Ember, but... it has to be done. Nobody will hurt you here. Y-you—you'll finally be safe.~"
Anne lingered for a couple more moments before standing back up and taking a step back. Away from the box, away from the light of the shelter's lamps, making Ember's unrest bloom into a full-blown panic attack.
"Nonononono, I-I'm sorry Anne, I'm sorry, p-please don't leave me here, I-I'll hide better next time, please, PLEASE!"
The human girl winced at the fear in the Fennekin's squeaks, her own tears continuing to flow as she tried to persevere through what had to be done. "~I-I don't want this either Ember, b-but you saw what happened earlier. I-I did everything I could a-and...~" she said, voice catching in her throat as stared down at the fox in regret.
Her injuries on the hands of the derelicts that cornered them in the schoolyard earlier today were less noticeable at a glance, but even worse than hers to a more experienced eye. Her human noticed each little wince, all of them making her heart bleed.
"~I-I couldn't protect you. I... I never could. It's—it's all my fault. You deserve better Ember, you d-deserve to be safe.~"
Ember just continued to panic, trying to bite her way through the sodden cardboard, "P-please, don't leave me here, I-I'll do better, i-it's so scary here, PLEASE!"
Anne crouched again and reached in, trying to calm the fox down one last time as she looked up at her with pleading, terrified eyes. She pleaded, "~Please don't look at me like that. I-I don't want to do this Ember... b-but if there's a chance that you'll finally be safe, and have a family that loves you, a-and have someone who can actually p-protect you...~" the girl wept as she stroked Ember's head, trying to hold her plan together at the very end.
"~I-I love you Ember. I'm sorry. F-for everything.~"
"P-please pick me back up, Anne..." Ember whined.
The human didn't respond, petting her light of hope as she composed herself one last time. "~O-one day. One day things will be better, a-and I'll find you again, Ember, and... and then we'll be safe. I-I promise. I promise I'll find you again one day, I-I'll never forget you—~"
The sudden creak of the shelter's front door opening startled them both.
Anne froze at the noise and the words that followed, before leaping up to her feet and running away into the darkness. Ember screeched in despair at being abandoned, the paralyzing fear that gripped her persisting long after she was picked out of the box and laid down on her cot,
Safe, at last.
And then; Ember remembered everything.
Just a few seconds later, she blacked out at the overstimulation, together with all the others. Blossom was left chirping in panic at suddenly seeing four people faint all at once.
"Help!"
Ember hurt so much.
Her body ached after her sudden collapse, her mind screamed at being subjected to a lifetime of sensation in a span of moments. But her soul fought against that pain, now that she knew exactly who the human in the room was.
"Ember sweetie, what are you doing here? Come," Esther pleaded.
Ember ignored the Blissey's comment as she lifted herself from the cold, carpeted floor, through a reverberating migraine, and onto her feet. Neither Marco nor Autumn even registered to her mind as they laid unconscious. There was exactly one being she cared about at that moment. One that she'd been missing, knowingly or not, for the past year and change. One that had been her constant, enduring hope all her life.
And now, Anne was here, with them, safe...
The healers could only stare in shock as Ember shambled towards the bed, almost losing balance a few times. Each step made her whimper in pain as she sobbed at it all.
At what she and Anne had been through.
At her having somehow forgotten her human.
At Anne being so badly hurt.
At her almost having almost missed her only chance to be together with her again.
In that moment, though, none of that mattered. None of that could matter, could even come close to the importance of the human on the clinic bed.
With slow, painful motions, Ember climbed onto it before laying down on the only right place in the world for her to be. Beside Anne, beside her human, beside someone she loved so wholly and utterly. Her shaking arms wrapped around Anne's front as she nuzzled in, sobbed woofs repeating one more time, "I-I'm here Anne, I'm here, I-I love you..."
And then; she held her human that much tighter at the realization that followed,
Yep, Cinder is responsible for Ember's amnesia. Her reasoning will be revealed later, but suffice to say that it's not a result of her being cartoonishly evil or anything, even if she was a major asshole in this chapter.
After Ember ended up in the village, she was too distraught by knowing that Anne is still out there and suffering to be truly happy, and kept begging Cinder / the elders to let her stay too. Which, of course, wasn't an option, but Ember wouldn't listen. Eventually, Cinder resorted to wiping the memories of Anne from Ember's mind just to let her be happy, which backfired since without Anne, the only thing that Ember remembered for as far back as her memory reached was trauma and abuse, which messed her up big time.
I can't point to a favorite moment, because the flow of the story has been so universally good. Granted, I read the story to present in one sitting, but even with that in mind...
From the cold open, I never got the feeling that a section or a theme was dragging on. All of the characters felt like people: flawed, beautiful beings that were doing their best to cope with a stressful, unusual situation. None of their interactions felt like they were forced for the sake of the story; they were all understandable in their motivations and their efforts, both successful and otherwise.
I think the thing I have the least to say about is the most important point about my experience with the story so far:
I can't think of a single thing I'd change.
Also, regarding the spoiler:
I had guessed the how of the memory tampering from Cinder's and Ember's behaviors previously. The why takes on an additional somberness when Ember's panicked desperation to save Anne becomes known.
In an instant, the empty, snow-covered path leading into the Lillywood forest suddenly got much busier. Aria almost collapsed after her long-range Teleport, spending the next minute or so just catching her breath. Lumi only needed a moment to grab his bearings before standing guard for his coworker.
Thankfully, the nearby pillar of smoke still held a firm grasp of the attention of any humans around.
Once Aria had recovered enough to walk again, she couldn't resist investigating the sight either. Her mind complained in exhaustion as she disguised herself once more, this time just to check what happened to Anne's former house from up close.
The once-imposing, multi-story building was little more than a heap of charred rubble. Everything but bricks had been reduced to ash and misshapen metal, with enough burning violence to damage the walls of the nearby homes. She had no way of knowing if this destruction was truly her fault—an unknown she'd end up taking to her grave. Gleaming that nobody but the former homeowner had died in the inferno soothed her conscience a bit, but it could only do much—many still got hurt, after all.
Ultimately, it didn't matter.
With a sendoff comprising a few more malicious thoughts towards the monster of a human that had brought it upon himself, and silent prayers aimed at the innocents hurt while tending to the inferno, they could get going.
"^It's all rubble now. Thankfully, nobody else died in that explosion, though a few got hurt,^" she admitted.
"Good riddance, eh?" Lumi snarked.
"^...yeah. Good riddance.^"
Right as Aria dispelled her disguise and was about to finally head home, she felt a tiny mental presence behind her. She flinched as she glanced over her shoulder, hoping that she wouldn't end up having to daze a human for real today. Instead, she only saw a small Magnemite hanging down from these cables that spanned the whole settlement, unknown in their purpose.
Staring right at them.
"^Let's go.^"
Even if the bags Olive left them with didn't weigh that much, Aria appreciated any relief after the strain of the day. Lumi gladly took one bag in his maw before racing ahead—though at the price of having to be explained what in the world did he walk in on earlier.
As unenthused as the Gardevoir was about having to spell it out for the hound, the idea was bearable when framed as keeping the other scouts on the same page. With any luck, they'd find a few of them along the way to spread the news to—the sun was setting, after all, time for a shift change.
With each step closer to her home, Aria's plan for the rest of the day grew much more defined. Drop the bag off at the clinic, catch others up to date about Anne's situation, plan a meeting tomorrow to discuss their next step, race riiiiight back home, and spend the next week catching up on her rest after the bedlam of today.
Or, at least, that's what she wished she could do. Even if they were sure that Anne posed no threat and that nobody would come looking for her anytime soon, her future was still undecided. Hopefully, Olive could help them return the girl to humanity somehow in the long term—
…
Before the Gardevoir could continue weaving her plans, the stray, overheard thoughts snapped her right out of that train of thought. Worries about the human were expected by now, but thinking about her and Ember in one breath was something that only Autumn or the scouts should be doing. Someone had spilled it to Holly or Sol, didn't they?
At least, that's what she hoped. Deep inside, Aria felt a building awareness that this wasn't quite it, hastening her steps as she approached the clinic. Dread built into her by the moment, especially with all the noise and attention and—
Marco!?
The Gardevoir didn't wait an instant longer at sensing her brother's injuries. She Teleported the remaining distance over, spontaneously appearing beside his bed and startling the nearby healers. She felt even woozier afterwards, but it didn't matter. Marco was hurt, and so was Autumn, the two resting on adjacent beds she had suddenly found herself in between.
"^Marco, what hap—^", Aria tried to ask, the answer reaching her mental senses before she even finished forming her question. Anne's and Ember's auras laid still, meshed together on the other side of the nearby wall. Warm, loving, unconscious.
"Uuughhhh... yeah," Marco grunted. His pained voice made his sister try banishing some of his strain with a Calm Mind—only for the Gallade to shake his head at sensing her attempt, "D-don't, I've never felt this sore in the brain. There was just so much all at once..." he muttered, scrunching his expression at his aggravated headache.
Before Aria could ask for an elaboration, she was shoved aside by the healers to get better access to her brother. She backed up a couple of paces and took a seat on the empty part of Autumn's bed. The Indeedee explained instead as her son-in-law drank his medicine, "Seems our Ember was indeed Anne's Ember, and they really loved each other as much as her words had us think. But… Ember had any memory of Anne erased from her mind at some point, and helping her remember was so intense that it wiped all of us, hah."
"I'm still seeing some of their memories when I close my eyes... gods, it's such a weird sensation," Marco added after finishing the bitter drink with a gulp and a dry heave. He pushed through his aching and sat up, involuntarily leaning forward.
The explanation only raised more questions, all of them the kind Aria didn't like one bit. One of them stood out in particular; she narrowed her eyes as she asked, "^Erased?^"
Both Marco and Autumn firmly nodded, well aware that their response would prompt a question about the perpetrator. The Gallade didn't have a certain answer, but his admission of what happened was almost that. "Yep. I don't know who did it, but… considering how Cinder reacted to me even bringing the girl up when talking to Ember, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some meddling involved on her end."
A closer look at Marco's front wordlessly explained what he meant by 'reacted'. Aria's anger spiked at her brother having been treated that way, leading Autumn to scramble over and pat her shoulder; dissolving any emotions before they grew even more intense. Cinder would answer for what she'd done. The Gardevoir was of half a mind to walk over and interrogate the vixen there and then—at least, before her sore muscles reminded her of their existence.
"Don't know if I would trust her at all right now. The way she talked about all this, you'd think she was just about ready to come in and incinerate Anne with her own paws," her brother continued.
Scratch that; maybe her muscles could wait—
Before Aria could storm out to interrogate a proficient fighter on a subject that they were both emotional about, a familiar presence entering the tent perked her up. "^Sprout?^"
The Decidueye was no less baffled at the bustle than the Gardevoir herself was minutes earlier. She wasted no time walking over as she tried to piece the situation together herself, arriving at nothing more than vague concern. And then, very concrete concern at seeing the state of the family she'd been long-time friends with. "Aria, Marco, what's all this, what's up with the girl?"
"^She and Ember, well...^" Aria started, having a hard time putting words to her mental image of the situation. Without thinking twice, Sprout decided to see for herself, walking over to the entrance of Anne's room and peering in. Her gasp convinced the Gardevoir to do the same soon after.
Ember's head rested on Anne's chest; her body language curled up and small as it kept the bulk of her weight off of her friend's torso. Her arms were wrapped around the human as Anne's one good arm held the vixen in return. Their mental strain was clear, but at least they weren't burdened with the pesky consciousness that would badger them with pain.
"A-are they friends?" Sprout asked in surprise.
"Yeeeeep. They grew up together, and from what I picked out from the flood, were really protective of one another," Marco clarified. As heartwarming as the sight was, it only raised more questions—sure, Anne was innocent, but what would happen with her and Ember now?
Or at least it did for Aria; Sprout seeming to have them all already figured out, "Oh goodness... well, time to look around for a home for her in here, hah!"
Sprout's cooed exclamation had both psychic siblings think through that idea. Aria couldn't deny that the idea of Anne staying here for a while wasn't as outlandish as it had been earlier in the day. At the same time, 'a while' wasn't the same thing as forever, and something told her that Ember would be opposed to anything less.
"Won't this room suffice until she can get a move on?" Lumi asked, his not-as-gruff-as-usual voice catching his coworkers' attention as he stepped out of the side chamber. Aria spotted the bag he'd been given; put away in the small space. His expression perked up as he noticed her arrival, speaking up, "Ah, here you are. Figured that you wouldn't know what happened here, either."
Sprout had to use her entire willpower to not blow up at the Luxray at the idea of rushing the girl out of here. Aria was glad to make that task easier for her, by offering her an even-worse subject to be angry about, "^No, Marco figured it out while we were gone. Though, considering that the only reason we didn't know about this earlier was because someone erased Anne from Ember's memory, we still have much to discuss.^"
The Decidueye's glare narrowed at hearing that, the implication not exactly difficult to see. Aria's hand on her shoulder was the only thing that kept her from flying out right now and threatening to turn the fox into a pin cushion if she didn't explain herself.
"Wait—you mean Cinder?" Lumi asked.
"^We can't know for certain Lumi, but it sounds like it, yes.^"
"Let me handle this and I'll have it figured out in no time…" the Decidueye muttered.
"^Sprout, please, I don't want you to get hurt over this. Just a question had her blow up at Marco earlier today,^" Aria pleaded. Her words had thankfully managed to chill Sprout's enthusiasm—not even her zeal at the little ones being mistreated was enough to push her towards risking her own life on this. It did make her much angrier, though, making her walk out of Anne's room to express her anger in a much louder way without waking the sleeping kids up.
"I can only imagine what she'd do if she saw this, then. Perhaps we ought to keep an eye on her for now, just in case?" the Luxray asked. As valid as the concern was, Aria did a double take at it coming from him all people. She blinked at him in utmost confusion as he flatly stared back at her, growing increasingly baffled at the Gardevoir's astonishment. "What?"
"^No, nothing, just... yeah, that's a good call. Sprout—^"
"On it."
Without waiting for any elaboration, the Decidueye bolted out of the healers' tent. As everyone else hoped she'd be alright, Autumn broke through the tension and spoke up, taking advantage of the pause of the scout chat to put voice to her curiosity, "So~, what's all this stuff that you brought with yourself, Aria?"
Both the Indeedee and the Gallade were eyeing the very human bag. Its material was as colorful and shiny as its contents were obscured by a large layer of dark, fur-like clothing. It left a lot to the imagination, including how their sister and daughter got her hands on any of it to begin with.
"^These are things for Anne. The human that was looking for her turned out to be someone who knew and cared for her a lot, even if she couldn't give her a home herself. She let us know what items to take for her, especially the weirder human ones for human needs. Clothes, something they call 'books' with a ton of writing, art supplied, and something for hygiene, though she didn't elaborate on what it was,^" Aria explained.
Autumn wasn't sure which part of that answer to ask about first—the human that helped them out, or the nature of the items in this funky bag. Before she could speak up, Marco cut her off, addressing the obvious concern, "Don't worry mom, Aria wiped all this from her memory."
"^Y-yeah.^"
The tiny bit of hesitation in Aria's affirmation wasn't lost on either Marco or Lumi. Before they could prod that subject, though, Autumn followed up with her actual question, "That's not what I'm curious about. What do you mean that human couldn't give Anne a home? Did she not have the space, or…?"
"Oh space she had plenty."
"^It's not about space mom, it's... it's their laws from what I understood. They prevented her from that because Anne still had a living family, even if a terrible one.^"
"Oh, you don't know the half of it, the things we've seen... B-but, what do you mean, Anne was being borderline tortured in there! They can't be saying that the hell she'd been through is preferable to her living with a friend!" Autumn pleaded.
"^I think that's exactly what they're saying, mom.^"
The Indeedee didn't respond, too busy switching gears to calm herself down at the harrowing revelation. The human world had just grown even more disgusting, and her resolve to help Anne out even more unbreakable. No matter how unthinkable the things she'd need to do to ensure her safety were for the rest of the village.
"If that's the case, then I'm not letting her step back into that terrible world ever again," Autumn asserted. Lumi rolled his eyes at her steadfastness, not expecting it to last.
Before he could put a snarky voice to that attitude, though, a chirped out cry from the clinic's entrance caught their attention instead, "Cinder's not in the village." Sprout's previous boldness had mellowed out to nervous uncertainty, even if accompanied by the same cross expression from earlier.
"^What do you mean?^" Aria asked.
"She ran out of her den into the woods earlier. I didn't follow her, but can circle back and—"
"^No, I don't think that's necessary.^"
As angry as Aria had been and still was at Cinder, hearing about her having run elicited the tiniest flicker of sympathy in her in response. Even if it was immediately dwarfed by the anger at the knowledge of what she'd almost certainly done to Ember.
The real question was, what would she do now that her jig was up? The minds of everyone gathered ventured in vastly different directions. Anything from attempting to take out her wrath on the human girl, to… trying to permanently escape accountability for what she had done.
"Someone's gotta keep watch on her, then," Marco suggested. His idea wasn't disagreeable in the slightest, but the details were when it got very difficult.
"^She's strong enough to pick up on someone following her. If she senses someone, she'll likely feel cornered and lash out at them,^" Aria argued. Her counterpoint preemptively chilled Sprout's enthusiasm, but she wasn't the only one who could be entrusted with that task.
"Even a dark type?"
"^No, Lumi. You know as well as I do that Rose and stealth don't mix whatsoever, and I wouldn't feel safe for Ruby in case she slipped up and let herself be spotted.^"
"I could watch over Anne, then," Sprout suggested.
"^Are you sure, Sprout?^"
"Why not, eh? Worried about me holding my own against Cinder if she showed up?"
"If it got to throwing moves, I've no doubt you'd win, dear. But if it ever gets to that point, then that's already too late, isn't it?" Autumn explained, her concern giving the proud owl a pause. She had no choice but to agree with it, sighing as she grumbled into her down. Combat was one thing, but while she had evolved into being a ghost, her talents for misdirection paled in comparison with the rest of that type.
"You're right, ugh. Hmm... guess that leaves Cypress, don't it?" the owl asked, defeated.
"^Mhm. Sprout, if you could—^"
"On it."
As the Decidueye stepped out into the steadily growing night, the dim, orange light of the sunset's dying breath briefly lit up the entrance to Anne's room. The healers counteracted the dark soon after with a couple candles and a dim Will-o'-Wisp, but everyone's bedtime was coming—and it was coming fast.
"I suppose any further discussion can wait until the morning, now that we have someone to look after them?" Lumi suggested. Both psychic siblings agreed to his point with a nod, a quiet wince leaving Marco as he moved his head.
"^Yeah. See you in the morning Lumi, I'm gonna wait for Cy to get here and relay what we know so far to her.^"
"Sounds good. See you all in the morning, then. I'll pass on the news if I find anyone along the way—imagine everyone will want to chime in on this."
With another scout's departure, the tent grew increasingly quiet as most of the patients settled in for bedtime—a group that notably didn't include Marco. Instead, the Gallade tried to pick himself up, only for Maple to come right over and swat the idea out of his head. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked, taking him off-guard.
"Home? Got my duties tom—"
"Oh, no no no, I do not think so. You're not going anywhere like this, Marco. You can barely stand up, and we need to swap the dressings on your burns, anyway," the Leavanny asserted.
"Come on, Maple—"
"No, you come on Marco. You're in no state for anything but resting right now, and for a few days at that. Besides, you helped Ember out from what I've heard. You've earned a break."
"^She's right, you know,^" Aria chided, her words making her brother grumble and sit back down. He was still opposed to the idea of taking a break, growing increasingly annoyed at Aria's quip. She didn't know why that was, but she wanted to do something about it all the same, walking over to his bed before sitting down beside him. She passed him a smile he couldn't see, but which he could sense all the same. "^What's wrong, Marco?^"
Her discreet words had no immediate impact. At least, none beyond making the feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment peek out of the cracks in his well-composed mental facade, weakened by his pain and strain. Aria might not have gotten an immediate answer, but she knew what she had to do all the same. One arm carefully wrapped around her brother, avoiding the burned spots, before pulling him closer. The Gallade didn't resist, or even react beyond a small grimace creeping onto his face.
"I-I should be out and helping, a-and not licking my wounds..." he mumbled, barely audible.
His sister still noticed; her embrace only grew tighter. "^But you've already helped a ton today! I can only imagine how grateful both Ember and Anne will be towards you once they wake up.^"
Aria's point plunged Marco into a longer silence as he leaned forward. After staring at the floor for a while, he finally got to the crux of the issue, "You've been helping e-even more, and you don't have t-to rest..."
The Gardevoir was taken aback, unsure how to interpret his words before feeling another pang of inadequacy resonate through her brother. She held him even tighter at that, pressing her head into his.
"^I wasn't on the receiving end of a Fire-type's outburst, and didn't have to sift through enough memories to leave me incapacitated. It's not a competition, Marco, my contributions don't diminish yours. And, besides, I think that between the two of us, Ember in particular will be much, much more thankful towards you~.^"
As much sense as his sister's words made, they still felt like excuses in his favor, deep down. He had a hard time shaking that unpleasant sensation off, curling up more while his sister patiently held him.
"^I mean it, Marco,^" Aria reassured.
"I-I know, it's just..."
Thankfully, Aria had a good guess on what exactly 'it' was here. Their breaths synchronized as she held him, the mental words that followed beaming with reassurance, "^You've changed several people's lives for the better today Marco, you deserve all the rest in the world after something like that. We'll keep this place safe while you recover. You just gather your bearings and accept your positive impact on the world.^" The affirmation chipped away at the Gallade's composure, but it took until the admission that followed to fully break it down, "^I'm so proud of you, Marco.^"
The knight reached up to embrace his sister as tears welled in the corner of his eyes. And then, once Autumn had joined in on their affection, comforting him from the other side, the dam finally burst, wetting his cheeks. "I'm p-proud of you, too..."
As he processed his emotions, Aria began to pet her brother next to his crest. The gentle expression of affection might've grown much less common as they grew up and evolved, but it was just as effective as back when he was a lil' Ralts being comforted by his big sister. His hug grew that much tighter as he calmed down, his self-worth and today's accomplishment finding increasingly fertile mental ground on which they could settle on and take root. It was liberating; it was exhausting, making the offer of rest feel more justified by the moment.
"^Love you,^" Aria whispered.
"L-love you too. Sorry for—"
"^Anytime, Marco. This is what big sisters are for, isn't it~?^" she chuckled.
"Heheh, y-yeah..." Marco admitted.
"^Gonna be calling it a day?^"
"I-I think so, yeah. Thank you."
"^You're welcome, bro. Sleep well.^"
With a couple more pats on the back, the siblings detached themselves from each other. Autumn likewise scrambled off the bed to let her son lay down; Aria's telekinesis pulled the covers over him before he could even reach over. As much as he grumbled at that, and at the pets that followed, he appreciated them more than his sister could ever know.
With the tent's main chamber falling into slumber, ever-busy healers aside, Aria saw fit to spend the rest of the downtime in Anne's temporary room. Once she'd moved the bag of human stuff over, Autumn followed along with her. The sparse moonlight aside, the room was completely dark. It was only barely enough to make out the two sleeping girls, but it was all Aria needed. A smile crept to her face as she walked over to their bed, ruffling their heads in their sleep as she applied a bit of Calm Mind to hopefully prevent them from waking up in too much pain.
"What do you think is gonna happen to her, Aria?" Autumn asked, hushed words putting the Gardevoir in a pensive mood. It was a question she wished she had anywhere near a confident answer to.
"^I was already thinking we could bring up everything we know up to the Elders tomorrow, together with what Cinder did, and... decide on what will happen to her.^"
"By one of your fancy votes, eh?"
"^Mhm. I... I imagine most scouts would be supportive of her staying here for as long as is necessary once we explain everything. What I'm more concerned about is how many of the Elders we'll sway,^" Aria shuddered.
"Can't you just outvote them?"
"^Yes, we can, but with just thirteen votes, having three of them vote against Anne, no matter what we say, doesn't leave a lot of room for error. Hell, you can add in Lumi and make that four for all intents and purposes.^"
That indeed was a much scarier thing to consider. Autumn walked up to her daughter as she chewed through the dilemma, almost bumping into Aria's leg in the dark. "Ana has always felt reasonable enough in that regard. Winnie... yeah, unlikely. Celia..." the Indeedee trailed off as she considered the final Elder, ever difficult to predict.
The Primarina was by far the most exotic member of the trio, with nobody else in the village having ever seen or even heard of her kin. It was rare to see her just making her way around, rarer still to hear her silken voice. The few times she spoke, though, she tended to be the kindest Elder. She was also the most experienced with some of the worst of humanity. The missing fins, fingers, and the many scars adorning her body after having been forced to perform to humans' amusement was testament to that fact enough.
Aria considered her chances, dismissing Winnie and Celia entirely and focusing entirely on Ana. The possibility of maybe swaying one vote wasn't particularly reassuring, but it sure beat having that one vote aimed in the opposite direction. Now, to come up with something to convince that Torkoal with—
"And all that would accomplish would be letting her stay here, kept at arm's length from the rest of the village, wouldn't it?" Autumn cut in, distraught. Aria nodded with a sigh. With how uncertain even that felt like, a better fate for the girl might as well have been a pipe dream.
One that Autumn was willing to fight for.
"That's—no, I'm not settling on that. I don't agree to making her out to be some sort of nuisance we'll benevolently put up with, not a child!" she shouted.
"^Mom!^"
A pang of guilt shot through her as the sleeping girls shuddered in their shared rest. They calmed down soon after, letting her breath a sigh of relief, "I'm sorry, it's just—"
"^Shhh, it's alright mom.^"
Autumn gave her daughter a look before chuckling at her own weapon being used against her, relenting soon after. She continued, "I don't want her to be tolerated; I want her to be accepted. I doubt Ember will appreciate her friend being treated like an ongoing issue that will eventually leave her again, either."
The very idea had the Indeedee have to hold back a few tears, the mental gash at having witnessed Anne and Ember part ways from both perspectives simultaneously still very raw. The mere thought of forcing them to relive it made her want to throw hands, physical and psychic alike.
"^I—I want that too, but I've no idea how we'd go about that. People are gonna have questions. Where would she even stay,^" Aria tried to ask.
"With us!" Autumn snapped back. She kept her raised voice firmly in the whisper range this time, stunning Aria as effectively as with her earlier, louder comment.
"^What—^"
"At our burrow. With us. In our house. However you want to say it. We've got plenty space even in the kids' room, things are sized right for her, we can talk with her even while she's still learning the language," the Indeedee explained. On a logistical level, her suggestion made all the sense in the world—there wasn't another dwelling in the entire village better suited for a human than theirs.
But it still left so many issues.
"^What if the kids object to that? Or Garret, or Riddick, once he snaps out of his hibernation. What if it won't be right for her in the end—^" Aria argued.
"That's what asking is for! Besides, knowing that it's either this or her being forced to return to the human world will help sway them as well."
"^That just feels like manipulation.^"
"But it's true, isn't it?" Autumn asserted.
"^What about everyone else being opposed to her staying?^"
"I'm sure opposed to Cinder ever setting another paw in here again and you won't catch me protesting her right to safety. Not out loud, at least."
As much as the addendum made Aria chuckle, she remained unconvinced. Autumn stroked her chin as she tried to come up with something more persuasive—and it was the concept of persuasion that sparked her next idea. The chuckle in the dark made Aria worry about what idea had hit her mom this time—
But before either she or the shorter psychic could speak up, they felt a particular chill in the air. It made them look over the entrance to the side room as Autumn whispered, "Cypress?"
Right as they were about to look at the window, both women felt a cold tentacle being placed on their shoulder, shivering as the aforementioned ghost spoke up, "Present..."
The Mismagius' drawn out, whispering voice may not have brought any curses with it, but it was still unnerving in the dark. They chuckled, floating in front of the psychics before continuing, "Apologies, I could hardly resist..."
"^I'm aware, don't worry. Thank you for being here Cy.^"
"Oh, it's no problem. With how incensed Sprout was, I gathered it was something important. And... I think I'm feeling more 'Mr. Cypress' today, if that's alright..."
"^Of course, Cypress. And yes, it is important. We wanted to ask you to watch over them tonight,^" Aria asked.
With how quirky the Mismagius was, seeing him be genuinely surprised was rare—and that was on top of just how uncommon it was to see him in general. His duty of stirring up chaos on the other end of the woods to distract human attention away from their village was an important one. It also resulted in him spending entire days at a time away from home. It made the dumbfounded look at his face even more precious as he took in the two souls holding together on the bed, "Oh... I am hardly certain which of these two I ought to be more surprised at..."
"^Right, you've been away for the past few days. The human's name is Anne. Sprout found her gravely injured on the outskirts of the village, and we helped patch her up. And, as we later realized, it turns out that her and Ember have been long-time friends, but Ember couldn't remember because someone erased the memories of Anne,^" Aria explained.
The ghost didn't react to the rundown in any overt way. Instead, he leaned in closer to the sleeping duo as the wispy extensions on the front of his body glided over the girls' shoulders with a gentle, chilly touch. Their intertwined fates were clear to sense. "Remarkable... I assume that someone is Cinder, then...?"
"^That's what we're suspecting, yes. She ran away from the village earlier today. We want you to keep watch for her in case she tries to hurt Anne overnight, and to incapacitate her if she shows up.^"
Cypress finally acknowledged Aria's words with a slow nod and a quiet mumble. His yellow eyes closed as he whispered protective incantations. Both psychics felt the air in the room shift at his Lucky Chant, but not in a way either of them could narrow down. "It'd be my pleasure..."
"Thank you, Cypress. I still hope there's some grave misunderstanding underlying Ember's memories being erased, but Cinder running away makes it harder and harder to believe that..."
"You're welcome dear Autumn. I... do feel compelled to ask about what shall happen to our dear Anne here..."
"^It's... up in the air, we'll see tomorrow. Though... you do tend to mess with human kids her age sometimes, right?^"
"I merely appear where I'm being looked for~. But, correct, I've run into many kids her age. Tricky for striking the right balance between not being scary at all and being too terrifying..."
"^In the event she'd end up staying here for good... do you think she could pose any risk to anyone?^" Aria asked, ninety-nine percent sure of the answer. With how difficult of a case they'd have to make for Anne, though, any further bit of reassurance was invaluable.
"She's no trainer, so no. Frankly, I would be more worried the other way around..." Cypress mumbled. The phrasing had both women look up at him with concern, making him elaborate soon after, "The price of teaching everyone that humans are all scary monsters, and that we hide from them because of the monstrosity, is that some may start to believe that. Especially the little ones…"
The mental imagery of someone attempting to 'protect' themselves from Anne sent a freezing shiver down Aria's spine. It made her walk over to the bed and stroke the human's hair out of a protective impulse.
"Not something we can't fight against, thankfully," Autumn reassured.
"^How so?^" Aria asked, her concern palpable for her mother-in-law, emboldening the Indeedee further.
"We can start sowing the seeds of the idea of her staying and work away at any doubts that arise. I can bring it up with the kids tomorrow and try to work through any issues they might have. Frankly, we'd just need more voices to contribute..."
"Pragmatic. I like it..."
Out of everyone in the village that could contribute to something like that, there was one voice in particular that had both the volume and the reach to be of help here—and it was one both psychics thought of at the same time, "^Holly!^"
"I'll speak to her tomorrow. I hope she'll be receptive."
"^Oh you have no idea, mom. Who else...^" Aria wondered.
"Jovan feels like the type to love a heartwarming story to share..."
"^Like sister, like brother, heh. Yeah, him too.^"
"I'll bring it up when leaving Bell under his care. Anyone else?" Autumn asked. No more candidates immediately came to mind for anyone present. Perfectly understandable considering the hour of the day; the fact underlined by the Gardevoir's held-in yawn.
"That seems like a plan enough for the time being—and you seem like you need rest, dear Aria..."
"^Y-yeah, it's just...^"
As much as their plan was coming together, the Gardevoir had a hard time shaking off the worry at the possibility that nothing would work out and that Anne would end up tossed out into the snow to die. At that point, even the cruel act of wiping Ember's memories of her friend once more felt reasonable, even if just to spare her the pain. It still disgusted her to even think about, though.
And to think she had threatened someone with it mere hours earlier…
"Have you spoken with the girl already...?" the ghost asked.
"^Yes, we talked earlier. I tried to fool her into thinking this place was a human hospital, but it didn't last. Eventually, I told her the truth, and thankfully she trusted me even despite having lied to her earlier.^"
"Then extend that grace to yourself...~"
That much she could do. Deep breaths worked away at the built-up anxiety inside her as she acknowledged the Mismagius's words with a light bow, "^I will. Thank you, Cypress. Have a good night.^"
"Anytime... Oh, it would appear that your husband is approaching..."
The remark broke through both Aria's and Autumn's somber moods, replacing them with confusion at what Garret was doing here. They gave the sleeping girls one last glance before leaving the healers' tent right as the Grimmsnarl turned the corner. If not for his fangs glistening in the moonlight, he would've been almost invisible at night.
"Honey?" he called out, squinting into the night.
"Yes, yes sweetie, we're here!" Aria responded, switching to her physical voice. With how excruciatingly long the day had been, she longed for little more than finally getting some rest. And while this might not have been that, unless she were to sentence her husband to having to carry her back home, just holding him was enough to melt through much of the tension pent inside her—and inside him, too.
"We've all been so confused about what was going on with you all, got a bit worried... wait, where's Marco?" the Grimmsnarl asked, concerned.
"He's... in the healers' tent. He got roughed up today, and they're keeping him overnight just in case."
The Grimmsnarl's fanged grimace shifted just enough for his wife and mom to notice the concern it now conveyed. Aria answered his unspoken question as they all turned to head home, "We've... learned a lot about Anne today. Cinder wasn't happy about Marco asking Ember about a potential connection between her and Anne. And then, it turned out she'd most likely erased Ember's memories of Anne."
"I-is he gonna be alright?" he asked.
"Thankfully, yes. It's just some surface burns, and the healers took good care of him," his wife answered.
That much was reassuring, at least. Garret held his wife close as they walked on, the worry about everything going on lately filling his mind. "Thank goodness. A-and what did you say about Ember and the human?"
"They used to be close friends, sweetie, and grew up together. Their... human family was absolutely wretched. Anne parted ways with Ember to keep her safe, and then ended up running away for her life, which then led to her crash and us finding her."
"That's... oh the deities…" he muttered, the idea of a family vile enough for a child to run away for their life making him feel deeply ill. He knew it was exactly that kind of family that he had hatched in before being rescued and eventually raised by Autumn, but… it was so much worse to hear it having happened to someone else.
It also made him want to hug his mom—which was what he then did. Autumn squeaked as she was suddenly lifted off the ground and into his arm, but her surprise gave way to affection soon after.
"The rest of the human world doesn't seem to be any better for her in that regard. Her staying here for good would be for the best," Aria continued.
"And I had the idea that our burrow would work well for that~," Autumn added, making her son pause mid-step. The idea evoked so many mixed feelings inside him it felt impossible to even start untangling them all. To help a child, to pass the torch like that—it was euphoric to think about. But, at the same time, "Are you sure, mom? I—I don't want her to live somewhere where she'd b-be scared again..."
Without their respective psychics, Aria's and Autumn's hugs were far from impressive in strength. They more than made up for that in how heartfelt they were, though; both women were more than happy to reassure the most important man in their lives. "You look mean at a glance, sweetie, but brush aside the top coat and you're all honey. Her parents... looked reprehensible and acted so, so much worse. I've seen some of her memories, a-and they still make me ill to think about..." Autumn explained, getting the group moving again.
Garret nodded through his mom's words, holding her tight as he got a grip on his breathing. Doubts and worries kept swelling inside his skull, but his wife was there for him. "That's not something we're deciding on here and now. Just... once it comes to that, once I have to stand up and plead Anne's case in front of the Elders, I want to know that I'd be able to bring our burrow up as a place where she could stay and be safe. And that I don't doubt one bit."
The explanation made sense, though even just acknowledging that felt like agreeing to a massive commitment. He kept airing his worries as they got closer to their home, "Do you think we're ready for another soul to be taking care of?"
"'Ready' in the sense of being prepared enough to start trying for another child? Probably not~. Ready in the sense of being able to provide a lost, traumatized soul with the safety she'd been lacking for so long, even if it includes some growing pains? Absolutely."
It was an important distinction to make, sending a wave of fluster through Garret's face. He only barely kept himself from lifting his wife off the ground with the hug that followed. "W-Well, you've interacted with her much more th-than I have so far. You probably know better, sweetie."
"I hope that one day you'll feel as confident in your ability to be the best dad she could ever wish for as I am~," Aria smiled. As flustering as the previous remark was, this one was incomparably more effective. Before the Gardevoir knew it, she was swept off her feet and held tight, returning the embrace as they walked into the view of their burrow's entrance. Decrepit as it looked, the stray rays of light escaping through the holes between the door and its frame betrayed its homeliness.
Alas, both psychics had to be lowered onto their feet so that they'd fit through the front door. As much as Garret wanted to resume holding them tight once they walked in, filling their stomachs with something yummy came first. The scene that awaited inside was an amusing one. The prospect of getting to keep playing even with it being dark outside left the trio of kids acting a bit hyper. They were in the middle of some play tussling, surrounded by their toys as their guardians walked down the stairs.
"Mom, where have you been!? A-and where's Uncle Marco?" Cadence asked, the worrying she'd been masking with play finally showing itself—especially with Marco still absent. Without skipping a beat, she got up to her feet and bounded over to her guardians, needing some comfort of her own.
"We had a long, busy day, sweetie. I'm sorry for being gone for so long. Marco got injured during his duties, and is at the healers' tent," Aria explained, crouching to hug her little ones. The visible worry on both the Ralts's and the Kirlia's faces made her hold them that much tighter as Autumn comforted the flying scorpion just off to the side.
"Uncle Marco is hurt?" the Ralts asked.
"Yes Bell, he is. It's nothing big, thankfully, but he needs a few days to rest it off," his mom explained.
"Can we come and make him feel better?"
After all, smooches were the panacea for any ouchie as far as the tyke was concerned. Surely it would work here, too.
"I don't see why not, I'm sure he'd really appreciate it sweeties~."
Bell squeed at his mom's reassurance, squirming in her arms. Just a few feet away, Cadence felt a wave of cheekiness come over her. She knew she'd get shot down, but maaaaaybe her mom was just about tired enough to offhandedly agree to her idea? She asked, "Oh, oh, oh—could we see Anne if we're already gonna be at the clinic~?"
Aria had to stop herself from reflexively disagreeing. She and Autumn glanced at each other at the Kirlia's question, before a playful, tired smirk crept on their faces. "...you know what~? Deal."
The sudden gasp that left Cadence and Elric was almost loud enough to stir the Gligar's dad from his hibernation. Aria broke into giggles at the group's palpable excitement, with Bell following soon after—even if he still had no idea what the entire big human deal even was.
"Really!?" the Kirlia asked.
"Yep! She may end up staying in our village for a bit longer, and it'd be good for her to make some friends, don't you think?"
As surprised as Cadence was at the unexpected one-eighty turn of her mom's opinion on this, she couldn't deny liking her current logic much, much more than the typical scout scaredyness from yesterday. She squealed, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Will we be able to play with her?" Elric asked, his question much more deserved despite him being no less excited. As he spoke, he scrambled over to hug his current guardian, warm to the touch in the shared glee.
"To an extent. She's still injured, but I think you'll all be able to figure something out~," Aria explained.
While the two older kids were left satisfied, eager at the idea of sating their curiosities first hand, Bell's mind wandered to the question he had earlier today. His small body wriggled with joy at getting to make a friend, but he had no idea what that friend looked like! "What color are humans?"
A tricky question to answer for how simple it was on the surface. Aria paused as her husband poured her and Autumn their portions of the dinner, the rich aroma relaxing her with her every breath. She explained the best she could, "Many colors, really. They're like us with furless skin and hair on top of their head, but I've seen their skin be anything from dark brown to whitish pink, and their hair from black to yellow. Even saw one with pink hair a few months ago, but nobody else like that since, hah."
"Maybe they were a really important human?" the Kirlia asked.
"I doubt it, Cadence; they didn't feel any different to anyone else. How's that for an answer, Bell~?"
The toddler had to think long and hard before the incomprehensible baby train of thought finally arrived at the Happy Feelings plaza, making him squeak as he held his mom closer, "Okay! I wanna meet Anne!"
"And you will, tomorrow. And now, all three of you are up way past your bedtimes~."
The shared groan that left the tykes at her comment was music to Aria's ears. With a bit of help from her psychics, she picked up the entire trio and carried them over to their room. Their excitement gave way to sleepiness as they were tucked into their shared bedding, and then—rest. For once, Aria wasn't be far behind in that regard.
As overwhelming as tomorrow felt to think about, Anne believed in her. And, as she chewed through the lukewarm dinner, she was happy to earnestly share that belief. They'd figure something out.
Even if the Elders were about as likely to accept Anne with open arms as a Fire-type was to embrace a tidal wave, not even they could resist a good sob story. Far from the soundest argument in the world, but it was likely to sway at least one vote—and one vote was all it might take to seal the girl's safety.
Half an hour later, when she was well on her way to dozing off, one thought in particular kept Aria warm and calm as she played the role of the big spoon. Her mind grew quieter with each passing moment, the mantra bringing peace to her and Anne alike,
She would deliver on her promise to Anne, no matter what.
Anne hyperventilated as she watched her room's door shake inside its weathered frame.
Her father's every bang threatened to finally make the old, moldy wood give in and leave nothing between herself and the result of whichever minor slight it was that had upset him this time. Each time, she backed further into the corner, to little effect beyond draining the heat out of her body even faster.
"~Once I get in there, I'm gonna fucking KILL that RAT of yours, OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!~"
Immense as her fear about her own safety was, though, worries about Ember were even brighter. The teeny Fennekin bundled in against her front, seeking refuge from the hell that awaited her outside of her human's embrace.
Anne tried to think of something, anything she could do. She could've sworn there should've been a window nearby, but there wasn't, there never was. They were cornered, and only had to live as long as it took the drunkard meters away to break down the final barrier before him.
"~OPEN!~"
A large crack sprouted from the top of the door, almost cleaving it in half. Anne shrieked in horror as she held Ember even tighter, keeping her from looking at the unfolding terror. The only comfort she could provide the lil' fox in their last moments.
"~THE!~"
The second strike broke away enough of the rotten wood to let Anne get a peek of the furious, bloodshot eyes on the other side of the doorway, and the bared, rotting teeth underneath them. All she could do in the face of that horror was close her eyes and curl up even tighter, bracing for whatever was to follow.
"~FUCKING!~"
"I don't think you need to see any more of this..."
"~DOOR!~"
The whispered voice made Anne look up just in time for the final strike to break the door apart—followed by reality itself.
Everything dissolved into colorful, sparkling glitter before fading away into darkness, leaving her staring at nothing as her dream-numbed brain tried to process it all. In an instant, it was only her, Ember, and… someone else left.
As terrifying as the sight of a Mismagius would normally be, the unreality of everything around her heavily dulled its impact. After a brief stare, Anne looked down at the fox she'd been trying to comfort all along, only for her to be very different, too.
Larger…?
Taller…?
Was she wearing something…?
Anne was too dumbfounded and shellshocked to notice the sluggishness of her thoughts. The confusion that underlaid them was still there, though, trying to make heads and bushy tails of the bipedal fox resting on her lap.
"Hmmm... I suppose it won't hurt..." an unknown voice whispered, making her look up at the ghost once more. Their crooked smile grew as their yellow eyes glowed. The surrounding darkness warbled, and one blink later, Anne found herself in another kind of darkness entirely.
More and more of her sensations came to as she stared at the tent's ceiling, too dark to make anything out of. A glance to the right provided her something to focus on; the bluish moonlight just strong enough to render the distant treetops visible and to illuminate the bed she rested on. The raggedy blanket was warmer than she would've—
…
Oh?
It wasn't until Anne tried to shift on the soft bedding that she actually felt the furry, warm weight on her chest and side. The awareness of something else being this close to her almost made her try scrambling away there and then—at least until she realized how familiar some of these sensations were.
The weight, the warmth, the texture, both of the softer fur against her shift and the warmer, rougher one pressing against her collarbone. The more Anne thought, the more details crept out from the recesses of her memory.
…
Wait...
The limited lighting and the shawl covering them made it difficult to make out who the stranger was. Difficult, but not impossible—with a large, triangular ear sticking out through the hole in the fabric telling. Not quite like a Fennekin, more like a Braixen, like the pictures in the encyclopedias she'd tried to read to process her grief before it backfired hard on her.
…
It couldn't be...
The body shape fit, the size fit. Trepidation gripped Anne's mind as she reached to pull back the hood on the fox's head. She tried to suppress the realization that had been building up all along, lest it all turned out to be a freak coincidence and she'd have to experience the pain of having to let go of Ember again—
That Braixen was wearing an eyepatch on the same eye Ember couldn't see out of.
The girl's eyes went wide as the mental dam she'd set for herself began to buckle and shatter, her tiny body shaking at the growing realization—
"~E-Ember...? EMBER!~"
Anne couldn't care an iota less about how much noise she made as blinding, overwhelming joy filled her mind. She cat up to comfort her friend as her right arm reached to scoop Ember into as close a hug as she could manage—the same position they used to spend hours in. Or as close an approximation as possible, considering she just didn't fit anymore.
As much as she wanted to scream in joy, soon enough Anne found herself fighting through tears as she curled her body around her one flame of hope, now reignited into a roaring inferno. Warm enough to drive her strain and exhaustion away, leaving only bliss and relief.
Just as her jubilant exclamation had turned into a silent, intense hug, that hug slowly turned into quiet, held-in sobs.
Her fears about how Ember was doing, about if she'd ever find someone that would love and protect her, about her having been put down or handed off to a notice trainer—all of them left her strained mind, one tear at a time, wetting her shirt as the sleeping fox's chest expanded and contracted into her own. She was safe; they were finally safe...
As Anne clung to Ember, not wanting to let go for the next forever, the adrenaline rush accompanying her revelation began to fade. Her breaths grew shakier as she burned through the last of her emotional high, leaving her aching, drowsy—and with Ember beside her, once more.
Considering neither her shout nor the hug that followed had woken her up, she must've been just as exhausted. Anne chuckled weakly at the thought as she snuck her hand inside Ember's hood and stroked her between the ears. It's been years, but she still remembered exactly how to do it just right, as if no time had passed at all.
"~I-I'm here, I-I'm here…~" she whispered, calm repetition soothing her psyche as she drifted closer and closer to total exhaustion. She closed her eyes for just a moment, only for a quiet, unnatural whisper to snap Anne back to full awareness. She gasped, holding the lil' fox tighter as she scanned for threats.
A pair of glowing, telltale yellow-red eyes staring at her from a few feet was as definite a threat as they got. Anne twisted herself as she tried to scoot away from the ghost, a shriek of fear caught in her throat.
The Mismagius' attempt to approach her earned it a similarly horrified whine, audible this time. Pitiful as it was, it made the bringer of curses stop in its tracks with another drawn-out whisper. Anne had no idea whether these were the terrifying, mind-breaking incantations she'd read about, or if they were something else altogether. Either way, she was powerless to stop them, only able to clench her eyes shut and curl up with Ember in her arms, bracing for whatever was to follow.
And then… nothing did. Nothing painful or threatening, at least.
She heard the ghost's whispers once more, drawn out and… more melodic this time, almost rhythmic. They droned on with a rudimentary yet ethereal tune, one that dug deep into Anne's psyche with each syllable. Sound by sound, the tension in her body evaporated, the terror gripping her mind lost power, even the aching in her left arm diminished to the point of being ignorable. And then; it ended, leaving Anne with an emptier, calmer mind.
Anne used some of the reclaimed brainpower to redouble her efforts to provide Ember all the attention she'd been owed over the past year, and the rest to dare look up from her impromptu hiding spot.
The Mismagius was now much closer, most of its body illuminated by the moonlight. Easily in reach was she to untangle her arm from around Ember, floating low enough to be on eye level with her. Its—their—angular smile grew larger, and yet less contorted as they made eye contact.
Curiously, they were holding a book in one of their front tendrils. Anne's focus shifting towards it made the ghost laugh, the sound chipper and breathy. At a certain level, she knew she ought to be afraid, but she just… wasn't.
She didn't have the time to dwell on that absence of sensation before the ghost hovered closer, and placed the book down beside her. They then reached with the freshly freed tendril to pet her on the head; gentleness combining with a weird mix of physical coldness and spiritual warmth, filling her with reassurance. It felt much nicer than she ever expected a creature like this to feel like.
Even despite Anne's exhaustion, the repetitiveness of that thought didn't go unacknowledged.
"~Th-thank you...~"
The ghost bowed their hatted head, light pets continuing for a while longer before their focus was suddenly drawn to… the nearest wall. Before Anne could really notice, their gaze shifted along the wall in tune with approaching, muffled sounds, until something entered the room.
Anne had no idea what; the being obscured by the darkness. Their noises sure weren't, though—as quietly as they were tried to be pronounced, the mews, purrs, hisses and growls kept catching the girl's attention, putting her on edge.
For a few moments, the ghost and the unknown being talked, the former glancing at her a few times. The chitchat ending didn't bring her any relief, though—the opposite, if anything. It made the unknown creature approach closer, a brief golden glimmer the only sign of their existence as Anne leaned away from them.
They walked around her bed before seeming to dig into her bag—at least if the shuffling of cloth and a few thuds were any indication. Anne could only hold her breath as she listened in; hold her breath and comfort herself by petting Ember. Eventually, the rustling finally stopped—
Before something cold and smooth touching her exposed arm made Anne jump.
The object was then placed down beside her, brain taking its time processing the events as the stranger walked further back into the room. Begrudgingly, she unwrapped her arm from around Ember, before reaching towards the unknown item.
And grabbed the cheap plastic flashlight she took from the house's toolbox on that fateful evening. Once the realization hit her, Anne did the first thing that came to mind. She pointed the tool toward where she last heard the noises come from and turned it on with a satisfying click—just in time to realize why that was a bad idea.
Thankfully, the Weavile she'd inadvertently flashed only flinched and squinted—as opposed to any more… drastic reaction.
"~S-sorry!~"
The cone of light was immediately redirected towards the ceiling, lighting up the room enough to make out the Dark-type from their namesake darkness without having to blind anyone else. To Anne's relief, the apex predator didn't mind all that much, nodding as the light was aimed away from her face and chuckling at the girl's expression.
They may have smiled too, but she couldn't quite make it out.
It seemed they wouldn't be the only stranger visiting her either, though. The next bit of rustling outside was followed up on by an honest-to-gods Scizor stepping in, seemingly also taken aback by her. Somehow.
As the non-human occupants of the room exchanged words, even more of them showed up. The Luxray was probably the same one she saw yesterday—the glare of their gleaming eyes matched, at least. It was only brief, but it still left her chilled as they joined in on the ongoing discussion.
Yesterday, yesterday... trying to remember what had happened yesterday once that bubbly Azumarill left proved futile. There was smoke in the distance, Blossom was worried about it, and then… out cold. She was probably so exhausted after everything earlier, she just dozed off on the spot. With how abrupt her rest seemed to have been, though, even that idea didn't quite fit. Before she could think through it any further, the next stranger stepped in, their entrance much less subdued than others.
The Decidueye was almost the Luxray's polar opposite in the look they gave her. Her fear of their kin made it difficult to take in their positive attitude to the furthest extent, though. It definitely wasn't as strong as it used to be with the warm impression Blossom had left yesterday, making her 'only' flinch backwards as the owl approached, cooing happily.
As unnerving as the situation was, Anne couldn't deny it felt nice for someone to get happier at seeing her, for once. Whoever had shown up next seemed quite apprehensive about entering the room. Anne watched a few of the already present mons face the entrance in response to the canine woofs, but their source never revealed themselves.
Whether it was for the best, she didn't yet know.
As nice as the Decidueye and as confusing as everyone else was, it was the last arrival that really brought relief to Anne's confused mind. She turned her flashlight at the steadily creeping sunrise as the Gardevoir approached and greeted, "^Good morning, Anne! How are you feeling sweetie?^" Her dimly glowing red eyes had become a more comforting sight than the girl would've ever thought possible.
Anne herself might have been fine enough, but it paled in importance compared to who she had woken up next to. she held the asleep fox once more while she put the words together, all the emotions making it so much harder. "~Sh-she's here, Ember's here, she's safe, she's—~"
Anne's sniffle cut her off before she could finish her sentence. She snuggled up closer to the fox as the joy of their reunion hit her once more, too powerful for words. The Gardevoir's resulting pets were just as tingly and pleasant as she remembered them, making the girl squirm as she held onto her best friend.
"^Mhm! She'd been living with us for the past year. I apologize for not introducing you to each other earlier, but we weren't sure whether she was really the Ember you knew. Thankfully, she... remembered you, and was overjoyed to see you again,^" Aria explained. Her words brought on emotional turmoil inside Anne, each small pet along Ember's head helping her straighten her racing thoughts that bit more.
The firefox having been here all along was as much a relief as it was depressing. She lived less than an hour by bike away from someone she thought she'd never see again. It hurt to think about, filling her with regret for not even thinking to try looking. Hearing that Ember was just as happy to see her again forced many more happy tears out of Anne. She was so relieved her friend didn't hold a grudge against her because of what her family had done to her, or at the pain of their eventual separation.
Both of those may have hurt her just as much as they did Ember, but she cared about the lil' fox more.
"~I-I'm-*sniff*-I'm so glad to hear... Sh-she was so scared when I left her at the shelter, and-*sniff*-I w-was so worried she'd hate me for it...~"
Aria's tingling, magical pets continued as she sat down on the bedding. She reassured, "^No, not at all. She loves you just as much as you love her, and I can feel that rather well~.^"
Anne scooted closer almost out of reflex, close enough to lean on the Gardevoir with her entire body as she held Ember tight, sniffling all the while. The remark at the end accomplished its intended purpose, making the girl giggle. She needed that more than words could tell, looking up at the Gardevoir teary-eyed. "~Th-thank you... is she alright? I-I think I shouted loudly earlier a-and she didn't wake up...~"
Anne watched closely as Aria moved her hand from her forehead to Ember's. A moment of focus resulted in a small, yet confident smile on Aria's face, and an equally reassuring nod. "^She's perfectly okay, just really, really tired after yesterday. It was a lot for all of us, her especially.^"
That made sense, at least.
Anne hugged the Braixen tight one last time before slowly letting go. As comforting as it was for her to dispense affection, this position couldn't have been anywhere near as comfortable for Ember, now that she had evolved. She took her time in lowering the vixen onto the bedding beside her, giving her the entire pillow and much of the blanket.
It was chilly in here, yes, and letting go of Ember didn't help with the goosebumps all over Anne's body, but the fox deserved comfort right now more than ever. Her human could bear a little cold. Thoughts in that vein helped distract the girl from everything else going on in the room. The previous conversation had reignited in the meantime. And with all but Aria's parts being audible and yet untranslated, it left Anne feeling on edge.
One that was constantly being melted through with the Gardevoir's constant affection.
Thankfully, the whispered animal sound near-cacophony didn't last long. Everyone but the Mismagius and Aria got going in not too long, and the final one to depart left a few passing words to the Gardevoir. She didn't look like she liked what she'd heard as she turned to the girl once more, "^Anne?^"
"~Y-yes, Mrs. Aria?~"
"^Just 'Aria' is okay, sweetie. I was just thinking, actually. Would you like to meet my kids? I've a daughter that's around your age and a much younger son, and they're both rather excited to hear there's a human in our little village. And, considering you're not going away anytime soon, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to meet some more people here~.^"
The offer came out of the left field, taking Anne aback.
On one hand, she wasn't exactly good with meeting people, be they humans or mons. On the other, what M—Aria said also made sense. As frightening as that whole prospect was, it was a good idea to get started as soon as she could, and with someone she could expect to not be mean. Hopefully, they wouldn't dislike her for any of the actually valid reasons either…
"~A-are you gonna be watching o-over us?~" Anne asked, not expecting the Gardevoir to be so surprised at her question.
"^Hmm... I have my duties to attend to, unfortunately. How about this—I ask my brother to watch over you all, and then I'll come back in a few hours and rejoin you~? Maybe even with my husband, hah!^"
"~Okay, th-that sounds good. Does your b-brother know about m—~"
"^Yes he does. I'm sure he won't mind helping out with this.^"
"~A-alright. What are they all like?~"
"^Well, my brother, Marco, is a bit more withdrawn than me. He may come off as cold, but give him a chance and he'll warm up quickly. My daughter Cadence is really energetic and excited about meeting you. Don't hesitate to tell her to slow down a bit if needed; she won't mind. Bell is really little and just happy to meet a new friend, even if that friend is a bit different from others~. Elric will also be here; he's a boy we're looking out for while his dad hibernates. He's shy at first, but really playful once you get past introductions.^"
The descriptions of Cadence and Elric left Anne worried about how well their personalities would end up meshing. She was the absolute furthest thing from energetic or physically playful, even before her injuries. And as much as she didn't mind being a shy bookworm, that personality type might've been rather alien to this village, considering that books didn't exist here.
Still, she had no way to know but to try. "~Okay! Wh-when are they gonna b-be here?~"
"^Once they wake up and have breakfast. Cypress here will keep you company until then, is that alright?^"
The namedrop made the girl look over at the Mismagius. They grew increasingly less scary as the sun rose, their small stature in particular dispelling much of Anne's remaining worries. "~Yeah! Th-thank you. Oh, who were... e-everyone else here, the ones that have left by now?~"
"^They're my coworkers, Anne. We all look out for the safety of our village and make sure that nobody dangerous stumbles on it, be it an angry predator that wants to hunt those less capable of self defense, or... well, a human,^" Aria explained. As much as she expected that latter addition to confuse the girl—or worse, upset her—it thankfully didn't result in either. Anne just nodded in understanding, already aware of the threat that human awareness would pose to this village of mons.
Trainers were one thing, but… the risk went deeper than just them.
Anne distinctly recalled reading about something like this in a stuffy history book, one of many she'd gone through in her many years at Mrs. Graham's library. An incident in Kalos some half century ago—a few dozen mons had moved into an abandoned human town. Based on a report written for a local newspaper at the time, they appeared to have been living in it much like humans did. They used the buildings the intended way, engaged in farming, stockpiled food. They even visited nearby human villages and bartered for useful items in exchange for the crops they grew.
Which was how the word of them eventually spread.
After a good couple years of growth, the news of them had made its way to a nearby city. As an unbelievable rumor, sure, but it was enough for the League to intervene. Within days, elite trainers had either captured or chased the village's inhabitants away, making sure to level the buildings and poison the farmland in their wake. The official reason was to prevent wild mons from becoming a threat to nearby humans or themselves by misusing the buildings.
But those who were there knew better.
"~I-I see. But... why in this r-room? Was it about me?~"
Aria sighed heavily, unable to help but to confirm Anne's hunch. "^Yeah, it was. But… we were just discussing where you're gonna be staying once you recover,^" the Gardevoir explained, shuddering at the words. Thankfully, Anne was too distracted to pick up on it, letting Aria continue, "^I think it's about time I got going and joined the others. There are some… important things we need to discuss in a more appropriate place. I'd hate to keep them waiting for too long.^"
"~Okay! H-have a nice day M—Aria!~"
With the final hair ruffle, Aria got up and headed out, her smile vanishing the moment she looked away. Her departure left the room in silence, only broken by muffled sounds from the next chamber over. Guess she could try to relax—
…
Huh?
While she had no delusions about the Mismagius's inability to read, she at least expected them to have been examining the book she'd brought with herself when running away from home. That turned out to not be the case.
The realization took Anne aback, making her investigate just what this book was. Its front cover was someone's reflection in a shattered mirror, with the cracks spreading radially from their right eye. Quite eye-catching, especially when combined with the title:
A very… appropriate choice of book, but it didn't shed any light on how in the world was it here to begin with. Anne only grew more confused by the moment, looking around the room to see where it might've come from—wait, where did those bags in the corner come from?
Was that one of Mrs. Graham's old coats!?
Aria hated lying.
The moment she left Anne's room, the Gardevoir had to take a breath and mentally reset. She regretted having to lie to this extent again, even if she knew it was preferable to the alternative. The last thing she wanted was to make her panic at the awareness that her life was dangling on the line drawn by a trio of old coots.
To deny her just one day of happiness, of being cared for and surrounded by friendly faces.
"Aria?"
Speaking of friendly faces.
The Gallade had already felt much better than the last time she'd seen him. Still in nowhere near a shape to return to scouting duties yet, but enough to bring a smile to his sister's face. "^Morning, Marco. I'm alright, just… got lost in thought.^"
"You sure?" he asked.
No, no she wasn't. But the rest of the scouts were likely already getting annoyed at her for taking so long, she didn't have the time to go over every single little detail this terrible situation was woven out of. "^For the most part. Do you feel you'll be able to come along and give your testimony about what you saw?^"
"For sure, meant to ask you about that. If they think they can decree Anne out of this place, then they're wrong. Ember won't let them and I for sure won't let them, either," Marco answered, stalwart.
"^That's what I wanna hear! That aside, I… agreed for the kids to come over and meet Anne. She felt mostly positive about the idea, though we'd need someone to watch over them and be on the lookout for Cinder, just in case.^"
The Gallade blinked at his sister in confusion, very uncertain about how well he'd perform as a nanny. Then again, that was something he was in the state for—once he got a bit more rest at least—as opposed to any other duty he might have wanted to undertake instead. Including the latter part of what his sister had described.
"I-It'd be new for me, and I doubt I'll be too good at it, but… I can give it a shot. Though, if Cinder comes, I-I doubt I'd b-be able to do anything a-about her..." he stammered, earning himself a telekinetic hug from his sister. The warmth made him squirm as he looked up at her, trying to cool himself down after the vixen's mention.
"^We can ask Cypress to stay here for longer, then. It's no big deal. And~ I think you'll do fine at watching over Anne. She reminds me of you a lot really, just give her, and yourself, the time to warm up to each other,^" she reassured him.
"Th-thanks, I'll try that..."
"^You got this, I believe in you~.^"
Marco gave Aria a shaky smile before wincing as he stretched and tried to scan his surroundings. The auras of Anne and Ember being so closely bonded brought an immediate smile to his face, one that wouldn't wash off soon. "Th-thanks, sis. And, goodness, I had no idea what I was gonna see when Anne's memories started flowing yesterday, but… the sheer love between them, it's so sweet it's almost cloying, isn't it?"
"Hah! Knew it," a high-pitched voice chuckled from nearby, self-satisfaction dripping from their voice. Both siblings looked further into the tent and blinked in unison at the smug expression on the tinkerer's front face. Or, at least, the parts of it that weren't covered in dressings and which didn't have a cold bag tied to them.
"^...Mikiri?^" Aria asked, confused.
"Yeah~? Just saying I knew these two liked each other."
As much as Aria wanted to roll her eyes at the half-truth—there was a ton more smugness there than just affirming one's own hunch—the fact that the Mawile of all people knew it took her aback. As did her presence here, making her ask, "^Why are you here?^"
"Ask your brother. I was test driving a fixed version of the big human two-wheel with Ori when we had to emergency brake and it all fell apart and sent me tumbling. And then Ori went on about how I was bleeding and nagged me into coming here, and then the healers nagged me into staying the night because something something concussion something. I feel fine," the Mawile explained. It sure was a quintessentially 'annoyed Mikiri' response, but it also only brought more questions with itself.
Aria didn't have the time for any of them, aside from the most important one, "^Uh, huh. How did you know Anne and Ember liked each other?^"
"The weird thin painting, silly. I'm supposed to be the one that can't communicate well, and even I picked up on that human and Ember being friends. All that Lumi could go on about when I showed it to him was yapping on about how the human abused her and other dumb nonsense. For all his fancy eyes, he sure can't see for shit sometimes," Mikiri chuckled, before going for the jugular, "Then again, considering how much meandering there apparently was between the scouts before anyone even considered that obvious fact, I'm not sure how much any of y'all are better at that."
The worst part about the Mawile's words was that Aria couldn't even dispute them. She was right; their worried uncertainty looked patently absurd in hindsight. Then again, that was simply the magic of hindsight, wasn't it?
"^It's—it's not always as simple as that when so much is on the line, Mikiri.^"
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean y'all should go around trying to cram what you see into the box of your pre-existing biases and ideas as opposed to shaping the latter around the former," the Mawile rebuked.
The siblings' blank look had the metal fairy chuckle to herself, unfortunately aggravating her headache a bit.
"What~? I just pay attention to Jovan's fancy-schmancy philosophizing from time to time. It has some useful tidbits like that, even if most of it is boring as mud."
Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to attend some of those themselves some time instead of just trying to convince Cadence and Elric to check them out.
"^Seems so, yeah. Well, best we get going, the others are waiting for us,^" Aria said.
"Don't let me hold you up any more, then. You gotta do what you gotta do to keep this place safe, and hopefully it won't include a humanling getting torn away from Ember again."
"^We'll—we'll try my best, Mikiri.^"
"I know that much—now off ya go!"
The Elders' tent was far from lively at the best of times, and the weight of the situation hanging in the air only made it even gloomier. The present scouts were gathered in a loose semicircle around the central, sunken fire pit. Its gentle, steady flames may have kept the physical frost at bay, but did little to help with the emotional coldness.
Aria and Marco's entrance had some less patient voices reacting with some variation of 'finally', making them roll their eyes as they took their seats; the Gallade leaning on his sister.
"^Apologies for the delay. A few things held us back,^" Aria said.
"None of them could've been as important as this! By Orion, such disrespect!" a raised, gurgling voice whined. It only gathered eye rolls in response, from most of the audience at that. The Breloom that had muttered it grumbled to himself afterwards, arms extending just long enough for him to cross them as he narrowed his beady eyes.
"^There's a difference between importance and urgency, Elder Winnie. Comforting a scared child is more urgent, even if for some reason we think it more important to decide how we are going to make them suffer,^" Aria explained. Her words had most of the tent grow silent except for constantly grumbling Winnie, and the Torkoal beside him.
The Fire-type lifted herself up and walked a few steps forward before replying, voice low and slow, "I ask you to stay away from emotional language like that, Aria."
The Gardevoir sighed as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. As much as she respected the Torkoal, she couldn't deny her constant pretense of dispassionateness being annoying at times. Still, not something to whine about here and now. "^Understood, Elder Ana.^"
"Very well. Let us begin this session in earnest, then."
As undignified as both the tent and the mons gathered inside it looked, the procedure was taken seriously. Everyone gathered tried to put their most objective foot forward, even if their opinions about this entire mess couldn't be different if they had tried.
"The topics for discussion in this gathering are to be: the current situation about the human, Cinder's involvement, and the decision of what shall we do with the human going forward. Are these accurate?" the Torkoal asked. Her gaze moved around the chamber, each other elder and scout like nodding in acknowledgement one after another. At least, until she'd made it to the very last person on her checkup. The Torkoal gave her a few more moments to hopefully realize what was going on, before resorting to speaking out loud, "Celia?"
Hearing her name finally took the Primarina out of her mute pondering, gaze jumping from a nondescript spot on the floor to her fellow Elder.
The dim, harsh lighting made the many scars adorning her face and arms especially visible. Her right flipper had only a single finger remaining, and she lacked any of the pearls or stars that typically adorned her kin's heads. Much of the translucent fin and hair that sprouted behind it was missing from the left side of her head, too.
With a few strained motions, she pulled herself up to be in line with Winnie; the wheels of the cart that the rear half of her body rested on squeaking as they rolled a few paces. "Present. The topics do sound accurate," she responded, voice just as smooth and soothing as it was the first time the present had heard it despite everything she'd been through.
"Very well, let us begin with discussing the current situation around the human. Aria, from what I know, you've had the most involvement with them. Could you catch us up with everything you've learned so far," Ana asked.
Aria shuffled forward a couple feet as the Torkoal backed the same distance, and spoke, "^The human's name is Anne. She's a child of approximately the same mental age as Cadence. Two days ago, before dawn, Sprout had spotted her having fallen into the ravine close to the human path, and rushed her into the village because of her grievous injuries. She would not have survived being flown to the nearest human healer—and that's if we even knew where the healers were located inside their massive town.^"
As Aria picked her next words, she saw the Primarina's gaze go wide in shock before jumping over to the dirt beside her. Odd, but she didn't have the time to pay the Elder further attention before the Torkoal spoke up, "Sprout, can you vouch for Aria's words?"
"Yep I can, Elder Ana."
"Proceed as you were."
"^Anne first woke up yesterday morning. I tried to fool her into thinking she was in a human hospital, but eventually she saw through my lies and panicked. I then told her the truth about the village, as myself, to find out more about what led to her crashing in the ravine,^" Aria explained.
The corner of the Winnie's mouth twitched. He clearly wanted to interject at this point—and loudly at that—but reined himself in to preserve decorum. Celia was back to staring at the dirt, eyes wide and yet focused as her left flipper covered her mouth. Ana remained as stone faced as ever, though that was more so because of her anatomy than anything else. Her veneer of objectivity was taking significant effort to maintain in light of Aria's actions, the fact only apparent to the Gardevoir. "C-continue."
"^Her crash resulted from her having attempted to run for her life away from her abusive family. It was an unplanned, exhausted act of desperation. She has no relatives she can trust to provide her a safe shelter, and no home to go back to.^"
"Elaborate on that latter point," Ana requested.
"^I'm speaking both figuratively and literally. Her parents have abused her to the point of physical harm, and the building of her house has burned down.^"
All the elaboration had accomplished was making the gathered blink in confusion, uncertain how Aria could even claim to know the latter. The briefest sign of a raised eyebrow crept onto Ana's expression, before it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. "Explain how you know that."
This is where things got trickier to justify.
Aria took another moment to clear her mind and glance at Lumi, the latter nodding at her as she got her thoughts in order. He might've been cranky and crass, but his loyalty was undeniable.
"^Yesterday afternoon, Lumi had alerted me to a human from their nearby town being on the lookout for Anne. Me and Marco interrogated her, at which point she turned out to be someone Anne trusted. She, Olive, felt obliged to search for Anne in light of her disappearance.^"
Now the contentious part.
"^Considering Anne's situation and uncertain future, I asked her to help us with any human necessities that Anne might need—with us removing any memories of that encounter afterwards, of course. She agreed and provided invaluable insight and support, including much clothing that had belonged to her.^"
Aria kept her eyes closed, knowing full well the kinds of glares she was getting.
"^We visited Anne's old house to take any remaining clothing she had left behind. As we were doing so, Anne's father showed up and attacked us. I incapacitated him in response. He was extremely aggressive, resorting to physical violence without provocation, and we have good reasons to believe he acted similarly towards Anne.^"
The silence in the tent was thick enough to cut with a knife. Even Celia's azure eyes were staring at her, though not without any less intense a thought stream behind them.
"...Lumi, can you vouch for Aria's words?" Ana asked, no less dumbstruck than others.
"Aye."
"Proceed as you were."
"^As we talked to her, Anne kept mentioning an 'Ember', a Fennekin she lived and grew up with. She regarded them as very close friends that she had to part ways with because of tragic circumstances. We also found a lifelike artwork depicting our Ember, but younger, together with Anne, among her possessions. When asked, Ember denied remembering anyone like Anne.^"
As Aria wrapped up her line, she glanced over her shoulder at Marco; the Gallade nodding intently while rolling his shoulders. "^I ask that Marco be allowed to provide his perspective here, as he was the one to solve this mistery.^"
"Granted."
The Gardevoir passed her brother a couple telepathic pats on the back as he scooted forward to take her spot. His body ached, but it wouldn't be like him to not push through it. As he gathered words, his sister looked around the room, tallying up how everyone felt about the situation so far. Almost everyone remained focused, even Lumi and Winnie, to her surprise. Sure, in their case, it was tainted with some level of dismissiveness, but their attention was held all the same.
Hopefully, they'd be able to evoke the reaction they wanted from them. Something that Aria sadly thought much less possible from the one scout who didn't even bother stepping into Anne's room earlier.
Lariat wasn't known for being talkative, sure, but his present silence went beyond that. His expression remained the same stoic flatness as always, one with no thought behind it to add texture. As far as the Lucario was concerned, he already knew what to do before hearing any specifics. Not even because of any sense of misguided intelligence, no.
Humans weren't like them, would never be like them. Not a moral judgment, but a perfectly black and white categorization of an ingroup and an outgroup, one which couldn't be argued against with emotions alone.
"Ahem. After apprehending Olive and passing her off to Aria and Lumi, I thought to ask Ember if she could remember Anne. This backfired—she had a panic attack, and Cinder s-struck me in anger," Marco said. His dry, croaking voice came perilously close to cracking, but ultimately held. "I thought my investigation was done for, but then… Ember ran over to catch up with me. She still didn't remember anything about Anne, but my question made her aware of something being wrong with her memory. She then asked to see in Anne in person."
Both siblings felt doubt flash through the surrounding minds at that claim. Not something they could blame them for, but ultimately, it didn't matter.
"Continue."
"I escorted Ember to the clinic and ensured Anne wouldn't see her. The moment she saw Anne, though, she froze up in panic at feeling that 'something wrong with her memory' much more clearly. From my perspective, it felt as if all memories of just Anne had been removed from her recollection, which my intervention then undid."
More hesitation—how could it have been? That wasn't like their Ember, shouldn't have been like their Ember.
"As a result of my intervention, myself, Ember, Anne, and Autumn fainted. From the healers' testimony, Ember woke up first, immediately laid down beside Anne, hugged her, wouldn't let go when asked, and fell asleep. Following that, we discovered Cinder had fled the village between me speaking to her and Sprout scanning the area for her."
The reactions to the finished tale varied.
Disbelief, anger at Cinder, shock at Ember having done something so drastic, astonishment. Winnie briefly broke through his grumpy resting expression into genuine concern for Ember; Celia's eyes went wide as she kept covering her mouth with her flipper, thoughts racing, and Ana… Ana closed her eyes, lowered her head in defeat, and muttered to herself, bringing the tent into a stone-cold silence, "And so it is..."
The other Elders' attention snapped to Ana in an instant, neither having any idea what she meant. Scouts were similarly keen on figuring it out, growing increasingly displeased at what they were internally accusing her of.
"What... do you mean by that, Elder Ana?" Sprout asked, having enough composure to keep her words neutral—even if not her tone. Her wings itched—there was something very wrong going on in here. What happened to Ember was a disgrace, a betrayal at the hands of her own guardian, and the one person everyone expected to be objective and rational knew something about it. The fiery tortoise kept pondering in response, making the Decidueye's expression twist into a snarl. "Elder Ana—"
"I am thinking, Sprout."
"What is there to be thinking about!? A little one had her mind violated to erase what sounds like the only friend she'd had prior to finding her way here, and you seem to know somethin' about that!" the owl shouted.
"It is not as simple as that—"
"Then what is it!?"
A low, frustrated grumble left the Torkoal in response. As much as she loathed being hurried along, and was of half a mind to chew Sprout out for that outburst, she knew better than to go against the crowd like this. Especially with this emotional an issue.
There was only so much nice wording could do to conceal a sad, unsightly truth.
"Four hundred and five days ago, the group Ember was a part of first stepped foot into our village. Twenty-one days later, Cinder approached me with a dilemma," Ana began. Aside from the crackling of flame, the tent remained dead silent. "Ember had been getting better at that point. She was recovering from her injuries, making friends, and growing more comfortable thinking of Cinder as her mother. And yet, she still suffered immensely. Because someone she'd known and loved her entire life, someone she wanted to comfort and save, was still suffering in their personal hell."
Ana's posture shrunk, regret making it oh-so-difficult to keep going.
"Ember didn't know why they had abandoned her, but she didn't care. She was somewhere safe now, and her friend still suffered. She begged Cinder to rescue that friend so that they may be safe here with us. Every single day. She even begged me, the few times Cinder had enabled communication between us in these early days."
But, of course, that friend was a human.
"We didn't know what to say. We tried to explain to her it wasn't possible, and that there was nothing we could do. Our explanations were about as successful as trying to argue a river into changing course. Ember was deaf to them, as she was right to be, for we were both lying, even if that's not how we thought about it. To permit a human to live with us feels like a heresy even now—back then, it was simply unimaginable."
And yet, Ember kept pleading, every single day.
"Cinder didn't know what to do. We have exhausted every avenue of rational argumentation and made no progress. All she knew was that her daughter was hurting, and she wanted her to not hurt anymore," Ana recalled, remembering that day with perfect clarity. The sheer expression of defeat on Cinder's face, the awareness of just how immoral her idea was.
And yet, it was the only one they had.
"I… advised her against her idea. But, if it was my little one, and I had been the one unable to help them… I don't know. It's not a position anyone should ever have to experience the misery of, on either end."
The silence that followed only lasted a few tense moments. The Decidueye wasn't as seething as she was before, but she was still cross as she said, "Regardless of Ember hurting or not, what made Cinder think she had the right to control her daughter like that!?"
Before the Torkoal could respond, a different, slyer voice joined the chorus of opposition, "Whether it was love or malice, Ember was still hurt all the same in the end, wasn't she?"
And then another still, cold and pointed. "^Nor does it explain her outburst at Marco.^"
"Sprout, Ruby, Aria, I do not know. Cinder's sins are her alone to atone for. I am not excusing them. I merely want it clear that she had not done them out of malice. She will answer for her assault, she will answer for attempting to obstruct you. If nobody else, Ember will hold her accountable for having her memories tampered with."
As angry as the gathered were at the Delphox, they knew they had the chance to solve the impossible dilemma that had led to her actions in the first place. Sprout spoke up once more, out of any semblance of order, pointing the obvious solution out, "Then let's vote for Anne to remain here, and avoid forcin' anyone else to even consider doing the fucked up things Cinder has ever again!"
"A sad story doesn't make a HUMAN living here acceptable, for Orion's sake!" Winnie shouted.
"^With all due respect, Elder Winnie—shut up. Her soul is no different from ours just because she's a human.^"
"That is blatantly absurd, Aria," Lariat growled, dumbfounded.
His words earned him a few pointed stares, one of them not hesitating to speak up, "Is it now, Lariat? Do you really want to claim she's inherently evil?"
"This conversation is not about abstract philosophy, Ruby. It is about the material danger posed to us by that human having knowledge of us and being able to leave—"
"We all know much more than Anne does, and yet we're free to walk, Ori. Why would she betray the only place that had offered her safety—"
"You know how humans are, Marco, why wouldn't you think th—"
"Ahem."
Despite it only being a clearing of her throat, Celia's Disarming Voice wasn't any less effective as a result.
The escalating shouting match was defused in an instant; the room's undivided attention was now squarely on the Primarina. Her eyes scanned the room—as if counting—before she spoke once more, now in her normal tone, "I doubt any further argument today will be productive. Considering the importance of this decision as a precedent, I reckon we ought to delay the vote until all scouts are present. It would also give us time to give the situation the thought it deserves."
Even once the immediate effects of the Disarming Voice had worn off, nobody in the tent was in the mood for any more fighting. One by one, a chorus of nods answered Celia, regardless of what position each participant thought that having more time would push the rest towards.
"Perfect. How does tomorrow's twilight sound in terms of an appropriate date and hour?" the Primarina asked. Once again, no vocal objections. "Let it be so, then. Make haste spreading the news to the rest of the scouts, and may tomorrow bring us closure."
With the atmosphere in the room defused, Ana stepped forward to catch everyone's attention, hoping to close the session. Right as she was about to speak up, though, Celia cut in once more, words aimed squarely at Aria as opposed to the ground before her, "Aria? I have one request in particular for tomorrow's session. Considering your closeness to the human, you are the best equipped person in the village to fulfill it."
A jolt of dread shot through the Gardevoir's horns at being addressed directly like that. She had no idea what the other Fairy-type was expecting from her—aside from maybe being prepared to administer a memory wipe as soon as they done with the verdict.
The mere thought made her want to scream.
"^How could I help, Elder Celia?^" she asked.
"I wish Anne be brought over, so that the Elders could ask her questions directly. I would be the one translating for her."
As confident as Celia was in her idea, it was clearly the other Elders' first time hearing it. Their uncertainty was clear on their faces—though, as they thought about it, they realized they both had some personal questions they'd ideally have the girl answer in person.
Aria shuddered as Ana and Winnie affirmed the request. Both at the logistics of moving Anne over, and at the cruelty of exposing her to a band of strangers verbally arguing about her being worthy of living.
"^I hope you aren't expecting me to subject her to hearing every single argument against her personhood—^"
"No, no such thing. She can stay unaware of the actual discussion, or even of her purpose there. I just want to have a brief chat with her before we get into the voting proper," Celia clarified.
Guess Aria could do that much, even if she really, really didn't want to. She didn't want Anne to panic once she realized what's going on. Though, it'd also be on her to keep the worst of the details away from her attention, then. "^I'll try, Elder Celia.^"
"Perfect. Thank you, Aria. You can proceed, Ana."
A few short rounds of the ceremony later, it was over.
As the scouts departed the Elders' tent and headed for their duties, the uncomfortable truth of what they've learned about the Delphox weighed down on her minds. It, together with the unbearable weight of tomorrow's decision, pushing them further into dissociation—be it by performing their scouting duties, or otherwise.
Aria fared no better.
Once she'd said her goodbyes to Marco, she turned towards the woods surrounding their village—and then; her patrol path. As she did, one hope burned brighter than the rest, bouncing around her head with her every step.
"Eeeeee, do you think she'll draw me too, grandma?"
The shorter half of the family may have taken their time getting ready for the big event today, but once they were finally awake and sated, there was no extinguishing their combined enthusiasm.
Cadence was busy showing that fact the clearest, having to keep herself from running literal circles around her grandma and brother. Hops, twirls and leaps, the sheer extent of the Kirlia's excitement enough to overcome the biting cold of the winter morning. Or at least, enough when combined with Safeguard and a long scarf wrapped around most of her torso.
"You'll have to ask her nicely, sweetie~," Autumn answered.
"I will! It just sounds so cool, I wish I could draw..."
"I'm quite sure you already can draw, Cadence~!" Elric chimed in. The fairy stopped just to stick her tongue out at him—only for the Gligar to respond in kind, and much more effectively at that. Any other time of the year, and he'd be down roughhousing on the ground... but no, not in winter.
Not when they were on their way towards the mysterious human, either.
"You know what I mean!" Cadence asserted.
The bat cackled as he leaped deftly from one wall to another, making the littlest member of the group join in on the giggles from his grandma's arms. Bell's very slow pace may have annoyed his sister when he took forever to catch up, but it also meant that any longer trips would be spent being held by a loved one. He squirmed for the umpteenth time that morning at how nice it all felt. Grandma holding him, a warm blanket around him, they would meet a new friend! What's not to like?
"Maybe Anne will show Cadence how to draw?" he asked. He liked that idea, it made him happy to think about. Friends being nice to each other—and of course they'd be friends with the human! Grandma told them she was nice, and nice people meant friends.
"Nooooo, she doesn't need to! I can't draw, it'd just be a waste of time."
"But would you want her to teach you?" the Gligar asked.
"She won't be interested, Elric!"
"You don't know that~," Autumn teased, fizzling her granddaughter's self-deprecating train of thought with a grumble.
True, she didn't know that, but c'mon! Anne wouldn't wanna waste her time on someone who couldn't draw at all; she'd have so many more interesting things to talk about! Humans could do so many weird, cool things—of course Anne would want to talk about those instead!
Before either Elric or Autumn could egg the Kirlia on, the entrance to the healer tent finally came into view. Cadence wasted no time before bolting straight ahead without a care in the world; the Indeedee's call to wait getting stuck in her own throat and discarded soon after. Incorrigible, that one.
Her loved ones would not have it any other way.
The Gligar was only slightly behind his friend, getting him and Cadence all of thirty-odd seconds of head start in confusedly looking around the tent before Autumn and Bell caught up. No Aria, no Marco, the bed that the latter had slept in emptied and cleaned up. Hmm. The healers would probably know something.
"Esther? Do you know where Marco went?" the Indeedee asked, making the Blissey spare them all a brief look.
Tried as she might to fight it, her serious expression melted at the sight of the excited kiddos. "He and Aria left for some scout business, I'm quite sure. They haven't gotten back yet."
That much was clear.
Autumn figured Marco would've gone with Aria, even if just to provide another vote in favor of letting Anne stay. Fingers crossed it all ended up working out. No way of knowing at the moment, though. Either way, Autumn's own duty took precedence. Had to mentally prepare everyone else here for a wild human in their midst. Which meant...
"Alright. Cadence. Elric, can you both promise me you'll wait here until Marco is back and don't go rushing in on your own? Anne's been through a lot. The least we could do is spare her further anxiety, don't you say~?" Autumn asked, just in time to stop the Kirlia from peeking into the human's room for herself. She sighed in relief at her emotional appeal working out, even if at the cost of making the older kids grow self-conscious about how would they come off to a complete stranger.
Nothing that some gentle affection couldn't help with, especially when combined with Bell's best efforts. Anything to make his family feel better, even if he didn't quite understand why they were sad right now. He loved his family.
"Okay, grandma..." Cadence mumbled.
"Relax, stay out of the healers' way, and wait for Marco. He should be here any moment now, okay?"
"Yes, grandma!" / "Yes, ma'am!"
Smiles, relief, hugs, a few more pats—Autumn could get out of the healer tent and on her way again. Her task was too important to waste any more time, though she wished she knew exactly how to go about all this. The one idea she came up with during breakfast would be a logistical mess and she doubted other teachers would be too approving of it, but—
"Autumn," a flat buzz interrupted her train of thought. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to look at the source of the disturbance.
"I don't have the time, Liz."
The Vespiquen hovered in place for a moment, stunned, before catching up with the psychic, "I need the status on the human—"
"I said, I don't have the time. Your fancy tallies can wait."
Autumn paid the frustration behind her little attention—she had something more important to take care of. Anyhow; she doubted other teachers would be too approving of her plan but…
Their problem, because she was going through with it anyway.
The village nursery was far from the liveliest of places this early in the day. Many of the assorted tykes were either still asleep, or really wished they were asleep. All the warmth wasn't helping either—even without the Fire-type Elder to provide warmth, the small fire pit made for a comfortable atmosphere. As evidenced by well over a dozen little ones huddling up close to each other and their caretakers.
It'd be a while before everyone was here. And if Autumn had anything to say, today's 'everyone' would be much larger than usual. "Morning Jovan, Pearl!" she greeted, her voice reaching the two caretakers with mixed results. The Wigglytuff blinked away his momentary daze, while the Grumpig looked like she'd been freshly woken up; limbs and curly tail alike stretching to the sound of a held-in yawn.
Before either of them could return Autumn's greeting, though, another voice filled the sleepy gathering first. One much livelier, and much more confused, "Hiiiii Autumn! Where's Bell?"
The lil' Riolu underlined her confusion by glancing around the clearing, neither eyes nor aura having any success in finding her favorite playmate. Head tilts gave way to tail wagging once the Indeedee responded to her question in the most affectionate way, "Hey, Reya! Bell won't be around today sadly, he's gonna be visiting Anne!"
"Awwwhhh... oh oh oh, who's Anne?"
"The human at the clinic!" Autumn answered. Regardless of how drowsy the two caretakers had been before then, the Indeedee's clarification had managed to wake them up in record time.
As uncertain as the Wigglytuff's expression might have been, it was the Grumpig that spoke up first, "Hope he ain't in there all alone, Autumn..."
"Not at all Pearl, Marco will be watching over him!"
"Oh, good~. Wait, Marco!? How is he? Why's he watching over a human?" Jovan asked, alarm clear in his soft voice.
Autumn took a moment to gather her thoughts before responding, dispensing pets to the lil' Riolu all the while, "He's still injured after his encounter yesterday, but doing well overall!"
"Oh, thank goodness..."
Reya wouldn't be the only one receiving affection, either. The fairy balloon flinched a bit as the Indeedee reached over, giving him his own share of pets, before eventually giving in.
"Yep! As to the human question..." Autumn trailed off, unsure what to say. A part of her wanted to bring up every single thing she'd seen.
Every single horrific event the human girl at the clinic had been subjected to. Every tragedy, every strike by the hands of people who were supposed to be her guardians. Every time she'd been treated like garbage at home, or like a monster by the village.
She really wanted to—but there simply wasn't the time, nowhere near. Instead, she took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts before continuing, "It'd take a while for me to explain everything, but the gist is—the human is innocent. She used to be Ember's friend. She doesn't have a family to go back to, and it's likely she'll end up staying here for a while."
"Ember's friend, eh?" the Grumpig asked, having a hard time visualizing that one, especially with Ember's fear of the alien in their midst still fresh on her mind. Then again, the Indeedee was all truthful; she could sense that… good gods, what was going on?
"I'm sure she'll be more than glad to tell you herself once she's up again." Autumn answered.
"Even in the best-case scenario, I worry about how well anyone here would think of a human, even an innocent one..." Jovan picked up, still wondering what the hell had happened yesterday once Marco had left with Ember.
"That's exactly what I wanted to talk with you two about!"
Most of the little ones were too young to get anything out of the discussion going on above them, to the adults' relief. That didn't mean they weren't listening, though. Dozens of curious eyes bounced back and forth between their caretakers and the Indeedee, especially at all the mentions of humans and their mysteries. Both Pearl and Autumn were well aware of that, and the latter didn't shy from using that knowledge. "All the kids are curious about Anne, and she might end up staying with us for a while—it's the talk of the village. I've spent a fair bit of time with her, and I'm rather confident about most things now. How does me taking up a few hours to talk about humans sound?"
Neither Jovan nor Pearl could deny the utility of an approach like that, but that didn't mean they didn't have their objections. The Wigglytuff asked, "What about your own class~?" and the Grumpig followed up, "Ya sure the kiddos are gonna catch everythin', love?"
"Well Jovan, that's why I wanted to bring my class over here as well, reach all the kids at once. And, Pearl... the youngest ones probably won't, even with translation. But that's fine—the important point is teaching them that not all humans are scary and evil, and they don't need all the details for that."
"I getcha, Autumn, jus'… makes me doubt it'll be any good. 'specially if their parents won't stop going on about how humans are deep down evil." Pearl sighed.
That was the one objection the Indeedee couldn't disagree with. Her shoulders slumped as she admitted defeat on that point, "I know, Pearl. This won't be enough in case Anne ends up staying, I'm—I'm well aware. But it's a start, and it's better than nothing, and I want to do anything I can to help. The girl's been through hell, the same hell as Ember. We owe it to her to try our best."
The emotional appeal broke through the caretakers' remaining hesitancy. Pearl acknowledged the idea with a firm nod, before moving her attention to all the curious, confused little ones. Jovan was almost convinced, too, but there remained a very large hitch, one that had already burned Marco yesterday. "I... can't imagine Cinder will be all too happy at the idea..."
"Cinder won't be an issue today, Jovan." Autumn reassured. Not something the Wigglytuff expected to hear, but effective at bulldozing through his concerns all the same. The 'why' remained unclear, but… he didn't want to know, either.
"Sure~. I believe we can do that then, as long as you can manage your share of the kiddos~."
"Don't you worry about it one bit, Jovie. I'll be going to drag them over now, unless you two have any further objections—"
"Autuuuuumn... can I go visit Bell?" Reya asked, butting into the grownup conversation. Her words earned her a few more pets, but sadly, no agreement.
"I'm sorry Reya, but you should stay here with Mr. Jovan and Mrs. Pearl."
"But whyyyyy?"
"Marco will already have to look over four people. It wouldn't be nice to add a fifth one now, would it?"
Numbers weren't the Riolu's strong suit, but empathy most definitely was. As little as she was, she could still see the Indeedee's point; tail wags deflating as she grumbled under her breath. Autumn didn't want to leave her out to dry either, continuing, "How about you come visit later today? He'd love to play with you at our place!"
Offer of more play—immediate excitement, redoubling the tail wags. "Yes, please!"
"You got it Reya! I'll talk with you later!"
"Bye bye, Autuuuumn!"
"Is it true that humans can spit fire?"
Thankfully, retrieving the older kids from their usual location turned out to be a much easier task.
Just the mention of the mysterious human in their midst had most of them perk their heads up in curiosity, regardless of their prior knowledge. And with it easily beating another session of practicing Protect or Safeguard or whatever, they didn't need any convincing either.
The other teachers were a bigger obstacle... at least in theory.
Cinder's absence eliminated the one voice that would've absolutely vetoed the idea. With her out of the picture, only one other teacher remained. Autumn knew him well enough to capitalize on his own latent interest in human feats with a few pointed questions. Even better, he'd agreed to grab someone who has had a lot of experience with humans—and it didn't even sound like the bad sort of experience either.
Things were falling into place. Now she just had to stave off the flood of questions until they arrived back at the clearing.
…
Guess she could get the sillier ones out of the way already.
"Nope, they don't! They can't use any moves, remember?" Autumn kept explaining.
That particular factoid refused to get weird no matter how many times the kids have heard it.
It just sounded.. wrong. Deeply, utterly wrong—and yet correct all the same. How could humans just not use moves? What was wrong with them? Just how they could be so fearsome with such a dire handicap? Some of these questions could be answered, some couldn't, and some… very few people ever wanted to delve too deep on.
"But that's so weird!"
"I know sweeties, I know. Humans are definitely a bit weird, but deep down, they're not that different from us, I promise. Alright, we're here! Please seat yourselves down everyone, and keep mindful of the younger kids!"
The horde of children of various species and ages took a while to finish settling in place. Most of the littlest ones stuck to their softer caretakers as they were surrounded by the older kids. Of the latter, a few faces coalesced towards the front of the group. Blossom was excited, but couldn't help but gulp after Autumn gave her a knowing smile. Not everyone had the Dartrix's enthusiasm—if anything, most didn't—but that was Autumn's job to change, and she felt confident in her own ability.
Just need a bit of empathy.
"^Alright everybody, thank you all so much for gathering so quickly! It's a special occasion today, after all! You're all gonna have a lot of questions, so I'd want you all to raise a limb if you want to ask a question so that we can go through them one at a time!^" Autumn spoke telepathically. It wasn't easy linking up with so many minds all at once, especially not at her age, but Autumn wasn't gonna show it in her expression. Age, schmage, she could do this. Anything to make this as clear as possible for the listeners.
Anything to give Anne more of a chance.
"^As you all probably know now, there is currently a human in our village, inside the healers' tent. Her name is Anne, and she was rescued by our scouts a couple days ago—yes, Hawthorne?^"
"Why was it rescued?" the Espurr asked, annoyed.
Autumn had to hide an inward wince at hearing her words. She could empathize with the kitten to a point—her dad had been on the receiving end of more human cruelty than most, after all... but not the Espurr herself. It always made Autumn grimace a bit to hear her use her father's past as a cudgel to bash all humans everywhere with. "^Anne was rescued because she got very hurt in the woods. She would've died if not for our help.^"
The Indeedee wasn't sure whether being blunt was the best approach with so many toddlers around, but if nothing else, it made the older kids get the message loud and clear. Hawthorne wasn't satisfied with that, but at least she let her teacher continue, "^There's a good chance she ends up staying with us for good.^"
For approximately ten seconds.
"^Yes, Hawthorne?^"
"Why!?"
Focus, focus—she's just a kid.
"^Anne's been through a lot, Hawthorne. She had experienced a lot of abuse, and it's not safe for her to return to her human family. In addition, she used to be friends with Ember—^" Autumn explained, stopping as half a dozen hands shot up immediately, the same question reverberating through all the attached heads. She continued, "^I know Ember hasn't mentioned Anne previously. It's because she didn't remember either. There are...^"
She'd need a cleanse after having to whitewash Cinder of all people, but bringing her up would just derail everything.
"^There are reasons as to why she didn't remember. It was a very scary, very traumatic time for her. Our minds sometimes try to erase terrible memories because of just how much they hurt to remember, and that's likely what happened here. All this has already scared Ember a lot, and I'd want to kindly ask you all to not barrage her with your own questions about all this, okay? She'll tell you all if, and when she's comfortable doing so.^"
The array of limbs finally began dying down as the kids gave thought to Autumn's answers. Each, except for one particular Stunky paw, still reaching as high up as the kit was capable of.
"^Yes, Zephyr?^"
"How—how do we know she won't be aggressive towards anyone?" the Stunky asked. Aside from the voice crack at the beginning, his words with as much confidence as the Stunky could project. Confidence and eagerness, the lil' one holding position as he awaited an answer. There was an accusation in his question, yes—but it wasn't the point, not the main point. Much less interest in the human's underlying dangers, and much more in potentially being helpful in mitigating them.
"^Several reasons! You all might have heard a thing or two about humans being powerless without their tools and yes, that is true. Humans can't use moves, not even the simple ones. If it's just their own, they're almost completely defenseless. That's something I really want you all to remember. She can't really hurt any of you, but you all can hurt her a lot. You will have to be much more careful with her than with other kids, especially during any physical play. And... Blossom!^"
The Dartrix jumped at being pointed out, enough so to end up airborne. She wasn't holding her wing up; everybody was staring at her. She begged for it to not be what she thought it was as she replied, "Y-yes, Mrs. Autumn?"
"^C'mere.^"
Oh no, it was.
The selection sent chatters through the other kids as the Dartrix hopped over to her teacher. She wanted to bury herself underground or fly off into the distance, either or—anything but being stared at like this.
As much as Autumn wanted the owlet to feel a bit put on the spot because of so flagrantly going against their request to not venture into the human lands, the girl's reaction made her feel a bit bad. A gentle hug didn't solve all the anxiety, but was very appreciated all the same, helping Blossom in easing out.
"^So, Blossom~. You've spent some time around Anne. How would you describe her as? Age and personality-wise?^"
The murmurs that followed brought back some of her anxiety; the Dartrix of half a mind to just take off there and then. But… depending on what she said, the other kids might end up liking Anne more right out of the gate. She wanted that; she wanted that a lot, especially now that she had a better idea of what yesterday was all about.
Anne deserved to be given a fair chance by others here.
That realization didn't magically cut through all the worries, but it was still effective all the same. Enough for Blossom to push ahead, right as Indeedee was second guessing this whole idea. She spoke up, "Ummmm... A-Anne is about m-my age. She's really shy too, I-I think even more so than I am! She got really scared for a moment when—when she spotted me in the clinic's window, h-heh..."
Autumn's sigh of relief was small enough to avoid being noticed by too many onlookers; the answer netting the owlet a couple more pets as it sparked more chatter in the crowd. "^Yep! Anne is just a girl, close in age to many of you, and a really timid one at that. Besides—I'd hope that nobody here would be aggressive towards others without a reason, so I don't see why Anne would either. *Sigh*, yes, Hawthorne?^"
"But it's a human—"
"And what about that?" a gruff voice cut Hawthorne off, catching the attention of most gathered.
Their heads turned towards the final two missing faces; neither of them the sort anyone here wanted to upset. Few kids had ever chatted with the Electivire that had just spoken up—he was known much more for having spent many years in human captivity before becoming a scout than for being talkative. Fewer still had ever seen him don his headgear, a white human-made cap with several blue markings, nestling in comfortably between his horns.
Oddly enough, it wasn't the only… accessory he had brought with himself.
Armbands weren't all that rare as articles of clothing around the village, but arm-Magnemite most definitely were. This one was on the smaller side and asleep if the closed eye was anything to go by. The Electric-type they were leeching from didn't seem to mind their presence. Flanking them was a Serperior, the other remaining teacher. He didn't appreciate having to trudge through the snow, slithering his way towards the firepit the moment it came into sight.
Amusing as the sight was, the gruff voice continuing pulled everyone's attention back to the Electivire, "What about her being a human, Hawthorne?"
"N-n-nothing, M-Mr. Geiger."
"I certainly hope so. Well, hello everyone. I've been told you wanted ol' me to ramble on about humans for a while, ah?" Geiger greeted the crowd with a smirk.
"^Thank you so much for coming, Geiger, and yes! Your point of view is unique in the village, and with Anne being likely to stay for a while, it's for the best that we all learn more about them. Yes, Zephyr?^"
"Ooh, will you ask my mom to speak too, Mrs. Autumn?"
An innocent, excited question, more relaxed than his earlier posturing.
Unfortunately, the Indeedee had no idea how to respond to the Stunky. Yes, his mom similarly had a lot of human knowledge, and she used it often as an active scout, but… But. Autumn wanted to be honest, and keeping someone from speaking up just because it wouldn't be what she wanted to hear was just about the peak of intellectual dishonesty... goddammit.
"^If she has a free moment during the day, then I can ask Rose to chime in as well. From what I know, she's busy today, so let's focus on the here and now. Geiger, could you describe how much time you've spent with humans and in what capacity?^"
The Electivire straightened out with a proud chuckle, trying to appear as respectable as he could physically manage. Granted, some of that was cut into by the old man cough that went through him afterwards, but he was imposing enough that the kids really didn't care. "I have spent the first thirty-one years of my life under human watch," he started, earning gasps from all around. Some of them impressed at anyone surviving for that long amongst humans, the rest shocked at any creature being this old. "I used to live... uh... you, over there?"
"^Grace, what's your question?^"
"Who is that on your arm?" the Zangoose asked.
Geiger gave her a hearty laugh at the choice of her question, one tail curling to pat the sleeping magnet as he answered, "Ha, I wish I knew in all honesty. From what I know, they followed Lumi yesterday and ended up clinging to him by the time he woke up. He tried to get them off but couldn't figure out how, so he approached me and... now they're attached to me. In all truth, I'm not sure why they're here in the first place or why are they so clingy, but I don't mind. Can always ask one of our skilled psychics to help translate later. Anyhow—any other questions, uh, Grace?"
"What's that thing on your head?"
"Ha! I was about to get to that. I used to live in a large human facility where humans used to make electricity. I—okay, I hope this question is less prejudiced than the previous one, Hawthorne."
The teacher in Autumn didn't appreciate shade being thrown onto one of her students. However, the grandma that wanted to look out for all the little ones, no matter their looks, most definitely did. She'd only held in the chuckle that followed through the sheer power of will.
"It's not—" the Espurr tried to cry out.
"Then what is it?"
"Did humans keep you enslaved there to make electricity for them?"
"No. Anyway, my duty there, after I'd evolved into an Electabuzz, was much more benign. To the best of my knowledge, my responsibility was to intervene in case of severe emergencies, and either help stabilize the electricity output, or shut the whole system down depending on the severity. You, the Gloom."
"^Mint—^"
"...aren't humans Normal-types? ....and if so, how do they make electricity?" Mint asked, words as engaged as it was possible for a voice this sluggish to be. He leaned in forward as much as he could, awaiting a response.
"I think they are, yes. As to how—I wish I grasped more than a sliver of it. Human creations are incredibly complex, even most humans only know about one or two in any detail. For much the same reason, I doubt the one in the village will be of much help answering that question either. From what I understood of it, it involved a very dangerous process that glowed blue, and which we were instructed to stay well away from. That process heated a lot of water to devilish temperatures, and that hot water was then used by a separate machine to make electricity."
"...if they just need hot water for electricity, why not heat it directly?" the Gloom asked.
"I am not entirely certain, Mint. I'd advise not to come up with any half-baked ideas to explain that conundrum, though. Humans are many things, but as a collective, they're not stupid. I'd even say they're devilishly smart as a whole, which is good for their ingenuity, and bad for us when it comes to hiding from them."
"Which is why we have to try our best to keep hidden from them!" Zephyr butted in, his voice once more shining with courageous pretense, even if accompanied by nervous taps on the snowy ground.
Before Autumn could chide him for speaking up out of order, Geiger responded, "Correct, Zephyr! It's all too easy to underestimate any singular human whenever our intimidation or misdirection succeeds, but the mere fact of us having to try as hard as we do proves their intelligence by itself."
"But if they're this devious, th-then how can we trust any of them, even that injured one?" the Stunky asked, his voice maintaining his fearlessness—at least, aside from the one, noticeable crack. Thankfully for him, though, it went unacknowledged.
"They're no hive mind, they can just communicate with each other very effectively. On a few occasions, I was asked to help after a part of their electricity infrastructure had sustained significant damage. It was well over a day's march away, but they knew instantly when it got damaged, and were able to cooperate on the repair effort over even further distances in moments. More than anything else, it was that communication that made the biggest impression on me. Yes, Mint?"
"...isn't that Psychic?"
"Similar in use, completely different in how it functions, from what I know. Suppose no Psychic has that high of a range, Autumn?"
"^Nope, even from one end of the village to another would be impressive. What you're describing just isn't possible.^"
"Not for an actual Psychic, no. *Sigh*... Hawthorne?"
"Even with all that 'communication', we wouldn't need to hide from them if they weren't all evil!"
"Define 'evil'," Geiger responded flatly.
The Espurr was sufficiently taken aback by the task to shut up there and then. On top of having no idea where that question even came from, she just had no idea how to even begin answering it; mewling out 'ummm's and 'ehhh's.
"'Evil' is too banal of a label to be useful for this context," the Electivire began. "Imagine... hell, imagine if all the labor in our village was being done by humans, had to be done by humans. Nothing about us as individuals needs to change, merely that we need human labor to survive. None of us would be any more eager to go out and hurt them any more than we'd want to hurt anyone else. We'd simply be aware of the 'fact' that we need to have some humans enslaved, that we need to control them, that we need to kidnap them from their houses if needed, and act accordingly. We wouldn't hate them, but... if kidnapping one or two was what it took to let our entire village continue existing like it does, then we'd begrudgingly tolerate it. Not as a good thing, but as a necessary thing. Zephyr, go on."
"We wouldn't, we'd know better than that!" the Stunky spoke with courage once more—or at least a veneer of it.
"How can you be sure? There's no inner fairness within us that would stop us from doing so. Just think of all the bloodshed being done by feral mons, how needless it ultimately is, if only they knew how else to survive... actually. Ha, I got it! Hahaha!" Geiger laughed, waking up a few snoozing tots out of their naps—including the Magnemite attached to his arm.
He spared the lil' magnet a chuckle before continuing, "You can simply think of most humans as 'feral', in that way. That's the only way to live they've ever known. There's no hatred behind it, no targeted animosity, merely cruelty taken as a necessary evil. And just like the only difference between us and our feral cousins is our upbringing, much the same holds true for humans. I don't doubt the girl in our clinic won't turn out any more malicious than any of us. Less so if anything, just to overcompensate. Just like we protect ourselves from feral mons that would have us for dinner, so we have to be on the lookout for 'feral' humans."
"Except feral pokemon can join the village if they express willingness to." a low, heavy voice interrupted, making everyone turn towards the Torkoal, most adults with a quick bow at that. Geiger limited himself to a tip of his hat, and an unamused look. Autumn's expression of respect was similarly scuffed—though in her case, it was caused by concern most of all.
What have they decided for Anne? She wasn't shutting this entire conversation down, so they couldn't have said no—right?
"Indeed, Elder Ana, that comparison isn't quite perfect. Even then, the only difference is that the feral mons won't cooperate with each other on a large enough scale to ever pose a serious threat to us. If they could coordinate, there would absolutely be a group of feral mons that tries to overwhelm us to feast on those of us who cannot defend ourselves. It's simply a matter of organization," Geiger continued.
"As opposed to that theoretical, human intervention is a serious and constant threat."
"It is, yes, but it's not because of any inherent human quality. If the girl in the clinic can't talk to other humans, there's no risk of the knowledge of us ever spreading through her, and at that point, she's no more dangerous than any of us. Zephyr?"
"So we just need to not let her leave the village to communicate with other humans!?" Stunky asked, excited at having come up with an idea.
"Hold your enthusiasm, lil' one. Doubt your mom or any other scout would appreciate having to babysit her just to keep her from escaping. More of a cage than a home at that point, isn't it?"
"I—I could do that! I could watch and keep her in here!"
"I like your spark Zephyr, but these matters need much more careful thought. Besides," the Electivire paused as a thought struck him, fingertips tapping against his other forearm. "I was wrong in my assessment there, now that I think about it. Everyone in our village could potentially make humanity aware of us; by mistake or by oversight. Showing ourselves where humans don't expect to see our kin, stumbling onto someone the scouts haven't caught. Deliberate treachery. All those are possible for all of us; the human girl is neither different nor more dangerous in that regard. We're doing ourselves a disservice if we keep thinking of humans as the sole outlet by which we may expose ourselves to the world."
Much to Blossom's despair, there wasn't any covert way for her to bury herself underground while remaining unnoticed at that remark. Thankfully, Ana's response caught everyone's attention before the Dartrix could feel bad for what she'd done, "I can't imagine anyone here resorting to treachery against their home."
"Neither can I. Which is why I imagine the girl won't do such an act either if this place becomes her home, and not merely a cage for her to be contained in," the Electivire responded flatly.
The Electivire and the Torkoal stared each other in the eyes for a few tense moments; age sharpening their wills enough to not let either relent.
A handful of shocks jumped between the prongs on Geiger's head and through the magnet on his arm, the Steel-type feeling the tension very acutely as the silence grew more uncomfortable by the moment. Autumn used the opportunity to finally answer the distressing question for herself, hoping the Elder would be too distracted to notice her thoughts being investigated—vote deferred.
Neither damnation nor redemption, just more of this interminable limbo.
"Uuuuuh, Mr. Geiger?" the Zangoose's voice snapped the Indeedee and the Electivire out of their thoughts, the two nodding in unison.
"Yes, Grace?" the Electric-type asked.
"You still haven't told us what that thing is in your head."
The reminder, and the burst of laughter it sparked, did wonders to diffuse the built-up tension. Guess he really forgot to mention that detail, hah. Alright, at that point the kiddos had earned a closer look.
With a single, swift motion, Geiger yanked the cap off his head and tossed it towards the Zangoose, catching her off guard. And so did all the static that had accumulated in it, frizzling the Normal-type's fur all over her body; Grace herself too surprised to even immediately react as the Electivire explained, "That's just a cap with the symbol of the facility I lived in. Everyone that had responsibilities there had one of these, human and mon alike. This one was modified to fit my head better. Feel free to take a look, everyone. Just be careful with it."
Even besides the weird blue markings on the front, the white fabric of the cap was unnaturally well-weaved. It was flawless in a way nothing really tended to be, confusing the older kiddos as it changed hands. The blue parts were incomprehensible geometric shapes that most adults recognized as the fabled human writing, with a simpler symbol off to the side-a circle with three radial, widening arms coming off of it.
As much as Geiger appreciated the kiddos' reactions to his hat, there was one sight he could only shudder at. Shudder, before begrudgingly taking the bait, anyway, "...yes, Hawthorne?"
"Weren't you trapped there, Mr. Geiger?"
The question quieted the chit-chat, neither Autumn nor Geiger appreciating the swerve of direction towards that unpleasant topic. Still, it merited an answer even if just to be appropriately thorough, as messed up as it was. "In a way, I was, yes. I could only walk around in so much of the facility. I couldn't leave unattended, or for good. I wasn't truly free, and I can only imagine the horrible circumstances behind just where my egg originally came from. All those are true."
"How can you say that humans aren't evil then!?" Hawthorne screeched.
"In which relevant ways does my plight back at that facility differ from the human girl's current situation?"
The Espurr was taken aback at such a question, at its downright absurd gall. It was obviously different in so many ways, way too many to speak of, but there was one that stood out in particular, "If she just left, then we'd all be in danger!"
"From the perspective of humans overlooking me, exactly the same was true of me. I was incomparably stronger than them. I absolutely had the capacity to not just doom them in the abstract, but to single-handedly end their lives in the most violent way without them being able to do anything about it. I had to be contained; I had to be controlled."
Not a topic that ever grew any more comfortable to think about, even with the understanding of systemic reasons things were this way.
"They couldn't give me all the freedom I wanted, or even all the freedom they wanted, but on an individual level, they treated me as well as they were capable of. They trusted me, and I returned the favor. I don't know if they ended up thinking of me as a full-on equal, but that's how it felt much of the time—up to and including me in their entertainment or discussions even with me unable to speak their language, only listen."
Geiger paused for a while to steady his breath, following up shortly after.
"The only reason I'm even here is because they broke their rules. The facility eventually shut down, and I was supposed to be moved somewhere else, away from them all, and they covertly let me free. It's oh-so-easy to assume humans are uniquely evil and that none of us could ever stoop to their level. All that does is a disservice to them, and a disservice to us."
Once more, heavy silence. The younger kids stared, confused, as the older ones pondered. Geiger's description was evocative for most of the audience—but there remained one key detail that had gotten overlooked in all the deep discussion.
"Hmm? Grace, right?"
"Yeah—how do humans look like? They've got to be small if so many of them couldn't stop you," the Zangoose asked.
"Did—did I end up never going over that?"
"^Spirited discussion makes us overlook simple things like that, ha,^" Autumn chuckled.
"That it does, Autumn, that it does. Now, as for humans as living beings..."
As Geiger got to describing humans—a topic Autumn could actually contribute to—she took a sweeping look over their audience. Many of the little ones were confused or sleepy, both outcomes very understandable.
But, again, not all.
Most of the older kids were paying close attention. Concerned, curious, distraught, empathetic towards so many parties. Wishing good things towards the one human that all this was sparked by. She couldn't quite spot Reya anywhere, but maybe Lariat just got done with his scouting duties ahead of time and picked her up.
Anne stared at the couple bags in the corner for a hot minute, colorful plastic full of assorted items refusing to make itself any clearer for her aching mind. She recognized the coat that lay on top of them as belonging to Mrs. Graham, and the title of the book Cypress had been reading tingled something deep inside her brain, but... did that mean what she thought it could mean?
Did Mrs. Graham give her some of her stuff and books? That much Anne wasn't even all that surprised by—the old librarian has always been great to her, but it still left so many questions. How did these end up here? Did Mrs. Graham know about this forest wonderland she ended up in? Did—did someone just steal these from Mrs. Graham?
So many questions, exactly nothing for answers.
It was all dumbfounding, but maybe inspecting the bags' contents would clarify things? Anne doubted, but it's not like she had much else to do while she waited for Aria's family.
That whole idea still made her uncertain. She wanted to trust Aria that she'd be alright and her kids would end up liking her, but… her experiences with peers her age hadn't been the most positive. Add to that the unavoidable personality clash between herself and anyone more outgoing than her—which was basically everyone—and it felt like a disaster in the making. And by disaster, she meant just very awkward.
Hopefully.
Let's just check these bags out…
Anne still didn't feel very strong, and the progressively returning aching in her left arm didn't help one bit. Still—a night and day difference compared to the exhaustion of yesterday. Enough so to at least let sit at the bed's edge on her own. Not before giving Ember a bit more affection, to help her power through the terrible vastness of a few minutes without her human beside her. Alright, ready, let's—
The sheer confusion in her mind had pushed the awareness of the Mismagius in the room out of her immediate attention—until now. His sudden reappearance before her made her jump a bit. She remembered something about them feeding on emotions, and the faint flicker of the red gem on Cypress' front appeared to confirm that. Anne didn't notice that, though, focusing on his confused expression and a few more non-magical whispers.
Could he understand her? Anne didn't know, but there was no hurt in giving it a stab.
"~I-I just wanna take a look at the—at the bags,~" she explained. She had no idea whether it was her words or the pointing gesture accompanying them, but the ghost seemed to get the gist. He continued his ghostly mumbles, glancing back and forth between the girl and her possessions. A few moments later, the request was granted, making him float off to the side. "~Th-thank you, Mr. Cypress.~"
A deep nod of his brimmed head, warm reassurance inside her. Let's try—
Ow, ow, ow.
Her legs weren't quite as weak as she expected them to be, but they weren't much better either. Even just standing still had them threatening to buckle underneath her, making her wince. As Anne clenched her eyes, she caught a brief glimpse of the Mismagius floating before her again, expecting to be ushered right back into the protective cocoon of her bedding.
And not for the ghost to give her a hand.
She leaned her weight on him before she could even force out a thanks; the bringer of curses comfortable with the load she was putting on him. There was some pleading in the utterances that followed—or at least, that's how they felt to Anne. They wouldn't be fulfilled in either case, not with her curiosity shining even brighter than any aching. She was used to pain, for better or worse—enough to not let it discourage her from making the most of her daily life.
Cypress, however, wanted to help on that front as well.
The ghost's eyes closed as his other tendril reached up to touch his side, the chant that accompanied the gesture putting her on edge. Before she could ask what he was doing, she felt a jolt on the side of her body, akin to a large pinprick. It didn't hurt at all—more than that; it did the opposite of hurting. The imaginary wound felt like it outright sucked up the pain from the surrounding area, strength returning to Anne's body with every breath.
As relieved as she was, a glance at Cypress made it clear the pain didn't just disappear into the aether. There was a gleaming gash where he'd touched his body, his crooked expression wincing before finally easing out and refocusing on her once more. Before she could worry about him being alright, the gash began to fade away, and he nodded towards the bags once more.
With the Mismagius' constant support, Anne could finally get moving, one hard-earned step at a time. Each one came easier, each one hurt less—especially with the ghost's aid. Progress felt good, good enough to eclipse everything else, hunger included.
Just like she was used to.
With her not having a spare hand to reach in, the coat-covered bag was off-limits. The items she could make out in the other bag were promising, though. Paper, notebooks, an entire pile of pens, even her pencil case! She was quite sure these were all the drawing supplies she had; everything she'd ever scrounged up. Just… sitting here, safely bagged. Relief wasn't a substitute for answers, but it was still appreciated all the same. Though, a better look still wouldn't hurt either. Maybe she could...
Her good hand waved to catch the Mismagius' attention, wiggling in his grasp. Its fingers curled to first point at him, then at her busted arm, and finally made a grabbing gesture and pointed at the bags. Hopefully not too difficult to grasp, and not too painful for her in execution. She hurt, yes, but she could carry a couple of bags over—she was stronger than just some aching.
Ignore the cast on her left arm, ignore the unfamiliar territory.
Cypress gave that idea approximately two seconds of consideration before rejecting it, turning his entire body side to side together with some more murmurs. Though, that didn't mean he had no idea of his own—one he wouldn't waste time even trying to explain, immediately proceeding with it instead.
His purple body half guided, half dragged her toward the entry of the room, taking her off guard. The same was true of her good hand being moved up towards the flaps of the entrance—and then being let go. Before Anne knew it, she was left to hold on to the thick canvas while the Mismagius went on his merry way; her shaking growing by the moment. To his credit, a glance over her shoulder answered her confusion right away. His spectral body visibly strained and stretched as he moved the bags towards her bed by himself, one at a time.
Probably a better idea, yeah. She wished she could say it made her feel any better, but it didn't.
Yet another person being forced to do stuff for her and help her out...
Trying to distract herself from that unpleasant topic, Anne turned her attention over towards the entrance she was holding onto for dear life. Her own chattering teeth were the loudest thing she could hear, any sounds coming from the other room almost completely muffled out. Maybe she really was just somewhere on her own? Either way, a small peek wouldn't hurt...
Oh nope, there were way more beings in here than just her and Cypress.
Most of her attention fell upon the small group chatting amongst themselves on the bed off to the left. One of the Ralts-Kirlia pair must've been Cadence and the other Bell, but Anne had absolutely no idea which was which. No idea, and not a whole ton of spare brainpower to ponder on that—not with the Gligar also being there.
School classes spared no time in warning them about the dangers of the feral mons. As far as their climate went, Gligar were way up there in terms of threat they posed to hikers. Anne may have known way better than to give in to scaremongering like that, especially after her interactions with Aria, but the subconscious fear was still there, making her shake even more—
*squeak!*
The high-pitched sound coming from just off to her side made Anne jump, heart rate spiking as she glanced down at its source. She expected to see danger, but not the teeny Ralts, now on her side of the room's entrance. "~Wh-wha!~" she gasped, startled, any balance she may have had evaporating immediately.
As Anne tried to keep herself upright, a stronger yank on the canvas flap tore through the thread attaching it to the doorframe, to the tune of her cut-off gasp. Within moments, she was falling backwards, head right on the collision course with the floor—and then, suddenly, she stopped.
Her body was frozen in midair, the makeshift door she clung onto obscuring her view of the situation. The comfortable tingling that surrounded her body gave her a good idea of what had just happened, but her racing mind had to take its time piecing it all together. Panic at her sudden fall. Embarrassment at making a scene. Worry of having damaged her shelter.
None of them helped any as she was moved through the air, mind tying itself into knots by the moment. Too paralyzed to consider letting go of the brown flap in her hand, even after she ended up safe and sound on her bed again.
Let's just lay down and forget about this, just be sorry for making all that scene and hope she could eventually apologize to someone for—
"^Anne, are you alright!?^" a tween girl's voice called out, no less clear than Aria's earlier.
Anne just wanted to shrivel up. "~I-I am, I'm—I'm sorry...~"
It was the only thing Anne's mind could even vocalize, be it to itself or externally; the sheer muck at everything she'd just done eclipsing all other thought or sensation. All the pain, all the aching, all the discomfort, all paled in comparison. She messed up bad and she should feel awful about it, just like about everything else about her—
Suddenly, a small, warm, tingly hug, right on her covered torso.
Anne froze at that sensation, not knowing how to process it in the heat of the moment. Maybe they were just reaching to grab the door she'd accidentally torn off, and this pose was an accident. Maybe they just slipped. After all, she had no idea who it was or why would they even—
"^Anne, Anne, it's okay, I promise!^" the voice spoke again, going from concerned to downright pleading.
Anne had no idea whether what they were saying was right, or had any clue about what she should do now. All she managed to do was force herself to unclench the hand gripping the flap and let it be taken away, the rest of her body remaining frozen. She heard something that sounded like that girl's voice speak up with her physical ears. It made her recoil further into her bedding and hope that it wouldn't be followed with any well-deserved scolding.
And indeed, it wasn't.
Something even smaller and equally tingly moved to hug her right arm, while a larger, colder presence wrapped its arms around her left side. The sensation of firm chitin on her bare skin made her jump—only a bit, though, especially as her mind unwrapped itself from the suffocating panic threatening to smother it whole. Bit by bit, her thoughts made headway in processing her immediate surroundings.
"^It's okay Anne, it's okay, you didn't do anything wrong!^" the voice continued. It was as direct of a reassurance as she could ever get, and yet it still felt like not enough. Like the speaker was just taking pity on her.
Each thought toward that muck had the two huggers on her front and right side hold her closer. Their small, warm bodies grew more comfortable by the moment, their hugs continued to feel undeserved.
"~I-I shouldn't,~" Anne mumbled.
"^It's just a door, you did nothing bad Anne! Please, nobody is angry at you, Anne...^" the tween voice kept going, having gone from pleading to distraught. It made Anne feel even worse even as her brain tried its hardest to mull through what she was actually hearing. Was it alright, was it really alright? Of course someone would be angry at her after that, she damaged the place. Probably startled someone too. She should've just stayed where she was—
"^Nooooo, nobody is angry at you, I mean it Anne! Nurse Maple wants to check up on you and take a look at your arm, a-and Mr. Cypress is just worried about you. I-I mean it Anne, please believe me...^"
Anne's brain took its time churning through that, right hand shaking after letting go of her impromptu blanket. In no time, it was grabbed by the warm, tingly presence hugging her front. The magical touch immediately stimulated more blood flow, and returned some of the sensation. D-did that voice mean it? Were things really alright?
"^Yeah, everything's okay Anne, I mean it! We—we're sorry for startling you like that—^"
"~B-but you d-d-didn't do anything wrong,~" Anne immediately tried to reassure.
"^And neither did you!^"
The tingly warmth finally made her act and return that hold. Her fingers wrapped around a soft torso, its heartbeat rapid and calming as the other side's hug tightened.
"^Please?^"
The last addition broke Anne's mental dam. Her arm reached up to embrace the one that had been hugging her all along, gently pressing them to her front. She heard them gasp quietly, before all the surrounding affection grew even tighter. It felt nice. It felt so much nicer than Anne thought she deserved to feel after a mess up like that... And yet; it was still there all the same, eager to comfort her.
"^A-are you feeling better Anne?^" the voice asked, relieved.
"~I-I think so, yeah...~"
"^Yay! Do you want me to help take this flap away? Nurse Maple told me she'll stitch it back together and that it's no big deal.^"
"~O-okay. S-still, I'm sorry for damaging it...~"
"^But you really shouldn't be! Hold on, lemme...^"
Anne felt the comforting presence she'd been hugging wriggle out of her embrace and slide off her; skin tingling wherever they touched. Moments later, the entire flap covering her body began to shimmer. It was first lifted upwards by about an inch, before shooting off to the side and falling onto the floor in a heap.
Her eyes needed a moment to adjust to light, panicked gaze jumping between everyone around her the moment it could focus again. Cypress right above her, visibly relieved. A Gligar to her left, one pincer laying flat on her left shoulder, their expression brightening quickly. To her right, right beside Ember, a Ralts and a Kirlia next to each other. The latter waved excitedly at her, "^Hi! I'm Cadence, and this is Bell and Elric! Are you feeling better, Anne?^"
It was hard not to feel better with three kids all hugging her, no matter their species. Doubly so when they were trying to soothe her overeager self-loathing. Her mental murk wasn't quite gone, the thoughts about how she shouldn't have panicked like that were still alive and well. At the moment, though, the friendly faces around her took priority, especially with the eagerness of Cadence's voice.
"~I'm—I'm better now, I think. Th-thank you so much Cadence, sorry for p-panicking like that...~"
Before Anne could finish that thought, another burst of affection came from around her. She would be smothered in it today no matter what her stinky brain thought of that, and she best get used to it quickly. "^I mean it Anne, it's really all good! Do you need help with sitting up? Nurse Maple still needs to look at your arm.^"
"~Oh no no, I th-think I can do it myself, lemme...~"
It was all the cue everyone around her needed to let go for a moment, freeing enough space for the injured girl to sit up. The sight before her let her connect the name she heard Cadence throw around with an actual face—one of a relieved Leavanny. Maple sighed in relief at seeing her doing better, before pointing at her injured arm.
Anne twisted her body to the right, sticking her left arm as far out as she could manage. "~O-okay, is this enough?~" she asked. Before Cadence could even forward the question on, the Leavanny went ahead with her treatment. She honed in on a patch of exposed skin and reeled her arm back; the purple glow that enveloped its tip bringing immediate worry—
Before she could act on it, though, it was already too late. The Poison Jab struck true, immediately undoing the built up aching, the paralytic warmth bringing relief. "~Oohhhhh… th-thank you, nurse.~"
The message was received with a curt bow, followed by a moment of hesitation. And then, moments after, one leafy arm reached up to pat her head, sending her squirming to the amusement of everyone else. It felt... really, really nice.
The same couldn't quite be said about the Leavanny proceeding to turn towards Cypress and do something that could have only been chewing him out, making him flinch a few times. By then, though, Anne's attention was already dragged away elsewhere.
"^Are you feeling better now, Anne?^" Cadence asked.
She was, she really, really was. Anne wanted to express the sheer relief Cadence's persistent affection had brought, making her arm twitch as if trying to hold the Kirlia tight. It stopped shortly after, the uncertainty over how it would be received giving her a pause. Should probably ask first, but shouldn't be a bother—
"^Anne?^"
The worry in the Cadence's voice had Anne looking at her, eyes locking with hers. She didn't know what she expected the fairy to do, but dispensing another hug was the obvious choice in hindsight. Bell followed in tow beside her, doubling up on the affection moments later. "^I don't want you to be worried, I'll tell you if you do something I don't like! And I love hugs, hehe. And so does Bell, right Bell?^"
"Yeah!"
Bell's voice couldn't have sounded any older than three years old or so. The precious sound immediately made Anne's good arm return the hug around the two little psychics and the bat—and check up on Ember, just in case. Still fast asleep, not even close to waking up.
She really must've been exhausted after what happened yesterday…
"~Okay, I'm just... not used to this. Thank you Cadence, a-and Bell, and Elric...~"
"^You're welcome Anne! I'm—I'm really glad to finally meet you! Oh, oh—what's Ember doing beside you?^" the Kirlia asked. Anne didn't expect to hear her resolute reassurance give way to uncertain giddiness, at least before it took another left turn towards curiosity once more.
Aria had told Anne her kids were excited to meet her, but she wasn't expecting that to be so... literally true. The hype was clear to sense in Cadence's voice, taking her aback. There was the question of how much she should tell the kiddos about her and Ember, but the basics wouldn't hurt. "~I—I'm glad to meet you three t-too! Aria had told me you were gonna visit. A-and Ember is my old friend, actually! I-I haven't seen her in so long, and Aria told me she was excited to finally see me again!"
Gasps from Cadence and Elric, followed by Bell's a few moments later. Giddy to hear about something their friend hadn't ever mentioned. "^Really!? That's so cool!^" Cadence squealed.
"~I-it is, it really is. I just hope my first impression after all this time won't be too bad. A-and that it wasn't too bad with you th-three...~"
Who was she kidding, it really was, good gods. Before Cadence could respond with anything, it was Elric that spoke first; the Kirlia intervened with the translation just in time. "—y did you freeze like that, Anne? With the door and all. You tore it by accident, right?"
"~I—y-yeah, I did, it's just...~" Anne paused, lost for words. How could she even explain any of this? Details would help, but they'd be probably very inappropriate for a trio of kids that didn't sound even close to ten years old. Not like she was much better on that front—her eleventh birthday was still a week away or so.
She felt more mature than that, at least. Whether it was for any good reasons, she doubted. Probably shouldn't tell them everything, or even most things... "~I'm—I'm not used to my mess-ups going unpunished.~"
"^But you didn't mess anything up, Anne!^"
"Who would punish you for that?"
Cadence's reassurance was welcome, but Elric's question made her wince. The answer was as straightforward as it was monstrous, deep down. She didn't want to traumatize these kids, but… didn't want to lie, either.
"~M-m-my parents...~"
Elric and Cadence were too stunned to respond right away. Their little bodies shook as Anne's conscience screamed at her for telling them that. What the fuck was she thinking? They wouldn't understand, and even if they would, they'd get messed up. Aria would be furious, and—
"But that's mean!" Bell cried out, words equally innocent and inarguable.
"~Y-yeah, my parents are mean...~" Anne admitted.
Two tight hugs from each side, Bell's trailing close behind. Followed soon after by another piece of his toddler wisdom, "My mom and dad aren't mean. Maybe they could be your mom and dad, too?"
"^Bell, that's not how that works...^" Cadence chided. The idea was silly, but Anne… Anne couldn't help but think upon hearing that. The offer was absurd, yes, of course it was, but... gods.
She might not have spent all that much time with Aria in the grand scheme of things, but she'd be lying if she said the Gardevoir didn't make her feel safe. Safer than anyone and anything ever since her grandma had passed, confident about everything ending up alright... It was just yet another impossibility, an absurd idea brought up by a toddler, but... but.
Anyway.
Everyone noticed the somber atmosphere filling the room, but nobody knew how to deal with it. Elric eventually got an idea, though, a chittered giggle leaving him before he leaned in towards the Kirlia, "Oh, Cadence, didn't you mean to ask Anne about something~?"
The human herself was taken aback at that message, and especially at the stammers that left the Kirlia afterwards, "^Elric! C-C'mon, that's n-not the time!^"
"~Not the time for what?~" Anne asked, and Cadence almost combusted in embarrassment. A red blush took over her cheeks as she looked away, much to the other girl's surprise. Did—did she do something wrong? No, no, she didn't, but if not, then what was happening?
What was she so shy about?
"^N-nothing! Forget about it, it's fine—^"
"C'mon Cadence, you were so excited!" the Gligar teased.
"^Elric! She doesn't need me being a baby right now!^"
"~What were you excited about, Cadence?~" Anne asked. Critical hit, even more fluster sprouting on the Kirlia's cheeks. A part of the human girl worried whether she'd done something wrong again, but the rest of her wanted to comfort the smaller, if not necessarily younger, girl. She held Bell and Cadence to her front, the former squirming as the latter threatened to catch on fire in embarrassment.
"Teehee, she wants you to—" Elric spoke; the translation yanked out from underneath him before he could finish the sentence. The rest of his message was delivered in hisses and clicks, the abrupt shift making Anne jump. It was sudden, but also quite rude, especially since she still didn't have any idea about what was going on in here, or why Cadence was so skittish about any of this.
Guess it was time for her to figure the other girl out.
"~Cadence? I didn't hear what Elric said there. Did you want me to... do something?~"
"^N-no, no, it's just—it's just something childish, don't worry about it...^"
"~You helped me out of that bout of panic; I'd love to do something in return for you! E-even if I don't have much a-and can't do almost anything in comparison...~"
"^But that's not true, you can draw very nice—*eep!*^" Cadence reassured before her hands snapped over to cover her mouth at the accidental slip up. Beside her, Elric broke into amused, chittering laughter. If the Kirlia wasn't so focused on being embarrassed, she would've given him a stink eye.
"~Oh? Do you want me to draw you Cadence?~" If the fairy freezing up was anything to go by, Anne had just nailed it, making her break into soft laughter. Seeing the reassuring and affectionate Kirlia be reduced to a blushing, squirmy mess was adorable—not to mention funny. "~Oh Cadence, I-I'd love to draw you! It'd be my pleasure!~"
A quiet gasp of surprised relief.
The fairy turned to look up at her with borderline puppy eyes from her vantage point on top of her thigh. They weren't needed to get what she wanted, but they helped warm Anne's heart even further. "^R-really?^" Cadence asked, awestruck.
"~Yeah, of course! I just need some pens and paper... actually, I could use colored pens for this! Need my pencil case and a clean page, I think they're in that bag over there—~"
Before Anne could even point out which bag she meant, it was already being dragged over to her. The bright glow of Cadence's Psychic kept popping on various objects around the bag, as if wanting to move them all out but unsure which to grab in specific. It was adorable, enough so for Anne to give Cadence another tight hug, much to the latter's embarrassed squeak. "~Thank you! I think I can reach in and take what I need myself now. And you could get in the pose you want me to draw you in maybe?~"
"^EEEEEEEE YES YES YES YES THANK YOU THANK YOU ANNE!^"
Cadence's mental voice suddenly going to max volume made Anne wince, but she couldn't linger on that discomfort for long. The Kirlia bounced off from her lap and struck a pose while the human dug through the pile of items, making mental notes of everything she found. Stationery, paper, a lot of whatever scraps of clothing she left behind at home. Underwear and socks and... period products.
Guess—guess she would need those eventually, but still, *eww*.
The ickiness of having to think about her own biology didn't last long, thankfully. Not once she had excavated the small stack of pages from the assorted items and dropped off on top of the bedding. It was flanked moments later by her pencil case, catching the attention of Bell in particular.
Now just to find the right scrap of paper to scribble on, ha.
"^Oh oh oh oh what are those Anne!?^" Cadence squealed, hyped about every last one of Anne's magical human items.
Right, figures nobody here would know the specifics.
"~This is paper! It's like... I think it's made of wood but just really, really really thin and can nicely bend and be drawn on. I have a lot of loose pages here, take a look!~" Anne explained as she passed the topmost page over to the Kirlia, Elric helping himself out to one right afterwards as well. The tweens toyed around with the new and exciting material as Anne pilfered through the stack in search of the right piece of canvas.
As he searched, Cadence's worried voice interrupted her, "^Oh A-Anne, what—what are these...^"
Oh shoot, gave her one of the spooky ones, didn't she?
"~I'm—I'm so sorry Cadence, here, try this one, this one is just... some practice I was doing...~"
"^B-but why are they bleeding?^"
Anne soon replaced the page of sketches with a different one, letting her properly examine what had unsettled the fairy. There wasn't anything too disturbing in there—not by a human metric, at least. Still, unnerving. A few practice sketches of how blood would flow down a finger from a small pinprick. Rough trace of her inspiration for these drawings. A half-complete sketch of a crown of thorns, discarded once it had grown too messy.
"~I was—I was just trying to draw how flowing blood would look like. There's like—there's one artwork I can show in a bit that really inspired me with these, e-even if they're all really creepy. I-I don't like actual blood either, don't worry, I just think you can do cool stuff with it in art. A-and it made me experiment a lot...~"
With every word, the creeping feeling of trying to justify drawing messed up stuff only grew. Her eyes soon fixated on a recently dredged up empty page, self conscious filling her rattled body. Cadence was still shaking off the unnerving sight, even if she really wanted to comfort Anne as well. Elric didn't know what was wrong with the sight of a little blood, left confused by the whole situation. All that left Bell to deal with the situation.
And deal with it he did, mumbling as he splatted on Anne's front, "Don't be sad, Anne. Nothing bad happened!" He might not have had the vocabulary to reassure others as effectively as his mom and sister did, but the will was definitely there. His teeny head craned up to look at her once he'd finished delivering his comforts, trying to see if they worked with all his senses. And work they did, though mostly through the means of sheer cuteness.
No matter the exact mechanism of function, the gesture was appreciated all the same. "~Thank you Bell, I-I needed to hear that.~"
"Okay! *Gasp!* I didn't ask! Can we be friends?" the Ralts asked. The entire room erupted into giggles of various intensity, everyone but Bell amused at his wonderfully innocent question. The tyke himself just looked around in confusion, squeaked out "What?" only fueling the surrounding laughter.
"~Yes, yes we can, Bell! W-we can all be friends!~"
"Yaaaaaay! Thank you, Anne!"
Another splatted hug, just as nice and warm.
Right as the human girl was about to start her handiwork, the affection made her decide to delay it just that bit more. She put the pencil down, taking Bell aback before using that opening to counter attack the lil' Ralts. Her gentle scratches on the side of his head were super effective, his entire teeny body wriggling happily under that magical influence. His hands latched onto her own and held it close for a while afterwards as they both calmed down, giggles taking their time to subside.
Elric cackled as Bell finally let go of her hand—though he wasn't even considering leaving her lap. She couldn't blame him—it's not like she wanted him to leave, either. Just had to grab the pencil and she could get to sketching.
...oh?
Her eyes scanned the surrounding bedding, trying to spot the soft pencil she loved sketching with. It… seemed to have disappeared somewhere. Oh well, had to pull another one out of her pencil case—hey!
The louder giggle beside her finally clued the human into what was going on. Elric was holding both her chosen pencil and the rest of the pencil case in his pincer and tail, respectively, just barely within reach. Anne was unsure how to react, not wanting to ascribe malice, but also too spooked to act with his stinger and all.
"Elric, give those back!" Bell squeaked before trying to retrieve the items himself. His bluish aura enveloped the pencil—before it was yanked out of it. His arms kept reaching towards where his psychics surged, each time for naught. The Gligar looked very amused, this was clearly play, so might as well—
Anne's attempt to grab the pencil case had the tail and its stinger slide away so fast it was little more than a blur, startling her. By the time Elric had stopped, he was already latched onto a support at the edge of their room, taunting the rest of the group by sticking out his tongue.
It was funny, yes, but Cadence could tell that it had missed the mark with Anne. "^Elric—^"
"Elric, give back!" Bell cried out.
Once more, the pencil was yanked out of the little psychic's mental grasp; once more the bat followed it by scampering up the wall, ending up suspended under the ceiling. Neither of the boys showed any signs of stopping, but Anne was still a bit rattled, and Cadence realize they were taking it all too far again. "^Elric, please stop!^"
"But we're just play—"
Cypress broke his previous silence, catching the attention of most of the room and making Cadence fix the link between him and Anne she only now realized was missing. A glance at the ghost showed him to be perusing the books in the other bag, a glimpse at their covers making the human gasp in excitement.
Did Mrs. Graham give her that book about a fantasy mon civilization after all? That would've been so cool. Anne loved that one and read so much of it that its back had started to give out. She always worried that Mrs. Graham would be mad at her for damaging it.
"Give it back!" Bell tried his luck once more, even more forcefully than before. The bat only barely managed to keep a hold of the precious piece of treasure—and then, not anymore.
*crack!*
The loud sound plunged the room into silence as the pencil snapped in half at the sudden force; both pieces immediately getting dropped onto the carpet. "^Elric!^", Cadence called out, upset.
If the Gligar hadn't already been distraught at the sight, the Kirlia's shout would've made him. But he was; now even more so. His body language shrunk as he let go of the pencil case, some of its contents splatting out onto the floor upon impact. "I-I'm sorry, I-I-I j-just got carried away with it, I—"
"^You broke it!^"
"I'm sorry, I'm—"
"~Hey, hey, it's okay.~" Anne reassured, snapping the kids out of their bickering before they could grow any more incensed. She was still a bit unnerved, wasn't happy that one of her best pencils had some lifespan taken out of it, but ultimately nothing bad really happened. Definitely not bad enough to justify anyone being mad at anyone else.
Other than her, at least.
"~D-don't worry Elric, I can fix it easily and even use it broken like that. It's not a big deal. J-just... c-could you not yank these away in the future?~"
The human's comforting side ended up on top amidst the mental slurry of thinking about how to react to Elric's shenanigans. She wasn't a fan, and had hopefully conveyed that, even if the last thing she wanted to do was to make the Gligar feel bad for any of it.
"O-okay. I'm sorry, I-I just did it because it's f-fun with Bell—"
"It isn't! It's mean!" the Ralts denied.
Elric really didn't need that double whammy.
The whimper he let out was so close to ultrasound that most gathered only barely heard it. And while Cadence agreed her playmate needed a dose of reality like this, he was still her close friend, and he was hurting. She wanted to help, and directly at that. Her eyes and body became surrounded by a pink sheen before she hovered in the air. Psychic flight took her to her friend underneath the ceiling, right into her arm's reach.
"Not fair, I wanna hug Elric too!"
Despite his offense just moments prior, the lil' Ralts couldn't ever resist being affectionate. His sister giggled at his silliness, much to his confusion. Cadence's glow expanded to cover the bat as well before she levitated both of them down onto the edge of the bed, right in front of the human.
Bell acted in the only way he could—namely, by scrambling ahead and squirming in between his sister and friend, his teeny body not coming close to fully embracing either of them. Anne, of course, followed in tow.
This felt nice.
It was so, so nice to be able to do something, anything at all, about people being mean to her, intentionally or otherwise. Back in Mylock, all that her speaking up would accomplish would be to make the offender double, triple down, anything but acknowledge they did something wrong. Anne wished she could say it was just boys, or just kids either, but no, it wasn't. It wasn't ever just any particular group. Maybe there was something wrong with that entire town, maybe with humans, deep down.
She didn't want to consider that idea, but... sheesh.
"I'm sorry, Anne..."
Apologies were mostly unheard of either, making Anne almost do a double take. "~I forgive you Elric, don't worry. Though~ if you could pick up all the stuff you dropped, that'd be nice.~"
"Of course!" Elric responded, immediately disentangling his hug and going to work, to the others' amusement. It was nice for people to be on the same page again and for the Gligar to hopefully knock off that type of 'play' for good. Cadence appreciated the former, and Bell the latter—and both were relieved that their human maybe-friend was feeling better now.
The Kirlia wasted no time bouncing back to her previous spot and resuming her pose, a touch of Psychic letting her maintain impressive levels of balance on just one leg. Her head and hand alike reached for the skies, beckoning as if asking the sun to stay in the sky for just a bit longer, or the moon for just a bit more of its soothing light.
Or at least, that's what Anne ended up reading into the pose once she got to sketching, half a pencil gliding over the page. Each stroke further solidified the fairy's anatomy, Anne's thoughts swirling around them as she put them to ink—or rather, graphite.
The weird, almost segmented legs, the short flaps of her skin dress, the two fingered hands. The piercing red eyes, imposing despite the Kirlia's visible excitement, expression, parted by her kin's signature hairdo. And, of course, the twin red horns their kin were so known for, the same color as her eyes.
The very same horns letting Cadence narrow down just what Anne was focusing on at that moment.
She couldn't deny it felt weird being eyed in that kind of detached, almost objectifying way. Then again, she supposed it made sense with the focus on wanting to capture how she looked. There were plenty of parts of her best friends that looked weird the moment she paid any attention to them—she shouldn't have been surprised that the same was true for her as well. Heck, it was true of Anne, too.
Her hands were so weird and stretched, her whole body was so boney, especially around the neck and shoulder area. It was almost creepy to look at! Okay, maybe she should shift focus to something else. She didn't want to think of Anne as weird, just like Anne didn't really think of her as weird either.
Or... well, not exactly 'weird'.
Cadence's focus let her know there was something in Anne's mind that was quite off; a tinge of fear deep inside, one currently obscured. Fear of her entire kin, the details too inexact for her to make out. The idea made her feel bad to even consider.
She already felt self conscious about a few of the other kids that got spooked by her from time to time. All she ever wanted to do in situations like that was to help them not be scared, but… mom was clear that Calm Minding or otherwise manipulating someone this way was mean. Even if to make them not scared of her.
Cadence tried her best to take that advice to heart. Even with Anne—she really, really wanted to help her more directly when she was feeling terrible about herself, but didn't. Because that would be mean. The Kirlia didn't want to be mean, she wanted people to like her. She wanted everybody to like her.
"~Alright, I think that's linework done. You can come here Cadence, I'll—I'll be coloring in now!~"
Cadence leaped over, covering the entire distance between herself and Anne in one jump. She had to resort to telekinesis to soften her landing, sure, but even with that caveat, her jump was impressive, right? Right?
Even if it was, it paled in comparison to what Anne had made there.
Cadence let out a quiet 'wow' as she scanned the linework, giddy at seeing herself captured so accurately like this. All the little details, even the ruffling on her hair or how her flaps laid against her thighs. It made anything she'd ever made look like the simplest and ugliest of baby drawings in comparison, the kinds that Bell's playmates would make in the sand. No way anything she ever made would be half as pretty—
"~Cadence?~"
"^Oh, sorry, I just got lost in thought. This is so pretty, Anne! How do you draw like this?^"
"~You mean, with a p-pencil?~"
"^Nooo, I mean this nice! It's so pretty...^"
The Kirlia acutely felt Anne's embarrassed chuckle as the girl filled in the outline with shades of green and red. And once she did, there was no coming back. "^I mean it Anne, it's so cool!^"
"~Noooo, it's really not, I'm still learning a lot—~"
"^But that doesn't make it any less cool!^"
"~But I'm not cool!~"
"^Of course you are! I wish I could draw anywhere like that, o-or do anything else this cool...^"
"~B-but you do, you're plenty cool Cadence, all the telekinesis and—~"
A gruff voice coming from the room's entrance ended the flustered exchange on the spot. The torn door had been fixed in the meantime, but everyone's focus rested instead on the Gallade peeking into the room. Right, Aria mentioned her brother would watch over them, and they went right ahead with it before he got here. Oops, hopefully he wouldn't be mad...
Similar thoughts cruised through the minds of everyone else, the sudden coolness immediately taking the newcomer aback. He shouldn't have been this forward. He took a deep breath, made sure everyone could hear him this time, and spoke up again, "^It's fine, it's fine, don't worry, I just thought Autumn told you all to wait until I got here.^"
"^She did, uncle, but Anne tripped and fell and I helped her and she got scared and—^"
"^Hey, hey, I meant it, Cadence. It's really fine,^" the Gallade reassured.
Aria would know what to say to comfort all the little ones—all he could do was stumble and hope he could accomplish a fraction of that. Still, he had to try, especially with Anne being clearly as unnerved by him as she was. It left him feeling self conscious as all hell, but it wasn't the time for that. It was time for keeping composure and being the guardian the kiddos needed.
Marco's imposing size, relative to everyone else in the room, made Anne shrink as he walked over. He kneeled beside the bedding's edge to lessen that disparity, only enough of his body peeking up to be closer to everyone's eye level. Before he would do anything else, though, it was time to introduce himself to the one girl he was here for, in as affable a way as he could manage, "^Hey Anne, my name's Marco. My sister asked me to look after you all, though from what I can see you've all been behaving well enough.^"
"Well enough is certainly the appropriate descriptor here…"
Cypress's aside made the Gallade chuckle and the two older kids grumble a bit, but Anne was still uncertain. She wanted to trust the freshly introduced Marco, but his stone-like expression and somewhat ambiguous tone left her conflicted, nodding weakly at his introduction.
It worked away at his confidence about being well-suited for any of this. Self-consciousness about never being able to stack up to his sister soared once more, almost making him give up there and then—no, hell no, Anne needed him. He could do this, just had to take a deep breath and... be honest. "^I'm... not as good at being warm as Aria is, and I'm sorry for that. Still, I want you to feel as welcome here as can be, Anne, especially after everything you've been through. Would you... would you want a hug?^" he asked.
Marco's words, and the contrast between them and his stern appearance, took Anne aback in the best way. Any preexisting worries soon turned into much warmer, much kinder compassion. The girl figured that not everyone would be equally good at being warm, even if they were trying their best.
Moment by moment, the imposing knight felt more and more like Aria's next of kin.
"~I-I'd love a hug, thank you, Mr. Marco.~"
"Yay, hugs!"
Yay hugs indeed Bell, yay hugs indeed.
The resulting scramble to get everyone in on the embrace was a bit awkward, but no less heartfelt because of that. All the affection was really getting to Anne, the worries' grip growing weaker by the moment. Ember was safe and still snoozing right next to her; Aria and her family were really nice to her and already felt like friends; they were both safe in here. Her appreciation of this village in the middle of the woods only grew by the moment, as did the deep relief in her body at being able to stay here for good.
Even if he wasn't anywhere near as good at this as his sister, the sheer proximity made Marco overhear Anne's relief. He had to use up his entire composure not to wince in response. He knew the rest of his family were doing everything in their power to ensure that would come to pass, but... the uncertainty still hurt, and it hurt deeply.
The things he'd seen inflicted on her, by fate, by her own damnable parents, even by the Elders through their words. No matter what these old coots thought was appropriate for Anne, he wouldn't let her be hurt ever again—
"^Uncle Marco?^"
"^Oh, sorry Cadence, I was just thinking about something, it's all good.^"
It wasn't, but thankfully he knew how to keep his thoughts secure from Cadence and Bell. His niece wasn't convinced, though. Even if she didn't know what he was thinking about, his feelings were an open book, worries palpable to the lil' fairy. She was about to ask what was wrong before Marco redirected the discussion somewhere else, spotting an interesting piece of art in the corner of his eye. "^Heh, convinced Anne to draw you, eh Cadence?^"
"~N-naw, I-I didn't need c-convincing. Cadence r-really helped me out earlier, and I wanted to pay it back, a-and I love drawing people.~"
"^That's really sweet of you both,^" the Gallade smiled.
"~Thanks Mr. Marco...~"
"^It's nothing, uncleeeee—^"
"^I'd say it's more than nothing if Anne repaid you like that, hah.^"
Marco's response flustered both girls. He chuckled at their silliness, letting go of the hug and ruffling their heads. Cadence's excited squirming and Anne's light flinch may have been very different reactions, but the human soon eased out as well, especially as he played up more of the psychic tingling.
Soon after, though, something rather unusual caught Marco's eye.
"^That's... a rather worrying drawing. Is everything okay Anne?^"
The human girl only needed a brief glimpse to figure out Marco was referring to the same sketches that had unnerved Cadence, making her grumble. She figured she might as well explain what had inspired the sketches, and how they really weren't anything all that bad. "~No, no, I promise, it's just art. H-here, lemme show you wh-where I got these ideas from, I know they're creepy but they're also cool—~"
Letting go of everyone around, Anne reached over across Ember's sleeping body to the book she'd brought with herself. She didn't know what was the intended purpose of the card she used as a bookmark—all that mattered was that the art on it had fueled her experimentation towards more morbid art, and the improvements in anatomy that followed.
"~Here, th-this drawing inspired me.~"
Aside from bits of black squiggles on a white background—the fabled human writing—most of the rectangular card was taken over by a central artwork. It was almost all black, with a single pale bald human head in the middle.
His hands covered most of his face, except for one quivering eye, staring directly at the viewer. Scratch marks trailed from the tip of his every finger. There wasn't much blood, but it was enough to stain his fingers and some of his hands, and this was only the beginning. At the top of his head rested a single wavey, purplish tendril, two reddish pinpricks piercing the darkness immediately behind him.
The artwork was impactful enough, but then it somehow got even better once Anne tilted the card up and down. The reflective, colorful layer on top of the black background came together to show an outline of a Mismagius right behind the central figure. Followed by several more in the darkness, all with their mouths open as if laughing.
Or chanting.
"How does it do that!?"
"~I don't know Elric, b-b-but it's cool, right?~"
"^It's really morbid, that's for sure. I think you'll like this, Cypress.^" Marco commented.
The ghost wasted no time floating over to the rest of the group. His curiosity about the small card in the human's hand overcame his creeping exhaustion, at least in the moment. For a moment, Anne worried the Mismagius would end up taking it the wrong way, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. "Oh, morbid, fearful, grisly. I love it. Wonder what all these… scribbles around it are supposed to mean. Some sort of description, perhaps…?"
"~Oh, those, I'm... not sure in all honesty. I think it's for a game, but I don't know what any of it means. I only have this card because Mrs. Graham found it in her library after some older kids left a mess behind themselves. I can—I can read the text out, if you want?~"
"I would like that, yes…"
"~Alright, at the top it says 'Duress', then 'Sorcery' there, then 'Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card.'. And in italics, 'Each syllable unravels a bit more of your mind.'~"
Absolutely nobody in the room was any less confused after Anne's lecture than before it, and that extended to the human herself. Hopefully, none of what she'd just read would be interpreted the wrong way.
"^What is 'italics'?^" Cadence asked, dumbstruck.
*woof!*
The bark coming over from the room's entrance successfully derailed all the gathered trains of thought. The Riolu that awaited them might have been nowhere near as weird as the human-made card, but her presence here was almost as confusing.
"Hi Reya!" Bell squeaked at the newcomer.
"^Reya? What are you doing here?^" Marco asked with concern.
*woof, woof!*
"^Reya, you were supposed to stay with Jovan and Pearl, they'll be worried about you...^"
*woof, woof woof?*
"^*Sigh*... yes, you can stay and play with Bell.^"
The Gallade knew better than to try steering the living torrent of enthusiasm and wagging that was the lil' Riolu away towards where she ought to be. All it'd do was buy them a bit more time before she would circle back around and come back here again. She really liked her best friend, and there was no living force that would stop her from playing with him. Not even adults and their rules.
Especially not adults and their rules.
He and Aria should take a page out of that steadfastness, ha.
Yep, it was Pain Split! Fun fact about that moment, the original draft didn't have it, but after one of my beta readers brought something like that being reasonable I just had to add it in, makes for a really sweet interaction.
Yep, it was Pain Split! Fun fact about that moment, the original draft didn't have it, but after one of my beta readers brought something like that being reasonable I just had to add it in, makes for a really sweet interaction.
are Held items like the Heal Ribbon or Healing Looplet a thing in this?
cause i'm imagining that being used with those that know Pain Split, in order for the user to recover faster and use the move again
![From the Vast [Pokémon OC]](/data/threadmark-index-icons/l/69/69870.jpg?1685646990){kind=icon}
