#ok THIS is the longest chapter

[rox-of-iu]

ayoo guess who finally sat down and caught up with cultivate B)

is me. so you know what that means.

spoiler warning for cultivate ch 30-37

there was actually.... more things i wanted to draw but I already did so many I had to physically restrain myself hfsjkkdh anyway yes can you tell i love this fic very much

yet once again. cultivate by the wonderful @neonghostcat

[myokk]

before it felt like a sin, ch. 2

ch.1

pairing: Sebastian Sallow x f!MC

word count: 6900

summary: Eloise never wanted to be different.

And yet, her differences are what have defined her life up until this point: growing up as a squib in one of the most prominent wizarding families, being exiled to muggle society, and then attending Hogwarts at the age of sixteen.

She finds herself thrust into the life she should have been prepared for from birth but was denied. As she navigates this new life and her new precarious position in her family, she must come to terms with the fact that maybe what she dreamed of her whole life isn't turning out how she ever expected it would.

a/n: here's chapter 2!! I just wanted to add these amazing beautiful drawings I look back on allllllll the time, by @kay9leo 🥹🫶 I LOVE YOU SO MUCH !!!!! 😙💓😙💓😙💓

I also want to reiterate that this fic is REALLY CANON DIVERGENT!!!!! I will NOT be following the game’s plot at all really with this (it really starts to diverge around chapter 6/7 maybe I don’t remember), and I don’t see Eloise as the game’s MC either.

Things were definitely not going as planned…not that Eloise had really known what to expect. Almost from the moment the portkey had brought her to meet Professor Fig, it seemed like everything had gone from bad to worse.

And it had all started out so well. He had handed her the provisional wand, and upon contact the magic coursing through her had been exhilarating. Finally Eloise was able to experience what she had dreamed of for so long. All too soon, however, she was putting the wand to use in ways she hadn’t imagined. Watching Mr. Ospric die had made her blood run cold but then she didn’t have the luxury of processing the shock as so much was happening at once and there was a dragon and death and then…another portkey? Before she knew it, she was fighting some sort of sentient guardians in some mysterious Gringott’s vault and there was concrete proof of the goblin uprising…it was simply too much to take in at once.

Now, she was standing in front of the ornate entrance to a room Professor Fig had called the “Great Hall”. He checked the pocketwatch inside his robes again, and muttered (more to himself than anything) “hopefully the sorting is still going on…” and then in a louder voice as he glanced at Eloise - “come along then, young Eloise!”

He peered more closely at her then, taking in her pale appearance and added in a kinder tone, “I’m sure you’re hungry. We’ll just head in and get you sorted into your house, and then an early night for the both of us. Don’t worry about the things that were lost in the attack - I’m sure one of your new housemates will share her things with you until they are replaced.”

With that, he pushed open the doors and ushered her in. In any normal circumstances, Eloise was sure that she would have been absolutely in awe of the breathtaking appearance that greeted her. It was simply…for lack of a better word, magical. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky above the castle, stars glimmering through the wispy purple clouds that covered the ceiling. There were thousands of candles floating in the air, illuminating the hall in a soft, golden light.

She couldn’t focus on any of that.

As soon as Fig opened the double doors, the low chatter that filled the Great Hall slowly faded as everyone turned to look at who had entered. Eloise froze. Hundreds of faces all staring at her, filled with curiosity.

Judging her.

They must all know that she was a squib and didn’t actually belong there.

No. She had proved her magical capabilities earlier that day, albeit in a different manner than she had expected. She deserved to be here just as much as they did.

The teacher at the far end of the hall was saying something and the students surrounding her had begun to whisper amongst themselves. There was so much buzzing in her ears that she didn’t hear a word that was said. Then, a familiar voice - how in the world could it still be familiar after so much time? - broke through the fog and her head turned sharply to the side at the noise.

“Eloise?”

Her gaze met familiar hazel eyes as Leo quickly stood up, taking a step towards her before he caught himself and stayed where he was. If the shock hadn’t already been apparent enough in his voice, one look at his expression told Eloise everything. He hadn’t had any idea that she had been accepted to Hogwarts. After she had been burned off of the family tree by her mother, it was like she didn’t exist anymore. Of course he hadn’t known that she would be there.

Leo had changed since Eloise last saw him. Of course he did, she thought to herself. It had been five years, after all. The same unruly black curls, same eyes. And yet…he almost seemed a stranger to her. He was taller, face more angular and defined than it had been at thirteen. Voice deeper. But, the expression of vulnerability and guilt written all over his face was something she recognized well. It was the same expression that he had had the last time he saw her, the face she sometimes saw before falling asleep. Just as quickly as it flashed across his face however, it was gone, hidden behind a stony exterior. His expression hardened and he sat down just as quickly as he had stood up, quickly averting his eyes. The people around him were looking between them curiously, but before Eloise could even begin to process this new situation, she felt a gentle push on her shoulder.

Professor Fig had been talking to her. “…the Sorting Hat. You need to go up and get sorted into your house.”

She looked up at him and realized that he was gesturing to the front of the Great Hall, vaguely recalling how Leo had described the sorting ceremony in his first letter home from Hogwarts. Everyone was still staring.

Well, let them, she thought. Eloise tossed her braid over her shoulder and lifted her head high, straightening her posture in the meantime. Did it matter if everyone was staring at her? She determined that if people were going to be whispering about her, speculating about her, she would give them something to talk about. About the girl who was admitted in her fifth-year at Hogwarts. The girl who surpassed them all.

Eloise shook off Professor Fig’s hand and walked to the raised platform, where there was a stool and a professor waiting with an ancient wizarding hat in her hands. As Eloise sat down, a semicircle of professors behind her and the tables of students in front of her, the hat was placed on top of her head. It was so formless and well-worn that the faded fabric slid over her eyes and she was surrounded by darkness.

Hmm…interesting, a voice purred in her mind. Eloise jumped at the sound. Don’t worry, dear. I won’t hurt you, although I suppose that not everyone would say that. My, my. You have had a rough go of things, haven’t you?

It’s not often I get to sort a new fifth-year student. She realized that it was the hat talking to her. Always much more interesting, you see. The first-years are always fun because I get to see their potential and who they will turn out to be, but even that can be fallible sometimes. People are shaped by their experiences.

An older student, though? Someone closer to the person they will be, with more experiences that have shaped them? Oh yes, these are the ones I like the most.

Wait, thought Eloise. You’ve sorted others like me before?

Oh yes. A pause. The voice purred in her ear. I can see the hunger for knowledge in you. But…Ravenclaw seems too simplistic. Behind the intelligence lies great ambition. A desire to prove yourself. Prove you belong. Yes, you may have had a rough life but you have managed to use what’s around you to your advantage. So, you must be a…

“SLYTHERIN!”

Eloise started at the sudden shout, realizing that it must have been out loud. As the hat was pulled off of her head, she could see the students at the table at the far end of the hall, the one Leo was at, break into furious whispers amongst each other. The teacher with her smiled kindly and pointed Eloise in their direction. “That’s the Slytherin table, dear. Once you sit down, we can begin eating.”

Eloise got up numbly and slowly walked towards the table. The whispering got louder as she neared it, and the students kept shooting her glances. Most seemed simply curious about the new, older student who had just been sorted into Slytherin, but others looked at her with hostility. Two students moved aside and motioned to her.

“Figured you would rather sit with us than the first years.”

The girl who spoke gave her an appraising look, taking in her muggle clothing and mussed-up hair. Eloise sat down next to her, nervously smoothing her hands over her skirt. Now that the sorting was over and she was actually interacting with her future classmates, she felt exhausted and completely unable to keep up her facade of nonchalance.

“I was going to ask if you like quidditch but…judging by your clothes -“

“Gods, Imelda,” came a drawling voice to Eloise’s left. “Can’t you give the poor girl a break? Not even one second at our table and you’re already trying to recruit her for the team.”

The boy who spoke gave an amused look to Imelda before turning to Eloise. “You’ll want to watch out for that one - if she even gets a whiff of the fact you can fly a broom, she’ll be out to recruit -“

“It’s not my fault!” Imelda interrupted forcefully, smacking her hands on the table and leaning over Eloise to talk to him. “Our best players all graduated last year and I have it cut out for me -“

“- you to the Slytherin team,” the boy concluded, ignoring Imelda’s heated protests. She sat back with a huff and crossed her arms. “Just ignore her. It’s what we’ve found works best. I’m Sebastian Sallow and this is Ominis Gaunt. Two people you will actually want to spend time with.”

He stuck his tongue out at Imelda as he held his hand out to Eloise. The boy across from them snickered quietly to himself as he listened to Imelda splutter in denial. Eloise shook Sebastian’s hand hesitantly. “Eloise. And actually,” she added, turning to Imelda, “I do know what quidditch is. Unfortunately, I’ve never ridden a broom though.”

That got Imelda going again, this time about how it was absolutely impossible that someone could know about the existence of quidditch without ever touching a broom. She seemed to be of the opinion that knowing of its existence meant an undying desire to learn how to play. “So you’re not a mudblood, then? Oh, who am I kidding - of course you’re not. We’re in Slytherin, after all. But how…”

Fortunately, food started appearing on the table before Imelda could finish her thought. It was enough to move her attention from Eloise as she began to pile different foods on her plate. To be quite honest, Eloise was relieved. She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to tell others about her circumstances, especially during this first night before she knew anyone. Would they think differently of her if they knew that she had been disowned from her family and presumed a squib?

Who was she kidding? Of course everyone would judge her for that. Besides, she knew she wanted to talk to Leo before revealing anything - maybe he could help her get a feel for how to approach the situation. If he wanted to even associate with her, that is. Once again, the thought passed through her mind that he could have changed through the years, just as she had. Their parents could be quite persuasive, and more often than not the two siblings had learned that it was easier to go along with them than against.

Leo had grown up with the adoration of their parents, showing magical prowess at the young age of three, when his favorite toys started following him around in a little parade. Eloise, on the other hand…as the years passed and she still wasn’t showing signs of anything at all, not even a measly show of a sneeze blowing her away, their parents started working to distance the siblings from each other. It hadn’t been very effective and yet…without her presence, she could see him moving on in his life. Just as she had tried to do.

A sharp poke to her side. Eloise jumped and looked at Sebastian. “Aren’t you going to eat anything? You need to grab the good things before they’re gone - it’s every man out for himself during the feasts.”

She looked around and, sure enough, the food on the plates was steadily going down. It all looked absolutely delicious - mountains of meat, bread, puddings…her stomach growled loudly as she took it all in. Eloise hurriedly started putting the closest food to her on her plate, reaching over to give herself a heaping serving of mashed potatoes on the side. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he replied after swallowing the food he was eating. “I’m sure you’ve had a long day if you arrived that late to the sorting ceremony. As you walked up to the stool, Ominis and I had a bet about which house you would be sorted into. I told him, after my first glance at you, that I could tell you’d be one of us, but unfortunately, he - “

“Hey! I can hear you,” Ominis said from across the table, leaning forward slightly. Eloise realized that he was blind - his eyes had no pupils at all. His gaze was unfocused but his head turned in her direction. He explained, “I could only sense your form as you walked down the Hall. And, for the record, before Sebastian can say otherwise, I said I could tell you would be a Slytherin. Will the blind jokes ever get old?”

“As long as I have breath in my body - hey!”

Ominis had thrown a roll at Sebastian’s head which, surprisingly, hit its mark.

“I might not be able to see what just happened, but I know that I’ve just won,” Ominis said smugly, returning his attention to his plate.

Eloise just sat there, not really knowing how to react. This time, it was Imelda’s turn to say, “just ignore them. Luckily, we won’t need to see much more of them as the feast’s finishing up.” She wrinkled her nose in Sebastian’s direction, a gesture that was swiftly returned. Even though she had just met the three of them, Eloise couldn’t help but feel happy just listening to their back-and-forth. She did feel a twinge of…something, though, knowing that she could have been with them since their first year, if only her magic had shown itself sooner.

Mountains of dessert started to replace the remnants of the dinner: plum pudding, lemon tarts, cakes…it was more dessert in one place than Eloise had ever seen in her life. None of the students held back at all trying to get their favorites, especially if it was at the expense of another. The atmosphere was electric - everyone was excited to be back among their friends and catch up over everything that had happened the summer before, and Eloise was happy to just be among them.

She reached for a lemon tart, and when she looked up, she saw that Leo was staring at her intently. He looked away as soon as they made eye contact, but the moment didn’t go past Imelda’s notice.

“Do you know him?” she asked, nodding towards Leo. Eloise flushed and looked down at her plate, nodding reluctantly. She knew as soon as they went through role call the next day, everyone would know that she was a Babbit.

“Yes, he’s…er -“

Eloise broke off, grabbing the nearest goblet of pumpkin juice and drinking the whole thing in one go. When she came up for air, Imelda was still looking at her expectantly. Eloise took a deep breath and tried continuing, but… “I’m not really sure,” is all that came out of her mouth.

Imelda furrowed her brow, clearly trying to figure out how that answer made sense and Eloise wasn’t about to clarify for her. Although it wouldn’t be long before it got out that they were siblings, she wasn’t sure how much she wanted these new acquaintances to know about her at the moment. She had had enough pitying looks to last her a lifetime, and she just knew that once they found out she had been a squib…

“Hey Sebastian,” a pretty blonde girl said, leaning towards the group. She shot Eloise a curious glance but quickly looked back at her target. “Where’s Anne? Is she still gone this year? What a pity…the two of you are…were…sewn together at the hip and I was looking forward to finally being the one who gets between the two of you this year.” At this, the girls surrounding her started tittering and she flipped her hair over her shoulder and pouted. “I thought there would be more of a challenge. But if you’re going to be the changed Sebastian again this year…”

“Who’s…” Eloise trailed off as she saw Sebastian’s expression. It had changed into something almost unrecognizable - at least, to someone who had only known him for all of forty-five minutes. He was looking at the girl with a mixture of barely-controlled fury and…something else that Eloise couldn’t quite place. She shrank away from him as she took in his stricken expression.

“She’s still sick,” he said shortly as he stood up. His hands bunched into tight fists and his body was shaking. Sebastian quickly turned and stormed down the hall. They all watched him go in silence; once he left, the blonde girl turned to Ominis.

“Gods, what’s his problem? So what if she misses a few days of school?” She looked around at everyone, pouting. “You all know I’m right. Last year he was a mess but he should be getting over it by now.”

“You always speak before thinking, Victoria,” Ominis said tersely, getting up. “One of these days, it’s going to get you in trouble. If you keep this up, when that happens nobody will be around to help you pick up the pieces.” With that, he strode away after Sebastian.

Eloise blinked and looked around. The rest of the students were starting to get up and slowly move towards their respective common rooms having finished their dessert, and the prefects were starting to herd the first-years along. Victoria laughed weakly and turned to her friends, effectively ignoring Eloise and Imelda as if they weren’t there. “I think the summer holidays have made people extra sensitive this year. I honestly don’t know what their problem is.”

“Come on, then,” said Imelda, shooting Victoria a dirty look. “Let’s head to the dorms.”

Eloise stood up and started following Imelda’s lead. She was parting the students with ease as she walked through the crowd. Her strides were so long that Eloise had to half-jog to keep up with her. “Our common room is in the dungeons,” Imelda said, looking over her shoulder at Eloise. “The other houses are creeped out by it, but they haven’t actually seen it. You’ll see.”

Because of how quickly Imelda strode through the corridors and down the stairs, Eloise didn’t have much time to take in the rest of the castle. She did however realize that they were winding through the corridors in such a way that she would be hopelessly lost if Imelda weren’t with her. The two of them arrived at the Slytherin common room well before the other students due to Imelda’s fast pace. As they entered the common room after saying the correct password - basilisk - Eloise couldn’t help but look around in wonder. There was light piano music playing in the background - Chopin, Eloise thought she recognized it from her piano lessons at the muggle school. Even though the overall tones of the place were cool - blues and greens filtering through the tall glass windows and from the lamps, the checkered marble floors and columns giving off an air of cold elegance - the beautiful rugs and happily crackling fires made it all come together and seem oddly cozy. Various tables and desks were scattered around the space, and comfortable looking armchairs and couches crowded around low tables. Eloise could just picture it teeming with students studying after class or hanging out on the weekends. She knew that it was a place that could finally feel like home to her.

“I tried, Ominis,” came a hushed whisper from near the windows. Imelda and Eloise froze at the entrance to the common room and glanced at each other. “I just can’t do it. I know what you and Anne told me but…”

“Sebastian. Anne doesn’t want you to wallow and waste your time here worrying about her. I know that you’re worried for her. I mean, I am too. You know she’s like a sister to me.”

“You have no idea,” Sebastian interrupted fiercely. His back was hunched over and he was holding his face in his hands. “It should have been me. I can’t live with myself. With this guilt.”

“No, you -“ Ominis cut himself off as the sound of the other students filtering in started to fill the room. The boys abruptly sat up straighter, although they didn’t look at each other. Oblivious to the tension between the two, a group of second-years sat on the sofa right next to them, as they excitedly caught up with each other.

“I’ll show you our room,” Imelda said, turning to Eloise. “It gets pretty crazy here the first night back from any holidays, with everyone catching up. I don’t know about you, but I want to get some sleep! Quidditch tryouts are next week and I already know how exhausting it will be.”

Eloise really was exhausted, and nothing sounded better to her than finally going to sleep. The dorms seemed to be set up so that the stairs going up led to the girls’ dormitories, and the ones going down to the boys’. Imelda explained that it was due to the fact that boys weren’t to be trusted, and the stairs would turn into a slide if any boy attempted to go up them. It wasn’t something that Eloise had even considered, due to the fact that she had just come from an all-girls school, but she flushed at the implication.

As they reached the staircase, they almost crashed into Sebastian. Imelda had been marching towards the stairs with a single-minded determination and Sebastian had been heading towards his with just as much purpose.

Eloise bounced off of his shoulder. She grabbed her own, wincing slightly. He was more solid than he looked. He looked blankly at the two girls before shaking his head and realizing where they were. “Gods, I’m so sorry. I’m just -“ he gave his head another little shake and saw that Eloise was holding her shoulder. “Are you hurt?”

“It’s fine,” Eloise reassured him. She gave a small smile. “I’ve had worse, it’s really nothing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” interrupted Imelda. She shot Sebastian a concerned look. “Go to bed. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Imelda shook her head sadly and the girls resumed their path. “Poor boy. He hasn’t been the same since the summer after our third year. I mean, he was always kind of obsessive, but in a charming way. He was on the quidditch team with me, and always really determined to be the absolute best, always working hard to show all of the other students they don’t even know half as much as he does. That sort of thing, you know? It’s not like he was insufferable, his charm drew everyone to him.”

She held the door open and Eloise walked in. It was a cozy circular room, with five four-poster beds. A small fire in the middle of the room warmed the whole place up, and Eloise was relieved to see it. When Imelda had told her that their dormitory was in the dungeons, she had immediately pictured a dark, cold, slimy space. Only one of the beds didn’t have trunks placed at its foot, and Eloise went straight to it. Her trunk had been lost in the dragon attack. She was relieved to see a nightgown laid on top of the bed and a pair of green slippers neatly lined up on the floor; she hadn’t been sure what she would wear.

Imelda sat down heavily on the bed next to Eloise’s and started unlacing her boots. She continued talking. “Then, in our fourth year, he comes to school after summer holidays. Alone. He hasn’t been the same since. Nobody’s quite sure what’s going on with his sister, except that it’s bad. She’s not expected to live much longer.”

“Oh my god,” breathed Eloise. “I can’t even imagine.”

“Me neither.” Imelda shook her head. “He got into trouble left and right last year, there were even rumors of a duel…I don’t think there was a single week where he didn’t have detention. I mean, I don’t blame him, but - he was taken off the team! This year he better not, I can’t afford to lose my best beater again.”

The girls continued chattering quietly to themselves about other topics as they got ready for the night. Slipping into their nightgowns, braiding each others’ hair, and, finally, slipping under the freshly turned bed covers. Eloise turned towards Imelda and simply whispered, “thank you.” Although they had just met, Eloise felt certain in the knowledge that she had just made her first friend.

Imelda waved her off. “It’s nothing. Get some sleep, the first day of classes is always overwhelming. I can’t even imagine starting as a fifth-year.”

With that, she rolled over and soon Eloise heard her breathing deepen as she fell asleep. She stared at the canopy covering her bed for what seemed like an eternity. The low murmurs of the other girls as they came in and got ready for bed slowly morphed into drowsy good-nights, until finally the room was silent except for the steady tick of a clock and their breathing.

As tired as she felt, Eloise couldn’t stop the racing of her mind. It felt like the last few days had more action than the entirety of her life. Even though banished had, at the time, been incredibly momentous for her, it paled in comparison to finding out that she actually was a witch and had been admitted to Hogwarts. She had used magic for the first time today. The rush of power that ran through her body when she cast spells was unlike anything else she had ever experienced. It just felt right. Like some part of her that had been hidden away had finally made itself known and she felt whole for the first time. She wondered if everyone else felt that same rush, that same desire to know and master absolutely every aspect of magical knowledge. She had been given a gift that until now had felt like a pathetic little daydream and she wasn’t about to waste it now that she had it.

The clock kept on ticking lazily and still Eloise was awake. She eventually got up and after shrugging on a robe and slipping on the green slippers, headed towards the common room. She and Imelda hadn’t spent much time in it earlier, and she wanted to see it at least once without any people, maybe as a space just for herself.

As it was even later in the night - it must have been around three - the fire had been extinguished and the light filtering through the windows had turned an even deeper shade of emerald green. It covered the mahogany furniture with an eerie light, as if Eloise had stepped into some strange underworld instead of the empty Slytherin common room. She trailed her hand along the velvet back of a sofa, mesmerized by the stark contrast of the green highlights and black shadows as her hand moved. Lazily twirling a globe as she walked past, the room silent except for her muffled footsteps.

It was precisely the silence that absorbed her completely. Being alone had always been her favorite thing; there was just something so special about being the only person in a place, feeling as if you were the only holder of some great secret. Eloise made her way towards the tall glass windows as if in a dream, not really noticing anything of her surroundings and yet taking it all in. The feeling of being there.

When she heard the soft voice she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“You couldn’t sleep either?”

Eloise whirled towards the voice, feeling as if her heart was about to burst through her chest. The student - a male - was sitting by one of the windows. Since the only light source was the windows, his face was entirely shrouded in black. Eloise was suddenly very aware of how indecently she was dressed to be outside of her dormitory. The sudden change from complete, eerie tranquility was shattered and she wrapped her robe more tightly around her, keeping her arms hugged around her body.

“Who -“

The boy straightened up, tilting his head back toward the window and, with the aid of the green light, Eloise saw that it was Ominis.

“What are you doing down here, Ominis? You almost gave me a heart attack! You’re sitting in the shadows and I thought I was alone.”

“I could ask the same of you,” he said simply, the hint of an amused smirk gracing his features. “And, might I add, I didn’t mean to scare you on purpose. I thought you were purposely walking towards me. For all I know, it could be the break of dawn and I’m basking in the early rays of the sun.”

Eloise’s jaw dropped open in mortification. She had completely forgotten that he was blind. “How did you know that I was walking towards you?” She clapped her hands over her mouth in horror, the words leaving before she could stop them. What was wrong with her? With her sudden movement, her robes had fallen open again, revealing her nightgown, but she was too distraught over possibly having offended Ominis than continuing to follow the rules of propriety. “Oh Merlin’s beard, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

He just huffed quietly. They hadn’t spoken much at dinner, and Eloise was positive that he was angry with her. Maybe he had only acknowledged her presence because his best friend had seen fit to talk with her. Growing up blind, it would make sense for him to be sensitive to any comments regarding it…her face was flushed with mortification and guilt, and she slowly started backing away. Eloise figured it was better to just end the whole encounter being ruder still by making a hasty retreat, than to put her foot in her mouth once again and risk offending him more.

“No, wait,” Ominis said as soon as he realized she was walking away. His voice was choked with emotion and it seemed difficult for him to get the words out. Eloise froze and looked at him. His whole body was shaking, and she couldn’t tell if he was angry or…

Was he laughing?

“I might be blind, but I’m not deaf. In this silence, I would have been able to notice if anyone had entered the room even if they were trying to be sneaky, which you certainly were not. Stay, if you want.”

Eloise hesitated, then took the seat across from Ominis in the window. She nervously smoothed her nightgown over her legs. “Just so you know, you’re completely in shadow. If you hadn’t said anything, I probably would have walked right past you without realizing that you were here too.”

“I’ll choose a better spot to sit next time then, when I can’t fall asleep in the middle of the night,” he replied seriously. If not for the fact that he had just been teasing her, she would have thought that he was really taking what she said into consideration. “You never answered my original question. You can’t sleep?”

Eloise shook her head, then quickly added, “no. So much has happened these last few days…my brain always has a hard time turning off. Especially after a day like today.”

Ominis hummed in understanding, tilting his head towards her. The green light filtering through the water danced over his gaunt features, making his cheekbones and the dark circles under his eyes more prominent. His pupil-less eyes glowed eerily in the light. “I can only imagine. You arrived late to the sorting, and your aura was very unnerving as you stepped into the Great Hall. I immediately knew something was extraordinary about you.”

“My…aura?”

“Yes. I might not be able to see, but my wand does it for me. It’s hard to explain but…I can sense the people around me. I can’t make out features, but everyone has their own unique aura radiating from them. Yours is…different.”

Different? It must have something to do with the fact she hadn’t had any magical ability until recently. Maybe it was stunted or…maybe her aura was different due to the stress of the day.

“I saw someone murdered in front of me today,” Eloise blurted out before she could stop herself. Ominis didn’t look surprised by her sudden outburst, he merely remained still as he waited for Eloise to continue. “It was…shocking. A dragon came out of nowhere and just ripped our carriage in half, taking Mr. Osric with it. The worst part is…I’m-I’m shocked because it happened. But I’m not sad. I don’t feel the horror I think I should be feeling, and that is more horrifying to me. When I was lying in bed, the events of today kept replaying in my mind on a loop and I kept on trying to make myself feel the correct emotions. But I couldn’t. Something inside of me is broken.”

Eloise looked down at her hands, fingers wringing and untwisting together in her lap. She tried to force herself to sit as still as Ominis, but it was impossible. She couldn’t believe how easy it was to unload all of this onto a stranger, but he didn’t seem to mind listening. There was silence for a few minutes, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. Eloise peeked at Ominis from under her lashes. The boy appeared to be deep in thought.

“I couldn’t sleep either,” he finally said. “It’s normal for me, though. I also have a hard time turning off my thoughts, especially at night. This little corner of the common room feels like mine, in a sense. I’ve been coming here to think since I was a first-year. Maybe I subconsciously chose this place because, if you’re right, it’s more hidden than the rest. Nobody will see me if they’re sneaking around late at night, and it’s so peaceful.”

“That I can agree with,” said Eloise. “I actually came down here to see what it was like when it’s empty. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but this place already feels like home to me. A far sight better than the place I left behind. Places.”

“If you want me to leave, I’m fine with giving up my hiding place for a worthy cause.”

“No,” Eloise said quickly. “I…I like having you here. With me. It means I don’t have to be alone with my thoughts.”

Ominis smiled and tilted his head, not quite looking at her in that odd way of his. “It’s nice, talking to you. Most people avoid me. I can’t imagine why.”

Eloise huffed in quiet laughter. They sat in silence for a while longer, until Ominis broke it again. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. But…am I correct in guessing that you and Leo Babbit know each other?”

Eloise’s breath hitched in her throat. She still wasn’t sure how much of her past she wanted people to know…but she also knew that as soon as the day broke the castle would be swirling with rumors. And, as much as she hated the thought, the truth would come out one way or another. She had been lucky enough so far…her name hadn’t been said at the sorting due to the unusual circumstances. But, come morning, everyone would put the pieces together once her name was called out by a teacher.

She could test the waters with someone like Ominis, who seemed like the sort of fellow who would take it in stride.

“I…like I said, you don’t have to tell me,” Ominis said softly.

“No! No, it’s fine,” Eloise assured him. “It’s…complicated. I would prefer if it never came out but…if the school I was at before is any indication, everyone will know by lunch tomorrow regardless of if I say anything or not.” She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “My full name is Eloise Babbit. Leo is my brother.”

Ominis showed no reaction. It gave her the strength to continue.

“I was rejected by my family. As the years went by and I still wasn’t showing any signs of magic, I was ignored by my parents in favor of Leo. When my eleventh year came and went without any acceptance letter to Hogwarts, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was actually a squib. Up until then, I had held onto the hope and the day I lost that, I lost everything. I was banished and burned off of the family tree, like I never existed. Until a few days ago, I was learning how to become a perfect muggle wife at one of their horrid finishing schools. My family had already prepared a marriage for me to a prominent muggle family, reasoning that I could at least give them important connections.” She spat that last word out. Even speaking the words was a bitter reminder of the life she had almost led. “Based on Leo’s reaction, he definitely didn’t know that I had been admitted to Hogwarts. I don’t even know what’s worse: if my parents knew and decided not to tell him, or if the fact that I was burned off the family tree means that they wouldn’t have received a notification.”

She stared at her hands again. What was it about this boy that made her want to unload everything to him? Yes, he had asked her about it, but she still felt guilty for talking to him at all. Like somehow, telling him would make it his problem as well.

“If there’s anyone in this school who understands the horrors of one’s family, it’s me,” he said. Eloise looked up at him in surprise. He chuckled quietly, as if he could see her expression. “My family are direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin. Absolutely stark-raving mad, pureblood fanatics. We’ve gotten quite reclusive in the past hundred years or so, and don’t have much contact with the outside world. Your family’s inbreeding resulted in fear of giving birth to a potential squib. Mine, in the form of a useless, blind son who has no interest in continuing their crazy beliefs. I guess you could say we are two kindred souls. Maybe that’s what your aura was trying to tell me earlier this evening.”

“I guess so,” Eloise replied. Both could tell that the other wasn’t saying everything on their mind, but she wanted to give him the same comfort he had offered her and decided not to pry. “Thank you, Ominis.”

He inclined his head towards her and then moved his unseeing gaze to the large stained glass window. They sat there for quite some time, at least it felt that way to Eloise. The passage of time seemed not to exist as she and Ominis sat there, deep inside their own thoughts. Formless shadows danced behind the window, their regular movements helping to calm her thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity, Eloise found herself stifling a yawn.

“It seems your day has finally caught up with you,” Ominis said, smiling softly. “I think it’s best if we head to bed. Hogwarts might be more progressive than the muggle school you’ve just escaped, but if anyone sees us here together it would just further the rumors already swirling around you.”

Eloise nodded her assent and stood up slowly. She hadn’t realized how much time they had spent there until she felt the stiffness in her muscles that only comes from remaining still for a very long time. Ominis also got up slowly, gracefully stretching out his long body in the process. As he stood, she saw him grab his wand out of his pocket, and it began glowing a faint red as he walked. That must be how he gets around, she thought to herself. He did say his wind has a mind of its own.

She followed him and they slowly made their way to the two sets of stairs leading to the dormitories. They paused once they were about to part. “Goodnight, Ominis.”

“Goodnight, Eloise. I’ll see you tomorrow. Or rather, I’ll sense your presence later on this morning.” He gave her a faint smile and then turned to head down the stairs leading to his dormitory. Eloise stood there, watching until she couldn’t see the red glow of his wand anymore. With a yawn, she turned towards her room and soon slipped under the covers, sleep finally coming. Before she fell asleep, she had only the fleeting realization that Ominis had not actually answered her question.

The title is a link to everything on ao3, but just in case you didn’t catch that, here it is🫶

next chapter

[wreckedhoney]

:,)

[ssreeder]

Hi again! I loved the new chapter!! It made me stare at my ceiling existentially for an hour (every chapter does) and we finally get Ara oh god. Im kinda an Ara hater. I’ve always kinda hated her but she was slightly redeemable? Until in itf where we get her POV and she purposefully made Zuko’s life a living hell. That’s when i became a full fledged Ara hater club member. But it still so hard for me to fully hate her cause yk she’s a victim too.

Anyways, she’s a super compelling character and I change my mind every chapter if i hate her or not. So I got bored again and made this . Have a good day!!!

Haha her POV was very much like *hair flip* “yeah I tried to destroy him but it proved to be a lot more difficult than I thought, but I did try.”

She’s really an interesting gal right there with a moral compass that is just constantly spinning in circles. Hopefully she can find some solid ground to stand on and eventually build herself a new life… we’ll see haha.

Thanks for this I adore it!!

[stormcloudsandshadows]

No one:

Me at 230 am: hm…… Nedzu.

[volfoss]

Genuinely this lj liveblog is saving my sanity reading this. They're a lot more analytical than I am for certain things and I really appreciate that. And also sometimes you need the experience of buddy reading a book but you'd never force anyone to read 770 pages of slop.

[dogbunni]

I want to do a HC post of all the crimes I think nendo would commit but I know that's just the procrastination speaking bc I'm tryna write this fic

[timeforsomethrillingheroicsblog]

remember when this blog was created as a sideblog for my writing? pepperidge farm remembers.

anyways, it’s been two hundred years but my story finally got updated.

tldr; let me introduce you to tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow - a s1 jack/sawyer fic told from sawyer’s pov covering episodes 1.03, 1.08, 1.11, 1.16, and 1.19 with some changes to canon along the way. (1700+ words, 4/6 chapters completed)

check it out if you want! or don't! i’ll be back to my regularly scheduled lost shitposting after this message.

[missingn000]

[o-wyrmlight]

Well that's almost 3k words added to Joyce.

[brad-bakshi-loves-bugs]

HI HELLO! chapter 20 of wafwaf has (finally) been posted! im very happy with this one :D

[orcelito]

I want to cuddle with my kitty and keep working on my writing but I have to get ready for work now 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Truly the greatest of injustices

Im now at 4.1k words for INTL chapter 13 tho. And... I haven't even really started the 2nd scene... it's been transition stuff...

I still plan on putting 2 more scenes after this 😭😭😭😭😭 this is gonna be a bit of a long chapter too

[a-land-lacking-sleep]

Electric Trains are the Future Chapter 10: An Unexpected Disruption

Previous Chapter (9) - Current Chapter - Next Chapter (11)

We hit the angsty part today, sorry. Well, next chapter is the angst, this chapter is the catalyst. But for now, we send the group to go find a new village! We're ramping up for the climax of the first part, and then we're on to new pastures!

Chapter Summary: Jubilife needs to expand with all of the incoming immigrants, and Ingo and Akari are the right people for the job! Chapter Word Count: 4848 Chapter Warnings: Major Character Injury (Skip from the blue text to the next linebreak)

As always, read here or on AO3 with additional notes! Reblogs and comments are always appreciated.

-

13 Weeks since Elesa’s Disappearance

“Sorry, Uncle, but it seems that Solgaleo can’t get a lead on it,” Elio says, stroking the fur on their giant lion before feeding it a malasada. “He can feel that a Wormhole was here, yeah, but he can’t really get anything else.”

Emmet is standing with Elio and Volo down Tunnel 3 in the Nimbasa Subway System, in the approximate location where Ingo had disappeared during an inspection. Emmet clearly remembers what had happened. Several Depot Agents had seen figures of Pokemon rushing out of the way of trains in Tunnels 3 and 4, and once they were able to shut the lines down, Ingo and Emmet had split up to check each tunnel.

Ingo never came back. Emmet had found a small purple Pokemon, incredibly injured from when it had been clipped by a train. When he described it to Elio, the young Champion had exclaimed it must’ve been a Poipole. Emmet had cared for the Pokemon for a time before it suddenly disappeared.

Just like Ingo.

“Uncle?” Elio’s voice snaps Emmet out of his reminiscence, and he turns to face Elio. “Are you ok?”

“I am Emmet. I was thinking. I am fine, yup,” Emmet says, his smile looking verrrrrry tired, but still real. “This is where Ingo disappeared. An Ultra Wormhole makes sense.” He nods, and looks over as Volo clears his throat.

“Since we didn’t get any leads, should we get going?” He was back in his baggy blue hoodie, hands buried into the pockets. “We did make plans to talk with Cynthia.” The ‘old’ man began to tap his foot and look around the group. “And I really don’t like how these tunnels feel. I feel like I’m being watched.”

“Yes,” Emmet says, turning and beginning to walk down the tunnel, back towards the Subway terminal. “We should get going.”

—

16 Weeks since Elesa’s Arrival

The sun in the coastlands was brutal now that summer was beginning to roll in. With how bitterly cold the winters got, and how the Icelands stayed under a constant sheet of ice, one would expect cooler summers. But Ingo was a Unovan. He lived just as far north there as he did here, and he knows how hot the streets can get in the height of summer.

Elesa and Miss Akari, meanwhile, managed the heat by wearing lighter clothing for the expedition. Miss Akari had changed into the pajama shirt she’d worn when she first arrived and wore thinner pants that covered her legs, and Elesa had modified yet another uniform to be thinner with removed sleeves, and shortened her pants to capri length. Ingo refused to remove his coat and hat, though he had the sense to remove his Pearl Clan tunic. If they came across Palina, he was sure she’d understand.

“So, game plan!” Miss Akari says, putting a map of the Coastlands down on the table for both adults to see. “Kamado and Sanqua want us to find the best place to build an additional settlement for the Galaxy Expedition Team. We’ve been getting a lot of new incomers, and Jubilife is almost full!” The girl smiles and nods, satisfied with her explanation.

“We also need to remember to plot our course around Pearl and Diamond Clan lands,” Ingo says, picking up the fountain pen that he had haggled from Ginter, and circling the upper cliffs of the bay, and the area around Aipom Hill. “If we put tracks on these lands, we not only break the treaties, but risk discontent. The Clans and Jubilife are allies and on good terms, but if we accidentally start an invasion, then we have forgotten about safety checks and gone into a dangerous tunnel.”

Elesa swats his shoulder softly, drawing his look. “We’re not going to start anything, you Worry Seed! I don’t think Akari is that dumb!” She very much leaves the implication that Akari is dumb enough for other things unsaid.

Akari, thankfully, didn’t catch on, and motioned for the pen from Ingo. “Yeah, I’m not gonna start nothin’,” she says, circling the area at the end of the bottom hook of the bay, where the sand spreads out like a hand. “We already have a base camp here at Sand’s Reach, and it’s far enough from where Basculegion usually rests that it shouldn’t be an issue.”

The trio look at the map for a few moments, plotting the various courses there. Eventually, Ingo speaks up. “Though we already do now, we would have to route freight lines for the settlement through Aipom Hill itself, most likely right where Iscan lives.” He reaches over and grabs a pencil this time, marking the path of least resistance from the beach of Gingko Landing to Sand’s Reach. “While I’m sure he will be fine with us simply having a route past his house, it might cause a logistical problem down the line.”

“What?” Akari looks at the map intensely for a few moments, then shakes her head. “They don’t need to go that close to the cliffs, Uncle Ingo! There’s other ways through that pass!” She grabs the pencil as soon as Ingo sets it down, and amends his route to cut north of the pass, right over the mountains.

Elesa sighs as Ingo carries on. “Miss Akari, you forget that you and I have the ease of Lady Sneasler’s help. Even with her, we make only a two-car train. But if we need to build and supply a new village,” he smudges the line that she had made, then taps his original route, “then we have a freight train and must go through the pass. We can check the route again today, but we would need to discuss the plans with Adaman and Iscan to be sure.”

Miss Akari crosses her arms and huffs, knowing that Ingo was right but not wanting to admit it. Ingo, meanwhile, was proud of himself. Once Kamado and Sanqua had learned that Ingo was the head of transportation for a region the size of Unova, they had asked him to help with the planning of the next settlement. Someone with such expertise in planning trade routes and roads for moving people was invaluable, and the Galaxy Team was not going to pass it up.

The silence is broken when Elesa taps a spot on the map, a lake across from Firespit Island. “What about here? Would this be a suitable place for the village, if we can find a way through the mountain?” Labeled under the name ‘Spring Path’, the lake was isolated from everywhere else unless they took a boat all the way around the Veilstone Cape. But in a straight line from where the trio were now, they would entirely avoid dealing with the Pearl Clan land that stretched down Veilstone and the Castaway Shore, as well as the area directly around Firespit.

Ingo and Miss Akari look up at each other, both trying to communicate silently. How steep were the cliffs? Was there a shallower part to take carts? Maybe a small cave system that could be extended, and kept lit so that Zubat didn’t infest it? Were there any Alpha nearby that they would need to try and coax into relocating?

After a few moments of silently debating it between each other and alone, Miss Akari takes the pen and circles the lake. “This might work. I haven’t gone up here much, so I don’t have the best idea of what we need to do. But,” swapping the pen for the pencil, she circles the area of the cliffs that separate the lake from the main area of the Coastland, “if we can find a way through here, it’s viable.” 

Ingo looks at the map to think of ways around Akari’s conundrum, and eventually he shrugs. Dancing in excitement of her victory, Akari rolls up the map and puts it away before pulling out her Arcphone and opening the map app on it. “So, this one doesn’t show any more detail at all. But I can have it track my movement so that it plots a path for us!” She holds her finger on the screen and puts a pin. “There, it’ll track us now!”

“Then let’s hope we don’t have to go up and down cliffs, Akari,” Elesa says, ruffling the teenager’s hair as she starts walking down towards the beach. “But no use worrying about that until we get there. Might as well use the thing to route a way around the Alpha nests, no?”

The group carefully makes tracks through the Coastland, keeping off the sand itself to keep the path as straight as possible. The Alpha Walrein that normally rests on the coast north of the cliffs had decided to come visit the main coastline with their children, which Ingo made sure to note down as a potential obstacle to future routing. 

To say nothing of the normal Alpha Drapion, whose Skorupi minions caught wind of the trio as they passed by, even with the wide berth. Ingo didn’t miss the larger Pokemon trudge towards the edge of its territory. Nor did he miss the fact that it trailed their movement as they skirted around the Pokemon’s nesting area. 

Just from those two brief encounters, Ingo was second guessing this potential location. With this many Alphas nearby, most traders wouldn’t want to take the route, even with easy tracks for them to follow, let alone villagers with little protection. Gripping the brim of his cap, he looks down towards the ground as he walks, thinking to himself. They’ve stuck to the cliffs to the west of the area, barely staying in sight of these Alphas, yet the fact that they had to worry about them meant that they would have to worry about them again in the future.

Eventually though, Akari pops her hand up, her phone screen lit up. “We’re at the point!” She puts her hands to her hips triumphantly and looks around expectantly, though Ingo was unsure what she was hoping to find. All he could see was a cliff.

“Akari?” Elesa asks, tapping the teen on the head. “What are you Seaking? Cause I’m not seeing much of a path.” Ingo had to agree with her, there wasn’t much of a path at all. He knew to the east was a path up the cliffs towards Veilstone Cape, and eventually to Lord Arcanine’s grave. But that went in the opposite direction, and was decidedly in Pearl Clan territory.

Miss Akari crosses her arms and looks out east anyway. “We could see if there’s a place on the path that way that could either be workable, or maybe carved into a path with Pokemon?” It seems that Miss Akari had already given up on the idea of using this as a way to keep out of Clan territory, and she didn’t even sound too sure of it herself. 

Ingo opens his mouth to speak, but Elesa cuts him off. “That could be the case,” she says, walking past Miss Akari while tapping her chin. “How about this, Skiddo. I’ll go check that path for places we can use, and you two,” she pauses, pointing at Ingo and Miss Akari before pointing up the cliff and continuing, “can HM08 your way up the cliff and look for a way down on the other side.”

Ingo frowns, not that there is much of an outwardly difference. “I am not sure that’s the track to go with, Elesa. Honestly, that proves that this route is unsustainable for travel if we are needing to make concessions before construction begins. Always remember your safety checks, as Emmet would say.”

“And safety checks are why I’m having you two check up there,” Elesa says, gesturing to the cliff face again. “Sticking to the path down here isn’t too rough, so I can Gogoat around with ease!” She pops a cute little pose, putting her hand on her hip and popping it to the side while flashing a peace sign up by her face. Ingo had to struggle not to laugh at her joke, since he was trying to prove a point of not approving of the plan. 

But before the point could be argued, the pair were surprised by Akari blowing two loud notes from her Celestica Flute, then looking at the pair with a smile. “Sneasler’s on her way!” Elesa pumps her fists in excitement while Ingo just gives her a flat look.

“Fine,” Ingo says, pulling his cap down a bit to cover his eyes. “Once my Lady arrives, we can depart from this station.” Miss Akari dances in place in joy, then high fives Elesa. Ingo stews, having been betrayed by not only his adoptive niece, but by his own girlfriend. 

After a few minutes, Lady Sneasler climbs down the cliff that Ingo and Akari were about to scale. Elesa waves as she turns to head off, and Miss Akari climbs up into Lady Sneasler’s riding basket. “Now, my Lady,” Ingo says as he walks toward the cliff with his hands behind his back, “we’re planning on checking if the cliffs on the other side are conducive to regular travel.” Sneasler has a look of realization across her face, then nods enthusiastically. “I know that you would be able to traverse it easily, so Miss Akari and I need to check for ease of human travel.” 

Sneasler rolls her eyes and points at Ingo. “Snea?” Ingo just nods, and she shrugs before starting her way up the cliff. Adorably, Miss Akari sticks her arm out and waves at Ingo now that the basket is facing him, and Ingo waves back, his eyes crinkling slightly in his own kind of smile. Once Lady Sneasler gets a good distance up, her claws easily digging into and gripping the stone, Ingo begins to climb, finding the best path of handholds and footholds that he could.

The climb up looks like it will be easy, with plenty of handholds in view already, though it would take some time to actually traverse, giving Ingo the time to think. Since Elesa arrived, Unova not only had a name in his mind, but it was actually a real place to return to. Elesa would definitely go home, she’s talked about it a few times since she’s been here, and he thinks she may be getting homesick with how he’s been catching her looking at her Xtransciever.

Ingo missed Unova as well. He missed his mother Eiko in Anville; he missed his uncle Drayden and cousin Iris in Opelucid; he missed the sound of the Subway running down the tunnels as he would rest between battles. He missed his daily life with Emmet, and their teams, all 14 Pokemon and two humans in one house, existing together.

But can they even go back? Ingo remembers a few days after Elesa arrived, Miss Akari had admitted that she probably wouldn’t be able to send her or Ingo back. The fabric of time-space was still weak, and Dialga and Palkia were apparently refusing to do anything like that again. She said she had another plan, but nothing came up after that. Ingo wasn’t sure if the plan was being worked on or not, but the young girl had thrown herself into the Pokedex soon after.

And can Ingo even go back? He’s a Warden, an important member of the Pearl Clan, even if he doesn’t spend too much time around the Clan as a whole because of his duties and the general discomfort that the others felt with his origins. And in Jubilife, he was expected to conduct the Galaxy Team and various villagers in battling, teaching them how Pokemon battles work and how to properly care for them. He also had friends among the Wardens and Leaders, and each attachment was beginning to feel like a chain.

Ah, he has reached his destination. Ingo pulls himself up over the cliff’s edge, nodding to Miss Akari and Lady Sneasler, who were chatting as they waited for him. Even after 2 years of climbing the cliffs alongside her, Ingo could never match Lady Sneasler’s speed. “I have arrived at the station,” he calls out to grab their attention, gripping his hat.

Miss Akari jumps over to him and points away from the cliff, in the general direction of their destination. “Then we’re set! Let’s go check out the path!” Without a moment’s more wait, she starts moving. Lady Sneasler takes a moment to look back at Ingo, as if asking if she should follow, and all Ingo can do is shrug before following himself. 

After a few minutes of walking through what was honestly a calm route, Ingo speaks up. “So, Miss Akari, I do feel the need to ask.” Once he’s sure that the girl is listening, he continues. “Just as you don’t know the stations and towns in Unova, I don’t know those in Sinnoh. Is there actually a town here in your time?”

Miss Akari chews her bottom lip in thought for a moment before answering Ingo’s question, which he took as a sign that his suspicions were right. “Really, I’m not sure. Veilstone is supposed to be in this area, but the coastline is really different.” She pouts and puffs her cheeks out slightly. “I feel like the cape that Arcanine is buried on has either eroded or was taken down somehow, ‘cause that is not there back home.”

Ingo brings his hand from his cap and strokes his beard in thought. “That is a lot of stone to remove in a century and a half.”

“It’s a big change, yeah…” Akari says with a sigh. “Not only that, but Eterna, Oreburgh, and Floaroma seem to be in different places if their names are in the right spots, and Jubilife is Canalave in our time. I could’ve missed that sort of thing in school, but it feels wrong”

“If it helps, there are historical references to my position in this era,” Ingo says quickly, hoping to stop Akari from a potential spiral. “It was a joke my brother and I would share, so if we are indeed from the same 2022, then this is indeed the past of your region.” They walked silently for a few moments before he continued down similar tracks.

“Have you made any progress on returning us to our original homes?” Ingo had stayed behind by a pace or two while they walked, so he was able to see Akari stop in her spot, and so he stopped as well to let her think.

After a moment, Akari pulls out her Pokedex and turns to show him the filled out page for Munchlax. “I caught my last Pokemon yesterday morning. My Pokedex is complete, outside of one page that I think is… The Pokemon that sent me here.” She’d mentioned this Pokemon before, a deity from her region supposedly. She puts the Pokedex away and steps over, pulling out the phone that she had with her. “The page appeared after I got this text.”

Come to the Temple of Sinnoh for your final test.

“According to Arceus,” Akari says with a grimace at acknowledging who she thinks brought her here, “I should be going to the Highlands to see Him.” She sighs and puts the phone to her mouth, biting the small protrusion on the top before leaning against Ingo. “I was afraid to go, and leave you two behind. And not get to tell people good-bye.”

Ah, Ingo could see the problem. She was worried about the same thing he was, having put roots into Hisui, only to rip them up. “I miss home, Uncle Ingo,” she says softly, staying leaned up against his arm. “I miss my mom, I miss Auntie Cynthia, I miss Lucas and Barry. But I’m also scared to leave here, ‘cause I’ll miss everyone, like Rei, Irida, Adaman, Laventon…”

Ingo lets her linger for a second as he thinks. Akari had begun to feel truly at home, which makes sense. She’s still a child, in the bigger picture, and despite the trials she went through here with Volo causing the rifts and Kamado’s less than stellar reactions to disaster, she’d found a place to be comfortable. She had adults to rely on, a friend her age to spend time with, Pokemon to bond to. He could see her dilemma quite clearly.

Sighing, Ingo reaches up and takes his hat off, then plops it down onto Akari’s head. As she looks at him with a soft giggle, he points a finger upwards while keeping her left arm behind his back. “Follow the rules. Safe driving!” He steps back and points at her. “Follow the schedule. Now, everybody smile!” He pauses briefly to let her smile, before asking softly, “Have you checked safety?” 

Giggling through a smile now, Akari nods and mimics his current stance, putting her left hand up and her right behind her back. She’s been through this before. Even before Ingo remembered his past, he’d remembered this phrase, and often used it to help cheer her up during rough days. “Everything’s ready!” They both click their feet together and spin to face their path, pointing outwards before shouting “ALL ABOARD!”

Akari struggles to not fall into a giggle fit, and Ingo smiles at her, a genuine soft smile, before snatching his hat back. Akari immediately tries to grab it back while he holds it high above her head. “You can have a hat when you are a depot agent, young lady.”

“Fine then,” Akari says with a huff, crossing her arms and facing away. “I’ll be a depot agent, and fight so well that I’ll replace you in the Single Lines!” The both share a laugh, Ingo’s echoing off of the cliffs around them and nearly covering Akari’s entirely. After they calm down, Akari bumps her shoulder against Ingo and points at the cliff ahead. “We’re here!”

The pair approach the cliff and look over the landscape below. It’s nearly a sheer drop from their position, with the need of either Pokemon assistance in this time period, or machine-made paths in their time. Looking down, Ingo could see several swarms of Mothim in the area, including two Alphas actively engaged in a territory dispute. He lets the silence hang for a moment before gripping his hat. ��This line is a bust, Miss Akari.”

His teenage passenger stays silent a moment longer before pointing over at the raised rock formation in the center of the area. “Well, there’s the lake. I recognize this area,” she says, her shoulders slumping. “It’s where I caught Giratina. There’s a cave on the water inside of the crater.” She kicks a rock by her foot, launching it over the edge of the cliff in front of them and tumbling down. “I came by the water last time, so I forgot it was this area…”

As the girl starts to wallow, Ingo pats her shoulder. “It’s fine, Miss Akari. Even if this line did not lead to a station, it is still information to use for future expeditions.” He watches her look out at the area below them and then pick herself back up. “Now, let us reverse course and return to our previous station. We shouldn’t keep Elesa waiting.”

“Yeah, don’t wanna keep Auntie held up much longer,” Akari says with a half-hearted grin, turning around on her heel and starting back towards the far cliff they had climbed. The way she swung her arms mirrors how Emmet had always walked when he got excited, swinging like the stiff arms of a toy soldier or nutcracker. “Besides, it’s not all bad, we got some exercise!”

“We get exercise daily, Miss Akari,” Ingo says, laughing as he falls in line with Lady Sneasler. “We could’ve used this time to prepare the route to the base camp and discuss plans with Iscan.” He didn’t want to rain on her parade entirely, but she had delayed their course pretty heavily.

“Oh, it’ll be fine.” Akari waves her hand in dismissal. “I know for a fact that the camp becomes a city in Sinnoh. It’s Sunyshore, the last city before the Elite Four.” She spreads her arms wide like she’s showing Ingo a floating image of the town. “A few buildings built on the shore, with raised platforms of solar panels that you can walk on to access the Lighthouse or Volkner’s Electric-type Gym.” She turns around and walks backwards so she can shoot finger guns at Ingo. “Pretty sweet, yeah?”

“So it was the correct choice, and this was a whim.” Again, Ingo didn’t want to actively rain on her parade, but this was absurd. They had spent almost two hours on this diversion, and it was completely unneeded. All it had done was send Akari’s mental state into disarray thinking she had been derailed so heavily that her future didn’t exist here for a brief moment.

“Well, kinda, yeah,” Akari says, visibly deflating and turning back around. “I was thinking we could find a place for Veilstone, but yeah, this was… This was kinda useless. Sorry.” Lady Sneasler shoots Ingo a tired look, basically reading as You don’t know how to talk to kids, and trots to catch up to the teenager, licking at her hair. “Hey! Sneasler! My hair is fine, I don’t need to be groomed!”

Ingo breathes in deeply and sighs before stopping next to the two parked girls. “I was not trying to imply that you made a worthless decision, Miss Akari.” Normally, he was the one to put out the bad news to an employee at work, as Emmet was far too blunt for his own good or Cameron’s self-esteem, but with the girl who genuinely saw him as an uncle figure, he was struggling. “Simply that this would’ve been better done by checking here after we had set up the other line. We’ve lost daylight, yes, but not the way.” He pauses for a moment, trying to think of how to wrap this up, though Akari cuts him off instead.

“You’re good, Uncle Ingo,” she says, reaching out to gently shove him. “It just sucks being wrong, y’know? Especially when it normally works ou-” Akari pauses suddenly, her brows furrowing and her head snapping towards the cliffs that they were approaching. “Do you hear battling, Uncle?”

That sets off alarms in Ingo’s head, and he tilts his head to listen closer. He hears the Growlithe in the distance running through the trees, the occasional Staravia or Chatot flying by, but beneath it, yes, he can hear a battle. There was a pattern to it, and then what sounded like a burst from a generator. Elesa was battling something.

“She needs our help,” Ingo says, immediately making for the cliff and looking down to see his partner fighting off the Alpha Drapion from earlier. It had seemed interested, and apparently enough so to leave its nesting area to investigate what they were doing. Looking back, he calls to Akari, “She’s fighting an Alpha, we should move to assist! All aboard!”

He turns back as Akari starts scrambling into Lady Sneasler’s basket, and kneels down to look for a foothold on the cliff face. Seeing one, he plants his hand and pivots, briefly hanging off a loose grip before his foot lands on the hold, and then he braces himself. A hurried Lady Sneasler comes over the cliff’s edge now, turning in midair to sink her claws into the stone, and quickly makes her way down the cliff.

Ingo moves fast to keep pace, moving from handhold to handhold, foothold to foothold in practiced motions. Release my hands here, plant my feet here, grip my hand here. Release here, plant here, grip here. Release, plant, grip.

Cool your engines, Ingo! Remember your safety checks! Is everything ready?

Before he can react, the small ledge where Ingo had planted his foot crumbles under his full weight, not only leaving him with no support from below, but also causing gravity to tear his fingers from the stone they were clutching. 

It’s a short fall to the next ledge, his extended right leg meeting it full force, and he can feel the bone snap, the pain nearly causing him to black out. He falls backwards, twisting to try and catch himself, his head barely missing the edge as he free falls for a moment. He swears he hears Akari and Sneasler, but he can’t focus to hear as the ground is now rapidly approaching him. Tuck and roll enters his mind, but he can’t get his body to respond, still twisting itself to try and right itself.

His shoulder connects with the ground, the bone snapping audibly before his head hits next. His flip completes as he slides across the ground on his back, and finally blacks out.

—

In Sinnoh, 16 weeks after Elesa had disappeared into a space-time distortion, Emmet falls to the forest floor and lets out a loud scream as he clasps his left arm.

[infizero]

alright its finally time for GOLD SILVER AND CRYSTAL BABEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[nanzyn]

when your favorite work isn't everyone else's favorite 😔

[birdkittenn]

sad jot notes spotted in my fic