#w&w yawning grave

[write-and-wander]

Yawning Grave | Two: Decline

Astarion x Ayzora (F!OC)

Description: As the party continues to strive for a cure, Ayzora and Astarion are suddenly given ample time alone. They spend it learning more about one another, knowing each other better, and weaving invisible strings in unspoken deals.

Warnings: Self-Harm allusion/mention (scars) | Word count: 6.7k

| One | Two | ...

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Golden sunlight filters through thick fabric, shifting into deep blue rays that cast their glow on Ayzora’s trancing body.

Something almost ticklish dances on the strip of her exposed skin at the base of her abdomen, then her chest, then her face.  A loose strand of her hair is tugged at.

When they open, her eyes lock with those of a midnight black corvid.

She sits up and scrambles to the other side of her tent, back pressed against the fabric wall.

The raven cocks its head.  It croaks.

The sound echoes from above in a chorus, growing ever-louder.

Her gaze crawls up the wall while she remains frozen in terror.

The ceiling of her tent is covered in- no, consists completely of ravens.

“Will you damn yourself?”

The Raven Queen’s disembodied voice echoes in the room with the same question that has haunted Ayzora for decades.

The conspiracy of ravens forming the ceiling flies away at last, exposing Ayzora to the cold, overcast sky.

She cranes her neck, looking straight up.

The shifting clouds create a looming white mask contrasting the vast dark blue-grey of the rest of the sky- the face of the Raven Queen.

“You damned me!  You damned my friends!”  She screams back, standing on her feet.  Tears quickly well and fall from her eyes in twin streams.  “You could have saved them!  I would have stopped!  You knew that, and you just watched us die!”

Lightning strikes in the clouds, turning the eyes of the mask from endless black to searing white in an instant.

The ground disappears from beneath Ayzora.  She begins to fall,

Down,

Faster,

Deeper,

A scream rips through her throat as her arms claw at the air, desperate to find purchase on something- anything- before she is plunged into the depths of the Abyss.

Ayzora wakes with a gasp.

The tent is empty.

Golden sunlight filters in through the cross-hatched holes in the fabric of her tent, turning blue and gently casting rays of light onto Ayzora’s tense body.

She weeps silently.

The dreams are always different, and yet they are always the same.  The ravens flock to her, just like they did on that horrid day.  The expressionless mask of The Raven Queen finds her; mocks her; asks her the same damned question.  

No matter what she says, the outcome never changes.  She is handed over from one enemy to another.  She is swallowed whole by the yawning grave that awaits her in the Abyss; in the wretched realm of her cruel patron.  She dies all over again, and she is reminded that it was inevitable.  She was dead from the beginning.

And then, she was forced to rise anyway.

With remnants of the same exhausted determination, she forces herself out of her bed roll.

Stretching, a tinge of pain suddenly shoots through her neck, followed by the dull throb of sore wounds; a reminder of what transpired the night before.

While Ayzora normally found herself restless through her brief trances, last night was different, as if she had known what- or who- was coming.

She shifted, turning to her side.  Her eyes opened for a split second to see Astarion in her tent, looming over her, his sharp vampiric teeth bared.

He locked eyes with her and suddenly retreated, sitting on his heels.

“... Shit.”

“Astarion?” She sat up.

“No, No- it's not what it looks like.”

Her brows furrowed.  She quickly lifted a finger to her lips, silently signaling that he be quiet, lest he wake the others.  Astarion's vampirism didn't come as a shock- Ayzora already knew, thanks to her scrying- but why he would come to her to feed, she wasn't sure.  “What are you doing?” she whispers.

“I wasn't going to hurt you, I swear.  I just needed… well, blood.”

She sighed.  “When's the last time you fed?”

“I… well, I feed on animals.  Boars, deer, kobolds- whatever I can get my hands on.  But it's not enough,” he admitted quietly, shifting to sit closer beside her.  “Not if I have to fight.  I feel so… weak.”

“So you need to feed on people,” Ayzora said, coming to the conclusion for him.  She'd been in the business of the undead for long enough to know that, when it comes to a creature's essence- soul, blood; things of the sort- there's a different quality between animals and people.  Consciousness brings with it an elevated potency that the undead unfortunately need to sustain themselves.

“I- yes,” he confirmed, brows raised in surprise.  She was handling this quite well, all things considered.  Much better than he had anticipated.  It was vexing- but not his priority at present.  He needed to feed.  Soon.  “If I had just a little blood, I know I could think clearer.  Fight better.  Please,” he pleaded low.

Using their illithid tadpoles, Astarion opened his mind to hers, attempting to show Ayzora- to prove to her his honesty.

She shook her head, pulling away from the connection.  “No need-” she insisted with a wave of her hand, “I believe you.  I…” she paused for a moment, cutting herself off.  I can't tell him I already knew- it would only make things worse.  She took a deep breath.  “I only wish you told me sooner.”

“I needed you to trust me- and you can trust me, Ayzora,” he looked at her earnestly, dropping his usual theatrics.

There were only a few moments Ayzora felt she had seen Astarion honestly genuine.  This was one of them.  She wouldn't take it for granted.

She nodded.  “Alright.  But… only as much as you need.”

“Not a drop more,” he confirmed, a light returning to his expression in excitement.  “Let's make ourselves comfortable.”

Ayzora laid back again, taking some time to focus on the muscles in her body and intentionally relax them.

Astarion resumed his earlier position, looming over Ayzora- this time, his body a little closer to hers.

She couldn't help but feel the moment was oddly… intimate.

His mouth hovered over the crook of her neck, breath dancing along her skin with every exhale.

“Okay,” she whispered, locking eyes with him.

He nodded and sank his teeth into her flesh.

It stung at first, before fading to a dull throb.

The moment her blood filled his hungry maw, he grimaced.  Her blood was not as… fresh as he was expecting.  It caught him off guard.  How?

But he was hungry- and his instincts quickly overtook his dissatisfaction with her bitter taste.  He drank deep of the forbidden wine, and with each long draw of thick blood he could feel something in him shift, as if he was coming alive again at last.

The vulnerability of the moment made her want to squirm- but she willed herself to remain.  Ayzora kept her eyes on his white curls, distracting herself from the pain.  He was here.  Safe.  Feeding on something other than the blood of rats; an innate hunger satiated at last.  The relief must be heavenly.  And with his strength renewed, their odds improved.  Find a healer.  Get to Baldur's Gate.  Kill Cazador; she silently reminded herself.  This is just part of it.

Her hands started to tingle as she felt herself grow light headed- enough.  “Star,” she whispered, her weak voice and mumbling mouth only managing to make half of his name audible.

“Hm?” He instinctively inquired, abruptly pulled away from the ecstasy he began to lose himself in (and a little jarred by the sudden introduction of a… nickname?).  “Oh, yes, of course,” he quickly interjected, pulling away from the necromancer.

She sat up and pulled a rag out of one of her bags, pressing it to the fresh wound on her neck.  “Better?”

Astarion nodded, wiping some of the fresh blood from his glistening lips.  “That was… amazing.  My mind is clear… I feel stronger… happy.”

She huffed in a laugh.  “Good.”  Pulling the rag away from her neck, she checked the cloth.  The bleeding wasn't as bad as she'd expected, but she still decided on keeping the wound covered.  She yawned and looked back up at the vampire.  “Get some rest, now.  We'll see you fight soon.”

Astarion stood.  “Won't be long.  So many people to kill.”  He turned to step out of her tent, lifting the flap; but paused.  He looked over his shoulder at her.  “This is a gift, you know.”  His voice was still low, but he spoke with his whole chest.

She looked up at him, a small smile growing on her lips.

“I won't forget it.”

She nodded.  “I know.  Goodnight, Astarion.”

“Goodnight, darling.”

Astarion stalked off into the night once again to hunt- and this time, it wasn't by sneaking away.  As he headed into the woods to fill the rest of his stomach, he took confident strides.

Ayzora listened to his footsteps trail away as she continued to press the cloth to her bloody neck.  He was just feeding, she reminded herself.  Nothing more.

So why do I feel so exposed?  She expected to feel the contentment of someone who just helped a great deal with a friends’ condition.  Instead, she felt like a lover who was exposed, ravished, and left to process the intimate exchange naked and alone.

As she strips herself of her bedclothes, the feeling lingers.  Exposed and vulnerable.  Alone.  As if being on her own is suddenly abnormal.  The loneliness that sinks in is equal parts pain and relief.  Shifting her thoughts away from the night before, she moves to stand before her silver mirror and stares at the naked reflection.

Faded white scars litter her torso, dragging across her body as the great swings of now-buried swords, leaving rising tides of thick skin in their wake.  In between the sweeps of forgotten battles are small self-inflicted nicks scattered about like constellations that stretch from her sternum to her stomach and trickle down the tops of her thighs in the search for more space than her sacrificed body can offer. 

Though the origin of her large scars have been lost to time, these scars- the small, seemingly insignificant ones- she knows well.  Standing before her own image, she gently runs her fingers over each one in a ritual she maintains with the dedication of a devout paladin.  With each rise and fall of her fingers, she whispers a name.  The people who she killed.  The people who she lost.  The people who died because of her.  Her cold body is a graveyard in memory of them.  It is a testament to the depth of her sins.  It is a grim reminder of the atonement she has yet to achieve.

The names of her friends and family soon fall from her mouth in sharp whispers between the shimmering tears that drip off of her chin and soak into the rug beneath her feet.  Her hands stop moving when her fingers reach the final scar, settled between her breasts.  This cut was noticeably deeper than the rest, leaving a more prominent mark in its memory.

Her words tremble in unison with her shaking body as she utters the final name of her ritual:  “The Raven Queen.”

A moment of silence passes in reverence: one last prayer to the souls on her ledger that tip the scales nearly beyond redemption.

In that same hallowed silence, she takes her time dressing herself, putting her form together piece by piece as Ayzora is reassembled.  While she wraps the fabric of her pale blue dress around herself, she inhales slowly, watching her chest rise in the mirror.  The skin she chooses to leave exposed- her legs, her arms, her cleavage and neck- is still pristine; as if everything is hidden again beneath carefully constructed beauty.  She exhales, emptying her lungs completely until her chest settles into a familiar hollow sensation.  Familiarity, however bitter, is a necessary comfort, at present.

She clips her cloak to the harness fitted over her dress, and after a final examination of her gilded presentation, she steps out of her tent.

As the sun warms her pale skin, she pauses for a while to listen to the song of a morning in the druid grove, grounding herself to the present.  It's a hotter day today, with a clear blue sky and still air.  There's chatter amongst the group, underlined by the droning buzz of cicadas, and the birds perched in the nearby trees chirp trilling melodies from above.

The scene outside is even more lively than it had been when the motley group made camp for the first time.  Karlach, a barbarian tiefling with a heart of gold (or, more accurately, infernal iron) had joined the ever-growing party about a day after they settled, along with Wyll, the warlock “Blade of Frontiers,” and Scratch, the collectively adopted dog.  They were graciously given ample space to fit everyone within the grove after freeing the current leader, Kagha, from a dark deal with the shadow druids, and making a promise to find the Archdruid, Halsin.  This place has been a constant since then; a temporary home to get them by for a few days.

In a strange way, Ayzora feels she may miss this.  The company has been a gift.  It will be bittersweet to part ways once Halsin is returned and they are tended to.

Thankfully- though incredibly suspicious- the early stages of ceremorphosis have yet to surface, despite approaching the middle of the first full tenday on the journey.  Optimistically, most of them choose to believe this means there’s still ample time to find this healer and be cured.

“Hey, soldier!”  Karlach calls out, abandoning the group to greet the late-riser. 

Ayzora still stands just in front of her tent, taking stock of the camp.  She watches the tiefling jog up to her with a smile.  “Good morning, Karlach.”

“Listen, I know I was meant to stay at camp today, but ever since you gave me that infernal iron last night, I’ve been itching to get to Dammon to finally get this thing,” she knocks on her chest a couple times, gesturing to the engine that sits in place of her heart, “fixed up.”

Ayzora agrees before Karlach can even ask: “I’ll stay in your place.”

The tiefling beams at her, nearly jumping with giddy excitement.  “Thank you!  I knew you would!  Oh, I would squeeze you half to death if I could!”

Ayzora laughs, joy swelling in her own chest at her friend’s glee.  She’s nearly certain Karlach had said something similar after she found the piece of infernal iron Dammon mentioned, but the joy is still just as potent.  Though she won’t admit it out loud, she would gladly return Karlach’s embrace, if it weren’t for the infernal engine raising her body heat so high that Ayzora would burn at her touch.  However, with this infernal iron and Dammon’s skill, she may finally be able to have that hug.

Thank the gods the tieflings at the grove happened to have an infernal smith among them… it gives her a chance.  “You’re welcome,” Ayzora finally responds fondly.

Karlach, still giddy, promptly returns to the group preparing to head out, immediately making it known that Ayzora would remain at camp so she could go and visit Dammon.

Astarion is exchanging crossbows with Wyll when the news breaks.  He glances at the necromancer, who is now retrieving a helping of breakfast set aside for her by Gale.  Perfect; some time alone.

Along with the newly-added visit with Dammon, the agenda for the adventurers’ day focuses on scouting out the goblin camp Halsin is supposed to be contained in.  If all goes well, they hope to come up with a plan and enact at least the first stages of the rescue mission- if not follow through completely- before dusk.

In an established routine, a pair stays behind to protect the camp from intruders and tend to any wounded who return.  Ayzora normally remains with Wyll.  However, today, she trades places with Karlach, making Astarion her new counterpart.

An unexpected, but pleasant surprise for both.

When the others finally leave, Ayzora is preparing a stew to simmer for the day, per Gale’s instruction.

“You know,” Astarion begins, sauntering into Ayzora’s line of sight, “if you wanted to spend more time together, all you had to do was ask.”

A smirk appears on Ayzora’s face with a huff.  “And lose my spot with Wyll?”  She looks at him as she gives the pot a final stir and removes the ladle, hanging it on the stand.  “Don’t be so bold.”  She rises to her feet, brushing off the dirt pressed into her bare knees and adjusting the wide forward-facing slit of her dress that exposes her black leather shorts.

“Darling, I’m hurt,” he pouts, “I thought we had something special,” he adds, laying a hand on his chest in feigned offense.

“Don’t play coy; I know you have a soft spot for Karlach.  We all do.”

“Don’t be bold, don’t be coy,” he lists, his voice playfully mocking, “what can I be?”

Ayzora thinks for a second.  “Honest?”

Astarion scoffs.  “And where’s the fun in that?”

She shakes her head, taking a seat on one of the logs surrounding the cook pot.  She rests her hands on the log on either side, leaning back on them in an almost-relaxed posture.  “Maybe it isn't fun, but I would still enjoy knowing more about you.  Beyond the upper city magistrate.”

“You're one to talk,” he prods, sitting down on an adjacent log.  “You've hardly shared anything about yourself.  There must be more to the necromancer from Neverwinter.”

“Touché,” she mumbles.

He waits.

She sighs.  “Well… I was born in Neverwinter.  My parents placed me in a mage school to follow the footsteps of my older brother, Reidoth, but… I didn't take to it quite like he did.  Nor did I take to high society well.”

“Really?  Can't imagine why…”

She gives him a look.

He gives her a nod.

Suppressing an eye roll, she continues.  “When I was 19, my parents kicked me out of the Ethrallion estate.  I was caught smuggling necrotic magic items to the less-fortunate, in a sorry attempt to give them a leg up in the world.  That's when Zedd found me, and taught me magic better than any professor could.  

“I started traveling a few years later, taking bounties to get by, and met Remus and Ryon in Phandolin after we all agreed to take the same contract.  We just… stuck together, after that.  Gained a lot; learned even more over the years.  Those two were the closest thing to family I had.”

“‘Were?’”

She nods, swallowing.  “When I started a life of adventure,” she emphasizes with a near-theatrical delivery, “I sought revenge against the person who murdered Zedd's late wife, Laz.  Somehow, Orcus set his sights on me just in time and made me an offer: if I agreed to be his harbinger and do his bidding, he would not only help me get revenge, but bring Laz back.  I didn't even think, I just agreed.

“Turns out, I wasn't the only one who made an impulsive agreement with an evil god; Remus and Ryon did, too.  Bane and Mask were their gods.  Overnight, we went from adventurers to a triad of champions serving shrouded gods desperate to gain power on Torril.

“We were granted a lot of power, but we… made a lot of awful choices, in serving them.  Horrible things happened because of us.”  She pauses.  No, that’s not quite right.  “Because of me.”

Astarion cocks an eyebrow in curiosity.

Ayzora chooses not to elaborate, opting to continue her story.  “Eventually, it all caught up; like we were bound to pay from the beginning.  Remus, Ryon; even Reidoth, Zedd, and Laz are long dead and buried.  Somehow, I'm the only one still here, despite everything.  For now, at least.”

“Not everyone handles power well,” he remarks.

She keeps her eyes trained forward, silent.  I know.  Some worse than others, I guess.  I was so blind… and yet…  “Orcus seems to think otherwise,” she mutters.

“You… still serve him?”

She looks up to see a gentle- almost empathetic- look from the pale elf.  She swallows the lump rising in her throat, forcing tears back.  “Yeah,” she manages weakly.  “He’s been quiet for a long time now, but… yeah.”  She clears her throat, folding her hands together in her lap.  “Your turn.”

Astarion sighs, “Is it, now?”

“I can’t force you.”

“What good would it do if I didn’t?”

“Fair.”  She turns to face him. “Well, you have my attention.”

He sighs, resetting himself before beginning his own monologue.  “Cazador Szarr is a vampire lord in Baldur’s Gate.  The patriarch of his coven and a monster obsessed with power.  Not political power or military power- I mean power over people.  The power to control them completely.  He turned me nearly two hundred years ago.”

“How?”

“A gang of thugs attacked me, angry about a ruling that I’d handed down as magistrate.  They beat me to death’s door when Cazador appeared.  He chased them off and offered to save me.  To give me eternal life.”

Eternal life.  The kind Orcus offered. 

“Given that my choices were ‘eternal life’ or ‘bleed to death on the street,’ I took him up on the offer…”  He looks down for a moment, his voice softening.  “It was only afterwards I realized just how long ‘eternity’ could be.”

Ayzora nods with an understanding few people can possess.  That kind of offer always comes with a heavy price.  “What were his terms?”

Astarion stops for a moment and stares at her.  There’s shock in his expression.  She sounds familiar with this kind of situation.  Uncomfortably familiar… she knows more than she’s letting on.  But what?  He collects himself and answers.  “He had me go out into Baldur’s Gate and fetch him the most beautiful souls I could find.”

Ayzora thinks of the half-orc. Drinking at the tavern.

“It was a fun little ritual of his.  I’d bring them back-”

“Astarion,” he introduced.  His lips trailed along the half-orc’s jaw.

“-and he’d ask if I wanted to dine with him.”

Cazador’s ruby red eyes.  His cold, domineering demeanor suffocating the room.

“And if I said yes, he’d serve me a dead, putrid rat.”

A rat falling at his feet.  She forces her mask of composure to remain.  With great effort, her practiced expression does not falter.

“Of course, if I said no, he’d have me flayed.  Hard to say which was worse,” Astarion finishes, his tone deceptively nonchalant.  

“You were his slave,” she whispers.  Astarion’s soft, trembling voice from The Raven Queen’s temple rings in her mind with an endless echo:  Freedom.  At any cost.  Any cost.  Anything.

“And he was my tormentor.  I had no choice but to obey our master’s commands.  He spoke, we’d react- it’s all part of the deal.  Sometimes he’d order us to submit to torture.  Sometimes he’d have us torture ourselves.  Whatever his weathervane mood settled on.”

She wants to say ‘I’m sorry,’ but the words stick in her throat.  What would words do, anyway?  Her chin tilts as she redirects her focus.  “And you’re finally free.  So, what now?”

“Now, we kill him,” he hisses.

‘We.’  He wants her to be a part of this.  Of course he does.  “Freedom, at any cost.”  His freedom- because even after 200 years, it’s still in reach for him.  For one of us.  

“You needed to know what we might be up against.  The mind flayers aren’t the only monsters out there.  And they might not be the only ones hunting us.  All I’m asking is that you keep your eyes open.  And watch out for anything lurking in the shadows.”

She nods, “So long as you do the same.”

He scoffs.  “Do I need to be looking out for Orcus?”

Her shoulder and head draw together in a half-hearted shrug.  “Wouldn’t surprise me if he made an appearance.”

“Then we have a deal,” he says, bowing his head.  He stands.  “Well, while your company has been a pleasure, I have a cursed book to read.”  He turns and begins to walk towards his tent.

Ayzora shakes her head, relief fully washing through her, detangling the knots in her stomach.  A smile tugs at the corners of her lips.  “I’d wish you better luck than I had with the Necromancy of Thay, but I’m not sure it’s something you want.”

“Well that makes for one of us.  It’s certain to hold some great power for us to use.”  His heels scrape in the ground as he turns back towards Ayzora.  “Try not to get too bored without me, darling.”

She looks over her shoulder at him, eyebrows twitching together for a moment in a flash of confusion.  This much special attention is… strange.  “Sure, Astarion.”

He flashes her a smile and returns to his tent.

Ayzora turns her focus back to the stew in front of her, letting out a long sigh.

Luckily, boredom is the least of her concerns.  There’s too much to think about for her- or, realistically, anyone- to be bored.  A few days have already passed with illithid tadpoles planted in their brains, and yet no symptoms of the painful transformation from humanoid to mindflayer have surfaced.  The archdruid, Halsin, has yet to be found and rescued- that is, if he’s still alive.  Droop remains in her tower without a master to feed him.  The Raven Queen’s temple is now empty, rapidly exposing her inexplicable absence from the pantheon.  And now, Astarion has taken a unique interest in her.

The attention isn’t unwanted, either.  That’s what intimidates her most.  She left the comfort of her tower, wandered the streets of Baldur’s Gate to the point of walking straight into a nautiloid, and denied herself an instant solution to her illithid dilemma all for the sake of trying to grant a stranger the freedom he begged for in quiet prayer from the shadows of a cold temple.

Gods, what am I doing? 

“What are you doing?”

The voice makes her jump.  The sun is kissing the horizon by now, turning the sky from blue to gold.  She sits in front of the cook pot, staring down at her reflection in the bottom of the dull silver ladle.  Her near-featureless pale expression reflected in the utensil reminds her of the ghostly goddess who haunts her still.  Tearing her eyes away from the disturbing sight, she looks up to see the familiar face of a human wizard dressed in purple standing over her, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Gale,” she breathes, calming her adrenaline.  “Just… lost in thought.”

He sits beside her.  “Might I ask what so captivated your mind?”

She smiles, glancing downward.  “Nothing important.”

“Well, I assure you,” he says low, his brown eyes softening, “if it’s important to you, it’s important to me.  But,” he pipes up, “I won’t push.”  He gently takes the ladle from Ayzora’s hands and moves to the cook pot, giving it a stir.  “This smells amazing, by the way.”

Her eyes follow his movements.

Lifting the spoon out of the steaming broth, he swipes a finger on the ladle and tastes the stew.  “My, my,” he marvels, turning back to Ayzora.  “A fantastic job.”  He hangs the ladle on the side of the stand with a bright smile.  “Not that I expected any less from you.”

“I only followed your instructions.”

“Ah,” he raises a finger, “but half the challenge in cooking a good meal is the execution. You,” he points to her, “my friend, have carried it out perfectly.”  His hands clasp behind his back.  “Thank you.”

She nods with a smile.

“I shall go inform the others that our dinner is ready.”

Gale makes his rounds at the camp, and sure enough, one by one, the other companions come out to the fire and dish up their own servings of the stew.  Even Astarion resurfaces from his tent- seemingly without any luck in deciphering the Necromancy of Thay- and joins the group.  Within an hour, the eight of them are gathered around the campfire, listening to and recounting stories of the day with full bellies while Scratch sleeps contentedly nearby.

After meeting with Dammon to make an upgrade on Karlach’s infernal engine, the group found themselves fighting off a pack of harpies, in turn rescuing a tiefling boy and making friends with Mol- a cunning girl who seems to make for a valuable connection.  The goblin party was eventually investigated, and while only some progress was made by Lae’zel’s hand in poisoning their mead, the plan was set.  Tomorrow, the goblin camp would be infiltrated and Halsin would at last be rescued and returned to the grove.

“Something odd happened, though, when we arrived at the camp,” Shadowheart adds after Karlach summarized their day of adventure.

“Oh, right- nearly forgot about that!” Karlach says.  “Go ahead, tell her,” she urges, gesturing from Shadowheart to Ayzora.

Ayzora turns to Shadowheart, who looks between her and Astarion as she speaks.

“On the way to the goblin camp, there was this… voice.  It forced us down, prostrate, and showed us three figures.  It claimed them as its chosen.”

Three chosen.  Ayzora feels her chest flutter as her mind begins to buzz with memories of her companions.  We were once three chosen, too; destined to rule.  An ominous parallel.  For the first time in a long while, a feeling settles in Ayzora’s stomach and fills her mind with darkness:  Doom.  She breathes in.  She breathes out.

Shadowheart pulls out a prism, holding it outward in the firelight.  It’s made of panels of some black metal, glowing a deep orange between the triangular panels.  From each corner, small rock-like spikes protrude.  On each side is an infernal rune- a language Ayzora is unfortunately familiar with- that glows the same amber color as its edges.

“This,” Shadowheart continues, “protected us, somehow.”  She turns the artifact in the light.  “I don’t know how.”

“Chk,” Lae’zel hisses.  “That is because it is not yours.  My people would know.  It is why we must return the artifact to-”

“Enough!”  Dark Urge’s voice booms, silencing the camp.  “We must not argue over that which we do not understand.  We need to focus on retrieving the Archdruid in the morning.  Once we are cured, we can concern ourselves with this artifact.”

There’s a symphony of affirming hums and muttered curses before silence falls over the camp again.  In stiff frustration, Lae’zel and Shadowheart turn in for the night.

Karlach, ever the cheery one, begins to recount tales of some adventures in Avernus.

While it seems the rest of the group is enamored by the lively stories, Ayzora feels her mind wander back to her memories.  Three chosen, set up for power that only led them to destruction.  Is this the same fate that awaits the three shown to the others?  Are those three innocent in their own right, or just as guilty as Ayzora, Remus, and Ryon were all those years ago?  Is Ayzora just as deserving of whatever fate befalls them?

A purple shimmer pulls Ayzora back into the present moment: an illusory recreation of the three.  She glances up and traces the magic to its origin to see Gale’s hand held open.

“What do you make of them?”  He whispers.

She sighs.  “It’s ominous.  Reminds me of…”

“Your friends?”  Gale finishes for her.

She nods.

Astarion, sitting only a couple feet away, shifts his focus as he eavesdrops on the two.  Oh, I see now… She hasn’t said much to the rest of us.  But to Gale?  It seems he’s leagues ahead.

“I wondered as much,” Gale continues.  “Can you offer any insight, then?”

She shrugs.  “Not yet.  I would need to know more about their patron.”

Gale hums, nodding as he thinks to himself quietly.  He dismisses the illusion.  “Ace?”

Astarion’s eyes flicker over to them.  Gods, really?  Pet names?  What's next, a proposal?

At hearing her nickname, Ayzora looks up to the waterdhavian wizard, her eyes soft in an expression Astarion struggles to read.

Gale places a gentle hand on her knee.  “No matter what happens to them, it bears no weight on you or your character.  You’ve already proven yourself to rise above your past.”  His hand squeezes her leg, before returning to his lap.  “You’re every bit redeemed in my eyes.”

Ayzora’s eyes seem to sparkle in the firelight as they tear up- not enough to cry, but just enough to be noticeable.  “Thank you,” she whispers.

Gale smiles at her before turning his attention back to Karlach, who seems to be nearing the end of her story.

Ayzora follows suit, eyes meeting Astarion’s for just a moment.

His gaze quickly drops to the ground as panic begins to settle in.

Ayzora and Gale had been close, compared to the others.  Not only did they bond over their magic, but ever since Gale admitted to containing a Netherese orb- posing an explosive threat to the group in the case it goes unsatiated- the two had only connected further.  Ayzora was the first to offer a magic item to keep his condition at bay, sacrificing an enchanted ring of hers to be consumed by his curse.

It wouldn’t bother Astarion if it weren’t for the fact that she was his best shot at gaining some sort of security against Cazador.  Shit.

As the night settles, Karlach at last retires to her tent.  Most of the others follow suit- save for Ayzora and Astarion.  While the rest of the party needs a full night’s sleep to recuperate, the two elves only trance for about half that time, leaving them to later nights and earlier mornings.

When Gale bids Ayzora goodnight at last, all that remains is the two of them, alone.

Soft snores slowly rise and fall with easy breath from the surrounding tents.

Ayzora’s eyes remain fixed on the crackling fire- however, she can’t help but feel a pair of red eyes burning into her.

“A quiet evening, for once,” Astarion at last pipes up.  His voice is lower than usual, turning quiet speech into something more… sultry.

Ayzora hums in agreement.

“Perfect for two people who’d like to take some time to themselves… If you catch my meaning.”

She finally tears her eyes away from the blaze as confusion suddenly sets in.  Is he…?

“And, I do mean sex, to be clear,” Astarion confirms, leaning forward in earnest.  “We’ve been waiting long enough,” he scoffs, as if that was the natural justification for such a proposal.  As if it was obvious.

Maybe it was- to everyone but her, it seems.

The mask shatters.  Ayzora’s eyes are wide open; all attempts at hiding her shock and bewilderment are rendered utterly pointless as her mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water.  “Astarion, I…”

“I’ve seen the way you look at me- especially after the night we shared.  I’m sure you haven’t stopped thinking about it, either.  I’d even say you enjoyed it.”

Her mouth snaps shut, completely drying out in the sudden wave of anxiousness, along with her throat.  She swallows.

“It’s alright, darling, you needn’t say anything.  That body of yours has already told me everything I need to know,” he purrs.  He turns his chin downward, eyes darkening.  “The way you shuddered beneath me, holding your breath-”

“I know,” she blurts, “but I've never-” she cuts herself off.  Gods, do I really need to admit that?  Do I… do I really want this?

He tilts his chin.  No wonder she's squirming at just the thought…  Poor thing’s never been touched.  “Shh.  It's alright,” he reassures.  “It's unfortunate to know you'll never find another quite as good…”  Astarion sits beside her, his eyes raking over her body shamelessly.  He leans in, placing a hand on her upper thigh.

Her breath hitches as his hand rests on her skin, his cool touch suddenly burning into her flesh.

“But I can assure you, my sweet,” he whispers, leaning in so close his lips nearly graze her pointed ear, “You won't regret it.”

Beneath his rehearsed lines and seductive show, there's an offer being made.

Despite her best interest, she does want this.  Of course she wants this.  She's spent hundreds of years watching others have this.  Stealing glances.  Holding hands.  Kissing.  Making love in the shadows.  She's always wanted it, but it's always been the one thing she could never have.

She's wanted him since she saw him in that tavern, touching that half-orc in ways Ayzora's only ever dreamed of.  

Here he is, making her an offer she can't refuse.

“Okay,” she manages, voice trembling.

Astarion is briefly taken aback- he wasn't entirely confident she'd take his offer- but he quickly recovers, resuming the suave presentation.  “Let's find our own little piece of nowhere.  Somewhere we can lose ourselves, and forget all of this madness,” he says, gesturing to the rest of the camp.

‘Lose ourselves.’  It strikes a chord in Ayzora.  What I wouldn't do to lose myself for once.

“There's a secluded place nearby that should do nicely.”  Astarion stands.  “Only if you want to,” he adds as he extends a hand to Ayzora, “but trust me, you want to.”

Ayzora looks up at him.  In another life- one she's long lost sight of- she'd be concerned about the consequences of giving herself over to a stranger.  She’d be laying herself in his hands, fully in his power, without even knowing his last name.  She'd worry about what others may think of her, taking up the first offer for a night of passion ever made to her.  To the hells with it.

She places her hand in his, confidence at last guiding her movement.

With a sly smile, the vampire guides the necromancer to a clearing in the forest.

“I've been waiting,” he says low as he pulls off his shirt, exposing his muscled torso, “to have you…”  Lies, of course.  But they usually sell the fantasy.

A fantasy she's willing to suspend her disbelief for, if only for a night.

Ayzora was an orphan and an outcast in all the ways that mattered.  The few people she had ever loved- family, mentors, friends- were dead.  By now, their graves are only occupied by bones and dust.  She had never taken a lover, even for a night.  No community claimed her as their own.  Neverwinter serves not as a home, but merely a host to her empty tower where she spends her days alone.  She belongs to nothing; to no one.

In the heat of the summer night, there is only Astarion.  He offers her the chance to lose herself in someone else- in him; and she wants nothing more than to be anyone else.

A stranger’s fingers graze over scarred skin, now exposed.

His scarred back.

Her scarred stomach.

His silken touch leaves behind the web of strings silently attached.  This is just another transaction.  In the morning, every word, every touch, every breath would be left behind to rot beneath the leaves; but she will walk away with another debt charged to her.  A favor to be returned waits in the hands of her temporary lover; but it’s patient.  It can wait.

For tonight, Ayzora can at last let go of herself entirely, losing everything she is in everything Astarion pretends to be.  She can lie to herself just for now, and pretend she belongs here, with him above her.

His eyes are miles away when she stares into them; but his words tell her he’s right here, and he’s got her, and she’s beautiful, and she belongs.

She’s almost desperate enough to believe it.

[elliespassagerprincess]

The air is getting crisp fall is coming so a bôa song is definitely needed can you do twilight by them

Twilight - (ellie williams x reader)

hi anon! Your wish is my command! Ugh I wish it was fall where I live, it's literally so fucking hot lmao... I hope you enjoy it <3

this story is based off the song Twilight by Bôa, if you can please listen to the song as you're reading:)

Pairing: ellie x fem!reader

requests are always open, feel free to leave one!

HUGE Warnings: descriptions of violence, murder, death, gore, sadness, small mention of depression and graves (don't read this if you aren't in the right mental state)

Summary: In which you couldn't win Ellie's heart

Authors note: ladies and ladies, the violence is back! Idk man it's been a while since I've written something like this. Remember you are loved <3

Your word and my word and her word is

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

And twilight gives me, an inner sanctity

And you're feeling, and you're hungry for her

And you don't understand it

But you know you haven't planned it

Your feelings and mine are all lonely

And dawn comes you're there lying with me

And you reach out to touch me, but I am in the twilight

You heard Ellie let out a sigh as she continued venting to you about Dina.

Stupid Dina.

Seems like all Ellie could talk about was her.

Why her? Out of all the people on the fucking planet why did it have to be Dina?

"She said "hey Ellie" and she didn't even smile with me! like what the fuck???" Ellie practically yelled with frustration.

You rolled your eyes at Ellie.

"Ellie calm down maybe she had a bad day"

Ellie stopped pacing around the room to look at you.

"Yeah.... you're right! She doesn't hate me she's just tired" Ellie said with a small smile.

You watched as Ellie lowered herself onto your bed and she looked up at you with a shy smile. She reached out her arms in your direction "cuddle?" she asked softly.

You let out a sigh as got into the bed spooning Ellie. She let out a hum of satisfaction.

"Ellie you need to stop doing this"

"doing what?"

you only shook your head and thought: "making me fall in love with you"

"friends don't cuddle" you brought up.

"Friends do" Ellie argued.

"Dina wouldn't like this" you added.

"well Dina isn't here right now" Ellie spoke matter of factly as she snuggled closer to you.

All you did was sigh as you brought your hand up to scratch Ellie's head. She let out a moan and she closed her eyes.

"You are a great friend, you know that?" Ellie spoke through a yawn.

Yeah, you were a great friend.

Your feelings and mine are all holy but,

You know and I know it's untrue because

When day dawns you're there lying with me

And the dawn can fly away

And you know I love you but you know that

There's nothing you can do about it

Because you love her, and you still want me

If I could be her... but I'm not her and she's not me

And you're somewhere different, on a different planet

You loved Ellie. You loved her a little more than a friend should.

Every time you saw her, your heart raced. She made you feel hot by just giving you a smile. Ellie made you feel things. Things you've never felt before.

You loved her.

But you knew she didn't feel the same.

You lay many nights next to Ellie, listening to her complain about Dina who's oblivious to Ellie's feelings.

It hurt you.

Seeing how Ellie always smiled when Dina walked into a room. Seeing how excited Ellie got, every time Dina said something. Every time Dina complimented Ellie, she almost exploded with joy.

It made you sick.

You tried being Dina.

Maybe Ellie would love you if you were someone else.

Maybe it was the way you did your hair? Was it the way you dressed? Was it the way you looked? What made Dina so special?

You tried cutting your hair the same length as Dina. You started dressing like her. You even copied her stupid music taste.

You tried. You tried so fucking hard.

But you could never be her and Ellie would never see you like that.

You knew Ellie loved you. She wanted you, but not in the same way you wanted her.

You were her best friend.

The girl she could go to with her problems, the girl who would help her with her hair and outfits.

You were nothing more than a friend.

You wanted to be Dina and you prayed to the gods that you could become her. But you didn't. You were nothing more than a friend in Ellie's eyes.

You saw how much Ellie's crush on Dina affected her.

How much it hurt her knowing that Dina most probably doesn't feel the same. And you being the amazing friend that you were, you decided to help Ellie.

You made it your mission to get them together.

Even though it hurt you knowing Ellie would never love you, as long as she was happy, you'd be happy too.

That's how you got yourself in your current position. Sitting across Dina in her apartment.

"So" you stared as you took a sip from the orange juice Dina gave you.

"we need to talk"

"about?"

"Ellie" "What about Ellie? Dina asked confused.

"do you have feelings for her?" you asked.

You watched as Dina burst out laughing, you watched as she threw her head back from laughing.

Anger sparked in you.

Why the fuck was she laughing? What's so fucking funny about liking Ellie?

After a while of Dina laughing, she slowed down breathing heavily before she let out a "Why would I like her? She's weird".

You felt your eye twitch before all hell broke loose.

How dare she say that about Ellie?

Your Ellie?

Ellie loved her so much and this is what Dina had to say?

This was the girl Ellie loved. She didn't deserve Ellie. If only she knew the amount of tears Ellie cried for her.

fucking bitch

You leaped from where you were sitting onto Dina, you straddled her as you punch her over and over again.

"How-"

*punch*

"dare-"

*punch*

"you"

*punch*

You don't even know how long you sat on her, and listened to her beg.

"Please" she whimpered as she tried getting you off her.

You eventually got off her breathing heavily as you looked down at your hands.

Your knuckles were bruised, and your hands covered in blood.

Dina's blood.

You looked over at her, seeing her slowly breathing. She didn't move, she didn't even make a sound.

Maybe she was unconscious.

You couldn't even recognize her with all the blood and bruises.

If Dina woke up, she would call the police. She would tell Ellie. Ellie would hate you.

You couldn't let that happen.

You slowly walked back from Dina, as you heard glass shatter. Your head snapped in the direction of the sound.

You saw pieces of glass scattered everywhere. And your orange juice was all over the floor.

Fuck you wanted to drink that.

You slowly bent down to pick up a shard of glass, and you held in your palm.

You walked towards Dina and you slowly pushed the glass into her trachea. You watched as the blood seeped from the wound.

You took a step back, leaving the glass shard in place. The blood dripped all over her throat and clothes, blood came out of her mouth.

Soon after Dina stopped breathing.

You killed her. You fucking killed someone.

You knew you made the right decision by killing Dina, because now you finally had Ellie to yourself.

And you still want it

The inner sanctity

And it's an evil

But the evil is necessary

And you're still hungry for her

And you still want her loving

But she doesn't love you

You watched as Ellie sat next to Dina's grave. She was sobbing.

Why the fuck was she crying over someone who didn't feel anything for her?

After Dina's death Ellie really struggled. She struggled to accept that the girl she loved wasn't here anymore. And what hurt Ellie the most was that Dina never knew.

Dina never knew the love Ellie had for her.

You watched Ellie spiral. You watched how she suffered.

Your plan was get rid of Dina, not the hurt the girl you loved.

Late at night when Ellie would lay in your arms you would sometimes feel regret for what you did. You didn't know it would affect Ellie the way it did, and you never wanted to hurt her. The guilt you felt soon get's replaced with pride when you realize that you got rid of the girl that was only going to hurt Ellie.

You saved Ellie. You saved her from rejection and embarrassment.

You knew she would get over it eventually.

Ellie's life wouldn't stop because her crush died. At some point she'll just have to accept it and you'll be here waiting for her with open arms.

You quietly walked towards Ellie as she sobbed next to Dina's grave, you raised your right hand putting it on her shoulder.

Ellie looked up at you, and in her eyes you could see how broken she was.

"It's ok Ellie" was all you said before she continued to sob into her hands.

You let out a sigh at the sight.

Months after Dina's death you realized that Ellie wasn't going to forget so easily.

You watched as she printed out pictures of her and Dina, and she placed it all over her apartment. You watched as she went to Dina's grave every week.

You listened to Ellie cry almost every night.

Even though you knew Dina didn't feel anything for her, Ellie still wanted her. Ellie still craved Dina.

Yes, she got affection from you, but you were never going to be enough.

All she wanted was Dina.

And you knew in the years to come Ellie wouldn't be able to move on and forget.

Even though you were there for her through everything. Even though you showed her nothing but love, the only person Ellie ever wanted was Dina.

She wanted Dina's love. Dina's care.

You were nothing but a friend. The realization made you sick.

You did everything for her.

You even killed for her.

But you'll never be Dina.

All you could was comfort her and hope, she'll one day feel the same.

[silentium-symphony]

Book Buddies II (Link x Reader)

(a/n) hello! here is the second chapter of Book Buddies! if you haven't read the first chapter, please click here. i hope you enjoy!

cw: afab!reader, researcher!reader, a nice day out w link :), crowded places, escaping to nature, gentle looks and touches exchanged under the moon, first kiss vibes <3, quickly followed by a steamy makeout session heh

wc: 3.8k

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

Since that eventful night, Link at the library had grown to become an increasingly common sight. It was like clockwork, really. Sometime after lunch, you can expect to see a mat of blonde poke through the door followed by a pair of bright eyes that would smile when it met yours.

He'd often come by to return a book he had loaned and ask for more recommendations (which you happily supplied). Within a matter of months, the bookish Captain had worked through most of your list and had even shown you some goodies to read. It warmed your heart having a lil' book buddy; you couldn't remember the last time someone was able to keep up with your... fiery discussions of things that have occurred in your books.

Three knocks rapt your door. Your eyes slit open, wincing immediately at the stream of light conveniently placed right on your face. What time was it...?

"Y... Yes? Who is it?" You yawned through your fingers, clawing uselessly at that one itch just out of reach on your back.

"It's Link."

Your senses snapped awake and your head swiveled to your mirror, which proudly displayed the ornate bird's nest growing on the side of your head. You fumbled out of bed, hissed at the cold the wooden floor shot through your feet, and drowsily waddled to your dresser.

"J-Just a second!" You croaked, wincing at your dry throat. One swig of water later, you were combing your hair and slipping on a shirt that was at least better than what you went to bed with. One last look in the mirror and you clicked the thick door open, careful of not slamming it right in your visitor's face.

"Link? What are you doing this early in the morning? I'm trying to sleep..." You whined. All drowsy discomforts took a backseat when you saw the grave expression painted on his face.

"Her Highness told me that I am to be deployed soon..." He trailed off, brows furrowing deeper. "I'm afraid I can't give more details past that."

This wasn't a total surprise, given his occupation and everything, but it was still... numbing to hear. His words bounced around your head as you began to process what that would mean for the two of you. Your world wasn't crashing and burning, sure, but it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that some of the vibrant colors Link injected into your life have begun to drain out. In the end, all you could muster was a quiet,

"... Oh."

"So... Since we may not see each other for a while, would you like to..." He swallowed thickly. "GotoCastleTownwithme?"

"Would I... huh?" You blinked, rubbing your eyes as if that would help you hear better. "I'm sorry, can you say that again?"

He froze, silently recalculating what the odds were of you saying yes, but knowing you wouldn't settle for silence he tried again.

"Would you... Like to go to Castle Town with me?"

Being asked out on a date first thing in the morning was not what you expected when you tumbled out of bed.

By the Captain no less.

You had dreamt of this moment for months and it took every fiber of your being to channel your inner fangirling into a calm, graceful smile. But the moment he left, you knew you were due for a good ol' cathartic scream into your pillow.

"I would love to."

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

The moment training had wrapped up for the day, he bolted to the gates, giddy to finally have this time with you. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he had been aching to take you out for a pleasant stroll through town, going through the market's different stalls and showing you his favorite spots to relax. He's not blind to the effects work has on your body and psyche, and he hoped that your stresses could be washed away with these safe spaces the same way it cleansed him.

A flash of (H/C) in a crowd of similarly-dressed scholars bagged his attention and his eyes flitted this way and that. His heart soared seeing your demure figure moving down the steps of Hyrule Castle and one look at him almost got you running.

You waved goodbye to your coworkers and with a hop, skip, and a step, graced your man companion with your presence.

"Hey! Thanks for meeting up with me. Have you been waiting long?"

He shook his head.

"Perfect! Well, ready to go?"

He patted his rupee pouch and gave you a thumbs up. You giggled and waited for the iron gates to be heaved open.

Before long, you were traipsing down the streets of Castle Town, positively glowing. He was just happy to be present with you. He would listen to your latest findings with great interest, listen to whatever book you happened to get your hands on, listen to all your ramblings and random intrusive thoughts you had, and just... Listen. He wasn't much of a talker and you've made it exceptionally clear to him that he could stop you at any point, but he preferred to just listen.

"--and after that, she intentionally rammed her wagon into a tree! Y'know, that was the first time I ever read a book like that. I highly recommend it."

He hummed, his eyes shining like they had just captured heaven's highest stars.

"I've heard," he began slowly, his voice still not used to all the talking he's had to do recently, "from the mill ladies that your friend's favorite author is set to complete her next book in a month or two."

His wriggling eyebrows were immediately met with a jab to the ribs.

"Woah, really?!" A spark of excitement in your eyes lightly contrasted the playful grimace splaying on the Captain's features. "That's--! Um, ahem. I'm sure she'd be very pleased to hear that. I'll let her know... later."

He rolled his eyes and huffed; you laughed, reaching up and messing with his hair. You didn't notice the way he froze or the way he all but stopped breathing, and you definitely didn't notice the heat blooming all throughout his body while your attention was nabbed elsewhere.

"Oh! Can we look at that stall real quick?"

A faint nod and you were already bounding towards an ornately decorated sign that read "Jeweler."

"Hello, hello! Welcome to my humble little shop!" You eyed the... eclectic decor curiously and made a polite smile to the merchant. "Has anything caught your fancy? Everything you see here was painstakingly, artfully crafted by the finest jewelers in all of Hyrule! Some of my own personal works have made their way into this collection, heh..."

You half-listened to the merchant as he droned on and on about how he incurred every item you see before you, and you nodded every now and then to feign acknowledgment. Glimmers of bronze, silver, and gold dazzled you until your head spun. Jewels and stones encrusted in delicate veins of metal swelled your heart with want, but you stayed your hand once your eyes drifted to the tiny numbers set before each piece.

You were a mere researcher of Hyrule, not the king himself.

Realizing this whole shop was way out of your tax bracket, you awkwardly scooted closer toward the exit, making sure to eye everything you saw on your way out for politeness' sake. As you neared freedom and your friend, the most delicate piece of metalwork you had ever laid eyes on locked your gaze in a vice grip.

The dainty necklace's simple, elegant features starkly contrasted with the cacophony of gaudy golds and polished bronze--a mere sliver of the moon in a sea of gold and copper stars that vied for your attention. Your fingers grazed the crescent moon that dangled at the apex of the thin chain while a small, fond smile played at your lips. The three small stars by the celestial body fleshed the necklace into a gorgeous piece that didn't need to have metal bits sticking this way and that to make a statement.

"Ah, you have quite the eye for design! That piece right there was carefully crafted by yours truly! It can be yours today if you so desire!"

Your thoughtful hums turned to disappointment as your eyes once again rested on the price. It was by far one of the most expensive items here and dejection weighed your shoulders.

"Thank you, these truly are gorgeous pieces, but I must be on my way."

You drifted out of the stall and into the streets teeming with life around you. The crowd had gotten noticeably thicker as bodies rammed into you; there was hardly any room to breathe.

"Man, that stall sure was expensive, huh Li-- Link?" Your head whipped this way and that. "Link?!"

Your eyes scanned the conglomerate of bodies crowding about you. The sights, scents, and sensations of Castle Town were increased tenfold and you fought the crowd for respite off to the side. Lightly panting, you immediately went back to scanning the crowd for your lost companion.

"Link! Link!"

How long has it been since you lost him? Where was the last time you even saw him?

That would have been over there...

You threw a weak glance to an arbitrary point on your left, mentally reprimanding yourself for your carelessness. You thought he was right behind you! Did he not follow you to the stall? Did the crowd start picking up when you left? Did he get swept away? He can be anywhere at this point! Gods, now you've abandoned Link on your day out and left him to fend for himself against Castle Town's inhabitants!

A simple tap on your shoulder pulled you from your thoughts and you spun around, almost knocking the both of you off your feet from the way your bodies clashed against the other.

"Link!"

A warm smile adorned his features and he nodded at you. You clasped your hands together and held them up to your chest, shaking slightly.

"I'm so sorry for leaving you like that! I thought you were right behind me, so I just bounded right over to the stall... I'll be more careful next time, I promise!"

He shook his head, that gentle smile not leaving his lips for a second. He offered his hand to you and eyed the crowd. He must be wanting to leave too. You gladly took hold of him and he turned off to the side, lacing between colorful tents and wooden stalls and slipping in and out of the crowd. Your eyes were trained on his figure as he skillfully bobbed and weaved through different bodies, effortlessly leading you through Castle Town.

You eventually rested on his hand, dutifully meshed with your own. You felt your cheeks grow hot and for once, you were relieved to have dozens of hot, sweaty bodies rubbing up against you lest he turn around and wonder why your face was a sweltering red.

You assumed he was making his way back to the castle, but a sudden left down a back alley and a veer off to the right opened into a clearing untouched by the encroaches of civilization. The vast openness of Hyrule Field spread across the horizon, wrapping its infinite plains and forests around your overstimulated self. You filled your lungs with the deepest, crispest breath you ever drew and let out a hefty sigh. The Captain did the same.

"This is so much better than that cramped market. Thanks for getting us outta there."

Turns out he wasn't done escorting you as he led you further into the wilds; the sweet melodies of songbirds and the wind making passage through trees cleansed the jolting bustle of Castle Town from your ears. You saw a clearing up ahead that opened to a grassy, flowery meadow with a crystal lake at its center.

A few steps later, you were washed in the gentle glow of the setting sun; crickets have joined in on nature's nightly symphony in conjunction with the scurry of small mammals rushing through thicket and brush.

After aestheticizing for a moment, he turned to you and his grip on your fingers loosened. You both pulled away, your fingers wrought with the absence of warmth you had been growing accustomed to. Eyes cautiously avoiding each other's gaze found shelter in the gentle swaying of sunlit trees and the long shadows they cast on the grass.

"It's so peaceful here... Do you come here often?"

He 'hmph'ed in confirmation and threw his arms above his head, scraping the sky with his fingertips in a futile effort to rake the stars.

You inched closer to the clear pool and sat down, rolling individual blades of grass and wildflowers between your fingers; your loyal knight followed suit. A comfortable silence fell over the both of you and you gazed dreamily at your semi-quavering surroundings reflected in the lake.

"Thank you for today, Link... It was fun."

The gentlest breeze cooed through your hair, pulling a few strands with it in a lighthearted dance. The sun caught in your quivering lashes and the dimpled smile on your plump lips could only be described as simply divine. Link's throat bobbed up and down and whatever passive thought was drifting through his mind dissipated immediately.

Oh Hylia, you were breathtaking.

He didn't dare look away from your glory, hoping to bask in your soft gaze for as long as you allowed him. His fingers fumbled with his tunic, with the grass, with the hem of his pants, with anything he could get his hands on and you giggled at his restlessness.

"You okay, Cap?"

"... Mm."

A surge of boldness shot through your chest as you found yourself scooting closer to the man. He positioned himself to make way for you until you slotted yourself just inches away from him. His heat radiated onto your skin and you felt your muscles lax out the tension it had been holding.

"I will be leaving soon." He whispered, streaking the serenity with hints of melancholy. "It will be a long and arduous mission far away from here... I do not know when I'll be back."

"... I know." Neither of your gazes met. "I know."

The sun, exhausted from its long journey across the sky, began its customary plummet past the horizon, calling its nightly sister to take its place as the provider of lesser light. The moon’s ascension to the celestial throne was slow and deliberate; the transition of powers brushed the sky with a rich indigo and vibrant marigold, marrying the two hues into perfect harmony. Wispy cirrus and scarlet stratus stood as witnesses to this otherworldly unification of colors, and both of you acted as passive guests to this ritual of dusk and twilight.

"But I'll wait for you." You say at last, turning to him. "No matter how long it takes, I'll always be waiting for you."

Surprised at the resolve in your own voice, your gaze faltered back onto his hands. His warm, calloused, steady hands. Your fingers itched to feel them again, but your still body betrayed your desires to hold and be held. What in the world were you saying? You weren't even his to begin with.

It was Link's turn to look at you now, heart seizing and throat drying. Forlornity tugged the corner of his lip into a somber smile and he moved his face closer to yours. He was close enough to feel your breath hitch (his did as well), and the proximity forced you to look up.

"I'll come back to you. I promise."

Your mind blanked as your arms found the back of his neck, pulling him into a gentle embrace. You kept your contact light--fleeting even, in case he wanted to pull away. But he did no such thing, instead sinking deeper into you and wrapping you up in a pair of muscled arms. Suddenly all the cold, touch-starved nights of longing didn't feel as empty anymore. Suddenly all the pining, all the directionless love you fostered for the other had some place to go. Although you didn't hear those three magical words, his tightening limbs were all the confirmation you needed.

"I have a surprise for you." He murmured into your hair, pulling away slightly. His hands fiddled in his pants pocket and a streak of joy gleamed across his face. "Close your eyes."

You did as you were told, steep in disbelief and excitement that he had actually gotten you something. The image of that necklace from earlier shot across your mind, but you internally scoffed as the price followed shortly after.

Stop kidding yourself, there's no way he would have gotten--

"Open your eyes."

Dangling in front of your face was a thin chain pulled down by a crescent moon and its three starry companions.

"Wait... That's..."

"I saw you looking at it earlier," he rubbed his neck sheepishly, "so I bought it."

"Link, that was hundreds of ru--"

"Don't worry about it." His lips were pulled ear to ear. "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" Happy tears shamelessly leaked from your eyes. "Oh gods Link, I love it!"

You sniveled and trained your eyes on the pretty little thing and Link gently grasped your shoulders to turn you. A pleasant shiver shimmied down your spine as his fingers traced the back of your neck, gingerly pushing your locks out of the way. You pinned it up to aid him further.

Link took his time clasping the accessory around your neck, drinking in the way your bare skin looked in the moonlight. Dedicating the scene in front of him to memory, he hummed and you turned to face him. He never knew how effective a simple piece of metal could be at enhancing your already ethereal qualities; his heart melted and pooled at his feet.

"Beautiful..."

You shrunk under his lovestruck gaze and, in a flurry of millions of racing thoughts all melding together, pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek.

If the man wasn't already reeling, he certainly was now. Every single gear in his head ceased execution; he was wholly at the mercy of your little chortles, your bashful smiles, and batting lashes. Hylia only knows how quickly he would cast himself into the sea should you say the word, or how happily he would steal heaven's brightest luminaries should you desire a matching ring made of the North Star. He stooped closer, practically face-to-face with you.

"May I," he said at last, "have the honor of kissing you?"

His hot breath tickled your cheeks and you found yourself giggling at his endearing politeness.

"Of course."

His face closed in on yours, his breath fanning a deep fire from the skin it touched. Hooded eyes flitted to hot, parted lips and they sank lower as he drew closer; you followed suit, your eyes fluttering closed on your knight's beautiful face. A heated softness pressed tenderly against your lips, melting any and all tension into nothingness. Your lips engaged in a clumsy, heartfelt dance as his lips moved awkwardly, cautiously, lovingly, against your own. Your heart was practically palpitating when you felt a pair of hands sneak onto your face.

He drew back for the briefest of seconds before his lips found yours again and again, each kiss more ravenous than the last. The whine that escaped your wet, parted lips incited something deep within him and his lips connected with yours in a merciless onslaught, leaving your head spinning and your heart wanting more, more, more. A hand fell to the small of your lower back and he drew you closer, your bodies flushed tightly against the other as deeper passions bloomed.

You felt yourself sink lower, lower, lower until the grass tickled the curve of your ear and skilled, battle-worn arms wrapped around you in a way that made you feel like porcelain. His lips moved on from yours and traced the outline of your jawbone with the lightest of movements, leaving a fiery trail in his wake. Your senses were wracked with newfound pleasures, his hands tightening in your own as he found solace in the crook of your neck. He peppered the soft, unmarked skin with butterfly pecks and kisses that thinly veiled his growing desires, suckling the skin just enough to send electricity through your whole body but just short of leaving a beautiful, bluish-purple welt (for he did not know if you wanted to be marked by him just yet). Your moans and sharp breaths intertwined heatedly, scattering your thoughts into a frenzy and numbing, blissful oblivion all at once.

His lips found yours once again, starved and craving for your warmth. One final, deep press into your lips before he pulled away with a pop, pressing his forehead against yours. A deep laugh rumbled in his chest.

"My apologies... It seems I have gotten carried away there..." He closed his eyes, stilling his rapidly beating heart lest it explode in his chest. Gods, he wanted more. More. One look at your pleading eyes almost made him come undone. Lilting lashes and blown-out pupils conveyed all the pent-up desire you've harbored for the man before you. He sucked in a breath and smoothed the mess he made of your hair, smiling tenderly.

"If you would like to continue, perhaps we should head somewhere more... comfortable."

Truthfully, the fact that you were in the literal wilderness may have slipped your mind just now. Your eyes went to scan for any body-shaped outlines hiding among the tree line, suddenly feeling very exposed. He saw the cautious look you shot at the trees and he couldn't help the laugh that spilled out of him.

"Are you shy, love?"

"W-Well it's just...!" Your eyes flew shut, unable to stand Link's teasing gaze any longer.

"Just... what?" His voice and face lowered into your neck. A deep moan thundered against your skin, sending butterflies knocking into your ribcage.

"Don't tease me like that..." Please keep teasing me like that--

A full belly laugh escaped the man. He pressed a quick kiss right at the junction of your shoulder and neck (his new safe space aw) and he pulled away to drink in your embarrassed, pleasured, wrecked expression.

"I've wanted this for so long..." An imperceptible smile bloomed. "Ever since I saw you grimacing at that scroll."

"You saw that?!" You shot back mortified, ears aflame. His hands shot up, waving them back and forth in protest.

"I-It was cute, I promise! I thought... You were so cute when you made that face..."

His slurred mumble made you want to ruffle his hair and hold him close whilst squealing into his chest.

"In fact," he hummed lowly, "it made me wonder what other kinds of faces you can make..."

"LINK!"

[lolathestoryteller]

This is a fun one I thought up. A jily lives Christmas AU, where young Harry thinks his mom cheating on dad with Santa(but plot twist, it’s James dressed as Santa😄)

*I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus

Underneath the mistletoe last night

She didn't see me creep

Down the stairs to have a peep

She thought that I was tucked up

In my bedroom, fast asleep*

Prompt:

“*yawn* what is those sounds? A burglar?? I should warn daddy!*

*goes quietly downstairs and peeks*

‘W what? Mummy is kissing Santa?? Daddy will be so sad! Better tell him tomorrow morning’

Hiya there Anon! Sorry for my late reply, had a busy week! Anyways, this one made me smile haha — I hope it makes you smile too! :)

Potter Manor; the following morning…

« Hey! There’s my little man! » James calls out as he sees Harry walking into the kitchen.

He pulls back the chair next to his, inviting the six year old to sit down. « Sleep well, Snitch? » he asks, gently ruffling Harry’s messy curls.

Harry looks down onto his still empty plate, not meeting James’s eyes as he says very seriously: « Daddy…I got to tell you something bad. »

James raises a suspicious brow at his son, leaning closer to him. « Something bad, huh? » he asks, not entirely sure whether it’d be actually bad or rather just cheeky.

You really never know with Harry — he is the son of a Marauder after all.

« Yeah, » Harry replies, his voice barely above a whisper, before he finally looks up to meet James’s eyes. « But I don’t want you to be sad… »

Alright, this sounds like the bad bad type then.

James scoots his chair closer to Harry’s, bending low to be on eye level with his son. « What happened, Harry? » he asks, getting genuinely worried.

Harry bites at his lower lip, in the exact same way James has seen another person do whenever she’s nervous — it makes him smile a bit despite his worry.

Seems he’s just as much his Mother’s son.

« I saw Mummy last night…I— I thought I heard a noise, so I went downstairs because what if it was a burglar…? » Harry explains with all the typical childlike imagination.

James shakes his head at his son’s cheek. « You went downstairs past bedtime? » he asks with a falsely stern tone. « Better not tell Mummy that. »

« No, but Dad, I saw Mummy kissing Santa last night! » Harry suddenly blurts, his green eyes wide and his little hands now grasping onto James’s forearm.

Oh, that.

Seems they haven’t been as quiet as he’d thought.

James tries his very best not to start laughing, but when in that exact moment, Lily enters the kitchen, his resolve completely melts away. « Did you? » he asks, chuckling at Harry’s incredulous expression. « Did Mummy kiss Santa? »

He meets Lily’s confused eyes, which suddenly glimmer with embarrassment. « What? » she asks, looking from James to Harry and back. « James! Why would you—»

« Seems our son saw you and Santa beneath the Mistletoe last night, Lil. » James cuts her off amusedly. « Care to explain? »

Lily’s eyes narrow in a way that tells him he’d just dug his own grave, though James thinks it might have been worth the laugh.

« Harry, Mummy did not kiss Santa. » she explains with all the patience she can muster as she crouches down in front of the six year old.

Harry crosses his arms doubtfully. « But I saw you. » he replies matter of factly, causing Lily to sigh and James to bite back another laugh. « You said you loved his beard and then you kissed him! On the lips! »

James thinks despite her serious facade, Lily’s just as amused by this as he is. He decides to finally help her out of this, rather hilarious, situation. « That wasn’t Santa, » he explains, causing Harry to look up at him confusedly. « That was just Daddy dressed up as Santa. »

James thinks he’s never seen Harry look so flabbergasted before. « Why did you dress up as Santa? » he asks as though that was the most ridiculous thing ever. « Santa’s like, way older too. » he grimaces, turning back to look at Lily, utterly confused.

She chuckles discreetly into her palm, but James only smirks — he’s definitely going to sleep on the sofa for this one. « Well, Snitch, what can I say…your Mum just has a thing for older men. »

« James Potter! »

[bracketsoffear]

Songs for the 15 Fears (w/ links to the spotify playlists I made):

BURIED

Bottom of the River by Delta Rae

Choke by Poppy

Hey, Little Songbird from Hadestown

The Yawning Grave by Lord Huron

CORRUPTION

Neglected Space by Imogen Heap

Parasite Eve by Bring Me the Horizon

Decay by Pitou

Fear the Fever by Digital Daggers

DARK

You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen

My House by PVRIS

Dark Matter by Les Friction

Enter Sandman by Metallica

DESOLATION

Home by AlicebanD

Ashes by The Longest Johns

Eyes On Fire by Blue Foundation

Hellfire by the Mechanisms

END

Ex-Mortis by Ice Nine Kills

The Doomed by A Perfect Circle

Old Black Train by The Blasting Company

This Too Shall Pass by Danny Schmidt

EXTINCTION

1,000,000AD by QBomb

First Light by STARSET

Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall

This is Not a Place of Honour by Jessica Law

EYE

Watcher in the Sky by Ghost

Evil Eye by Franz Ferdinand

Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell

She Doesn't Sleep by Anthony Amorim

FLESH

Infamous Butcher by Amigo the Devil

The Red Means I Love You by Madds Buckley

Misery Meat by Sodikken

Kitchen Fork by Jack Conte

HUNT

Devil's Flesh & Bones by Eliza Rickman

Kill of the Night by Gin Wigmore

Werewolf Gimmick by The Mountain Goats

Actaea and Lyssa by The Mechanisms

LONELY

Forsaken by Adam Hurst

Emerald Star by Lord Huron

No Face by Haley Heynderickx

Ship in a Bottle by fin

SLAUGHTER

Drumming Song by Florence + the Machine

War Pigs by Black Sabbath

Rose Red by The Mechanisms

Go Get Your Gun by The Dear Hunter

SPIRAL

The Little Man Who Wasn't There by Glen Miller

I'm Going Slightly Mad by Queen

Mr. Doctor Man by Palaye Royale

Hotel California by The Eagles

STRANGER

Terry's Taxidermy by Teddy Hyde

Human by Anavae

Toys in the Attic by OMNIA

The Greatest Show Unearthed by Creature Feature

VAST

On the Mountain Tall by The Oh Hellos

Vertigo by Alice Merton

The Balancer's Eye by Lord Huron

Diving Bell by STARSET

WEB

Mother Knows Best from Tangled

House of the Rising Sun by Lauren O'Connell

Telekinetic by STARSET

Twisted Threads by The Mechanisms

Finally, here is the playlist for all 15! and yes, the order is the same as the 160 invocation ;)

.

[quillheel]

CHARACTER AESTHETIC — BOLD /ITALICS WHAT APPLIES & REPOST

tagged by: @rebellionhearted , thank you sm!!!!!! <3 <3

tagging: @tenebriism / @tendercoded / @leuvspell / @gloryseized / @finalfronticr / @dreamjumps / @abyssembraced / @somnium-led / @stellaxincubo / @cicxdas / @adventuroushero / @playedbetter and anyone wearing glasses or a hair accessory today! multi's, do as thy wilt! do w/e muses u want!

SOUNDS.

tinkling of piano keys / the click of a lock / an engine starting, stalling / sinful whispers / stifled sobbing / the rattle of death / alarm blaring / a siren call / spanish guitar strumming / loud laughter at midnight / banshee screeching / drunk hiccuping / the giggle of a child / rolling thunder / disdainful chuckling / bones creaking / carefree whistling / singing off key / flesh hitting concrete / white noise / a mirror cracking / laboured breathing / a groan of pain / waves lapping at the shore / the roar of a lion / pages turning / swords clashing / deep humming / birds chirping / dial tone / tongue popping / fingers tapping a surface / crystals breaking / music turned up to the limit / raindrops on a roof / angry yelling / yawning at noon / horns going off / ravens talking / bubblegum bursting / splashing water / teakettle squeal / militia drums / wolves howling / slow, sarcastic clapping / soprano notes / whispering pleas / gregorian chants / mournful cries

VISUALS.

filled notebooks / dogeared books / clean shaves / empty stares / sleeping at a desk / the witching hour / driving all night / restless tides / broken windows / coffee any time / freshly baked goods / bonfires / lounging felines / circles under your eyes / bedhead / tangling in the sheets / leather jackets / paint stains / music sheets / too many tabs to find the music / weary brows / card games / messy ponytails / strained smiles / unsent texts / heart on your sleeve / slow dancing in the rain / star gazing / torn jeans / piles of clothes / filled bookshelves / hurricanes / chapped lips / cliff diving / the lights in venice / stolen kisses / poet shirts / half melted candles / empty coffee mugs / hot tea / unlaced boots / shameless flirting / too young to be so old / laced fingers / eyes in the trees / bloody knuckles / french letters / neon lights / ivy covered balconies

SCENTS.

burnt leaves / turkish coffee / spiced rum / moss / vanilla beans / freshly cut grass / decay / sea salt / strawberries and cream / cinnamon / honey / copper / pineapple / wet dog / pine needles / wood shavings / rainsoaked bark / something sharp, indefinable / Russian tea / dandelions / squeezed limes / Italian wine / freshly laundered clothes / coming rain / hardtack and gruel / roasting flesh / something cloying in the chest / ichor / lillies in spring / pollen / damp clothes / meatpies / greasy coins / curdled milk / leather / bone marrow / wet cement / ricecakes / open paint cans / cocoa leaves / tar / apples / sandlewood cologne / orchids / molded onions / cheap perfume / mistletoe / rubber on fire / grave dirt / old books / new books / melting plastic / roses / poison oak / seacucumbers / peppermint handcream

SOUNDS.

tinkling of piano keys / the click of a lock / an engine starting, stalling / sinful whispers / stifled sobbing / the rattle of death / alarm blaring / a siren call / spanish guitar strumming / loud laughter at midnight / banshee screeching / drunk hiccuping / the giggle of a child / rolling thunder / disdainful chuckling / bones creaking / carefree whistling / singing off key / flesh hitting concrete / white noise / a mirror cracking / laboured breathing / a groan of pain / waves lapping at the shore / the roar of a lion / pages turning / swords clashing / deep humming / birds chirping / dial tone / tongue popping / fingers tapping a surface / crystals breaking / music turned up to the limit / raindrops on a roof / angry yelling / yawning at noon / horns going off / ravens talking / bubblegum bursting / splashing water / teakettle squeal / militia drums / wolves howling / slow, sarcastic clapping / soprano notes / whispering pleas / gregorian chants / mournful cries

VISUALS.

filled notebooks / dogeared books / clean shaves / empty stares / sleeping at a desk / the witching hour / driving all night / restless tides / broken windows / coffee any time / freshly baked goods / bonfires / lounging felines / circles under your eyes / bedhead / tangling in the sheets / leather jackets / paint stains / music sheets / too many tabs to find the music / weary brows / card games / messy ponytails / strained smiles / unsent texts / heart on your sleeve / slow dancing in the rain / star gazing / torn jeans / piles of clothes / filled bookshelves / hurricanes / chapped lips / cliff diving / the lights in venice / stolen kisses / poet shirts / half melted candles / empty coffee mugs / hot tea / unlaced boots / shameless flirting / too young to be so old / laced fingers / eyes in the trees / bloody knuckles / french letters / neon lights / ivy covered balconies

SCENTS.

burnt leaves / turkish coffee / spiced rum / moss / vanilla beans / freshly cut grass / decay / sea salt / strawberries and cream / cinnamon / honey / copper / pineapple / wet dog / pine needles / wood shavings / rainsoaked bark / something sharp, indefinable / Russian tea / dandelions / squeezed limes / Italian wine / freshly laundered clothes / coming rain / hardtack and gruel / roasting flesh / something cloying in the chest / ichor / lillies in spring / pollen / damp clothes / meatpies / greasy coins / curdled milk / leather / bone marrow / wet cement / ricecakes / open paint cans / cocoa leaves / tar / apples / sandlewood cologne / orchids / molded onions / cheap perfume / mistletoe / rubber on fire / grave dirt / old books / new books / melting plastic / roses / poison oak / seacucumbers / peppermint handcream

[saiyanqueenreads]

Hunter-Centric Fanfic Recommendation List for The Owl House: Fics starting with T, U, & V

***Please observe any tags/warnings on each work before reading, as some stories may deal with triggering topics and situations***

The list will be updated periodically as I find great new stuff.

Tag you're it, Tag Tag you're it. by Lethezee Tailored to a T by loversbyjay take a moment to think of just flexibility, love, and trust by Love_Lucigoosey Take a Sick Day by KOKICHINOLIE Take these broken wings by ChildlikeGoblinQueen Terminal by EdwardEldritch testing the waters by clovariia Thank You For Finding Me by fairytalesandfolklore   Thanks to Her by ace_anarchistttt Thanks To Them (Epilogue) by sleepy_catz That Moment When Your Friend's Mom Finds And Reads Your Coping Mechanism Fan Fiction by redrasberries That Saved a Wretch Like Me by ChildlikeGoblinQueen That's Just the Nature of Pain by try_again_love

The Aftermath by redrasberries  The Agony of the Almost by Polyhexian The Atlas and the Avid Reader by Lollytea The Boiling Rain Slid Right Off by TempusLiberi The Book by redrasberries The Curse of Mortality by ObabScribbler The Deal by theprincessofdenial The dog days are over by kolapon The Dog Left Behind by Shiba_Liba The Drip of the Faucet by PandoraTheExplorer The Emperor is not a merciful man. by LigitnessBagels The Empress by redrasberries The Empty Nest In My Heart by Kohpon The Family's Tree (or, I Watch, You Dream) by jellyellie731  The Future's Overdue by ChildlikeGoblinQueen The ghosts who call your name by Melonteal The golden brother by VikingShadows The Hard Stuff by Polyhexian The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by fairytalesandfolklore The Hunter Files by PeridotKirishima The Importance of Cutting Your Losses (Before They Begin to Tangle at the Ends) by home_musicbox The King in Yellow by Obvious_Ghost The Lone Mourner by Drabbles_Of_Writing The Many-Cure Manicure by CassiePoppy45 The Measure of a Witch by BlunderStorm & Flustered_Finesse The Monster’s Empty Place by 16hawk   The Most Terrible Poverty by Cornerofmadness The one where the author deals with their recent and unexpected epilepsy diagnosis by projecting it onto a new blorbo by Polyhexian The Owl's Stray series by probablylesbean The Painful Part of Healing by Kestral the problem of evil by tristenthekitty The Rib Bone by wompire The Sailor Song by JuiceAstronaut the shared salt of spilled secrets by Elynn The Sharp Knife of a Short Life by ObabScribbler The Silent Language of Grief by WinterSky101 the sky is overcast and i'm sorry by stillateenageabomination the sun shines brighter when you’re around by ApricotOatmeal the symbiotic relationship between ravens and wolves by tristenthekitty  The Titan Laughs in Flowers by LazlosLulls The Titan Weeps In Flowers by randomramblingsofme the trappings of sorrow by claudias The Weaving of a Tapestry by kolapon The Yawning Grave by Polyhexian

There by EmeraldArt there is love that doesn’t have a place to rest by boopiejokes There is no open window, but the floors still creep by theprincessofdenial There Was Good, and That's What Made It Worse by LollingCat There's Sunshine in Your Smile by Lollytea This Book Belongs To: by UnnieBeans Three covenheads and a grimwalker by Lindendragon they say these are the golden years by handsofink time is an illusion (help things make sense) by PPeasants To Ear is Human, To Forgive Divine by ObabScribbler to place trust by peterparkerpanic tomorrow’s here by bamboop Too Little, Too Late by TotallyNotASecretAO3Account Truth or Scare by EmiKoizumi  Try Harder by Polyhexian Tumbling Out by Calaiti Two peas in a pod by Reonnex Tyto Aurantia by dragonpyre

Uncle Knows Best by toh_lover05 unsee by claudias

Variations and Fugue on a Theme by azhdarchidaen Vee's Fight by FireQuill31 villainous thing by Some_Dead_Guy

Fics Starting With: A / B, C, D / E, F, G / H, I / J, K, L / M, N, O, P / Q, R, S / T, U, V / W, X, Y, Z, #

[frvckles]

CHARACTER AESTHETIC — Oliver Charlton. BOLD / ITALICIZE what applies.

SOUNDS

tinkling of piano keys / the click of a lock / an engine starting, stalling / sinful whispers / stifled sobbing / the rattle of death / alarm blaring / a siren call / spanish guitar strumming / loud laughter at midnight / banshee screeching / drunk hiccuping / the giggle of a child / rolling thunder / disdainful chuckling / bones creaking / carefree whistling / singing off key / flesh hitting concrete / white noise / a mirror cracking / laboured breathing / a groan of pain / waves lapping at the shore / the roar of a lion / pages turning / swords clashing / deep humming / birds chirping / dial tone / tongue popping / fingers tapping a surface / crystals breaking / music turned up to the limit / raindrops on a roof / angry yelling / yawning at noon / horns going off / ravens talking / bubblegum bursting / splashing water / teakettle squeal / militia drums / wolves howling / slow, sarcastic clapping / soprano notes / whispering pleas / gregorian chants / mournful cries.

VISUALS

filled notebooks / dogeared books / clean shaves / empty stares / sleeping at a desk / the witching hour / driving all night / restless tides / broken windows / coffee any time / freshly baked goods / bonfires / lounging felines / circles under your eyes / bedhead / tangling in the sheets / leather jackets / paint stains / music sheets / too many tabs to find the music / weary brows / card games / messy ponytails / strained smiles / unsent texts / heart on your sleeve / slow dancing in the rain / star gazing / torn jeans / piles of clothes / filled bookshelves / hurricanes / chapped lips / cliff diving / the lights in venice / stolen kisses / poet shirts / half melted candles / empty coffee mugs / hot tea / unlaced boots / shameless flirting / too young to be so old / laced fingers / eyes in the trees / bloody knuckles / french letters / neon lights / ivy covered balconies

SCENTS

burnt leaves / turkish coffee / spiced rum / moss / vanilla beans / freshly cut grass / decay / sea salt / strawberries and cream / cinnamon / honey / copper / pineapple / wet dog / pine needles / wood shavings / rainsoaked bark / something sharp, indefinable / Russian tea / dandelions / squeezed limes / Italian wine / freshly laundered clothes / coming rain / hardtack and gruel / roasting flesh / something cloying in the chest / ichor / lillies in spring / pollen / damp clothes / meatpies / greasy coins / curdled milk / leather / bone marrow / wet cement / ricecakes / open paint cans / cocoa leaves / tar / apples / sandlewood cologne / orchids / molded onions / cheap perfume / mistletoe / rubber on fire / grave dirt / old books / new books / melting plastic / roses / poison oak / seacucumbers / peppermint.

tagged by : @joshosis ♥w♥ tagging : @spiriitum ( peter or trevor ! ), @fiftccnth , @biosurvive , @alllonsy , @b4didea ( amy or yaz ! )

[write-and-wander]

Sneak Peek Saturday!

Chapter Three of Yawning Grave is on its way to you :)

[speakeasy8]

[004] Fujii, K. (through the eyes of Zuzzu, his manager)

Kaze’s Autumn Fest  

(TL: This is a 4-part entry covering the LASA Concert @ Panasonic Stadium Suita of which I’m only doing the second one, because it’s the most interesting.) 

- Staff journal entry dating 28 October 2022, by Zuzzu 

The first time I saw Kaze perform live was at a show with an audience of about a hundred. Advance tickets were sold out. Setlist was comprised of well-known covers and the original songs he was already performing live back then were NaN-NaNw and Choshinochatte.  The immensity of his skills needs no introduction, and whether it be witnessed within videos on YouTube or live in front of an audience, his desire to entertain and deliver high quality enjoyment to the audience is an overpowering one. 

.

From that point at the very beginning to the LOVE ALL SERVE ALL Stadium Live four years later, it’s been a long journey of carefully finding ways to introduce the existence known as Fujii Kaze to the world. It’s a process that involved many long discussions, sharing of ideas and working around issues which were all done as a team (Kaze himself included, of course), and it still continues to this day.  I could tell from the get-go through the very first performance I experienced that Kaze already had it all: singing ability, piano skill, audience engagement, you name it. But the more I learn about him as a person, the more apparent it became that he isn’t somebody who can or should be simply thrust to the world, as the chances of it leading to grave misunderstanding is pretty high.  As such, I figured it‘d be wiser to first show people what he is able to offer as a musician, instead of simply suddenly unveiling to the world who he essentially is as a person. It was just a gut feeling I had. 

.

Another aspect I had to consider was the fact that he’s been uploading videos of himself performing piano covers on YouTube since little, so anyone who knew him from those would only know him as a cover artist there, as he hadn’t shared any of his own original works. As someone who got to hear his original songs pretty early on, I had to tackle the issue of how and when best to present them, as I felt the initial performances that would introduce him to the world should be centered on them and not the covers that he does.  If a number of people got to hear his music first, then perhaps the time for us to introduce him to a wider audience would come. But would people really understand simply from listening to his music? 

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See, even for me, it took a while before his nature finally sunk in. In the earliest stages, I didn’t know anything apart from what I was able to see on the surface. Even now, I cannot confidently claim that I know everything there is to know about him.   The way he thinks and lives and the fact the he is a vegetarian, I couldn’t help but to stop and ask myself how old this kid really is. Based on physical appearance alone, he doesn’t look particularly out of the norm age-wise, but the moment I got a better glimpse of his mentality, the number my mental calculation came up with was 109. And the more I got to know him, the more certain of it I became. What’s scary is, this was the impression that I got right from the time I first met him and, even until now, it hasn’t changed. I know I sound absurd but even as the depth of his soul seems bottomless, there are also very simple things that he’s somehow managed to remain completely ignorant about. This yawning gap that he has, it‘s pretty astounding.   This is veering off topic a little but here’s a recent example:  Kaze: Would ye mind stoppin by a convenience store? Ah wanna withdraw me some monies.  --At the parking area of a convenience store-- Me: Aite, imma wait here for ya.  --5 minutes later-- Me: (What’s taking him so long? He said he was only gonna make a withdrawal.)     --A wild Kaze then hesitantly appears at the entrance. Looking lost, he shuffles his way back.-- Kaze: Ah couldnae wit’draw nothin. None o’ these cards seem ta work. :((   Me: Wha? Why? It clearly says ATM there on the entrance.  --And so I ended up going in with him-- Kaze: So ah wuz tryna insert mah card in ‘ere... Me: ...this is a Loppi. It’s a ticket machine, not an ATM.  Kaze: Ooooh! No wonder it wuz spittin out tix instead~~!  And this isn’t the only example. Things like this happen a few times on an almost daily basis. Anything that doesn’t bear a significant interest to him, he is completely ignorant about.  

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HELP EVER HURT NEVER was released in 2020.  And in 2022, it was followed by LOVE ALL SERVE ALL.  Both albums carry his core message. It is delivered musically-- embedded within the words, melodies and music videos. According to him, everything he feels he wants to sing about up to this point, has already been sung.   The LOVE ALL SERVE ALL Stadium Live in October is where we wanted to showcase everything Kaze had to offer musically. But just as we were thinking that, in came the docomo future project “KAZE FILMS,” through which the song “grace” was born. What’s even more amazing is that the director, after listening to the song, proposed that the music video be shot in India, a place that bears significant meaning to Kaze, being a big part of his roots. (I’ll be talking more about the music video itself in another entry.)  The origin of Kaze’s mindset, I feel, lies in India, where his family visited while he was still just a foetus sleeping within his mother, and where they went again to give thanks not too long after he finally came into the world.  

When the idea to hold this stadium concert was greenlit, Kaze and I first spoke about making it something that introduces both albums, with an emphasis on LOVE ALL SERVE ALL, and we’d base the infrastructural setup on Kaze’s mindset, turning it into a visual representation of sorts.  All the things that make Kaze who he is: his vegetarianism, his love for animals, and his Indian-based mindset, how do we apply these concepts to this stadium concert?  All other aspects other than the musical one were still only WIP right up until the beginning of September, and while whatever we could move forward with we did, the design aspect was still cloudy so it was absolutely serendipitous that we somehow ended up actually being able to visit the country mid-September.  

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I intend to journalize this trip here someday but for now, I’ll just say that the people who went with us were the film crew who shot NaN-NaNw in NYC, Universal’s Higashi-san, the graphic designer behind all of Kaze’s professional releases and merch so far, Motty Marui-san, the cameraman Ono-san, and the hairstylist-cum-makeup artist Matsuno-san, who was joining a Team Kaze project for the first time. With the creative team in tow, and through the sights that we all took in together with Kaze in India, we were finally able to determine the direction of the overall thematical design to take for the show.  The LASA flag, the staircase leading up, the décor in the SERVE ALL Area, the fresco decorating the stadium itself, the décor in the LOVE ALL Area, the smaller flags and banners, the sounds and the smells.   

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With this, the time where we can finally show to the world Kaze's inherent nature in the most visual form possible is finally upon us.  

Photos by: Yosuke UEYAMA 

[echantedtoon]

A Champion Time For The Heart Ch15 Battle Gym Leader Allister

( Edit: If anyone's wondering if I'm doing anything to make this different from Love Doesn't Do Encores, and yes. MC's interest is switched more into baking/cookery hobbies than music in this story, as well as Victor is also competing in the Challenge. Other chapters down the line will also be changed/redone/not be included or replaced entirely. Hope this clears things up.)

To say your exit out of Stow-on-Side was quick and abrupt to say the least was an understatement. Gloria literally dragged you out of town and the two of you two ran through the heat like the time the onix chased you two in the Wild Area until exhausted and too hot from the heat to handle and collasped under a shady ledge of one of the cliffsides that were still surrounding the path you took out of Stow-on-Side. Panting, sitting on the ground as your Drizzilie face planted the shaded ground next to you just as tired.

.....You weakly raised an arm from your sweating tired self pointing up. "W-W-We...a-are *wheeze* NEVER r-running- *gasp* in the h-heat again! Hhhaaaaa-'' Your arm flopped back to your side as your laid there heaving your lungs out and Gloria weakly nodded agreeing to that proposal.

After a few tired moments of just laying there in the shade catching your breaths and regular temperatures back thanks to the shade provided Gloria eventually spoke. "W-Well...W-What now?"

You shrugged. "I dunno man. The past two days have been absolutely CRAZY!" During the silence as you were catching your breaths, the silence let it sink in for you two exactly what had transpired the last day and a half for the two of you. "It all happened so fast I can barely believe it happened."

Gloria nodded again patting her pockets. "If I didn't have these wee ones on me person I would nah believe it either but 'ere we are. UGH! What was that boy thinkin'!?"

You shrugged forcing yourself back up into a standing position despite your tired body's protest. "I-I dunno but I think it might be best for us to just leave Stow-on-Side all together before we get caught in anymore trouble's crossfires."

She nodded immediately and used the ledge she laid again to help pull herself up. Before pausing for a moment..and pointing at your hand. "What's that ya got there?"

You hummed before lifting your hand up and coming face to face with the lightly dirty mask that Sonia's yamper had found. And you lit up in realization. "OH! It's the mask Sonia found." You held it out to her as she made a reach for it. "I must've forgotten I had it when we suddenly split town. But I think she said it might've belonged to whoever runs the ghost type gym around here."

"Allister," Gloria corrected you turning the small mask over in her hands...before smiling. "Well if it is we outta return it ta him! I was plannin' on seeing 'em anyways! Now might be a good time as any if we need a reason ta leave."

You nodded. Good enough reason to you too. "I...think Sonia said his gym was a day out of here by some grave yard."

"Oh yeah it is! In fact when I checked the map for his location, I noticed there's also an Inn and a taxi station right next to it as well! We'll have somewhere to rest up then!" You nodded, nudging your pokemon who made an annoyed noise but reluctantly got up from his spot on the ground. "I just hope he's not too scared to accept battling with me. Especially since I already go the same badge he give out from Bea."

You paused..looking up from your yawning water type to raise a brow at her examining the mask more. "..What are you talking about?"

She still looked at the mask almost sadly for a moment before looking at you. "Oh right. Of course you wouldn't really know about him. Even tho it's easily known." She sighed looking back down to the mask. "Allister accordin' ta Lee is one of the newest Gym Leaders in Galar, in fact this is gonna be his first Gym Challenge too."

You blinked wide eyed at her. "Oh really?"

She nodded slowly. "In fact he's only been an official gym leader for 'round two years, but he is a bit eccentric from what I've heard. He claims ta be able ta see ghosts after an accident when he was four that claimed the lives o' his folks." She looked at you and you stared back STUNNED at the words that came and still stumbled from her mouth. "Then he was taken in by the old Gym Leader of the stadium he runs now before he passed away too. From there Allister took over and I think the Chairman or Lee's the one who's taken on the responsibility for him about keeping the stadium up n' running since he's so young." She held the mask with a slightly bigger frown. "In fact accordin' to his league card he's supposed ta have at least a hundred of these things cuz he's so shy."

You still stared.....WHAT!? HOW COULD ANYONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND PUT THAT KIND OF RESPONSIBILITY ON A CHILD THAT YOUNG!?...Well you couldn't remember exactly HOW young he was since you remembered the only time you had ever really seen most of the Gym Leaders was during the Entrance Ceremony months ago and only for a short time. And in the game Allister's backstory, as much as it pained you too say, didn't have much impact because in fact JUST A GAME then. But now with it being your reality this was down right almost cruel! THAT CHILD NEEDS HELP!!

"Who in their right mind would just put all that responsibility on a kid like that?," you asked scowling.

Gloria shrugged. "From what I've heard through the grapevine Allister insisted on takin' over and wouldn't budge til they agreed. He must've really wanted ta stay at the stadium if he did that."

You didn't at first and just sighed shaking your head. "Well...In any case if we're heading to see him we better start walking while there's still daylight to see by. I don't feel like camping surrounded by cliffs where more boulders could fall on us."

That got her motivated enough to slip the mask into her back pack as the two of you shoved back off in the summer heat, and began walking down the trail still surrounded by the Stow-on-Side's cliffs. By the time it was night time you two were still surrounded by cliffs, so the best thing either of you could do was pitch the tent as fair from the center of the pathway you could as to not block the entrance way in case some traveler passed by. The next morning waking bright and early at Gloria's insistance to start traveling again. As in her words it would take at least a day to get there but since you two had a head start if you started walking early in the morning now, you should be able to reach the inn before night fall. You grumbled but the promise of a proper bed and home cooked food that wasn't just trail mix or the like was enough motivation for you to get up and after packing everything away, started off once again. The sun was as hot as ever as the two of you walked with Drizzilie whining but keeping up at your feet, you were glad he took what you said seriously and began walking but you also regretted not having any water for him or Gloria who looked absolutely miserable in the heat. The sooner you got to that inn the better! As the three of you walked and walked, the sun slowly got to the middle of the sky and then started slowly going down towards the time of sunset. Also within the hours you walked, the cliffs around you started to become scarcer and scarcer until they started to break off from the path around you until you both would just walk by the occiasional one spread out away from the last one and more trees and vegitation started to replace them around you. Thank goodness. The trees offered some shade from the scorching heat luckily, but it still was a pain to walk through. Ahead of you along the dirt path it started to open up to open fields like most of the scenery of Galar you've traveled past and you groaned dreading the lack of shade once you got past the treeline.

"LOOK!," Gloria suddenly pointed making you blink at where she was pointing. And you had to squint your eyes past the sun's glare to see what she was pointing to in the distance. And to your shock, a lil fair aways from you in the open area was a giant silvery stadium, and across from it was a few buildings. THERE IT WAS!! THE INN!! "There it is!" She started forward again waving to you. "C'mon. Let's get outta this bloody sun already! I'm more cooked than a burnt curry."

You could agree with that. Picking up your pace, the two of you quickly made down the pathway, sun be darned to the inn and the closer and closer you two got, the more you noticed this stadium was JUST as BIG as the others even tho it was smack dab in the middle of no where outside of a town. But that's not what got the two of you staring. It was the grave yard on the other side of the giant stadium that caught your attention. It was MASSIVE!! At least two hundred looking headstones surrounded by a very tall and sturdy looking black metal fence with the gates leading into there wide open. You two must've have noticed it at first because it was blocked from view by the stadium. Gloria was first to noticed as she just so happened to glance over her shoulder as you two went down the path that broke off from the main dirt road and towards the inn that in all honestly wasn't an inn. It was in fact just a regular two story house you'd find in Postwick,but very very BIG with what looked like lots of rooms. The only way you could've figured it was an actual inn was the sign in front of the home stating it was in fact a hotel. Just not a very big one. Beside the home was just a plain looking barn with LOTS and LOTS of hay scattered about the front of in like the kind of bard you'd keep cows and pigs in. You nearly made it to the porch when your Drizzilie squeaked and tugged on your leg, when you looked to him he pointed at Gloria, and you looked too confused, until you saw the massive graveyard she was silently staring at for a moment and you settled your gaze on it too for a moment.

".....Gloria. Are you ok?," you eventually asked her once you got over your initial shock of seeing such a thing by a pokemon stadium of all things.

She....eventually nodded and looked back to you. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. I just thought I saw someone." She shivered before shaking it off and bounding up to you and you made a point of turning around to walk up onto the shady house's porch. "It was just my imagination tho. I guess I'm just a wee spooked about it all."

You nodded in understanding. The two of you walked up to the door and hesitated just a moment before you slowly opened the door which opened with a creak. What it opened too was a cozy looking regular living room and a few doorways leading to different areas, one of which was a kitchen from the looks of it and the other was a stairway leading up towards the second floor of the home. The two of you stared for a moment, relieved it looked normal, before looking at each other. This was an inn?? After a moment the two of you looked back inside and around, not too sure if you should step in from the shaded porch, even if the ac from the cool house was inviting.

"Uh....HELLO!?," you called into the home eventually raising a brow and looking around, "Is anyone here?! We heard this was an inn with rooms!"

"Maybe the place is run by ghosts too," Gloria suggested half teasing half mumbled.

"OH CUSTOMERS!!" Both of you looked up as a young woman's voice shouted from the kitchen area and some noises that sounded like pots and pans and shuffling footsteps. "Please, come in and close the door! I'll be right out in a giffy!" You two looked at each other again before Gloria shrugged and walked in and you followed, closing the door behind you with a creak. As you two walked into the living room area the source of the noise finally made herself present. A woman who looked about a few years older than you with black hair in a short ponytail and black sweats and t-shirt came speed walking from the kitchen. A bright white apron draped over her otherwise dark wardrode. Some flour spread all over her face and front like snow. "Hello there! Good evening!" She greeted with a wave and bright smile. Huh. You didn't remember this in game. Must've been because this was an actual world too. "Sorry I couldn't answer the door. I was a little busy baking some soul cakes." She briefly gestured to the kitchen. "But welcome to the Stow-on-Side Inn and Corviknight flight service! How can I help you two today?"

You two briefly looked at one another again before you cleared your throat. "Well, I don't suppose we could get a room just for the night. ...And where's everyone else?" You rose a brow around you. "This place is pretty big just for one person to manage."

"Oh I'm not alone," the woman explained, "My family works as the caretakers for the Stow-on-Side Cemetery or employed at the stadium across the street. Except for my uncle. He's out right now but him and his corviknight are in charge of the taxi from here if that's what you need." You shook your head no. "It's just me and my grandmother here for the moment, but I'd be happy to ring you up and show you to the guests rooms." You both agreed to that and watched as the woman just walked on over to the closet, opened it, and pulled out an old timey looking cash register. It took a moment for the two of you to practically go through your entire bags to scramble just enough for how much the room would cost for the night and after putting away said register with the money, the woman gestured for you two to follow her up the stairs and onto the second floor. As you two followed, you were honestly surprised at the place being homey and not so scary despite working for the ghost type gym leader and caretaking the cemetery next to it. You followed her to a nice looking but big room with double beds on the opposite side of the house. "The bathroom is through there." She pointed at a closed door within the room. "Feel free to use our laundry room if you need too. It's just down the hall through the green door. Dinner will be served in about two hours. I hope you don't mind soup."

"Uh..No, no. That's fine," you assured her, "Thanks."

She nodded. "You can just leave your dishes outside your door and I'll collect them before sun down. I hope you two enjoy your stay here."

"Thanks again....By the way," you gave her another look, "Where's the gym leader now? I didn't see him when we came in."

"Oh Allister? Probably off somewhere in the gym. He prefers to be left alone unless some one's delivering him food or checking up on him as the Champion ordered. But I'm sure he's fine if you're looking to go battle him right now."

"Uh. No. I was just curious."

She nodded before leaving. "Well if there's anything else you need don't hesitate to come down stairs and ask us."

She seemed pretty nice, and you were surprised but relieved to hear that Leon had recruited someone at least to keep an eye on the boy. You wasted no time in using the provided shower and laundry room for your clothes, relief flooding away from getting to finally cool down from the scorching heat you've endured for quite a few days. Your Drizzilie sure seemed to like when you filled the bathtub just a little bit and let the poor pokemon jump in only to curl up for a nap within the water. He must've been more tired out than you. Gloria made herself busy as she went through her things before pulling out that camera and a lense thing that went over it. When you asked she explained it wasn't just a night vision lense, but one that would also allow her to take pictures clear as day without the bright flash. Sounded handy. Then the next thing you knew she was pulling out that mask you had let her take and headed towards the sink and when you looked over noticed she was scrubbing the thing front and back with soap in the washroom sink furiously. As if it never had been cleaned before in it's life.

"Hey. What are you cleaning that thing off for?"

"Well I can't just give it back ta him all dirty now can I? It'd look like we didn't take care o' it at all 'n come off as rude don't cha think?"

Hmm. She had a point. It'd be rude of you to just give the poor boy his mask back in poor condition, it was better to clean it up before giving it back to him. By the time Gloria was done it was mostly ok looking. It still looked to have a few scratches and markings here and there from being obviously left out in the elements for who knows how long before being found, but it should still function ok. You didn't know how much time had exactly passed since you crashed on one of the twin beds provided for you but when you did eventually look up from your laid position was when there was a knock at the door and Gloria had found herself busy sticking more of the pictures she had apparently taken with her camera into the pages of one of her dex challenge books but looked up as you got up and answered the door. And on the other side was the same woman although without flour on herself or the apron this time, holding a tray which judging by the smell that hit you as soon as you opened the door was tomato or some kind of veggie soup.

She smiled. "Hello! Hope I'm not disturbing you folks too much." She held up the food. "But since you didn't come down for dinner I figured I would bring it to you as promised. Again, I hope you don't mind soup."

After a moment, you blinked and smiled. "That'll be fine thank you!" You carefully took it from her. It would be a nice change from curry, wild berries, and camping food at least.

She nodded before you closed the door. "Just leave them outside your door and I'll collect them from you later."

You nodded back to her before closing the door and turning with the tray in your hands. Gloria perking up at the promised food you had collected and gestured for you to come on over and look at the pictures she had taken so far. My my. There was a lot already and the book of different pokemon was practically full. Most of them were really well done and showed off the pokemon really well. Victor must've really put a lot of time and effort into the hobby he was so passionate about. However the newer ones were more plain looking and there was a bit of a snap-and-go kind of vibe to them that was obviously Gloria's and some were a bit blurry but not to the point you couldn't tell what pokemon they were. That's not saying Gloria's was worse just more different. One picture she pointed out to you was one of you asleep on the table back at the Stow-on-Side's pokemon center with your Drizzilie asleep next to you for her photo under the Drizzilie section....You had given her a look half way through your soup with a raised brow, but she only giggled in response teasing how he must've been your long lost twin to be stuck to your side most of the time. You decided to let it go for now since you were more focused on eating your food to fill the empty space in your stomach. Speaking of said water type pokemon, Drizzilie had given a bored but curious look over the still slightly filled tub once he heard the mention of food. Afraid he might've yelled and gotten you in trouble with who ever the owners of this place was, you had rummaged around in your backpack and had found a mini bag of what looked like granola bars and tossed it to him to keep his stomach in check. You also found the small bag of candy you had been 'tipped' back in Hulbury for your 'job' still sealed tight with the little ribbon. Deciding you didn't want for it you offered it to Gloria who, after giving a thoughtful expression, gladly took it and set it aside for the moment. For the next while you had finished the food offered, leaving it outside the door as requested, and you picked up helping her find the right pictures to put into place within the book until you were done. There was quite a number of them that you didn't remember her taking on her way to Hammerlocke or Stow-on-Side concluding she must've just not had the time to glue them all in yet. By the time you were finished and Gloria put the book and other things back into her bag the sun had set and darkness was settling in for a long night ahead.

You stretched and yawned with a sigh turning to the bed provided for you with a smile. Happy you didn't have to worry about pitching a tent for the night again. "Ok! Time for bed-"

"UH! Don't ya mean adventure, Y/n?" You paused...turning Gloria with a bewildered expression plastered on your face as it what she meant by that. She meant adventure as in like a good dream right? She held up her camera and shook it a bit. "The best time ta capture ghost pokemon would be at night! And what better place than around a ghost type stadium n' grave yard!? I don't even have the flash on so it won't scare 'em off!"

"Oh HECK to the no with that idea!" You frowned immediately shutting her idea down and pointed to the floor. "Gloria we've been walking all day in the hot sun and I'd like to get a little sleep tonight. Plus we CAN'T just go trespassing in a graveyard of all places! That's like high key illegal and very disrespectful might I add."

She gave you a look as if you had just insulted her mother. "WHAT!? Who said anythin' about goin' into that spooky place? I was talkin' 'bout just takin' pictures of 'em as they floated around. I wouldn't really just walk into a grave yard in the middle of the night are ya looney?"

Oh.....That actually made a lot more sense. Since ghost type pokemon wouldn't be too common during the day if any came out at all, and Gloria would probably need to get a few pictures of them if she wanted to finish up that challenge book. Being next to a ghost type stadium and the grave yard did seem like a good place as any to catch a couple of them floating about. But you two couldn't just be skulking about at night light this!! They'd think you were...were....I don't know! Grave robbers or something!

You shook your head. "Glory. Don't you think this is ...I don't know. Strange looking? What if someone catches us and think we're up to no good? These people practically own this land after all."

She gave you that same pleading face she gave to you when she wanted to meet Raihan back in Hammerlocke. "Please! I know I said I wouldn't ask for any more favors but this could be a good chance to get some pictures I probably couldn't get anywhere else! And we wouldn't be actually goin' inside the cemetery for pictures anyways so there wouldn't be any reason for us to get in trouble even if we were found! Plus think of the scientific reasons!" You rose a brow. "Seein' ghost type pokemon first hand in their natural habitat! Documenting' 'em for the world ta see! It'd be a good first hand experience in case one ever crosses our paths!"

You groaned, reaching a hand up to rub at your face. "You're really settled on this thing aren't you??....*sigh* Fine!" You pointed to her. "But you can't expect us to spend all night out there! We'll spend an hour outside but then we need to come back and get some sleep for tomorrow."

"....An hour n' a half!"

You sighed again. "Fine. An hour and a half but don't push it anymore than that!"

She beamed brightly nodding and jumping to her feet with her pack still slung over her shoulders. "You got it! We'll be in 'n out so fast they'll think we're ghosts too!"

You dry chuckled before shaking your head and turning. The things you got yourself into on this journey. "Drizzilie!" Said water pokemon peeked it's head over from the tub as it was called and you pointed to your own bag. "We'll be right back. Watch my bag for me until we come back. Ok?" The pokemon made some kind of sound before sinking back down from view which you took as an ok and turned back to follow Gloria once she walked over to the door. "Hey." She paused. "We'll need to be quiet about this. Remember. In and out. We're not going to be doing anything crazy like in Stow-on-Side. Ok?"

She nodded and with a groan, you reluctantly followed her flipping the lights of your room off as you did. The dishes weren't in the doorway when Gloria stepped out so the lady must've collected them as she promised. The whole house was...quiet. And dark. You had snuck downstairs to the kitchen a couple times to grab a midnight snack without your parents knowing when you were back home a couple times, but this felt different. Everything was quiet and dark besides the odd night noises you'd usually hear and the moonlight leaking in through the windows being your only source of light around. You stood there for a moment taking it in, it almost felt like you two were sneaking away like thieves or something, even if neither of you had bad intentions it still felt strange sneaking out like this. You jumped as the door made a soft creaking noise as Gloria slowly closed it behind the two of you. The brunette turned to you before putting a hand to her mouth in the universal 'be quiet' motion that you guessed even in this universe was known. You nodded and together the two of you slowly walked towards the stairs. It was strange at night sounds seemed to be much louder especially when the two of you were TRYING to be quiet. Even though your footsteps were pretty light and soft considering to your slightly worried selves they might as well have been compared to an elephant's! You tried to not bump or trip over anything in the limited light the moon provided and did your best to try and let your eyes get used to the dark as fast as possible to help out. Eventually Gloria found the stairs and took the first few steps down with you right behind her of course praying you neither of you would accidentally trip down these. Someone must've heard your prayers because you both made it and headed towards the front door. Gloria made the first move as you looked around and were surprised no one from the family woke up. They must've all still been asleep. Gloria slowly reached over and grabbed onto the doorknob, slowly turning it counter clockwise until there was a small click noise alerting it had been all the way turned, and pulled back the door with a small squeak noise. You two cringed at it and in a panicked stopped half way from the noise looking back towards the stairs of the dark and still home......But no sounds of anyone waking up came. With a sigh Gloria finished opening the creaking door enough for you both to slip through and out you two went into the night before she as slowly as before closed it back with a creak and small click. You both stayed still for a moment a little on edge...before sighing on the dark porch. Whelp you made it outside at least. Turning around, you looked out onto the dark world around you and it didn't look so much different than usual. The stadium giant and silent blocking out some of the moonlight and casting the road in front of it and parts of the cemetery in a pitch black shadow. The moon full rising high above your heads as stars twinkled around it like diamonds and dark grey clouds lazily passed along the sky. Would've made a perfect scene for a Halloween cartoon. As you glanced towards the cemetery, devoid of any life or light besides the moon, you couldn't help but let a shiver run down your spine. But you didn't see any pokemon. Not even ghost pokemon.

"Hey Gloria," you nearly said in a whisper turning. But jumped realizing she wasn't next to you anymore. It only took one look over your shoulder to locate her tho. She turned back to you and made another shush motion before waving you over from her kneeled spot on the ground facing down the road from the stadium. How did she move so fast? Blinking, you did end up walking over to her as she resumed holding the camera to her eye, leaning over to be eye level. "What's up?"

"Shh." She looked to you, held her finger to her now smiling mouth for a third time, before pointing in front of her. "Loud noises will scare 'em away." She whispered.

Raising a brow you looked forward....And your eyes widened. Down the road from the stadium (the side that didn't have the cemetery on it) was littered in taller grass and a few trees. And they were AB-SO-LUTELY FILLED with ghosts pokemon! And some lights which you quickly realized were chandelier and candle looking pokemon flying or shuffling around. THERE MUST'VE BEEN AT LEAST ONE OR TWO HUNDRED OF THEM!! Peeking through grass. Randomly flying around. Interacting with one another. Climbing over the barn building. A few you remembered the names of like that small group of driftloons. A few shuppets here and there. That there climbing on the barn's roof was a sableeye. You THINK those candle like pokemon walking down the pathway were litwick. There was this really pretty white pokemon who looked to be dancing in the moonlight and you were pretty sure it was a Frostlass. IT WAS INCREDIBL- You gave a yelped and fell to your knees next to Gloria ducking as a loudly wailing Mismagius flew over head....And the teen giggled at you as you threw a frown at her.

"Oh haha. Very funny Ms. Get-Us-Chased-By-An-Onix."

"Hey! I said it was an accident. Besides unlike with that big rock for brains I know we'll be safe doin' this." She went back to holding up the camera towards the variety of pokemon around you. And while it was dark, and you were both a decent ways a way from the cemetery so you couldn't really have seen unless you could see in the dark....Neither of you saw the small figure peeking out from between the tombstones at you. Having heard the yelp you made thanks to the mischievous pokemon that whizzed by.

"Oh yeah? How are you so sure?"

"Ghost type pokemon are just different from rock types," she continued with a smile, "Rock pokemon would usually just mindlessly chase after ya far away if you even bother 'em in the slightest. And while ghost type pokemon can be pretty territorial if they have a territory of their own, usually they're just like this." She pressed the button again aiming at a ghost pokemon with a skull over it's face you couldn't remember the name off. Despite being so close to it and Gloria pointing the camera directly at it, it never even looked at her as it left. "They like to just mind they're own business most of the time as it is. As long as ye don't bother 'em or make 'em feel like you're gonna do something bad nine times outta ten they'll just leave ya alone. A lot of people think they're creepy or just plain ol' dangerous cuz of the bad rep some spread....But we're just sittin' here. Mindin' our own business while they do theirs. What reason would they have to just suddenly come at us?"

You stared at her completely in surprise. ".....Did you learn this from Hop too?"

"Yep!," she said snapping a picture at one of those chandelier like pokemon as it flew directly over the two of you. "He'd make a pretty smart scientist or pokemon researcher if he ever decided to become one."

You nodded. Not aware of just how smart Hop if he could know such astounding information. "...Well. How would you describe it then if a lot of people are too scared of them?"

....she paused...before looking and not even missing a beat said, "Beautiful. Wouldn't you?" The figure watching you's eyes widened.

You blinked a moment before looking forward as another driftloon lazily floated past close enough that if you wanted too you could touch one of it's yellow hand-thingies...before smiling. "You know I would. Because I can't really argue with how you described it either."

She hummed before turning and spotting a small mimikyu walking past towards the shadowed area of the path you two couldn't see into and pointed her camera towards it's disappearing figur- She froze. Eyes widening as through the night proof lense she caught a humanoid white face staring back before it swiftly ducked behind a tombstone- "GAH!!" You yelped as Gloria fell backwards onto her bum with a loud yelp. Startling some of the ghost pokemon into scattering away while others turned at the noise that disturbed the night. She pointed. "There's a bloody ghost in there!"

"SHHH!!" You quickly looked back towards the house relieved it didn't look like anyone was disturbed..before turning to her scared look with a scowl. "Gloria! You'll wake everyone up!"

her hand grabbed your arm as she scowled herself and pointed still. "I. Saw. A. Bloody. GHOST!! G. H. O. S. T. GHOST!!"

"Of course you're gonna see a ghost! We're surrounded by them-"

"No! Not a ghost type pokemon! I mean a real-..." She suddenly let go of your arm. "Hang on." With a fumble she managed to pull her camera's strap from around her head and forced the camera over to you. You nearly dropped to as she grabbed your shoulder and pointed towards a specific part of the cemetery across the road you couldn't see into because of the stadium blocking the moonlight. "Look. There! Right 'round that area there!" You looked to the camera, where she pointed, and then her unsure. But judging by the frown she wore, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. With a sigh you complied and held the camera up to your eye. Now you weren't sure whatever lense she used, but she was right that this thing made everything look like it really was in day time. Only with a yellow-ish hue to it. You could see the grave yard(making you shiver again-) clearly with this again, and could make out a bunch more ghost type pokemon doing their own thing among the graves there. Nothing really out of place as you could tell- until a humanoid black blur ran past a few of them. Startled you gave a small gasped and dropped the camera from your face. Gloria wearing an 'I told you so' look before snatching the camera back. "Now do you believe me?"

You opened your mouth before closing it like a goldfish a couple times looking between her and the pitch black darkness a few times. Not sure what to say...before settling on. "W-Well....Maybe it's one of the caretakers. They could be doing night rounds or...or something?" Or maybe it was a ghost type pokemon you couldn't remember.

She hummed. "Sure. Could be. But when did a graves keeper wear some kind of ghost ma-" Gloria froze...her hands lowering the camera back around her neck before dropping to her lap. her eyed wide and staring off into the darkness for a moment. ".....Wait a bloody second." You watched confused as she slid her bag off her shoulders(not sure why she brought it along in the first place) and opened it. Her hand shooting inside one specific area before pulling out the same white mask she had been cleaning earlier that day. It's white color shining in the moonlight as she held it up. Her brown eyes looked at it then at the dark cemetery then back to it again before she slowly stood up. Still looking at the mask as she slung her backpack back over her shoulders before looking back at the cemetary....and began to walk across the dirt road towards it.

"HEY! Gloria!" You were quick to jump to your feet and run after her, reaching a hand out to grab her backpack again as she let out a 'Hey!' in protest to you stopping her. "Whoa whoa whoa! And where do you think you're going!? I thought we agreed no grave yard adventures!"

"But he's in there!,'' she insisted pointing forward.

"Him? Him who?"

"Allister." she held up the small mask tugging free from your grip. "We said we'd give it back ta him."

......You rose a brow. "You think that Allister is in the grave yard?.....I'm pretty sure he's not an actual ghost."

"I didn't mean like that! He's runnin' around in there."

"Gloria. He's younger than you and most kids even adults would be asleep by now. What makes you think a little kid is going to be running around in a dark cemetery filled with pokemon who'd rather not be bothered at ten at night by himself??"

...She sighed. "Look. I know it sounds crazy but-.."She looked back to it. "I can't explain it..But there's somethin' I really need ta check out there. SO...Please? It's not like we'd be causing trouble by just lookin'."

You understandably were WAY too ready to just say no, call it a night there, and then drag Gloria back to bed to see Allister IN THE MORNING especially not in a grave yard but-...You looked back up too. ....There was a strange feeling about this. Not a bad feeling like you'd get with Mr. Rose or an uncomfortable feeling like when Raihan tried flirting with you or a familiar feeling like when you remembered something. Just...a neutral one as you stared back towards the darkness. And you found yourself slowly walking towards it yourself. Gloria blinked but didn't questioning anything as she followed you into the darkness. It didn't take long for either of you to find the open gates wide open for the two of you and in you went with Gloria right after you. Right into the dark grave yard. And you instantly felt a scary feeling overcome you. OH BOY!! This was like NOTHING in a game!! As you two looked around, Gloria turned down one way for a moment before beginning to walk that way, you blinking before slowly following behind not wanting to be left alone in this place. And like you had seen through the lense there was plenty of ghost types running around here. Many you didn't pay attention too as the two of you walked and looked around. Besides being in a literally cemetery in the middle of the night, everything seemed pretty normal. Before you bumped into Gloria who had stopped suddenly right in front of you.

"Hey!" Her sudden shout made you jump and blink. She walked forward a few steps and you watched...and noticed there was something cowering behind a particular tombstone that didn't look like a pokemon. "I can see ya hidin' away there." Whatever the thing was shifted even more behind the tombstone as Gloria stepped forward- Until a sudden barricaded wall of purple and sound quickly materialized from out of the earth before you two and sent her yelping and stumbling back as a trio of ghastly, haunter, and a gengar made up it. They didn't too happy. Acting quickly, you held your arms out just in time to catch her back before pushing her back upright into a standing position from the scare. She stumbled, righted herself up, and threw you a smile over her shoulder. "Quick thinkin' Y/n!"

"Those three don't seem to be too happy to see us," you commented gesturing to the obvious trio blocking your way as they made more sounds of contentment and frowns your way. Huh. Strange. Usually when you saw these three in any pokemon media they were always smiling so why were these trio angry? Were you invading their domain?

The thing moved from one tombstone to behind another and you two got a glimpse of a person. A rather small person which made Gloria raise a hand and call out again. "WAIT! You're Allister right?!" She pointed behind her. "You're the gym leader here aren't ya?"

There was a moment of silence as the trio of ghosts still stood there .....before the TINIEST and softest voice you had ever come from a kid speak out. "......'M A-Allister." You two could barely make out what was said by the voice...before slowly ....a small hand grabbed onto the side of the tomb stone the figure was hiding behind and a white masked face with dark hair peeked an eye from behind it. You both stared at him and he stared right back at the two of you. First at Gloria, then you, then back to Gloria before he shrunk a bit back behind the grave stone. "...Gym c-c-challenger??" He whispered out.

You weren't sure if it was a question or statement but Gloria nodded. "Yeah. That's right." Before lowering herself to sit cross legged on the ground as you blinked in surprise at her actions. "I am one but I didn't come 'ere to challenge ye or anythin'," she assured in a soft voice Wait...She DIDNT?! Then why was see so insistent on coming here? "So you don't have ta worry yourself over that."

There was a long pause and the figure didn't even budge from his spot, in fact he inched back even more behind the stone if you were seeing things in the dark corrected. "T-T-Then w-w-why ...W-What do y-y-you-" Gloria calmly held up the lightly scratched up mask to him, and it seemed to be he realized what it was because his visible eye that was reflected within the moonlight blinked at it. "....T-T-That's m-m-my mask."

She slowly nodded again. "I figured it was." Without getting up she slowly extended her arm holding the mask out to him. "We found it all the way in Stow-on-Side. I just...well I wanted to return it to ya. Since you're always wearin' 'em in all I figured you'd might want it back is all."

......The hand on the stone pointed behind her at you. "W-W-W-Who's t-that?"

"Oh this?" She looked back to you before gesturing to come sit on the ground next to her and after a second of hesitation you complied and sat yourself on the ground next to her. "This is my pal Y/n. She was the one who found your mask by the mural in Stow-on-Side." There was another silence as he still stood there before Gloria slowly held it out to the purple pokemon trio in front of her instead. "Here. You can give it to him if it's make it more comfortable to him."

The pokemon all blinked before looking at one another before the gengar reached out and took the mask from her. Examining it as it turned around and walked over to where the boy was still hiding behind the stone. Allister's head disappeared for a moment back behind the stone and you both watched as a hand poked right out real quick to grab the mask from the pokemon who held it out to him.

"I'm really sorry about all the scratches n' dents in it," Gloria apologized, "But I cleaned it up good. I hope that's alright."

Again another pause and while he didn't look out again his voice came back. "T-That c-camera a-around your neck."The masked face peeked out again." ...W-Were you going to t-t-take m-my picture w-w-w-with it?"

"Absolutely not unless you wanted too." The boy furiously shook his head no and Gloria held up her hands before reaching up and taking the camera off your shoulder and held it over to you. You understood and without a word, silently took it from her and placed it inside her bag as she looked back to him. "Ta tell ya the truth I came out 'ere to collect some pictures of ghost type pokemon for somethin' I've been working on."

The boy nodded but in a way that almost seemed guilty. "I-I know I-I heard you speaking....I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. We don't mind at all. And we were being a bit loud, especially when I got spooked by a mismagius," you finally spoke giving him a smile and the same tone Gloria used. Holding a hand to your chest. You're little tease bringing a small but single chuckle from the boy to your delight. "My name's Y/n and this is Gloria. It's very nice to meet you Allister."

"......Gloria?," he asked tilting his head to Gloria who nodded, ".....Like Leon said?"

"If it was Lee who told ya 'bout me then it was def me." She tilted her head at him. "Did he tell ya bout me?"

......"He s-s-said you were a v-very nice and k-kind p-person."

She chuckled. "I try to be. Which is why I wanted to return your mask to ya. Although I have no idea how it ended up all the way in Stow-on-Side."

There was another pause....before the boy disappeared behind the stone again only to shuffle out to meet his full body to face you, as if in case he'd have to duck back behind it again, and you widened your eyes in surprise. When you had originally seen him back in the Entrance Ceremony on the giant screen you estimated him to be only one or two years younger than Gloria herself, but judging by his height and tone he couldn't possibly be older than eight or nine years. As he clutched the lightly scratched mask to his chest he stared at the two of you for a moment. "I-I....l-lost it by accident..w-when I was visiting a yam-mask in the ruins."

"Well then it sounds like you have a bunch of friends from everywhere," you smiled and Gloria nodded. He seemed to brighten at the fact you didn't state what someone would probably usually say and that having a yamask for a friend and traveling to see him was strange. .....You hesitated but couldn't help but ask. "Hey. Sweetie, what are you doing out here so late at night? And by yourself?"

"Oh. I-I'm n-not alone," he said a slightly brighter tone to his voice before he looked at the now smiling trio behind him. "I'm here with my friends."

.....You nodded. "I can see that, and it's obvious to me that they must help take very good care of you." The three pokemon made proud noises and smiles at the praise. "But I guess what I mean is did you let anyone from the stadium know you would be playing outside this late? They might be worried if you didn't let them know."

"Oh no it's ok. They already know I like to come out here a lot so it's not a b-big deal." He said this like it was normal....You slowly nodded but didn't make any move to make him feel bad. Allister then cocked his head curiously at the both of you. ".....D-Did you really m-mean it? I mean. W-When you said you f-found ghost types...b-b-beautiful?"

"Of course we did!," Gloria stated proudly and loudly. Well a little too loud because it made Allister flinch from the loud voice. "Oh. Sorry 'bout that." She immediately apologized before nodding and talking in that soft tone again. "Yeah. We did. But genuinely if I'm honest I really like all pokemon despite what kind they are. Ghost, physic, grass....They're all really unique in their own way. Just like Gym Leaders even if they're similar."

He seemed confused as he stared at her. "What do you mean?"

She hummed in thought. "Well...For example Kabu and Bea exercise a lot to keep fit n' ta help with their motivation, and so does Nessa now that I think about it. All three exercise for their careers in one way or another, but for different reasons. Like how Bea uses that to compete in the Galarian Martial Arts tournaments while Kabu couldn't careless 'bout fightin' in those things." A brighter smile lit up her features. "Oh! Or how Raihan and Gordie like postin' lots for their fan base. But each o' 'em post different things and even if it's the same thing there's differences in each one. It's fun getting to meet all the different gym leaders as people and seeing what makes them so passionate about their lives and how they do things!"

".....A-A-And me?" His grip on the mask increased slightly as he hugged it to himself. "W-What would you w-w-want to meet me for?"

"Well, besides to return that mask like I was tellin' ye about," she explained with a smile, "I think I wanted to meet you to see that special connection ya got that no one else has."

"Huh?," he blinked at her confused.

She gestured to him. "I've been around for a bit n' I've seen some really good connections between some people and their pokemon. But not even Leon can communicate the same level those lovlies behind ya can with you." Allister looked to the trio around him before looking back to her. "I'm not sayin' people and pokemon can't be friend, cuz that wouldn't be right at all since pokemon can be your friends no matter what. But there's somethin' extra special about the way you talk and interact with 'em compared to the other trainers and their pokemon that just seems more......closely bonded in a way I don't know but I can kinda understand in a way. ....That what makes it so beautiful about ya." Allister....didn't move....or talk.....Just stared silently. To the point even his ghost pokemon pals turned to look at him in question. And more long silence the two of you exchanged a worry look before Gloria looked at him. "H-hey mate. I'm sorry if I said something to upset ya."

"Hm?" He blinked..before waving his hands. "Oh n-no nono. I-I'm sorry. I-It's just....n-no body's ever s-said that to me b-before e-except for L-Leon a-and P-Piers."

"Well he's not wrong." He turned to look at you as you genuinely smiled at the boy. "Allister, I honestly don't know you or much about you ..but by kindly you've been and how ready your friends are to help you speaks that you're a really kind hearted person. And I think you're a great gym leader too. It wouldn't even matter if Leon told you you were special because I think you always were. We just all happen to be special in our unique ways."

He seemed to be taken aback at what you just said because he looked away and kicked at the ground with his foot. "You don't.....think any of this is scary?"

"Hm. Maybe some people would but that's alright too. We're all scared on something. I'm scared of heights."

"....Oooh. So that's why you never wanted to ride a flying taxi."

You nodded. "But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing at all Allister. I think you're a good kid. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Besides. We've talked to ghosts too!"

A silence fell over the lot of you again as you blinked and everyone turned to Gloria who smiled. "........What?"

"Yeah. You remember her! Paula! She's the one who wanted us to deliver a letter-"....She blinked. "Oh wait!" You all watched as she slung her bag off her shoulders and once again went to dig through it. Allister tilted his head curiously at her rummaging until jumping back when Gloria pulled out the same letter she had received from Paula back in Hammerlocke. "Here it is!"

"Gloria. We can't just say that little girl was a ghost. She could've just been a regular person."

She rose her brow at you. "A lil girl who could run as fast as a rapidash and disappear as silent as a ghost type pokemon?"

".....Ok. You have a fair point but we can't just jump to conclusions like that-"

"M-May.." You both turned back to Allister as he slowly reached a free hand out the other one still clutching the returned mask to him. "M-May I see it?"

"Of course ya can."

She gently handed over the letter and you two watched him take it as his ghost pokemon crowded around him to also look at it. He stared silently the entire time he looked at it, turning the thing front and back with his hands. ".........T-This has a strange aura about it." He finally looked at Gloria. "Y-You said she wanted you to d-deliver it?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Said it was for someone called Frank in Bellonlea. Also said I looked like someone she could trust."

He hummed for a moment before slowly handing it back to her and she took it back from him. "W-Well.....I think the b-best thing to do if she e-entrusted you with it is to make sure it gets delivered as soon as possible."

Gloria nodded putting the letter back into her bag. "Then it sounds like ta me the next stop we should make is the Bellonlea gym. I can go return the letter n' then battle the gym leader there....*yyyyaaaawwwnnn*"

"Yeah. Speaking of tomorrow, I think we've all had enough adventure for one night and should head back." You slowly stood up as to not spook Allister and Gloria slowly nodded and followed your example with another yawn. "We've all been out here for a while."

......Allister nodded. "U-Um...Yeah. I t-t-think I'll go back inside now too."

"Do you want us to walk you home?" He looked up to you surprised for a moment before shaking his head. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to get lost on your way back by yourself."

"Oh don't worry Miss. I'm not alone. I-I have my friends to help me.....b-but if you want y-y-you can come with me to the stadium doors. I-I don't mind."

You smiled and offered your hand out to him making him jump a bit in surprise....before silently looking between you and your hand....before slowly extending his free hand...and putting it in yours. You smiled as you turned around at a slow pace the young boy could walk without needing to change whatever pace he would've already had and walked with him towards the exit of cemetery. Thanking whoever answered your prayers that you were going to be able to get some sleep tonight after all. Even if Allister did this often in game or in this world often, you would feel better knowing that the young boy was safe inside his home and not out running around in the dark unsupervised and got home safely. So you slowly walked with him out of the cemetery and along the dirt path all the way to the big stadium doors where he eventually let go of your hand and you let him with Gloria and the spooky trio following.

"I-I can go on from here,'' he told you.

"Are you sure?" He nodded. "Alright. You be careful now. Ok?"

"I-I will." You smiled and waved a moment before turning and starting to walk away. Gloria turning too the moment you got to her.

"G-Gloria.." She stopped and turned to Allister who was still hugging the mask to himself. "U-Um....If...I-I k-know you said y-y-you didn't want to have a battle w-w-with me...b-b-but i-if you want too..y-you can stop by b-before you l-leave t-t-tomorrow a-a-and have a quick match."

She blinked at him for a moment before smiling and nodding. "I wouldn't miss it!" And then turned to catch up with you.

As you passed by the ghosts pokemon you gave them a smile. "You three continue looking after him ok? You've all done such a great job so far."

They all smiled and made happy noises so you took that as a yes. The both of you heard the door to the stadium open and close as you were walking signaling Allisters entrance and you sighed in relief knowing he'd be safe inside at least. You both returned the same way you got out. By sneaking inside through the creaking doors cringing all the way and being as quiet as you can to not wake anyone up. By the grace of some unseen force you managed to somehow not wake anyone up and successfully make your ways back into your room safe and soundly. And finding your Drzzilie had curled himself in your bag and had fallen asleep. Heh. Guess old habits died hard. You were sure exhausted though and practically fell dead asleep as soon as you hit the pillow. Sighing and closing your heavy eyelids as the peaceful darkness took over. Infact..... you didn't wake up. Not until much later the next day. Also not surprisingly in the slightest you ended up dead asleep again, not waking up until it was almost eleven in the after noon and when you eventually pulled your heavy feeling body out of bed you discovered Gloria folding some white clothing to stuff back into her bag with a plate of untouched waffles sitting next to her on the bed, and your Drizzilie boredly staring unmoving at the food.

At the sounds of you groaning and sitting up she flashed you a smile and waved. "Mornin' Sleepin' Beauty! I hope you're hungry cuz I already went through the trouble of not lettin' this tyrant 'ere take your breakfast." You pokemon sent an annoyed look her way.

With a long yawn and quick rub of your eyes you waved back. "Mmmmmmm. Morning. *yaaaaawwwwnnn*".....Your tired eyes blinked more at the uniform she was stuffing back into her pack and you pointed. "Hey. How come you have your challenger uniform out?"

"Well it's required ta wear it when you challenge a gym leader. I swear both his and Bea's gym challenge was me spinnin' more than Kabu's arcanine's flame wheel attack."

.........You blinked, taking a moment for your tired brain to process what she had just said. "Wait. You challenged Allister?" She nodded. "When did that happen?"

"Early this mornin'. He said if I wanted ta challenge him I should do it before we left for Bellonlea this mornin'. I was thinkin' of heading there next anyways since it would be the closest Gym I haven't battled yet." She finished stuffing the uniform into the pack before slinging it over her shoulders before you noticed the camera slung back over her neck. "And I got the badge...Even if I didn't win exactly."

"....What do you mean by that?"

"There was four rounds with 'em. I won two and lost two. So it ended with a tie between us both. I didn't want to accept the badge if I didn't really win, but he said since we were even I should take it anyways since I technically won it in a way. I think he was really happen to just have a battle with someone who didn't pressure him into it and without a big crows ta watch, tho he said as an official battle it'd still is gonna be broadcasted online for everyone to see," she explained picking up the food and turning to you," He's a really strong trainer for a lil kid. I think he's gonna be a great gym leader. And I saved ya some food that the land lady brought."

"Thanks! ...But where is he now?"

"Asleep. He was pretty tuckered out from last night n' the battle." She handed the plate over to you. "But that's to be expected."

You nodded. "Yeah. So that means you got the Ghost gym badge right?" She nodded again. "...Oh. By the way, how far away is Bellonlea anyways?"

"Eh. It'd take a REAL long time if we walk, n' there's no train 'round here for a good distance too. Which is why I already told the taxi guy out front we would use the corviknight taxi as soon as you were all ready."

You paused. Food on your fork lowered as you looked at her wide eyed. A silence coming over you two as you stared long enough to not notice your Drizzilie take one of the waffles from your plate.

".....WHAT!?"

[dear-friends-12]

Part 4.

You were about to finish studying. More like sleeping in front of the computer. When you heard a knock on your window. You woke up and looked out the window. It was the green ninja. You didn’t know why he was here. In fact you didn’t know much about him. Not even his name.

(Y/n): H-Huh? What are you doing here? It’s nine o clock at night.

Lloyd: You look like you need some fresh air. Do you want to go for a ride?

(Y/n): *sees a motorcycle parked outside.* I-I don’t know. I haven’t ridden on one before. *is getting nervous.*

Lloyd: Seriously? Not even once.

(Y/n): *nods.*

Lloyd: Are you a scary cat?

(Y/n): No. Just nervous.

Lloyd: There’s no need to be. Besides you’re going to be with me the whole time. (What did I just say? Am I letting down my guard?)

(Y/n): Maybe this isn’t a good idea. I have a test coming up.

Lloyd: Please.

He had a bad day today and it was his birthday. He had an argument with his dad. Sure his mom tried to cheer him up. But,for some reason he wanted to see you. It was ever since he kissed you. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. In fact he had trouble training because of it.

(Y/n): *sighs* Okay. I’ll meet you downstairs.

You quickly got ready and went outside.

(Y/n): *is a little nervous still. But,gets on.*

Lloyd: *starts the motorcycle.* Hold on.

(Y/n): *blushes and shyly holds onto to him.*

Lloyd: I want to show you something cool.

(Y/n): O-Okay. (I don’t know why. But,I feel so happy being with him. I don’t know how this is possible. I still don’t know much about him.) I haven’t been in this part of town before. *is looking at all the buildings.*

Lloyd: I found it while on patrol. I think you’ll like where we’re going.

(Y/n): How can you tell? We don’t know much about each other.

Lloyd: Ha. I know plenty about you.

(Y/n): Huh?

Lloyd: I-I’m a ninja after all. (That was close.)

(Y/n): Right. So you’ve seen me around before? That’s incredible. Not that many people pay attention to me.

Sure your friends did. But,that was it. It’s not like you got the attention of guy who likes you.

Lloyd: Really? We’re here. *he stopped at a boardwalk.*

(Y/n): Wow! There’s so many lanterns. *smiles*

Lloyd: *smiles* (She’s so cute. Stop it! I can’t think about her that way.)

(Y/n): *walks along the dock* Can we hold hands?

Lloyd: *blushes* N-No! W-What are you a little kid or something? *stops*

(Y/n): No. I just…*sighs*

Lloyd: Sorry. I’m not used to that is all.

(Y/n): *sits on the docks.* It okay. I understand. I’m just confused. I trust you and I see us as friends. But,after the kiss I feel like we’re something else.

Lloyd: We promised to forget about that. Remember?

(Y/n): I know. But,I can’t. I tried. I tried so hard.

He couldn’t stop thinking about it either. But,if the two of you become a couple it would be hard. Lloyd didn’t want to tell you the truth. He didn’t want to put you in danger. If you found out that he’s the green ninja. You might get upset and not want to be around him anymore.

Lloyd: *sighs*

(Y/n): *looks down.* I won’t tell anyone about us. I promise. I’ll keep it a secret and take it to my grave! Please! I really like you!

Lloyd: *blushes* Let’s just enjoy tonight and we’ll talk about it later.

(Y/n): *sighs* Okay.

Lloyd: *sits next to you*

(Y/n): *looks at the stars*

You understood that he has to deal with villains every few days. But,you still want to be close to him. You yawned and put your head on his shoulder.

(Y/n): *falls asleep*

Lloyd: What am I going to do?

[rimetin]

Tagged by @purplehairedwonder !

Give us the links to your fics with the most hits, most kudos, most comments, most bookmarks, most words, and least words.

Most hits: The Yawning Grave with 6,801. Runner ups Look on the bright side (2,777) and one of those days (2,091).

Most kudos: The Yawning Grave again at 474. Runner ups first one of those days (275) and Look on the bright side (247).

Most comments: first The Yawning Grave with 51 threads. Runner ups When Stars are Silver (9) and 26 Hz (8).

Most bookmarks: unsurprisingly The Yawning Grave with 145. Runner ups one of those days (88) and Look on the bright side (58).

Most words: again the king of my fics clearly (and so far my first and only real serial which might have something to do w it) The Yawning Grave at a whopping 37,122 (in 6 chapters), which is probably the most I've ever written for one continuous thing. Runner ups one of those days (11,906 over 3 chapters) and Suns will Sink to Shade (7,369).

Least words: if it counted, hades haikus with 54, but it doesn't, so Ghost with 129. Runner ups Share with You (638) and You've Got a Knack for It (926).

iiii dont know who in my follows writes so do this if you feel like it? Thanks for the tag! 💕

[hakuna-my-ass]

Call me a bitch one more time

Maybe ill believe you

Call me a whore again

Maybe ill conceive you

Call me a slut to my face

Maybe ill believe you

Cause the way

I wade through the dirt

Is a pain

You cant see through

Call me your mom, call me your baby, call me your daughter

Call me whatever you want

I thank god im not your father

I would beat you, mistreat you, just like mine did

I wouldnt eat you, id leave you

To rot in your sins

Not here to please you, just deal you with the cards of your kin

Calling me your queen wont work cause bitch im a goddess

On the scene when i twerk

Cant help it im flawless

Tell me again how youre gonna cum all over my face

Show me again the way i feel pain

Tell me again about my ass and my titties

Like my uterus wasnt enough to give a buck fifty

Ya'll niggas iffy, filthy... long john? miss me!

Your bullshit squishy

According to the stars and the cards im a bull, hard headed

According to my pops, he's a dog, im hot headed

If i listened to any of you bitches id be mal tempered

I guess this is why rap was invented

Telling me i got legs for days when i got bills to pay dont distract me with your petty bullshit

I got brains for decades dont trash me ill behead you

Asking me for head? Youd rather be dead

Spitting on your grave, does that count?

Illy for years, been down south

Been in cuffs but i was rough before they tried to put me down

Like i cant fight, dont have might, i wear my horns like a fucking crown

Cause just like a bull i see red

But as a taurian i get paid diamonds, no respect

So tell me again how horny you are and how i make you

Show me again how you cum

And i may believe you

Born in May so its easy to distinguish sun from rain

All ya'll bitches run when you see me in pain

Cause my limit is about where my choker is

You helped me reach it so lets not forget i know how to choke a bitch

Like i said call me a bitch one more time

Call me dumb, ill show you whats mine

Cause none y'all have the stripes im covered in

Chinese eyes, my chinese sign starts roarin in this bitch

Y'all came straight outta hell

I came from something even lower

Learned and broke yall spells STOP FUCKING CALLING ME BROKEN

THIS BITCH IS BAD NO MAGICIAN COULD CLONE HER

They tried and failed not even the universe could own her

Put her in a ditch, shell make a pie and make you eat

Youll attempt to take everything

Fucking fakes nothing more than leeches

Got poems so old, damn i should start preachin

Cant say ive never been to church

The bible aint a secret

Y'all preaching to the choir

So i brought a choir just to sing this

Bring me down to the ground

I might believe you

Silencing me

Wicho irritating sounds

Yous a nuisance

Thinking yous all that?

But aint got time to prove it

GOD MADE ME BLIND BUT I SEE RIGHT THROUGH IT

The grass is greener where i smoke it

The waist got leaner

Now they tryna poach it

Taking credit for my successes, my strength, my will and why im the bestest

But i didnt see NONE of yall when I was in duress, hella stressed, just tryna make it out w me n mine

Yet over time i realised its just me and im mine

To make things CLEAR

Im not here to fall into your sextraps

Sextrolling while im rolling

Youre fucked cause i got strapped

Youve never seen a gem like me?

Thats common knowledge.

Oeh im so different?

Caught me yawning

Turned up the degrees to see where youre boiling

Dashed so fast couldnt even keep it a hunnid

Annoying. Disgusting.

As a vegetarian i dont eat meat

Why dfq do u think id wanna see yours when i open my feed

Yall aint got nothin better to do than to focus

On fucking

I got better shit and poo so i focus on commas

The only zeros im interested in are the ones on my bankaccount

I like danger and dangerous numbers that make me moan and shout

Not yo itty bitty dick wrapped up in clout

Next time you see me dont ask me how im doing cause good girls do it bad and bad girls do it badder and im the worst

Your sins cant make it better

ON GOD

Scratch that

Royal Deity

The unholiest chick with the most purity

Chique, fine and thick

But you wouldnt know bout nunna that

Intelligent, since we keepin it straight facts

Sharp shooter, never miss my aim

Even if i fail, still winnin this game

S/o to all the gamers, the players, the fakers

Addressin y'all as my main haters

Slapping my insecurities in my face

Like i might do somethin w it

Undress, heaving chest, make a mess in the kitchen

Callin me gay just cause yall aint got a pot to piss in

Mad pissed, yall blocked, try to mess with this bitch

On all fours like a horse come too close ill stomp ya face in

Insulting me vagée, she's not an animal, yall the pussies

Saying put it on my face

Like you got the right or earned it

Yall demands undeserving

High on supply i dont follow commands

Baby your stressed let me help you with that

Bitch please take a seat id rather do a handstand

Know your place before its too late and yo ass gets jabbed

Call me baby one more time i might believe it

Call me sweet once mlre and ill know youre deceivin

Call me your love, your honey, babycakes, babygirl

Havent been a baby since i entered this world

Tell me that you love me one more time and ill bust out my edges, limited edition blade collection

Jessica rabbit blasian

Blazing stages

Saying you wanna fuck

So i did

Sorry not sorry i fucked you up instead

Mustve been a slice of miscommunication

Over time i developed a bullshit translator

Not sick in the head, just sick of y'all

Planning me demise and downfall

Ik ben een lijdende leider, een overlevende strijder

Thats why i give myself errything i be wantin

Preparin myself for these scheming ass bitches that be hauntin

Mightve gotten startled in the past

But im badder and better so issa wrap

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

A Champion Time For The Heart Ch15 Battle Gym Leader Allister

( Edit: If anyone's wondering if I'm doing anything to make this different from Love Doesn't Do Encores, and yes. MC's interest is switched more into baking/cookery hobbies than music in this story, as well as Victor is also competing in the Challenge. Other chapters down the line will also be changed/redone/not be included or replaced entirely. Hope this clears things up.)

To say your exit out of Stow-on-Side was quick and abrupt to say the least was an understatement. Gloria literally dragged you out of town and the two of you two ran through the heat like the time the onix chased you two in the Wild Area until exhausted and too hot from the heat to handle and collasped under a shady ledge of one of the cliffsides that were still surrounding the path you took out of Stow-on-Side. Panting, sitting on the ground as your Drizzilie face planted the shaded ground next to you just as tired.

.....You weakly raised an arm from your sweating tired self pointing up. "W-W-We...a-are *wheeze* NEVER r-running- *gasp* in the h-heat again! Hhhaaaaa-'' Your arm flopped back to your side as your laid there heaving your lungs out and Gloria weakly nodded agreeing to that proposal.

After a few tired moments of just laying there in the shade catching your breaths and regular temperatures back thanks to the shade provided Gloria eventually spoke. "W-Well...W-What now?"

You shrugged. "I dunno man. The past two days have been absolutely CRAZY!" During the silence as you were catching your breaths, the silence let it sink in for you two exactly what had transpired the last day and a half for the two of you. "It all happened so fast I can barely believe it happened."

Gloria nodded again patting her pockets. "If I didn't have these wee ones on me person I would nah believe it either but 'ere we are. UGH! What was that boy thinkin'!?"

You shrugged forcing yourself back up into a standing position despite your tired body's protest. "I-I dunno but I think it might be best for us to just leave Stow-on-Side all together before we get caught in anymore trouble's crossfires."

She nodded immediately and used the ledge she laid again to help pull herself up. Before pausing for a moment..and pointing at your hand. "What's that ya got there?"

You hummed before lifting your hand up and coming face to face with the lightly dirty mask that Sonia's yamper had found. And you lit up in realization. "OH! It's the mask Sonia found." You held it out to her as she made a reach for it. "I must've forgotten I had it when we suddenly split town. But I think she said it might've belonged to whoever runs the ghost type gym around here."

"Allister," Gloria corrected you turning the small mask over in her hands...before smiling. "Well if it is we outta return it ta him! I was plannin' on seeing 'em anyways! Now might be a good time as any if we need a reason ta leave."

You nodded. Good enough reason to you too. "I...think Sonia said his gym was a day out of here by some grave yard."

"Oh yeah it is! In fact when I checked the map for his location, I noticed there's also an Inn and a taxi station right next to it as well! We'll have somewhere to rest up then!" You nodded, nudging your pokemon who made an annoyed noise but reluctantly got up from his spot on the ground. "I just hope he's not too scared to accept battling with me. Especially since I already go the same badge he give out from Bea."

You paused..looking up from your yawning water type to raise a brow at her examining the mask more. "..What are you talking about?"

She still looked at the mask almost sadly for a moment before looking at you. "Oh right. Of course you wouldn't really know about him. Even tho it's easily known." She sighed looking back down to the mask. "Allister accordin' ta Lee is one of the newest Gym Leaders in Galar, in fact this is gonna be his first Gym Challenge too."

You blinked wide eyed at her. "Oh really?"

She nodded slowly. "In fact he's only been an official gym leader for 'round two years, but he is a bit eccentric from what I've heard. He claims ta be able ta see ghosts after an accident when he was four that claimed the lives o' his folks." She looked at you and you stared back STUNNED at the words that came and still stumbled from her mouth. "Then he was taken in by the old Gym Leader of the stadium he runs now before he passed away too. From there Allister took over and I think the Chairman or Lee's the one who's taken on the responsibility for him about keeping the stadium up n' running since he's so young." She held the mask with a slightly bigger frown. "In fact accordin' to his league card he's supposed ta have at least a hundred of these things cuz he's so shy."

You still stared.....WHAT!? HOW COULD ANYONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND PUT THAT KIND OF RESPONSIBILITY ON A CHILD THAT YOUNG!?...Well you couldn't remember exactly HOW young he was since you remembered the only time you had ever really seen most of the Gym Leaders was during the Entrance Ceremony months ago and only for a short time. And in the game Allister's backstory, as much as it pained you too say, didn't have much impact because in fact JUST A GAME then. But now with it being your reality this was down right almost cruel! THAT CHILD NEEDS HELP!!

"Who in their right mind would just put all that responsibility on a kid like that?," you asked scowling.

Gloria shrugged. "From what I've heard through the grapevine Allister insisted on takin' over and wouldn't budge til they agreed. He must've really wanted ta stay at the stadium if he did that."

You didn't at first and just sighed shaking your head. "Well...In any case if we're heading to see him we better start walking while there's still daylight to see by. I don't feel like camping surrounded by cliffs where more boulders could fall on us."

That got her motivated enough to slip the mask into her back pack as the two of you shoved back off in the summer heat, and began walking down the trail still surrounded by the Stow-on-Side's cliffs. By the time it was night time you two were still surrounded by cliffs, so the best thing either of you could do was pitch the tent as fair from the center of the pathway you could as to not block the entrance way in case some traveler passed by. The next morning waking bright and early at Gloria's insistance to start traveling again. As in her words it would take at least a day to get there but since you two had a head start if you started walking early in the morning now, you should be able to reach the inn before night fall. You grumbled but the promise of a proper bed and home cooked food that wasn't just trail mix or the like was enough motivation for you to get up and after packing everything away, started off once again. The sun was as hot as ever as the two of you walked with Drizzilie whining but keeping up at your feet, you were glad he took what you said seriously and began walking but you also regretted not having any water for him or Gloria who looked absolutely miserable in the heat. The sooner you got to that inn the better! As the three of you walked and walked, the sun slowly got to the middle of the sky and then started slowly going down towards the time of sunset. Also within the hours you walked, the cliffs around you started to become scarcer and scarcer until they started to break off from the path around you until you both would just walk by the occiasional one spread out away from the last one and more trees and vegitation started to replace them around you. Thank goodness. The trees offered some shade from the scorching heat luckily, but it still was a pain to walk through. Ahead of you along the dirt path it started to open up to open fields like most of the scenery of Galar you've traveled past and you groaned dreading the lack of shade once you got past the treeline.

"LOOK!," Gloria suddenly pointed making you blink at where she was pointing. And you had to squint your eyes past the sun's glare to see what she was pointing to in the distance. And to your shock, a lil fair aways from you in the open area was a giant silvery stadium, and across from it was a few buildings. THERE IT WAS!! THE INN!! "There it is!" She started forward again waving to you. "C'mon. Let's get outta this bloody sun already! I'm more cooked than a burnt curry."

You could agree with that. Picking up your pace, the two of you quickly made down the pathway, sun be darned to the inn and the closer and closer you two got, the more you noticed this stadium was JUST as BIG as the others even tho it was smack dab in the middle of no where outside of a town. But that's not what got the two of you staring. It was the grave yard on the other side of the giant stadium that caught your attention. It was MASSIVE!! At least two hundred looking headstones surrounded by a very tall and sturdy looking black metal fence with the gates leading into there wide open. You two must've have noticed it at first because it was blocked from view by the stadium. Gloria was first to noticed as she just so happened to glance over her shoulder as you two went down the path that broke off from the main dirt road and towards the inn that in all honestly wasn't an inn. It was in fact just a regular two story house you'd find in Postwick,but very very BIG with what looked like lots of rooms. The only way you could've figured it was an actual inn was the sign in front of the home stating it was in fact a hotel. Just not a very big one. Beside the home was just a plain looking barn with LOTS and LOTS of hay scattered about the front of in like the kind of bard you'd keep cows and pigs in. You nearly made it to the porch when your Drizzilie squeaked and tugged on your leg, when you looked to him he pointed at Gloria, and you looked too confused, until you saw the massive graveyard she was silently staring at for a moment and you settled your gaze on it too for a moment.

".....Gloria. Are you ok?," you eventually asked her once you got over your initial shock of seeing such a thing by a pokemon stadium of all things.

She....eventually nodded and looked back to you. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. I just thought I saw someone." She shivered before shaking it off and bounding up to you and you made a point of turning around to walk up onto the shady house's porch. "It was just my imagination tho. I guess I'm just a wee spooked about it all."

You nodded in understanding. The two of you walked up to the door and hesitated just a moment before you slowly opened the door which opened with a creak. What it opened too was a cozy looking regular living room and a few doorways leading to different areas, one of which was a kitchen from the looks of it and the other was a stairway leading up towards the second floor of the home. The two of you stared for a moment, relieved it looked normal, before looking at each other. This was an inn?? After a moment the two of you looked back inside and around, not too sure if you should step in from the shaded porch, even if the ac from the cool house was inviting.

"Uh....HELLO!?," you called into the home eventually raising a brow and looking around, "Is anyone here?! We heard this was an inn with rooms!"

"Maybe the place is run by ghosts too," Gloria suggested half teasing half mumbled.

"OH CUSTOMERS!!" Both of you looked up as a young woman's voice shouted from the kitchen area and some noises that sounded like pots and pans and shuffling footsteps. "Please, come in and close the door! I'll be right out in a giffy!" You two looked at each other again before Gloria shrugged and walked in and you followed, closing the door behind you with a creak. As you two walked into the living room area the source of the noise finally made herself present. A woman who looked about a few years older than you with black hair in a short ponytail and black sweats and t-shirt came speed walking from the kitchen. A bright white apron draped over her otherwise dark wardrode. Some flour spread all over her face and front like snow. "Hello there! Good evening!" She greeted with a wave and bright smile. Huh. You didn't remember this in game. Must've been because this was an actual world too. "Sorry I couldn't answer the door. I was a little busy baking some soul cakes." She briefly gestured to the kitchen. "But welcome to the Stow-on-Side Inn and Corviknight flight service! How can I help you two today?"

You two briefly looked at one another again before you cleared your throat. "Well, I don't suppose we could get a room just for the night. ...And where's everyone else?" You rose a brow around you. "This place is pretty big just for one person to manage."

"Oh I'm not alone," the woman explained, "My family works as the caretakers for the Stow-on-Side Cemetery or employed at the stadium across the street. Except for my uncle. He's out right now but him and his corviknight are in charge of the taxi from here if that's what you need." You shook your head no. "It's just me and my grandmother here for the moment, but I'd be happy to ring you up and show you to the guests rooms." You both agreed to that and watched as the woman just walked on over to the closet, opened it, and pulled out an old timey looking cash register. It took a moment for the two of you to practically go through your entire bags to scramble just enough for how much the room would cost for the night and after putting away said register with the money, the woman gestured for you two to follow her up the stairs and onto the second floor. As you two followed, you were honestly surprised at the place being homey and not so scary despite working for the ghost type gym leader and caretaking the cemetery next to it. You followed her to a nice looking but big room with double beds on the opposite side of the house. "The bathroom is through there." She pointed at a closed door within the room. "Feel free to use our laundry room if you need too. It's just down the hall through the green door. Dinner will be served in about two hours. I hope you don't mind soup."

"Uh..No, no. That's fine," you assured her, "Thanks."

She nodded. "You can just leave your dishes outside your door and I'll collect them before sun down. I hope you two enjoy your stay here."

"Thanks again....By the way," you gave her another look, "Where's the gym leader now? I didn't see him when we came in."

"Oh Allister? Probably off somewhere in the gym. He prefers to be left alone unless some one's delivering him food or checking up on him as the Champion ordered. But I'm sure he's fine if you're looking to go battle him right now."

"Uh. No. I was just curious."

She nodded before leaving. "Well if there's anything else you need don't hesitate to come down stairs and ask us."

She seemed pretty nice, and you were surprised but relieved to hear that Leon had recruited someone at least to keep an eye on the boy. You wasted no time in using the provided shower and laundry room for your clothes, relief flooding away from getting to finally cool down from the scorching heat you've endured for quite a few days. Your Drizzilie sure seemed to like when you filled the bathtub just a little bit and let the poor pokemon jump in only to curl up for a nap within the water. He must've been more tired out than you. Gloria made herself busy as she went through her things before pulling out that camera and a lense thing that went over it. When you asked she explained it wasn't just a night vision lense, but one that would also allow her to take pictures clear as day without the bright flash. Sounded handy. Then the next thing you knew she was pulling out that mask you had let her take and headed towards the sink and when you looked over noticed she was scrubbing the thing front and back with soap in the washroom sink furiously. As if it never had been cleaned before in it's life.

"Hey. What are you cleaning that thing off for?"

"Well I can't just give it back ta him all dirty now can I? It'd look like we didn't take care o' it at all 'n come off as rude don't cha think?"

Hmm. She had a point. It'd be rude of you to just give the poor boy his mask back in poor condition, it was better to clean it up before giving it back to him. By the time Gloria was done it was mostly ok looking. It still looked to have a few scratches and markings here and there from being obviously left out in the elements for who knows how long before being found, but it should still function ok. You didn't know how much time had exactly passed since you crashed on one of the twin beds provided for you but when you did eventually look up from your laid position was when there was a knock at the door and Gloria had found herself busy sticking more of the pictures she had apparently taken with her camera into the pages of one of her dex challenge books but looked up as you got up and answered the door. And on the other side was the same woman although without flour on herself or the apron this time, holding a tray which judging by the smell that hit you as soon as you opened the door was tomato or some kind of veggie soup.

She smiled. "Hello! Hope I'm not disturbing you folks too much." She held up the food. "But since you didn't come down for dinner I figured I would bring it to you as promised. Again, I hope you don't mind soup."

After a moment, you blinked and smiled. "That'll be fine thank you!" You carefully took it from her. It would be a nice change from curry, wild berries, and camping food at least.

She nodded before you closed the door. "Just leave them outside your door and I'll collect them from you later."

You nodded back to her before closing the door and turning with the tray in your hands. Gloria perking up at the promised food you had collected and gestured for you to come on over and look at the pictures she had taken so far. My my. There was a lot already and the book of different pokemon was practically full. Most of them were really well done and showed off the pokemon really well. Victor must've really put a lot of time and effort into the hobby he was so passionate about. However the newer ones were more plain looking and there was a bit of a snap-and-go kind of vibe to them that was obviously Gloria's and some were a bit blurry but not to the point you couldn't tell what pokemon they were. That's not saying Gloria's was worse just more different. One picture she pointed out to you was one of you asleep on the table back at the Stow-on-Side's pokemon center with your Drizzilie asleep next to you for her photo under the Drizzilie section....You had given her a look half way through your soup with a raised brow, but she only giggled in response teasing how he must've been your long lost twin to be stuck to your side most of the time. You decided to let it go for now since you were more focused on eating your food to fill the empty space in your stomach. Speaking of said water type pokemon, Drizzilie had given a bored but curious look over the still slightly filled tub once he heard the mention of food. Afraid he might've yelled and gotten you in trouble with who ever the owners of this place was, you had rummaged around in your backpack and had found a mini bag of what looked like granola bars and tossed it to him to keep his stomach in check. You also found the small bag of candy you had been 'tipped' back in Hulbury for your 'job' still sealed tight with the little ribbon. Deciding you didn't want for it you offered it to Gloria who, after giving a thoughtful expression, gladly took it and set it aside for the moment. For the next while you had finished the food offered, leaving it outside the door as requested, and you picked up helping her find the right pictures to put into place within the book until you were done. There was quite a number of them that you didn't remember her taking on her way to Hammerlocke or Stow-on-Side concluding she must've just not had the time to glue them all in yet. By the time you were finished and Gloria put the book and other things back into her bag the sun had set and darkness was settling in for a long night ahead.

You stretched and yawned with a sigh turning to the bed provided for you with a smile. Happy you didn't have to worry about pitching a tent for the night again. "Ok! Time for bed-"

"UH! Don't ya mean adventure, Y/n?" You paused...turning Gloria with a bewildered expression plastered on your face as it what she meant by that. She meant adventure as in like a good dream right? She held up her camera and shook it a bit. "The best time ta capture ghost pokemon would be at night! And what better place than around a ghost type stadium n' grave yard!? I don't even have the flash on so it won't scare 'em off!"

"Oh HECK to the no with that idea!" You frowned immediately shutting her idea down and pointed to the floor. "Gloria we've been walking all day in the hot sun and I'd like to get a little sleep tonight. Plus we CAN'T just go trespassing in a graveyard of all places! That's like high key illegal and very disrespectful might I add."

She gave you a look as if you had just insulted her mother. "WHAT!? Who said anythin' about goin' into that spooky place? I was talkin' 'bout just takin' pictures of 'em as they floated around. I wouldn't really just walk into a grave yard in the middle of the night are ya looney?"

Oh.....That actually made a lot more sense. Since ghost type pokemon wouldn't be too common during the day if any came out at all, and Gloria would probably need to get a few pictures of them if she wanted to finish up that challenge book. Being next to a ghost type stadium and the grave yard did seem like a good place as any to catch a couple of them floating about. But you two couldn't just be skulking about at night light this!! They'd think you were...were....I don't know! Grave robbers or something!

You shook your head. "Glory. Don't you think this is ...I don't know. Strange looking? What if someone catches us and think we're up to no good? These people practically own this land after all."

She gave you that same pleading face she gave to you when she wanted to meet Raihan back in Hammerlocke. "Please! I know I said I wouldn't ask for any more favors but this could be a good chance to get some pictures I probably couldn't get anywhere else! And we wouldn't be actually goin' inside the cemetery for pictures anyways so there wouldn't be any reason for us to get in trouble even if we were found! Plus think of the scientific reasons!" You rose a brow. "Seein' ghost type pokemon first hand in their natural habitat! Documenting' 'em for the world ta see! It'd be a good first hand experience in case one ever crosses our paths!"

You groaned, reaching a hand up to rub at your face. "You're really settled on this thing aren't you??....*sigh* Fine!" You pointed to her. "But you can't expect us to spend all night out there! We'll spend an hour outside but then we need to come back and get some sleep for tomorrow."

"....An hour n' a half!"

You sighed again. "Fine. An hour and a half but don't push it anymore than that!"

She beamed brightly nodding and jumping to her feet with her pack still slung over her shoulders. "You got it! We'll be in 'n out so fast they'll think we're ghosts too!"

You dry chuckled before shaking your head and turning. The things you got yourself into on this journey. "Drizzilie!" Said water pokemon peeked it's head over from the tub as it was called and you pointed to your own bag. "We'll be right back. Watch my bag for me until we come back. Ok?" The pokemon made some kind of sound before sinking back down from view which you took as an ok and turned back to follow Gloria once she walked over to the door. "Hey." She paused. "We'll need to be quiet about this. Remember. In and out. We're not going to be doing anything crazy like in Stow-on-Side. Ok?"

She nodded and with a groan, you reluctantly followed her flipping the lights of your room off as you did. The dishes weren't in the doorway when Gloria stepped out so the lady must've collected them as she promised. The whole house was...quiet. And dark. You had snuck downstairs to the kitchen a couple times to grab a midnight snack without your parents knowing when you were back home a couple times, but this felt different. Everything was quiet and dark besides the odd night noises you'd usually hear and the moonlight leaking in through the windows being your only source of light around. You stood there for a moment taking it in, it almost felt like you two were sneaking away like thieves or something, even if neither of you had bad intentions it still felt strange sneaking out like this. You jumped as the door made a soft creaking noise as Gloria slowly closed it behind the two of you. The brunette turned to you before putting a hand to her mouth in the universal 'be quiet' motion that you guessed even in this universe was known. You nodded and together the two of you slowly walked towards the stairs. It was strange at night sounds seemed to be much louder especially when the two of you were TRYING to be quiet. Even though your footsteps were pretty light and soft considering to your slightly worried selves they might as well have been compared to an elephant's! You tried to not bump or trip over anything in the limited light the moon provided and did your best to try and let your eyes get used to the dark as fast as possible to help out. Eventually Gloria found the stairs and took the first few steps down with you right behind her of course praying you neither of you would accidentally trip down these. Someone must've heard your prayers because you both made it and headed towards the front door. Gloria made the first move as you looked around and were surprised no one from the family woke up. They must've all still been asleep. Gloria slowly reached over and grabbed onto the doorknob, slowly turning it counter clockwise until there was a small click noise alerting it had been all the way turned, and pulled back the door with a small squeak noise. You two cringed at it and in a panicked stopped half way from the noise looking back towards the stairs of the dark and still home......But no sounds of anyone waking up came. With a sigh Gloria finished opening the creaking door enough for you both to slip through and out you two went into the night before she as slowly as before closed it back with a creak and small click. You both stayed still for a moment a little on edge...before sighing on the dark porch. Whelp you made it outside at least. Turning around, you looked out onto the dark world around you and it didn't look so much different than usual. The stadium giant and silent blocking out some of the moonlight and casting the road in front of it and parts of the cemetery in a pitch black shadow. The moon full rising high above your heads as stars twinkled around it like diamonds and dark grey clouds lazily passed along the sky. Would've made a perfect scene for a Halloween cartoon. As you glanced towards the cemetery, devoid of any life or light besides the moon, you couldn't help but let a shiver run down your spine. But you didn't see any pokemon. Not even ghost pokemon.

"Hey Gloria," you nearly said in a whisper turning. But jumped realizing she wasn't next to you anymore. It only took one look over your shoulder to locate her tho. She turned back to you and made another shush motion before waving you over from her kneeled spot on the ground facing down the road from the stadium. How did she move so fast? Blinking, you did end up walking over to her as she resumed holding the camera to her eye, leaning over to be eye level. "What's up?"

"Shh." She looked to you, held her finger to her now smiling mouth for a third time, before pointing in front of her. "Loud noises will scare 'em away." She whispered.

Raising a brow you looked forward....And your eyes widened. Down the road from the stadium (the side that didn't have the cemetery on it) was littered in taller grass and a few trees. And they were AB-SO-LUTELY FILLED with ghosts pokemon! And some lights which you quickly realized were chandelier and candle looking pokemon flying or shuffling around. THERE MUST'VE BEEN AT LEAST ONE OR TWO HUNDRED OF THEM!! Peeking through grass. Randomly flying around. Interacting with one another. Climbing over the barn building. A few you remembered the names of like that small group of driftloons. A few shuppets here and there. That there climbing on the barn's roof was a sableeye. You THINK those candle like pokemon walking down the pathway were litwick. There was this really pretty white pokemon who looked to be dancing in the moonlight and you were pretty sure it was a Frostlass. IT WAS INCREDIBL- You gave a yelped and fell to your knees next to Gloria ducking as a loudly wailing Mismagius flew over head....And the teen giggled at you as you threw a frown at her.

"Oh haha. Very funny Ms. Get-Us-Chased-By-An-Onix."

"Hey! I said it was an accident. Besides unlike with that big rock for brains I know we'll be safe doin' this." She went back to holding up the camera towards the variety of pokemon around you. And while it was dark, and you were both a decent ways a way from the cemetery so you couldn't really have seen unless you could see in the dark....Neither of you saw the small figure peeking out from between the tombstones at you. Having heard the yelp you made thanks to the mischievous pokemon that whizzed by.

"Oh yeah? How are you so sure?"

"Ghost type pokemon are just different from rock types," she continued with a smile, "Rock pokemon would usually just mindlessly chase after ya far away if you even bother 'em in the slightest. And while ghost type pokemon can be pretty territorial if they have a territory of their own, usually they're just like this." She pressed the button again aiming at a ghost pokemon with a skull over it's face you couldn't remember the name off. Despite being so close to it and Gloria pointing the camera directly at it, it never even looked at her as it left. "They like to just mind they're own business most of the time as it is. As long as ye don't bother 'em or make 'em feel like you're gonna do something bad nine times outta ten they'll just leave ya alone. A lot of people think they're creepy or just plain ol' dangerous cuz of the bad rep some spread....But we're just sittin' here. Mindin' our own business while they do theirs. What reason would they have to just suddenly come at us?"

You stared at her completely in surprise. ".....Did you learn this from Hop too?"

"Yep!," she said snapping a picture at one of those chandelier like pokemon as it flew directly over the two of you. "He'd make a pretty smart scientist or pokemon researcher if he ever decided to become one."

You nodded. Not aware of just how smart Hop if he could know such astounding information. "...Well. How would you describe it then if a lot of people are too scared of them?"

....she paused...before looking and not even missing a beat said, "Beautiful. Wouldn't you?" The figure watching you's eyes widened.

You blinked a moment before looking forward as another driftloon lazily floated past close enough that if you wanted too you could touch one of it's yellow hand-thingies...before smiling. "You know I would. Because I can't really argue with how you described it either."

She hummed before turning and spotting a small mimikyu walking past towards the shadowed area of the path you two couldn't see into and pointed her camera towards it's disappearing figur- She froze. Eyes widening as through the night proof lense she caught a humanoid white face staring back before it swiftly ducked behind a tombstone- "GAH!!" You yelped as Gloria fell backwards onto her bum with a loud yelp. Startling some of the ghost pokemon into scattering away while others turned at the noise that disturbed the night. She pointed. "There's a bloody ghost in there!"

"SHHH!!" You quickly looked back towards the house relieved it didn't look like anyone was disturbed..before turning to her scared look with a scowl. "Gloria! You'll wake everyone up!"

her hand grabbed your arm as she scowled herself and pointed still. "I. Saw. A. Bloody. GHOST!! G. H. O. S. T. GHOST!!"

"Of course you're gonna see a ghost! We're surrounded by them-"

"No! Not a ghost type pokemon! I mean a real-..." She suddenly let go of your arm. "Hang on." With a fumble she managed to pull her camera's strap from around her head and forced the camera over to you. You nearly dropped to as she grabbed your shoulder and pointed towards a specific part of the cemetery across the road you couldn't see into because of the stadium blocking the moonlight. "Look. There! Right 'round that area there!" You looked to the camera, where she pointed, and then her unsure. But judging by the frown she wore, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. With a sigh you complied and held the camera up to your eye. Now you weren't sure whatever lense she used, but she was right that this thing made everything look like it really was in day time. Only with a yellow-ish hue to it. You could see the grave yard(making you shiver again-) clearly with this again, and could make out a bunch more ghost type pokemon doing their own thing among the graves there. Nothing really out of place as you could tell- until a humanoid black blur ran past a few of them. Startled you gave a small gasped and dropped the camera from your face. Gloria wearing an 'I told you so' look before snatching the camera back. "Now do you believe me?"

You opened your mouth before closing it like a goldfish a couple times looking between her and the pitch black darkness a few times. Not sure what to say...before settling on. "W-Well....Maybe it's one of the caretakers. They could be doing night rounds or...or something?" Or maybe it was a ghost type pokemon you couldn't remember.

She hummed. "Sure. Could be. But when did a graves keeper wear some kind of ghost ma-" Gloria froze...her hands lowering the camera back around her neck before dropping to her lap. her eyed wide and staring off into the darkness for a moment. ".....Wait a bloody second." You watched confused as she slid her bag off her shoulders(not sure why she brought it along in the first place) and opened it. Her hand shooting inside one specific area before pulling out the same white mask she had been cleaning earlier that day. It's white color shining in the moonlight as she held it up. Her brown eyes looked at it then at the dark cemetery then back to it again before she slowly stood up. Still looking at the mask as she slung her backpack back over her shoulders before looking back at the cemetary....and began to walk across the dirt road towards it.

"HEY! Gloria!" You were quick to jump to your feet and run after her, reaching a hand out to grab her backpack again as she let out a 'Hey!' in protest to you stopping her. "Whoa whoa whoa! And where do you think you're going!? I thought we agreed no grave yard adventures!"

"But he's in there!,'' she insisted pointing forward.

"Him? Him who?"

"Allister." she held up the small mask tugging free from your grip. "We said we'd give it back ta him."

......You rose a brow. "You think that Allister is in the grave yard?.....I'm pretty sure he's not an actual ghost."

"I didn't mean like that! He's runnin' around in there."

"Gloria. He's younger than you and most kids even adults would be asleep by now. What makes you think a little kid is going to be running around in a dark cemetery filled with pokemon who'd rather not be bothered at ten at night by himself??"

...She sighed. "Look. I know it sounds crazy but-.."She looked back to it. "I can't explain it..But there's somethin' I really need ta check out there. SO...Please? It's not like we'd be causing trouble by just lookin'."

You understandably were WAY too ready to just say no, call it a night there, and then drag Gloria back to bed to see Allister IN THE MORNING especially not in a grave yard but-...You looked back up too. ....There was a strange feeling about this. Not a bad feeling like you'd get with Mr. Rose or an uncomfortable feeling like when Raihan tried flirting with you or a familiar feeling like when you remembered something. Just...a neutral one as you stared back towards the darkness. And you found yourself slowly walking towards it yourself. Gloria blinked but didn't questioning anything as she followed you into the darkness. It didn't take long for either of you to find the open gates wide open for the two of you and in you went with Gloria right after you. Right into the dark grave yard. And you instantly felt a scary feeling overcome you. OH BOY!! This was like NOTHING in a game!! As you two looked around, Gloria turned down one way for a moment before beginning to walk that way, you blinking before slowly following behind not wanting to be left alone in this place. And like you had seen through the lense there was plenty of ghost types running around here. Many you didn't pay attention too as the two of you walked and looked around. Besides being in a literally cemetery in the middle of the night, everything seemed pretty normal. Before you bumped into Gloria who had stopped suddenly right in front of you.

"Hey!" Her sudden shout made you jump and blink. She walked forward a few steps and you watched...and noticed there was something cowering behind a particular tombstone that didn't look like a pokemon. "I can see ya hidin' away there." Whatever the thing was shifted even more behind the tombstone as Gloria stepped forward- Until a sudden barricaded wall of purple and sound quickly materialized from out of the earth before you two and sent her yelping and stumbling back as a trio of ghastly, haunter, and a gengar made up it. They didn't too happy. Acting quickly, you held your arms out just in time to catch her back before pushing her back upright into a standing position from the scare. She stumbled, righted herself up, and threw you a smile over her shoulder. "Quick thinkin' Y/n!"

"Those three don't seem to be too happy to see us," you commented gesturing to the obvious trio blocking your way as they made more sounds of contentment and frowns your way. Huh. Strange. Usually when you saw these three in any pokemon media they were always smiling so why were these trio angry? Were you invading their domain?

The thing moved from one tombstone to behind another and you two got a glimpse of a person. A rather small person which made Gloria raise a hand and call out again. "WAIT! You're Allister right?!" She pointed behind her. "You're the gym leader here aren't ya?"

There was a moment of silence as the trio of ghosts still stood there .....before the TINIEST and softest voice you had ever come from a kid speak out. "......'M A-Allister." You two could barely make out what was said by the voice...before slowly ....a small hand grabbed onto the side of the tomb stone the figure was hiding behind and a white masked face with dark hair peeked an eye from behind it. You both stared at him and he stared right back at the two of you. First at Gloria, then you, then back to Gloria before he shrunk a bit back behind the grave stone. "...Gym c-c-challenger??" He whispered out.

You weren't sure if it was a question or statement but Gloria nodded. "Yeah. That's right." Before lowering herself to sit cross legged on the ground as you blinked in surprise at her actions. "I am one but I didn't come 'ere to challenge ye or anythin'," she assured in a soft voice Wait...She DIDNT?! Then why was see so insistent on coming here? "So you don't have ta worry yourself over that."

There was a long pause and the figure didn't even budge from his spot, in fact he inched back even more behind the stone if you were seeing things in the dark corrected. "T-T-Then w-w-why ...W-What do y-y-you-" Gloria calmly held up the lightly scratched up mask to him, and it seemed to be he realized what it was because his visible eye that was reflected within the moonlight blinked at it. "....T-T-That's m-m-my mask."

She slowly nodded again. "I figured it was." Without getting up she slowly extended her arm holding the mask out to him. "We found it all the way in Stow-on-Side. I just...well I wanted to return it to ya. Since you're always wearin' 'em in all I figured you'd might want it back is all."

......The hand on the stone pointed behind her at you. "W-W-W-Who's t-that?"

"Oh this?" She looked back to you before gesturing to come sit on the ground next to her and after a second of hesitation you complied and sat yourself on the ground next to her. "This is my pal Y/n. She was the one who found your mask by the mural in Stow-on-Side." There was another silence as he still stood there before Gloria slowly held it out to the purple pokemon trio in front of her instead. "Here. You can give it to him if it's make it more comfortable to him."

The pokemon all blinked before looking at one another before the gengar reached out and took the mask from her. Examining it as it turned around and walked over to where the boy was still hiding behind the stone. Allister's head disappeared for a moment back behind the stone and you both watched as a hand poked right out real quick to grab the mask from the pokemon who held it out to him.

"I'm really sorry about all the scratches n' dents in it," Gloria apologized, "But I cleaned it up good. I hope that's alright."

Again another pause and while he didn't look out again his voice came back. "T-That c-camera a-around your neck."The masked face peeked out again." ...W-Were you going to t-t-take m-my picture w-w-w-with it?"

"Absolutely not unless you wanted too." The boy furiously shook his head no and Gloria held up her hands before reaching up and taking the camera off your shoulder and held it over to you. You understood and without a word, silently took it from her and placed it inside her bag as she looked back to him. "Ta tell ya the truth I came out 'ere to collect some pictures of ghost type pokemon for somethin' I've been working on."

The boy nodded but in a way that almost seemed guilty. "I-I know I-I heard you speaking....I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. We don't mind at all. And we were being a bit loud, especially when I got spooked by a mismagius," you finally spoke giving him a smile and the same tone Gloria used. Holding a hand to your chest. You're little tease bringing a small but single chuckle from the boy to your delight. "My name's Y/n and this is Gloria. It's very nice to meet you Allister."

"......Gloria?," he asked tilting his head to Gloria who nodded, ".....Like Leon said?"

"If it was Lee who told ya 'bout me then it was def me." She tilted her head at him. "Did he tell ya bout me?"

......"He s-s-said you were a v-very nice and k-kind p-person."

She chuckled. "I try to be. Which is why I wanted to return your mask to ya. Although I have no idea how it ended up all the way in Stow-on-Side."

There was another pause....before the boy disappeared behind the stone again only to shuffle out to meet his full body to face you, as if in case he'd have to duck back behind it again, and you widened your eyes in surprise. When you had originally seen him back in the Entrance Ceremony on the giant screen you estimated him to be only one or two years younger than Gloria herself, but judging by his height and tone he couldn't possibly be older than eight or nine years. As he clutched the lightly scratched mask to his chest he stared at the two of you for a moment. "I-I....l-lost it by accident..w-when I was visiting a yam-mask in the ruins."

"Well then it sounds like you have a bunch of friends from everywhere," you smiled and Gloria nodded. He seemed to brighten at the fact you didn't state what someone would probably usually say and that having a yamask for a friend and traveling to see him was strange. .....You hesitated but couldn't help but ask. "Hey. Sweetie, what are you doing out here so late at night? And by yourself?"

"Oh. I-I'm n-not alone," he said a slightly brighter tone to his voice before he looked at the now smiling trio behind him. "I'm here with my friends."

.....You nodded. "I can see that, and it's obvious to me that they must help take very good care of you." The three pokemon made proud noises and smiles at the praise. "But I guess what I mean is did you let anyone from the stadium know you would be playing outside this late? They might be worried if you didn't let them know."

"Oh no it's ok. They already know I like to come out here a lot so it's not a b-big deal." He said this like it was normal....You slowly nodded but didn't make any move to make him feel bad. Allister then cocked his head curiously at the both of you. ".....D-Did you really m-mean it? I mean. W-When you said you f-found ghost types...b-b-beautiful?"

"Of course we did!," Gloria stated proudly and loudly. Well a little too loud because it made Allister flinch from the loud voice. "Oh. Sorry 'bout that." She immediately apologized before nodding and talking in that soft tone again. "Yeah. We did. But genuinely if I'm honest I really like all pokemon despite what kind they are. Ghost, physic, grass....They're all really unique in their own way. Just like Gym Leaders even if they're similar."

He seemed confused as he stared at her. "What do you mean?"

She hummed in thought. "Well...For example Kabu and Bea exercise a lot to keep fit n' ta help with their motivation, and so does Nessa now that I think about it. All three exercise for their careers in one way or another, but for different reasons. Like how Bea uses that to compete in the Galarian Martial Arts tournaments while Kabu couldn't careless 'bout fightin' in those things." A brighter smile lit up her features. "Oh! Or how Raihan and Gordie like postin' lots for their fan base. But each o' 'em post different things and even if it's the same thing there's differences in each one. It's fun getting to meet all the different gym leaders as people and seeing what makes them so passionate about their lives and how they do things!"

".....A-A-And me?" His grip on the mask increased slightly as he hugged it to himself. "W-What would you w-w-want to meet me for?"

"Well, besides to return that mask like I was tellin' ye about," she explained with a smile, "I think I wanted to meet you to see that special connection ya got that no one else has."

"Huh?," he blinked at her confused.

She gestured to him. "I've been around for a bit n' I've seen some really good connections between some people and their pokemon. But not even Leon can communicate the same level those lovlies behind ya can with you." Allister looked to the trio around him before looking back to her. "I'm not sayin' people and pokemon can't be friend, cuz that wouldn't be right at all since pokemon can be your friends no matter what. But there's somethin' extra special about the way you talk and interact with 'em compared to the other trainers and their pokemon that just seems more......closely bonded in a way I don't know but I can kinda understand in a way. ....That what makes it so beautiful about ya." Allister....didn't move....or talk.....Just stared silently. To the point even his ghost pokemon pals turned to look at him in question. And more long silence the two of you exchanged a worry look before Gloria looked at him. "H-hey mate. I'm sorry if I said something to upset ya."

"Hm?" He blinked..before waving his hands. "Oh n-no nono. I-I'm sorry. I-It's just....n-no body's ever s-said that to me b-before e-except for L-Leon a-and P-Piers."

"Well he's not wrong." He turned to look at you as you genuinely smiled at the boy. "Allister, I honestly don't know you or much about you ..but by kindly you've been and how ready your friends are to help you speaks that you're a really kind hearted person. And I think you're a great gym leader too. It wouldn't even matter if Leon told you you were special because I think you always were. We just all happen to be special in our unique ways."

He seemed to be taken aback at what you just said because he looked away and kicked at the ground with his foot. "You don't.....think any of this is scary?"

"Hm. Maybe some people would but that's alright too. We're all scared on something. I'm scared of heights."

"....Oooh. So that's why you never wanted to ride a flying taxi."

You nodded. "But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing at all Allister. I think you're a good kid. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Besides. We've talked to ghosts too!"

A silence fell over the lot of you again as you blinked and everyone turned to Gloria who smiled. "........What?"

"Yeah. You remember her! Paula! She's the one who wanted us to deliver a letter-"....She blinked. "Oh wait!" You all watched as she slung her bag off her shoulders and once again went to dig through it. Allister tilted his head curiously at her rummaging until jumping back when Gloria pulled out the same letter she had received from Paula back in Hammerlocke. "Here it is!"

"Gloria. We can't just say that little girl was a ghost. She could've just been a regular person."

She rose her brow at you. "A lil girl who could run as fast as a rapidash and disappear as silent as a ghost type pokemon?"

".....Ok. You have a fair point but we can't just jump to conclusions like that-"

"M-May.." You both turned back to Allister as he slowly reached a free hand out the other one still clutching the returned mask to him. "M-May I see it?"

"Of course ya can."

She gently handed over the letter and you two watched him take it as his ghost pokemon crowded around him to also look at it. He stared silently the entire time he looked at it, turning the thing front and back with his hands. ".........T-This has a strange aura about it." He finally looked at Gloria. "Y-You said she wanted you to d-deliver it?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Said it was for someone called Frank in Bellonlea. Also said I looked like someone she could trust."

He hummed for a moment before slowly handing it back to her and she took it back from him. "W-Well.....I think the b-best thing to do if she e-entrusted you with it is to make sure it gets delivered as soon as possible."

Gloria nodded putting the letter back into her bag. "Then it sounds like ta me the next stop we should make is the Bellonlea gym. I can go return the letter n' then battle the gym leader there....*yyyyaaaawwwnnn*"

"Yeah. Speaking of tomorrow, I think we've all had enough adventure for one night and should head back." You slowly stood up as to not spook Allister and Gloria slowly nodded and followed your example with another yawn. "We've all been out here for a while."

......Allister nodded. "U-Um...Yeah. I t-t-think I'll go back inside now too."

"Do you want us to walk you home?" He looked up to you surprised for a moment before shaking his head. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to get lost on your way back by yourself."

"Oh don't worry Miss. I'm not alone. I-I have my friends to help me.....b-but if you want y-y-you can come with me to the stadium doors. I-I don't mind."

You smiled and offered your hand out to him making him jump a bit in surprise....before silently looking between you and your hand....before slowly extending his free hand...and putting it in yours. You smiled as you turned around at a slow pace the young boy could walk without needing to change whatever pace he would've already had and walked with him towards the exit of cemetery. Thanking whoever answered your prayers that you were going to be able to get some sleep tonight after all. Even if Allister did this often in game or in this world often, you would feel better knowing that the young boy was safe inside his home and not out running around in the dark unsupervised and got home safely. So you slowly walked with him out of the cemetery and along the dirt path all the way to the big stadium doors where he eventually let go of your hand and you let him with Gloria and the spooky trio following.

"I-I can go on from here,'' he told you.

"Are you sure?" He nodded. "Alright. You be careful now. Ok?"

"I-I will." You smiled and waved a moment before turning and starting to walk away. Gloria turning too the moment you got to her.

"G-Gloria.." She stopped and turned to Allister who was still hugging the mask to himself. "U-Um....If...I-I k-know you said y-y-you didn't want to have a battle w-w-with me...b-b-but i-if you want too..y-you can stop by b-before you l-leave t-t-tomorrow a-a-and have a quick match."

She blinked at him for a moment before smiling and nodding. "I wouldn't miss it!" And then turned to catch up with you.

As you passed by the ghosts pokemon you gave them a smile. "You three continue looking after him ok? You've all done such a great job so far."

They all smiled and made happy noises so you took that as a yes. The both of you heard the door to the stadium open and close as you were walking signaling Allisters entrance and you sighed in relief knowing he'd be safe inside at least. You both returned the same way you got out. By sneaking inside through the creaking doors cringing all the way and being as quiet as you can to not wake anyone up. By the grace of some unseen force you managed to somehow not wake anyone up and successfully make your ways back into your room safe and soundly. And finding your Drzzilie had curled himself in your bag and had fallen asleep. Heh. Guess old habits died hard. You were sure exhausted though and practically fell dead asleep as soon as you hit the pillow. Sighing and closing your heavy eyelids as the peaceful darkness took over. Infact..... you didn't wake up. Not until much later the next day. Also not surprisingly in the slightest you ended up dead asleep again, not waking up until it was almost eleven in the after noon and when you eventually pulled your heavy feeling body out of bed you discovered Gloria folding some white clothing to stuff back into her bag with a plate of untouched waffles sitting next to her on the bed, and your Drizzilie boredly staring unmoving at the food.

At the sounds of you groaning and sitting up she flashed you a smile and waved. "Mornin' Sleepin' Beauty! I hope you're hungry cuz I already went through the trouble of not lettin' this tyrant 'ere take your breakfast." You pokemon sent an annoyed look her way.

With a long yawn and quick rub of your eyes you waved back. "Mmmmmmm. Morning. *yaaaaawwwwnnn*".....Your tired eyes blinked more at the uniform she was stuffing back into her pack and you pointed. "Hey. How come you have your challenger uniform out?"

"Well it's required ta wear it when you challenge a gym leader. I swear both his and Bea's gym challenge was me spinnin' more than Kabu's arcanine's flame wheel attack."

.........You blinked, taking a moment for your tired brain to process what she had just said. "Wait. You challenged Allister?" She nodded. "When did that happen?"

"Early this mornin'. He said if I wanted ta challenge him I should do it before we left for Bellonlea this mornin'. I was thinkin' of heading there next anyways since it would be the closest Gym I haven't battled yet." She finished stuffing the uniform into the pack before slinging it over her shoulders before you noticed the camera slung back over her neck. "And I got the badge...Even if I didn't win exactly."

"....What do you mean by that?"

"There was four rounds with 'em. I won two and lost two. So it ended with a tie between us both. I didn't want to accept the badge if I didn't really win, but he said since we were even I should take it anyways since I technically won it in a way. I think he was really happen to just have a battle with someone who didn't pressure him into it and without a big crows ta watch, tho he said as an official battle it'd still is gonna be broadcasted online for everyone to see," she explained picking up the food and turning to you," He's a really strong trainer for a lil kid. I think he's gonna be a great gym leader. And I saved ya some food that the land lady brought."

"Thanks! ...But where is he now?"

"Asleep. He was pretty tuckered out from last night n' the battle." She handed the plate over to you. "But that's to be expected."

You nodded. "Yeah. So that means you got the Ghost gym badge right?" She nodded again. "...Oh. By the way, how far away is Bellonlea anyways?"

"Eh. It'd take a REAL long time if we walk, n' there's no train 'round here for a good distance too. Which is why I already told the taxi guy out front we would use the corviknight taxi as soon as you were all ready."

You paused. Food on your fork lowered as you looked at her wide eyed. A silence coming over you two as you stared long enough to not notice your Drizzilie take one of the waffles from your plate.

".....WHAT!?"

[aqueluna]

Prompt 25 (Extra/Free) - Entertain

CW: Mention of illness

“W-Wow… you must be really tired,” a squeaky-voiced stutter crept out from across the candlelit infirmary, contents as shielded from the sun by the thick, almost florally spiralling hoarfrost as they were by the fact that it had set a good hour or so ago. “You’ve yawned maybe um… twenty-eight times? Twenty-nine? Um, a lot in the last f-five minutes.”

Another, cavernously dramatic yawn rolled forth from the pyjama-clad Raen quite at odds with the alert, expectant glint to her luminescently ruby limbals, gaze wandering the room predominantly, though ever returning to observe the Veena sat across the room at her, crooked hand gently swishing, flicking and swirling as she dabbed paint across another canvass. Another yawn…

“Oh… I’m boring you a-aren’t I? You’re trying to g-get my attention without asking for it,” the rangy woman occasionally known as Spins mused, drumming the bottom tip of her paintbrush against her chin. The sickly detective scowled, face curdling from the veritable wooden mask it’d been before, ripe with offence so grave an onlooker might think her entire lineage slighted.

“Nonsense, your theory has three grave flaws. Firstly - you’re wrong. Secondly - I command attention with my presence, my grace, my delightful face, I needn’t “try”,” Chiho began, thick, aristocratic Hingan drawl oozing from her lips, concluding with a huff, “Thirdly - I only want attention from attractive people.” Holding up a pale, dainty finger as if to lend her words a sliver of gravitas.

“Oh… that’s true, I’m not r-really pretty,” the wretchling offered lightly, as gently and lacking in the craved offence as if the Raen had offered talk of the weather. A flicker of disappointment wending its way up Chiho’s visage as her insult fails to land. It wasn’t in truth, that the notion didn’t upset the Veena as a whole, but coming from -her- of all people? It had ceased to mean anything.

The arrogant, affluent brat was simply impossible to take seriously, too quick to resort to slinging insults, fish for arguments and to grandstand - words that had once stung so thoroughly that the notion of even being in the same room as her had been frightful utterly dulled.

“You were right about one thing though - you -are- boring me. Entertain me,” Chiho demanded, volume and bombastic energy draining from her voice as she reluctantly observes the ineffectuality of her barbs, deflating slightly. Had she truly fallen so far that even the hideous twig of a creature before her refused to rise or crumble beneath her words?

The wretchling considered the request finally given briefly, dim, dark gaze glancing across to the old, longcase chronometer then offered a hesitant nod, piping up, “O-Okay, I think it should be fine, it’ll be a little while until d-dinner time and I don’t r-really mind.” 

Truthfully? The scrawny amnesiac didn’t mind, the foul-mattered brat she’d found herself lingering in the company of, treating and otherwise reluctantly assisting was unpleasant, but with the worst of her tuned out that which remained was so dreadfully pitiable… Company she’d once dreaded, now just scarcely preferable to nothing.

Chiho’s expectant gaze upon her, Spins mused on exactly how she might entertain the heiress. A joke perhaps? But she wasn’t especially funny. She’d gotten about as far as working out that laughing at other people’s quips even if they were dull endeared her to them. Thoughts eventually congealing around one of her favourite subjects, one to which the library that housed the infirmary was prodigiously well-equipped to sate.

“W-We could read a book together? What sort of books do you like, Chiho? I c-could go fetch one if yo-...” The wretchling began, only to be cut off by another terrible yawn.

“I know how to read, I don’t need you to do it for me. If I felt like reading, I’d do so without you Spoons.” followed the interrupting detective bluntly. 

The sting of the rejection of one of her favourite hobbies, one the waifish bibliomane scarcely got to indulge with others nearly as often as she liked, was utterly diminished by the ridiculous blunder of the name she was in the process of considering a replacement for.

“You know that’s not my n-name, but the more you s-say it, the more I like it, maybe it should be,” Spins snickered, subsequently placating, “I know you c-can read. Sometimes you f-fall asleep with the book on your f-face, reading books with p-people isn’t about um… ability? It’s f-fun to experience t-together and do the voices.” Gentle, ocean blue doe gaze at odds with the glimmering bright rubies of Chiho’s own as she considered her.

“B-But something else then,” Spins ultimately surrendered lightly, a brief, pensive, fleck of guilt dancing across the pit of her stomach. For all her boasts, pomposity and ludicrous claims of legions of lovers, she’d found while running errands, fetching things for and treating the detective that she loathed sharing her personal space, and absolutely despised being touched, bristling defensively and recoiling rigidly. Reading a book together would not be kind to her.

Adding a few brushstrokes to the portrait of the chipped old mandragora vase she’d been working on, bringing to life the azure hue of the royal blue oldroses nestled within, the wretchling offered another suggestion lightly, “Do you l-like to paint, Chiho? You usually h-have a lot to say when I p-paint.” It was true enough, she’d often brought her paints into the infirmary as to indulge in her second-favourite hobby and not leave the sick Hingan unattended too long and the effort was usually enough to prompt a conversation.

“I like it well enough,” Chiho conceded, the waxing tenseness in her form ebbing slightly at more agreeable suggestion, eventually drawling pretentiously in elaboration, “I’d call it a singular aspect of a far greater art, lesser for its incompleteness, but not entirely without value for the facet it represents I -suppose-...” A sweetly mellifluous giggle rang out from across the room, the bookworm unable to help but chortle, the sound wrinkling the heiress’ nose, prompting her to huff, “What’s so funny?”

“Y-You are. You can’t e-even say you like something without having to p-put it down to b-barely be worth your attention or lift it up to be o-only something you are good at, it’s so r-ridiculous!” the chortling amnesiac managed to creak out in between wheezing breaths.

Chiho’s scowl returned with a vengeance, cheeks inflating into a brief, distinctly puffy-cheeked pout, rocking in place to better push herself into sitting up all the more, eventually exhaling, “My papa says I’m funny… but also says I’m not to be mocked. The fact of the matter is that I am a -phenomenal artist, drawing from the inspiration that forever flows free from my bosom, a living piece of art myself.” Pointing an accusatory finger at the lanky Veena, the plaster pale Raen barked, “I had thought to spare your feelings, but I see you need to be “taken down a peg” as you Eorzeans say. I challenge you to a painting contest!”

“I’m not E-Eorzean, I think I a-already told you that,” Spins frowned, a long, leporine ear lopping limply to the side as she craned her head to stare gormlessly at an angle, eyes briefly crossed in fixation upon the challenging digit. Unfolding her scraggly, bony body up from her chair, a smile crept its way onto the wretchling’s face at the notion, returning the gesture with a crooked digit of her own, squeaking, “As long as w-we’re done before dinner though, I accept. What are we p-painting?”

“Portraits. Each-others.  I’ll do you that much of a favour - I dare say if it’s of -my- face, even you could come up with something that might be valuable someday. Such is my confidence I will win, I’m quite happy to lend you that advantage,” the boastful Raen offered, remnants of a pout twisting into an awfully inflammatory sneer. Despite her mannerisms in offering the notion, the prospect ultimately agreeable enough to prompt a nod from the wretchling.

“Aaaaand, aaaaaand!” the increasingly excitable Raen barked, stifling a cough into her pyjama sleeve, continuing after a few shallow breaths, “If - no, -when- I win. I should like a prize.” At the curious cant of a head from the sunny-maned Veena, Chiho elaborated, gaze gleeful at the notion, “I have something I think might… improve your look - such as it is.” Wrinkled nose as the wretchling is considered leaving it quite clear indeed exactly how it was.

“I’d like you to wear it for a few days. I am magnanimous, yes? Even in my imminent victory? Chiho Amada the Eleventh - always considering the needs of her lessers,” the arrogant, self-absorbed detective laid out.

Restraining a snort, the wretchling murmured amusedly, “W-Wow… I sure hope it isn’t embarrassing… I’d h-hate to be lesser -and- embarrassed I t-think.” The excitement coursing through the sickly heiress was, in truth - ever so slightly refreshing to behold amidst day after day largely dominated by lethargy - she didn’t terribly like Chiho, but it was hard not to think well of such an improvement in one’s patient, even for a failure of a chirurgeon’s apprentice.

“What of you then? For fairness’ sake even if the outcome is nigh impossible it’d only be proper for you to choose a prize too,” Chiho insisted, offering a few suggestions with a lackadaisical sweep of a pyjama-sleeved arm as her opponent-to-be considered the question, “Coin? An autograph? A kiss on the cheek?”

Spins shook her sunny-maned head, stuttering up with the choice that’d best amuse her and she supposed, be good for the self-absorbed Raen, “N-No… I don’t really want any of t-those. If I win, I w-want you to say one n-nice thing to every person you meet for a w-week when you f-feel better and it h-has to actually b-be nice. No t-technicalities, no put-downs, no c-comparisons to you.”

The notion soured the heiress’ countenance, just as she expected it would. “Of c-course, if you can’t do that… I wouldn’t blame you for giving up,” the wretchling offered, off-handedly, the kindling that ignited the competitive, crimson glare cast her way.

“I -can-! I can do it! Don’t you dare think I can’t! I’ll blow you away with how truly heartfelt the niceties are!” hurriedly barked Chiho, eager to defend her own capabilities, puffing up pretentiously. “Of course… that requires that I lose and I don’t think that likely. Enough bloviating, face me.”

The wretchling’s lips curled into a grin as she divided her paints and brushes into two, a spark of competitiveness taking root in her own heart.