Disclaimer: This FanFiction is based on the Fangame Pokémon Insurgence made by TheSuzerain (Lead Developer), Deukhoofd (Online Developer), EchoTheThird (Lead Artist), LunarDusk, DankRabbit, ZeroBreaker (Artists), MrSinger186 (Musician), 1ofthe4rocketbros (Wiki Admin), Demonknight, Sleepymon12 (Alpha testers), thus the characters nor the story's plot is inveted by me.
The game itself was highly enjoyable and I recommend you to play it.
In addition, this FanFiction obviously contains spoilers to the game's plot, consider yourself warned.
Disclaimer 2: Pokémon (sadly) isn't owned by me, but by GameFreak and Nintendo.
Enjoy your read ^^
Shivering, Hemera made her way through Shade Forest's darkest part, carefully avoiding the countless sharp branches littering the earth, a stark contrast to the softness of the moss. Embraced by silence she walked the unknown path, the forest canopy blocking out almost all light ever since they had left the small clearing, where the hill they just had left had stood.
Ever since they had left the clearing, the forest had become more...lively. Every now and then a crack would make her head turn.
Every now and then a pair of glowing eyes would quietly watch her.
Every now and then an unseen threat would brush her legs or arms. Or was it merely the wind?
Mew itself couldn't tell, carefully guarding its precious companion.
Hemera didn't mind any of this.
She enjoyed the moss, its coolness (although maybe it could be a tad warmer) and welcomed the new flooring, her feet still remembering the cold and lifeless concrete of the place they had been before.
More so, she enjoyed the calming tranquillity of the forest, a rare feat of those lost souls aimlessly wandering the cool and dim maze named Shade Forest.
Hemera didn't mind the ever so often eerie cry of wild Gastly or Shuppet, instead she savoured them, the obscure atmosphere sent out by them chilling her to the bone – and reminding her of forgotten times. Except that those faint memories weren't filled with life at all.
The pink Pokémon in front of her, although feeling unwell, didn't mind the ghostly atmosphere either – regardless of its typing. As long as they stayed on the somewhat lit paths, they should be fine and Hemera shouldn't be hurt.
Although ghost clearly preferred the moon over the sun, as the light was reflected and thus diminished, they preferred darkness altogether. Chances were, they probably wouldn't dare to leave their shadows. And if they did...Mew had come prepared. After all, it had been tasked with three simple duties. Get Hemera out. Get her to a safe place. And, most important of all, let her see the cult's true face. They had to prevent her from getting lured in with promises of peace, power and a feeling of community, all those things Torren's inhabitants desired – and deserved after the countries devastation that had come upon all those innocent people.
Some of them fell for these promises, feeding the very monster that had taken away those desires in the first place.
Truly ironic.
Silently the duo proceeded their path through the enigmatic shades, Mew trying to shake of the feeling of something being wrong – for whatever reason it felt off ever since they had left the cult's base and it had been able to think freely again – Persephone was by far the worst enemy for the pink legendary to face. It felt like something was calling out to it, but there was nothing.
Hemera hadn't said anything since they had left the base through the small hill located deep inside Shade Forest, far away from any human civilization. She had been distracted by all those wonders the world presented her with again and stared at them in childish amazement.
Hemera didn't possess any telepathic talents either. She had never shown the signs of being a psychic, a feat few humans could call their own.
Something felt off.
Something was off.
Maybe Persephone was tracking Hemera somehow and just now Mew felt it somehow?
But why hadn't they been apprehended by now yet?
Maybe Hemera's memory loss had changed something within her?
But why should it?
Memories may define her personality, however it wouldn't have any effect on her talents. After all, that's what the Timeless were hoping for. They could only hope they were right this time, somehow eradicating the severe mistake they had made.
Hemera herself was unaware of all those thoughts. She was unaware of the worried glances Mew shot her ever so often, too, so instead of wondering about the Pokémon's strange behavious, all she did was stare at the world's beauty.
She remembered some of it.
She believed herself to remember some of it.
She remembered the grass, she remembered the beauty of an old, traditionally built city, she remembered the countless noises the world was gifted with, however all of those memories were dull...and thus, all those new experiences left her speechless.
Not, that she wanted to speak anyway. She didn't know how. She could remember the word's meanings but talking on her own? It seemed impossible. And it seemed incredible annoying.
However, skipping neither sounded impossible nor annoying.
Being happy wasn't impossible.
So she was. At least she felt happy, because she still couldn't muster a smile.
Maybe it was because, while the moon shone down, the grass and leaves and moss didn't look as fresh as she thought they would.
Maybe it was because somehow, she remembered the world's music to be less...eerie.
Maybe it was because all of it still didn't look the way she had imagined it.
And maybe it was because she had forgotten to smile.
Another ghostly scream ripped through the night, making Mew shudder and Hemera turning her head, trying to see one of those mysterious creatures lurking in the shadows.
She didn't succeed.
So, instead, she examined the world in front of her, carefully placing one step after another, desperately trying to keep her feet of the ground and use the fabric, dragging over the ground, as shoes.
Just once, by accident, she had stepped upon the thick clothing and immediately it had felt...better. For, seemingly, the first time in her life, she felt cold.
How many other times, she wondered, would she experience this?
How many things was she used to, that weren't normal?
She didn't know.
Probably a lot.
Silently the both of them kept on wandering through the forest, the pink Pokémon looking forward to sunrise, heralded by some lonely rays falling through the thick forest canopy. The faint light finally allowed Mew to examine its companion more throughout.
The sight made it pause. For merely a split second, however, a split second it was.
Hemera looked starved. Her cheeks were sunken in and, besides the small glow whenever she laid eyes upon something new, her eyes looked dull and empty.
Several scars painting the girl's face a bloody red, a stark contrast to her unnatural white skin and with a shudder the New Species Pokémon noticed how short her nails were.
It almost puked.
It almost wanted to hug Hemera and tell her, that she'd never have to go through this agony again.
But in the end, it her own decisions would decide her fate and thus, promising safety was a promise sure to be broken.
So the Pokémon reverted to feeling empathy for the quiet girl walking behind it and resumed to wander a path taking them Arceus knew where.
And Hemera followed her willingly.
After all, wherever they were going, the grass became more colourful and although she had enjoyed the eerie atmosphere, she didn't mind the change either, that became most apparent when they reached a crossroad, where suddenly, everything was bright.
Suddenly, the leaf canopy broke open and the sun shyly made its way to the sky's top, sending out warming rays in the process. It was early spring and, albeit the nights were still freezing cold, the morning brought warmth and the promise of a new year.
At least that was the way Hemera felt, facing the sun and closing her eyes, whilst Mew decided what to do.
It hadn't gotten any instructions beyond this point.
"Get the girl out and bring her somewhere safe. And ensure she won't ever consider joining a cult."
Mew had freed the girl. It had let her witness a sacrifice. But...where was she safe?
The Psychic Pokémon wished the instructions had been clearer. After all, she was supposed to be safe – but she was also supposed to start training again. There was a renowned Trainer School in Midna Town, not too far from here. All they had to do was cross the forest to the north – possibly risking running into one or Persephone's grunts. The young cult leader, the youngest of the still remaining cults that were somewhat known, had taken control of the untraveled woodland of the western region's part. There had never been much here, maybe some small villages that could barely make a living.
It had been the reason why know other cult had ever cared about this region – there wasn't anything noteworthy here besides the secrecy of Shade forest. The region was more of a liability to their own personal agenda than an asset and thus, this part of the country had been relatively peaceful.
However, for the same reason Persephone had had it so easy recruiting her cult. There was nothing here. Only shattered hopes and dreams.
The Darkrai cult had sprung into existence quiet quickly. The first Augur had been busy fighting over more dangerous looking cults – the Infernal, that plagued the northern counties and was the longest existing cult of all, or the Perfection cult that terrorized seemingly every part of Torren.
Thus, no one had ever investigated Persephone's cult more throughout. How far did her influence reach? Was any western part of Torren safe? Could they traverse the forest safely?
Once Mew had known how to teleport such a long distance, travelling there by foot would take at least three days, however, it had forgotten this ability years ago and had just now relearned it. As a measure of safety, in case they had to flee quickly. But it couldn't take them far. It lacked the experience in doing so.
The southern path lead to Telnor Town. It was the biggest village all around, discounting Midna Town, and was considered the "capital" of the region's western part. So, it was probably overrun by Persephone's grunts, right?
The Mew sighed. This was one of the rare occasions were it silently cursed. They had little to no information on her, which was, really, their own fault. They should have seen Persephone founding a cult coming after all the woman had been put through. But they hadn't cared enough and now this indifference towards the woman's fate bit them.
How controlling was the cult's leaders grasp? It all came down to that question, seemingly, however...If Persephone controlled Telnor Town, surely she had spies in Midna Town as well. They'd have to get her out of this part of the region, however, they knew that every other part of Torren wasindeedcontrolled by a cult to a certain extent. Would they search for Hemera? How precious of a prisoner, or as a corpse, was the girl to all of them? They knew the Sky Cult had cooperated with Persephone. However, there wasn't any information whatsoever on any help or support or even gratitude received from the other three major cults.
That didn't mean there hadn't be any though.
The cult's nature was, after all, to be quiet secretive.
A trait that didn't necessarily make Mew's task any easier.
The Timeless, Mew concluded, probably wanted it to bring Hemera to Midna Town, where she could train for whatever destiny was preparing for the girl.
If they went to the Telnor Town chances were, she might lead a somewhat peaceful life. A happy life. Mew could imagine her, in ten year or so, owning a small house at the end of street while two children ran around, chasing each other with some Pet Pokémon, while she looked happily at the camera, holding her husband lovingly with all those scars and all her fragility gone.
Mew sighed.
It hadn't gotten the order to keep her safe forever.
Cautiously, the pink Pokémon glanced at Hemera, which now had started to hum a strange, uncoordinated melody, replicating whatever sounds she heard, unaware of the Legendary's thought process.
However, her humming didn't mask the various scars which were still painting her face a bloody red. The light and cheerful melody didn't change her dull eyes and her skipping didn't conceal how skinny she had got.
Mew sighed again.
Telnor Town might not be where the Timeless wanted Hemera to be – but Mew couldn't guard this girl to her doom. It couldn't show her to way to a life filled with pain sacrifice. She had gone through too much already.
And if she chose this path the Timeless had lay out for her already, she would have to choose it on her own.
Telnor Town was an old town, set up by the first travellers to cross shade forest and since had been known as the "capital" of Torrens central western part. Some argued that Midna Town was occupying this spot, others believed Vipik City to be the one.
Every single one of them was wrong.
Vipik Town was too far to the south and far too accessible to considered by the inhabitants of the towns sprawled across the forest and Midna Town. Well. Technically it was the capital city. Just like the other town it wasn't easily accessible, you either had to traverse Cyan Cavern from Suntouched City or you'd climb a cave called "Narra Border" – albeit, once you had climbed to Midna Town, there was no direct way back north, except for those possessing the ability to scale larger rocks by using Rock Climb or an item mimicking it.
And whilst Midna Town was considered to be the capital by Helios City, Torren's capital city, it lacked the air of solitude. Thus leading to Telnor Town growing in size and importance, to a point, where people actually knew the town's name and a renowned Pokémon-Professor setting up her lab here.
On a second thought, maybe bringing her to Telnor Town hadn't been Mew's brightest idea so far.
Unfortunately, it was too late to change this, as they already had bumped into another human being. The boy they had encountered seemed to be around Hemera's age, maybe a tad older.
However, maybe Hemera was just looking younger than her actual age for...reasons.
Mew, hidden between the shadows of some spare trees, marking the border to Shade Forest, it had retreated to, shuddered again.
Sadly, no one had ever bothered to tell Mew anything about that girl, besides her name. It was a pity. Now, that Mew's nervousness had worn of, it felt pity for her and...Mew actually worried about her well-being. It had considered joining her, staying next to her side, however it didn't fell right. It didn't feel the inherent connection it had felt with all those other humans it had accompanied. Maybe the Timeless had chosen the wrong Pixie. No one had ever bothered to think about a Plan B after all. It was a shame, really.
Carefully assessing the situation, the Pixie watched they boy, assessing whether he, Damian it thought itself to have heard, was a threat to Hemera and had to be disposed of. But nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary (it had ordered Hemera to get rid of the cultist's robe as soon as it had decided where it should head next), at least not for Mew.
Damian on the other hand…
"Did…Was…You saw the Mew too, right? I'm…I'm not going crazy, right?"
The boy seemed to be thrown completly offguard by the girl's strange appearance and even more so by it's much stranger companion. In disbelieve he stared at the girl that had, so suddenly, left Shade Forest and seemed to look somewhat lost.
Hemera was indeed lost, because, while looking around and scanning the area, she wondered where the Pokémon had gone? Just now it had floated right next to her and just a heartbeat later it was gone, escaping her senses. It had appeared just like that too. Maybe that was just its nature.
So, instead of focussing on the Mew's disappearance, Hemera decided to focus the boy in front of her.
First, she tried to answer. But, somehow, the words got stuck. It didn't feel right. She didn't know what exactly she was to say.
She didn't want to say anything either,
Thus, she didn't and settled for a simple nod instead.
The result wasn't the one she had expected.
The boy actually stumbled back a few steps, starring at her in disbelieve.
"You...You are lying, right? There….No, there is no way Mew just casually floated next to you!", the boy exclaimed loudly, looking around in the process, searching their surroundings, his attention grabbed by every ever so slightly moving branch, swaying in the soft wind that slowly but steadily picked up its pace.
She followed his example. Was there anything of importance she hadn't noticed? The Mew had shown similar behaviour, constantly scanning the shadows as if danger was lurking right beneath the surface of nothingness. Hemera didn't understand why, as she greatly enjoyed shadows. Honestly, she'd rather be in a shadow right now, or at least in the darker parts of the forest behind her. It didn't sit too well with her, standing out in the open like that.
Was feeling like that normal?
Or should she fear the shadows, just like Mew had?
And where had the pink Pokémon gone anyway?
Hemera didn't know.
The boy in front of her didn't seem to be particularly fazed by them, so she took that as an all-clear and Mew not showing up didn't worry her all that much either.
After some time spent in silence, the boy averted his attention back to Hemera, examining her, clearly curious about her sudden appearance (people usually didn't just show up in front of the village entrance, looking like they had no clue to what was going on). Slowly he raised his hand, carefully observing her every movement until one of his finger's pricked her cheek.
Surprised she automatically leaned back, staring at him confused and somewhat huffy.
Mew, still silently hidden between the shadows, snapped to attention at once, fearing an attack, however it didn't interrupt the motion and went back to its watchful but inattentive state, when it heard the boy's following words.
"So...Well. You're...You're obviously not just some stupid ghost playing a trick one me...", Damian concluded with a relieved smile on his face, that reached to his eyes, until he noticed Hemera's quite resentful facial expression and concluded, that, by logic, just pricking her into her cheek wasn't the nicest thing he could have done. Somewhat embarrassed he started scratching his neck and looked down, a blush forming on his cheek (Why was he blushing? Why was he scratching his neck? Why was this boy so strange? Couldn't Mew have taken her somewhere else?).
"Yeah...You see, it's not the first time that happened and I just wanted to be sure...So...uhm...Sorry about that, I...I guess?"
Shyly, his gaze drifted to the strange girl in front of him, that still looked at him in bewilderment. At least she had stopped leaning back so awkwardly. It didn't make the whole situation any better though.
The girl herself didn't seem to mind it all that much, but Damian did and frantically thought about any kind of topic they could talk about. Or he could talk about, because the girl didn't seem to be very inclined to do so.
Maybe the weather? The dark grey clouds were telling a story of rain and maybe they'd bring some early snow. Sometimes they were unlucky and it already started to snow in November, which lead Damian to question why in Arceus's good name the girl was dressed the way she was dressed.
The pyjama-like clothing didn't seem to withstand the cold nonetheless the heralded rain and, by Arceus, she wasn't even wearing socks!
But, he couldn't ask her that, correct? It'd be rude, right? He had insulted her more than once already after all...
"Sooooo...this...Uhm…"
Awkwardly his gaze drifted to the forest again.
Had it stayed at one place a bit longer, he might have noticed the pink Pokémon that retreated back into the darkness some more.
But Damian didn't have muc time to spent chatting, as he was supposed to collect some wood for their fire place, as money was always tight around these parts. ANd his mother would be seriously pissed if he came home with lees fire wood because he had instead spent his time on chatting with some strange girl.
Generally speaking, he wasn't supposed to talk to anybody strange roaming the lands between the view towns sprinkled across the landscape, especially now, that the Dark Cult had become more and more powerful. He should probably just leave, Damian thought to himself.
Wave goodbye and leave.
"So, you...you didn't lie about this Mew thing?"
He didn't wave goodbye and leave.
This time, Hemera shook her head, her face a picture of indifference. With some luck, one could discern a bit of confusion in her blank expression, however, Damian wasn't known to be especially lucky.
He wasn't too good at reading other humans either.
Generally, Damian was really bad at reading other humans.
And this girl would prove to be a mystery to literally anybody.
"Well, I guess...I guess I'm not crazy then. Or maybe we both are. Who knows?"
A small chuckle escaped his mouth, before he realized that Hemera's face wasn't even decorated by a half-smile.
Damian stopped chuckling at once. Blankly Hemera stared at him and Damian tried, desperately, to escape said staring.
He failed.
He failed miserably.
So, he decided to do what he should have done way earlier.
He left.
"Well...Goodbye, I guess? See you around, after all, I doubt you'll leave for Midna Town just yet. Bye!"
Hurried Damian headed for the never-ending darkness of Shade Forest, not once turning around to watch the strange girl.
Never once had he had such a bad consciousness when leaving someone.
When he came back, the girl hadn't moved at all.
Well, she had moved, exactly two steps towards the town, after all it seemed to have been the Mew's destination, but then she had stopped. What if it hadn't been Mew's destination? It had vanished as soon as the boy had shown up. Maybe it was afraid of humans? Understandably, just now she had witnessed a…
She stopped her thoughts right there, not wanting to live through the horrid memories of a man being tortured and slowly getting killed in the process ever again. It was a hard task, as there seemed to be nothing else she could possibly concentrate on, but she tried and her thoughts wandered back to Mew.
Maybe, if she waited long enough, it would show up again, materializing in thin air just like it had done before. But it didn't.
Thus, Hemera waited, not moving another step out of fear to make a mistake, even though it had started to drizzle.
She had never experienced something like this ever before and she already concluded she really disliked it.
For a moment she had pondered whether it would be ok if she would step beneath one of the trees, promising a cover, but she didn't dare to leave her position and, possibly, be invisible for the Pokémon.
Thus, she almost felt relieved when the strange boy, Damian had been it name, right?, showed up again, this time carrying several branches and seemingly in a bad mood.
Apparently, he didn't like the drizzle either.
When Damian noticed the girl, he stopped, his face showing disbelieve and his lips slightly parted, showcasing the same emotion.
"What...What are you doing here?! It's raining!"
Slowly he approached her, obviously still unable to grasp that this, already, strange girl just became even stranger.
Meanwhile Hemera followed the boy's finger pointing towards the grey and cloudy sky, seemingly unaffected by the cold drops of rain (in fact, she was affected by it greatly and had come to the conclusion this feeling would be stuffed right next to "drizzle" labelled as things she greatly disliked.
When she looked down again, she simply nodded,
He was right.
It was raining.
There was nothing to add to this statement, so she wouldn't. Plus, she still greatly disliked the thought of actually speaking.
This motion of hers, however, seemed to exaggerate the boy more.
"Why didn't you just go to the Pokécenter for cover?! Who n his right mind…You, you could catch a cold!"
Hemera simply nodded again.
She came to like this boy, all she had to do to keep the conversation going was nodding her head.
This was great!
"Are you...Who in Arceus's name are you even?!"
Her sympathies for him all died at once.
What had her name been?
She knew that she knew. Hadn't the voice said something about a name…
"Hemera."
Suddenly, the name popped up in her head, just like that and, although it might not be her actualy name, she decided she liked it.
There wasn't anyone to prove her wrong after all.
But...speaking of the voice...Where had it went? She hadn't heard it ever since she had woken up. Maybe, if she went back to sleep, she'd be able to hear the voice again!
"Hemera?", the boy questioned, grabbing the girl's attention again.
Hemera was s strange name, he had never heard it before. Thinking about it, it fit the girl perfectly.
Hemera, unsure what to do, settled for a nod once more. Maybe he wasn't all that bad.
"So, uh, Hemera...Where are you from?"
Damian set his package filled with branches onto the ground (his mother would murder him, but they were wet regardless whether they touched the ground or not) and hugged himself. The drizzle had turned into rain and the former barely noticeable wind had picked up quiet some strength.
Why couldn't he have met the girl during summer?
Hemera herself wasn't satisfied with the situation either. She disliked it entirely.
She had to talk.
So, she blurted out a barely audible "Don't know" and then closed her mouth again, feeling somewhat of a bad consciousness. She didn't understand why tough. She hadn't lied after all.
She remembered waking up in that cell, but where she was from was an unknown information to her.
"So, uh...", Damian had started scratching his neck again (how had he gotten into this again?) and wasn't sure whether he should believe the girl. There was still the risk of her being some cult's member. Maybe she was lying about her origin.
Stories told of the Dark cult's excellent recruiting – and its way of keeping its members, even though their leader wasn't known to be so merciful.
Shadows whispered of a woman called Persephone, a former member of the Infernal cult, a woman that at some point had emerged as a twisted version of herself.
But those were rumours. Rumours that might get you murdered quiet quickly. So he tried not to listen to all those whispers. But every now and then he picked up stories he'd rather forget.
"And...why are you in Telnor Town?"
Maybe her reasons would provide some answers. He doubted it though.
While Hemera, her name was Hemera, right?, was busy sorting out her thoughts (Had she forgotten the story she was supposed to tell innocent bystanders? Did the cult's already recruit little girl's like her? How old was she, 14?), he picked up his bundle of wood again and started marching towards Telnor Town. He already was soaked to the bones, so technically he could've stayed, however he was getting cold.
Surprisingly, the girl moved and followed him.
And finally gave him an answer.
It didn't help, but it was something, right?
"I followed Mew."
Mew. Maybe it hadn't actually been a Mew but rather a Zorua or something like that. Zorua's might be rare too, but they weren't legendary.
"Mew?"
Hemera nodded.
After some time, Damian nodded too.
Silence fell upon then, only interrupted by the constant noise of drops falling to the ground.
"And, uh, how old are you?"
His question came out of a blue and took her by surprise. How old? Why was he asking? And how old was she? Again, the voice had mentioned something...
First, Hemera thought of actually saying "sixteen", but then she changed her mind and held up ten fingers.
"Ten?",Damian replied quizzically. There was no way she was only ten years old. No way.
And, according to his puzzlement, she shook her head, holding up her two hands another time, this time showing six fingers.
"Six...Oh, 16?"
This time she nodded.
Damian nodded too.
Again, silence fell upon them.
They were halfway into Telnor Town and Damian was on the brink of showing her the PokéCenter, she seemed to have some memory attached to it, as her eyes lit up when she saw the typical, red roof and seemingly walked to it on her own accord, being rid of her presence once and for all, until he remembered, what had happened when he had left her the first time. She hadn't moved.
A sigh escaped his lips and he snatched her wrist, pulling her in the opposite direction. First she resisted, her gaze glued to the red roof, however then she let herself be led by him.
"Whatever. I'm sure my mother will know how to help you regarding whatever reason you have to willingly enter the capital of the end of the world."
And, glancing at her a second time, he murmured:
"And surely she will know how to patch you up..."
Of course, Hemera couldn't know for sure, but judging from what she saw, chances were, Damian's mother knew how to patch her up. Hemera even went so far of believeing it wouldn't pose any problem to his mother at all.
However, which might pose as a problem, was he willingness to do so.
"DAMIAN! What in Arceus's name have you dragged into our house again this time?!"
Damian's mother closely resembled an ever so welcoming baker, with puffy cheeks, a pink apron and strong trained arms, all framed by a huge stature.
Sadly, the welcoming smile was missing and instead of looking caring and nice, she stared at Hemera uninviting, seemingly threatening her in case she dared to step into the house. Just now Hemera experienced another emotion.
Fear.
Apparently this was a normal reaction, as Damian looked like he was experiencing the same emotion, before he decided too stutter hastily:
"Yeah, well, you see...I kind of found her in front of Shade Forest. She...You know, she looked lost so I thought..."
"Why didn't you just bring her to the PokéCenter! Why did you have to drag her into my living room. She's soaking wet!"
His mother didn't seem to be very inclined to actually figure out why he had brought the strange girl to her front door, technically she hadn't even entered the house yet alone the living room. Maybe she should just leave. Was leaving just like that ok? Damian had done it too, after all!
However, Hemera didn't get the chance to ponder this, as the somewhat aggressive woman already ushered her into the house, muttering:
"It's always the same with this boy. Stones, Pokémon, humans. Do I look like the daycare-lady?!"
Quizzically Hemera watched Damian, who obviously had trouble not answering "Actually, yes you do" and instead started to watch his nails.
It was still raining and slowly Hemera started to freeze. She still didn't wear any shoes and her feet started to feel numb. However, she didn't know what to do next. So she didn't do anything.
Maybe Damian suffered from the same condition as her, as she just stood in the door's frame, examining her with her hands on her hips and her mouth curled into a snarl.
It was up to Damian to do something and although he hated talking back to his mother, there wasn't much else to do.
"Well..."
Luckily, all his mother had waited for was for Damian to open his mouth, so she could interrupt him again.
"Oh, come on in already! You are soaking and it's still raining! What are the two of you still doing outside anyway? If you get sick Damian, don't expect me to take your whining serious!"
And without another word the woman turned around, leading both children into the small house she called her own and which would prove to be Hemera's shelter for the day – or maybe longer.
They sat in front of the open fire, eating Pasta when Damian's mother decided she had enough of the silent girl's nods and head shakes and demanded some clarity about her whereabouts.
Damian hadn't asked to question the girl himself and he didn't want to catch any attention – his mother still hadn't forgiven him for bringing in completely wet and useless brand. The moment she had seen the bag filled with dropping branches, she had put her hands on her hips again, mustering the boy she had taken in all those years ago and then scolded him.
Quiet loudly.
Hemera's ears still hurt.
She had ended the scolding with the sentence "How are you supposed to take care of a living being, if you aren't even capable of taking care of some firewood?!", a sentence that had a noticeable impact on the boy that had decided to let her tag along.
Ever since the scolding, he had sat in front of the fireplace silently, starring into the flames.
It was a stark contrast to the boy that had desperately tried to get a conversation going on their way to his house.
What exactly, Hemera wondered, had his mother meant? However, she didn't dare to ask. Firstly, she still greatly disliked the thought of talking and secondly...Could she just ask something like that? Was it...Was it acceptable? It didn't feel like it was just ok for her to ask, so she didn't.
She still wanted to do so though.
"So, you're Hemera?"
Hemera nodded, to the distaste of Damian's mother who immediately snapped:
"Answer me in a sentence, young lady! If I'm supposed to shelter you, you'll have to behave!"
Hemera nodded again, this time much more respectful and some fear sprinkled into her facial expression. She didn't want to anger Damian's mother, the lady had been quiet nice to her after all. She had been allowed to use the shower, she had gotten some fresh clothes (a mix of Damian's and the one's his mother wore, which lead to a strange mix of styles)
Her nodding didn't sit to well with the woman and she snapped again:
"What did I just say?!"
The girl winced and opened her mouth this time and actual words left it.
"Yes, I will behave."
She stared into her bowl, not daring to look into the woman's stare, only once peering towards the towering lady.
Apparently those words calmed her a bit and she sat down again.
Still towering over Hemera, but the difference wasn't as immense as it had been before.
Damian shot her a reassuring smile, he knew his mother could be harsh at times, however she didn't notice it. Hemera was too distracted by the words she just had said.
Her voice had sound so...hollow. Unreal. Lifeless.
It scared her.
She really wished, she had gone to the PokéCenter instead.
She didn't want to talk.
She didn't want to hear her voice again.
"So, Hemera it was?"
Again, Hemera nodded, but then her eyes shot open in fear and she added hastily:
"I'm called Hemera."
She bit her lip as soon as the reply had left her mouth.
Why?
What had happened?
This...this was horrible. It reminded her of the silence in her head that felt heavier and heavier with every passing moment, with every second she experienced something knew she figured out that the silence wasn't soothing at all – it was disturbing. This silence...the silence wasn't supposed to be there.
And her voice...her voice reflected this.
Empty.
Hollow.
"And you're 16 years old?"
For a moment, Hemera didn't answer, sorrow clouding her expression. But then she remembered, that attracting the woman's anger sitting in front of her wasn't an option either.
"I'm 16 years old."
"And you don't know where you're from?"
"I don't know where I'm from."
Still, Hemera didn't dare to look up. So she didn't, although the ensuing silence was deeply unsettling. All she heard was the cracking of the fire and the scratching of a knife over a plate.
Had she looked up, she would have seen the woman to be deeply in thought, pondering whether it was possible for this girl to be a cult's member. She didn't believe it. In opposition to Damian, his mother had seen how starved the girl looked and how several scars painted her face red.
She had been a prisoner. But why?
Her eyes wandered to the girl again, sitting above an empty bowl, her head hanging from her shoulders like a lifeless doll.
Just what had her son gotten himself into this time again?
"If you want some more, you can have some", Damian's mother offered, taking the girl's bowl without waiting for any objection.
The girl didn't object.
She peeked upwards again and the woman could see a twisted form of a smile appearing on the girl's face.
It unsettled the woman.
This girl was strange.
Maybe this was some kind of trick…
A particularly loud crack coming from the fireplace made all three attendants shoot up and turn around. Damian was the first one who dared to breathe again.
Hemera resumed to stare into her now filled bow.
Damian's mother watched her carefully.
"Why...Why don't you know where you're from?"
"I don't remember."
The girl still didn't dare to look up. Maybe she had scared her too much, however at least she had gotten the girl to talk.
She didn't expect her son to be capable of doing that.
Sadly, although she had gotten several replies from the girl, they weren't helpful at all.
"Well...What is the last thing you remember?"
"Waking up in a cell."
This peaked everyone's interest. A cell? Intrigued Damian watched the girl, his Pasta forgotten and so did his mother.
Luckily for them, Hemera wasn't finished yet. She squinted her eyes and pressed her lips together, thinking deeply until she finally picked up where she had left.
"There were...there were other people. Three, I think. And there was a...a voice? I think it told me who I am."
"Were you with a cult?"
Maybe asking questions would help the girl to remember. Damian's mother really hoped so. She was the local teacher and surely this kind of information was interesting for the town's major to know. Maybe he knew what to do in cases like this.
"A cult?"
Finally, the girl looked up, her gaze quizzically and her mouth open in wonder.
Normally Damian's mother would have scolded her "You're not a magikarp! Close your mouth!", but the woman was far too distracted to think of proper behaviour right now.
"Yes. A cult? Did...Did the wear some kind of uniform? Maybe a robe? A black robe?"
If she had been with a cult, it had to be the Dark Cult. It was highly improbable for the girl to travel across all of Torren in a state like this.
"They did."
The answer was a surprise at all. The girl had been with a cult for whatever reason and they had probably erased her memories. For whatever reason. She could work with this information. It wasn't much, but it should help her to accept the girl. They couldn't just kick her out again after all. Clearly, she wouldn't survive a day out there, if Damian's description was correct. And her own observation confirmed it.
"So you were with a cult?"
Damian's hastily spoken words ripped through his mother's mind like a knife immediately alerting her. Hopefully he wasn't going to…
"What did you see?!"
Her son had gotten up, his eyes filled with curiosity and wonder, starring at the poor girl, whose eyes were filled with shock.
"DAMIAN, NO ONE said you could…!"
"They sacrificed a man."
Damian's mother stopped talking at once, albeit she didn't forget to shoot angry glares at her son, that went unnoticed by him.
The girl's voice...it had sounded even more hollow than before. Her eyes were looking at him, or rather, through him and were devoid of anything but the memory he had triggered.
She almost looked haunted.
Then, slowly, tears of horror started to form in her eyes, the terrifying pictures she remembered impacting her expression, suddenly showing a fragile and vulnerable girl, instead of the wall they had spoken to before.
Then, she started shaking, her breath quickened and she pressed her lips together.
She looked terrified.
She was terrified.
He shouldn't have asked.
He still wanted to know what had happened though.
His mother didn't want to know though.
"There...There was so much blood..."
Hemera's voice was a barely audible whisper that gave Damian's mother goosebumps. She didn't like getting goosebumps and thus she got up, loudly, trying to interrupt the girl's train of thoughts.
"He screamed and screamed but this woman...She didn't stop, And...then everything went dark. So dark. It felt like a nightmare."
"A nightmare?"
The girl had him hooked and he almost fell over while leaning towards her so he didn't miss any of the quietly spoken words.
"A nightmare. No one said anything. The woman doing the sacrifice had stopped talking too and then...then Darkrai appeared..."
The memory visibly shook her, tears forming in her eyes. However, Hemera herself didn't know why exactly this memory disturbed her so deeply.
"Darkrai?"
Damian's mother sat down again.
"They summoned Darkrai?"
If they had, by any chance, captured it…
"They summoned it. But it disappeared again", Hemera replied clinically, her eyes focussed on a point far, far away, and casting away all worries that had built up in Damian's mother's mind.
Damian and his mother both breathed in loudly. That was good. If they had actually already captured the Pokémon they worshipped...But was Darkrai the one they worshipped? It was rumoured to be "their" legendary, but no one knew for sure. Maybe they merely needed Darkrai to lure out another Pokémon...
"The woman doing the sacrificing, Persephone, she said something about Selene City and her sister living there."
AS if following a signal, Hemera's head snapped up, fear plastered on her face and she asked hastily and her voice, finally, filled with emotion:
"Are we in Selene City?!"
Damian's mother winced when she saw the desperate expression on the fragile girl's face, filled with shadows of memories? Did she remember any of the torture she had been through? Did she kno...
"No."
Damian's answer came not a second after the question had been asked.
"We're...We're in Telnor Town. Se...Selene City is at the other end of Torren."
His voice was stuttering and several glances to his mother told of the boy's insecurity, unsure, whether his answer was sufficing.
The girl's expression didn't change at all, so he added a faint:
"Don't...Don't worry!"
Just know, Hemera looked up, her face less frightened and her eyes, again, devoid of any emotion at all.
She didn't look the slightest bit relieved when her reply left her throat:
"That's...That's nice to know, I guess."
Damian didn't know how to respond to this statement and neither did his mother.
So they didn't.
His mother simply got up, taking some of the plates to the kitchen, slowly clearing the table, the two teenagers watching her in silence, unbroken by the fire's crackling, until Damian snapped out of his stare and started helping his mother.
Hemera was unsure what she was supposed to do now.
Was she supposed to help?
Could she?
She tried. She took some of the things left standing on the table, cautiously tiptoeing towards the kitchen entrance, only to be sent out by Damian's mother again.
How was she called, Hemera wondered, didn't dare to ask though.
"No, no, no, you go to...oh."
Puzzled Hemera examined the middle-aged woman, that had so suddenly stopped talking and was starring at her with thin lips, before calling out for her son.
"Yeah?"
"Could you please tidy the upper part of your bunk bed? I know you store all your Pokémon cards up there, but I guess this young lady will need some place to sleep in for tonight. Tomorrow I'll speak with the mayor. We'll see, maybe he knows more about the girl."
The mother's eyes went back to Hemera, who was still starring at her, two plates held in her hands. No. That wasn't right. The girl wasn't holding the plates, she was clutching on to them as if letting go just a little bit might lead to losing them.
A painful smile crossed the woman's face when she took the plates into her hands, setting them back on the table.
Then she hugged Hemera.
"Hemera it was, right? Well, I'm Vena. Welcome to this household I guess."
Damian had lead the strange girl into his room upstairs, carefully showing her the way through his room filled with plenty of cupboards and cabinets.
Albeit, apparently they weren't used as all his belongings were littered on the floor.
"So, uh, I'm sorry for this mess, but yeah...I'm not the tidiest person out there. Anyway, I guess I go by the slogan "Sorted Chaos", heh..."
He shot her smile, but Hemera was unresponsive, taking in the room lay out in front of her,
It wasn't big, by any means, however nothing of this house seemed to be anything but small.
It looked cosy though.
There was one angular window, normally illuminating the room, however right now only the moon and some stars gave light.
The walls were decorated by plenty of posters, the biggest one showing five trainers, of whom one was cast in shadows, while the other four displayed four completely different styles of outfits. Another one showed a huge tower, reaching into the sky and looming above all the other skyscrapers, titled "Helios City".
The last one not showing a specific Pokémon and being rather big was again showing another human, clothed in a black suit with blue highlights, wearing a shirt spotting the same colour and hair that matched the blue of his clothing, a team of Pokémon right behind him.
Who are these people, Hemera wondered, albeit not wanting to ask.
While she inspected the room, Damian climbed the short ladder leading to the upper bed, sighing deeply.
"Well, I guess there goes my sorting..."
Curiously Hemera steeped forwards, peeking onto the upper side.
It was filled with boxes.
Boxes filled with tons and tons of cards, all showing a Pokémon.
The boxes and cards seemed to be taken care of with meticulous care and the way Damian looked at them, it made sense.
He obviously didn't enjoy the fact he had to move his treasures to another part of his room.
The bulk bed had been bought when he was younger and had desperately wanted a sleepover party with his best friend.
Sadly, there wouldn't be any more sleepover parties, as his friend had long set out on his journey and then found himself an apprenticeship in some other part of Torren.
Technically he should have left way earlier too, however his mother didn't allow it, deeming her adopted son as to irresponsible to already take care of a Pokémon on his own.
But he was turning 18 soon and he had this Eevee from Professor Sylvan he had spent time caring for.
He knew he wouldn't have to wait much longer for him to leave this town. One year. A bit less than that.
He glanced at the poster featuring the five trainers and a grin appeared on his face.
Just a bit longer.
Then he remembered there was another responsibility on his hands, namely cleaning this bed so the strange girl, that was curiously eyeing his Pokémon cards (Damian really didn't like how close her fingers came to touching some of them), had a place to sleep.
"Um...", he murmured, turning to the girl and grabbing her attention by the sudden movement.
"I guess I'll go and fetch some fresh sheets and stuff like that...Could you move these boxes..."
He pointed at them, unsure whether the girl was simply not reacting, a feat that seemed to define her entire personality, or she actually wasn't listening.
"...over there?"
Again, he pointed at the cupboard he wanted her to transport the boxes too.
Her eyes followed the movement and stared at the cupboard, wondering how she was supposed to fit all of those into the small cabinet.
She could probably just set them on the floor anyway.
It wouldn't make that much of a difference anyway.
It took Hemera some while to notice the boy was intently starring at her and she probably was
supposed to give some sign of her having understood what he wanted her to do.
So she nodded.
Strangely, all the boy did was sigh and leaving, adding to the already given information:
"And please be careful. It took me literal months to sort them that way and I'd mu...I'd hate it, if anyone would ruin all my efforts."
Hemera didn't answer.
He didn't expect her though, so he just left her alone to carry out her task, hoping she wouldn't touch any of his belongings.
The girl was strange.
Really strange.
When Damian re-entered his room, he found the girl sitting in front of the cupboard, in midst of all his carefully sorted boxes which were, apparently, set down in the exact same order as he had left them.
He should have been happy with this outcome.
However, the girl had also decided to grab his most prized possession of all and was flicking through the pages of his card book, seemingly absorbed by the pictures she saw.
The moon stood just right for her to have enough light to read the cards, albeit she didn't seem to pay much attention to what she saw.
Until she skimmed the last page, that was.
Slowly her eyes flickered towards Damian, ever so slowly holding up the book, clutching it with one hand and pointing at one of the cards with the other.
"Mew."
It was a simple statement she did, while pointing at the card showing the New Species Pokémon and she didn't seem to expect any reaction from his side as she lowered her eyes again, carefully examining the other cards on the same page.
Cautiously Damian advanced towards her, ultimately sitting down next to her and monitoring her movement.
To his surprise, she was really careful with his card book and he decided, although she might be strange, she didn't just go around and destroy things.
He hadn't expected her to do so, however it had taken him years to get all of those cards and he wasn't taking any risk when it came to watching them.
"Yeah. It's Mew."
Carefully he took the book out of her hands, intending to put it back inside its designated box and make the bed to catch some sleep, however, he then paused for a moment, his before stern expression softening and getting quizzical.
"Say...The Mew...Was it real?"
It couldn't possibly be, right? Of course, everyone knew by now that Mew existed, ever since Red had made the journals found on Cinnabar Island public and the whole Cloning-incident had come to light, however...Why was it in Torren?
He expected her to state it was all just a lie, or maybe an illusion, however, she simply nodded again, starring at the card intently.
After some while, he did the same, carefully caressing the card, until he timidly asked:
"How did it show up?"
The question got Hemera to look up, before she shrugged and went back to starring.
"You don't know?"
Hemera nodded. Damian sighed. Well, so much to getting a conversation going. But he wasn't giving up just now. His mother might come of as harsh at times, but he knew she had a soft heart and when asked, would gladly take the strange girl in until she'd be able to care for herself.
She obviously wasn't capable of doing that right now.
And if she'd live with them for the next couple of months (or longer), he'd try his very best to establish some kind of friendship with her.
"Why don't you know?"
Was it possible for Mew to be caught by the Dark Cult? But why should it have helped the girl escape th…
"It was asleep. It woke me up."
The girl's answer came out of the blue and startled Damian for a second before he caught himself again. For a moment he pondered whether it would be acceptable if he pried a bit more into the little information she had left on her origins, but then he remembered what had happened last time he had dug to deep.
He wasn't going to put her through that again.
So, he decided to change the topic and, because she seemed to be fascinated by the Pokémon Cards, he thought himself to have found the perfect topic to talk about.
"Mew is one of the Pixie Pokémon. Do you like it?"
The girl nodded. Momentarily Damian pondered whether he should gift her the card, but he decided against it.
He couldn't just go around gifting his most precious cards to strangers.
Regardless of where they came from.
So instead, he turned the page, pointing at a different card.
"This is Shaymin, my personal favourite. And right next to Shaymin is Hoopa, probably the region's all time favourite. You wouldn't believe through how much trouble I had to go just to get my hands on that one..."
He chuckled softly, glancing at the girl, hoping for any reaction, but all he was presented with was puzzlement.
Hemera didn't understand why Hoopa was the region's all time favourite.
She liked Mew, because the Pokémon had helped her and because there was nothing she could compare the Pokémon too.
However, Hoopa and Sahymin...in the end, they were just hollow names.
Why would anyone like them?
"You...You don't know why Hoopa is so loved, correct?"
She shook her head.
"Well...It's...Do you remember anything about the Augur?"
Again, all she did was shake her head.
For a moment he mustered her, then he shook his head – she really didn't remember anything about anything – then he closed the book and put it back into its box, getting up in the process and stretching out his hand to help Hemera up.
For a moment the girl eyed the gesture suspiciously, but then she took the hand and got up too.
"First, we'll make your bed. And then I guess it's story time."
So they did.
The bed was made quite quickly and soon both of them lay in their respective beds, Hemera starring at another poster.
This one was life-sized and showed a middle-aged man, spotting brown hair, a bit lighter, however still dark skin and wearing a vest with fitting suit pants in black, wearing a light purple dress shirt beneath it. He also wore a conspicuous ring on his middle finger.
"You see...These cults pose to be quiet some problem and, you know, the Dark Cult isn't the only one. In fact, it's probably the weakest of all of them. There are five, currently known cults, however there are rumours of a sixth one...Anyway..."
Damian shifted slightly, wondering, whether the girl was actually listening. As there was no way to confirm it, he just kept talking.
"There's the Dark Cult, no one really knows about. There's the Perfection Cult which is basically a collective of some crazy scientist trying to do whatever, or that's what the public has gathered about them so far. There's the Sky Cult, who really like Rayquaza for some reason. There's the Abyssal Cult that worship Kyogre, so basically they're a Rip-Off Team Aqua. And then there's the Infernal Cult. It's the oldest one that exist and it is rumoured their leader has found a way to become immortal. No one knows for sure though, because, although the cult is pretty darn old, no one knows anything about them. Except they like Groudon, but, you know, that's probably not their real goal. So, yeah, no one really knows what they're up to. And I guess, with what you've gathered, we can confirm the Dark Cult really just wants Darkrai. I don't know why they would Darkrai, but apparently they want it. I'm kinda glad the Pokémon escaped their summoning though, although they probably wouldn't do anything to malicious with it...At least I hope so."
Damian shifted again, falling silent for a moment.
He really hoped so.
He knew people, acquaintances, that had fallen for the cult's sometimes irresistible spell. Most had joined the Dark Cult.
He didn't want to fight his old friend's.
To distract himself from those thoughts, Damian decided that talking about happier things would be much nicer.
"We had a lot more than just five cults, or six, but really, this "sixth" cult only exists because some morons think it's funny to dress up in some stupid robes and scare people with it.
And well, before that, there were way more...But that's before I was born, so yeah...You see, one day the Augur showed up. He was paired up with Hoopa, that's why everyone likes that Pokémon. And he beat all the cults! People say there has been a prophecy once, heralding a trainer paired up with a Pixie that would finally save Torren from itself. And people started to believe again. After all, hundreds of years living in constant fear pretty much made everyone give up already, amplifying the problem. We talked about it a lot in school, so young people would stop joining the cults, but well, the teachings could be more useful. You see...Torren has always been in somewhat of a civil war, ever since the region was founded by King Vesryn centuries ago. At first it was a federation of states, when they were fighting of invading forces from Kanto. And they succeeded, so they ultimately kind of decided to just stick together. However...Ever since that, the regions surrounding Helios City, the capital of Torren, have been kind of...left to rot. It started as a trade between goods and safety – Helios City ensured the other cities safety and in return, they took care of Helios City's supply. And this kind of carried over to modern days. So most regions outside of Helios City aren't as well off – this part of Torren for example has a way higher unemployment rate. And I don't want to touch on the disasters Deyraan City has to go through ever so often. So, then the first cult's started to spring up and Helios City couldn't really deliver on its promise of peace anymore. The region spiralled down a cycle of terror, actually, it was on the verge of collapse, but then the Augur showed up. He cleaned out most cults and was trying to rebuild the region. He lived in Gaea Town and although it's close to Helios City and by far not a city that has been left to rot, it isn't Helios City, making it way easier for him. People don't see him as the arrogant jerk from Helios, but instead as someone who knows what it feels like to be bossed around. It was great. The cult's power swindled. But, well, you know...the cult's didn't like that."
Damian fell silent for a moment, carefully listening to his room-mates breathing. Was she asleep or still listening?
"The Augur has vanished a week ago. No one knows where, no cult has announced anything, but...it's pretty clear what happened. So, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if you were some police officers daughter that has been abducted and was supposed to die, because your parent has taken action against the cult's and now, knowing the Augur is gone, they wanted revenge. I don't know why they would keep you alive, but well...I guess lucky you, huh?"
Damian shifted again, this time starring at Hemera's mattress. She still didn't react. She probably was asleep by now.
However, Damian didn't get the chance to talk to someone else his age like that and he wasn't going to let this chance just slip like that.
"You know...I really hope the Augur is fine. They say someone from Helios City has claimed to take up the responsibility, but...I'm worried. I don't know that "second" Augur. What if he goes back to the same old ways and just treats every city aside from Helios City like trash? What if he just makes everything worse?"
Panic started to take hold of Damian's mind, as he, again, was confronted by visions of a future he didn't want, as he, again, anticipated what life was going to be from now on. He had never experienced a time without the Augur, but he had heard the stories. People being unable to leave their homes if they weren't part of a cult, people being threatened because of a word they had said or police officers being dragged out of their houses and beaten to death while everyone was watching. Or worse.
There was a story how one man was chained to Telnor Town's well at the town's centre, having to sit there for days until he eventually starved to death, while everyone was watching and everyone was to afraid to help them.
The cult didn't even had to sent someone to watch.
Damian started to tremble when he remembered all those stories.
All his life he had thought this to be a bad dream, a bad dream Torren was awaking from and would never have to experience ever again. He had thought himself to be save, saw a bright future for his region but then...
He didn't want a second Augur.
He wanted the old one.
Why was change so scary?
Why… Why couldn't all of this just be...a dream?
Why couldn't he just lead a normal life?
Why did all of this happiness have to be deprived of this region again, just after they had finally, finally, after all those years of terror, experienced some?
Silent tears ran down his cheek, as terror painted his face white and his trembling made the entire bed shake.
Why, why, why, why?
Why had all of this to happen?
Why…
"I'm sorry."
At once, Damian's train of thought stopped, his eyes looking up again.
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry", Hemera replied and for once her voice wasn't filled with nothing. Instead, it sounded so endlessly sincere.
"Why? Why are you sorry?", Damian asked, wiping away a stray tear, all his worries forgotten", It's nor your fault he's gone."
The two stayed silent while Damian's words hung in the room. To Damian, they felt comforting. It wasn't their fault. To Hemera, they felt like treason.
So, after some minutes of silence, she broke it.
"But really, we don't know that, do we?"
Well, I guess my hope to get the second chapter done within a month was...optimistic, to say the least. But, the positive side is, most of it has been written during my vacation and due to our school system, I still got a lot of vacation left. So hopefully the next update will come a bit sooner than this one.
I'd like to apologize for the quiet slow pacing of the story so far, however, with this chapter done the exposition is pretty much written and I will focus a bit less on introducing the characters and more on the actual plot. As much as I can, facing the fact that it still is very much a "let's travel" story.
Still, I hope you enjoyed the read and would love to get any kind of review, be it just a notice of a spelling mistake I made.
I hope you had a great Christmas (Merry Christmas everyone! ^^) and wish you a happy New Year.
Until next time ^^
An: Second Legion Scout: Thank you very much for your warning, I appreciate the fact you took your time to help me out =) Thank you a lot ^^
An: Guest: Well, technically you are correct and surprisingly, spoiler, you might not be the only one sharing that opinion xD Thank you for our review ^^
