One would think that a castle with anyone still living in it would be a bit more heavily guarded, however, it's fallen prey to the stream of tourists just as much as the city itself has. All sorts of people and Pokemon pour in through the open gates, almost all of them dressed for the festival. After a while though, Armin and Jaden diverse from the crowd and lead us to a side entrance past a well-grown vegetable garden, through a pantry room large enough to consume the main floor of the Pokemon Center in Terracotta Town, and into a bustling kitchen noisy from the labors of a multitude of cooks and maids. The warm air is perfumed with the fragrance from any number of dishes that line each counter and tabletop that can be spared as the servants prepare the evening meal: Heaps of meat heavily garnished with spices and baked fruits, large platters of greens blended together and mixed with various custom sauces, elegant cakes and pastries set to cool on racks loaded down upon shelves, and bowls upon bowls of punches foaming with sherbet.

Taking note of my staring, Jaden smiles and explains, "The main events start tomorrow, but plenty of guests will be staying at the castle tonight nonetheless. Either way, we need plenty of food prepared for everyone. Nearly all of Rota comes here for the festival each year, along with visitors from across the region." That being said, he backed against the counter and stuck his hand in a mixing bowl, his index finger emerging from it a moment later coated in a thick layer of batter before it disappeared once more into his mouth to be licked clean.

Armin's brows furrow in irritation as he shoos the former away from the food and towards the open door leading into the nearby hall. "What impropriety," he grumbles, "Here you are, next in line to take the throne after your brother's marriage, and you continue to perform poorly in front of the masses! This is exactly why my lady insisted I watch you! You fail to recognize the meaning of your own position!"

I've mostly blocked out the ranting, as Armin's berating of Jaden almost all the way here had already taxed on my nerves. What he says now, however, finally snaps my interest as the sudden revelation pushes me off balance. I spin sideways to face Ri, absolutely balking, and find him in no better state of shock than my own.

In spite of the reprimanding, Jaden begins to laugh, "My position mattered nothing until—!"

"Wait!" I intervene with a loud shout, invoking the stares of a few of the cooks surrounding us, "You're telling us that you're the ruler of this place?!"

His grin turns bashful and his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as his gaze drifts to the tiles at his feet. The young man before me, who seconds ago I originally imagined was little more than a festival goer himself or else an employee for the event, can't really be the Lord of Rota… Right?! He doesn't seem to be much older than I am and he certainly acts nothing like how I always envisioned royalty to behave, so how could he possibly rule a kingdom?!

"Actually, my mother is the ruler of Cameron Palace…" he murmurs, his features growing warmer.

"Nonetheless, treat him with the dignity deserving of his title," Armin adds, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as though afraid to lose them, "Even if he has far from earned it himself, I admit… You still stand before the heir to the throne and he has been kind enough to bring you here himself and treat you as though he might an honored guest."

"Armin!" the former scolds before his elder can say more. Turning to me once again, Jaden takes my hand in his and I feel my heart leap to my throat at the contact, muscles stiffening in response. His touch is softer and far more gentlemanly this time than when he first did the same only moments ago on the streets: Even his smile seems to fade from some of its boyish charm to a wiser, worldly, and more mature emanation. For a minute it's hard to picture him as the same person that leapt at me on sight and just tried to clean the batter from a bowl, and in the mix of my confusion and shot nerves I find that I'm unable to brush him off.

"Ignore him. Armin's served as both my teacher and butler for years: He's extraordinarily stiff when it comes to this sort of stuff." His eyes never break from my own as he speaks, and as much as I want to look away I find my own gaze paralyzed. "It's just Jaden. Besides, I wouldn't even be the heir if it weren't for my brother moving away to marry a girl from Kalos: I'm only the spare, really." Though his statement is self-degrading he acts so genuinely casual about the matter. Does he really see himself so little or is he only being humble?

The shift in positive to negative energy in the room is so strong that I feel my spine chill in reaction. Ri and Armin stand on opposing sides of the two of us, glaring at us in silent fury from either side. However, only a user of aura would be able to feel the encroaching storm and Jaden—if he even notices at all—dismisses it as the displeasure of his tutor at his conduct. Ri's negative energy is far less noticeably drawn on his features and he actually seems rather calm, but beneath that façade is a turmoil I don't quite understand absolutely fuming.

"But anyway, we really should hurry on so you can find a costume you like," he continues. An arm wraps around my shoulders in a guiding motion as I'm suddenly nudged forward, the youth back to his previous self. With his free hand, he points upward. "The dressing rooms are a few stories up. Stick close: It's easy for new people to get lost in this place."

"Jaden, you shouldn't touch a woman you've only just met so familiarly!" Armin berates him from behind, yet his chiding falls on deaf ears as our companions linger behind in our step.

He once more takes delight in bombarding me with questions—particularly of my travels and my being an Aura Guardian. However, at the risk of Ri overhearing us and piecing together the truth of my identity, there is very little I can tell. I can't very well lie my way out either as I lack the knowledge most Aura Guardians my age would seem to possess through training, otherwise I would've told him I served as an alumni from that Academy my parents had talked about being in the Sinnoh region. Even he, without possessing the ability at all, seems to know more about such things than I.

"We still have a bunch of old books and journals from when Aura Guardians served my ancestors years ago," he explains bashfully when I question him about his knowledge. "Not that I'm allowed to touch them since they're ancient, but most of them have been rewritten into digital copies. There probably isn't much written in them that you wouldn't already know about, but I can have someone print them out for you if you'd like to see them."

"I doubt they'll be of any use to her. She needs a mentor," the Lucario grumbles under his breath behind me. "There's nothing she could amount to from deciphering information in such a way alone."

Briefly scowling over her shoulder at him, the words leave my lips before I even know what I'm saying, "Jaden, I'd really be glad if you could print a few copies for me: I'm certain they'd be helpful on my journey." And while the young man's expression brightens in response, Ri shoots us both a look that could kill.

Sooner than I would've expected, we reach the chamber where the costumes are stored—a foldable table with a volunteer collecting money in a tin box for renting them standing by the doorway. Jaden and Armin part from Ri and myself, the former instructing me to find my way to the ballroom to meet with him once I'm dressed as the latter ushers him off.

Once I step inside I find the chamber longer than it is wide, almost as if it had comprised several rooms as some other point in time, and lined with several rows of costumes hanging off racks. It's practically like a thrift shop, only each costume is amazingly detailed and well-made as though to cater to the preference of anyone who walked in. On the far side a row of temporary stalls have been curtained off for trying on clothes, but I'm really the only person inside. Seeing as how the festival's events are already underway, I'm probably one of the last few to get a costume. A strange giddiness fills my heart, similar to when I went shopping with Flora, as I run my fingers across the soft fabric of a vivid sunset orange dress etched with flower petals and I find myself unable to stop smiling. Even though I've never really put much thought into my clothes—how could I when everyone I knew I grew up around was covered in fur or scales—I guess that's also the reason why I can't help but enjoy being able to dress up now: I never really got the chance to… It seems like fun anyway, getting to wear something so unique like some sort of character from a storybook…

"You're really playing up to that earl-to-be," Ri says, interrupting my thoughts as he leans next to a nearby window and folds his arms across his chest. "What exactly is the point of this?"

"You're the one that told me I had to talk to him first before we can go across the border," I retort, letting go of the dress as I turn to face him. "I don't see a problem with going along with the festival for a little while since he's busy and I can befriend him this way."

"Have you forgotten the reason we're here to begin with, Iliana?!" His voice rises in anger. "You came this far because you want to see your friends again, don't you?! So why didn't you ask him for permission to cross over the minute we found out he was the ruler of this place?! What, did you suddenly stop caring?! If you're this fickle over something so important to you then I can see exactly why you're friends left you in the first place!"

His words leave me numb to the core and silence pierces through the still air… Am… Am I really being so selfish…? If I am, I don't mean to be: Does he really think that low of me? Over the hurt and the blur of my vision, a spark of fury ignites from within and once again I find myself acting before thinking. My body moves as though on autopilot at a speed I thought I had lost when returning to this time as a human and my arm shoots out to smack him in the cheek with the back of my hand—the red mark from its sting and the loud whip-like sound that fills my ears the only remnants for me to realize what I've just done. Ri stares at me with widened eyes, shocked: I'm shocked at myself as well, but the pain I feel overrides any sense of guilt.

"Don't you ever speak to me like that again," I voice in a dangerous whisper before my tone carries to a shout, "Don't you ever say I don't care—not when you don't have the first clue about what I've been through or what I've lost! You don't have that right!" A salty wetness falls from my face and onto my lips. "I didn't see you saying anything either, and in case you don't remember his mother is the one who still rules the throne: For all I know, he might not even have the authority to let me go! Did you even consider that?!" I turn my back to him, storming off deeper within the chamber to retreat among the scores of clothing. "If you don't have anything else to say to me, just go out into the hall—or better yet, just go!"

I hear nothing as I refuse to look at him a second time, busying myself with finding clothes in my size. He says nothing and neither do I. No sound emits throughout the room beyond the shuffle of fabric and the clacking of hangers against one another—not until I hear the door creak open and close shut.

"Are you feeling ok?" Jaden says to me, his smiling fading into an expression of worry after catching full sight of me and giving me a quick greeting. He turns from the group of servants he was talking to when I first entered the ballroom to take a few steps closer. With my senses heightened by the aura that surrounds Rota, it was even easier than usual to find him and Armin. The two might as well have taken my hand to lead me here.

I nod, rubbing my arm as I come up with a quick excuse, "I haven't had any lunch yet; I'm just starting to get a few hunger pangs is all."

"I guess walking through the kitchen didn't help you any either," his mirthful grin returns as he teases lightly. "Well hopefully you can hold off until a little longer. Ok? I guessed that you hadn't found a place to stay the night yet since you just got here and the Pokemon Center will be packed, so I've already seen to it that you have a room here in the castle: You and your Lucario can be my guests of honor for tonight's banquet!"

Ri, who had followed me here after I got changed and paid for the rentals, chuffs briefly at this and leaves the ballroom altogether to go stand around in the courtyard. As I watch him over my shoulder, I can't help but wonder why he's even staying around to begin with. When I first exited the chamber, I didn't see him at first and thought he had really left. However, when I started my way here, I soon found him trudging a few meters behind me in disgruntled pursuit.

"Thanks," I murmur with a gentle smirk.

"You really do look like an Aura Guardian now," he compliments, placing his hands upon his hips as he looks me over. "Though I think you would've looked great in a gown. Even if you don't win, you're going to impress everyone at the competition for sure."

I don't really think much of it. Were it not for the fact that most of the dresses there were laced with tight corsets and frustrating dragged upon the ground where they could be caught by anything and become a nuisance, I might've picked on. Instead, I choose a simple ensemble reminiscent of what the adventurers of old might've worn—granted, even then there was a limit to what looked good because of my strikingly blue hair. Baggy pants of a Prussian blue are tucked within brown leather knee-high boots layered with shin guards. Matching gauntlets cover my forearms over fingerless gloves and tuck in the sleeves of my undershirt, which is the same shade of blue as my pants and has a loose collar. Layered overtop my chest is a viridian tunic detailed in bronze, draping all the way down my thighs to end in an arc in both the back and front, and split completely down my sides—bound to my figure only by the wide belt clasped around my waist. Unwilling to do much with my hair, I just tied it off into a simplistic side braid to get it out of the way.

"Thanks," I repeat, shaking my head as I decide to just get to the heart of the matter, "but I have to be honest: I didn't come here for the festival." In as logical a manner as possible to avoid sounding like a madwoman, I briefly explain the situation before asking to meet with his mother for permission to cross past the mountains into the Pokemon-only territories.

He listens carefully and with extreme interest, but can only offer me a shake of his head. "I'm afraid I can't do you much good there… Not that my mother wouldn't be willing to talk to you, but it's a hopeless cause. The way to the Tree of Beginning was blocked years ago before my brother and I were even born due to the dangers being there meant for humans and also the risks to the environment a human's presence meant. It's become a matter of safety after a researcher and the group they went with travelled there—and one of them didn't make it back. Funny thing is, it was actually the Lucario of Sir Aaron—one of the last Aura Guardians to serve Rota and the figure of this festival—that perished."

"But if I don't go, I'll never be able to find my Pokemon," I press further, tone almost pleading. "Surely there can be an exception this once!"

He falls quiet, pondering to himself while I wait in fervent anticipation for an answer. Then suddenly, a mischievous grin appears on his face. "Well," he shrugs, "according to the legends, Sir Aaron came and went to the Tree of Beginning as he pleased and travelled all over those mountains, so it's possible for another Aura Guardian to be trusted to safely go there as well. Besides, I guess there is one way you could prove to my mother that you're strong enough to face the dangers."

As he lets it hang there, I can't help but feel a slightly suspicous. What is he planning? "What?" I venture cautiously.

"You and your Lucario should enter the contest," he answers—a note of certain victory already in his tone. "There isn't much reason to deny you travelling over there given the situation and also if you two can prove yourself capable enough. Lucario can prove it in battling and you can prove it by strategy and by showing off your aura abilities afterwards. Sound like a deal?"

I balk at him. Again with the contests! Can I never afford a break? Not to mention how am I supposed to compete with Ri?! In the past it would've been easy, but now we're about as coherent as oil and water and we'd only have the night and next morning to prepare. Then there's our fight: There's no way he'd even consider—

As I look back over to where he stands, I find Ri already staring straight at me. Though he distanced himself, I now realize that he's probably been paying attention to every word we've said without missing a beat…

And to my further surprise, he gives me a single nod.