Chapter 8
Return
. . . . .
Seen from afar, the peak of Mt. Coronet gleams in the night sky, its picturesque beauty surpassing the reputation that precedes it.
Yet, to the inhabitants of the mountain's northern face, the sight was anything but.
Down on its frozen surface, its majesty was shrouded by a harrowing gale, transforming its magnificent shine into a ghost like glow.
Through the blinding flurry, the raging blizzard howled as its razor sharp winds screamed through the snow covered valleys and hills.
But on this particular night, the mountain's inhabitants listened with dreadful caution, for the storm's melody rang a particularly sinister tone.
Like a cruel sentient being, the winds cackled with a malicious, evil laugh. For it knew that, once again, the time for it to claim its next victim was nigh.
. . . . . . . . . .
21:02, June 2, Unified Year 4734 - Empire of the New Order (Formerly known as the Sinnohnian Empire), District Twelve, North face of Mt. Coronet
. . . . .
It had taken Victoria a good minute to finally return to her senses, though the shock of her latest transmission had yet to leave her system. With dazed and confused movements, she slowly removed her earpiece, a wavering confidence behind her fleeting assumption that her communication device had malfunctioned. But, realizing that it was still perfectly operational, all she could do was stare at it in disbelief.
Truthfully speaking, there was a part of her that still refused to believe that what she had just heard on her communication device was true. For all the years that she had worked for her organization, never had she had such an unreasonable demand be expected of her. Her latest orders, more than the snowstorm around her, chilled her to her core.
This wasn't to say that she was entirely unwilling to involve herself with any and all forms of danger. As a matter of fact, she and Hackett had both accepted the potential risks that were involved with being sent on their latest mission; risks that they were almost guaranteed to encounter. Even stepping foot in Imperial territory was risky enough on its own, given by the fact that, were she to be found and captured by local law enforcers, a swift execution would most certainly follow.
But this was all standard procedure for those sharing her profession. Every single Operative who worked for the Bureau, herself included, were well aware that their job was oftentimes unnervingly hazardous, entailing a level of danger so great that few would be willing to endanger themselves for their cause.
It was precisely because there were so few of them that they were guaranteed to be taken care of whenever possible. Like national treasures, each and every member of her organization was considered to be a highly valued national asset. Combined with the critical nature of their work, and it was easy to see that it would be in the Federation's best interests to ensure that the Bureau's losses in manpower were minimal.
This was something that both the Bureau and its Operatives knew very well, Victoria included. From the very first day she joined, she was told that the expectations that would be placed on her would be fair, just and rational; a promise that was made with every single Operative.
"...Fair…?"
But as she helplessly watched the life drain from the stricken Decidueye right before her eyes, all she could think was that everything she had been told by the Bureau was a lie.
"...Y-You call this fucking fair…!?"
Feeling betrayed, Victoria screamed out in frustration and despair. Though she was doing much better than her fallen partner, her voice trembled, the slowly setting hypothermia making it impossible for her to speak normally.
'I… I don't have much time.'
Shoving her comms unit back into her ear, she gently touched Hackett's body, her hands trembling from the numbing cold. Despite the chill that coursed through her veins, she could tell that his body had turned dangerously cold. As a matter of fact, were it not for the faint sound of his haggard breathing, he would look to appear completely dead. His condition worsening by the minute, Victoria hurriedly glanced around, knowing it to be imperative that something be done to keep him from succumbing to the cold permanently.
'...But what can I do?'
Trying to start a fire had already proved unsuccessful, and it was already established that she had nothing of use in her possession. Of course, she could try to build some sort of dugout for the both of them. But she wasn't so delusional as to not realize that Hackett, and perhaps even herself, would perish from the sheer cold long before their makeshift shelter would be even remotely completed.
The only other choice was for her to bring Hackett to a safer location, but even that option was riddled with flaws. For starters, she wouldn't be able to carry him, given that he was just so much larger than she was. And even if she could, where would she carry him? She had failed to find any sort of shelter on their way here, and from the sounds of it, so had Hackett. Of course, they could simply just continue onward with the hope that they would find something to escape the storm, but even a buffoon would consider that to be suicidal, reckless and idiotic.
"Hackett… Don't… Don't die, you… You asshole…"
At this rate, it would only be a matter of time before Hackett would give in to the cold.
And it wouldn't be long before she would follow him to the grave.
She had played all the cards that she was dealt. There was nothing left in her own power that she could do.
But as she slumped down onto the ground as her spirit drained from her body, her ears twitched, picking up a distinct sound through the shriek of the blizzard's gale.
The unmistakable sound of footsteps.
Victoria promptly spun around, shouting out into the darkness, her surprise making her sound more aggressive than she intended to. "Who's there…!?"
Up until just a moment ago, she had simply assumed that outside help would not be available; an assumption bolstered by the fact that she rightly assumed that nobody in their sane mind would be wandering out and about in weather as dreadful and lethal as this. Of course, the fact that her location was inhabited by criminals had not been lost on her either. But as she scoured the monotonous snow around her, all she could think about was that salvation may be hidden amongst the shadows.
At first glance, it appeared as if nothing had changed. The landscape was just as bleak and black as it had been for the past few hours. The same deathly chill was eating away at her flesh, and visibility had gotten no better since she last checked. So poor were the conditions that, to Victoria, it appeared to have gotten even worse than it had been just a few minutes ago.
But as soon as she spotted a peculiar anomaly among her surroundings, she stopped, squinting hard to better see through the murky darkness.
Just behind a mound of snow, not too far off in the distance in the opposite direction of the blowing winds, were two elongated shapes sticking out from the snowy earth. For a moment, Victoria pondered if they were simply strange shapes that the winds had kicked up from the snow, or perhaps even just a figment of her now hyperactive and borderline delusional imagination. It's almost spectral qualities seemed to suggest so, given by the fact that they were barely distinguishable from the rest of their dreary environment.
Then they twitched.
Victoria blinked. Those objects were most definitely real. And it was clear that they weren't just ordinary shards of ice or flurries of snow flying through the blizzard.
No, it was unmistakable.
Those were ears.
Its owner must have realized that they had been spotted, because as soon as Victoria had realized that they belonged to a living Pokémon, the pair of ears immediately ducked back behind the snow, vanishing from her line of sight. Victoria, in a knee-jerk reaction, screamed frantically as they disappeared from view.
"W-wait! Wait, wait, wait! Don't go! Oh, fuck, please! Don't go!"
A lengthy silence followed her plea for help, the Braixen's heart beating wildly as the seconds passed. But just as she had begun to think that the ear's owner had fled, she heard a sigh through the howling winds, its voice subtle and quiet. To Victoria's elation, the figure got up from behind its hiding spot, its ghostly silhouette slowly making its way towards her with cautious yet deliberate steps. And though she followed it carefully as it approached her, it wasn't until it had gotten just a few feet away from her that she had finally managed to identify who those ears really belonged to.
A Glaceon, sleek and slender in appearance, emerged from the darkness, walking with an almost breath-taking degree of poise on the freshly fallen snow. Her neck was wrapped with a thick and heavy scarf, its layers of velvety-white fabric concealing her mouth and nose. Unable to see if she was smiling or frowning, Victoria tried to gauge the Glaceon through her deep sapphire eyes, but quickly gave up, finding nothing as the Glaceon stared back at her with a piercing and unwavering gaze.
Slung around her back was a rather crude looking backpack, its years of use and abuse painfully obvious from its appearance. The bag appeared bloated and heavy, as if ready to burst at its seams from being absolutely filled with... Something. The muffled thud it produced as the Glaceon tossed the pack onto the frozen earth seemed to imply so, though the quadruped Pokémon showed no signs of relief from having taken such a substantial load off of her back.
Without a word she sat down, loosening the scarf as she began to unravel it from around her neck. Exposing the rest of her face to the harsh outdoors, she exhaled slowly, her breath steaming up before her from the cold air before bringing her scarf over towards the stricken Decidueye, tying it firmly around his waist.
Victoria watched hesitantly, unsure of whether or not she should let the Glaceon continue with what she was doing. While it was true that she had called out for help in the spur of the moment, she couldn't figure out if this new Pokémon intended to provide aid or only amplify her grief. She could see no emotion behind her eyes; read no motive behind her movements or actions. The fact that the Glaceon had said nothing since she had met her was only making things worse for her restless and agitated mind.
'Then again… Whatever it is she's planning to do with us has to be, like, infinitely better than freezing myself to death out here… Hackett too. And it's not like I'm a pushover with combat, either. I mean, I'm not in the best of conditions, but I'm pretty sure I can kick this Glaceon's ass if I have to. Besides... With my type advantage, there's no way she can win.'
Her thoughts were interrupted as the Glaceon thrust one end of the scarf towards her. Gesturing towards the mound of snow that she had come from, she spoke, her voice muffled from holding the other end of the lengthy fabric in her mouth.
"…Follow me."
"W-Wait, which way?"
"That way."
"What about your bag-"
Victoria stopped mid sentence as she watched the Glaceon picked up her end of the scarf, ignoring her as she slowly pulled her fallen comrade through the thick and heavy snow. Thinking it be best to talk later, Victoria took her end of the scarf, picking up the slack as the both of them made their way through the darkness.
Without a doubt, it would have been undeniably arduous, if not impossible for her to pull the Decidueye on her own. That said, she had to admit that, with the aid of the Glaceon, they were making surprisingly quick progress. Despite appearances, her supposed saviour was proving herself to be surprisingly strong, much to the Braixen's delight. And though the added support didn't necessarily mean that it was now easy for her to move the immobilized Decidueye, she was still nevertheless incredibly grateful for her help. Without a doubt, were it not for her aid, their current endeavour would have been utterly impossible.
'But... I mean, if that bag was as heavy as it looked, then I guess I should have kinda expected this.'
Reaching the peak of the snowy mound, Victoria paused, taking a quick look around her. Nothing appeared to be any different than it was where she had just been a few minutes ago, her surroundings still just as dark and bleak as it had been for the past few hours. The only exception was that, now that she was atop the mound of snow, she could better see the face of Mt. Coronet not far south from her. Or at least she should have been able to, if it weren't for the blizzard that was obstructing her view.
But what the view lacked in terms of the Empire's natural wonder was made up for with something else entirely different. Something so small that, had she not stopped to properly observe it, she was sure that she would have missed it entirely.
A single light, flickering like a dying candle flame. Its orange glow was dim and faltering, barely visible through the hail of snow and ice that surrounded them. But if there was light in a place like this, then it could only come from one thing.
Fire.
Victoria didn't need someone to tell her what that meant.
The Glaceon gave her a quick glance, looking at her with a knowing look as if to confirm Victoria's suspicions. Without a word, she began to silently make her way towards it, Victoria quickly following suit as the two of them hurriedly pulled Hackett towards the flickering light. With salvation in literal sight, Victoria could feel a renewed energy begin to fill her, hastening her pace as she made a beeline towards the light. So much so that, before long, she found herself standing right in front of an old wooden door embedded to the side of the mountain, a warm glow emanating from its edges.
"Holy crap... I would have never found that."
Nodding her head in acknowledgement, the Glaceon kicked open the door, ushering for Victoria to come in. With one last heave, the both of them pulled the Decidueye inside, the Braixen finally dropping her end of the scarf as her senses were greeted at long last with the euphoric feeling of warmth enveloping her body,
She had barely a moment's respite before her attention was drawn towards another, unfamiliar voice.
"Dear, where on Earth have you been? I've been worried sick! This is no weather to be out and about in the open… Oh my."
Looking deeper into the room, Victoria's eyes came face to face with those of a Froslass, the signs of age starting to show on her shapely form. Despite her mature grace, nothing could take away from the look of pure shock on her face.
The Glaceon, upon hearing the Froslass, immediately called out to her, a subtle urgency in her voice. "Mum, help. Quick."
Without a word, the Froslass hurriedly flew over towards the three of them, quickly switching places with the Glaceon before gesturing for Victoria to help her bring the fallen Decidueye deeper into the cave-like room.
"This way, dear. Set him down by the fireplace."
Victoria nodded, picking up the scarf before starting to haul her partner towards the open fire. Though her body screamed from sheer exhaustion, her mind refused to let herself rest, adrenaline pumping through her body as she lay him down next to the fire, anxiously glancing over towards the Decidueye.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him move, a pained groan escaping his beak. "Hackett!"
"Fucking hell… cough…"
The Braixen knelt down and hugged her partner tight, unsure of whether she should laugh or cry. "Y-You gave me a fucking heart attack! I'm making that two dinners!"
"...Can't… Breathe… Tori...!"
Victoria pulled back immediately, momentarily terrified that she may have hurt him. Though she put up her hands up in a show of apology, she couldn't help but allow a relieved smile to spread across her face. "S-Sorry!"
"...Braixen, come here."
Victoria turned around, hearing the Glaceon call out to her. Hurrying over towards her, she watched as her saviour pulled out an aspear berry and what appeared to be a handful of herbs from a storage cabinet in the floor, holding it gingerly between her teeth as she brought it over towards the kitchen table.
"You… You need help with that…?"
The Glaceon nodded, placing the berry on a chopping board as she handed over the herbs to her, gesturing towards a crudely made mortar and pestle on one of the shelves. "Grind these."
Victoria immediately obliged, gathering the necessary tools and setting about with her task. The Glaceon, satisfied that Victoria was doing her part correctly, moved back towards her berry, smashing the fruit with her tail without warning nor hesitation, instantly pulverising it into a liquified pulp with a single strike. The loud noise that it caused made the Braixen jump in startled surprise.
"What the hell was that!?"
The Glaceon ignored her question, instead gesturing for the grinding tools in Victoria's hands. "Give that to me."
Scraping the mashed berry into the mortar, the Glaceon took the pestle from Victoria's hands, mixing up the ingredients with astonishing speed. Victoria, who had been standing next to her and staring at the scene with startled curiosity, quickly picked up the mortar and a spoon the moment the Glaceon asked for her to do so, clutching it tightly as she ran back towards the thawing Decidueye.
"Hackett! Eat this!"
The Decidueye groaned. "Did you make it?"
"I helped a bit, yeah."
"No thanks, then."
The Froslass moved in, leaning down next to the stubborn Decidueye as she tried her hand at getting him to start cooperating. "Hackett, was it? Please, do eat up."
The Decidueye pushed the spoon away with a flick of his wing. "I'll pass."
"God, Hackett! Come on, open your mouth!"
"I'm fine, Tori. I just need-"
The Glaceon, having sat down next to Tori, took the spoon from the Braixen's hand and nudged it towards him. "Eat."
"Look, miss, I don't even know who you are-"
"Eat."
To the amazement of Victoria, she watched as Hackett, after letting out a deep sigh, began to reluctantly eat the mashed fruit.
"Fucking hell, this tastes like shit-"
"Eat!"
Watching the curious scene unfolding before her eyes, Victoria finally realized that it was only now that she could get a proper look at their mysterious saviour. But as she watched the Glaceon feed her partner, she found herself staring straight at her, intrigued and a little confused by the Pokémon before her.
For starters, she looked to be suspiciously young. Though she seemed to be above the age of consent, her appearance implied that she was barely just. It certainly didn't help that she was particularly small for a Glaceon. Not that Victoria had seen one before, but when she compared her to Maya's size, she seemed noticeably more petite, despite the both of them being Eevee evolutions. In fact, her slightly diminutive size and delicately youthful charm made her appear adorably dainty like a well-crafted porcelain doll; So much so that she looked completely out of place for the harsh and hazardous environment that she was living in. For a fleeting moment, Victoria wished that she could have a stuffed doll in the very image of the Glaceon before her.
Her voice certainly added to her endearing appearance, its soft-spoken, airy gentleness matching perfectly with her outer form. Yet, curiously enough, nothing about the way she acted or behaved seemed to match up with her cute appearances. Her actions appeared motivated by cold logic alone, and her face hinted towards no perceivable feelings that she may hold behind her emotionless face. Even the sharpness of her words made for a peculiar contrast to the Glaceon's soft-spoken voice.
Her relentless stare did not go unnoticed, for it was only a moment before the Froslass interrupted her with her motherly voice.
"...Don't worry, dear. My daughter may come off as a little cold at first, but she's really sweet once you get to know her."
"Oh, no, sorry, I didn't mean to…!" Realizing that she had been staring at the Glaceon for a little too long, she hurriedly turned around, shaking her head frantically from being caught red-handed as she tried to come up with an excuse.
"It's just that, I mean, she did go out of her way to bring us here, so…" She faced the Glaceon, sheepishly scratching cheek. "I… Err… I just wanted to say… Umm… Thanks for, you know, rescuing us…"
The Glaceon simply nodded in reply, her attention refusing to break from the Decidueye she was dutifully looking after. Seeing that her daughter was still reluctant to hold a conversation, the Froslass spoke up, offering to speak in her stead as the Glaceon slowly nursed the revived Hackett back to health.
"Dear, you're new here, aren't you?"
"…What?" The Froslass's unusual question took Victoria by surprise. While she appeared amiable enough, there was still a certain air about her that put her on edge.
But as the Froslass watched Victoria mentally put up her defences, she laughed, shaking her head with a reassuringly gentle smile. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Tori, was it? My name is Wisteria. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Err... Likewise."
"I've never seen the two of you before. It's quite easy to spot newcomers, you know."
Victoria clenched her jaw, trying to suppress her frustrations and anxiety. 'Shit! There goes my alibi… They know we're not from here…!'
"Oh, yeah, umm… We just got here today."
"Today? Oh my. Must have been quite the shock, wasn't it?"
"Eh? Oh, y-yeah."
Wisteria promptly got up, making her way over towards the kitchen table with graceful haste. "Wait there a moment, dear. I'll get you some nice hot tea."
"Thanks, but, I'm fine. You really don't have to-"
"Oh, hush now, dear! I do insist. Besides, it'll do your tattered nerves some good!"
Humming gently to herself as she got her kettle to a boil, Wisteria returned, having brewed a pot of aromatic tea, of which she poured Victoria a cupful of. Taking the warm beverage in her thawing hands, the Braixen thanked her for the drink, slowly sipping on it to warm up her insides.
"So then, dear. What brings you here?"
Victoria sputtered, trying not to spill her tea. "Sorry…?"
"Oh, please, sweetie. We all have one, there's no need to be shy about it."
"What?"
Wisteria sighed, as if her question should have been painfully obvious to her by now. "Crime, dear. I'm quite curious to know what you did to deserve being sent here."
Victoria opened her mouth, raking her brain to come up with a reasonable and believable response. But before she could, the Glaceon stepped in, having finished feeding the sour and bitter mush to the now recovering Decidueye.
"Mum, wait." She turned to face the Braixen, a stern gaze in her eyes. "You two… You're not criminals. Are you?"
Slowly sitting up, Hackett finally joined in on the conversation. "Yeah, we're not."
"Hackett!"
The Decidueye held up his wing to get his partner to quiet down, giving her a reassuring nod in response. "It's fine, Tori. I think we're in good hands."
He turned back towards the Glaceon. "How did you know?"
"I've been following you both for the past hour."
"Wait, that was you?"
Despite the surprise on Hackett's face, it was instead the Glaceon who drew Victoria's attention, having finally decided to show a modicum of emotion. "You... Noticed me?"
"Barely. Never managed to figure out who it was."
Victoria, having had no prior knowledge of the events being discussed, shot her partner a shocked look. "What? Wait… Hackett, what's going on?"
Gesturing for his partner to quiet down again, Hackett turned towards the Glaceon, his surprise turning into suspicion. "Why? Why stalk us?"
The Glaceon replied matter-of-factly. "We have to be cautious around newcomers. Never know if they're friend or foe."
Hackett nodded upon hearing her explanation, lowering his guard. "Yeah, alright. Makes sense to me."
Having let the younger Pokémon work out their confusions, Wisteria spoke up, deciding bring the conversation back on topic. "So then, dears. If you two aren't criminals, what brings you all the way up here? It's certainly no place for a picnic, I must say."
Hackett gave his partner a quick glance, the both of them nodding in silent agreement. Though they exchanged no words between themselves, his intentions were crystal clear to his partner. Seeing that she had no objections, Hackett spoke. "We're looking for someone. We've been told that she should be somewhere around here.
Victoria chimed in, hurriedly pulling out their data tablet before loading up a blurry black-and-white photograph. "Maybe you can help us?"
The Froslass took the device from her hands, inspecting it intently. For a few moments, the Froslass stared at the picture, her eyesight having already deteriorated from years of hardship in the savage wasteland. But as she came to a slow realization, her expression darkened, a look of rare shock adorning her face.
Slowly turning towards the Glaceon, she grimly handed the tablet to her. "Dear, I think this is for you."
The Glaceon took the device from the Froslass, inspecting the image that was showing on its dimly lit screen. Though the image was of poor quality, its contents were still easily recognisable. Square in the middle of it was an Umbreon, smiling pridefully as a young Eevee clung tightly to his side.
The two visitors watched as the Glaceon stared almost longingly at the photograph, her unexpected display of emotion catching the both of them by surprise. Feeling it appropriate, Hackett cleared his throat, raising the one question that he had been wanting to ask the most.
"Do you know of an Eevee named Kiteki Schwarz?"
The Glaceon slowly looked up, the data tablet trembling in her paw. Stunned, she gazed back at the pair with her mouth agape, struggling to find the right words to say as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"That… That's me."
. . . . . . . . . .
22:30, June 2, Unified Year 4734 - District Twelve, North face of Mt. Coronet, Wisteria's den
. . . . .
"Wait, that… I… Let me get this straight."
Kiteki frowned, shaking her head as she let out a weary sigh. It had only been an hour since her identity had been revealed to the two newcomers, but the torrent of information that they had shared with her made her head hurt. Of course, the sheer amount of information she was receiving wasn't really all that surprising, given that a whole three years had passed since she last had contact with the civilized world.
'Where do I even begin...?'
Frankly, she could have started with any one of her numerous questions, for all of them seemed to warrant an explanation. But one in particular had been nagging at the back of her mind, and she desperately needed answers quick.
She cleared her throat. "You're the Bureau…?"
Her question was answered by Victoria who let out a chuckle in reply, having found the Glaceon's curious surprise to be genuinely humorous.
"The one and only. Err, rather, like, we're part of it? We're Operatives. You know, field agents. Except I'm also a Researcher." Victoria gestured towards Hackett, who was quietly eating a bowl of soup. "He's just an Operative."
Victoria's response did little to answer Kiteki's question, her look of confusion and disbelief still painfully apparent on her face. "But… I thought they didn't exist."
"Oh, yeah, we get that a lot." Victoria replied, talking with mouthfuls of hot soup as she waved her spoon around. "No, we're real. Or, uhh, at least, as real as we can be. I'd prove it with my ID card but…"
Hackett cut her off, finishing the sentence for her. "We can't bring them with us when we go on missions. Security reasons."
Kiteki needed no introduction to know what the Bureau is. Nor, for that matter, did anybody else who resided within the Federation. The Federal Bureau of Research and Intelligence, more commonly referred to simply as 'the Bureau', is rumoured to be the Federation's main source of intelligence and weapons development. Once an international espionage agency, it was absorbed into the Federation's government after all other backing nations had withdrawn from the organization, though whether or not this is actually true is anyone's guess. The Bureau was infamous for its secrecy; the only obvious sign of its existence being that the government kept private records of how much funding it was giving the organization. So clandestine in nature was the Bureau that some conspiracy theorists had even speculated that the organization was entirely non-existent, believing it to be a guise for corrupt politicians and officials to pocket the money instead. It didn't help that even the whereabouts of its main headquarters was unknown to the public, let alone the things that they did.
It came as no small shock to Kiteki to get proper confirmation that the Bureau was a legitimate entity, even more so to know that an organization of such calibre would come looking for her. For as long as she had known about them, she had always imagined them to be the elite of elites; a dark and secretive group of highly trained professional assassins and mad scientists. Thus, to see these two Bureau agents bickering with each other like children utterly shattered any and all preconceptions and expectations she had of the organization.
"Tori, can you please stop talking with your mouth full? It's rude and it's disgusting."
Victoria grew openly defensive upon Hackett's scolding, clutching the bowl of soup tightly as she wagged her spoon in his face aggressively.
"Hey, shut up, okay? I haven't had food this good since, like, forever ago, and I've got no idea when I'll have it again!" She finished off her soup ravenously as if it were at risk of being stolen by someone else, before quickly thrusting the empty bowl at the bewildered Glaceon. "Can I have some more? Please tell me you have more!"
"Umm..."
Kiteki found herself unable to do anything but oblige to Victoria's request, startled by the Braixen's ravenous appetite. Thinking it best for their recovery, she had earlier returned back into the howling outdoors to retrieve her snow-encrusted bag, using the root vegetables and frozen fruits that she had managed to harvest to recreate her late father's soup, albeit with a few omissions and substitute ingredients as compared to his original recipe. She hadn't paid much attention to its taste, thinking it more important for her guests to simply get something warm down their systems. The last thing she was expecting was for the two of them to relish her meal to such a degree.
Though, one of them was certainly much better at restraining his appetite than the other. Clutching his spoon tightly, Hackett barked at his partner. "Tori!"
"What!? Don't tell me you don't like this!"
"I never said that, I'm just saying that-"
Victoria grinned with a cheeky smugness. "Aha! So you do like it! You don't have to be so shy about it, Hackett~."
"That's beside the point!" Opening his beak to retaliate, Hackett instead exhaled slowly with a weary, exasperated sigh. "Urgh… Look, sorry Kiteki. She's a real handful."
"Hey!"
Kiteki glanced at the both of them before nodding slowly in reply. "That's… Umm… That's alright."
Despite the unusual display before her, Kiteki had to admit that none of what she was seeing really interested her. Rather, she was far more occupied with the thoughts in her head, her mind reeling as it raced to comprehend the events of the past hour. Glancing up at the Decidueye, she hailed his attention, desperate to ask another question.
"Hackett, was it?"
"That's right."
"You're said that my dad worked for you?"
Hackett pushed the Braixen aside, setting his empty bowl down next to him. "Not for me. For the Bureau. He retired nineteen years ago; long before I was ever part of it."
"I… I don't understand… He was just some weird, failed inventor, wasn't he?"
The Decidueye shook his head. "Your father was a legend. He's the only Cerberus agent ever to reach the highest rank as both an Operative and as a Researcher. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have come looking for you."
Kiteki frowned, still struggling to simply accept this information. "But… He never told me about any of this before."
"Yeah… That's just policy." Victoria chimed in, slumping down on the couch as she patted her stomach with a satisfied grin. "Like, we can't tell anyone outside of the Bureau about where we work, even after retirement. Not even to friends or family, which blows, but it's for security, I guess."
Despite the explanation, Kiteki's frown refused to loosen. Though the pride she felt from knowing that her late father was such an esteemed member of an elite group was undeniable, there was still a part of her that that found the fact that he had never told her about it before to be upsetting, even if he had sworn an oath not to.
"So, you got any more questions or what?" Victoria asked, seeing that the Glaceon was brooding to herself.
Kiteki paused for a moment before nodding in reply. "This place… This is the Empire?"
"Yup. Err, at least part of it. Your pod flew you straight out of Federation territory and into Imperial airspace."
The Glaceon frowned yet again, putting her paw up to her forehead as she tried to recall her rusty knowledge on the local geography.
Known throughout early Pokémon civilization as the Kingdom of Nihoh; Land of the Rising Sun, the kingdom had separated into three separate countries approximately seven hundred years ago, the three occupying the fallen Kingdom's several regions that made their home in the slender chain of islands.
The most predominant of the three was the Central Federation. Situated on the former kingdom's largest landmass and sandwiched between two other nations, the Federation held jurisdiction on a federal level over a large number of regions that, at first glance, made it appear substantially more powerful than its neighbours, though a quick look through its colourful history would prove otherwise. Its capital city, Capitol Valley, carries its uniquely uninspired name as a result of the Federation's founding fathers being unable to agree on one during the nation's birth. A sprawling seaside metropolis, it remains to this day the largest and most populated city of not just the Johto region, but of the entire eastern hemisphere.
The names of these regions were unique in the fact that very few of them were actually named by Pokémon. Unlike the cities that were erected and named by early Pokémon civilizations, the names of several regions originated from a time that predated even the earliest records of communal Pokémon societies. For centuries, it was thought that these names were given to us by gods from long ago, but the discovery of the Old World fifty years ago shed new light on their actual source of origin. Notable examples within the Federation included the region of Kanto, the Federation's centre-most region located just east of Johto, as well as the Deserts of Orre just north of Kanto. Even the region of Fiore, home to the Federation's frontier towns at its northern-most border, had its name come from the language of the Old World, despite having been uninhabited until only a century and a half ago.
This was the case for the other two nations that neighboured the Federation. The Northern Royal Monarchy, in particular, was especially enthusiastic about the newfound discovery of the Old World, going so far as to rename itself as the Sinnohnian Empire following their annexation of Almia, a neighbouring autonomous region on its southwestern border, just four years after the discovery of the Old World. A nation occupying the northern-most landmass located northeast of the Federation's border, the Empire was founded by what remained of the ruling party from the Kingdom of Nihoh. It was widely assumed that they had made the name change in an effort to display their ancestral heritage and historical power, though why they had specifically chosen to use the language of the Old World has remained a mystery to this date.
The recently annexed region of Almia was one of several regions that once belonged under the flag of the Confederation, the third nation birthed from the fall of the Kingdom of Nihoh. Originally consisting of several semi-autonomous regions, most notably the island region of Hoenn to the west of the Federation, its central government dissolved two hundred years ago, thus removing the Confederation from the world map. The regions that used to make up its territory, such as the Sevii Isles located south of Kanto, went on to become fully independent, self-governing nations of their own. This had remained the case until the Empire's annexation of Almia, which triggered a renewed, albeit shaky alliance between the single-region nations, creating what is now known as the Greater Coalition.
Though she was no geographer, Kiteki's understanding of her regional geography was sound, having no particular areas in which her knowledge could be said to be lacking. Which was why something about her situation refused to sit well with her at all.
"But I thought nobody lived in northern Sinnoh."
Hackett cut in before Victoria could reply, his voice firm. "Yes, that's technically true. We can't tell you why there're Pokémon here because that's classified information."
Wisteria, who had been listening quietly as she sipped on a cup of tea this whole time, suddenly interrupted the conversation. "Hold on, dear. Forgive me for asking, but doesn't everyone know that the Empire sends convicted criminals to its north?"
Victoria shook her head. "Nope, at least not outside of the Empire that is."
Kiteki, finding something new to be unsatisfactory, turned to Wisteria with a grim look. "Mum, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me that I was in the Empire...?"
"I'm sorry, dear." Wisteria apologetically embraced the Glaceon in her arms. "I simply assumed that you already knew."
The Glaceon sighed, choosing to let it slide as she raised another question to her feathered guest. "And what, wait, there was a war?"
The Decidueye nodded solemnly. "Technically, there still is. The border between the Federation and the Empire is still closed. That's part of the reason why it took so long to find you."
Kiteki was well aware of the open hostility that the Empire often showed with regards to diplomatic interactions with the Federation and the Coalition. Despite having been a single-region nation for much of its history, the Empire was well known for their impressive displays of military power and might; so much so that it had always been a threat and a concern to the Federation's populace for as long as it had existed.
Though, on hind-sight, the Empire's strength really came as no surprise to anyone. It would be woefully incorrect to say that the Monarchy, and thus the Empire, was ever a weak, or even a small nation. After all, its main territory, the region of Sinnoh, was twice as large as the regions of Kanto and Johto combined. Sinnoh, by itself, was more than enough to turn any nation that occupied it into a world power.
So, if it was true that there had been a full scale war between the Federation and the Empire, it was understandable that the Bureau would be drowning with work from all the events that had happened so far. But to Kiteki, that wasn't enough to completely alleviate the frustrations that she was holding on to.
"But… Three years?"
At the last thought, Kiteki winced, realizing that Pokémon were capable of being incredibly selfish and demanding when being rescued from a helpless situation. Fortunately for her, the Decidueye before her appeared to understand her grievances, nodding his head in an almost knowing manner.
"We don't like it any more than you do, trust me." He got up, picking up his and his partner's bowls, before bringing them to the kitchen table. "I'm sure you've got more you want to ask, but there's only so much we can tell you without getting clearance from Command. I'd suggest you ask them directly after we bring you to headquarters."
Kiteki nodded. The two of them had made it clear that they were here only to find her and bring her back; it made sense that they wouldn't be able to answer every single question that she had. If she wanted to find answers, she'd have to find them from those who could provide them.
Which meant that, despite having given up hope on it long ago, it was finally time for her to leave this frozen prison.
"When are we leaving?" she asked.
Victoria glanced at the clock on the data tablet. "If command wasn't lying, then… Thirteen hours from now? We still have, like, half a day left, so we'll be leaving tomorrow. Right, Hackett?"
"That's right. Might take a bit longer if this storm doesn't die down." Hackett turned to Wisteria, giving her a thankful nod. "Thanks for letting us stay here for the night."
Wisteria nodded, a warm smile on her aging face. "It's… It's no problem, dear. I couldn't possibly refuse on a night like this."
Kiteki glanced towards the Froslass, feeling a hint of forlorn resignation in her voice. But before she could even bring it up, she was interrupted by Victoria, the Braixen leaping up with frantic energy.
"Oh, yeah, that's right! Kiteki, do you still have that key?"
Kiteki looked at her, puzzled. "Key? What key?"
Hackett cursed under his breath, realizing that he had foolishly overlooked the second mission objective. "Shit… Forgot about that. Should look like some sort of pendant."
"Pendant…? Oh."
Kiteki hastily got up, running into what appeared to be her room in the far end of the cave. It didn't take long before she returned with a silvery locket around her neck. Hackett eyed the pendant intently, before holding his wing out. "Kiteki, do you mind if I…?"
Giving it a careful look as she tenderly held it within her paws, Kiteki carefully passed it to the Decidueye. "Sure… Dad gave this to me the night we got attacked… I'm surprised you knew about it."
The Decidueye brought the pendant up to his eye, inspecting the circular piece of jewellery. Detailed and excruciatingly intricate, its polished surface was slightly worn but otherwise in a startlingly pristine condition. Opening it up, he noticed a distinct lack of a photograph, quite unlike what Intel had informed him. "…Wasn't there supposed to be a picture in here?"
Kiteki gloomily turned away, her ears drooping as she regretfully stared down at the floor. "...Don't ask."
Hackett nodded, closing the locket. "Mind if we hold onto it?"
"Sure… If you promise to return it. What do you need it for?"
Having gotten the Glaceon's permission, Hackett wrapped the chain around his wing, holding onto the locket firmly. "Command says it's just as important we bring that back as it is finding you."
"Operator to Alpha team, Operator to Alpha team!"
As if on cue, Hackett's comms device crackled back to life with all the subtlety of a freight train, causing him to flinch before cursing under his breath as he adjusted his earpiece. Yet, despite how he considered their Operator's slightly hysterical attitude to be sorely unnecessary, it was undeniably reassuring for him to hear a familiar voice. Taking the data tablet, he set up his communication line so that the device would project their conversation via its built in speakers.
"Alpha team, roger. Welcome back, Maya."
"Hackett?! Oh, dear God, you're alive! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"We're safe, Maya. We've found shelter-"
Victoria butted in, cutting Hackett off mid-sentence to answer the question on his behalf, much to the Decidueye's annoyance. "Maya, relax girl~! He's fine! Though, whoever replaced you was a total asshole. You should kick his ass for me, you know? Like, use your psychic powers or something?"
Hackett sighed as the sound of Maya's relieved laughter echoed from the tablet's speakers. "Maya, ignore her, please. Do you have any updates on when our ride's coming?"
"Command has been able to expedite your evacuation, but I'm afraid not by much. Current conditions are far too dangerous for the Ravenhawk, but we're expecting it to clear up a few hours earlier than expected. Your new E.T.A for evacuation is at oh-eight hundred, unless conditions make evacuation difficult.
Hackett nodded approvingly. Though he wasn't in any real danger any longer, it was still good to hear that he would be leaving this place sooner than he had been expecting. "That's fine, Maya. We'll be expecting arrival for oh-eight hundred tomorrow."
"Mhmm~. We have your last known location recorded so we'll be sending your evac there, unless you have another location in mind."
"Thanks, Maya, but we don't need evac anymore. We need extraction."
There was an audible gasp from the speakers, its excitement almost palpable. "Extraction? Are you suggesting…?"
Victoria grinned, joining in on Maya's excitement. "He-he-he! That's right, girl! We got her, we totally got her!"
"Victoria, please. You're obnoxiously loud. Maya, we'll send you our updated coordinates now. We're not too far from our last updated location, but we'd rather not make the trek back to that spot."
A dignified applause was heard from the other end of the transmission, most likely having come from the members of Command who were listening in to their transmission. "Oooh, brilliant! That's wonderful! I'll relay the information to the rest of Command, congratulations to the both of you!"
Hackett grinned. Though their mission had yet to end per se, it was clear to see by this point that their objectives had been successfully met. And though it was unlike him to celebrate pre-emptively, even he couldn't help but let loose a smile in relief.
"Thanks, Maya. We'll see you when we get back. Alpha team, out."
Terminating their connection with headquarters, Hackett stowed the data tablet, turning his attention back towards their mission objective. "That's that, then. Kiteki, we're leaving tomorrow morning. I'm not sure how much stuff you have with you, but I'd pack sooner rather than later."
Kiteki nodded before gesturing towards the Froslass. "Er… Yeah. I'm fine but mum might take a while. Just give her some time to pack and we'll be good to go."
Victoria, who was relishing in the celebratory mood from the last transmission, suddenly stopped as she looked over towards Kiteki. "Mum…? You mean Wisteria? Oh, umm…"
Kiteki tilted her head. "Is there a problem?"
"Well, umm… You see, err…"
Hackett, with the intent to take over the conversation, put his wing on the struggling Braixen's shoulder, squeezing it with a reassuring gentleness that Victoria found unfamiliar. "Our orders were to bring you and you alone, dead or alive. We aren't obligated to bring anyone else with us."
Kiteki stopped, staring at him for a moment with unblinking eyes before shaking her head.
"I… I'm sorry, what…?"
All that Victoria could do was to mentally kick herself, having just realized that they had failed to mention the fact that Wisteria wouldn't be coming. Given the knowing look the Froslass had given them, she had assumed the Glaceon was just as aware of this fact; an assumption that she was only now realizing to be wrong.
Kiteki shook her head, becoming increasingly distraught at the revelation as she anxiously glanced around the room. "No… I… I won't accept that."
Victoria gave Hackett an uneasy glance before beginning to speak, struggling to come up with an adequate response. "Kiteki, I understand how you feel, but…"
Seeing his partner struggle, Hackett spoke in her stead. "This place is a penal colony. A prison. We're here for a search and rescue mission, not a prison break."
Kiteki simply shook her head, replying with a restrained firmness. "I won't accept that."
"We can't go about freeing criminals without proper justification."
"Then make one. I won't accept this."
"Kiteki, dear."
Hearing Wisteria's reassuring voice, the Glaceon spun around, furious and desperate for support. "Mum, I won't accept this!"
But as Wisteria opened her mouth to speak, she stopped, staring at the Glaceon before her. Ever since Kiteki had evolved all those years ago, her personality had seemingly underwent a dramatic change, a metamorphosis that became even more pronounced after having managed to subdue Ivan following a series of long and arduous battles. Since then, the roles that the two provided for each other had seemingly switched, with Kiteki acting more like a guardian than ever before.
"Kiteki, sweetie… Listen to me, dear, and listen carefully."
But, despite everything, she was still her daughter. Despite the changes that she had gone through, despite everything that had happened between them, she was still her beloved child. She had come to accept her daughter's stoic, restrained and unemotional attitude to simply be her new identity, having all but assumed that she would never see her old ways again. But as she looked into the anxiety-riddled anger and panic on her daughter's face, she was reminded of the vulnerable and helpless Eevee that she saw when she first met her, an overwhelmingly motherly desire to protect her child enveloping her.
Which was why it was so hard for her to say what she had to say.
"…You have to go."
Taken aback by her mother's unexpected words, Kiteki, shocked, froze in place. "…What?"
"You have to go, dear." She spoke with stern clarity, as if scolding a child. "You don't belong here."
"Mum, what are you saying? You're the one who brought me here in the first place!"
Wisteria nodded, biting her lip as she did so. "I know, sweetie. And now I want you out."
Kiteki cried out, dumbfounded and desperate to get Wisteria to reconsider. "Mum, no, you're not making any sense! I'm not leaving without you!"
But instead, all she was greeted with was the Froslass's heavy sigh. Bringing her hand up to demand silence, Wisteria glared at the Glaceon, a frustrated look on her face that Kiteki had never seen before.
"Enough! It's time you left the nest, dear. And I'm not taking no for an answer."
Kiteki paused, taking a moment to survey those around her as she tried to find any semblance of support. But when she saw Victoria turn away from the heated conversation with an apologetic frown on her face, she understood, quite reluctantly, that she was alone in her decision. Even Hackett couldn't help but look away as his eyes met hers, a slight pang of guilt welling up within him from the thought of having to pry her away from what was supposedly her only family.
"…Fine. If you're not going, then neither am I."
Feeling betrayed, she flashed Wisteria a hurtful look before slowly trudging back to her room, hanging her head in dismay. Victoria, seeing the Glaceon walk away with an air of lonely despair, brought her hand up in an reflex attempt to reach out to her, feeling at least partially responsible for the emotional display before her. But before she could speak up, she stopped, the familiar feeling of Hackett's wing on her shoulder.
"But…!"
Hackett looked down at her and shook his head, rendering the Braixen silent once again. The two watched as the Glaceon retreated to her room, pausing momentarily before closing the wooden door behind her with a hollow, lonely thud.
Not a moment after the door had closed did Wisteria collapse onto the couch, her upright posture crumbling before the pair's eyes as she let out an exhausted sigh. With a concerned cry, Victoria rushed over to the elderly Pokémon's side, but was quickly put at ease as the Froslass gestured to her them that she was fine.
"I'm terribly sorry about that. Please, do try to understand. It's not easy for her to simply get up and go like that."
Victoria shook her head. "No… I… We're sorry too."
She paused for a moment after having tried consoling the poor Froslass, fully expecting Hackett to join her with his own words of condolences. Realizing that her patience was to be rewarded only with silence, she turned around with the intent to berate her partner, but stopped as soon as she had noticed that he was carefully studying the locket that Kiteki had handed to them earlier, a furrowed frown on his face that could have only come from being deep in thought. Closing the locket with a satisfyingly pronounced click, he calling out to Wisteria.
"Pardon me for asking, but what exactly is your relation with her?"
"Hmm? What do you mean, dear?"
"We've got records on who her biological mother is… You're not her."
Wisteria sighed, having half expected this question to come up sooner or later. "Ah, well, I do suppose you're right. But as far as Kiteki or I am concerned, we became family the day I took her in; she as my daughter and I as her mother." She stopped, taking a forlorn glance at her daughter's shut door. "Or, at least… I try to be."
Listening intently to her explanation, Victoria looked up at her sympathetically. "Then, I mean, if you two are so close, aren't you upset that we're taking her away?"
Wisteria nodded solemnly. "It breaks my heart, dear… Us Froslass can be… Quite possessive." She paused, taking a moment to pick herself off the couch in an effort to straighten out her posture. "But it's not right. I shan't be able to live with myself if I were to take away her life as well."
Hackett rubbed the bottom of his beak, picking at each word with clinical detail as he pondered to himself. "There's something I don't understand though."
Wisteria smiled wearily. "You're wondering why I took her in, aren't you dear?"
The Decidueye nodded, not at all surprised that she had managed to figure out his question. "I don't imagine it being easy living here with an extra mouth to feed… And, for that matter, you don't seem dumb enough to make mistakes like this. So… Why?"
His question was answered by a lengthy silence as the Froslass closed her eyes and began brooding to herself, a dark and cold aura surrounding her that was starkly different to her nature. When she finally opened her eyes, her gaze was heavy, unable to look up at the two of them from the weight of her regret.
"The only reason she's here is because of my own foolish selfishness." She forced out a smile, which only served to make her appear gloomier than before. "You see, when I first met her, I told her that she reminded me of my very own daughter… What I didn't tell her was that she died by my own two hands."
Hackett looked at her, his brow raising in curious surprise. "You…?"
"That's right, dear. I killed my own daughter, murdered… No, slaughtered her in cold blood. My husband, too." Wisteria continued, clasping her hands together in front of her as she did so. "When I first saw the dear, I thought that I could atone for my actions by taking care of her. My intentions were pure, I assure you. But… I can't bring myself to say that my desire to keep her with me is just as clean."
Hackett stared at her, an incredulous tint in his eyes. It seemed so improbable, so inconceivable that the Froslass before him was in any way dangerous, let alone capable of committing such a heinous act of violence. Even Victoria appeared to be stunned by the newfound revelation, her jaw hanging open in uninhibited shock and disbelief. But as he let the thoughts in his head process and mature for just a little longer, he came to realize that her words weren't as outlandish as he had first perceived. 'After all, Intel did say that everyone here was a criminal of some sort. I should have known that Wisteria would be no exception… Even if she doesn't seem like one.'
"Though I deign to say this, I'm glad that the two of you are here. Kiteki deserves better than to be chained to my side for the rest of eternity, but I'm not strong enough to set her free." She slowly got up, floated over towards Hackett's side and gently held the tip of his wing, squeezing it so that he would grip the locket in his grasp a little tighter. "Please… Take her back with you. She may resist, but she'll soon understand that it's for the best. She's a smart little girl, after all."
It was only now, with Wisteria's hands wrapped around his wing that Hackett noticed just how much she was shaking. He hadn't considered it before, but it was easy to realize now just how much the Glaceon meant to her; how hard it would be to her for the two of them to be parted. He gave Wisteria a reassuring nod, to which the Froslass smiled wearily in reply, letting out an exhausted sigh as she finally allowed herself to relax.
"I'm sure that the reason she's so unwilling to leave is in no small part because of me. If you will excuse me, I shall go have a word with her… See if I can ease her mind just the slightest bit."
The two watched as Wisteria bid them farewell before the Froslass slowly made her way back towards her daughter's room. Placing her hand on the door, she stopped, turning around one last time before she retreated for the night.
"Do try to get some rest. There's a long day in store for us tomorrow, both for you and for I."
And with that, she quietly slipped away, leaving the two with only the sounds of the open fireplace.
. . . . . . . . . .
07:00, June 3, Unified Year 4734 - Sector Twelve, North face of Mt. Coronet, Wisteria's den
. . . . .
The atmosphere in Wisteria's home was oppressively heavy the following morning; something Victoria had picked up on the moment she had opened her eyes. The last to wake up among the four Pokémon, she sat, rising up from the couch, originally intending to wake the rest of the group up, but quickly decided against it after finding herself last to wake, feeling that doing so, even as a joke, would be utterly inappropriate given the general attitude of the room.
Barely a word was spoken as the four of them sat down to eat breakfast, the Glaceon in particular exuding a gloomy air around her as she silently picked at her food, refusing to eat anything that was put on her plate. As a matter of fact, it was difficult for everyone to get some food down during breakfast, despite the undeniably delicious meal that Wisteria had laid for them.
"Kiteki, sweetie. Please try to eat something. I even made your favourite, just for you."
"Thanks, mum… But… I'm not hungry."
Unable to bear the gloomy morning atmosphere any longer, Victoria quietly nudged her partner's side, trying fruitlessly to lighten the mood once she had gotten his attention.
"So… Do you think she managed to convince her?"
"Tori, shut up."
"But I mean, she's packed her bags and everything, so maybe she's okay with it now?"
"Tori, shut up."
Their conversation was short lived, cut short as Hackett's comms device buzzed into life, an impatient tenor coming through the new transmission.
"Alpha team, this is Ravenhawk oh-four. Coming in hot"
"Understood, Number Four. We'll see you at the extraction point."
Hackett stood up from his seat, putting his fork down next to his half-eaten plate before glancing around the table. His gaze was met with those of three different Pokémon, the eyes that stared back at him all portraying a slew of different emotions. Yet, despite so, it was easy to see that there was one thing in common between all four of them.
They knew what was about to come.
"…It's time."
Wisteria and Victoria both nodded, getting up from the table as they made their way outside. Even Kiteki, who had been silent all morning, quietly got up, reluctantly putting on her rucksack before trudging to the front door.
But as she made to set out into the open, she stopped. Her paw hanging over the entrance, she turned around to look back into the home that she had known for the past three years, a troubled look on her face. It wasn't that she had left something behind or even forgotten to pack something; she had triple checked to make sure she had everything on her possession. And yet, her eyes wandered about, as if looking for something that only her intuition knew she had forgotten to take.
The dusty and blackened fireplace at the back of the cave.
The fantastic crystalline ceiling that shone like the Orre sun.
The worn and creaky furniture that she and Wisteria had built together.
No, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. And yet it all felt emptier than before, a little lonelier than she last remembered it to be. Though it was still right before her eyes, she could already feel a longing to be back inside what she had known to be her home.
"Kiteki, you okay?"
Hearing Victoria call out to her, she turned around, nodding slowly as if unsure of her own answer. "…Yeah."
Accompanied by the Braixen, the two set out into the open fields of snow, making their way towards Hackett, who was standing out in the open sunlight with their data tablet in-hand.
The snowstorm that had caused the two agents so much grief just the previous day was nowhere to be seen, the skies having cleared up, the blessed sun shining down upon them like it had when the two of them had first arrived at the District. The dramatic change in weather stunned Victoria as much as it amazed her, who found it astonishing that such a drastic change could happen so quickly. Though the memories of what had happened the previous night was still fresh in her mind, the sureness of the sunlight on her fur was enough to make her question whether it had really happened at all.
Taking Kiteki's bag from her, she hopped over towards the Decidueye, taking a quick glance around her surroundings as she did so.
"...They coming?"
Her question was answered as an unusual and foreign sound began to ring from beyond the distant horizon. Though faint, it was enough to make Hackett grin as soon as he had picked up on it. "Yeah. Right on time, too."
A high pitched rumble, faint at first, quickly approached them, its sound getting louder with each passing second. Kiteki and Wisteria glanced about, trying to find its source from between the wailing echoes made by the multitude of valleys and peaks that surrounded them, but it wasn't until a gleam of reflected sunlight caught their eye that they realized what it was.
Rising from behind a distant mountain ridge, a metallic craft gleamed as it made a beeline straight for the group, flying low and fast as its hull barely skimmed across the snow. Stubby yet sleek, as if designed for an era that was beyond theirs, its four engines, which were mounted on outboard pylons on both sides of the craft, glowed a menacing orange as it came screeching towards them at tremendous speed.
Kiteki and Wisteria both watched the approaching craft with eyes that were filled with equal parts curiosity and terror, but seeing just how unfazed the other two were by the unusual craft's rapid approach, ultimately chose to stand their ground.
Their eyes stayed glued onto the machine as it spun around, its thrusters screaming to stop the craft as its wings and landing gear slowly unfurled. Its thrusters rotating to point directly beneath it as it slowed down to a hover, the craft circled the four Pokémon as if it were surveying its prey, before finally landing on the ground with a muffled thud, kicking up a great flurry of snow as it did so. Hearing the engines die down, the two of them finally released their held breaths, breathless as their bodies tingled from the spectacular display.
Unfortunately for its pilot, the same couldn't be said for either Hackett nor Victoria, who found the showy display to be more than unnecessary.
"Number Four, I don't think you need me to tell you just how dangerous that manoeuvre was."
Hearing Hackett's scolding through their comms device, the pilot spoke up, coolly responding in defence of himself through the craft's external public address system. "And necessary, you mean. Only way we can stay undetected is by flying below their radar cover. We don't have any other choice, mate."
Not willing to wait for Hackett's reply, he opened the craft's door; a metal ramp extending down from the back to the frosty ground as the rear end of the fuselage split in two, revealing its dark and claustrophobic cabin.
"Welcome aboard the Ravenhawk."
Wasting no time at all, the two Operatives quickly ran into the craft, eager to get back home. Kiteki, on the other hand, remained planted to the ground, having not moved so much as a paw towards the awaiting vehicle.
Number Four called out, growing impatient from the lack of a ready signal from the ship's occupants. "We ready to go?"
"…Not yet."
His patience running out, the craft's pilot, a stocky looking Combusken wearing aviators so dark that they seemed impossible to see through, emerged from the cockpit, standing next to the pair as he looked out the open door to see what was causing the delay.
"Let's get moving, we don't have all day!"
His outburst was met with a frustrated smack to the back of his head by Victoria's stick. "Can you just shut the fuck up? I'm still pissed it took you half a day to get here!"
Hackett held Victoria's wrist, halting her from lashing out at their pilot again as he carefully watched the Froslass approach her daughter. "He's not wrong, though. We stay here for too long and we're as good as dead. We need to get going now."
Everything was all ready to go; what little the Glaceon had in her possession had already been loaded into the ship by Victoria herself, and all but one that needed extraction had boarded the craft.
All they needed now was for Kiteki to get on the ship.
Wisteria seemed to understand, though she herself had her own reasons for wanting to get her daughter to go with them. With a heavy sigh, she gently placed her hand on her daughter's back; an act that made Kiteki noticeably twitch.
"Kiteki, dear..."
The Glaceon turned around, looking up at her mother with an apprehensive look. "Mum, I… I can't do this."
"Yes, you can."
She shook her head at her mother's response. "No I can't…! Not without you…"
"Sweetie, as much as I would like to leave, my place is here." She gripped her daughter tightly, talking with a firm yet gentle tone. "There are… Things… Things that I've done that I have yet to atone for. Unspeakable things that are best kept unspoken. I haven't told them to you because I fear you may see me differently… But what I have done is inexcusable. We're all criminals up here, after all."
Her grip over the Glaceon loosened slightly as she felt her daughter begin to tremble. She knew that Kiteki had prided herself over being her protector for the past few years, and knew how much she wanted to conceal her weaknesses from her. But as she heard her daughter let out a quiet, lonely sob, Wisteria knew that it would only be a matter of time before she would join her in her open sorrow. A tear drop fell, crystallising as it hit the snowy surface below. But whether it had belonged to her daughter or to herself she could not tell.
"But you, you're not one. You aren't meant for this place, dear. You never were."
Kiteki replied shakily, sobbing for the first time in what seemed like years. "I… I can't accept this…"
"Sweetheart… I'll be alright. You've done so much for me… For everyone here. You've made it so much better for everyone living here." Wisteria laughed as she reminisced over their time together. "I mean, look at Ivan, dear. I can't even remember the last time he's given us trouble!"
Seeing Kiteki crack a small smile at her last words, Wisteria smiled back, lovingly combing her fingers through her daughter's fur. "You've made me the happiest Froslass in the world for the three years you've been here, dear. It's time you went on and did the same for everyone else."
Though Kiteki's reply was weak, her anxiety appeared to have faded ever so slightly. "I… I don't know if I can…"
"Yes you can, dear. I know you can." Wisteria leaned in, giving her a big, tight hug. "Don't you fret now, dear. I'll be right here."
Feeling her mother's embrace, Kiteki hugged her back tightly. Though it was such a simple gesture, nothing could feel as reassuring as her embrace. But, more than anything, what really put her at ease was that, as she held her in her paws, she could feel the calmness from her mother; a lack of fear or anxiety that she had assumed her mother was hiding. 'And if mum isn't worried, then what reason do I have to be?'
Kiteki looked up, a hint of determination beginning to flourish from amongst the apprehensive despair that filled her eyes. "...I'll come back to get you some day, mum. I promise."
Wisteria smiled, the same warm smile that she had always done. "Then I'll be waiting, dear."
Giving her daughter one last pat on her back, she guided her up onto the craft, ushering for her to do so with gentle haste. No sooner had she boarded the craft did the ship's engines roar back to life, its turbines spooling up as it glowed with formidable energy, kicking up the snow around it as it did so.
Kiteki, feeling the craft slowly rise up into the air, turned around and frantically cried out to the Froslass, the rear opening slowly closing up as she called out to her.
"I'll be back mum! I swear!"
Wisteria nodded, waving back vigorously as the craft turned around and roared away towards the horizon. It was not until it had finally disappeared behind the mountain ridge it had come from that she finally lowered her hand, a cold silence surrounding her like it had done so three years ago.
She let out a weary sigh, a tear rolling down her cheek as she turned her gaze up to the heavens above, an uncertain smile plastered on her face.
"…Acacia, sweetheart… Can you finally forgive me for what I've done…?"
It may have been just her imagination…
...But the winds seemed to giggle in reply.
