Previously:

Eve had taken the invalid Selene to Nucifera so that they could find and capture the reclaimed Kite. However, when they arrived, Selene, sensing that she was about to die, asked Eve to take her to Mt. Polymus instead, and then sent her on an errand so that Eve wouldn't see her die.

Once Eve figured out her trick, she returned to find Selene held hostage by an unknown group of assailants, led by a Sylveon. After Eve was coerced into surrendering, Selene, stressed, transformed into a Drowzee called 'Four'. Four then proceeded to use hypnosis to trick the assailants into taking her instead, telling Eve to forget about her and Selene.

Eve, of course, has no intention of doing so.


One week. That was how long it took her to find a Heart of the Sun.

Honestly, she thought it would take a lot less time than that. There were only so many evolutionary stones on Mt. Polymus, and a Heart of the Sun wasn't supposed to be very rare.

And yet, she had only seen this one in the last week of searching. Eve stared at it, hardly believing it to be true.

"Evolution… finally."

She hadn't even been looking for it when she found it. Three minutes ago, she had been taking a lunch break, snacking on some Oran Berries she had foraged. The next thing she knew, she tripped over a rock and faceplanted in a nearby stream.

Wet and bedraggled, she got up from the water, ready to collect her now-dirty Oran Berries. Said berries were still on the ground now as she viewed the rock she tripped over - the Heart of the Sun.

Eve gulped, her heart thumping a million times per minute. She had always known she would see one of these treasured stones one day, yet the sight still filled her with awe. Like all other Hearts of the Sun, each of its faces reflected sunlight into her eyes.

It was special, and it was hers.

Eve grabbed the Heart of the Sun.

Nothing was happening… right, because she had to hold it for an extended period. Since she was only ten or so, her body wasn't ready for evolution into an adult body, so the cells had to sort of 'synchronize' with the Heart of the Sun. If she had access to Evolutionary Light like during the bonding ritual, she could speed up the process tenfold - but since it wasn't Luneira, and since she wasn't near any sort of Evolution Spring that emitted the light, she didn't have that option.

That meant waiting for the period to pass like any normal Eevee. If she was lucky, the synchronization would take only an hour, but it could also take a couple of days.

Immediately, Eve tied the Heart of the Sun to her body, so that it wouldn't fall off even if she jostled it.

Now, all she had to do was wait until her body had finally absorbed enough energy from the Heart of the Sun to evolve. Then she would be able to… to…

Eve's head bowed. For the past week, she had focused on getting a Heart of the Sun, reasoning that a weak Eevee wouldn't be able to mount a proper attempt on Citadel Abaddon - but maybe, just maybe, an Espeon would.

So, when she evolved… what could she do?

… Well, first of all, find out who took Selene. Not even a full day had passed after Selene sacrificed herself for Eve before those goons were after her again. Eve had been afraid that once they found her, they would use Selene as leverage again (her death was something she refused to entertain - and hey, Four had said that Selene would be okay, so...).

Yet, though she spied the Sylveon and the Espeon and a few others from a vantage point, she never saw Selene with them. Four's trick wasn't working anymore, so the Sylveon must have shifted tactics.

Thankfully, Eve was somehow managing to stay one step ahead of them. She had followed them to their base on the second day of searching - or at least, she had tried.

Unfortunately, they had gone into Nucifera's walls and Eve didn't have a way in. She had the idea to levitate herself over the wall with psychic powers (once she evolved), but that would require some testing.

Though, once she was, how would she get into Citadel Abaddon? While she could enter Nucifera by levitating over the wall, that wouldn't work on the Citadel's wall - it was much more well-defended than the outer rim.

Eve didn't doubt that whoever was conspiring to kidnap her had their base in the Citadel. There were two sections to Nucifera - the Moat, filled with the poor and homeless, and the Citadel, where everyone with something to their name lived. You would have to be insane to set up a base in a place where everyone's eyes would be on people with wealth.

Eve grimaced. "What am I supposed to do?"

What was she supposed to do? Right now, she had nothing to her name - after several weeks of heavy use, her bag was beginning to fray, she couldn't show herself for fear of being brought back home or kidnapped by the goons, she had no money, available friends, allies - anything!

Eve glanced at the Heart of the Sun, whose (slightly painful) shimmer caught her glance. She would have at least one thing to her name - and maybe, if she could get into the Moat, she could get into Citadel Abaddon. Then, once there, she could find the Sylveon and tail them to their base where she could then rescue Selene.

Capturing Kite was now a lost cause. If his master was going to come to pick him up, he'd have done so already. There was no point in poking the Beedrill's nest that was the Temptress and her Shadow Workers.

Though… if Eve were to promise her help in rescuing Kite, then maybe she could get help from the Zorua, Kapun, and Kair. Now that she had gotten over the Life Harp's destruction (more or less), she'd gladly help Kite if it meant saving Selene.

Then, King Midos could read her mind, know that Selene was innocent, and everything would go back to the way it was supposed to be!

Holding on to that shred of hope, Eve started heading for the vantage point again. If she could get to see where the goons were, she'd be able to position herself so that when she finally evolved, she would alert them to her presence.

"There's always a chance," she whispered reassuringly to herself.

Having learned the path to the lookout by heart, she easily navigated to it. She methodically scanned over the area where she repeatedly saw the goons look.

"Looking for us?"

Eve froze, before turning around.

The Sylveon smiled. "We noticed you over here on day four. We saw you again on day six. We posted someone to watch over here - you didn't escape our eye."

Eve backpedaled, the Heart of the Sun swaying on her ruff. She'd been ambushed.

"Now-"

Before the Sylveon could say anything else, Eve had darted off. This was bad, this was bad. Not only was her head now throbbing worse than it ever had before, but she had also lost her cover. She had no idea what sort of trackers they had, nor did she have any confidence she would be able to outrun them.

But she had to. Had to. Had to, or else.

She couldn't.

Her eyes swam, and though she could hear the goons hot on her heels, she couldn't speed up to lose the tail. She was pushing herself to her limit, but even now, she was losing ground.

There was a dull ringing in her ears too, now, along with her head now feeling like it was going to explode.

Confusion. She had been hit with a Supersonic before, and she recognized the state. A loss of coordination, cognition, and overall prowess in everything that mattered. They had to be applying a continuous Supersonic in the area around her.

"No… no…" This couldn't be how it ended. This wasn't how a hero or heroine was supposed to fall, not by being hit with sound and made to function like an idiot.

Then, resembling an idiot even more now, she tripped and bumped into a Budew that crossed her path.

"Hey!"

Eve couldn't respond or apologize, or even flee for that matter. The sudden halting in her momentum slowed her down long enough for her to lose her sense of direction. The throbbing in her head pulsed… pulsed… pulsed…

… and then, her head full of cotton, fire, and sludge, she passed out.


… ugh… why did everything hurt… her head… her stomach… her heart…

… Eve cracked one of her eyes open.

She had woken up in a remarkably posh room - well, posh for her standards for the past month or so. It wasn't anything special compared to her room in the castle. The room had very little personality aside from poshness, though - there was a bookshelf in the corner and a desk where she could write on, but other than that, there wasn't much else to it.

Eve laid there for some time, as her strange illness sapped all of her energy. There wasn't any real rush, anyway. Considering what happened in the last few moments before she fainted, she must have been finally captured by the Sylveon and the other goons. Right now, she was almost certainly in the hands of the people who kidnapped Selene.

Which made finding Selene much easier, thankfully, but it also removed any real chance she had of getting an attempt to rescue her. Either way, in the state she was now, there was essentially no way she could do anything of note.

So, time to recover. Maybe, if she held out long enough for the Heart of the Sun…

… Eve glanced down at her ruff. As she had feared, they had taken the Heart away before she could evolve. There was no sense in deluding herself - they knew what a Heart of the Sun could do and decidedly didn't want her to evolve.

Despite herself, Eve couldn't help but hack out a few giggles. "I hate this…"

At what point did this stop getting worse? Even when she had almost succeeded in the task she initially ran away to do, Darkrai found a way to make her life a living nightmare. He had held the evolution, the freedom that she craved, right in front of her, and then snatched it away.

"Negotiation." That was the only thing that Eve had in her toolkit. She had a basic overview of negotiations, and if she could strike a deal with her kidnapper, she could maybe make her situation better. It was a bit of a long shot, but she had no choice.

She had rested enough now - though her limbs still ached and she still felt dizzy, she pushed herself to her paws and stretched. Hopefully, there was a chance she'd be able to see Selene before the kidnapper did what they wanted to her before she hopefully entered negotiations.

Steps were hard and balancing was difficult, but through sheer force of will, Eve could walk. She tottered over to the door and tried pushing it open.

It didn't budge - not because it was locked, but because Eve couldn't summon even a fraction of the force needed to turn the doorknob.

Eve whined wordlessly.

Then the door opened, and a Budew walked in. "You're awake!"

Eve stared at it. Her headache must be worse than she thought, because… "Who are you?" The Budew was familiar, though Eve couldn't quite place exactly where she had seen him before.

"My name is Thorn," the Budew bowed. "You bumped into me yesterday, remember?"

Eve blinked. "Vaguely. I was busy running away at that point." Hold on… "Are you with the kidnappers?"

Thorn tilted his head. "The kidnappers? You mean, those guys that were chasing you?"

"Yes, them. Are you with them?"

Thorn shook his head. "Nope. Mom doesn't like them very much, so she made them go away."

"... so I'm not in their secret base?"

Thorn shook his head. "Nope. You're in our house in Citadel Abaddon. Mom is letting you sleep in the guest room for now."

She wasn't in the hands of her kidnappers. Eve couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Can you tell me what happened?" she asked, feeling a little weak. "I'm… I'm still a little lost."

Thorn hummed. "Sure - oh, but Mom told me to get you some food when you woke up. She said that you were 'As thin as a Bellsprout'." Thorn frowned. "Though, you don't look like too much of a Bellsprout to me."

"Thanks."

Thorn's frown shifted into a smile. "Don't mention it, I'm happy to help! There's not much to do around here anyway." Thorn leaned down before offering Eve his back. "You can ride on me if you're too weak to go to the kitchen by yourself."

Eve gratefully accepted the offer, leaning on Thorn as he dragged her through the house's floors. The house, by the way, was bigger than what she thought it was going to be - there were at least five floors, each one sprawling into many rooms. The 'house' was more of a small mansion.

Interestingly, there were other people inside the mansion as well. A Vespiquen maid wearing a prim uniform curtsied to Thorn as he passed her in the hall, and a Hitmonlee and Tyrogue stood guard over outside the front door. One of the other people - a Chestnaught butler - offered to help prepare food for them.

"Thank you, Tynis, but I want to be in the kitchen for a change." With that, the Chesnaught went back to waiting for a command.

"I have to admit," Eve murmured, "that I've missed this sort of pampering." Having lived the life of being pampered and having lived the life of a wandering adventurer, Eve could state with absolute certainty that she preferred the former.

"I'm not too big a fan of it myself," Thorn admitted as he plopped her down on a stool next to a counter. "Being in these square caves is more annoying than you could imagine. The sunlight is so cold, and the area is stifling beyond belief."

Eve hummed. "Grass-type sensibilities?"

Thorn popped a few nearby Berries into a bowl and began mashing them. "I dunno. But I don't really like this, that's for sure. And we're going to stay here for a month or two, too."

Eve started to put pieces together. "This mansion… it's not your actual home is it?"

Thorn nodded. "It's just a place to stay in while Mom takes care of business." Thorn then broke out into a smile. "But we're not here for business! I have a sister!"

Eve smiled weakly. "Really?"

"Yeah! Mom told me that she was always busy in some other country, but now she's in Nucifera, in Citadel Abaddon! This will be the first time I get to meet her!"

"When will you go to meet her, then?" Eve couldn't help but ask. Hopefully, the butlers and maids here had enough sense of mind to obey a foreign Princess, but just in case…

"When big sis wakes up, of course."

Eve raised an eyebrow. "Wakes up?" she repeated, utterly nonplussed.

Thorn finished his mashing. "Well… Mom said that big sis got really injured. She was around Nucifera when it happened, so they brought her to a hospital here or something. We'll stay here until she's all better!"

"And then she'll come home with you?"

Thorn put the bowl of mashed Berries in front of her. "I hope so!" Thorn answered. "Mom said that big sis is really nice, and really smart, even though not many people like her. I bet her roses will be..."

At that point, Eve started tuning Thorn out a little, paying enough attention to respond at the right moments, but leaving enough of her attention away so that she could eat, and savor something she didn't have to check wasn't poisonous.

Even though mashed Berries wasn't a meal she was fond of (she was missing Kair's homemade stew, actually), the lack of dirt on them made them taste better than anything else she had that week. She scarfed it down in barely two minutes.

"More please," she interrupted, breaking Thorn out of his description of the games he and his sister would play.

"Okay!" Thorn took her bowl and poured more Berries into it.

"If you'd please, no mashed Berries. It was good, but I… I would like something else. I want to see what else you can cook."

"Like barbecued Wurmple?"

Why would Thorn's mother teach him how to barbecue? "Yes, that would be lovely."

Thorn shook his head. "Sorry, but Mom said you were only supposed to have mashed Berries."

"Yeah? And?"

"Well, that means you only get the mashed Berries."

Eve highly suspected her intentions were flying over Thorn's head. "Just give me something else, then. I don't know, maybe whole, non-mashed Berries?"

"Nope! Only mashed Berries!"

"Why?"

"Because Mom said so!" Thorn explained. Eve felt like they were going in circles. "Because Mom said only mashed Berries, you'll only get mashed Berries!"

Eve held back a biting retort, instead deciding to dig for more information. "Why did your Mom say that I can only have mashed Berries?"

"Mom said it was because your 'digestive system' wasn't working well, since that rock tied around your neck was making you sick - it was why you fainted!"

Eve blinked. "It was?" The Heart of the Sun could cause complications, yes, but not to that extent. Not so much that it could cause her to pass out. "Where is it?"

But Thorn had finally realized that talking was a bad thing, and decided to stop talking.

Eve sighed. "I guess I'll ask her when she comes back. When is that?"

"... tonight," Thorn answered, a little cautious. "She's meeting with Manty today."

"Manty?"

Thorn's eyes widened.

"Who's Manty? I don't know a Manty!" Thorn said, panicking a little.

Eve raised an eyebrow, staring at Thorn. He quailed under her gaze.

"... please don't tell Mom?" Thorn said slowly. "She told me not to tell you about Manty."

"Alright - as long as you tell me who Manty is."

Thorn's face was covered with beads of sweat. "She… Manty is short for Mean Auntie. Mom doesn't like it when I call her Aunty, and Manty doesn't like it when I call her-" Thorn stopped himself before he could say anything else. "Manty gets into lots of trouble and bad things, so Mom told me not to listen to her too much."

Eve read between the lines. 'Manty' was a criminal. That, along with the strict diet Thorn's Mom put her under and the vast amount of wealth and power she had, enough to make her kidnappers run, seemed to point to one thing.

"Your mother… who is she?"

But Thorn clammed up, refusing to utter even another word. Eve tried prying deeper, but Thorn refused to say a single word.

"Can I take a walk around the house, at the very least?" she eventually asked. She had recovered enough energy from the bowl of mashed Berries to make her able to walk again, helped by the few Sitrus Berries she saw Thorn throw into the mix.

"... okay - but I have to be with you."

So, escorted by an unhappy Thorn, Eve toured the mansion. Most of the maid and butlers were silent as they passed, and Eve realized that for all of Thorn's love for the wild, the mansion had an ominous and sterile feel to it - as if Thorn's mother had too much money to burn. Certainly enough to pay for butlers and maids in a mansion housing only two non-servants. Yet, Eve knew of no famous or wealthy Roserades, and she knew a lot.

Then, while connecting some dots, Eve remembered that Thorn was a Budew, meaning his mother would be a Roserade. A powerful Grass-type. Given that she was working with a criminal as a business, these were gains from an illegal enterprise - a profitable enterprise.

"... your mother is a Nip dealer, isn't she?" Eve asked softly.

"... Mom is going to be so mad at me," Thorn whispered, voice bathing in fear.

Pokenip, or Nip for short - one of the strongest recreational drugs that existed. According to medical books Selene had let her borrow, they were half narcotic, half depressant. It would rob you of your sense of pain, as well as your inhibitions while increasing your suggestibility.

The result? A delirious zombie-like state that was highly addictive. The worst part? Nip altered your mind about whoever you saw at that time, making them someone who you deeply cared about, someone whose words you'd take as gospel.

It was a drug illegal in almost every kingdom and country that existed, considering how it damn near completely robbed the people who ingested it of their free will. Nip dealing was a crime considered worse than murder in Regilia.

"How…" Eve gulped. "How big is she? How wide is her cartel?"

"... I don't know. We've been everywhere if that helps."

A chill went down her spine. She was that big.

"Did… " Eve gulped because she no longer believed in this sort of coincidence. "Did your Mom know about me being on Mt. Polymus before I bumped into you?"

"... yes."

She then asked the question she should have started with. "Why were you on the mountain?"

"... Mom wanted me in view while she looked for you. I wanted to get out the house, so I snuck out. Mom found out and made me play on the mountain."

She didn't escape the kidnappers, and she wasn't saved from the kidnappers. She just waltzed straight into the hands of their boss.

Eve got up.

"Eve? Where are you going?"

She didn't pay him any mind. It wasn't as if he'd be able to help her, even if he was on her side.

Things were as bad as she first thought them to be - maybe even worse, now that she knew the resources Thorn's mother had at her disposal. Eve had to find a way out of this mansion now.

Except, it wasn't that easy. Every room had a maid, butler, or guard in it. One look at the Chesnaught's arms told her that he could crush her with the most casual of muscle flexes. Each one would stare unnervingly at her the instant she appeared in a possible line of sight, and they left little-to-no blind spots between them. There were a few, but none of the blind spots had a way out - certainly, none had a window she could flee from.

"Eve, please don't go!" Thorn begged, tailing her.

And that was another problem. Thorn (probably helped by all of the guards) kept following her, preventing her from doing anything, even if there was something she could do. If she tried scaring him, well, something told her that anything stopping the mansion's personnel from attacking her would disappear without a trace.

"Eve, what are you looking for?!"

"The Heart of the Sun." The lie slipped out of her lips easily. The Heart of the Sun would be valuable if she had the time to properly evolve, but in a hostile setting like this, it would only be a burden - not that Thorn would know anything about that.

"But it's dangerous! It was about to make your head explode!"

Eve stopped, a little surprised. "I beg your pardon?"

"Auntie Mable said that there was too much 'psychic energy' in your head. She said that it was melting your brain and bursting your 'cells'!"

"That… the complications can't be that bad, Thorn." With that, Eve resumed the search for an exit.

"Eve! Eve, wait!"

Eve stopped listening to Thorn entirely. She started Quick Attacking her way through the mansion - if nothing else, she should try to shake Thorn off of her tail.

If she couldn't manage that, then what hope did she have of escape?

She then felt something press down on her, forcing her to the ground. No matter how much she struggled, she found that she couldn't get up. She craned her neck to see who was holding her down.

"Hello, dear," a Lopunny wearing a maid's outfit greeted, wearing a fake smile. "My deepest apologies, but your claws are tearing up the carpeting. If you'd like to play, I can show you to Thorn's nursery."

Nursery?

"I - no, I wouldn't like to play."

"Then we shall return to your guest room, to let you recuperate."

Eve froze. The room she had woken up in had no windows, being lit only by candlelight. If she went there, she'd probably be locked in…

"On second thought, the nursery sounds lovely." Eve offered a weak smile. "Thank you for your kindness."

"Of course, Princess Eve." Being held down like a common criminal, Eve had never felt less like a princess in her life. "Let us leave, then."

The Lopunny then secured Eve in her arms and started walking inside the mansion. Eve felt pathetic as the maids and butlers turned to look at her in the Lopunny's arms.

A minute later, they arrived at the nursery. The Lopunny dropped her off, pecked her on the forehead (the gall), and promptly locked the door behind her.

And the only other Pokemon in the room?

"... they told Mom about what I said, and she grounded me." Thorn sniffled, pushing a model Ninetails around half-heartedly.

Of course.

"The Mistress will be seeing you shortly."

Eve sighed, already accepting the captivity. The nursery had no windows either - considering Thorn's sentiments of liking the wild more, this was probably a room he decidedly didn't like being in. It also locked her from doing anything, either.

Left with nothing to do but watch Thorn sulk from her spot in the corner, she couldn't help but wish that she had just accepted the bonding ritual. Maybe she'd have been able to force them to consider Selene's innocence if she had tried hard enough. Being an Espeon or Umbreon locked under Yurime's thumb was better than dying at the hands of the leader of a drug cartel - that is, if she didn't use ransom Eve off for another fortune.

Why her? What did she do to deserve this? She did everything she was supposed to do - she read her books, she was kind and polite, she kept herself out of trouble. Why was life so unfair to her?

The Lopunny led her away from the nursery, taking her through the mansion once more. Judging from the reddish-orange hue of the sky, she must have been in the nursery for hours. The shift of personnel had rotated, leaving behind a contingent of nocturnal Pokemon.

Eventually, they arrived at an ornate door. The Lopunny knocked on the door several times.

"You may enter," a sweet and refined voice declared.

The Lopunny swung the door open, before gesturing to Eve to go inside. Eve took a deep breath, hoped that she would be able to manage this somehow, and entered. Once she entered, the Lopunny maid closed the door behind her, leaving her stuck.

Though, with the utter elegance of the room, Eve had no reason to complain. The room was covered in vinery and adorned with flowers. Eve had to stop and stare - those pink flowers in the corner, they were Gracidea, and good god Cresselia knew how much those things cost. In the corner, that sparkling water that fed the vines… was that Miracle Dew?

Then Eve noticed the room's occupant - a Roserade, who sat on a cushion at a table covered with lavish natural refreshments. Said Roserade was looking at her with the utmost interest.

"So, we finally meet properly." She walked over to the other side of the table and pulled out another posh cushion. "Please, come and sit."

Eve swallowed nervously, then steeled herself. "O-of course." She didn't have any room to object or disobey. She was most certainly not the one in control.

She approached the cushion (which looked rather comfortable, actually), and then sat down. Immediately, she felt a sort of familiarity with it - although she had never sat on it before, although it was probably more expensive than anything she had ever sat on, she felt strangely at home.

The Roserade giggled at the relieved look on your face. "Oh, poor dear~. How long has it been since you've been able to relax like this?"

"... over a month," Eve said hesitantly. "Not since Kite came to our castle."

She nodded sympathetically. "He's put a bit of a damper on all things, hasn't he? Though I will admit, the stress and panic he made were good for business."

A chill went down her spine as she remembered exactly how all of this wealth was accrued.

"Please, don't think of him." She gestured to the refreshments - pastries, specifically. "Have one, you must be starving."

Eve bit her lip. "Ah…" An excuse came to her. "Didn't you say to Thorn that I was to only have mashed Berries since that's the only thing my stomach will take?"

The Roserade shook her. "Yes, but that doesn't apply right now. These pastries are made with Energy Root and Heal Powder, with mashed Berry filling and sprinkled with sugar. The herbs will make it so that you don't have a stomach ache when eating them."

"I… er…" What other excuse could she give? "I'm not that hungry, sorry?"

Her stomach then decided to oh-so conveniently gurgle. The Roserade shot her a knowing look. Still, Eve remained staunch.

"You know, I haven't put anything in these. It's terrible manners to feed your guest something like Nip." She then smiled. "And if I wanted to poison you, I'd have already done so."

Eve's resolution crumbled with another gurgle. Feeling like she broke an oath, she reached for a pastry, before popping it into her mouth.

Eve's paw reached for another - and then another. Before long, she stuffed herself to the brim with pastries.

They weren't good, but they tasted fine for what was in them. Regardless, Eve's hunger made her blind to taste.

"Oh, you're so adorable!" The Roserade cooed, reaching over and squeezing her face with one of her bouquets as it was filled with a bite of pastry. "Some Pokemon get all of the good genes!"

Eve swallowed the bite. "Who are you?" She finally asked, feeling at enough ease to ask. Something told her that while the Roserade had ill intentions for her, they wouldn't come immediately. "Where is Selene? Why did you send those Pokemon after me? What do you want with me? Where did you put my Heart of the-"

The Roserade held out a bouquet in front of Eve's face, stopping the flood of questions prematurely. "Patience, patience. All of your questions will be answered in due time." She pointed to the few remaining pastries. "Before I begin, would you like to finish them off?"

Eve shook her head. "Just, just please, answer the questions."

The Roserade nodded. "Very well, I shall do my best to answer them truthfully." She pointed toward herself. "My name is Penelope, though you can call me Penny if you wish." She then pointed at Eve. "And who are you?"

"... you know who I am," Eve said slowly. "Right?"

"Of course, but it is simple manners."

Eve took a deep breath. "Well… my name is Eve Eonia, a Princess to the Eon kingdom. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Penelope smiled. "See, that wasn't so hard."

Eve was rankled under Penelope's patronizing tone but kept it in check. "Miss Penelope - Penny - is it true, what Thorn said? About you being the leader of a Nip cartel?"

Penelope's smile faded, but she didn't say anything. To break the silence, Eve continued.

"Thorn mentioned his 'Manty', one thing led to another, and then each thing came into place. I figured that you were a drug lord, but for it to be Nip… " Eve swallowed something uncomfortable lodged in her throat. "Why? Thorn acts like he spends most of his time in the wild - do you even need all that money? Enough to hurt innocent people?"

Penelope still said nothing, but her eyes remained transfixed on Eve. Analyzing her, dissecting her, leaving her bare. After a short time, she finally deigned to speak. "Innocent people are far fewer in number than you currently believe, Princess."

Of all the answers Eve expected to hear from this relatively polite woman, that wasn't one of them. "Are you saying they deserved Nip?"

Penelope shook her head. "Nothing of the sort. Rather, I believe that if I were not to be here, they'd find other sources of Nip. Did you know that over the past couple of decades, Nip use abroad has been declining?"

"...no," Eve admitted. "I'm not the type of Pokemon that goes around investigating Nip. I'd like nothing to do with it."

"A fair sentiment. Now, could you believe that my cartel was responsible for the decline?"

No, she couldn't. "Even if you are responsible, that doesn't change anything. If you weren't there, people wouldn't be using Nip."

Penelope sighed. "If I wasn't there, other dealers would take my place. If I wasn't there, I wouldn't be able to trust that the Nip is clean of parasites, isn't diseased, won't cause permanent harm. If I wasn't there, other dealers would take advantage of those 'innocent' people's suggestibility - if you could call them innocent in the first place."

Eve's eyes blazed, latching on to the once weakness she found in Penelope's argument. "Do you expect me to think you care about them when you call them guilty?"

Penelope shook her head. "I didn't call them guilty, Princess. I merely stated they weren't innocent. After all, buying Nip is a crime as well, and I never force them into a deal."

Eve bit her lip.

"I subsumed other cartels during my rise - cartels that would take advantage of those under the Nip's thrall. They would poison their victim's minds, purposefully turning them away from friends and family, isolate them so that the dealer's voice was the only one they would ever hear. They would force their victims to give them everything they had, and then kill them once they had finished their purpose."

Eve's heart chilled.

"Princess, I know I'm not a good Pokemon," Penelope stated gently. "Selling Nip is a crime, is wrong, no matter how you look at it. But in the grand scheme of things, I've done more help than harm."

Eve knew they were excuses, but couldn't find any argument to tear them down. Penelope had decades of justifying her actions to herself.

"Though, I only learned of this disease, of the crimes other cartels commit, once I had entrenched myself too deep," Penelope continued. "Eve, please guess why I decided to go down this path."

"I… I…" Eve stammered. "M-Money?"

"Correct."

"... correct?"

Penelope nodded. "I needed money - or, rather, my family needed money. My father's endeavors needed capital to get going, and he wasn't having too much luck. I run this cartel to give him the necessary funding, so that may complete his mission."

"And the mansion?"

"A gift from 'Manty'. Father's endeavors finally started paying off, in a sense, and the family was raking in enough money that my cartel wasn't necessary anymore. By that point, though, I had expanded so far that I had seen the deeper ills that laid in my business. That is why I continue this damned trade."

Eve could say nothing. "I've… never thought of illegal activity as ever being good."

"It's never good, Eve. Never. But I can make it less awful than it would be if I do nothing - after all, where there is demand, people will be willing to sell, and Nip is always in demand." Penelope then took a sip of a cup of tea that had been cooling on the table. "This is too sad of a topic to speak of. Instead, let's talk about you."

Eve blinked. "Me? What about me?"

Penelope's smile reappeared. "You are an exceptionally bright girl, Eve. For a Pokemon who hasn't even entered adolescence, you were able to carry yourself remarkably well."

Eve blushed. "I… thank you."

"I imagine that the strength and validity of your arguments will increase the older you get," Penelope continued. "To put it simply, you remind me of one of my dear uncles, in one of the best ways possible."

Penelope took another sip of her tea as Eve fidgeted nervously. "Thank you," she repeated. "But… can you answer some of my other questions, please?"

"But of course. Ask away."

This time, without rushing, Eve carefully considered which question she'd ask first. The Heart of the Sun was at the lowest priority, while Selene was at the highest. Yet, Eve wanted to lean into that conversation slowly, so… "Why did you send all those Pokemon to kidnap me? What do you want with me?"

Penelope laid the cup down. "You believe I sent all those Pokemon after you?"

Eve frowned. "Well, Thorn said that you had been looking for me on the day I was captured, and he said that you made the kidnappers go away once you had me. You're the one after me, so… why?"

Penelope shook her head. "Princess, you are under the impression that I am that Sylveon's boss. I will tell you this clearly - I am not."

"So, you beat them up, or threatened them? That doesn't explain why you were looking for me."

Penelope folded one of her bouquets on top of the other. "I didn't say that either. My relationship with that organization is… complicated, to say the least."

"So? You have time to explain, don't you?"

Penelope hid a wince. "It's… ahh…" She frowned. "Well… perhaps it's better if I let her explain it to you."

"Her?"

"My sister. She's woken up and has taken note of this conversation, and she believes she is more equipped to explain than I am." Penelope drained her cup. "If you don't mind, Eve, I can let her finish things off for me."

"Wait, what? You said you would explain things to me?"

"And I will," Penelope agreed. "Or at least, she will."

"I…" Eve bit her lip. If her 'sister' was anything like 'Manty', then Eve wouldn't be as safe as she wanted to be. Yet… "Go ahead."

Penelope placed down her cup. "Then enjoy the show, dear."

"'Enjoy the show'? What does that… mean…?" Eve's question tapered off as Penelope began to glow a little - and then a little more, and a little more, until she was glowing brightly in many rainbow hues.

And then there was the sound of birdsong, and suddenly, Eve was reminded of a similar transformation she had seen earlier that week. As Penelope's form started shifting and turning, Eve knew that she was going to have a lot more questions.

Then Penelope stopped glowing, and Eve knew what those questions were.

"Who are you? Where is Penelope? And…" Eve gulped. "What are you?"

The Pokemon in front of her said nothing, only gazing at Eve with interest. Eve gazed back at her - and really, there was a lot to look at. The Pokemon in front of her was of no species she recognized - or, at the very least, they were of no species that they could name. Considering the eerie similarities between her and Selene…

"My name is Diane." A jolt went through Eve's system as Diane's words caressed her. "I am Penelope's sister, in an odd sense of the word. I have many aliases around the world, but the one I am most proud of is Umbrartifex Alpha-1".

Eve would have asked what that meant had she been in her right mind - but, strangely, her reasoning and rationale had left her. All she could do was stare blankly ahead, only very dimly aware of the world around her.

"Ah, right. You aren't used to a Rhythm of this strength before." Every word Diane spoke sent jolts of happiness through her. "I'll tone it down a bit." A second later, she spoke again, her voice having infinitely less of an effect on her. "Is this better?"

It took a few seconds, but Eve was slowly able to clear her mind and recollect her rationale. "I… but… what… " Eve gulped. "What did you…?"

"That was my Rhythm, an ability my kind has. You have experienced a crippled version of it before, in Selene's dances." Diane smiled. "There's no fault in falling to the tenor of my voice. It happens to everyone without supreme mental resistances."

Eve shivered. "I… I don't understand what's going on… what… who are you?"

"As I said, my name is Diane," she repeated. "Umbrartifex Alpha-1, the Devil in the Sinner's Ears. And, as I so clearly told Penelope, the one most capable of explaining to you what you need to know."

Eve's composure was returning to her. It was nothing compared to what it was before Diane opened her mouth, but it was slowly approaching what she wanted to have to deal with this situation. "B-Before you do… what is an 'Umbrartifex Alpha-1'?"

"I am not 'an' Umbrartifex Alpha-1. I am the Umbrartifex Alpha-1," Diane corrected. "It is my title that denotes my position on the hierarchy. Alpha-1 means I am on the apex of the chain of command."

"Hierarchy?" Okay, okay, Eve was getting back into the rhythm of things. "Which hierarchy?"

"The hierarchy of Chain," Diane explained.

"Chain? I've never heard of it."

"I would be surprised if you had." Diane smiled. "Though, you are one of the privileged few that had known of the organization's existence before I told you of it."

Eve blinked. "I… did?"

"Use your head, Eve, and tell me what Chain is."

Eve was never one to back away from this sort of challenge, so she decided to think about it for a bit. The only thing she knew about Chain - whatever it was - was that it was probably involved in criminal affairs, like every other organization in Penelope's family. That, and a hierarchy of people where someone like Diane could be at the top.

"... maybe I've heard of it, but I don't think I can connect what you've told me to it," Eve said, at last, causing Diane to smile. "I've spent my entire day today playing games with Thorn - can you just tell me?"

"Certainly." Strangely, Eve didn't feel any sort of relief. "Though, before I do, I'll give you one last hint. Namely, the identity of Umbrartifex Beta-1, the witch you know as the Temptress, or 'Manty'."

It took a few seconds for Eve to fully process what Diane said, then connect the dots. But when she did, she wished she didn't.

"Chain is…" She hoped she was wrong. "The organization led by the Temptress, composed of Shadow Workers."

"Correct."

Eve's stomach went cold. "And you're their boss? You're her boss?"

Diane sighed. "Unfortunately, no. We are… coworkers, right hands to the actual head." She smiled. "I'm slightly higher on the totem pole than she is, even if she does much more work to further the cause overall."

That did very little to reassure Eve - in fact, it made her situation more frightening. "I… I…" She gulped. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because you asked."

"But - but I thought Chain was supposed to be clandestine! Nobody knows about its existence!"

"And it is, through our spies' efforts to route any possible investigations. That has nothing to do with you because we want you to know about us."

"WHY?!" Eve shouted, tears finally falling. "WHY?! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO US?"

Diane raised her eyebrows, not expecting this sudden outburst. "Miss Eonia?"

"YOU… YOU…" Eve couldn't think properly. "WHY?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!" Globules of snot started piling up in her snout. "I.. I…"

Eve was about to scream even louder, but then, for some reason, Diane began to hum. The instant she started humming, Eve's temper grew stronger, her fuse grew longer. Tears stopped falling, and soon, Eve was just listening to the little ditty Diane was humming.

Slowly, Diane's humming stopped. "Are you feeling better, dear?"

Eve opened her mouth, her tongue dry. "Why did it…"

"My Rhythm, dear." Diane smiled. "It does wonders for deescalating a situation when the time calls for it."

Rhythm - that again. It easily played with Eve's mind (like everything else, really). Eve gulped. "Just… please, explain. Why are you guys - why is Chain - telling us these things?"

"Because we wished for you to come here, Eve." Diane gestured. "Kidnapping you gives you the wrong message. We wanted you to come here of your free will - or, rather, for Selene to come here of her free will."

"... but you already have her," Eve argued slowly. "If it was about her, you wouldn't need me anymore."

Diane shook her head. "Hardly. Once Selene wakes up, she'll be alone in a place she's unfamiliar with, surrounded by people she thinks are her enemies. We want to let her know that we aren't her enemies."

"But - but you are!"

Diane's eyes narrowed, and Eve got the sense that she said the wrong thing.

"... you aren't?" Eve said slowly.

"Perhaps Selene thinks of us as her enemy. I seek to change that. Chain was built to promote and strengthen our kind - to Chain, to me, she is kin and royalty, more than you and your entire lineage."

"... o-okay," Eve squeaked. Then something sparked at her. "Kin? Are you two… related?"

Diane nodded. "In a sense of the word. Artemis - her mother - was my sister."

Eve's eyes widened. "You're her aunt?"

"Precisely. Artemis used to be Umbrartifex Epsilon-1 before she… " Diane shadowed her eyes. "I needed time to process it, and Selene was only an infant, so I had contacts deliver her to Ascendance Palace, so that she may live a life of luxury until I was ready to assume my responsibilities as a guardian. Responsibilities I am… still afraid I will be unable to perform inadequately."

Eve opened her mouth, but Diane put up her hand. "I tire of this conversation, Princess, and Penelope wishes to dine. I shall answer your questions quickly. The Sylveon chasing you is one of Chain's sponsors - though, the term is a bit generous, considering how his donations comprise only a fraction of our coffers, and I think calling him a 'V.I.P.' would be a better term. He wishes to use you for his ends - a wish Chain will deny him as long as you stay in Nucifera and behave."

Eve blinked, trying to process what Diane was saying. Diane continued. "The Temptress is handling her recovery from her first switch with proper equipment. I've been at her bedside for the past few days, and have decided to spare you from his machinations so you may continue to be Selene's friend, an emotional anchor for her in this troubling time."

"I… I'm sorry, I…"

"Finally, your Heart of the Sun has been confiscated and disposed of. Evolving only with the Heart is too dangerous for you at this age and caused most of your symptoms. Unless you want to be thrown out of Nucifera, you will not go looking for another one." Diane's eyes hardened. "Do I make myself clear?"

Those last few words were stated with Rhythm, and Eve unconsciously began nodding. "Yes, ma'am." A few seconds later, control returned to her, though the lack of emotional dampening returned her negative feelings. "Then, what should I… ?"

Diane began glowing rainbow, and the sound of a meadow filled the air - she was transforming back into Penelope. "Tomorrow, with Penelope, you will stand at Selene's side. You are here only for her - don't forget that."


Genevieve had bowed her head. "It is completely, totally, utterly my fault, my Queen. I am solely to blame for what happened."

Arya simply looked at her maid. Fylak had been broken into, all of its prisoners running amok. Already, much of Illusuria's army was on the move, throwing its efforts into capturing the prisoners before they became a danger to the populace.

And it all stemmed from one blasted Shinx.

"It is," Arya acknowledged after letting Genevieve stew in her guilt. "But I don't think of you any less for it."

"My… my Queen?"

Arya drummed her fingers on the table, feeling the soft cloth stretch under her digits. "Perhaps you had accidentally saved the intruders. That is possible, no matter how unlikely it was for them to weather such an assault like that. But, in the end, I was lashing out, and I doubt that they would have broken the illusion no matter how long I kept the leaf storm up. You kept me grounded, and your reasoning was as strong as any."

"But if I hadn't told you, then maybe you could have-"

"Then they would have escaped," Arya cut through Genevieve's warbles. "Kite managed to rout my father in a worse position than they were - assuming, of course, that they weren't spying from beyond the distance my leaf storm reached. It has become clear to me that we can't treat Kite's organization like any sort of rebellion or group of normal people. Genevieve, they are cunning and dangerous."

"I… I… Still, I should have," Genevieve stuttered. Arya could feel the guilt radiating off of her, and she suspected that she didn't even need her psychic empathy to do so.

"Should have, could have, would have - all these are pointless now. Genevieve, you are Regilian. Raise your head and look the part."

"... of course, my Queen." Genevieve lifted her head. "Now what?"

Arya sighed. "Damage control," she said after a few seconds. "And then, we go on the defensive."

Genevieve raised an eyebrow. "Defensive?"

"We have been on 'offense' for the past month," Arya explained. "The Hounds and the rescue party were out attempts at active efforts. They were failures, Genevieve. Failures, because we knew neither what we were dealing with nor the competency of their organization. Now, the trail has gone cold again, and we are stuck in a worse position than where we started."

Genevieve's eyes widened. "Then you plan to…"

"I plan to find their organization, infiltrate it, and understand how they operate. Once I do so, we can craft a plan far less likely to fail." Arya pursed her lips. "This new enemy is more crafty than I had expected. It is time we stop treating them as a group that we can squash like a Blipbug, and more like a foreign nation."

Her eyes glowed pink. "I will not let Regilia fail again."

Half a week had passed since then, and Arya had been dealing with a flood of work. The prisoner roundup was a painfully slow process, as was dealing with the public response to the breakout. Already, trade had slowed for fear of a new wave of pirates and bandits, and city militias across the continents had been created preemptively.

By all accounts, Arya should have been struggling to manage it all. Her first week on the throne had been filled with tragedy and strife, yet, as it wore on, Arya found herself rising to the occasion.

Duchess Parsley, who had been toying with her during the initial debriefing on the day of her ascension, now could barely get a rise out of her, and it wasn't for a lack of trying. Simply put, with her head screwed on properly again, she could properly, maturely, deal with the jabs and heckling. Parsley tried for three more days before finally accepting that Arya's lapse in control had been a one-off failure.

Dealing with taxes and militias… this was what Father had trained her for. Not dealing with some subversive criminal syndicate, but leading a nation. She had been handling portions of Father's duty even before the Twin Moon Ball and had taken larger portions in the weeks following his illness.

Adjusting to full responsibility in the middle of a crisis like this had been challenging emotionally, but a few days later, Arya finally felt like she had a handle on the situation.

Well, that wasn't quite true. Now and again, she needed some time to herself, to recompose and deal with grief as it returned. Genevieve had been an angel in the time, always knowing exactly when she had enough and bringing her what she needed in her time of aid. It allowed her to deal with problems like these.

"King Prometheus, is it not possible you can delay the formation of a search party?" Arya probed.

The Charizard tilted his head up arrogantly. "You know as well as I do, Queen, that I do not bow to you. Prince Helios is in danger and has fallen to this organization's wiles."

Arya hid a grimace. "Acting rashly in times like these only makes things worse. Reconsider."

Prometheus snarled. "Your cowardice disgusts me."

Arya's grimace came out as she tried to puzzle out exactly why Prometheus was so upset. From Light's report a week ago, it sounded like Prometheus was no longer willing to actively help, not hostile. There was a subtle, but real shift in his personality to the negative on the day Fylak's prisoners were let loose, and Arya was trying to figure it out.

Not helping was his psychic shielding. It wasn't a technique very well known, but one could protect their mind from telepathic observation. It was surprisingly easy, involving nothing more than shooting aura at the portion of the psyche that was read from. Right now, all she could get was garbled messages.

Still, in those messages…

"... stupid… inadequate… Tapestry…"

Arya had come to accept that, just as Father had thought diminutively of King Prometheus, he too thought poorly of her. She hoped that, with time and success, Prometheus would not be so dismissive of her.

What interested her more was the thought of a Tapestry - and from the way it was stressed in his mind, there was something very special about it.

"King Prometheus," she finally said, carefully choosing her words. "My hand is not stilled by cowardice - instead, it is stilled by common sense. These malfeasants aren't some trite organization that can be waved aside with ease. They are cunning, resourceful, and very stealthy. Taking action like this will only lead you in circles."

Prometheus's eyes narrowed. "They are cunning, you say? Then why did they let Slate go? Why let Kite be captured? If they are so competent, as your sung praises claim, then why do they hide at all."

Arya brushed aside the jab at Regilia and Fylak's capabilities. "No one is saying they can't make mistakes. But when they strike, they will strike hard and fast, and if you don't prepare-"

"Enough of this prattle!" Prometheus roared. "My nephew is in danger, and you let them dictate the course of action!" He spread his wings. "I will succeed where you failed, and your illusions of strength will shatter!"

With that, he stormed out of the meeting hall, a retinue of guards trailing closely behind him.

"... with all due respect-" Genevieve started before Arya held up a hand.

"Not now, Genevieve," she murmured, rubbing her temples with her other hand. "I am starting to understand at a deeper level why Father held such disdain for that man." Such pomposity, such arrogance, such hostility.

"..."

Arya could sense that Genevieve wanted to say something very badly. It was nearly bursting at the top of her mind, hidden only by a poor image of serenity. "You may speak."

"King Prometheus… he wasn't as angry as he had seemed." Arya raised a brow. He had fooled her well, then. "He was more condescending than anything, and was far more concerned with his 'Tapestry' than he was with you."

"He doesn't strike me as a Pokemon obsessed with material wealth," Arya commented after a few second's pause. "Are you sure that you read him correctly, Genevieve?"

Genevieve shook her head. "I'm certain of what I've read - and yet, the Tapestry… it holds a unique weight in his mind." Arya nodded. "Do you think he would mind if we inquired?"

"Almost certainly," Arya said, causing Genevieve to wince. "There is no special 'Tapestry' in Dragnian lore, as far as I'm aware, and I get a strong impression that Prometheus wouldn't take kindly to my spying."

As she said that last statement, Arya felt another sharp pang of loss. Father would be able to figure out what the Tapestry is or coerce Prometheus into telling them. Short of that, Eve was knowledgeable about foreign lore, with how long she spent in the library. If there was any chance that she could have found notes about a Dragnian heirloom, Eve would tell her in a heartbeat.

Arya frowned as she remembered the cursed thread that tied both of those losses together. Selene. Kidnapping Eve by abusing a false friendship, assassinating her father… had she known of what Selene would do, she would be thrown into Fylak in a heartbeat.

No, not Fylak. Fylak was vulnerable. Maybe cryogenically store her so she can't do anything… or just kill her, that would be easy.

Considering how Selene had kidnapped Helios as well, causing another of her current predicaments, getting rid of that demon sounded like an order from heaven. According to Parasel, she should be dead already… right?

Arya got up. "Genevieve," she declared, making Genevieve snap to attention. "It is high time we pay Parasel a visit."

Genevieve nodded. "Of course, my Queen."

Arya held out her hand, Genevieve took it, and an instant later they were outside the door to Parasel's Royal Laboratory. Arya took a look at the immaculate door and smiled - through everything, Parasel had always been a beacon of reliability and strength.

Genevieve knocked a few times. "Master Parasel, the Queen has come to visit!"

They waited a few seconds before the door opened. Tamon, as off-putting as ever, fell into a standard Regilian bow. "My deepest apologies, my Queen, that we had not prepared for your arrival."

Arya stifled a roll of her eyes. "If you had, I would have been even more concerned," she said (rather bluntly) in return. "Are you two busy? If so, I can return at another time."

Tamon shook his head. "Hardly. Please, come in." The door widened, letting the two of them step inside.

Beakers and flasks of all shapes and sizes filled the various shelves, while a large stock of strange-looking equipment lined the walls. Parasel was busy tending to a concoction connected to a water distiller, before looking up. "Your Majesty," Parasel bowed (which looked odd on a Metagross). "Good day. May I ask what brings you to my quarters?"

Arya nodded. "I have to ask about that concoction you made for Selene, the one that treated her illness. Tell me, when will the illness finally overtake her, and," here she took a nervous pause. "Are you sure that there's no possibility of that organization replicating your cure?"

"The illness has already overtaken her," Parasel said bluntly. "I've read reports from Xion - she had been taking a half-dose in an attempt to lengthen the amount of time she had left, but that wasn't enough to undo the symptoms of her condition. Even if she continued taking the pills, she would only lengthen the time of her demise. She had already fallen."

Arya couldn't help the shark-like grin that appeared on her face. She never thought she would take this much pleasure in another's suffering, but fate had a funny idea of how to run things. "How painful?"

"Immeasurably so. I had incorporated painkillers into the pills a year after she started taking them, considering how much her condition wore at her nerves."

Perfect. "And you're sure there's no possibility of them recreating it?"

"Positively sure," Parasel declared. "There is a special technique I use that allows me to create it, one unique to me. Unless they replicate it, there is no chance of manufacturing the pills."

A smile settled on Arya's face as Parasel finished the concoction he was creating. "Excellent," she praised.

"I live to serve," Parasel demurred, before looking at Tamon. "Bring Brush here."

Tamon transformed into a copy of Genevieve before swirling away. As he did so, Arya raised a brow. "Brush?" she asked.

"Her countryside origins leave her improperly protected against pathogens. I've had to make vaccination elixirs to leave her capable of working."

Arya winced in sympathy. "Ah…"

Tamon teleported back, bringing Brush with him. He sat her down before having her drink the elixir. Arya watched an odd fascination as Brush emptied the bottle.

'I've put painkillers in it so that she can work without issue,' Parasel explained telepathically, surprising her. 'Irresponsible, I know, but it pains me to see her in such a condition.'

Arya agreed, but couldn't muster up too much sympathy for the girl. She was still filled with hate, still lashing out at the system that imprisoned her family. Even with her parents free, Brush still despised her and her late father.

Arya shook her head a little, trying to get the guilt (which shouldn't be there) out of her head. "How has progress on the truth serum been going?" she asked, eager to jump to another point of conversation.

"It is nearly complete," Parasel said succinctly. "I've completed multiple test runs on volunteer subjects, and complications have been at a minimum. It will only be a week or two before I am confident enough to release it for interrogatory use."

Arya smiled. "I'm pleased to hear that."

Parasel waited for a second before replying. "I have one injection of the serum with me now. Right now, miss Brush will be unable to feel pain, and I have tested for the interactions between the serum and other drugs. May I show you the effects of the serum firsthand?"

Arya blinked. "Right now?" She looked at Brush. "Do you mind, miss Brush?"

Brush, though, didn't answer, and her pupils had dilated. Her mouth was moving, yes, but nothing was coming out. Her mind was filled with a strange sort of fog.

Genevieve approached her. "Brush?" she asked gently.

"Mum?" Arya's heart broke, and yet she was filled with confusion.

Parasel hovered over Brush, eyes glowing - probably scanning her. "Associative agnosia," he declared. "She can't recognize our identities or identities at all for that matter. A lesion in her brain has opened up, though I can't recognize any connection between my elixir and the reopening of the wound."

"Reopening?" Arya parroted.

"She seemed to have suffered from a cranial injury, at some time in the past. The line is distinctive, yet also new," Parasel explained. "It seems to me that the head injury was healed by an inexperienced healer."

Genevieve gasped. "Who could do such a thing - and why wouldn't Brush speak up about it?"

Arya, though, knew that Brush held very little goodwill for them, and trusted them even less. "Is there anything you can do?"

Parasel nodded. "In my opinion, she would be better off recuperating in the infirmary than staying here. A proper heal, along with rest, should leave her capable without too much time passing.

Arya signed. "Thank Cresselia for small mercies."

"That being said, my Queen," Parasel continued, as Tamon teleported away with Brush. "I highly suggest you use the truth serum on her the moment she recovers, so that we may find out why this happened. For her to seek no medical attention whatsoever reeks of something deeper."

Arya nodded, though Genevieve wasn't too happy at that. "You'll force her to take a truth serum? Isn't this excessive?"

Parasel shook his head. "The truth serum is a safe tool for interrogation and I expect she won't be willing to cooperate otherwise."

Genevieve frowned. "How does it work?" she pressed, worry emanating from her. "Truth serums are notoriously unreliable - why is this one different?"

"Genevieve," Arya warned, a little irritated at her maid's needling.

Parasel, though, maintained his usual composure, addressing Genevieve's concerns. "The new truth serum is different because of the newly cultured cells that I used as its base."

Arya blinked. "Pardon me, but did you just say 'cultured cells'?"

Parasel nodded. "After noting the psychological effect of Selene's dancing, notably how it increases susceptibility and decreases inhibitions, I decided to culture samples of her cells to see if I can isolate the effect and enhance it."

A chill went through her upon hearing the name. "It uses her power?"

Parasel nodded. "Notably, my serum has a light hypnotic effect - any 'fact' the user hears after the injection becomes very much true to them, though only for a short time. More importantly, their psychological resistance to interrogation is nonexistent. The serum synchronizes the pulsing hypnotic effect of her cells with the injectee's heartbeat, causing them to answer any question asked of them to the best of their ability."

Arya's vision went red. Genevieve picked up on her anger. "Any fact the user hears after the injection becomes true?" she pressed.

"For roughly five minutes. However, every consecutive use of the serum doubles the length of the false 'truth'." A pause. "It is, in a sense, one of the best tools for brainwashing. You only need fifteen minutes to implant a false idea that would last a week, half an hour to last a month, and around an hour to make it last a year."

Confirmation. There was confirmation. She wasn't as lucky as to have Helios and Eve be swayed by normal means to Selene's side - she forced the opinion onto them. Now, all that remained to be seen was why and how Selene would and could hide the true extent of her abilities from them, even from infancy.

How could an organization even recruit an infant?

"Why haven't you said this earlier?!" Genevieve asked, eyes blazing. "This is crucial information!"

"You already seemed to have figured it out. I saw no point in teaching you what you already knew."

Genevieve made some sort of sound between a wail, a groan, a grunt, and a growl. Arya, though, was already thinking a few steps ahead.

"Can you develop a counter to this brainwashing effect, Parasel?" Arya pressed.

"... I can try, but don't expect anything from me soon," he warned. "I say the serum has a light hypnotic effect, but it isn't like normal psychic hypnotism. I haven't been able to detect any energy signatures radiating from the cell culture, and have had to piece together my data by exposing Pokemon to it."

Arya shook her head. "Parasel, I have full faith in you." And really, she did. Parasel had stuck by her through thick and thin and was always a source of solutions and answers. He could do what no other Pokemon could.

Parasel simply sat there thinking, as he usually did when confronted with something he didn't expect. Eventually, he spoke again. "I was not the only one who worked on the truth serum," he explained evasively.

Arya suppressed another eye roll. "I have full faith in Tamon as well." She inclined her head toward the silent Ditto who simply stared at her in the corner.

"Tamon had no input on the serum," Parasel countered sharply. "It was an outsider who helped me."

"... I beg your pardon?"

"I must confess, your Majesty, that I hadn't expected to explain this to you," Parasel continued. "They normally wish to remain anonymous and unknown and fully desire for me to take all the credit. It's only since yesterday since they've given me the go-ahead to reveal their existence."

Things only grew more confusing. "Who are you speaking of, Parasel?"

"Of a colleague, of sorts. He has an equal impact on the production and research of all of my inventions and developments as I do. The reason you do not know of him is that he specifically asked to remain unknown." Parasel then sighed. "I have asked him, repeatedly, to reconsider that position, but until yesterday, they hadn't changed their mind in the slightest. Until then, I had contented myself with giving him half my salary."

Arya had noted a discrepancy between Parasel's wages and the amount he spent and saved in banks months ago, but upon pressing him, Parasel denied everything. Her eyes sharpened. "Why the change in position?"

"Because he wishes to meet with you, my Queen. He believes he is uniquely qualified to advise you regarding Selene, and considering what he is, this is unsurprising."

"Elaborate."

"Of course. This unique qualification is, aside from intelligence that rivals mine, an unrivaled understanding of mutants. This is, of course, because he is one himself."

A hush went over the room. "He is like Selene?" she whispered.

"In a sense," Parasel continued. "He is not of her mutant 'species' - he holds a completely different form, and has reported that his powers resemble Selene's in no way at all. Rather, the cause of his mutation is identical to one that caused Selene's. He is integral in the process of manufacturing the pill - steps 17-21 of the recipe I reported are actions that only achieve meaningful results when he does them."

So that was why all those Alakazam failed. "You should have reported so earlier."

"I must repeat, he explained that he would only give his support to me, to Regilia, if he were to remain unknown. Again, I repeat, that position had changed, which is why I can tell you now."

Arya nodded. "Then tell… what is his name?"

"Phosophor."

"Tell Phosophor that I will meet with him in a week, and to clear his schedule for then."

"Of course, your Majesty."

With that, Arya twisted and walked out of the door. Things had changed, and dramatically at that. There were matters to handle and meetings to prepare for, and the enemy would not wait for her.

Of course, had she been more conscientious of her surroundings, she could have noticed Genevieve's ashen face. Had she read Genevieve's mind, she could have prevented what was to come.


Eve is nowhere near as excellent in debates as she thought she was.

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