"Nona! Nona, get up!" Ronan walloped her over the head with a pillow.
Nona only groaned in response, twisting and stretching so deep that she felt her vision black out and her muscles creak.
"What time is it?" She grumbled.
"It's eight-o-clock, time to get up!"
She mumbled something even she didn't catch and rose fully to her feet. If she didn't, she knew Ronan would keep hitting her. As annoying as it was, and as much as she wanted to bitch, no alarm clock could ever compare to getting smacked awake.
"I'm up… I'm up…" She mumbled.
The morning routine was becoming more and more familiar for all three of them. Ignis made breakfast, Ronan set the table, and Nona busied herself making the beds just to feel useful. It reminded her that she still only had a pile of blankets to her name.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, she thought. Even if she knew she'd probably regret it some random night when she's tossing and turning, it didn't seem worth bothering with.
Breakfast was a grainy porridge with the extra berries they acquired the day before, and like always, Nona was the first to finish, having scarfed down her bowl before the others reached halfway. When they all finished, they started preparing themselves for their day of missions.
"Oh, I almost forgot, uh-" Nona started as she tugged her braces on, "there was a bird here yesterday dropping off the mail. Wendell, I think his name was?"
Ronan smiled, swooping in to retie her braces. "Oh, I love Wendell! He's always been really nice to us. He's cool, Bronson too."
If she had to guess, Nona assumed that Bronson was the Pidgeot she had seen the day after Manectric was attacked. Wendell had mentioned that he ran the postal services.
With Ronan so close, Nona had to lean down to follow along. Wrapping around the calf and up the leg was how he taught her, but her head fin flopping in the way made him repeat the parts she didn't see.
"I just- I'm sorry, but this has been bugging me for so long-" Ignis grabbed something out of a kitchen drawer and walked up to Nona, tilting her head up and back while she was too shocked to resist.
From where she was, Nona only saw her fin disappear over her head, followed by a tight feeling close to the back of her skull.
"Do I get a say in whatever you're doing my head?" She said in an impatient grumble.
"You do once I'm... done!"
Ignis smoothed a hand down Nona's scalp, before stepping back to admire her work. Nona saw her grin, and couldn't help but blush, embarrassed.
"What did you do?"
"I tied your fin back," she answered, "I don't know how you managed to get anything done with it flopping around all that time."
"And you never said anything?"
"I didn't want to be rude!"
At Nona's behest, Ignis went back into the junk drawer and dug out a dusty pocket mirror. In the reflection, Nona saw that the fin was folded down towards the back of her head, following its natural shape until ending at a "ponytail" right at the back tied up with a rubber band.
"Does it feel okay?" Ignis asked.
She ran her paw over the sides of her head and flicked at her ponytail. She could feel it only slightly, same as when it hung free.
"Feels fine, honestly. I look totally bitchin' too."
"Bitchin' indeed!" Ronan interjected, getting a snort out of Ignis, much to her frustration.
The morning run to town was quick. They zig-zagged between shops, and with the money their missions gave, they grabbed some of the essentials Nona had needed for her stay. Toothpaste and frostbite balm from the apothecary, a toothbrush and a proper fin-tie at the Meowstic general store, then finally they stopped outside of Rhydon's furniture workshop.
"So about your bed…" Ignis began, "we have the money for a bed frame and mattress, but-"
"I'm fine, I'll be honest," Nona answered nonchalantly.
"Without a bed?"
"I sleep just fine on the floor."
Not entirely wrong, but not the truth either, given her strange dreams. Those probably wouldn't be fixed with a bed, though.
Ignis raised her brow and gave her a weird, sideways stare.
"What?" Nona held her hands behind her head. "You should be happy. Now you have more money."
"Yeah, but it's weird sleeping in a bed while you're there on the floor. It makes me feel bad." She crossed her arms under her cloak.
"Just don't? I sure ain't worried."
"You should be!" Ronan interjected, "Guildmaster says good explorers need good sleep. I never got good sleep when I tried sleeping on the floor."
Nona flicked his skull. "Well who asked you."
"If you're sure…" Ignis turned back to her shopping list, crossing off a bed with a flick of her claw.
They finished their errands at a produce stand run by an Applin, where Ignis sorted through baskets of vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables. Ronan ogled at the selection of breads and snacks one stand over, while Nona leaned on a post, watching the square for no reason other than to fight off her boredom.
The sun looked to be nearing its highest, and Nona let the light beat down onto her face, absorbing the warmth. The breeze brushed over her damp skin, and she smelled mouth watering food and herbs. It was loud in the square, but lively, and she could make out the sounds of Ignis and Ronan making small talk with the shopkeepers.
"Ooh mum, look, food!"
A Wurmple scuttled up to the stand right next to Ignis, her pointy head peeking excitedly over the edge.
"Wait for me, little one." Beautifly fluttered up from the street, laying a gentle hand on her daughter's head. In the bright sun, her wings glittered with dust of gold and ruby.
"Hi Beautifly," Ignis greeted.
"Good morning." She gave a polite nod. "How are you?"
"Doing well," Ignis answered, "we were just doing a little bit of shopping before going to the guild. How about you two?"
"Just fine, thank you. We were actually doing the same- shopping I mean, we're headed home afterwards."
Ignis finished her selection, and while the shopkeeper tallied her bill, she dug around in the bag on her side before placing a neat stack of coins for payment. Beautifly put a few various foods in her bag and slid it over just the same, but Nona noticed they were talking back and forth a lot longer than Ignis did.
"-You said they were how much, now?" She couldn't help but overhear.
Applin stuck their eyes in the bag again to check. "Well, for all of that… it would cost about 1,600 poke. I'm sorry for the price raise, but it's been getting harder to acquire some of my regular stock..."
"Is- is there a chance you have any older produce that might be cheaper."
"Let me check, actually, I may have some…"
Beautifly wrung out her tiny porcelain hands, avoiding eye contact with both Wurmple and Ignis, the former of which stared up at her expectantly.
"Is everything alright?" Ignis asked, reaching her hand out to Beautifly's shoulder.
Beautifly jerked, taking a steadying breath before speaking. "Y-Yes everything's fine… just fine. We'll just see if they have anything cheaper, won't we, little one?"
Wurmple gave her a small smile, but Ignis saw the doubt in her eyes, her older sibling instincts stirring in her stomach.
"We can help you pay for them if you need-"
"No, that won't be necessary."
It wasn't unusual for Beautifly to act this way, refusing her help, though Ignis felt awful for her all the same. Maybe it wasn't her business, and she was just being a pest. The very thought made her face go hot with embarrassment. She turned to leave, but Nona bumped her shoulder on her way out.
"You think she's really gonna be able to pay?" She asked under her breath.
"I don't know." Ignis shifted her eyes out to the square to not draw Beautifly's attention. "We've known Beautifly for a while now; this... this just happens sometimes, and there's nothing we can do about it- But still, I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried. I wish I could help."
Nona looked back to the stand, her face unreadable. Why did she care? She didn't know Beautifly as well as Ignis and Ronan did, and she didn't seem like the pay-it-forward type.
The shopkeeper came back out with empty arms, so to speak, and after a short chat, Beautifly's eyes darkened.
Ignis and Nona made brief eye contact. It was almost impossible to tell what she was thinking, until she stopped Beautifly from leaving with a paw on her shoulder.
"Hey, let us help," she half-asked half-told in her blunt, passive-aggressive fashion.
"I told you, we're just fine. I'll just… I'll go complete a job or two and come back. That should be enough money."
Brutish as it was, there was room in Nona's approach for Ignis to jump in. "Where are you going? Maybe we have a mission in the same place, and we could do it together."
"Ooh, Mum, can they come?" Wurmple piped up, climbing her Mom's leg.
"Er- no- well, Wurmple you won't be coming either way. You're still too little yet."
"All the more reason we should come," Ignis asserted with a tender smile, "Wurmple would feel safer with us there, wouldn't she?"
Wurmple nodded quickly, and Beautifly sighed, meeting her daughter's bulbous, honey colored eyes. She rubbed her face, and her wings rustled with impatience.
"Okay, I'll bring them with me. In the meantime, little pupa, I need you to stay home with Swadloon, alright?"
Wurmple looked down with a pout, but still answered with an obedient nod.
On the way to Leavanny's, they sifted through Beautifly's list of missions. They picked out two that both went to King's Orchard, giving a combined 800 poke, which Beautifly admitted would be just over enough for her groceries.
"Alright, don't give your cousin trouble now, okay, hon?"
"Yes Mum, I won't," Wurmple mumbled, hanging on the inside of the door.
Beautifly gave her a gentle smile and caressed her spiky cheek. "I'll be home soon. Wait for me."
Wurmple took her hand in an affectionate nibble, and Beautifly eased the door shut. She turned to the rest of her impromptu exploration team and stood up as straight as she could.
"Let's get this done, shall we?"
"Sounds good to me," Ronan chimed in. He was immediately on board with the idea as soon as Ignis explained it to him.
Ignis dug around in the outer pockets of the bag for the missions they had gotten in the mail. There was only one for King's Orchard, but it would be enough excuse to go to the same dungeon. With a quick fold of the letter, Ignis stuck it back into the bag, and gave it to Ronan to dutifully sling over his shoulder.
"Thank you," Beautifly finally admitted when they were at the orchard's gate, "for your help."
Hearing her tone change was the sweet relief Ignis had been waiting for in all the tension of her imposing.
New confidence in her choice welled in her chest when she answered. "Don't mention it."
Nona only gave a thumbs-up that Ignis couldn't help but feel was... lackluster.
Ignis hacked her way through the first floor's thickened foliage with her x-shaped swings. Even though she hadn't been its wielder for long, Ignis could feel her arms growing the tiniest bit stronger, her grip staying tighter for longer, and her stance holding Ellaine growing more comfortable. Quietly, she thanked Heracross for all of the extra pointers.
Ellaine was the name she had given to her great sword. There was plenty of time during early morning training sessions to daydream, and it gave plenty of chances for thoughts of stories to bleed into her meditations on her sword's name. To her, it just made sense that it would be the name of the fictional character she had known for so long. It made her feel like the headstrong Scorbunny princess was fighting right there with her.
"I wasn't aware you had taken up sword-fighting," Beautifly said as she flapped by Ignis' side. Her tone left her thoughts on it up to interpretation.
"O-Oh, this thing? Nothing to it," she answered, trying to sound more capable than she was, "I picked it up just after what happened with Manectric."
"I had heard about that… I wish I was there."
"There wasn't much you could have done, ma'am. Trust me, there definitely weren't hurting for help that night." Ignis looked between her teammates, her eyes lingering on little Ronan.
"That's reassuring, at least…"
As they passed through the rusted archway to the second floor, Ignis couldn't help but notice Ronan dragging his bone, and she saw him fiddling with his shard in his hand, a tick she knew spelled out nervousness.
He had the bone shard ever since they had met each other all those years ago. Ignis figured that he would lose something so small eventually, but to this day there wasn't a single second where he wasn't aware of where it was, and she had never once seen him drop it.
"How you feeling, Sharkie?" She asked, trying to sound casual.
"F-Fine! I can keep going, no problem."
Ronan had grown too good at spotting his sister's schemes, and immediately he wrapped his arms around himself for defense. Ignis felt like she had fumbled already.
"I never said we were gonna stop. Why, are you tired?"
"Not at all! This is the kind of stuff Explorers have to do. I can handle it, Iggy."
He picked up his pace to go ahead of her, but as he passed Nona, she stopped him with a firm hand on his head.
"Hey," she grunted sternly, "If you wanna keep going, I don't mind enough to stop you, but I do mind you bullshitting. Are you really tired?"
Ronan looked down at his feet, his hands twisting along his bone. Ignis was appalled by Nona's tone, and felt the need to step in and scold her. But before she could move, he answered in a gentle voice.
"… Yeah… I don't wanna stop though."
"Did you say you were tired, hon?" Beautifly asked. She had been in the front up until this point, but she fluttered down to speak with him. "Why don't we take a break and eat? It's not even two yet; we have plenty of time."
"Sounds good to me," Nona answered, plowing ahead of the other two in conversation and quietly outvoting Ronan.
Beautifly had scoped out the next room with a quick flutter over, and they all filed in and slumped down in the corner. Beautifly was the first to open her bag.
"So I already found enough berries- no surprise there, but we still have about three more floors to go before I reach the client who wanted the heal seed." She pulled out the bell-shaped seed and rolled it around in her hand.
"We've got a rescue just one floor before, so we'll follow you there," Ignis decided with a smile. She stuck her hand into the bag and sifted past all the berries and seeds, pulling out an apple and splitting it apart between all four of them.
"You're good at that," Nona said, biting off half of her slice.
"Sharp claws make it easier," Ignis grunted as she ripped the last half into two quarters, handing one to Ronan, and taking a small bite of the other.
"Thank you," he said politely, nibbling at the corner.
They had their short meal along with a few crackers that Ronan had gotten at the market. Despite her protests, Ignis got Beautifly to accept some too.
"Oh hey, are those cookies?" Nona pointed at a small brown sleeve peeking out of the bag.
Ignis looked over, but Ronan beat her to it, holding the package over his head.
"Yep!" He giggled.
His big sister only sighed, like she expected it. "Ronan, I thought I told you to leave that with the stuff at Leavanny's. Now you're gonna complain later about not having dessert."
"Nuh-uh! I promise I won't. Besides, I got them just for this."
"You didn't even know we were going into a dungeon today."
"I just meant the next dungeon we did!"
Shamelessly, Nona interrupted the siblings' arguing to snatch the little paper bag out of Ronan's hand. As soon as she crinkled it open, the air filled with the smell of sweet sugar and cinnamon.
"Making good use out of the money we're saving on my bed," she joked as she scarfed down a cookie.
While the others ate, Nona stared off at the room's two exits, one of which where they came from, and the other opposite to it blocked off with more tangling branches. Like a guard dog, her eyes were always on at least one.
Ignis felt that twinge of jealousy peek through again. It was one thing to see her succeed in the guild where she wanted to, but to see her doing an even better job at helping Ronan stirred her stomach, and stung more than she was willing to admit.
All of the help with work was nice. Having someone else there for him was nice, but being shouldered out of her big sister spot wasn't. It was such a childish, one-sided rivalry, and she knew that too, but then why did it get to her so much?
What does he even need you for? You're not as cool as Nona is, and you aren't even as helpful. What are you doing wrong?
It wasn't all about her, and she knew that she should be happy for Ronan, but that ugly resentment still found its home in her heart, whether she liked it or not. She rubbed two apple seeds between her thumbs, clicking them with the tips of her claws.
With a sigh, she figured there were a lot of things that she and her feelings still disagreed on. She just hoped that the dust storm in her head would settle soon.
"Everyone finished?" Beautifly asked, looking mostly to Ronan.
He nodded, and they all stood up to leave. Ignis ran eagerly to take up the front spot in the line, shaking off the dirt from her cloak as she reached for her sword.
"Ha!" Beautifly shouted as she whipped the air with her wings, a cascade of sparkling powder showering over the Teddiursa and blotting dark bruises on its skin.
Ronan's bone struck it square in the face, sending it flying back and scraping across the dirt floor. When the dust settled, it was gone. He cheered as he ran to catch his bone, not noticing the Gloom sneaking up behind him.
"Ronan, MOVE!"
Nona shouted and slammed her shoulder hard into Gloom's side, like running into a brick wall covered in pillows. Unfazed, it wrapped its nubby arms around her body, and its foliage glowed a sickening green. Nona kicked and scratched with claws she didn't have. She could feel the first sting of the absorption only for a second.
It groaned and jolted, its arms going limp, and it slumped down to the ground. Ignis stood over its body, the tip of her blade held down at the end of an overhead slash.
Much cleaner than last time, Nona thought.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Ignis held out a hand, and Nona clasped it, raising herself slowly to her feet.
Their fight marked the end of the fourth floor. They had managed to find the entrance to the fifth, but still no sign of their client.
"Why don't Ronan and I go over this way and see if we can find them? Nona, you and Beautifly can take the other path, over there." Ignis pointed to the two branching pathways opposite to each other.
"Uh…" Nona looked at Beautifly, who just shrugged. They would make an alright duo, she thought. Her tackle was getting better, so she could batter away pokemon long enough for Beautifly to finish the job. "Sure."
Ignis ruffled the top of Ronan's head, and they went off hand-in-hand down the left path. Silently, Nona lead the way down the other.
The search was through long, viney hallways with no pokemon to speak of, which Nona would typically happy about, but instead she grit her teeth with the awkward, boring silence.
Typically Nona wouldn't be all that worried about looking rude, but just having someone in such close vicinity without saying anything was driving her up the wall. When she spoke, it was more out of the urge to not fall asleep on her feet.
"… So… you live with Leavanny?"
"Hm?" Beautifly didn't look like she was expecting chat. "Oh- yes, just for a while. She's my older sister, and when I lost my last job… she gave me and Wurmple a place to stay until I get back on my feet."
"How long ago was that?"
"About a year now, I think…"
Maybe Nona's silence was too judgmental for her, but Beautifly didn't make any effort to ask about her life or situation. Nona looked ahead and saw only more hallway. She groaned under her breath.
What else… Missions? Wurmple? Swadloon?
"That's cool of her, kinda like my deal with... Ignis and Ronan." She wasn't sure yet what name to use when they weren't around. She'd figure out the weird naming guidelines eventually... hopefully.
"Mm…"
"Does she... know you can't afford food?"
Nona heard the condescension in her voice right as she said it, and she peered back just enough to see Beautifly flutter her wings, agitated.
"I can afford food, I just… I didn't read my budget right this time."
It would have probably been best to leave it there, but Nona still couldn't think of anything else to say, so she let her brain run her mouth.
"Wouldn't your sister wanna help you?"
"She… Yes, but I don't need that help. She's giving me enough with letting us stay there."
They entered a clearing, much to Nona's relief, and they were finally free from the suffocating, awkward hallway. Or… at least the suffocating part. The awkward was still there.
Nona plucked a yellowish-brown berry off of the ground- sitrus, Ronan had taught her. She whistled at Beautifly, and when she looked, Nona sent it in an overhand toss.
"Think fast."
Beautifly managed to catch it with a bit of fumbling, though she gave her a disgruntled look.
"I figured we could help you get a couple of your groceries while we're here. At least could make future missions easier," Nona explained.
"No, thank you. I'll pay for it myself." Her voice was colder than it had been before, like she was offended.
Nona cocked an eyebrow and stared at her until she tossed the berry back. Weird.
There wasn't much else around the room, no pokemon either, and they kept going on. If they had mapped their current trek right, the next room would be a dead-end.
Beautifly went through first this time, gently floating over the ground. They entered a small hollow at the trail's end, where they were met with a scrawny little Oshawott sitting criss-cross on a patch of grass.
"Are you the rescue team?" Their big eyes stared wide. Oshawott's voice was high and hoarse from crying, probably a small child.
"Yes, dear," Beautifly said, fluttering over to their side, "the rest of our team should be here in a moment. How are you doing?"
Oshawott looked at her, then down at his paws, eyes filling with tears. He wiped his nose with a sniffle, and Beautifly wordlessly wrapped him up in a hug.
"I was real scared… the pokemon here are all so mad. One of them was really strong, and it got my brother…"
"Oh sweetheart…" She ran her fingers through his hair. She looked so motherly, Nona thought. It made her feel like she should be offering more support.
"And one of 'em… It spat this stuff at me before I could run away, and it gave me a tummy ache."
"What stuff?" Nona asked. Before he could answer, she raised his arm to inspect it, and she saw it patched with familiar bruises.
"Poison," Nona and Beautifly said in unison.
Oshawott's eyes darted between them, tears soaking his cheek fur. "Am- Am I gonna die?"
"Nonono- sweetie you're not going to die. Shh," Beautifly held him closer, planting a tender kiss on his forehead. "You just need a little bit of medicine, okay?"
His panting slowed into stable, shaky breaths. "Will it taste bad?"
"You won't have to taste it at all. All you have to do is swallow a tiny little seed, okay?"
Beautifly flipped the top on her canvas bag and pulled out her heal seed. Nona gave her a questioning look, since she needed it for her mission, but she didn't so much as hesitate to place it gingerly in his tiny paw.
"I don't wanna choke…" With thin, pursed lips, he stared at it like a spoonful of bitter medicine.
"You aren't gonna choke, honey. Here, have some water."
She stuck her arm in again all the way to the bottom, and as she pulled out a wooden bottle of water, out too fell a sizable brown pouch, the contents clattering richly out onto the floor.
Nona saw the glint of gold coins, and Beautifly's scrambling to hide it told her all she needed to know. I was money- more than she had let on to having.
The two made eye contact, Nona's brow furrowing with equal confusion and anger, a look that said 'you better have a real good explanation for this.'
With some coaxing from Beautifly, Oshawott popped the seed into his mouth and swallowed it with big gulps of water, some dripping off the sides of his face and down his chin.
"Very good! You've been so brave," she cooed.
Oshawott only sniffled, leaning into Beautifly's chest fur. It spoke to how long he'd been alone to cuddle up so tightly to a stranger.
"Oh good, they found him!" Ronan cheered.
He and Ignis filed into the room, introduced themselves to Oshawott, and explained that he would be following them to the end of the dungeon after they made Beautifly's delivery. Brave as he was, he said it was fine.
Ignis and Ronan ran ahead to the stairs, leaving Beautifly behind to carry Oshawott. Nona lagged back too, though for a much different reason.
"You gonna tell them?" Nona's voice was cool, calculating.
"About the seed?" Beautifly tried to dodge the question.
"You know what I'm talking about."
She sighed, looking back to make sure Oshawott was asleep on her back before speaking.
"I… Leavanny gave me funds to use."
"For food?"
"Yes, for food. She had sent me out to get the groceries this morning. I just… I thought I could contribute on my own- without needing her to pay for everything." Beautifly's eyes trailed the ground in front of her, a bad disguise of her embarrassment.
"But it cost too much," Nona finished for her.
"It cost too much…"
Nona rubbed where the bridge of her nose would be, which was not nearly as calming for a Mudkip, she thought bitterly.
"That sounds kinda stupid, no offense."
It looked like out of everything, that struck a nerve. She looked to the opposite wall, pointedly avoiding Nona's stare.
"You… You don't understand. When you're a mother, you want the pride of at least being able to support your child. Wurmple deserves a Mum who can take care of her."
"And where is Wurmple now, might I ask? I bet she's super jazzed about all this then."
Beautifly didn't have an answer for that, but Nona did have further to press.
"I mean, I'm just saying it's not just about you." She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to ease some reassurance into her voice. "Don't you think she'd want to have you there with her? Not out here fighting and shit?"
Beautifly looked back to the small, napping child hanging off her back, no doubt thinking of her own.
"… She… Maybe… I don't know."
They caught up to the others shortly after, silently agreeing the conversation was over. They took the archway to the fifth floor, Beautifly's eyes trained on her feet.
"So now we can just do that delivery of yours, Beautifly, and we'll be on our way through the end!" Ignis laid out, spinning around to face her.
Beautifly spared a last glance over to Nona, who looked at her expectantly.
"I… I used my last heal seed- on our friend here," she admitted, nodding behind her, "is there any way you could… lend me one?"
"You can have one. We got plenty!" Ronan dug his whole arm into the bag and pulled out the same tiny green seed Beautifly had shown before.
"Thank you, I- I appreciate it." She squeezed it in her hand before dropping it into her bag. Nona noticed how difficult a movement it was for her to make while carrying Oshawott, and a pang of guilt flared in her gut.
"Let me." Nona didn't accept any protest as she slowly, and a little awkwardly, picked up the sleeping Oshawott by his underarms and eased him onto her back. She thought she would be in for a challenge, but the counter balance surprisingly made it easier for her to walk on two legs, aided in part by her braces.
The rest of the dungeon had its action and its calm. They found the client, a Sigilyph who kept drifting off from a sleep spore, and Nona guessed it was around late afternoon when they reached the dungeon's end.
They all followed Beautifly back to her house on the way to the guild, and Ignis took up her large brown bag of groceries again, while Ronan took the chance to sneak another cookie. On tired feet, they made the walk over to the Guild to finally get Oshawott home.
"Oh- Rapid!" A towering Dewott practically barreled into Nona the second they walked through the doors, sweeping Oshawott off of her shoulders into a tight, desperate hug. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you- are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Oshawott sniffled, wiping away happy-tears this time, "they saved me. They said I was very brave."
"I'm sure you were," Dewott laughed, wiping his tears into his shoulder, "thank you so much. I was so worried for my little brother. Words can't describe how happy I am to know he's home safe."
"D-Don't mention it!" Ignis waived, kneading her hands.
"You're welcome, mister!" Ronan followed with a big grin.
By the time they got through the dungeon back at home, Ignis' arms felt like they were going to fall off from having to carry the groceries, and the sword work from earlier definitely wasn't helping.
Sluggishly, she shouldered the front door open and made her way blindly to the kitchen table. The sun was at the horizon's lip, and hardly any light made it inside. Still though, she had work to do, so she trudged over to the fire and stuck her tail in, the flames quickly lapping at the charcoal.
Ronan, as always, didn't bother much with the chores. Instead, he was rolling around in Nona's hodge-podge pile of blankets, tossing and rolling his dolls around in a make-believe world only he understood. Watching him made Ignis' heart sing, and made all the long days worth it.
Routine was one thing that helped her fight through the aching tiredness. There was a whole order of operations she used when putting away the groceries, all in manageable chunks that saw the job through to its end. It was familiar, a safe space.
Then Nona stuck herself right in the middle of it. Ignis didn't doubt she was putting things away to be nice, but she obviously didn't pay attention to where things went. Really, who puts the fruit in the bread cabinet? Mold would run wild!
"Thank you," Ignis interrupted, plucking a jar of spices from Nona's hand and saving it from the junk drawer, "but that's not where that goes."
Nona's face was plastered with her signature blankness, and she turned to grab the veggies next.
"That... That doesn't go there either."
Ignis stopped her from dropped the vegetables into the rag drawer, in which they no doubt would have bruised.
"Well then where do they go?" Nona crossed her arms and furrowed her brow.
"Well- look it's not just about where, it's in order. I have a system."
"A system?"
It would take a lot of energy that Ignis didn't have just to explain it all to her, so instead she just huffed and went back to her work. "Why don't you set the table instead? I'll make us something here in a minute."
She tried to just shrug Nona off, but she stood there with cheek frills flaring, staring with those unreadable dark eyes of hers that never really gave Ignis a line when it came to what she was thinking.
"Sorry for trying to help, I guess," she answered, turning and digging through the silverware drawer. If she was offended, her voice never faltered enough to show it.
A few more minutes of peace was all Ignis needed to wrap the kitchen up in a nice little bow. Dinner would be simple that night, she decided, sandwiches and soup. The soup was easy, just a can she popped open and heated over the fire, but she would have to slice the bread and vegetables.
"This way, we have something hot, and we also use the bread and veggies before they spoil or go stale..." Ignis muttered to herself. Fallen into familiar territory, she went on auto pilot while she popped open the can, plopped it in a pot over the fire, and grabbed a knife and cutting boardd.
Sparing a cursory look at Ronan (still playing quietly, to her relief), Ignis took up the knife and started slicing away.
It was a repetitive action, like walking on the road for a delivery, and just as easily as walking, her mind slipped into a daydream.
"I'm going to use the nova crown," Ellaine repeated, wiping down her sword in the kitchen corner just by the window.
"I- I heard you the first time." Ethel grabbed at the end of her dress, her mouth dry. "But- you know what that does, right?"
The Scorbunny brought her blade into the light to inspect, a rainbow dashing off onto the wall. She nodded, and in the sudden brightness, her face of scars came into full view.
"So- you know- suicide?" Ethel continued.
They both knew the answer to that question, that no one knew as well as Ellaine the consequences of her choice, but there was no force short of a god that could stop her. It was the kind of determination that the Salazzle fell so hopelessly in love with. Imagining her donning the crown and willing it to do... that. It was too much.
"Destroy the castle." Ellaine brought a finger up. "Destroy the king." Another. "End the monarchy." Three fingers. Three things, all for the impossible price of her own life.
"I hate how easy you say it... like you don't even matter." Ethel couldn't even look at her, she was so furious.
"In this case, I don't," Ellaine deadpanned, "this is about more than me."
The only possible vent of Ethel's mountain of frustration was no more than daintily chopping vegetables. She felt much more like throwing the knife to stick in the wall by Ellaine's head.
"So what about me then? You said... You said we could have a life with each other." She trained her eyes steady on her work to hide the tears. "You said we'd go dancing and live in the woods... was that all a lie?!"
With a pointed chop, she reached the end of a head of lettuce.
The fire popped with the last slice, and it yanked Ignis back out of her own head. How long had she been out? Darn it Ignis, you can't keep doing this!
She was fully ready to sprint over and save dinner from burning to the bottom of the pot, but when she looked over, she saw Nona, mitts on both hands, hoisting the pot to the kitchen.
"Hey, soup's on."
She gave Ronan's side a gentle kick, and he excitedly tossed his friends back up on his bed. He was sprinting to the kitchen, no regard for his path of travel, and was about to get a faceful of boiling soup!
Without even looking, Nona lifted it over her head, Ronan no more than a gentle bump against her side. With great effort, and some support from Ronan's bone, Nona slid her mitt down and set the steaming pot of dumpling soup smack dab in the center table. Bowls, plates, and spoons rested at the three seated points.
"Yo, Ignis, you done over there?"
She snapped out of it to see Nona pulling off her mitt, her damp skin carrying out a good bit of fluff.
"O-Oh, yeah, just a second. Ronan, you wanted mustard, right?..."
Dinner went smoother than Ignis expected it to, and by the time it was over, she had much more energy than she was used to. Maybe it was just because the meal was so hearty. At least, that was her only guess.
Nona chomped down on a half a sandwich, washing it down with a gulp of broth. It was starting to make Ignis sick watching her eat like that, so she kept her eyes on her bowl.
"Mmm-mm!" Ronan kicked his feet happily in his chair. "Thank you Ignis, thank you Nona!"
Ignis regarded him with a nod, but Nona kept to her meal, slurping loud over the edge of her bowl.
When they were done, Ignis stacked up all the dishes. Far too tired to wash, she just gave them a quick slick under the faucet to rinse off the crumbs and broth. Partway through, Nona stuck her hands in to help her finish up.
"I can handle it," Ignis assured her.
Nona answered with a grunt. "I just wanna get a drink, and you're in the way."
Without any more conversation, she finished with the sink, and Nona was quick to crane her head under the flow of water. She would be there a minute.
"Ronan..." Ignis sighed, looking at the floor.
All of his friends were lodged in different folds on Nona's pile, sticking out from under the beds, and even strewn out by the fireplace. Ignis couldn't believe she forgot to have him clean up before he got himself all snuggled up under his covers.
"But Iggy-y-y, I'm already in be-e-ed," he whined.
Yet another thing she didn't have the spoons to deal with that night. Tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll clean that up.
It was her turn to crawl under her covers, kicking her feet against the soft, pulley sheets. Now much too cozy to get up, she still found herself with a little too much energy to sleep.
She rolled over to the other side of her bed and grabbed her journal from her nightstand. When she rolled back, Nona was there wiping the water from her face.
"Nones, can you grab me Wigglytuff?" Ronan asked, his head peeking out just above his poofed up blanket.
Ignis could see Nona debating it, and she could see right when she decided to give in.
"Uh... which one was that? The blue one, right?"
Deciding to let Nona fend for herself on that front, Ignis delicately grabbed her fabric bookmark and peeled open the pages, making a little mark in the top right corner for the day's entry.
On the other side of the left page, she could see the indents from yesterday's drawings. Money for books was always tight, so Ignis decided that blank ones would be best. It just made sense to get a sketchbook, a journal, and a planner all in one.
The events of the day droned on in her head as she scribbled down runes. Inevitably, her pen slowly drifted to the side margins, translating her boredom into scribbles and drawings.
In her language of art, Ellaine was the most common word. Dozens of times had she drawn the same few poses for her character, all of which brandishing her signature sword, and all of which reflections of the clearest scenes she had in her head.
Unlike all the other nights, her character wasn't coming to her as easily. Nothing she drew really looked right, and in mild frustration, she let her tail flicker, the movement catching her eye.
"Okay, this is the last one, right? Wobbuffet and Charizard, I think you said-" Nona had a thick blue teardrop hanging from one paw, and the familiar Charizard in the other.
"Yep!" Ronan assured her, "now hand em over, lady."
Ignis felt a smile spread on her face. She knew what to draw then.
Her pen brought to life the image of Ronan's skull, each line carefully and slowly put so as to make a perfect picture- at least until she realized she missed a notch on the left side. Drawing in three dimensions was still proving a challenge.
The next drawing surprised her though. It was Nona. Not doing anything special or showing any certain emotion, just a quick doodle facing the other page. While she crosshatched in the darker color of her eyes, Ignis felt that resentment pop up again.
It was ugly, much too ugly to put down on paper, so instead she just looked off into the tiny white iris of Nona's eye, drawn in pencil lead that didn't go dark enough, a color that just didn't fit.
"Hey."
Ignis snapped her journal shut on reflex and looked up to see Nona standing at her bed.
"Ronan said to give this to you."
With that, she tossed the dangly-limbed charizard onto Ignis' pillow and slumped down onto her bed. Just past, she could see Ronan snuggled up in a mountain of his friends, snoring away softly.
Too many thoughts to put down anywhere but her own head, Ignis rolled over again and swapped her journal for a novel, the light of the moon giving enough light for her tail to simmer down.
After all the work Ronan put her through, Nona at least expected to be a little tired. She convinced herself that was the reason she let herself be drafted into picking up all his toys for him, after all.
But no, despite being totally stuffed, fully hydrated, and all worn out, she and her bed just weren't going to co-operate. She tossed onto her belly with a huff.
Up in the corner of her vision, Ignis' flame flickered at her side. The moon hid away behind a cloud, and she was busy reading something intently, her eyes zooming over the page like a high powered camera lens.
Reading was something she would have to tackle eventually. She had known it much earlier than today, but today was the time she finally admitted it to herself that it wasn't something she could do alone. If there was anyone she trusted to help, it would be Ignis.
"Hey, Ignis?" Nona whispered from her bed pile, careful not to wake Ronan.
Ignis turned away from her book to look at her, the flame of her reading light dancing in her eyes. "Yeah?"
"I… I wanted to ask you for help with something."
She looked at her like she sprouted a second head. "With what?"
Okay, taking a risk here, dream guy. Here's hoping I don't blow it.
"… So, when I lost my memories… I think I stopped being able to read...?"
Ignis just blinked at her, and she continued.
"I had noticed when we first went into town together, but I thought it might come back. Spoilers: it didn't," she finished with an uncomfortable laugh.
Ignis clapped her book closed and turned to face her fully, tilting her head to the side. "But you speak pokemon just fine."
"Is that what we're speaking?"
"Y-Yes? That's such a weird thing to forget."
"Hey, if I could customize my amnesia I would, okay? I'm just telling you the truth."
She didn't mean to snap, but something about telling Ignis this put her on the defensive.
"Well…"
Ignis looked off into the darkness of the house, her clouded eyes eventually landing on Ronan. She cracked a smile.
"… If I can teach him at the age of five, then I'm sure I can teach you know at the age of… well, older than he was." Finished, Ignis patted the foot of her bed, offering a seat.
Thank fuck.
Nona let out the breath she was holding and pushed herself to her feet. She climbed up the side of Ignis' bed to rest at its foot, trying very hard not to yank off the sheets.
"And to answer, I think I'm around your age," Nona clarified. It wasn't asked, but she figured she'd lay that down before it left her memory too.
"That's what I was gonna guess. I just wasn't sure."
Her claws flicked over the pages of her book, and she shook her head, reaching down to grab another, smaller one from the shelf at her bedside. It had thick cardboard pages, like a baby sensory book.
"You know, you're pretty much the only person near my age that hasn't evolved yet. Aside from me, of course," she mused, blowing the dust from the pages.
Evolution was one of the other concepts that somehow just surfaced in Nona's brain one day. She wasn't sure where she learned it, but it most likely had come along with whatever lodged the pokemon database into her brain.
"Why is it we didn't evolve?" Nona asked, resting her head on her fist.
"Lots of reasons. Sometimes it's genetics, sometimes you need to gain more life experience, and other times someone can do it basically whenever they want."
"So like a five year old could just be out here- fully evolved, making earthquakes and shit?"
She snorted a laugh, surprisingly unreserved. "In theory, yes, but luckily those cases are not very often, and most toddlers aren't filled with that much bloodlust... Actually, scratch that."
"I was gonna say- I don't know what kind of toddlers you've met, but I highly doubt that."
They both laughed under their breath, trying still to not disturb Ronan.
"So… do you know when your parents evolved? I know you said it's genetic," Nona asked, trying to flow the conversation along.
Suddenly, Ignis seemed very focused on the front page of the book.
"… Forget I asked. Uh, sorry."
"N-No..." She folded her hands in her lap and leaned forward. "I don't know them, I mean- not my biological parents, anyway. I'm sure it'll happen… in time..."
To distract themselves from the awkward silence, Ignis started explaining the book she had pulled out. It was a guidebook that she used to teach Ronan how to read footprint- the language they write in, Nona had learned- and that she would first have to learn the basic shapes of the different runes.
"-So the language was crafted to allow every pokemon, regardless of their physicality, to write and read in the same written word," Ignis explained, pointing to a diagram of the most basic runes. All chicken scratch to Nona. Is that an actual chicken foot?
It was a boatload of information, especially just to tackle in one night, but by the end of it, Nona at least knew a few basic characters and how to write her name, which she took more pride in than she was willing to admit. It was late by that point, and Ignis suggested they should probably get some sleep.
Nona, finally feeling tired, hopped down on all fours and started walking circles in her blanket bed. Before she plopped down to sleep, Ignis spoke up.
"Hey, Nona?"
"Yeah?"
"I… also have something to tell you."
For a second Nona was afraid she was about to find out she was living with a criminal, but Ignis had something less concerning to say.
"So… I'm not always a girl. I sometimes feel like… other stuff- different genders, I mean."
"Okay…" Nona looked at her, comfortable, but awaiting more.
"… I just- I wanted you to know that I'm gonna be a boy, at least for a little while."
"So, like, different pronouns? That's how that works, right?"
"Yeah, but my name is still the same though. It's gender neutral. I picked it myself." A proud smile broke through his tight expression.
"Works for me."
Without any other clarification needed, Nona resumed the process of digging out her little nest, and within minutes, she was asleep.