The carriage ride was long, but also pretty relaxing. Furret Abigail lied against the wall with an extra-long romance novel. Buizel Zen, Quilava Gawain, and shiny Zorua Aaron all slept in the dim light streaming from outside, the same Abigail used to read. The warm air and walls made it perfect.

Abigail was so caught up in her reading that she didn't realize Aaron had started to move until he looked right at her face.

"Hey," Aaron said, "why are you all blushy?"

Abigail looked at Aaron. She processed it, and flinched. She was wrapped up in her tail and didn't realize her face had a warm sting.

"Blushy?" Abigail asked. "I'm, just... warm. In here. Like, cramped."

"Oh reaaaally? So you won't mind if I peek at that page?"

"Stop being nosy..."

Zen and Gawain both barely had their eyes open. While Abigail was distracted looking at them, Aaron snatched the book through her fingers.

"I don't judge," Aaron said. "I'm just curious, y'know."

Zen and Gawain pushed themselves up against the wall, waking up a little more as Aaron read. Abigail felt her heart rate go up watching Aaron's eyes shoot from left to right at a breakneck pace.

"Wait a minute, this is pervy," Aaron said. "Surprise surpriiiiise."

Abigail covered her face and balled up in the corner.

"Oh, I see. I see," Aaron continued. "Dang, so you like those charming, cocky girls... Oooooh, uh. Okay, I've read far enough."

"Aaron," Zen said, "c'mon, dude. Can't you see she's not comfortable with you joking around?"

"Yah, yah. Sorry. Here you go."

Aaron slid the open book back to her. Abigail used her tail and brought it under her to hide the pages, but didn't pick it back up.

"Better buy a book cover if you want to read that one out in publiiiiic," Aaron sang.

"Aaron," Zen repeated.

"Alright, alright..."

"Aren't we getting there soon?" Gawain asked.

"A few minutes," Zen answered. "So it's time to wake up. And for the record, Aaron, I already know that book isn't that bad."

"You do, huh?"

"Yah, from online reviews. So put a sock in it."

"Did you write any of those reviews?"

The carriage took a turn and went onto a more bumpy area. They must have been close with what Abigail had been told about the place.

"Alright. Charming faces on, everyone," Aaron said. "Abigail, simmer dooooown."

Buizel Zen stood up and walked over slowly to avoid tripping as the carriage rumbled. Once he was in front of Aaron, he whipped Zorua Aaron's head with his tails. Aaron gave a little whimper and backed away from him further in the corner.

Abigail unfurled her body and fanned her face with her paw. The carriage came to a slow stop, making her bump her face with paw when it was finished.

"You know, it's kind of weird to show up unannounced like this," Gawain said. "I mean, is this really... polite?"

"Nothing our parents did was polite, per say," Zen said. "It won't be bad if we're nice about it."

"I guess. Still kind of a gut punch, though."

The carriage's back doors opened. Dim morning light and fresh morning air woke Abigail up from her stupor. She stretched and sighed. The gray sky was easy on the eyes.

The lone Umbreon Amadeus stood out on the grass, looking between them with a questioning glare.

"Everything alright in here?" Amadeus asked.

"Yah," Zen said. "We're all set."

"We're going to let you all lead, so we'll just be waiting."

"Really?" Gawain asked. "But it wasn't really our plan."

"We decided it would more comfortable this way. We'll just be in our carriage."

"But we don't have a plan..."

"Just try to be more... chill. We want to find out as much as we can."

"We got iiiiit," Aaron whined, "I am the chillest person I know. Trust me, I got this."

"Famous last words," Zen mumbled.

"It's just a straight shot a little further in," Amadeus said. "Good luck."

After a short minute of getting her fur ready, Abigail was the last to hop out of the carriage. The grass felt a little wet on her feet from overnight rain. Sleepy birds chirped from the lush, green treetops. Abigail turned and followed the others as they started down the path.

A small house like a shack sat up ahead. Flowers surrounded it, and a beaten path led up to the wooden door. The roof was a dome shape with a circular window close to the bottom ridge of the roof. Larger species might find it uncomfortable to be in, but it was clearly made for only one pokemon.

Zen, Aaron, and Gawain all lined up in front of the path. Abigail stopped behind them. She stared at the door.

"Abigail, you knock," Aaron said.

"Wait, why me?"

"Because you make other people comfortable."

"It's true," Zen said. "I have to agree."

"But why me?" Abigail repeated. "Zen, why don't you do it?"

"You're more... nice."

"Spit it out, Zen," Aaron groaned. "Cute. Adorable. Fluffy. Hot. That last part doesn't matter too much right now, but just go up there and be those things. It's not like you have an off button."

Abigail hugged her tail for comfort when they stepped to the side. Peer pressure forced her against the invisible wall in front of the door. She tapped twice on the door with a stiff wrist.

Right after knocking, Abigail stepped back. A rustling sound came from inside. She put on the best polite smile she had and stood just a step in front of the others.

A black claw pulled the door open. It was hard to make out the Mightyena's shape with the darkness inside, but she stepped out just a bit into the light before seeing them and freezing.

"Hi," Abigail said. "Are you Agatha's mom?"

Mightyena reeled her head back and pointed her snout to the side.

"Agatha?" Mightyena called nervously. "Did you do something on the internet?"

"What?" a young voice called back.

"There are some people here to see you!"

Some object slammed on the floor above. The complaining groan was so loud, it was almost a yell. The footsteps had an extra clanking sound as they moved.

"We're, uh... It's nice to meet you," Mightyena said. "I'm... Claire."

"I'm Abigail," Furret nodded.

"Y-yes… I know."

The stomping noise came close. Just as Abigail expected, an Audino covered in dull red scars came forward to the doorway. Abigail kept her head up to look at her face, but she could make out the gleam of light from her metal feet against the dark wood floor.

When Audino Agatha looked at them, she sighed. Her fur was messy, and her eyes were so bleak that it was alarming; like she'd get decked if she said something wrong.

"Hi," Abigail said.

"What do you want?" Audino asked.

"We, uh, don't want anything in particular..."

"Then what do your guys' parents want?"

Audino turned her eyes to the trio behind Furret Abigail. Abigail glanced back, but kept her focus ahead.

"They're just, uhm, worried," Zen explained. "So, uh, nice to meet you?"

"What happened?" Claire questioned.

"I'll explain later..." Audino said quietly. "Just tell me what you want."

"We just want to talk," Zen said. "Come with us. To Verity Castle."

Abigail turned her attention back to the Buizel. Gawain and Aaron looked just as surprised as she was.

"You can come too, miss Claire. We just want to talk about... Uhm, these Scions."

Claire turned back to Audino. She nodded without moving her lips.

"Yes..." Claire said. "Of course."


Furret Abigail walked next to Audino Agatha while they went back to the carriages. It was a little cramped for the Mightyena to join them, but the younger Audino fit in with ease. Because of the trees, the light streaming in was darker as the trip started.

Abigail sat right next to her silently. For some reason, Agatha wore a white cloak and huge, round glasses. It was easy to understand the cloak covered her scars, but she didn't really understand the glasses. It was harder to see the shape of her face. Her feet were covered in some kind of rubber. The coloration made them look normal. She could only see the difference in how she walked.

There was an extra touch of pain on her face. Abigail could tell her lower back was bothering her. She constantly shifted her body, never finding a comfortable position sitting against the wood carriage walls. Abigail was put off watching it.

Zen, Aaron, and Gawain didn't seem to notice. Abigail decided to at least bring attention to it.

"Is your back hurt?" Abigail asked.

"No," Agatha said. "It's fine."

Her tone silenced Abigail, in a way where she shouldn't push it any more. The others passed looks from across the room.

"So," Zen said, "I'm not sure we ever got formally introduced."

"Agatha," Audino said. "Didn't you look it up?"

"Pft, yah," Zorua Aaron answered. "We're just trying to be nice, over anything. But with everyone being kidnapped in their sleep and all, of course we'd come. Besides, we looked waaaaay deeper into Abigail's personal business."

"But you were willing to come all the way here just to 'get to know me'?"

"The trip was, like, a few hours," Aaron said. "Like, three? Meanwhile, the White Star's all the way in Lao Shen. It was easy to meet you, soooo..."

"Are you in high school?" Abigail asked.

Agatha shifted and gave her a questioning glare. "Uhm, yeah...?"

"I never went. My parents taught me how to live out in nature and stuff instead."

"O-kay."

After Abigail didn't have a reply, she looked towards the others.

"We were 'home-schooled' in the castle," Zen explained. "Politics, economics. Nation leading, uh, stuff. After midday is when we hung out."

"Wouldn't you have other friends your age?" Agatha asked.

"No, we suck."

Zen glared at Aaron.

"But what about Gawain?"

"I also suck," Gawain said. "But, uh, so does high school. And high schoolers."

"So none of you guys have actual friends your age?" Agatha asked.

None of them replied. Agatha curled her lower lip and gave an approving nod.

"Nice," Agatha said. "So, how do you plan to date and marry her if you don't know how to be friends first?"

"Hard work, determination, and a certain kind of appeal," Aaron said.

Abigail snorted. The walls of the carriage made it a little audible.

"Do you even know each other's favorite colors?" Agatha asked.

"Sky blue," Aaron said. "Brown is second. Green third. She told us that one time while we were hanging out."

Abigail was a bit surprised. He was right, but she didn't really remember ever telling him.

"Dude," Zen said, "how do you remember?"

"I just remember, dude."

"Favorite food?" Agatha asked.

"Cheeseburgers and pizza. Before she came to the city, cake. Any and all."

"Hobbies? Not counting… ninja shenanigans..."

"Singing, cooking, and reading. Sings country and folk, cooks sweets, and reads romance. Oh, and she likes TV."

"How about what area she's from?" Agatha continued.

"Kind of around Verde Village. Closish."

Agatha seemed to run out of questions and nodded. Abigail smiled a little. Aaron looked around at all of their faces and smiled.

"Alright," Agatha said. "Now, you're favorite things about her. Go."

"Well... She's still a kid even though she's an adult. Like seeing her sniff her paw after she scratches next to her nose."

"What," Agatha said.

"It's true."

Abigail glanced away.

"Do you have friends, Agatha?" Zen asked.

"I... don't know. Can't tell."

Everyone else fell quiet. Abigail looked at Zen, trying to guess what he was going to say next.

"Well, what do you mean?" Zen asked.

"I just get help out of pity. None of them are my family, or know about me like a friend would."

"Well, you should tell them about yourself if you want them to be your friends. Up to you, if you want to."

Agatha didn't directly reply, but Abigail saw a glimmer of thought behind her dark eyes.


This time, the ride felt longer with Agatha in the carriage. Even under her white cloak, Abigail could tell her arms were crossed. Her huge glasses were tilted down the whole time.

The ride itself to Verity Castle only lasted half an hour. Buizel Zen stood up and opened the carriage doors when they had stopped for a minute. He hopped down onto a stone floor and waved them all to follow.

Abigail followed out last behind Agatha. She was already facing Verity Castle when she hopped down on the ground.

It wasn't like Valor Castle at all. Valor Castle was more of a cornered off area with some smaller, eloquent buildings.

Verity Castle was a huge, single building made from dark brown bricks. It stood across a stone bridge over a thick river. Long stone walls protected four circular towers. They reached up to the gray sky on the castle's four corners. Light blue water revealed rocks and pebbles sitting on the ground underneath it and surrounded the whole structure. In the center, there was an enormous dome adorned with artistic patterns in mostly pink paint that had patterns like a fire.

The embers of paint continued along the castle walls. It spread all the way down across the bridge to Abigail's feet, with a few stones on the bridge being painted pink.

Buizel Zen walked forward a little and turned around, checking all of their reactions. Abigail looked down the row, but all of them were still taking it in, except for shiny Zorua Aaron.

"Nice place," Quilava Gawain said.

"Thanks," Zen replied.

"Why's it pinker than I am?" Audino Agatha questioned.

"It's Verity's national color. Like, our thing."

"Valor Castle wasn't hit with a blue wrecking ball," Aaron said. "Just fess up. You're the one who painted most of it, anyway."

Everyone got a little surprise pass through their faces and muscles. Zen shifted his feet and swung from side to side with a cute, scattered look in his eye.

"The dome was already like that. I just added to it."

"How long did all of this take?" Abigail asked.

"A couple years. But it wasn't hard, just a process."

"So, you're kind of an artist?"

"Not especially... Just decided to paint the whole thing."

"He's an artist," Aaron said. "Anyways, let's grab some food. It's been a while since I've had some of your kind of stuff, Zen. All, green and colorful and stuff."

"Dude, you mean salad?"

"I dunno the names of the types of salad..."

Zen started to go through a few names walking forward. Abigail was about to follow, but stopped short of taking a step forward. Something told her to look back at Agatha.

When she did, she saw Agatha, over and gasping for breath.

"Need some help?" Abigail asked.

"No," she hissed.

Abigail walked back anyway. Agatha looked like she was having trouble walking. Without asking again, Abigail wrapped her tail around her center twice over and lifted from under her shoulder.

With most of her weight taken care of, Abigail helped her keep a normal pace. The others glanced back and saw, but they didn't comment. They slowed down their pace so that they could walk across the bridge closer together.

"This doesn't seem well defended," Agatha said quietly.

"It is," Abigail replied, "there are people watching us from the water. And out of those castle pillars."

Abigail sensed one hanging under the bridge. Even with Zen so close, made her arms tense up. The pokemon watching from the tower were creepy in their own way, vanishing into darkness as soon as she looked at them.

"Do you need help with your back?" Abigail asked. "I can, uhm, help fix it if you want when we get in."

"Do you know what's wrong with it?"

"Well, yah... Scarred tissue doesn't pass energy through it too well until it's fully recovered. It just needs to relax and heal."

"How can you tell that's the problem?"

"I can feel it through my tail. Your energy flow. It's all… stuttery."

"Oh."

"Do you need help with that?"

The sudden deep voice made them all stop. A Greninja answered.

He swung like a pendulum from under the bridge and landed gracefully in front of them. A short drizzle came down with him. Abigail raised her paw over her eyes. Beads of water formed along her front.

"Your majesties," Greninja said.

"Hey," Zen greeted. His eyes lit up. As he walked forward, he glanced back. "Oh, this is Damien. He's, uh, my personal bodyguard. Like what Yellow Clan is for Aaron."

Greninja Damien nodded. To Abigail, he looked pretty young for what she would expect for a royal guard, even though Yellow Clan was younger too.

"H-hi," Abigail said, waving. "Uhm, help?"

Damien stalked forward and glanced over Agatha. She thinned her eyes to fight back against his gaze, but Damien's was easily more intimidating.

"I can help," Damien offered. "Well, we can help. We have resources inside."

"I'll take whatever's faster," Agatha huffed.

"Right then."

Damien moved against the side of the bridge and leaned against the concrete with his arms folded as they went past. Abigail noticed his stare after they passed him, but broke eye contact, focused on Agatha.

Spurred by the pain on Agatha's face, Abigail rushed to help from the other side. A huge wooden door with a circular top reached up to the brick over the entrance. Buizel Zen used a black control panel on the wall to get them in. He pushed a few buttons and caused the screen to light up.

"Hey," Zen said.

In the same breath, the doors swung open towards the inside. Wood under Abigail's feet creaked.

A red carpet stretched under her feet. In between to exquisite stone rampways, a lifelike painting of a certain Buizel sitting on an elegant gold chair with red cushioning hung over their heads. Abigail could hardly see Zen's gentle smile in it.

When the doors completely opened, Abigail saw the whole picture. A golden chandelier shined from up above with light-bulbs shaped like candles and limbs like vines. The wide area had two ramps leading up above the painting to a hallway and multiple other doorways on the sides of the room.

"Oh yah," Aaron said. His voice echoed a little. "This place is like a maze. I hate it here."

"Nice painting," Gawain said.

"Oh, thanks," Zen said, smiling. "That's, uh, family tradition. A new one after every Royal Parade. And marriage."

"Where is the freaking resource...?" Agatha mumbled.

"Right this way," Damien said.

Greninja Damien led them to the right. Past the doorway, there was another identical branching path in a plain stone hallway. And then another.

And then another. Abigail lost track of which directions he picked already.

"It's a castle," Damien said to another complaint from Aaron. "It's meant to be confusing."

"Yah, but imagine needing to use the map to your own house on the daily," Aaron grumbled.

"That was the first thing I studied in school," Zen said.

"So, you know the way?" Abigail asked.

"No. Soldiers usually come here after training for maintenance. Never knew this specific area that great."

"See?" Aaron asked.

After one more turn, they came into a hallway with a wall at the end of it and multiple doorways on the side. Their footsteps created a tiny avalanche on the red carpet, but there wasn't anyone else around to listen to it.

Damien turned through one of the doorways. A metallic table rested inside near the center of the room with other tables on the sides of the wall with different instruments.

"This room is actually for species a little smaller than Audinos, generally," Damien explained, "but you're rather young, so this will do nicely. Rest her on top."

Abigail led Agatha in first and brought her to the table while the others filed in. One of them flipped a light switch. It helped Abigail see the stone walls a little better. The dark color made it claustrophobic.

Abigail lifted her a bit and laid Agatha down on her front. She groaned a little, but her face relaxed. She backed up and watched with the other while Greninja Damien came up to the side of the table.

Damien looked up and down her back before touching it. His arm stayed perfectly still, but his face reacted as a few seconds passed.

"It feels like you've been trying to make it hurt as badly as possible."

"So, what's the plan?" Abigail asked.

"Welp, keep your muscles limber. First thing I will do is-"

Damien raised his arm and chopped down on her back. The crack sounded like a brick hitting the ground.

"Shhhit!" Agatha yelled. Abigail cringed.

"Okay, that's done," Damien nodded.

Agatha groaned and shifted around. The pain fell off of her face with every passing second.

"So, what'd you do?" Abigail asked.

"Shocked the energy so it would calm down. Is it starting to feel better?"

"Yeah," Agatha mumbled.

Audino Agatha used her arms and pushed herself up. With the pain gone, Abigail could read her better. She seemed tired. Just like her, Agatha probably never slept. None of them did, but it didn't look like a choice for her.

"Let's pay a quick visit to the meeting room," Damien said. "Then, we'll do whatever you like. Does that sound alright, Agatha?"

"Yeah yeah..."

Everyone gave Agatha some time. She eventually pushed off of the table back on her feet, tapping them against the floor and then stretching her back as she reached up in the air. She sighed as her shoulders fell.

"Okay, ready."


Agatha walked closer to Furret Abigail on the way back. Back at the entrance, Greninja Damien led them up over the painting and further in the main hallway. Massive bronze doors with carvings on them stood at the end, but Damien took a swift left long before they reached them.

On the other side of the side doorway was a conference room. An ovular wooden table rested in the center with large purple cushions on the stone floor. Two large windows let morning light pour into the room with curled up metal panels above them in place of curtains. The plain white walls stuck out from other parts of the castle.

Zen, Aaron, and Gawain's parents were already in different seats. They took up about half of the table, so they ended up sitting further away. The Serperior, Samurott, Typhlosion, Medicham, Umbreon, and two Mightyenas all wore different looks on their faces. Mightyena Clare still held a warm and pleasant air, but the rest had their tired eyes fully opened. The hint of red in their eyes almost seemed to jump between them.

Agatha followed Abigail and sat right next to her.

On the same cushion.

Abigail didn't mind, Agatha started to cling to her more. Agatha's fur was so close to touching her own that she felt a phantom of it. Abigail's body blocked her from direct eyesight, which was probably her idea. There were a lot of eyes.

"Hello, miss Agatha," Umbreon greeted. "Are you feeling well?"

"Yeah… Uhm, your majesty… Just, tired."

"Well, we'll make it quick. So, you don't remember what happened? You were just asleep in your bed like we were?"

"Yeah."

"Well, as someone who was kidnapped alongside us and dragged to that cave-"

"I'm sorry," Mightyena Claire said. "Kidnapped?"

Agatha groaned under her breath.

"We'll, uhm, tell you all about it," Abigail spoke up. "But everything's fine now..."

"We just want any kind of background information on any other strange events you might have."

Abigail glanced down at Agatha's face. It tensed up, her mouth stiff.

"No thanks," Agatha said. "I. You- I don't want to talk about it."

A short silence wafted through the air.

"May I?" Claire asked. "We can stay and talk. How about you all rest for a little bit, and maybe go to some restaurant tonight? I can explain a few things, even though I'm not quite sure what's going on here..."

Abigail checked Agatha's reaction to that. She nodded as her face released a little bit. Abigail liked the idea, too. She'd never been to Verity's cities before.

"I got space in my room," Zen offered. "We should probably get some sleep soon. The light's starting to hurt my eyes..."

Everyone turned to the other side of the table for Quilava Gawain and Zorua Aaron's opinions. Gawain dozed off with his paws holding up his face over the table, but Aaron had completely fallen off of his cushion. If Abigail didn't know he was asleep, she'd be concerned with how it looked like he just collapsed.

"That would be best," Umbreon said. "We'll just have a short talk here."

Furret Abigail stood along with Agatha and tapped Gawain on the shoulder. He stood up and staggered after them as they left. She didn't even bother with Aaron. She coiled her tail around him and carried him out the door.

Before she followed the others back out into the hallway, Abigail stole a glance back into the room. Mightyena Claire looked different to her all of a sudden, but Abigail just turned and walked away. She was too tired to think about what was going on.