Audino Agatha didn't want to sleep, but rolling around in the covers ended up making her a cocoon that was too snug to resist. The gray, brick ceiling above warmed the edge of her fur whenever she opened her eyes. Dark wooden bookshelves every part of the walls except for the door, but books weren't on all of them. There were a few snow globes and statues.
She hadn't slept as good as she just did in a while. Even though she wouldn't fall back asleep, she didn't feel like standing up. Her cloak and glasses were off to the side, and the strands of her ears laid out on the blanket on the gray stone floor, picking up the other voices in the room.
"Okay," Aaron said, "listen, Abigail. Zen's a simp, right?"
"Right," Abigail said.
"So he's not the impostor because if he was, he'd tell you to help you win."
"Right."
"Aaron simps harder, trust me," Zen said. "He's going to-"
A strange, hacking sound played.
"Oh no!" Abigail chirped. "Uhm, Gawain? Was, uh, that you?"
"Yes."
"I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to... Wait, how did I kill him?"
"Abigail," Zen sighed, "the impostor doesn't say that they're the ones who killed him."
"I'm the impostor?"
"That's why you were able to kill Gawain. Only impostors can kill crewmates without us doing a vote."
"Ooooooooh. Wait, so I won?"
Agatha groaned to herself. She'd never heard of the game herself, but even with just a short explanation, Abigail sounded stupid. Every time she realized the rules they already told her, she gasped like it was news. She must've been sweet eye candy for them to endure this.
She was, though. The Furret's fur was smooth and flawless. The unique gold color that replaced the dark brown all over her body just made it look more incredible. It really wasn't fair.
"So, uh, we know that Abigail's the impostor..." Zen said. "So to vote who leaves the game next-"
"Vote her out, Zen," Aaron chirped. "C'mon, do it. Be the ruthless gamer you were always meant to be. It's up to you who loses."
"Huh?"
Another sound played from their phones.
"Wait, Zen?" Abigail asked.
"Uh, did you just let her win?" Aaron asked.
"I mean, that was my guess before Abigail said anything. So, it's only fair."
"You simp!"
"It's fair!"
Agatha picked her head up when she heard them tumble on the carpet. Shiny Zorua Aaron jumped on top of Buizel Zen, punching him on the chest and gnawing at his face.
"She won't marry you just because you let her win a game!" Aaron yelled.
"Get off! She deserved to win considering we didn't know till she said anything!"
Agatha expected the Furret Abigail to do something, but she didn't. She watched with her feet pushing together and a half-raised arm with her phone dangling in her other paw. Abigail glanced at Quilava Gawain, who was lying on his back on the carpet with his arms crossed under his head, then back at them again with her arm falling at her sides.
After a short struggle, Zen pushed Aaron off and jumped to his feet. "Okay!" Zen cried. "Abigail wins. I mean, she was being super smart the whole time, so there. That's the end of it."
"That's a lie," Aaron said. "I knew she was the impostor since the first meeting."
"Then why didn't you vote her off?"
"You might be a simp, but I know how to treat a lady."
"Bro, what? I thought it was Gawain."
Agatha stole a glance at the Quilava gain. His face was blank and still.
"Pft, cause he's quiet?" Aaron asked.
"He's the only one who reacted with a face like an impostor would," Zen argued. "I mean, look. He'd be perfect."
"He wouldn't react if Glass Reshiram burst in through the ceiling."
"Hey."
All the heads in the room turned to Gawain. He raised his arm in the air.
"I'd be concerned," Gawain said.
Everyone just paused and stared as his arm fell back down and went back behind his head. While they were all staring, Agatha unwrapped herself from her red cocoon of blankets and sat up.
"So, uh, Abigail," Zen said. "Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?"
"Yeah," Agatha answered.
Agatha blinked and yawned while they turned to her. Zen's eyes were wide for a second, but they resettled on his face.
"Uh, yah," Zen said. "What would you like? Pizza?"
"Pizza?" Abigail repeated. "I want pizza."
"Wow Zen," Aaron said. "It's been nearly three seconds and you haven't started picking the wheat to make her a pizza yet. That's so unlike you."
Zen shot Aaron a glare. Aaron held his arms up with his palms facing up as he smiled.
"Anyways," Zen huffed. "Does that sound good, Agatha?"
"Yeah, sounds good."
Zen's room wasn't what Agatha expected in the end. There were only two windows, and his water pit was just a white-coated cavity in the corner of the room with a faucet instead of the mess of artwork she imagined. A part of her actually felt a little sad about it. They would run a whole country without any fun perks at all. Agatha's old room was more royal than this.
They played another game. Agatha stayed out of it, but she felt a little invested when it was down between the impostor being Gawain or Aaron. It ended up being Gawain, but Abigail voted wrong and the crewmates lost. She couldn't really blame her for this one. He kept his face so neutral that it was hard to tell if he was breathing. The amount of control made her jealous.
When the pizza came, it was being held by Greninja Damien's hands. He seemed chill. He didn't even bother speaking when he brought in the pizza. He just grunted at every "thank you" and walked back out the brown wood door.
Thankfully, it was just cheese pizza. Zen's room somehow didn't even have a television, so eating was boring until Agatha looked up at Aaron.
Aaron stared at her from across the room. She wasn't sure why. Agatha's scars weren't even visible from the blankets draping over her body.
"What?" Agatha hissed.
"Why do you look like you want to kill me?" Aaron asked.
"...What...?"
"Is that, like, your resting face?"
Agatha wasn't really paying attention to how she was holding her face. She let go of her facial muscles. Tension she didn't realize was there before fell off.
"Oh."
Aaron's wide eyed stare transitioned into a small smile ebbing from the side of his face. "I actually thought you were mad at me or something," he said, shaking his head. "Man, geez."
Agatha lowered her slice of pizza from her face and looked at the others. All of their heads and shoulders were falling, too.
"You know what?" Aaron said. "Why don't we go shopping? We're rich, sort of. Let's get you clothes."
"I don't need clothes," Agatha said.
"I mean, you wear that cloak thing to cover up, right? Why not something better? Something that'll make high school boys go 'wow' or something."
"Do you have any ideas that are a little more specific than 'something'?" Zen asked.
"I don't live here. You're the prince here, you think of a store."
"I don't know about clothing stores."
Agatha resigned herself to just watching, but the conversation stopped. Quilava Gawain, Furret Abigail, Zorua Aaron, and Buizel Zen all glanced between each other across the room.
"Okay," Abigail said, "let's do it. We'll just find something. It can't be that hard."
"Okay, now you jinxed it," Aaron sighed.
"You don't know that yet."
"Actually, I do. Literally felt it hit me."
Agatha didn't care if she looked good or bad. She could name just about anything else to do ant it'd be a better use of time.
"I don't need any new clothes," Agatha said.
"Think of it as a thanks for letting us drag you out here...?" Zen said. "I mean, we're just buying you things. And it's whatever you want."
Agatha couldn't really argue with that logic unless her argument wasn't logical. Free stuff is good. It kind of felt like she was a lost puppy getting treats, but not as much as usual. They did drag her out of her house after all, and free stuff is free.
They took a plain carriage out on the town. Till they got there, Furret Abigail sat in the corner and lost it over some book she was reading as her lower lip shivered. Aaron was on his phone, so he finally stopped talking for once. Zen stared off into space like he was taking a math class in his head. Gawain leaned back against the wall with the sun on his face.
Maybe sixteen was a little too old for Agatha. She was just fourteen, and the maturity gap was big in teenage years, but she was happy to just stare at Gawain and take it all in. The Quilava's body was smooth and pristine, all the way to his red apple eyes staring up and out of the carriage window.
She didn't get why it was so hard for Abigail to make a decision. Aaron was nuts. Maybe Zen just wasn't Agatha's type. But Gawain was just perfect, especially on the rare occasion he decided to talk. His deep voice boomed in her ears.
Agatha was covered in scars and had metal feet, though. Compared to Abigail, she looked like a dumpster. Even with Abigail drooling on herself, Agatha still lost to her. Thinking about her gold fur again, she got enough to ask about it.
"So," Agatha said quietly, "what made you dye your fur that color? I mean, it looks sharp."
It took Abigail a second to look up from her book. She blinked a few times as she processed the question, then answered, "Oh. It's not dye. It's this, uhm... condition?"
"Condition?"
"Basically," Aaron said, still looking down at his phone, "she's so badass that her own energy burned her gold."
"Oh yah," Zen said, nodding. "It's true. That's what the doctors said. They call it badass syndrome."
"Rare disease," Aaron continued, "but for just cents a day, Agatha, you could help the path to a treatment. Maybe even a cure."
Agatha was impressed at their teamwork. It was kind of creepy. They knew each other like books.
"So please," Zen said, "buy a subscription today. The badasses need us. Call Abigail's phone number today."
Aaron finished, "There is hope at the end of the tunnel. Maybe someday. Someday... Abigail could be cooking me a sandwich instead."
"Nope," Abigail said, shaking her head.
"Ugh, but I want to try your cooking."
"I can't. That's sexist. Best I can do is change your wheel."
"Okay," Aaron sighed. "How about if I make up the sexist part by dusting your room?"
"Not quite the right proportions." Abigail said with a straight face.
"Ugh... Fine, not worth."
"Not worth?" Abigail asked. She scoffed and glowered at him. "Have you even tasted my cooking?"
"Uhm... No?"
Furret Abigail shook her head in his direction. She turned to Agatha, still shaking it back and forth with her eyebrows flat over her eyes. Agatha copied her expression and passed it back to Aaron.
The carriage doors opened smack in front of a store. Greninja Damien was the one driving the carriage, and he claimed to know plenty of good ones around town. Audino Agatha trusted him to find something good. He was stylish without even wearing anything, so he probably knew.
Agatha stood peered out the window. The sliding glass doors were an average size, but the building itself was huge. It was the only building on the street when she looked left and right, but the street still looked busy from how far down the white cement walls stretched.
Aaron and Zen stepped out first. The sliding glass doors opened by themselves when shiny Zorua Aaron and Buizel Zen went inside first. Quilava Gawain followed close behind, but waited just outside with his head turned back.
Agatha fumbled with her white cloak, straightening it out from sitting for so long. Furret Abigail waited stood up with her, smiling back while Agatha put on her huge, fake round glasses.
"Are those real?" Abigail asked.
"No."
"So, why do you wear them?"
"Brings attention up here," Agatha said, touching the side of the glasses, "and away from down here," she said, tapping her right foot.
"Ah."
Abigail hopped down first. Agatha's feet were covered in the colored rubber, but there was still a bit of a clank when she hopped down. She balled up her fist and hissed to herself, swallowing to try and quench the ember in her chest.
When Agatha stomped inside, a warm wave of air washed over her. Turquoise blue pillars had confusing arrows on them, and register were scattered around at the end of unshaped walkways. On the gray carpet, there were steel stands for different kinds of clothing items. The first sections at the front were for smaller species than her.
It was also empty. Agatha was pleased about that, but a little confused. A store this big wouldn't be empty like this in the middle of the day.
"Where is everyone? Agatha asked.
"We bought ourselves an hour of the store to ourselves," Gawain said from behind her. "It's pretty nice."
"Oh. Yeah."
Agatha looked back through the doors towards the carriage. Greninja Damien laid on his side on top of it. His arm was in a V-shape supporting his head with sunlight streaming through, and his other hand held a book in front of his face. He gave a tiny nod her way.
The group started to separate before Agatha realized it. She wandered down one of the rows by herself. Most of the row was made from standing wall racks with accessories hanging from metal nails against a wood board.
Her eyes went up and down the walls. She wasn't sure what colors she was looking for, but most of the colors of the bows, earrings, and necklaces were too bright for her. She never really liked her tan and cream fur as an Audino. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but she liked dark colors. A dark blue headband stared at her from the wall, but Agatha turned away. It wasn't exactly the dark color she had in mind. Her eyes kept scanning and her feet kept moving until she reached the back wall.
All of the other rows had accessories for species smaller or larger than her. So far, this store really wasn't her style. Glancing down the other isles, they all cast a rainbow shine on the gray carpet the stand and racks were on. If it was any brighter in here, it'd hurt her eyes. Anyone who wore this stuff probably threw up rainbows.
After glancing down one of the isles, she doubled back and realized it was for her size again. This time, it was rows of jackets, coats, and shirts. There were different shapes and sizes, but there were dozens of each different kind.
Agatha didn't bother checking the ones that wouldn't fit her quite right. She had five or six racks to choose from for herself.
She stared, shifting her weight from leg to leg for a few minutes. She liked this one white tee shirt, but that was it. It's sleeves didn't reach down her arms far enough to cover all of her scars. She'd need something else along with it, but the rest of it hurt her eyes.
The gentle pitter patter of footsteps broke Agatha's eyes away. A Chikorita walked down the aisle with his eyes right on her.
"Can I help you pick?" he asked.
It took Agatha a little too long to answer, but she said, "Oh, sure."
Chikorita waltzed up next to her and sat down. His eyes went over the wall with a passive smile on his face.
"I like the white tee shirt," Agatha said, "but I want something with long sleeves too."
"Long sleeves," Chikorita repeated under his breath. His eyes stopped moving, looking down towards the floor.
"Uhm..."
"Y'know," he said, "leather is actually a sign of power."
"Leather?" Agatha asked. "What do you mean power?"
"Royalty used to wear leather in ancient times. A sign of power."
This was new to Agatha, and her family had dozens of historians. She'd definitely look it up later. There wasn't much of a reason not to believe him, unless he was just trying to sell her something. The logical part of Agatha told her that, but the illogical part of her believed him.
"I've never heard that before," Agatha said. "Where'd you read it from?"
"From a library. In the mountains somewhere, far away. Was a drifter."
Chikorita reached towards the wall with long, slender green vines. They crept up to a shadow of black cloth in the corner, wrapping around it and bringing it out into the light shining down from the ceiling.
It was a sleek, black leather jacket with soft edges. The black reflected light and flashed along its rim and buttons.
"I think leather suits you," Chikorita said.
He brought it into Agatha's hands. It felt cold on her skin, but she could tell it would be warm to wear. It looked strong. She pulled at it in her hands, and it felt strong, too.
"Do you like it?" Chikorita asked.
"Yeah," Agatha said. "I do."
Agatha felt down the smooth rim and waved her arms. It felt softer than it looked.
"What's..."
Agatha's voice fell. Chikorita had left when she wasn't looking. She looked around in both directions, then turned back towards the wall.
No one was looking. Agatha took off her white cloak for a second to try on the tee shirt and then the black leather jacket over it. The weight of it on her back and the color made her feel stronger, as if something inside woke up to carry it.
There weren't any mirrors to see how she looked, so the Audino set out to find the others and see what they thought.
Something else caught Agatha's eye.
Agatha forgot what she was doing before she started looking at more things. She tried on a few more jackets, but it was always an easy option to choose the black leather jacket she still had on. Considering she had never worn it before, or any leather, she felt strangely attached to it. She imagined it's how one of those princes would feel about their crowns, if they each had one. Come to think of it, she didn't actually know if they did.
The weight of the jacket was addicting. It made her feel strong. She rotated her neck and cracked her shoulders.
Her memory snapped back to life. She wanted to get their opinions. Audino Agatha left the row she had been living in for the last thirty minutes and went out onto the wooden walkway. She didn't see them, but her hearing let her pick a direction.
The fuzzy sound of voices became audible through a series of filled clothing racks and walls.
"I mean, you look nice in anything, Abigail," Zen's voice said.
"No," Aaron said. "You look awful with the beanie and hot with the sunhat. Honesty always wins a lady's heart."
"I am being honest."
Agatha turned a corner on one of the rows. Furret Abigail, Buizel Zen, Zorua Aaron, and Quilava Gawain were all gathered around on the side of a rack covered in hats.
Abigail had a brown sunhat with a brown ribbon on top of her head. A shadow went over her hazel eyes, but her white smile was bright enough to light up her whole face. It turned into a circle when she saw Agatha, then back into a smile.
"Hey, look!" Abigail called.
Zen, Aaron, and Gawain all looked at her. Zen and Aaron smiled at each other while Gawain just smiled back at her. Agatha was going to talk, but her voice got stuck in her throat.
"I'm actually surprised I didn't think of leather," Aaron said. "It's perfect."
"Oh," Agatha murmured, "thank you."
"Oh, hey, check out what I found for you!" Abigail said, turning around in place.
Abigail grabbed onto a pink and black striped cloth in each hand from Zen. Agatha wasn't sure what they were at first glance.
"Socks," Abigail said. "People won't see your feet, and also won't question it. So, no more giant glasses?"
Agatha looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. She was stupid.
She never thought to wear socks. It was so easy. It was the perfect solution. The rubber covering on her feet wasn't entirely convincing if someone stared at them for too long , but this just solved everything. It was dumb she didn't think of this.
"Do you not like them...?" Abigail asked.
"No, they're great," Agatha answered. "Just feel dumb for not thinking of it before... Not sure about the color..."
"Pink and black kinda looks nice. I mean, we could look for other colors if you want to."
Abigail was right. Pink and black made even more sense now with her jacket. She started to nod. "Yeah, those colors are good."
"Cool," Zen said, "so, did you want to buy anything else? Did you see everything?"
"Yeah, I did. I'm all set."
"Alright, then let's go pay. On me."
"Zen," Aaron said, "aren't we getting this for free?"
The Buizel glanced up. He turned around towards Abigail's blissful smirk.
"Well..." he said, "yah. Yah, we are getting it for free."
Zen ran it by the working cashier with a five second conversation before they went back to the carriage. Damien was still reading on the carriage's roof, but he folded the book in his hand and hopped down to the panel up front as soon as they came out of the doors.
Agatha wasn't sure where they were going next. She felt tired already. Something about other people did that to her lately. The only time she felt good was when she was practicing moves and working out.
Audino Agatha stopped walking. Abigail, Zen, Aaron, and Gawain all turned around after stepping up into the carriage and stared at her.
"Hey," Zorua Aaron called, "you good?"
"Abigail," Agatha said, "could we have a battle?"
Buizel Zen, Quilava Gawain, and Zorua Aaron all turned to Furret Abigail. She glanced between them all with her mouth a little open.
"Uh, sure," Abigail said. "Hey Zen, is there an arena somewhere close by?"
"Yah," Zen said, "a small one a ten minute ride away."
"Imagine having the Veritan map memorized and not being able to find your way in your house," Aaron said.
"Yah," Gawain said, "that does sound pretty ridiculous, Zen."
"Well, I didn't freaking build it..."
"Should've painted on arrows," Aaron said. "A lot of arrows."
Abigail lowered her head and snickered. Agatha rolled her eyes, but a smile broke out on her face.
