"This is the right ferry. She should be here."
Selene and Hau shared a look, and the expression on his face read with the same feeling of dread she was experiencing. They were at the Malie City ferry terminal and had watched as a white and silver ferry pulled into the harbor. It had unloaded and Lillie had not been amongst the people that spilled from its deck. Elio had even taken the initiative to dart aboard the vessel, Macho at his side, much to the ship captain's chagrin, and demanded to know if a girl was still aboard. After a heated discussion, he had been told no girl fitting his description had boarded that ship, and all the passengers were off—and then Elio had been escorted off by a burly man with a midday Lycanroc at his side, who easily intimidated Macho into obeying.
"Elio, maybe she just got delayed and had to take the next one?" Selene offered hopefully. Or at least, she tried to, all the while nervously stroking Bowtie's feathers as he sat astride her shoulder; truthfully, it frightened her to know Lillie wasn't where she had said she would be. These islands had already seemed to claim so much from people… Would it really have been that much of a stretch to think they could get Lillie as well? But then, what did that make of her, for pushing to leave her behind on Akala to talk to those at the Aether Foundation? What did that mean for all of Alola if what Lillie and the Ultra Recon Squad had said was true? It had her tongue dry as sandpaper, as she thought about that, the idea that she had potentially done the exact opposite of what she was given her 'gift' to do… Certainly, she hadn't enjoyed her 'gift,' but she had just started to try to do it right, to do what Tapu Koko, what those islands, needed… She and Hau had tried again, a few times, even, to contact Tapu Koko, without success. All she could think was: Am I too late?
"She's not answering her phone, either," Elio pointed out almost bitingly as he paced ahead of her on the docks. It was still quite early in the morning, with only a few people meandering about, and that made Selene feel all the more on-edge. She felt almost… exposed. Yet, she knew they had nothing to hide… She shrank away from Elio. "She doesn't"—he cut himself off with a huff, and nervously adjusted his hat with his left hand, spinning on the heel of his right shoe. "She doesn't do that, leave me unanswered like that, especially about something like this."
"Phone work bad between island, not work," Hau tried to softly explain. Popper, at his feet, barked a couple of times supportively. "So, maybe—"
Elio cut Hau off with a glare. "That's just a little too familiar," he muttered, pausing, and clasped his hands together in front of himself. Taking a deep breath, Elio closed his eyes, as if privately trying to calm himself. Yet, Selene knew exactly what he meant, and why he was feeling that way, and it made her cringe, with another rush of shame for having urged him to go to Aether Paradise with her. Especially since now, she knew there was nothing worth going there for. Dr. Wicke had offered as much help as she could, Lillie had claimed those lower in Aether's ranks would still be likely to help, but going there had cost her so, so dearly, if the dreadful feeling she and Elio were experiencing was correct. The circumstances aligned eerily well with their parents' disappearance, down to the stupid, potential explanation of lack of cell service. That, Selene was sure, was where Elio's mind was.
"So, I heard you were causin' a scene down this way."
Selene yelped and twirled on a heel, making Bowtie take flight and squawk in surprise. Hau similarly jolted, though Popper only glanced up at the person that had spoken from behind them with curiosity. Yet, Elio jerked his head to glare at the man, narrowing his blue eyes at him. At his side, Macho's hackles started to rise, and he growled. "Who are you?" Elio pressed, taking a deliberate step forward, between Selene and Hau.
"Nobody," the man replied, smoothing back thin, stringy gray hair, maroon eyes glittering. "Nobody important, anyway, but I think they call me Nanu when they wanna get my attention. Sometimes I humor 'em." He simpered.
Hau and Selene raised a brow at each other, and she saw the end of his lips turn up like he was going to snicker or make a joke, but Elio's combative growl from just ahead cut that short. "Well, I didn't hear anyone say Nanu," Elio retorted coldly, stiffening his shoulders. "So—"
"Well, I am this thing called a 'police officer,'" Nanu chuckled, blithely cutting Elio off, as if unaware he had even been speaking still. He adjusted the dark blue jacket he was wearing, showing a stitched-in insignia that Selene supposed proved he was what he said he was. Nanu then yawned, stretching an arm, as if completely unbothered by Elio's aggression. Selene almost admired him for it, because Elio's protectiveness… guiltily, it was beginning to scare her. She knew it was important, and needed, and she had pressed for it, but… she shamefully felt some fear. 'Dangerous' was never an adjective she would have thought to be able to describe her brother with, even when she had pushed him to lean more into it, yet, in moments like these, where his eyes hardened in spite and he seemed so much taller and broader, that was all she could describe him with. Dangerous. "Like I said, it's not that important 'round here, but even though nobody listens, I still get annoyed into comin' to check things out whenever someone's causin' a problem. An' I heard that some guy with a blue and white striped shirt and a Torracat was causin' problems down at the docks. You are the only one I see like that, so… What's goin' on, Torracat Man?"
To the surprise of Selene, it was Hau who spoke up, in Alolan. He skirted past Elio, as if to get out of his range (range of what, Selene wasn't sure, and it made her feel a pang of nausea to realize that), and said, "H-hi, sir, I'm Hau. We were supposed to meet a friend, Lillie, at the dock here, she was supposed to be on that ferry, but… she's not. And my two friends, Selene there, and Elio there, they've already… they've already had a rough time with people disappearing. They're not taking it well… I know she's probably just stuck on the next ferry between the islands where the service is bad, but yeah…"
"People disappearin'?" Nanu tilted his head with piqued interest. "Like… how? And when?"
"What's he saying?" Elio agitatedly demanded, starting to pace again.
Selene opened her mouth to say something to soothe him, but nothing came out.
Hau cleared his throat. "Ah, their parents, a couple weeks ago…"
"Oh," Nanu grimaced. "That's a long time…" He pressed his lips to a thin line and looked up. "Well, maybe you should wait for your friend a little longer here. But if she ain't showin' up, and you want some confirmation, you might need an interfacer."
"A what?" Elio sharply pressed.
Cracking a slackjawed grin, Nanu teased, "Oh, aren't you in for a treat." Yawning, he explained, "Well, whenever someone goes missin' and I happen to get called to help with it, my first go-to is always an interfacer. Knowin' whether they're dead or alive is a good start, y'know, 'cause it's a very different search method for someone who's alive versus someone who's, well, not. In today's day and age, your resident interfacer would be Captain Acerola."
"She is alive, and so are they!" Elio fiercely barked, pulling his lips into a furious snarl, as if he couldn't believe Nanu could even suggest such a thing. It made Selene subconsciously fall into step beside Hau. It was such an odd sensation to feel a bit safer with him than with Elio. Again, there was a small pang of guilt.
Yet, Nanu merely waved him off. "Let's wait a lil' while longer. But if she don't show, let's go figure that out for real."
Selene wondered just how he could ignore Elio's fierceness so easily, and she got the sensation that this was no simple police officer, like the helpless bystander of a cop they had met back on Akala.
Although her hands and feet had been bound, Lillie had discovered she still had one weapon at her disposal—her mouth. Throughout the drive away from where she had been captured at the motel docks, she had discovered that some windows of the truck were busted, leaving them open and unable to close; although adrenaline and her focus on the task at hand had kept her from shouting more than simple profanities at her captors during the initial abduction, she realized after that she had time to think. And scream. So, scream she did, for anyone that might have heard. It was a longshot—she knew they had to be in the thick of the Skull Gang's 'territory,' so to speak—but she knew if she could get the right person's attention, there would be hell to pay for these Skull Gang crooks. The aggression some Alolans could display toward them was unreal, and she knew that.
Guzma had frustratedly stopped the truck and opened up one of the back doors. "That's it," he huffed, "shut up, or I'll make ya. Got it?"
"Like hell!" Plumeria snarled from the passenger seat up front. "Leave her alone. Who's she gonna alert out here? Ole' man Nanu ain't even at his cabin right now and—"
"There's more people to worry about than just Nanu! An' you know I ain't gonna do anythin' to really hurt her, Plumes," Guzma cut her off impatiently, or perhaps defensively, making Lillie want to grin in delight. Perhaps it was starting to dawn on him after all how abjectly wrong he was.
He pulled a bandanna from his back pocket and started to clamber into the back seat after her. Lillie almost amusedly raised a brow at him and, while he was distracted trying to untangle the bandanna, raised both her bound feet together and brought the bottom of her shoes crashing down over his head. He dropped the bandanna and scrabbled for a hold of the truck to keep from falling out the door, but his hands slipped on the frame, wet from the incessant rain, and he plopped onto the muddy earth outside with a huge splash of water. Wondering why Plumeria hadn't attempted to warn him, Lillie flicked her gaze to the front seat, and she almost laughed herself when she saw that Plumeria had a hand over her mouth, as if to cover up her snickering.
Yet, despite her amusement, it did make Lillie wonder… Plumeria seemed so against this idea of kidnapping her. So, she thought as she looked back out the door after where Guzma had fallen, what did Lusamine tell you that has you willing to go this far?
"This fuckin' bitch—!" she heard Guzma splutter as he got off the ground. He glared at her, hateful daggers, as he slung mud off his arms and shook out his hair. "I wonder how tough you'd be with my Golisopod after ya," he warned her darkly.
"What, I thought you were going to shut me up?" Lillie asked innocently, tauntingly, despite her heart starting to pound. She knew, of course, they could have seen pokémon after her at any time—she had just hoped that their disorganization and inexperience would keep them from doing so. She had no chance at fighting a pokémon… That realization made her grit her teeth in frustration. If only I had gotten over myself and decided to train a pokémon sooner! she thought furiously. Is this punishment for me being so stubborn, so set in what I thought was right?
Guzma started like he was going to reach for a Poké Ball, but Plumeria immediately hopped out the truck, startling him when she rounded on him. "Guz! Knock it off! Let's just get her into fuckin' Po Town, okay? Ain't nobody gonna hear shit outside the walls, and so what if some grunts hear? They listen to us. The fuck is hurtin' her or scarin' the hell outta her gonna do? An' we can just keep Gladdy busy elsewhere… even though I hate lyin' to hi—Guzma, this is stupid!"
"So ya keep sayin'!" Guzma waved her off, frustrated. He ignored her as he climbed back into the driver's seat. "Let's just go."
"Why won't you tell me why you trust what Aether's offerin' us for this?" Plumeria asked quietly once everyone was back in the truck. Although she could have kept hollering (and still did, on occasion) Lillie found herself intrigued by the seemingly sudden question, and admittedly, she had little hope in the distant idea that someone might hear her pleas and decide to interfere with a Skull Gang truck. Losing that hope did threaten her nerve some, but she refused to think too much about it. She couldn't afford to. She could not give into that fear, because she had to keep fighting them, every step of the way, no matter what. She had to. She had to. For her sake, Nebby's, and… and others…
However, Guzma was decidedly silent.
"Guz," Plumeria pressed in a wavering voice, "please. Why?"
"Why is that so important?" he finally defensively exploded, his voice much louder before, in a way that made Lillie cringe despite her desperation to remain strong. The reality of her situation was starting to truly weigh on her, and the more he spoke, the more alarmed she was to know she was now in this man's custody. "Why can't you just fuckin' trust me, Plumes, on why I trust what they offered?"
"I didn't mean it like that," Plumeria irritably mumbled, "and you know it." She shifted in her seat and seemed to shrink away from him, and Lillie only barely heard her mutter, "I just don't know why ya can't trust me with that info… That Faba ain't exactly seem trustworthy is all, an' I'm just… lost, Guz."
"Ya weren't there for my talk with Lusi," Guzma said almost… proudly? Lillie shook her head in confusion. Why would he sound proud about that?
"No, I wasn't," Plumeria bitingly agreed. "So, what'd she say?"
"She…" He trailed off as soon as he started, uncomfortably shifting in his seat. From where she was, Lillie couldn't see his face, or what Plumeria was looking at him so intently for, but after a few awkward seconds of him stuttering for a way to begin, she flinched when Plumeria slapped the door of the truck next to her.
"I think I get it. Are you for fuckin' real right now, Guz?" she demanded. "Her? President Lusamine of the Aether Foundation. Of all the girls in the world, you wanna impress her?" With an incredulous scoff, she added, "An' might I point out that she wants you to kidnap a girl to do that? That ain't raisin' any red flags for you? Ain't ya ever heard the phrase 'don't stick your—?"
The truck lurched to an abrupt stop, as if Guzma had annoyedly slammed the brakes, making Lillie squeak as she was nearly rolled into the floorboard. She whimpered as the bandannas tying her hands and feet together chafed her skin, nearly to the point of making her bleed on her hands. She was too distracted by that to truly register what Plumeria had said, to try to piece together what she had meant.
"We're here," was all Guzma responded with, his teeth gritted. He got out the driver's seat and went to open the back door for Lillie again. This time, as he stood just outside the truck, rainwater running down his white hair and making it cling to his forehead, he glowered at her knowingly, and curled a lip. "This ain't gotta get ugly. 'Kay?" With that, he unceremoniously grabbed at her bound feet, and pulled her forward. The bandanna around her ankles cut into her skin painfully, and she yelped. As she was dragged out, she could see massive, white walls a short distance away, and a few Skull Gang members were gathering around what she assumed was an entrance.
"Ow! Fucking, let go!" Lillie snarled, bucking against his hold. She didn't manage to throw him completely, and his grip on her only tightened. Once he had pulled her almost all the way out, she felt her shoes sink into the muddy, loose earth below, and he clasped his hands to her shoulders painfully hard.
"I told ya I ain't wanna hurt ya," Guzma frustratedly spat, "so why do ya keep makin' this worse, huh?"
Lillie felt a surge of anger—how dare he have the audacity to pretend not to understand why she was fighting so much! How dare he think he would get away with this so easily!—and she wrenched her shoulders back and forth, despite the way her lungs and muscles stung from the exertion of the day, and at last, she managed to thrash her way out of Guzma's hold. Of course, with her feet bound, she merely collapsed to the mud below, sinking alarmingly deep into the soupy earth, though she was soon picked up again by the four grunts that spilled from the bed of the truck.
"Damn it!" Guzma snapped, "That is enough!"
"No!" Lillie spluttered, grimacing at the bitter taste of some mud that had managed to get into her mouth in the messy struggle. In the window of the truck's rear driver's side door, one of the few windows left in the truck, she saw her reflection, distorted by the beading of rainwater as it streaked down here and there. Even so, she could see herself; her frazzled, patchy tan and blond hair, her muddy clothes, her waterlogged, reddened eyes, all of her flecked with wet, sticky mud.
Just who is that girl reflected there? she thought fleetingly, as she fiercely whirled to face Guzma, despite the grasp of the four Skull grunts on her arms. Their hold wasn't that tight, anyway, given how they were slipping due to her wet skin.
"No! No matter what you do to me, where you take me, I will keep fighting you! I will never give up! Because what you're doing is wrong and could hurt so many more people than any of you idiots realize!" She noticed Guzma start to lose his nerve, his muscles loosening as he seemingly second-guessed himself. "Whatever my mother promised you, she's lying, and whatever she's told you she wants Cosmog for, she's lying about that, too! She's unstable as it gets and wants Nebby so she can mess with monsters from other worlds! Including one that could steal the fucking sun from the sky! Does that sound crazy enough to you, to maybe get you to leave it alone?"
Almost stammering, Guzma had started shaking his head before she even finished. "Look, kid, I know you're scared—"
"No!" Lillie furiously cut him off again. "No, you listen to me, damn it, because I'm not making this up!" She sounded more desperate now. "Please, whatever you do, do not give that pokémon to my mother. If you think things are bad here now…" Lillie almost laughed as she trailed off, though it was more of a hysterical, disbelieving giggle. "You have no idea what else is at stake."
"Uh, Big G?" one of the grunts whimpered, nearly drowned out by the sound of the driving rain. Guzma looked up at him wordlessly. The grunt fidgeted a hand and shot Lillie a nervous glance, and she realized it was the same boy that had gotten frustrated and slammed her chest earlier. "I'm… gettin' a little nervous about this…" He looked at her again and smiled uneasily. "Ay, uh, Lillie, right? S-sorry, about earlier… and, uh, all this. Heh."
Awkwardly meeting his gaze against the gray backdrop of the sky behind him, Lillie shook away some water dribbling over her face. She didn't know what to say to that. Why did they trust Guzma so blindly? And more pressingly, why did he trust Lusamine so blindly?
The other grunts nodded in agreement to what that grunt had said, and Lillie exhaled a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Plumeria said nothing, but the way her eyes were cut at Guzma, and her arms folded, not to mention how mouthy she had been so far, said more than words likely would have at that point.
Guzma drew a hand through his wet hair frustratedly. "Fine," he growled after a long stretch of silence. He stamped a foot in the runny ground below, making a small splash. "Fine!"
"Fine what?" Plumeria pried.
"Fine, we hold onto her an' her pokémon for a max o' two weeks, to see if there's any truth to the bullshit she's been spewin', and if there is, then we can talk about lettin' her go or… somethin'," Guzma huffed. "But Plumes, you're helpin' me keep Gladdy busy and away from her, an' you're gonna do most o' the talkin' to her. 'Cause if she kicks or hits me or whatever again, I'm just gonna send her crazy ass an' that stupid pokémon o' hers over to Lusi, 'cause I ain't got the patience for it."
It was as if his words drained the very energy from her muscles and the air from her lungs. She took a deep breath and sagged in the hold of the grunts, her body aching all over. "Thank you," she weakly said, overwhelmed by how relieved she was. Whatever her mother had promised Guzma, she had managed to shake her twisted grip on his mind just enough to give herself, Nebby, and Alola a chance.
With the battle won, even if the war was still raging ahead, Lillie just found herself wondering as they started to force her into Po Town if there was such a thing as a dry place in all of Ula'Ula, because she was soaked to her very bones.
Just inside of the foyer of a pristine, white building, a girl with flowing, purple curls bounced around a Sandygast—a pokémon Selene wouldn't have known if not for her Rotom Dex's interjection—and made a group of children gathered about her squeal in delight. Nanu briskly explained that was Acerola, and Selene could tell the Captain was prattling off an enrapturing story in Alolan for the surrounding kids. She didn't try to pick out just what the story was because of just how frayed her nerves were.
Every hair on her body was on edge because that building, that orphanage, was owned by the Aether Foundation. It was called the Aether House. She had thought Elio was going to have a hernia when Nanu had led them to it initially; he had dug his heels into the pebbly path outside of it, and he demanded why Nanu had led them there.
"You need an interfacer. Here's where she lives," was all Nanu had bluntly said. The back and forth between him and Elio was short-lived, as Nanu didn't bother listening to Elio's mouth for long, silently entering the Aether House while Selene's brother was still blustering over that fact. Clearly, whatever reservations they had about the Aether Foundation, Nanu was uninterested in hearing them.
Unceremoniously, Nanu cleared his throat and leaned against a wall. "Acerola?" he gruffly called.
Yet, the girl didn't react. The kids around her jerked their head to glance at Nanu, but Acerola seemed wholly unaware, and the Sandygast beside her made a hollow, low, ghostly moan. Only then did Acerola turn to see her visitors, yet her eyes, only slightly paler violet than her unkempt, curly hair, looked blank, as if she weren't focused on anything. "Oh? Uncle Nanu!" she beamed, straightening her back and waving lackadaisically at him.
"I'm not your uncle," Nanu flatly replied. Pointing a thumb at Selene, Elio, and Hau, he flatly explained, "These three need your help checkin' in to see if a few people are still around."
"What's an interfacer?" Elio impatiently pressed, same as he had done a few times throughout the trip to the Aether House. Selene had thought to check her book, but the idea of opening those pages and reading more about the various 'gifts'… it was sickening.
"Me!" Acerola joyfully told Elio as she bounced in front of him. She twirled her purple dress and grinned wide. "I mean… I think… Anyway, who are you looking for?"
Retreating from her a few steps, Elio narrowed his eyes and growled, "What are you going to do…?"
"Oh, I just kinda know about living creatures that aren't alive anymore! I… don't really talk to them, though. I just sort of… know." She swayed her hips, making her dress bounce a bit with each movement. "So! What are the names of the people you're looking for?" she innocently asked. Her round, unfocused eyes looked glazed over, as if she had seen far too much despite how young she seemed, yet… she was so exuberant… Selene swallowed hard and didn't notice when Hau reassuringly pressed a hand to her left shoulder.
Only when he spoke did she realize. "It'll be okay," he murmured to her in Alolan, "whatever Captain Acerola says, it'll be okay."
"Inaba Isono and Miki Isono… and Lillie Aether," Elio finally said to Acerola, licking his lips afterward. She could tell his nerves were shot.
"I wish I could believe you," Selene whimpered back to Hau as she saw Acerola cock her head curiously.
"Inaba Isono, Miki Isono… Lillie Aether… Hmm…" Acerola said thoughtfully.