It was like being hit over the head with a frying pan.

And yes, Cecilia knew exactly how that felt. Details were a little foggy, but she remembered pain, feeling a little dizzy, and having a difficult time piecing words and thoughts together for a few minutes.

Okay, so this situation wasn't quite as painful and unpleasant, and one could argue that it really had very little to do with the actual experience of being smacked around by cookware. To that argument, Cecilia was willing to concede the point, but wow did that make it difficult to follow up on her thought. Sort of like how it felt when she got hit over the head with a frying pan. Details were a little foggy, but-

Cecilia shook herself quickly, interrupting what was sure to be a looping train of thought that could last several minutes if she wasn't careful. Every so often, the Quilava would hit a weird snag in her mental commentary, and then catch herself when she had deviated onto a tangent so far removed from the original line of thought that she had no idea how she got there. Matthias had once referred to the phenomenon as a "Mental Wiki Walk". She never did figure out what that phrase meant.

Thankfully, the simple act of gazing around at her surroundings was enough to refocus her thoughts. So many things had been happening, and so many little details had finally clicked within her mind that she was finding the whole thing a bit overwhelming and dizzying, torn between wondering if she was slow for just figuring it out, or delighted by the realization. That...sort of was similar to being smacked on the head, right?

Then again, these discoveries had been made in a very short span of time, and had occurred so swiftly that Cecilia really had needed a few moments to piece things together. After their lunch with Matthias back in Goldenrod, and concluding that the city had little else to offer their Flareon companion, Cecilia had suggested heading north to Ecruteak City, seeing as Kaito was doing his research there, and it had the bonus of enabling her to get back in touch with Lin for a while. As a double bonus, it'd give the opportunity for Sorin to officially meet the Weavile, so with little argument from either side, the three of them had left the city and gone north.

It had been a little more confusing when Sorin and Celes began acting noticeably more on-edge the closer they came to the forested pathway, and neither of them had been keen on explaining their apprehension to Cecilia. The most she had gotten out of them was that the area was currently occupied, and that neither of them particularly trusted the reassurance that they'd be allowed through without hassle.

Sorin pointed out a territory marking just outside the grove of trees, and Cecilia had done her best not to get sidetracked admiring the artistic complexity of the marking. Lin had sometimes made comments on the fact that Cecilia herself used a needlessly complicated territory mark, and the Quilava was just pleased to note that she wasn't the only one who did things like that.

Despite the nervousness that the fluffier Pokemon displayed, they ventured ahead anyway, and Cecilia was quick to follow. The sounds of battle drew their attention relatively quickly, and coming upon the scene of the fight itself was the first dose of overwhelming information for the day.

Two fire Pokemon had been in the midst of combat, both of them similar enough species for Cecilia to immediately peg them as members of the same evolutionary family, and only another second or two to identify them as the Kanto counterparts of her own evolutionary family - a Charmander and a Charmeleon. That wasn't what had caught the Quilava by surprise, however. That honor belonged to Sorin's reaction.

The Altaria had cursed under his breath, loud enough for both Celes and Cecilia to hear him, and he answered their perplexed looks with a weak sigh and a wing gesture towards the smaller of the fire lizards. "That's Ember," he had said.

Irritatingly, this had given Cecilia absolutely no information, but Celes' eyes had widened in alarm and sudden understanding. Sorin's apprehension was undeniable now, and he had practically frozen in place, watching the combatants and oblivious to any further efforts to get his attention and ask for elaboration.

Frustrated, Cecilia had asked Celes for a summarized explanation, but the most she could get in this brief window of time had been that the one identified as 'Ember' was 'their daughter'. Initially, Cecilia had assumed that this had only referred to the Charmeleon, mainly because of the ambiguous pronoun and the obvious species relationship, and the equally obvious clue that both of them were using an identical battle style focusing on claws.

The second shocking event had been Sorin's intervention. Not long after they had arrived, they witnessed what could only be described as the smaller fire lizard utterly having her tail handed to her with almost cruel viciousness. Celes had cringed and looked away, whereas Sorin's feathers bristled and he rushed forward. The movement had caught the Charmeleon's eyes, distracting her from the downed Charmander.

Cecilia had started forward herself, intent on assisting the situation, but had stopped short when the Charmeleon addressed Sorin nonchalantly, and the Altaria made no attempt to attack. After a brief exchange, the Charmeleon had backed off and leaned idly against a nearby tree, giving Sorin the opportunity to comfort the defeated Charmander, draping her in his wings in the most bizarrely affectionate embrace that Cecilia had even seen Sorin provide. After all the emphasis placed on staying out of Sorin's personal space, and his specific wariness regarding Fire-type females, today was the day that Cecilia found him in the company of a female Flareon, platonic as that might be, and ridiculously cuddly with a female Charmander.

"He really does know how to handle her," Celes had muttered, earning a confused look from the Quilava, but the question was dismissed with a curt wave of her paw. The tension in the air had thickened, with the Charmeleon giving Sorin an annoyed look, but otherwise remaining passive, and the Charmander hugging Sorin as though he were a security blanket of some sort, all behavior that the Altaria endured without the slightest trace of discomfort or nervousness. It completely baffled Cecilia to no end.

They broke apart within a minute or two, and after another exchange of words and some aggressive gestures by the Charmeleon towards another figure that Cecilia couldn't get a clear look at, the crimson fire lizard turned to leave. It was at this point that the Charmeleon's statements carried over clearly to Cecilia's location, allowing her to overhear the fire lizard's taunting comment in regards to a familiar arrangement, to which Sorin gave a snarky response and again embraced the Charmander. The crimson fire lizard had paused again, delivering a curt statement to the younger fire lizard, and then walked away, disappearing from sight.

As if this had been the signal to approach, Celes and Cecilia moved practically as one towards the Altaria and his Charmander charge. This was when suddenly everything clicked in Cecilia's mind. She had been on the verge of assuming Sorin and the Charmander were possibly lovers, and that the Charmeleon was an overprotective parent or even an abusive one, which is why Sorin was so uneasy, but the rest of the Charmeleon's parting statement abruptly clicked into place, coupled with Celes' earlier explanation of Ember being "their daughter".

Conversation had died off awkwardly after Sorin had confirmed this realization, and while this gave Cecilia the chance to get her bearings, it led to the present fact that she was still just coming to terms with this information, and the questions surfacing in her mind were not really appropriate ways to break the ice again.

For example, Kaito had never once referenced the fact that Sorin had a daughter, nor had it ever been brought up in previous interactions, and it seemed like it would be crossing a line to ask aloud if Sorin had kept this detail a secret, or if it was simply information delivered on a need-to-know basis, kind of like how Lin labeled all information related to Diablos.

Then again, Cecilia abruptly recalled how Kaito had reacted to her complaints about Sorin back at the Chateau, right after she had discovered Rio's fate. At the time, she had been too agitated to listen properly, but now she could remember Kaito muttering that he couldn't blame Sorin for his issue with personal space, and his insistence that he wasn't implying that Cecilia was unlikable.

This was making an uncomfortable amount of sense now that she had seen the mother of Sorin's kit. It also suggested that Kaito did know the details behind Sorin's issues, and deliberately chose to withhold them. Once again, Cecilia had to concede that she wouldn't be too thrilled if Kaito or someone else started telling all their mutual acquaintances about her personal history without her consent, so she couldn't really be too annoyed on that front.

Cecilia cocked her head at the other individuals present in the clearing. One of them was some sort of short, bipedal green lizard with its tail ending in a leaf, confirming its likely status as a Grass-type Pokemon. The other was a male human, but oddly, his presence didn't seem to rattle anyone else, Celes notwithstanding. The Flareon had been keeping some of her attention on the human ever since she had noticed he was there. Cecilia, on the other hand, was well acquainted to having humans around, and could easily label the human as non-threatening.

That said, he was watching Ember and Sorin with mild interest and concern. The two had broken their embrace a while ago, but Ember was keeping close to the Altaria, her blue eyes avoiding eye contact whenever possible. Even from this distance, Cecilia noticed a couple of rather nasty-looking scratches across the Charmander's muzzle, marks undoubtedly picked up from the recent skirmish with the Charmeleon.

"Ooh, we didn't get introduced officially, did we?" Cecilia asked, breaking the silence for the first time. Ember actually flinched briefly at the sound of her voice, and Sorin looked up in surprise, as if he too had just remembered that there were others around. "I'm Cecilia, um...kind of an acquaintance of Sorin?"

"Not exactly drowning in confidence there," Ember remarked blandly. Cecilia smiled weakly. She wasn't nearly as good at reading people or situations as she would have liked. Lin was the absolute master of that skill, and even if she could get decent reads, she was nowhere on the Weavile's level. "I'm Ember," the Charmander said after an awkward pause.

"And you're Sorin's...daughter, right?"

"I'm sure hell not a son," Ember retorted crisply. Cecilia winced. Maybe she had misread the situation or something and hadn't realized how moody the fire lizard was right now.

"Ugh...I already said 'yes' to that question," Sorin sighed wearily. "I don't get why you need this confirmed again...well, unless you're just using it as a stepping stone to a related topic. Either way, the answer's still yes. She's my kit."

Cecilia winced again and shifted her weight in mild embarrassment. "I know. I think it's just taking me longer for that to sink in. Kaito's never mentioned that, and you never mentioned it the few times we've met, so..."

Ember snorted quietly. "We don't bring it up much," she said coolly.

"Ooh, I was wondering about that!" the grass lizard piped up brightly, causing Cecilia to flinch at the sudden sound. "I met Sorin with you at the Ruins, and you guys didn't act like you were related."

"Why would we have?" Ember retorted, rolling her eyes. "Showing even a hint of being related would have just gotten you or Iris to ask us personal questions neither of us want to talk about. I didn't act like I recognized Kaito, either, but that doesn't mean I didn't."

"You know Iris?" Cecilia asked, her eyes widening in surprise. "And Kaito, too?"

"Oh boy," Sorin sighed. "Cecilia, when Kaito and Iris went to the Ruins of Alph to follow my lead, Ember's trainer was there researching the same thing. We ran into each other there."

"But you knew Kaito before that?" the Quilava pressed.

Ember massaged her forehead with one paw before answering through gritted teeth, practically growling the words as clearly as possible. "I know Kaito because Sorin knows Kaito. I wasn't with Adrian my whole life."

"Ooh, quick question!" the grass lizard interrupted, earning an annoyed look from Ember. "Oh, I'm Avis! Nice to meet you, Cecilia!" she chirped, ignoring the Charmander's stare. Cecilia stifled a giggle, but nodded in return, not wanting to distract from the conversation.

"What's the question?" Sorin asked flatly.

"Why do you call your parents by their names?" Avis wondered. "Is that normal, or is there a reason behind it?"

Ember and Sorin exchanged glances. "See what I mean about asking personal questions?" Ember noted dryly, but then sighed, gesturing towards Sorin expectantly.

"Um...I more or less never gave her a designation to call me, and she heard everyone else call me 'Sorin', so that's just how that went. As for Inferna..." the Altaria winced and glanced at Ember warily.

"I don't call her anything," Ember snapped. Her expression had darkened, her blue eyes narrowed into slits of anger that sent a slight shiver through Cecilia. It was an expression she had seen before, but not from the Charmander. It was the expression she had seen in Shadow's silver eyes the last time they had spoken. Like with Shadow, the expression was not directed at her, but at an entity that was not physically presence, yet cast a dark shadow over their soul.

"She doesn't call her anything," Sorin echoed promptly.

"Ember? You okay, girl?" the human interjected, taking note of Ember's expression. Ember flinched and looked away, unwilling to make eye contact with her trainer. Adrian stepped nearer, giving Sorin a brief glance, prompting the Altaria to shift out of his path. This movement confused Cecilia for a moment, but the reason for it became more obvious when the human continued forward without further hesitation - he had probably been feeling out the situation to see whether Sorin was going to shield Ember, or if he would be permitted to pass.

Adrian knelt beside the Charmander and began to speak to her with a quiet, reassuring tone, too softly for Cecilia to overhear most of what was being said. Of the snatches she did catch, he seemed to be concerned for both her physical and emotional well-being, and kept trying to get her to lift her chin a little so he could get a better look at the scratch marks, probably to judge whether she needed medical attention.

The exchange didn't last too long, although Ember held up one claw to pause the interaction, and whispered something to Sorin, giving him a quick hug, which he returned with a fond smile. When they broke apart, Ember nodded to her trainer and stepped away from the Altaria. This allowed Adrian to point a Pokeball at the Charmander without interference, and a beam of red light absorbed the fire lizard back into the sphere.

"Thanks, I owe you one," Adrian said to Sorin. At the Altaria's nod, the human turned towards the grass lizard. "Come on, Avis, we've got to get going," he said.

"Aww, we're leaving already?" Avis whined, but she got up promptly and waved at the other Pokemon present. "Bye!"

"Uh...see you?" Cecilia offered, a little taken aback at how quickly they had chosen to depart, but at the same time, it occurred to her that the battle that had transpired here had not been a part of their plans for the day, and they couldn't spend a lot of time hanging around an area, even if the most threatening Pokemon had left already.

Once the trainer and his Pokemon had left, there was a few minutes of a significantly more relaxed atmosphere. The tension in Celes' body had diminished, and even Sorin seemed to perk up a little bit. No one spoke, but they all seemed to relish the short reprieve.

"She's cute," Celes commented. Sorin chuckled a little.

"Not much for conversation, though," Cecilia lamented. "Is she always moody like that, or just a bad day?"

To the Quilava's surprise, Sorin heaved a heavy sigh. It was the type of sigh made by someone who is really down about something, yet hesitant to burden another with the knowledge.

"She's really sweet at heart, but...she hasn't been the same for a while now," he confided finally. The two fire females exchanged puzzled glances. "It's a bit of a long, complicated story," Sorin continued, shrugging his wings.

"Is it related to what we were talking about yesterday?" Celes wondered, earning yet another confused look from Cecilia. Just how much personal information had Sorin been willing to divulge to the Flareon? They couldn't possibly have known one another long enough for him to cough up personal details that easily. Yet, the evidence thus far had proved otherwise. Celes had evidently learned about Sorin's kit before Cecilia had been let in on the secret, and she had only gotten that chance by being physically present when Sorin encountered Ember in a precarious situation.

Sorin nodded. "Oh boy, does it ever," he said, and then heaved another sigh. "Also goes hand in hand with what I said yesterday, about things I wished I handled differently, and still kick myself over my mistakes."

"You realize we're not going to let you off without elaborating, right?" Cecilia asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're baiting the hook with way too many delectable morsels for us to let it slide."

Sorin considered the two females with a thoughtful frown. "Okay," he said, nodding his head and adjusting his position for comfort. "I'll fill you both in on two conditions. First: I don't want you to discuss the details with other people, even if those people already know the information. It's just the kind of personal information I don't want thrown around casually."

"Understandable," Celes noted.

"Sounds fair," Cecilia agreed. "What's the second condition?"

Sorin hesitated for a moment. "Originally, I was going to say that I'd prefer if you also don't bring it up often with me, but more importantly than that, I don't want you to bring it up around Ember."

"So both conditions amount to us not talking about it at all," Celes said, raising an eyebrow of her own. "Then why bother confiding in us at all?"

Cecilia giggled, turning towards the Flareon with mild amusement. "What, do you subscribe to that phrase of 'two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead', or something?" she wondered.

"No, nothing that extreme," Celes said, frowning at the Quilava. "I'm just wondering why- just never mind. Forget I said anything," she cut herself off hastily and averted her gaze. Cecilia blinked at the Flareon, mildly discomforted by the sudden shift in mood. Did Celes not realize she had just been teasing her, or had she somehow offended the Flareon without realizing it?

"I was just-" she began, but Celes immediately cut her off with a dismissive wave of her paw.

"I know," she said curtly. Cecilia frowned, and the Flareon winced. "I know," she repeated, in a much softer tone. Sorin looked between the two of them uncomfortably, his body tensing, but at Celes' softer tone, he relaxed a little bit. After a pause, he cleared his throat, drawing their attention back to him.

"Um...anyway, to answer that, uh, I don't have as much of a problem if you bring it up around me, so long as you're not like, rubbing salt in the wound or anything. But it's very important to me that you not talk about it around Ember, whether you meet her again in the future or not," he explained seriously.

"Okay," Cecilia said with a shrug.

Sorin nodded earnestly. "As for why I'm willing to explain at all, it's because sometimes, knowing the background surrounding someone gives you insight that you wouldn't have normally. Insight that you can use to help them, or at least navigate around the sore points."

"Makes sense," Celes agreed, the faintest trace of a smile flashing across her face. Cecilia simply nodded in silence. That made perfect sense to her. With her group, they were all relatively familiar with one another's circumstances or situations, maybe lacking in key details, but nevertheless knowing the gist. Rather than creating a sense of treading on eggshells, as some might expect, it gave them all a greater sense of comradery. It was important to keep these things in mind when making jokes or idle commentary, so as not to offend one another by mistake. For example, Cecilia would never tease Force by criticizing his physique or battle skill, because he took such comments extremely personally. Likewise, teasing Iris about her shyness or social grace was another major taboo.

Sorin took a soothing breath, but sighed.

"A week after Ember was born, Inferna told me bluntly that she was leaving. I didn't understand originally, and asked if Ember really was old enough to travel. To which she replied, with that usual dismissive snort she does..." the Altaria winced, his expression pained. "She said 'I'm not taking her with me'."

"What?" Celes gasped, her eyes widening. Cecilia flinched, her own expression twisting into a sympathetic wince. It had been kind of obvious that the story was going to cover something along those lines, from Inferna's departing comment and Ember's obvious contempt towards her mother, but to hear the way Sorin's voice fluctuated as he repeated the words, and to see the unhappiness in his eyes...it just sent a jolt through her heart that she could relate to all too well.

Sorin took another breath before continuing, but he wasn't making eye contact. "I tried to persuade her to stay just a little longer, for Ember's sake. She was too young yet, and needed her mother. Inferna refused, stating that she only stayed that long to recover her strength from nesting. I pleaded with her to reconsider...but I was too naive."

"Naive?" Cecilia repeated, surprised. Sorin never struck her as the type to be easily labeled as naive, although she had definitely gotten the impression that the events he was referencing was the source of many of his present behaviors.

"Yeah," Sorin acknowledged. "I thought that she'd put Ember's well-being ahead of herself. That's what I thought parents would do, even if they hadn't wanted to be a parent. I thought the flickers of happiness that Inferna showed when Ember hatched was the sign of a gradual change within her, that maybe she would evolve from being cold and vicious to something better suited for a parent. It just goes to show that I never understood Inferna back then. I couldn't grasp that she acted entirely on her own desires, no matter who got hurt in the process, so long as she got what she wanted."

The Altaria bristled indignantly, but then sighed and forced himself to relax, shaking his head miserably. Neither of the Fire-types broke the silence. The only sounds around them was the gentle crackling of Cecilia's flames, and the gentle rustling of leaves in the wind.

"When I made a third attempt to convince her otherwise, she got nasty about it," Sorin continued blandly. "Threatened to Dragon Claw me, even brandishing her claws to remind me she was fully capable of acting on it. Told me not to expect the same outcome as the last time I tangled with her."

He paused, as if expecting one of them to question that comment, but both females determinedly avoided eye contact, allowing him to continue without interruption.

"You...can't imagine how terrifying she was to me," Sorin practically whispered. "How she radiated with absolute confidence and merciless coldness. I was intimidated by the threat and backed off...but I had forgotten how vicious she had been during the nesting stage, and how I had endured that time without complaint. I could have persisted...I should have persisted. Inferna doesn't respect defiance, but still..."

"You feel guilty over that failure," Celes finished quietly.

"...yeah," Sorin said softly. "But then I made everything worse."

"Hm? How?" Cecilia asked, taken aback. Feeling guilty over something that wasn't technically his fault was...yet another thing she could relate to perfectly, although it still pained her to reflect on that. Shadow had even absolved her of the responsibility, but she still felt that was letting her off too easily. Time away from Sinnoh was to help her overcome those lingering feelings, but at the same time, coming to understand Sorin and his circumstances seemed to remind her of things all over again. Maybe this was proof of what Sorin had said - knowing the circumstances of another's background gave insight you could use, if not for yourself, then at least for their sake.

For the first time, Sorin's voice cracked.

"How do you begin to explain something like that to your kit?" he asked quietly. "How do you tell them that their mother abandoned them? That someone they loved didn't love them back?"

Cecilia cringed. The pain and sorrow in the Altaria's voice was almost too much for her to bear, yet she didn't dare try to silence him. To make matters worse, visible tears were forming in Sorin's eyes, but he didn't seem to care that they could see. He was looking at them both in the eyes as he spoke, unashamed of his emotion, and all the shame poured into his personal failure instead.

"It was only a week, but Ember had bonded with her mother. Severing the bond like that was cruel, but she was too young to understand. If you want to judge me, it should be because I failed to tell her when she got older, when she asked about her mother."

"W-what would you say when she asked?" Celes asked nervously.

Sorin closed his eyes briefly, taking a breath, but even when he spoke again, his voice shook with barely restrained emotion. "I said the other day, that I didn't hate Inferna back then, and I still don't. No matter what she put me through, or the callousness she displayed, I didn't speak ill of her to Ember. I told her Inferna's name, about the distinguishing scar on her left eye, and her skill in claw combat. That...was the inspiration for Ember to focus on the same style. She barely remembered Inferna, but she still had that bond in her heart."

"I don't really understand how this made things worse," Cecilia commented, frowning a little. "That's...pretty noble of you, actually, to not bash the absent parent or make up a lie about her absence, like saying she was dead."

Sorin shook his head, and his voice cracked again. "I inadvertently put Inferna on a pedestal for Ember's sake, because I couldn't bear to hurt her by telling her the full truth. Even though we were different species, I did everything I could for her. If anyone is to judge, it'll be for my cowardice, but like hell will I let anyone claim I didn't care about her!"

Cecilia flinched. The normally serene features of the Altaria's face had contorted into a momentary look of fury, and she was abruptly reminded that although Sorin's species was reknowned for being peace-loving, they were still part-dragon, and likely carried an incredible amount of power and primal instincts within themselves. The way his eyes had flashed had given her an uneasy feeling.

Sorin took several deep, soothing breaths. "Sorry," he muttered, once he had fully calmed down again. "I underestimated Ember's attachment to her mother. And it's my fault that they ever met."

"Huh?" Celes blinked in confusion, and Cecilia raised an eyebrow curiously.

"About two years ago, I came across an area that Inferna had been recently, but had since moved on from. Ember asked about the territory marking, and I explained its significance. Inferna uses a distinct pattern that's a subtle pun on her name," Sorin explained, in a tone that suggested that he was aware, in retrospect, that he had done something incredibly stupid.

"Uh-oh," Cecilia said, already getting an idea of where the story was going. Typically, if a territory marking was still intact, the owner intended to return. Otherwise, it didn't take too long for the marking to be demolished or replaced, or otherwise vandalized, unless the marking Pokemon made a point of punishing such infractions, but that required them to frequently check-in on their territory if they were the type to leave for stretches of time. It was how she personally maintained her den, although considering the reputation of her den's previous owner, she wasn't surprised that her den was usually left alone - no one wanted to risk it.

"I don't know all the details. I wasn't there, and Ember was almost three at the time, so she didn't need constant supervision," Sorin explained with a sigh. "But she came across Inferna, and evidently expected some happy reunion or something."

"Dare I ask what happened?" Celes asked, biting her lip.

Sorin bristled a bit. "From my understanding, Inferna viciously revealed the truth of Ember's birth, undoubtedly phrased in a callous manner that mocked any delusions Ember might have clung onto. By speaking of Inferna favorably, I made her someone to look up to, and that must have come crashing down on the poor girl. I can't even imagine how much that hurt for her..."

Sorin closed his eyes again, and a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Ever since that day, she's been different...and now I wish, more than ever, that I had been the one to tell her. It would have been a blow, but I'd have softened it, and been there to comfort and reassure her that even if Inferna hadn't cared, I had still looked out for her, and loved her," Sorin murmured, his voice shaking again as he opened his eyes, his words coated with desperation and sorrow. "And what can I do to fix my mistakes now? How will I ever undo all the pain that's been caused because I held my tongue?"

"Sorin..." Celes whispered, almost too quietly to be heard. Cecilia could only stare at Sorin in stunned disbelief. She never would have imagined that the quiet, almost laidback Altaria carried such a burden within himself. His words resonated with her in a way she wouldn't have thought possible. Although Sorin carried such a weight, he didn't let it detract from his life much, nor did he seem to sulk all the time. It made her way of coping with guilt and such seem incredibly immature and weak-willed.

Sorin sniffed quietly, slowly regaining his composure. "But even after those mistakes and lack of progress, I won't ever give up. I promised myself I'd never abandon her, and that's why I had to intervene in that battle. The last time Ember faced Inferna, she lost badly, and was rescued by Adrian. She's been in his care since, and I trust him to help her work through things. But she wasn't ready to face Inferna again, and now I see why."

"You do?" Cecilia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sorin nodded grimly. "Ember hates herself more than she hates Inferna. Most of her drive is disguised self-loathing, so when the chips are down, she'll give up on herself, because she thinks she's worthless."

"...seriously?" Celes asked, horrified.

Sorin turned his gaze to Celes and nodded solemnly. "So I guess you know now...whether I can relate to your situation, after all."

Celes gave the Altaria a piercing look for a moment, and then averted her gaze awkwardly without a word. Sorin glanced over at Cecilia, to find that the Quilava was regarding him with a different expression than usual.

Cecilia had often wondered whether Kaito had a specific criteria in mind when it came to gathering the group together. He never said anything to suggest this, and at a glance, most of the group were just barely similar enough to be passed off as a coincidence. There were rumors that Togetic and the rest of the evolutionary family could sense the purity in a person's heart, and that one approaching you was a mark of good luck and a sign of improved fortune.

But now she was really starting to question whether the other members of the group were really so coincidental after all. Each could be described as having a noble heart, and most of them deflected signs of stress or difficult history within a calm or friendly persona . Lin was aloof, Cecilia was bubbly, Force was friendly, Iris was shy, and Sorin was laidback. If anything, Kaito was the odd man out.

So for what purpose had the Togetic gotten a group together, and what did it have to do with unsealing Diablos?