One night was bad enough, but after not just waking up early but barely getting any sleep at all last night, Juliana practically felt dead.
Her whole body ached and throbbed as she made her way to the mirror.
She looked like crap. She felt like crap.
She was still in her pajamas. Her hair was a mess. She could barely see her own eyes.
Perhaps that was a good thing. Because every time Juliana caught a glimpse of her own eyes, she saw Kieran's spiteful eyes looking back at her…
When they had gotten to Mossfell Confluence yesterday, Kieran surprised Juliana by almost immediately asking for a battle once they'd arrived at the signpost. Juliana, hoping to keep him in a good mood, agreed.
Kieran had buffed his team up considerably since their last match, and Juliana tried to compliment him on that.
But… it was like his entire attitude had changed. He fretted the entire match about how he wasn't doing very well, how he didn't think any of this through.
What hit Juliana the most was when her Slugma felled his Ferret, and rather than encouraging Ferret… Kieran apologized because they both weren't strong enough.
This put a sour air over the rest of the battle, with Slugma being taken down by Kieran's Poliwhirl, only for Mienfoo to come out and beat Poliwhirl. Then Kieran, acting as if he was that desperate for a win, pulled out his prized Dipplin for the first time.
Dipplin took down Mienfoo, and had Juliana's Jangmo-o down to the ropes… but Jangmo-o came back with a swift Dragon Claw and knocked Dipplin out.
"I-it's all… 'cause I'm too weak…" Kieran lamented after the battle had ended. "That's why I…" He started to ball up an angry, shaking fist.
The air became tense after that. Juliana tried to lift his spirits up, but Kieran seemed like he was stuck in his own head. He ignored Juliana and insisted they just take the signpost photo so they can go home.
…To say the picture came out very awkward would be an understatement.
Kieran started walking away immediately afterward.
"Well, we're all done with this assignment. You can go ahead and tell Ms. Briar that. But I've gotta focus on getting stronger with my Pokémon…"
"Kieran…" Juliana tried calling out.
"…I'm gonna head home."
"Bye…?" Juliana awkwardly waved.
After a bit though… Kieran suddenly stopped.
"…When we were going to the other signposts, you talked about your friends. Back home in Paldea. … C-can I ask you a question?"
Juliana smiled. "Sure, Kieran. Anything."
He turned around… with a spiteful look in his eye.
"Did you ever have to do something to hurt any of them? Like… lie?"
Her smile dropped. Juliana did nothing but stand there and look pensive. Guilty.
"…Didn't think so." Then he turned around and walked away again.
Those eyes stuck with Juliana, like an image burned onto a screen.
Why would you do that to me. Why would you lie. You promised. You promised.
You promised.
Juliana had her eyes closed the whole time she did her ponytail.
The young Paldean rubbed her eyes as she stepped out into the hallway in her jinbei. She had her arms crossed and her eyes glued to the ground. Anything else she would look at, in one way or another, just seemed to remind her of her guilt.
So she wasn't looking when someone happened to bump into her by accident.
"Sorry, I- Oh good, you're awake."
Juliana was surprised when one of her fellow Uva Academy students, the short kid in glasses who had fallen sick at the bus stop the day they first arrived, approached her.
"Good morning to you too?" Juliana replied, half-confused and half in a sleepy daze.
"Umm… your name is Juliana, right?"
"That's my name, don't… don't wear it out," she chuckled lightly.
"Are… you okay?" the boy asked, noticing the bags under her eyes and how shaky her gait was.
"Yeah, I just… slept terrible." The blur slowly fading from Juliana's vision, she was able to make out the kid's face in front of her. "Oh, I remember you. Your name was… Butch, right? You're feeling a lot better now, right?"
Butch sighed in annoyance, having wanted to put that episode behind him.
"I'm just… glad you remembered my name. Carmine hasn't bothered to learn mine the whole time we've been partnered up."
"Oh!" Juliana laughed while leaning against the wall. "You were the one stuck with Carmine, huh?"
"Yeah. And the whole time we were out, to her I was just "shorty", "four-eyes", "twerp", or… occasionally, she would just call out 'Hey you! The not cute one'."
"That's weird," she mumbled.
"You're telling me! I kept asking her who the cute one is supposed to be, and she would just tell me to shut my lip!"
Juliana was struggling to keep her eyes open, which Butch took as a sign he should move along.
"Uhh… anyway. I was supposed to go again with Carmine today, but she told me to buzz off and to come get you instead."
This helped wake Juliana up. "Oh."
"Yeah." He added, "I guess I'll just… find something to do in here or whatever since I can't go orienteering with her today…"
As Juliana walked through the lobby, she spotted the community center staff serving hot pretzels for the students again.
She thought about taking one… but instead left without.
I don't deserve one anyway.
Once Juliana arrived at Carmine's house, her grandfather Hideko explained that he'd wanted to fix Ogerpon's mask exactly as it was, but that it needs one more material: a Crystal Cluster from the bottom of the Crystal Pool.
"The Crystal Pool's at the highest peak of Oni Mountain, all the way on the far side of the Infernal Pass," Carmine explained.
"Wow. That's—quite a hike just for some crystals."
"I mean, we COULD just return the mask as it is. But…" She clasped her hands together and began jumping up and down. "But don't you think it would make Ogerpon real happy if we fixed it up first?"
Juliana had still been in a fairly lousy mood up to this point, half of her mind on Kieran. But… seeing Carmine so giddy and enthused was admittedly lifting her spirits a bit. After all, it was an adorable sight.
Carmine's showing more of herself around me… I feel so silly for having judged her so badly just on our first time meeting, and how she was around Kieran.
Kieran…
"Hello!" Juliana was brought out of her thoughts by Carmine lightly knocking her on the head. "Earth to Juliana!"
"Huh? What?"
"Ogerpon! Mask! Real happy! What do ya think!?"
Juliana cleared her throat. Maybe… maybe I just need to focus on one thing at a time, and come back to Kieran later…
"Yeah, s-sounds great," said Juliana. "That… sounds like a really nice thing to do for Ogerpon."
"Mm-hm." Carmine had a sympathetic frown. "Especially now that I've heard the real story… I just want Ogerpon to be happy, you know?" Her voice became lower as she then said, "Nobody deserves to be treated that way after being bullied."
Juliana gulped. There's a story there… isn't there?
"I'm sure Ogerpon will be pleased to know you care so much for it, Carmine," Hideko agreed.
"Right?"
It'll sure feel great to be able to at least someone happy right now… Juliana thought to herself.
"Yeah," she said out loud. "Let's make that our new missi—"
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Juliana winced, and all of her negative energy seemed to return when she saw him again.
"Mornin', Grandpa."
Kieran walked out from the porch and stood there. He didn't address, or even look at, his sister and his new friend.
Juliana felt her legs sinking into the ground. She wasn't sure whether to feel hurt… or relieved, that Kieran wasn't turning his innocent yellow eyes her way.
"Ah, good morning, Kieran," Hideko greeted in a very jovial manner, like he was more pleased than usual to see his grandson.
Carmine marched right up to his face. "Kiki! You'd better go kill time somewhe—"
"Yeah, yeah," he answered, still not looking at anybody. "Do whatever you want, sis."
Carmine seethed. "E-excuse me!? I don't need that kind of attitude from you!"
Without even really thinking about it, Juliana found herself marching up and easing Carmine with her shoulder.
"Carmine… settle down! Please," Juliana pleaded, even to her own surprise.
"Huh!? But I—I-!"
Kieran's face perked up. And for a second, just a split second, his eyes fell on Juliana. They weren't cold daggers like yesterday… but they also weren't the eyes of her happy-go-lucky friend.
He looked away again and just said, "I got stuff to do too, okay?" and walked away without another word or glance at anyone.
Carmine stamped her foot on the ground in frustration.
"What's his problem? He's been all bent out of shape since yesterday."
"I don't know…" said a saddened Hideko. "He spent the whole evening in his room without so much as a bite of dinner."
Juliana's lip quivered. All the feelings of guilt she'd just tried to bury were rising up in her soul again.
Is that because of me…? Because of my lies? He knows that I lied to him, I'm sure of it… What if I just broke our friendship completely by doing it? And… and broke him too.
Carmine meanwhile, just shrugged like it was nothing.
"Must be teen angst or something. It happens!"
Juliana grunted really loudly, surprising both of them.
"Hey…? You alright?"
"Carmine…" Juliana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Please… just go easy on him, okay? None of this is his fault."
"What are you—I wasn't trying to imply that it was!" Carmine barked away. "He's just… irritating me so much right now!"
"Your friend's right, Carmine," said Hideko. "Whatever Kieran's going through right now, what we need to do is be as patient and compassionate towards him as we can."
"Yeah, fine, I'll apologize to him later or whatever," she said, throwing her arms behind her back.
She saw Juliana fidgeting with her hands, clearly dealing with her regret, and stepped closer to her. "Hey… I know it doesn't seem like it, but we are doing the right thing. It would've been hard to get this stuff done with Kiki still clinging to you. Guess things worked out in our favor!"
Juliana looked at her, unsure. "Worked out in what way?"
With an arrogant smile, Carmine answered, "Now I get to keep you all to myself!"
Now Juliana felt taken aback. "All to… yourself? What do you mean by that!?"
Carmine giggled. "I'm kidding, girlie! I'm kidding! Now let's get moving! The Crystal Pool's all the way at the top of Oni Mountain. I'm… usually not too keen on outsiders heading up there, but I think we can make an exception for you! By this point, you've proven to be slightly less of a nuisance than most outsiders would be."
Yet another half-compliment from Carmine that did funny things to Juliana's serotonin levels… even when the rest of her mind wanted to rebel from that.
"What say you and I go on a hike to nab ourselves a pretty little Crystal Cluster? Last one there has to carry all my stuff!"
And then she took off! Before Juliana knew it, she was already gone around the bend.
Juliana sighed to herself.
Her brain was like a jumbled mix of emotions right now. She still felt turmoiled emotions over everything going on with Kieran. There was still that little bit of self-loathing that just didn't want to seem to let go.
But at the same time, a hike up the mountain sounded like a great way to help clear her troubled mind. And time alone with Carmine…
Juliana couldn't place it, but being with Carmine was making her increasingly feel warm things. Just that conversation had her mind jumping with joy at how many strides she'd seemed to be making in breaking down Carmine's walls.
That was enough for her to come to a decision.
Alright… my focus right now is just on getting crystals to help Ogerpon, and enjoying a nice hike with my friend. And then, afterwards… I'll have time to think of a way to make it up to Kieran.
She started to head out herself, hoisting her cinch bag, when she heard Carmine's grandfather softly clear his throat to get her attention.
"Juliana… can I ask you a favor?"
"Of course, sir," Juliana answered, intrigued. "What is it?"
"Watch Carmine's back while you're out there on the mountain, please. She gets a little… over-confident sometimes. When she gets really determined and wants something, she acts like she's invincible. The last thing I want is for her to get too reckless and hurt herself."
Juliana sagely nodded. "Crystal clear. I'll look out for her, I promise."
Hideko chuckled a bit. "Still… it is great to see her this motivated. She won't say anything of it, but I think she's been in a bit of rut lately with whatever she has going on at school. But lately, it's been like she's found her drive again. I think you're making a very good impression on her."
This made Juliana giggle a bit, a feeling she definitely needed.
"You know… I think, I think she's making an impression on me too."
"Hm-hm!" Hideko smiled warmly at her. "Thank you very sincerely, Juliana. For being friends with both my grandchildren."
Juliana smiled and nodded, and… with a newfound stride in her step, she took off towards the mountain to catch up with Carmine.
"Oh man! This is great! Feel that burn on your calves, Juliana?"
"I'm… feeling it alright."
Juliana's legs felt like jelly. But not because of how far up the mountain they'd hiked. She'd learned the hard way that Carmine wasn't kidding about making her carry stuff.
Juliana struggled to walk with something much heavier than just her cinch bag on her back. Carmine had an entire hiker's backpack stuffed with camping equipment, which Carmine didn't even seem to need apart from the water bottle she'd snagged and was carrying with her anyway.
She took a swig of it and went, "Mmmm, now that quenches the thirst real good!"
"Not supposing I'm allowed a sip?"
"Woof… I don't know, I'm working up such a sweat here." Carmine feigned fatigue, fanning herself. "Tell ya what, if I get to the point where I feel properly hydrated, I'll let you have a drop or two. … Unless I drink it all, which is possible."
I'm starting to think it would've only been slightly less painful to hang back with Kieran… Juliana mused to herself. How does Arven do this everywhere he goes?
Unlike her, Carmine had a huge spring in her step. She cheerfully jumped rocks on the path, flipped her hair with the wind, and even did a few Mightyena yells out in the open.
For as much as Juliana was feeling the physical toll on her admittedly sleep-deprived body, seeing this side of Carmine was helping mitigate the pain somewhat. After several days of Carmine being easily irritated and antsy about everything, Juliana felt a sense of joy seeing the girl acting much happier and closer to being herself.
She decided an even better way to foster these good vibes was with conversation.
"So… you really love hiking, don't you?"
Carmine laughed. "Anyone who wants to survive out here in this harsh land has to learn to love the hike, you naïve city girl. But yeah, I've loved hiking and camping out in the woods since I was a little girl! It's when I've always felt the most free, like the true wild girl that I am at heart!"
She had both her fists out and pumped one in the air, which made Juliana giggle.
"What?" Carmine reacted. "You makin' fun of me or something?"
"No, not at all! It's just…" Juliana smiled to herself. "You, you acted just like a friend of mine. That's all. She's… a bit of a wild girl too."
"Ohh, no wonder you've been clinging so hard to me. You've got a type." Carmine winked at her.
"I—I do not. Just… similar taste in friends, I suppose," Juliana defended.
"Heh! I'm kidding. It was worth it to see how red your face got. Anyway, if you've really got a friend who can let loose just as much as me, tell her to call me up. I've always wanted someone besides Kiki to go camping with."
Juliana stopped so short she almost let the heavy backpack's physics send her forward. That was a puzzling admission.
"You've… never gone camping with friends before? Not even here in Kitakami?"
"Nah. Kiki and I drew the short stick when we moved in with our grandparents here. We were basically the only kids in the whole village. And by the time other people started having kids… ech. Their parents had already grown to consider me a 'bad influence' because having too much fun in Mossui Town is a crime apparently," Carmine explained with a grim smile.
"But… ngh!" Juliana grunted a bit, struggling to keep the bag upright. "You go to another school in a whole different region now, with plenty of kids. Nobody there likes to go camping?"
This garnered a very biting, sardonic laugh from Carmine. "You flunking geography or something, Juliana? Take a look at a map of Unova and tell me if you spot a lot of campsites there."
"Oh… I've only seen a map of the Unova region once. It's a lot of big cities and harsh mountains, right?"
"Yeah. There is ONE neck of woods called the Pinwheel Forest, which might be a great place to rough it up if it wasn't closed off because of those Team Plasma guys being jerks," she grumbled. "And the only other forest is considered 'forbidden' because Unovites are a bunch of chumps who spread fairy tales about people getting lost in there and monsters hiding."
Carmine stopped for a second and sighed.
"Not for lack of trying, either. I took the big girl initiative and tried to start my own camping club when I was first starting at Blueberry Junior Academy!"
"Oh! I never thought starting a club before." For a brief second, Juliana started thinking about what club she would want to join or even start if she was back at school.
"Ha ha," came another sarcastic laugh. "Well don't try that in a Unova school. All the kids there just thought camping sounded stupid and gross and made fun of me for it. For years, I got picked on as the weirdo jungle kid who was obsessed with camping and wanted to get eaten by a Zoroark."
"Yikes!" said a stunned Juliana. "That sounds rough."
"Starting to get why I don't like you city kids so much, and don't want your snotty vibes infesting my haven of nature?" Carmine teased.
Yeah, this whole 'outsider' stuff does make a little more sense now…
"I'm sorry, Carmine. I never knew you had it so bad…"
Carmine whipped around, looking offended. "Hey! Do I look like I need your pity? 'Cause I don't. Yeah, everyone made fun of me. So you know what I did? I tossed my weak emotions aside and started making fun of them back! That's right, I learned how to be a big girl. Those years are what toughened me up and made me a beacon of brilliance who takes no guff from anybody!"
Juliana still frowned at this story. "That… doesn't sound like a healthy way to grow up to me."
Carmine didn't speak for a few seconds, her back was to Juliana again. She glanced over her shoulder with a much more bitter look.
"Yeah? Well… I'll tell ya what. Fitting in by dishing it all back was a lot better than just being ignored and mocked by everyone. That's why I don't like your smile."
"Huh?"
"Because I think you're a lot like me, shortie… how I was back then. You're all smiles and 'let's be nice to each other' now… but something's gonna break you one of these days. That's why I feel sorry for you. You probably won't even see it coming."
She kept on walking, but didn't hear anything behind her besides whimpering.
Carmine turned around in surprise… but Juliana wasn't crying like she suspected. She was trying to keep her wobbly legs from buckling. Sweat was trickling down her face, and she seemed completely immobilized by the weight. Carmine wasn't sure if Juliana had even been listening to her.
"Ugh!" she grunted dramatically. "Fine. Hand that to me, you hopeless twig."
Carmine gently relieved Juliana of the backpack and effortlessly hoisted it over her own shoulders like it was nothing.
"Impressed?" Carmine boasted, noticing her reaction. "Maybe now you can use those legs, and achieve an ounce of the amazing Secret Power that I possess!"
She continued hiking onward, seemingly unaffected by the bag's weight. Juliana took a second to follow, not just in awe of Carmine's apparently inhuman back strength, but also to process that while Carmine boasted of having gotten rid of her 'weak' emotions, she was clearly being compassionate just there.
I think your niceness isn't as gone as you want to think it is…
Taking a moment to stretch out her back, Juliana found herself looking up. Even though they were reaching the highest peak of Oni Mountain, there were still a few small clifftops where, if the ogre—Ogerpon was still watching over them like it had been earlier, she was likely to spot it.
But Juliana didn't see a single trace of it.
Without its mask, it must have gone all the way back to its den to hide…
Poor thing.
"Get a load of this view!"
"Woah…"
"Bet you didn't expect it to be so pretty, huh?"
The Crystal Pool was an even more awe-inspiring sight than Juliana was prepared for.
It was more than just a mountaintop lake. It was an absolutely pristine, sparkling body of water. A bunch of crystallized clusters could be seen submerged within the pool, sending out twinkles of light through the streams.
The air felt much clearer compared to the steamy atmosphere of the Infernal Pass below, and the wind that blew through Juliana's hair felt like it was twinkling with some sort of amazing power. Juliana was feeling a strange sense of homeliness from it.
As she knelt down to look deeper at the crystals within the pool, she realized exactly why they, and the air, were all so familiar to her.
"These Crystals! They're exactly like the crystals I see all the time in Tera Pokémon's dens back home! It's like this whole place has the same energy as Paldea! This might explain why Pokémon in Kitakami can Terastallize!"
"Tch. You about done rubbing in that the most special thing we got here is an everyday sight for you?"
Carmine started telling Juliana rumors about how the Crystal Pool is said to have enchanting powers that allows you to meet spirits of the deceased. Juliana wasn't sure if these rumors had any real basis or if Carmine was just trying to one-up her.
…Carmine then went on to jokingly urge Juliana to swim into the channel to retreieve the Crystal Clusters they needed.
"I can't swim! And besides, my clothes would get soaked if I did it. So c'mon, just hop in!"
At least, Juliana hoped that she was joking. But she didn't get a chance to verify before they suddenly heard a loud rumble from the water.
Much to their shock, a large aquatic serpentine Pokémon, which Carmine identified as a Milotic, appeared from the water and engaged the two of them.
"This one looks really strong!" Carmine turned to Juliana. "You're awful lucky that I'm around."
Thankfully, with the combined efforts of Juliana's Floragato and Carmine's Morpeko, they were able to send the shimmering Milotic back into the water, but not before dropping something.
"Hey, is that…?"
Juliana picked it up. "Looks like what I would expect a Crystal Cluster to look like!"
"Great! Mission complete!" Carmine struck a pose by raising her fist in the air while jumping on one leg. Juliana burst out snickering, which made her blush. "You… you didn't see that."
After sitting for a few minutes to catch their breath (and so that Carmine had an excuse to actually use the blanket she'd packed) they got ready to head out. Carmine even let Juliana have the rest of her water bottle.
Juliana got all of her stuff in order… but when she looked over at Carmine, the girl was standing at the edge of the shore, looking out into the water.
"Hey." Juliana approached her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just… reminiscing." Carmine continued staring out. "Y'know… I saw a Milotic a long time ago. I saw it jump over a waterfall when I was a little girl. Nobody I told it to believed me but… I'll never forget how majestic it looked. So gorgeous, so free…"
She started to smile.
"I think that's the day I decided… I wanted to be just as beautiful and free as that Milotic."
"…But you are beautiful!"
Carmine spun around. "W-what did you say!?" Her face was fully flushed.
Juliana reared back, looking equally as shocked that she said that.
"I—I—don't…"
Both of them now looked like they were competing for who had the reddest face.
Juliana gulped. "It's… it's true though. You're just as pretty as that Milotic, Carmine. You really are."
…
Carmine started laughing.
"Alright! You really got me there! Ha ha! You'll say anything just to avoid having to carry all my stuff on the way back down, won't you, you little manipulator you? C'mon! Let's get this back to Gramps!"
Juliana just rolled her eyes and hoisted her cinch bag. She used the sleeve of her jinbei to wick off a few beads of sweat from her face.
Carmine looked over her shoulder to see if Juliana was looking, and had her face over her mouth.
"Y'know, you're pretty handy to have around in a battle," Carmine noted as the two approached town. "I could've used you by my side when we were doing 2v2's at the League Club in Blueberry." She chuckled. "If only to make me look even prettier anyway!"
Juliana blushed. "You don't need my help there."
"Ooh, ever the little flatterer today, aren't we? Little city girl's getting bolder the more I latch onto ya!"
The two laughed heartily. It made Juliana feel good, she felt like she and Carmine were getting ever closer to sharing a real connection.
"Better you got to hang out with me today rather than deal with Kiki's teen issues, huh?"
Juliana stopped.
Kieran.
She'd nearly forgotten about all that.
Carmine looked behind her at some point and realized Juliana had her feet planted.
"Huh? What's with you?"
Juliana closed her eyes. She was trying to work up the desire to say something. Finally, she looked at Carmine very maturely.
"Carmine… we need to talk."
She snickered. "What about?" Then she saw how serious Juliana looked and dropped the coolness. "Yeah, what about?"
"Look. About Kieran…"
She squinted her eyes shut again. Then she opened them again.
"I think we should tell him the whole truth."
"What!?" Carmine dashed over with a panicked look, and quickly glanced around to make sure nobody was listening. "Are you crazy!? Did you literally forget everything we talked about?"
"This isn't right!" Juliana decided. "He should've been with us today. He should know everything."
"Yeah, he should know everything so he can go blab it to everyone and get himself and possibly our whole family into trouble with the townspeople!" she argued back. "You remember what Gramps said! Did you lose some brain cells on that hike or something?"
"Yeah, but… You saw how he is…"
"He's fine!" Carmine declared. "He's just going through one of his moods or something, that's all! When he's much older we'll look back on this and laugh, and he'll understand why we did what we did!"
Juliana sighed. "Carmine… you know how much he loves the ogre. Shouldn't—shouldn't he be there with us when we go back up to the mountain to give Ogerpon its mask back?"
This gave Carmine pause, before she stubbornly grunted.
"Look. You don't know Kiki, okay? I know you think you do because you two have been all pally for the past three days. But I've literally known him his entire life. He's… he's really prone to doing rash things and jumping into something without thinking it through, no matter how dangerous it is. And he's way too trusting of people. I've spent my whole life protecting him. Making sure he doesn't get hurt by his own stubbornness."
…
"Kieran trusts you, right?"
"Of course he does! More than anything in the world! He knows I'm always right."
"Then, shouldn't you repay the favor… and trust him back? You trusted me with your grandpa's story And I'm just the no-good outsider, remember? He's your brother."
…
Carmine didn't know how to respond to that.
"Surely… surely if we all sat down together, your grandpa too, explained the whole thing to him, tell him why it's important to keep this all a secret… Don't you think he would understand?"
She still didn't have a response. But her saddened face indicated to Juliana that she was listening.
"Look… I'm sorry. But I don't…" Against her attempts to keep it in, Juliana found herself beginning to snivel. "Carmine, I can't lie to him anymore."
Carmine looked concerned and reached a hand out. "Hey…"
"I just can't. I couldn't sleep at all last night because I felt so awful about it. I still feel terrible about it right now. He's my friend! It's just… it's not fair. What we're doing. It would just be a lot better if we told him the truth."
Juliana felt her eyes welling up but fought to keep the tears in as much as she could. She motioned for Carmine's hand, and grasped it in hers.
"Please, Carmine… you're my friend too. You guys both are. I just want to make things right. We need to tell him together, and then figure out what to do. Okay?"
"I… I…"
Then Juliana went for the nuclear option: the big old puppy eyes.
"YOU…!" Carmine tried to seethe in response, but… she threw her head back and grunted. "Fine. Fine. You win, okay? Simmer it down now."
Juliana's sadness turned off like a light, and she jumped for joy.
"Yay! I knew you'd see it my way!"
"Okay. Next time we see Kiki… I—We'll get him to the house with Grandpa and… we'll tell him all about the ogre, okay? I guess… I guess we do owe that much to him." She gave Juliana a stern look. "But if anything happens, and Kiki gets hurt… I'm putting all the blame squarely on you."
"Crystal clear!" Juliana saluted with a merry grin.
"Grrrrrrr," was Carmine's only response.
They had just reached Carmine's house again. Carmine went through the gate to tell her grandpa the good news, while Juliana stood for a few seconds to wipe away her wet eyes.
She looked hopeful again. Maybe… maybe this time we can finally do it all right, and we can all see Ogerpon as friends together…
But she was taken out of her delight when she saw Carmine running back to her frantically.
"You still think Kiki wouldn't do anything rash, huh!?" Carmine raged at her. "You didn't tell him about the ogre on your own, did you!?"
"No, I-I haven't said a word!" Juliana defended. "I promised! And told you everything about how terrible I felt! Remember?"
"Right, I'm sorry…" Carmine tried to calm herself. "I know you wouldn't just go blabbing to him like that."
"Why? What's happened!?"
Carmine growled. "Kiki took off with the mask!"
"WHAT!?"