Interceptor's Wish

by Masterdude21

What started as a young man's search for his abducted mother spirals out of control. Soon, he is fighting a desperate war for survival against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. The enemy is everywhere and allies are far too few. With the entire region at stake, who can prevail when fate itself seems set against you? - Novelization of Pokemon Rejuvenation.

46. Rose Badge

AN: ladies and gentlemen, Erin is on the loose. I repeat, Erin is on the loose.

Anyway! Chapter 46, Rose Badge, Or, Darchlight Village. I hope you all enjoy!

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Chapter 10– Stopped In Our Tracks

Rose Badge

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Rain came down from the sky in dreary, blurry slates when Rhodea led the four of them out of the Bladestar structure. She barely seemed to care as she strolled into the cold darkness of Darchlight Forest, chatting away with Florin as she did.

Will stopped.

He looked up.

"There you are!"

The raindrops poured through the canopy above. Heavy and thick, they streamed down his face, soaked his hair and pooled on the surface of the Bladestar compound. The water felt real. Cold, wet, but so very real. The tension from the day seemed to shrink away at the shock of the rain pouring down on him.

"...Will?"

That felt important to him. As he stood there, face tilted to gaze up into the sky, the rain was wet and cold and -

It was important.

"Will!"

He blinked. Slowly, he turned his gaze down again -

Something blonde and soft and fierce all but tackled him into a fierce hug. Her arms came up around him and squeezed tightly. "There you are! Do you have any idea how worried you had us?"

"Melia?" He said, hugging her back almost on instinct. "What…how did you…?"

"You went off to gather wood! Wood!" She said, burying her face against his chest. The warmth and weight of her presence chased away the lingering ghosts Darchlight Cave had left in his mind. "What happened?" She demanded, all but pulling him against her body.

Will rested his cheek against the crown of her head. He found his hand settling against her neck, fingers easing into her hair. Even if the rain was cold, Melia was so damn warm. "I'm okay," he whispered.

"See, I told you there was no need to worry," a familiar voice yelled after her.

Venam was here too? How long had they been down there?

"I always worry about you guys, you know that," Melia shot back. "I let you out of my sight for five minutes!" She let go of him again and stepped back, before giving him a critical look-over. "You look pale. Is it just me?" She peered closely at his face. "No, you're definitely a bit washy."

Will would have made a joke about living under a rock, but it seemed too obvious to him, and he had something much more important to share. "Melia, Melia, Aelita's awake!"

She stared at him in blank confusion. "Did you say Aelita?"

"Yes! This girl, Erin, she's Aelita's friend and they got separated today, which means Aelita's alive and she's awake! We need to find her!"

"Whoah, slow down Will," Melia said. Her eyes darted towards Erin for a moment. "What happened? How does Aelita relate to this?"

Aelita, Aelita -

His voice was shaky. Melia must have thought he was crazy but he needed her to know, she had to make her get this.

Will took a moment for himself. He tried to reign in the giddiness, the wild shock that the thought Aelita coming back to them had left him with. "Aelita's out there. She's awake. She's alone. We need to find her."

He saw her mind racing to process what he said. "Rhodea's brought the police out in force," she slowly said, mulling over every word. "We don't have Team Xen or any major threats out here…if Aelita is here, she is not in any immediate danger."

With Flora out here establishing control over her Bladestar followers, maybe. Nevertheless, he couldn't risk that, he couldn't risk that! "If she's alone…"

"Aelita's a tough girl," Melia said, giving him a warm smile. "Her Pokemon are strong, too. We are going to find her! But first, we kinda need to know what the heck happened here."

Rhodea cut in before he could do more than let her words sink in. "All of you look a bit under the weather. This rain ain't helping matters either. Come on; let's take you guys somewhere warm, we can do the explaining there. Rushing into matters half-assed isn't going to help anyone."

Together with Melia and Venam, Rhodea took Florin, Flora and Erin to this monster of a jungle car she'd parked off-road in the middle of the Bladestar compound. It looked like a Ranger jeep, but with an additional tray or cage slapped onto the back that provided room for four more passengers to complement the four in the main area of the car. The thing was half a dozen meters long and was mounted with a large searchlight atop the roll cage, likely to be used for search-and-rescue operations.

Operations like, for example, people's friends getting lost in strange caves with terrorist leaders, an angel and a demoness while walking around as a strange patchwork-looking soul.

His head still hurt.

"I call dibs!" Venam shouted.

"Dangit!" Florin cried out. "I wanted that!"

"Gotta be faster dude."

Dibs called, Venam hoisted herself into the passenger seat, which allowed Melia and Venam to get into the two seats behind her. That left the cabin in the back free for the Flo-siblings, Erin and Will. Florin and him stayed back a bit to let Erin and Flora climb in first - "Such gentlemen," Flora said sarcastically - and then climbed inside themselves.

"Everybody buckle up," Rhodea told them as she fastened her own seatbelt. "The road wasn't all too good before the rain started. Things might get bumpy."

She stuck the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. Twin beams of light slashed through the foggy, dark confines of the forest and illuminated more of the steel fence around the compound.

Rhodea slammed the upsized jeep into reverse and gunned it, nearly flinging Florin out of his seat because the poor guy wasn't finished buckling up yet.

"Whoah, hang on!" Will said, lunging towards Florin to grab a hold of him and then nearly choking because his own seatbelt jammed and refused to give him even an inch of leeway. Between the sudden chaos of keeping the former angel from flying through the cabin, Flora laughing her ass off at his misery, Rhodea's enthusiastic off-road skills and the silent judgement of Erin filling the cabin, Will completely missed the first half of Rhodea's explanation. Something about a bar, milkshakes and the police?

"How do you know Aelita?" Erin suddenly asked.

"She and I go way back," Will answered. Florin and him finally managed to figure out what the problem was; the metal end of his seatbelt was warped. It didn't fit, which meant they had to jam it between their seats, keep a tight hold on it and just hope for the best.

"Really? How far back?"

"Twelve weeks or so," Will replied.

Erin stared at him with those piercing, gray eyes of hers. "Way back," she said, unamused.

"A lot happened in those twelve weeks," Will said defensively. Something about Erin had him a bit on edge even if she didn't look all demonessy anymore.

"...I suppose so," she replied.

Erin didn't speak up again throughout the rest of the trip. Florin and Rhodea kept the conversation going, and eventually Florin remembered that the rest of them hadn't even been properly introduced.

"Oh, I completely forgot that we haven't officially met before!" He gasped. "I'm Florin, and this is my younger sister, Flora! This here is Will - "

Will made it a point to wave at Melia, who snorted.

" - and that's Erin."

They waited for Erin to react, but she seemed to be occupied with staring out the back of the monster-jeep.

"...she's tired," Florin said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you all," Melia hummed. "That's Venam - "

"Sup."

"- And I'm Melia. We already know Will, actually. He's ours - err, with that I mean, he's with us!"

"Florin and Flora are close friends with Talon," Will said. "They fought alongside the rangers during the assault on Valor Mountain."

Flora glanced at Melia, frowned, then looked back at Will. A hint of suspicion touched her features.

"Oh," Melia said. Her light-hearted expression turned more serious. "I'm so sorry, I didn't recognize you before."

"That's alright," Florin said in an easy-going tone. "We were there with the memorial in Kakori Village, but we eh, kinda kept our distance. Didn't want to intrude."

"I thought I recognized you from somewhere," Melia nodded. "Thank you for being there for us."

"Thank you for saving the entire island chain!" Florin said. "Now - "

"HANG ON!" Rhodea shouted.

Their monster-jeep hit a pothole or gap in the road or something and Florin's seatbelt snapped free with an audible 'chink'. He had a split-second to see his life flashing before his eyes, before he was promptly launched through the cabin again. As Rhodea struggled to right the car again, Will and Florin fought for their lives to keep the poor guy in the general area of his seat. Venam laughed and laughed, and Flora seemed to take a particular delight in seeing her brother bounce about the place.

By the time they reached their destination, Rhodea had a couple of new, Florin-shaped dents in her cabin. She pulled up in front of a tavern, put her vehicle into parking mode and then quickly marched around to the back to open it up.

Erin and Flora wasted no time in hopping out, Will followed them and stuck around long enough to keep a dazed Florin from just walking out the back and breaking his neck, because the back of Rhodea's monster-mobile was elevated some thirty feet above the ground.

"Careful, watch the step," Rhodea said. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Magic Milk Bar. The perfect place to unwind after being cooped up in those caves there all this time."

"How long were we down there anyway?" Will asked.

"Three hours," Melia said. "After the first, we figured you were having some trouble gathering those planks. After that, though…"

"It didn't feel like three hours to be honest," Florin pointed out.

"More like days, at some points…" Flora grumbled.

Rhodea opened the door and instantly, Will was instantly hit by warmth and light and the rumbling bustle of a dozen conversations.

"Milkshakes, let's go!" Venam said, rushing to get out of the rain and into the cozy warmness of the tavern.

Milkshakes didn't sound like a bad idea.

Rhodea got them a larger table on the ground floor. Will eased himself into the chair on the bottom right part, where he could put Melia in his blind spot and still manage to create some oversight and situational awareness for himself. Venam plopped down on Melia's left, while Flora, Florin and Erin all sat down on the opposite side.

"...oh wow, they sure have a lot of flavors here," Melia commented, flipping through their menu. "Apple pie milkshake? How do they even make that?"

"Putting a pie in a blender, making it swirl?" Will suggested. He leaned against Melia a bit more, trying to decipher the swirly letters on the menu from over her shoulder. Why was it that playing videogames without depth perception was so easy, but reading a simple menu caused his brain to short circuit?

Melia sighed. "Okay, I should have seen that coming."

"I see that running around in a cave did little to improve your sense of humor," Venam said with a scoff.

"Can't improve on perfection," Will shot back.

"...I am going to try that apple pie milkshake!" Melia declared. "You?"

Vena, peered at the menu for a few moments. "Eh. Let's be a basic bitch. Strawberry's fine."

"Okay! Will?"

Right. The point where he figured out if even liked milkshakes. If Venam was being basic about it, then he couldn't go wrong copying that, right? "Uh, a strawberry too, please."

Once she'd gotten their orders in, Rhodea sat down on a table next to theirs like a teacher about to discuss the day's subject.

"How did you even know where to find us?" Flora asked.

"I got a distress call a few hours ago about people trapped in some underground lab," Rhodea explained, crossing one leg over the other. "That's when I made my way ro Route Seven and ran into these two."

"We followed the distress signal until we found you guys in that cave!" Melia said.

Rhodea nodded. "Seeing all of you just standing there sure was a surprise. How'd you even manage to get into a situation like that?"

Rhodea turned her gaze towards Flora and Florin. Will, unsure of where to even begin, let his thoughts wander. Giratina could have done some violent things on that elevator. Instead, it chose to get the hell out of dodge - hopefully for good this time - and disappear without a trace. So why even attack in the first place? Just to shove him down that cave?

"Distress call? We didn't make any such call," Flora said.

There had been plenty of distress and calling, but nothing that could have found its way to Rhodea. Maybe some sort of silent alarm? A motion sensor?

"We were pushed down there by that pesky Giratina from Terajuma!" Florin said.

"Giratina"" Melia said, alarmed.

Venam uttered a loud groan. Judging by the loud 'thunk' that followed, Will could only assume she'd dropped her head to the table. "It never fucking ends…"

"We started roaming these labs and there were more Giratina and other weirdness," Florin…Will hesitated to call that 'explaining'. He didn't exactly clear anything up.

"It's gone now," Will supplied. "Wherever it went…it wasn't interested in attacking at the end."

"Ah…we'll never be rid of that Pokemon…" Melia moaned.

The waitress dropped by to deliver their drinks and milkshakes. Erin had gone for a cup of tea instead. Will watched her gently lower her tea bag into her mug as he sipped from his own drink. Strawberry milkshake wasn't bad. It was really sweet, but it had a freshness to it.

Will suddenly realized that he was parched. In the time it took Florin to explain how they'd all met up in the forest before things went awry, Will drank half his milkshake, realized that the stuff was actually really cold, then discovered he had made a terrible error.

Pain. Cold pain. Horrible. Why?

"On a brighter note, this is a cool place you got here, Rhodea!" Venam pointed out as Will struggled to brush the ice off his mind.

"Thanks!" Rhodea smiled. "It's just a little side hustle I do in my spare time."

Erin stirred her tea with her spoon, then said, "I noticed everyone around here is quite young."

"That's because I only hire kids who are having a rough time figuring themselves out," Rhodea replied.

Will would have asked if she was still hiring, but before his brain could thaw again, Florin clarified, "She means delinquents."

"Florin," Rhodea sharply said. "You know I don't like that term…they're just in rough spots. Working here gives them a working wage, benefits and a chance to better themselves!" She paused for a bit, then cheekily added, "They also know how to make a mean cinnamon spice milkshake!"

Will eyed his milkshake with suspicion, gave it a swirl, and then took another large sip.

"Did anything exciting happen in that cave while you guys were down there?" Melia then asked.

"Exciting doesn't begin to cover it!" Florin replied. "It was really crazy! It's an old Bladestar base, and we were constantly attacked by all these spectral figures with Pokemon, but get this, they were all fakes! Illusions, even the Pokemon! Flora and Will had to make this weird mirror to get us through the different dimensions in the cave while constantly fighting off these illusionary Pokemon - "

Venam picked up her own milkshake and gave it a critical look. "What do they put in this stuff?"

"It does sound rather far-fetched," Rhodea said. "How did you not realize you were fighting illusions?"

"Eh…well, Will did most of the fighting," Florin sheepishly said. "And eventually, he did the spotting, too."

"All of the fighting," Flora corrected her brother.

"Haha, yeah, that's true. Will did all the fighting."

"Oh yeah, he does that," Melia smugly said. She snaked an arm around his shoulders and gave him a little squeeze. "No cave would be complete without a Will climbing out of it."

Despite the coldness of his drink, Will still felt his breath stutter at the warmth of Melia's presence. He'd missed her. It was a dumb, sentimental thought because it hadn't been more than a few hours and he'd been in constant company, but something in those caves had left him yearning for his friends.

He was just so, so glad to be back at their side.

"So this is a recurring thing then?" Rhodea joked, pointing at Will and then at Melia and Venam. "Will finding himself in strange spots like that?"

"Ugh, like you wouldn't believe," Venam said. "We turn away for a minute and he just disappears. We find him in the strangest places."

"Keep a tighter leash on him next time," Flora growled.

Will shot her a glare, but Melia laughed. "That's one suggestion," she said.

"Still though, fighting illusions? Wouldn't you figure that out during the first fight?" Venam said.

In hindsight, he really should have seen that sooner, yeah. "They were really convincing." He didn't see a point in delving deeper into theories when he didn't even know if he could trust half his current company.

Erin drank her tea, then hopped off her seat and donned her jacket again. "Milkshakes and illusions aside, I think it's time I take my leave. I appreciate your hospitality."

Will shoved his chair back and jumped to his feet. Erin was right; Aelita couldn't have gone very far on foot. If they all sent their Pokemon out and began looking for her now, they might just be able to catch up.

"Wait, Erin!" Melia said. "You said you were looking for someone named "Aelita"?"

"That's right," Erin replied. "Will said you were all friends of hers? I'll let you know if I find her or not. Don't worry."

Melia looked at Will and gave him a reassuring nod. She stood as well. "We're going to help you find her!"

Erin's fine brows knitted together in a frown. "Really?" She said. "Don't you all have a train to catch once the bridge is finished?"

Will would crawl his way to GDC if it meant ensuring Aelita's safety beforehand. "The city can wait."

"That's still going to take a while, fixing the bridge, so we're stuck here," Rhodea said. "Go on."

Erin nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, I'll take Darchlight Woods again." She turned her gaze to the two girls sitting next to Will. "You two take Route Seven and Honec Woods. You - " she glanced at Will - "Can take Darchlight Village. She might have made her way there."

"Got it," Will said. He made to leave, but Florin suddenly got to his feet as well and called out to him.

"Will, before you go, there's something we need to discuss," he said. "You're on your Gym Challenge aren't you?"

Frowning, Will glanced at the exit. "Can't it wait for a bit?"

"It's fine!" Melia said, seemingly guessing what was on his mind. "We'll get started. You just dealt with that Giratina again, you're allowed to take a breather, you know?"

With a snort, Venam said, "Right. You know Will by now, don't you? He doesn't have a breather button."

"We can install one," Melia said with the utmost seriousness.

"We'll rendezvous at Darchlight Village regardless," Erin said. "We'll be in touch."

With that, the girls were off, leaving Will with the Flo-siblings and Rhodea.

"And then there were four!" Florin said chipperly.

"Yep," Flora remarked, watching the trio leave with a bored expression.

"Ah," Rhodea said, shifting her balance on the table to address Flora. "So she finally speaks."

Flora did not so much as glance Rhodea's way. "Charming as ever, Rhodea."

The corners of Rhodea's lips rose in a smirk. "I can see how you would be jealous of that charm. That's something you'll never have, sister."

Uh oh. That sounded just a tad personal.

"Your charm is artificial, superficial, and over the top," Flora sighed. "So please, spare me the wasted time."

That sounded more than a tad personal. Straight for the jugular. Maybe it was better if he just headed out now before this escalated with him in the midst?

"Guyyys," Florin protested "C'mon, there's no need for all of that."

While Flora just rolled her eyes again in annoyance at her current company, Rhodea actually seemed to consider Forin's pleading. "Okay! Okay, you're right, Florin," she conceded. "We're all stuck here until that bridge is fixed. The least we can do is figure out something productive to focus on."

"Then let's get to business!" Florin said. "If you're going to search for your friend in Darchlight Village, do you mind if I tag along? I have a few things I need to take care of there anyway, and I know some people who might know where to find her!"

"Florin does know the lay of the land," Rhodea said.

"Yep!" Florin shoved his seat back and got up. "Oh, and before I forget, Flora! You said you were itching for a good Gym Battle before we came here to Route Seven, right?"

"Yeah, at my Gym," Flora said. "I don't feel like battling anywhere else."

"But don't you wanna know Will's true strength first hand?" Florin pushed on. "He was pretty incredible down in those labs, don't you think?"

Flora sighed, then levelled a glare Will's way. Her eyes lingered on his scar, before flitting back to Florin again. "A test of strength, eh…? For Will…" A thoughtful pause came and went. She frowned at her empty glass, then said, "I guess I'm intrigued. Very well. I will battle you on the condition that I get to pick the place we spar."

"If you ask real nicely, Rhodea might just let us back in those caves," Will said.

Florin smirked and Rhodea let out a breathy laugh, but once again Flora was no fan. "Do not push your luck, Will. I am this close to rescinding my offer."

"Darchlight Woods!" Florin quickly said when he saw Will open his mouth again. "How about that? After we rendezvous with the others and we've found your friend, we can do the Gym Battle right next to the village!"

"...It is a nice place," Flora said after a pause. "Just before we were thrown into all that chaos."

"Sure, why not," Will replied. He had a score to settle with Flora regardless, so he might as well get a Gym Badge out of that ordeal. "Florin? Let's go."

"This'll be your only chance to battle me," Flora said as the two of them grabbed their coats. "If you flake then I'll never accept your challenge again."

"Harsh," Rhodea said.

Will stared at the woman. Was she serious? It sounded so…so pouty. "I don't flake," he replied.

Flora pointedly looked away. Will guessed she wouldn't be wasting another breath on him until they faced each other in battle.

"Well, let's get going then!" Florin said.

That suited him just fine.

Without wasting another second, the two of them started trekking back to Darchlight Forest. It took Florin approximately four seconds of silence before he said, "I never actually met them, given the circumstances and all, but your friends seem like really nice girls!"

"They are," Will replied. "Most of the time."

"Heh. I think it's very sweet that they came looking for you. I didn't think that we'd been down there for so long, but I guess time really flies when you're exploring a new place huh?"

"Hmm."

"Since you're heading to GDC together, you really should come check out the Botanical Gardens eventually! It's a beautiful spot with lots of rare and exotic flowers. Since you were such a huge help in the caves, I would love to give you all a tour! Maybe I could even get Flora to join in. Oh! She might want to give that tour herself!"

"Flora would just love that," Will muttered.

"She's really passionate about her projects - "

"I'll bet."

" - and deep down she really is a sweetheart. By the way, I know a couple of people in the village ahead. Old folks, but they know the forest like the back of their hands. I've asked them for help a few times before! If anyone would know where to find your lost friend, it's them! They're not too used to outsiders though, so better let me do the talking."

"Sure…"

Florin was a nice guy and Will kinda felt like a jerk for not being able to keep up with the conversation, but Florin did so much talking that he started losing track of when he ought to reply and when he could just nod and listen.

Thankfully, it didn't look like Florin took offense, and they reached the village after twenty minutes or so regardless. Like Flora had said, the village really lay in the depths of the forest. The houses were made of that same dark wood as the trees themselves. The village wrapped around a lake of sorts, its water so painfully bright and clear that it could have been as fluorescent as the Spiritblume trees. Strangely-shaped Shroomish wandered around the village, yellow with bright, shiny spots of blue.

"Welcome to Darchlight Village," Florin said as he led Will through a path around the left side of the lake. "I come here often, it's sorta an outer base for the GEPA team. We should ask around here! Oh, before I forget! Are you hungry?"

"Hungry?" Will asked.

Florin nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Apparently we've been down there for hours. You know what? I'll figure out which house we need to visit first to ask around…" He rummaged around in his pockets, pulling out three different samples of plants, gently tucked those away in a different pocket and then produced a wad of cash. "How about you head into the bakery over there and get some snacks for us?"

It wasn't until Florin pointed that out that Will realized that his stomach was yelling in hunger. "Anything in particular you like?" He asked.

"Oh! Croissants! They often have those freshly-baked!" Florin said, his eyes all but sparkling in delight. "They're buttery and so soft on the inside. You should try them too!"

Will supposed he'd be eating croissants with Florin, then. "Sure. Where do I find you?"

Florin put one hand between Will's shoulderblades and he jerked in surprise, barely able to stop himself from flinching away from Florin.

But Florin noticed regardless. He pulled his hand away, blinked, and then smiled. "Whoah, didn't mean to spook ya!" Florin laughed. "The forest can be creepy at times, but we're totally safe here!" He then put his hand back and steered Will a bit to the left. "See that house? With the berry patch next to it? That's the home I was talking about. I'll be chatting my people up in there, so when you're done, you can join us there!"

"Right," Will said. "I can do that."

"Good! See you soon!"

They split up, Florin heading towards the house of his acquaintances while Will headed into the bakery. A little bell chimed as he pushed the wooden door open and stepped inside.

"Hello!" The woman behind the counter hummed pleasantly. She looked to be a fifty-something woman, with laughter lines around her mouth and an almost old-fashioned dress. "How can I…Wh-"

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. She stared at him with open horror, sputtering weakly, trying and failing to string together a sentence.

It wasn't something Will was unfamiliar with, but he had literally just walked into her shop. "Something wrong?"

"Oh my…" she choked out, before clearing her throat and smiling nervously. "Oh my, this is kind of awkward isn't it?"

The urge to look down and check if he still wore pants was near-irresistible. "Why?" He asked, a bit on edge. Was there something he was forgetting?

"Do you…remember me?"

It took him a second to process what she said. When he did, when the words clicked in his head and the ramification rocked him, Will took a few quick steps forwards and planted his hands on the counter. "You know me? Where from?" He asked.

The woman sucked in a breath and winced. "You ah, don't remember me then?"

"If you could jog my memory?" Will asked anxiously. "Please?" He added belatedly.

The woman…she sighed in relief. "Oh good…it's probably best that you don't…"

What?

"...I mean…that was decades ago, am I right?"

De…decades?

The woman looked him over with a critical eye. "I'm not even sure how you're standing here looking the exact same."

He looked…the exact same…? But…but he'd swapped clothes. Melia had taken him shopping and…who was she?

She cocked an eyebrow. "You look…confused?" Her awkward smile faded, and she rested her elbows on the counter and stared up into his eyes. "Welllllllllllllll…..probably for the best. I became a baker and retired and now I work here."

"No," Will said. "No, I need…who were you? Who are you?"

A mischievous smile. "Annnyyywayyyy it doesn't really matter - "

"It does!" Will snapped, his voice sharpened by stress and an ever-increasing sense that he would never be able to regain what was taken. "Tell me!"

The woman raised her hands in surrender and backed off a few paces. "Okay. Okay. No need to get upset. You can use this space to relax! Just chill. Need some tea? I make the best herbal tea."

"...I don't like herbal tea," Will said. His head felt like Adam had put his palms against both of his ears and started applying pressure. "Who are you?"

"My name is Carpenter!" The woman cheerfully said. "That's the new name I gave myself. Isn't it cute?"

The way she blinked so eagerly at him indicated familiarity. She knew him, knew him and liked him well enough to act nice to him.

When he didn't reply, Carpenter sighed and crossed her arms in frustration. "Our meeting was the bomb," she said,

Decades ago…while he…hadn't changed…

…his visit to the past?

"Theeee bomb and the bakery!" She then quipped, giving him another hopeful smile. When he still stared blankly at her, she rolled her eyes and held up one hand. "Explosives. The, ah, cult?"

Will stepped away from the counter and sat down hard in one of the chairs. Emotions knitted themselves together in his chest, throbbing painfully against his ribs. Anger and disappointment and shame.

She was the murder-maid who had been tasked with detonating that stupid exploding orb and he'd just made himself look like a huge lunatic in front of her.

A huge fool.

"Didn't realize that," he mumbled.

"Aww." Carpenter the murder-maid hopped the counter and pulled up a chair next to him, moving with exaggerated care and slowness and keeping enough distance. "Sweetie, you look disappointed."

Great. The murder-maid was pitying him now.

…retired murder-maid, he supposed. That opened up so many different questions about how these things were made that he didn't even want to think about it.

"How are you even here?" He asked, frustrated.

"Well…" She kicked her legs up onto the table. "I left that cult, for one. Life's so much better now. We used to eat babies, you know?"

He shot her a horrified look.

"Kidding!" She immediately said, frantically waving her hands when she saw the look in his eyes. "That was just a joke! Anyway, I met this nice man and we had two kids!"

"You Servants can reproduce?" Will blurted out.

And then Carpenter fucking giggled like a schoolgirl. "Of course we can! Hubby and I got. It. On! Not being part of the natural order apparently comes with a heightened libido - "

"What."

" - which is why one of my girls has that part-time job in that shop, I suppose. Oh yeah! Now I have two daughters! Ain't that just amazin? I love them both dearly…my kids are Patticakes Neuron 53N 2.4W and Partition 3 Glass 4."

Will stared at her.

She didn't seem to realize what she'd just said. "But we just like to say Patty and Particia. Wish those bitches would visit me sometime!" She sighed dreamily, then got back to her feet. "Anyway, enough yappin'. You were here for a reason, right? So what can I getcha?"

It would have been the simplest thing to turn and walk away. Leave this house, forget it and Carpenter existed and continue about his business.

But knowing that Indriad's murder-maids were capable of…of being like this? Having kids, finding partners - finding love - changed matters considerably.

Pokemon reproduced. People reproduced. Living things reproduced.

These things weren't people, they had no right.

She could have been lying. She could have been lying through her teeth to protect herself.

But why bring up the past? He obviously hadn't recognized her. She was the one who started this.

…he didn't think she was lying. It didn't feel fake. Nothing about her here felt fake. She lived here, she worked here and she just…functioned. In life. With normal people around her, Carpenter had somehow carved out a place in life all for herself.

Herself and her husband.

Could a fake person pretend to function like a human for so long? Without anyone ever catching on?

"A few croissants…please…" Will said quietly.

He didn't know. He just…he didn't know.

…but if he left this place without taking lunch with him for Florin, Florin would start asking questions.

He paid for the bread and left. This was one encounter he'd rather not share with his friends if he could help it.

Up ahead, Florin had left the door to the house next to the berry patch unlocked. Will made it a point to knock regardless, and when two different voices invited him in, he pulled it open and entered.

"Hey Will!" Florin said. He was seated at an oak dinner table with an elderly woman with short, graying hair and a man with a long white beard. Both looked like they were about the Eldest's age. The woman looked up at Will with a serene and pleasant smile, while the man nodded at him. What looked to be a detailed map of the entire forest lay sprawled across the table, with a few steaming mugs placed on its corners to keep it from rolling itself back up.

"Hello," Will replied a bit timidly. "I'm…Will. Uh, nice to meet you."

"Come in son, have a seat," the man rumbled. "Name's Rohan, that there is my wife, Catherine."

"Florin here was just telling us about your lost friend," his wife - presumably - told him. "Frightening business, being lost in Darchlight Woods. But don't you worry none! She is quite safe here."

"Rohan and Cath actually found someone lost here before!" Florin chipped in.

Rohan reclined back in his seat. "Was a very long time ago. I believe this was all the way back in…June?"

"What was her name again…" Catherine said, frowning at her mug.

"Anyway," Rohan continued. "She was scared and alone. Most folks are at first, here in Darchlight. So we gave her a place to stay."

Catherine shot a frustrated look at Florin. "Oh, why can't I remember?"

"Annoying, isn't it," Will said.

"It'll come," Florin told her. "Rohan, did she end up finding her way back home?"

The elderly man nodded solemnly. "One day she got up and left without saying anything."

Florin huffed. "Rude."

"Ces…no, there was an 'r' in there, I just know that…"

"My wife and I miss her sometimes," Rohan continued. "She reminded us of our daughter, who…" His voice trailed off. After a deep grunt, he continued, "Life is short, young one. Not everyone will live to look like us." His moustache and beard creaked into a deep grin. "Could I getcha something to drink?"

"No thank you," Will said politely. "Florin?"

"Cr…Cres…" The old woman pulled at her hair in frustration. "Bah! Blast my old brain! Well, she used to help me with chores around the house. I appreciated it."

"She sounds nice," Will said.

"She was…in her own way." Catherine said. "But regarding your friend! Whenever the young folk gets lost, they generally head to…" She peered at the map, narrowing her eyes as she moved her face closer. "Oh, goodness. Where is my…" her hands clutched at the scarf wrapped around her neck, wrinkled fingers clawing for something that wasn't there. "Oh, I must have left my glasses downstairs. Florin, would you be a dear and - "

"I'll go get them," Will said before Florin could get up. "Florin, can you come up with a route?"

"Heh! You do know you're talking to an elite Skwovet Scout, right? I'll get us there no problem!"

Nodding gratefully, Will headed down the stairs towards the floor below. Catherine and Rohan lived in a house that seemed to be buried halfway into the ground, where the first floor served the purpose of the ground floor. It was a really interesting layout, but Will wasn't a fan. The floor he ended up on lacked any windows and though it was still furnished the same comfortable and old-fashioned style as upstairs, it was just too dim for him.

He made his way past a few large and solid shelves, glanced around a living room and then walked into a bedroom. No glasses in sight.

Will's gaze fell on a nightstand next to the bed. He spotted a journal and a make-up mirror, but no glasses.

Making his way over there, he pulled open the single drawer, but no luck there either. If Catherine's old brain struggled to recall names, she might be misremembering where she put her reading glasses too. Will hoped he wouldn't have to go rummage through their entire house, because then he'd -

He paused when his eye fell on the words scribbled in the journal.

That journal…

"I've been on the run from them for quite some time now. The damage I was able to inflict on both of them bought me some time to escape. To think those damn hags thought they could take me down so easily…"

With bated breath, Will checked to see if he was still alone, before turning the page. This journal must have belonged to the girl those old people took in. Was it them she ran away from?

No. No, that couldn't be it. It said that she'd been on the run for quite some time, and she wrote about hags to boot. Rohan didn't exactly look like a 'hag' to him.

Hags…what a specific way to describe her pursuers.

"And all because I found out their "truth". I won't stand for it. I wasn't able to finish them off then, but once I become stronger…I'll cut their heads off one by one. Just like they deserve."

Will whistled softly to himself. Whoever this girl was, she was one hard-core lady.

…hags. So familiar. Who else had he heard describe people like that? With the same disdain?

"My dearest love…we will be together soon."

So she had left someone behind when she was forced to run? That sounded serious. And these old people found her lying in the forest? Who had she been running from? Why did the hags try to kill her but not this loved one?

Hags…hags…

Was she running from Team Xen? Hunted by Nastasia and Madelis, perhaps?

Their truth…

What kind of girl vowed revenge by decapitation? No ordinary person would think like that, let alone think it with enough conviction to write it down in a journal. It didn't seem like hyperbole to him.

Will started making his way back up to ask if Catherine remembered where she'd left her glasses by then when the realization struck.

Hags. Space hags. Melia had called them that. So did Karrina.

Cres…

Crescent?

No way. There was no way. He was just being paranoid. Just paranoid -

Will spun on his heels and ran back to the journal. He read it again, but this time read it with Crescent in mind. Crescent, who had been a Stormchaser back in Amberette. Crescent, who had gone rogue. Crescent, who was just the kind of person to stick around long enough to help with chores, but also get up and leave without saying a word.

Crescent, who hadn't batted an eye at the idea of murder.

My dearest love…

The room spun.

Do you know who I am?

His lips parted, allowing a shaky breath out. A fog in his mind kept his thoughts hazy and stuck in place. He couldn't jar them loose, no matter how hard he tried.

My dearest love.

No. That couldn't be. He wouldn't have - he couldn't have forgotten something like that, right? No. No, Indriad couldn't have…couldn't have taken the feelings and emotion associated with his memories. Seeing Crescent all those times would have jostled his memories, just like Melia and Venam had told him.

Dismay flooded his mind when he remembered all the times Crescent had shown up to save him and only him. The affection she felt for him, the utter fury in her gaze when he told her that his friends were all he had.

Do you know who I am?

His calves slammed into the bed when he staggered away and he nearly lost his balance.

If he was that important to Crescent, if a girl like her thought so highly of him -

My dearest love.

- then why didn't he remember?

He pressed his hands against his face and racked his mind for a single scrap of familiarity. There had to be something there, something that could jostle something important, something that could make him recognize if that word really, truly meant him, or if he was drawing baseless conclusions again.

Nothing.

Will resisted the urge to throw the diary through the room.

Priorities. First, he needed to super-glue some poker to his face. He couldn't let Florin or those seniors see even a hint of this. If they saw, Melia would see for sure.

Then, Aelita. He'd find her, embrace her, and then he'd keep her safe, too. After that, he had a score to settle with Flora, a bridge to get over and a giant city to explore.

A minute or two later, when he came back upstairs, Florin and the two seniors were already studying the map.

"Oh hey Will!" Florin said, looking up when he saw him enter the living room. "You'll never guess!"

Catherine turned back and shot him a sheepish grin. "I'm so sorry my dear, I had my glasses underneath my scarf this entire time!"

Rohan chuckled deeply.

"That explains a lot," Will forced out. "Say, the girl you found in the woods…in June…did she by any chance have dark hair? Black, even?"

Rohan's thick brows knitted together.

"Oh…yes, she did," Catherine gasped. "But how would you know?"

There existed, Will decided, a non-zero chance that he was completely overreacting and drawing all the wrong conclusions. It was entirely possible that Crescent meant someone completely different from him, and that he was simply a means to an end to her. Someone she could use to advance her own goals - a friend, if he was very lucky. If she thought he was so important, she would have told him. She would have reached out to him by now, let him know in some capacity that she was still out there.

But she hadn't.

Will could handle being her means to an end. That was the least he could do.

But the Space Hags had a secret worth murdering their own for, huh? Was that what they'd do to Melia too, if she accidentally found out? Try to murder her, then declare her rogue and sick her own friends on her? When they were the ones who ruined her life and abducted her in the first place?

This, too, was something he would keep to himself. What was the point in burdening the people he loved with something like this? They had enough to worry about. Melia had enough to worry about.

"...just a guess," Will muttered.

He had to be pragmatic here. As difficult as it was, he had to shove away his personal feelings and take the action that would result in the least amount of harm to his loved ones. Just like he couldn't afford a fight with Bladestar, he couldn't afford to antagonize the Space Hags either.

Yet.

"Heh' One lucky guess, that," Florin said. "In the meantime, we've mapped all the likely places your friend could have gone upon realizing she was lost."

"Good." Will turned his back and opened the door. "Let's go."

Pidgeot was on overwatch the entire time. Nidoking and Froslass combed through every area even Florin didn't know how to access. Will had Kirlia with him the entire time, scanning Darchlight Forest with her emotion sensing.

They searched for an entire hour.

They never found Aelita.

Darchlight Caves had left him rattled, but the weirdness of the village with Carpenter, the diary and not finding Aelita when she should have been right there left him with a strange hint of hysteria. When he realized that, frustration came over him, a hot, simmering thing, and he stopped to try and gain an edge over that particular feeling -

Before he knew it, he stumbled over a large branch lying on the path and the frustration flared into bright anger. Furious, he whirled around and stomped on the branch. The stupid thing didn't break, so Will kicked it off the little path and into the nearest bush.

Kirlia stared at the bushes for a few moments before slowly dragging her gaze over to him. Her blood-red eyes locked with his.

Will held her gaze, staring down at his little Psychic-type. He was dimly aware that he didn't have a clue what was going on inside of her head, and her expression betrayed zero emotion. Then again, it didn't take a psychic to look at him and put two and two together.

He couldn't bring himself to hold her gaze and looked away. "Uh…sorry…"

Kirlia blinked at him.

"Oh, yeah, you gotta watch out for those branches, they don't tend to stick out too well in the forest," Florin said. He'd stopped a few meters ahead. "Flora and Rhodea are just ahead. We'll have to rendezvous with the others in half an hour so…" He offered a little smile. "Might be your last chance for her badge."

What did battling Flora for her badge even matter? He didn't care about missing out on battling Flora, didn't care about the Gym Challenge. Aelita was out there, alone, and she didn't know if her friends had made it! She didn't know that they made it out with Amber and Tesla, nobody had told her about Nim and Professor Jenner -

His heart stopped. The Stormchasers. The past, Amberette Town, Melia's missing three years…that was all waiting for Aelita, too. The Space Hags would test her like they'd tested Venam and him, like they'd tested Crescent.

Before they tried to murder her.

Helplessness was one of the most excruciating emotions Will had ever experienced. Helplessness fueled by experience and loss was a slippery slope to desperation and where desperation failed, hopelessness would follow.

"Florin," Will said, pouring an almost inhuman amount of effort into keeping the anger out of his voice. "I need to find her. She's alone."

Florin raised his hands in a calming manner. "I get that. You're worried about your friend. I would be too, especially after what happened on Terajuma. But this isn't Terajuma, Will. Wherever she is, she's safe."

Will blew out a trembling breath. A furious reply worked its way up his throat, got stuck there, and then slowly fell apart again. Florin had helped them on Terajuma. He wasn't a bad guy. He just didn't know how ruthless Team Xen truly was.

"How do you know that?" He asked. It came out as an angry demand, but Florin didn't even blink at it.

"Because that's what these woods really are, Will," Florin calmly replied. "Between the travelers and villagers and all the caretakers…oh, and besides! Erin said she lost her friend just before she fell into the caves, right? It's been a few hours; for all we know, Aelita could have left the forest."

…left the forest? He hadn't considered that. With Melia, Venam and Angie searching the surrounding areas though, wouldn't they?

"We just left a Bladestar base," Will replied. "With a Giratina."

"And I guess that Giratina isn't going to be very happy with Bladestar now. Come on Will. Let's regroup with Flora and Rhodea, show the ladies how you saved our behinds in Darchlight Caves, alright?"

"Are you telling me Flora was an illusion this entire time?" Will said. He couldn't quite keep the sharpness out of his voice, but Florin snorted nevertheless.

"She could've fooled me!" The guy laughed. "Come on. Follow me."

Flora and Rhodea waited for them in the clearing before the Bladestar compound. Rhodea had parked herself on a fallen log, while Flora stood near the pond, at the bottom of the little waterfall there. It wasn't raining quite as badly as when they first got out of that base, but rain it did, and Flora was soggy.

It was the little victories that counted.

"Hey guys! Did you…aww, I see you didn't find your friend huh?"

Flora tore her gaze away from the water when she heard Rhodea greet her brother and Will.

With a little shake of his head, Will replied, "Hope the others found her."

"They haven't called yet, but there is always a chance," Rhodea said. "Sounds to me like a Gym Battle is the perfect way to take your mind off of things!"

Things.

Well, she wasn't wrong.

"Rhodea and I will watch your match from the sidelines!" Florin said. "We're excited! I'm curious to see how well you're able to fend off my sister. He moved a few feet closer, cupped his hands to his mouth and whispered loudly, "Psst, Will, this is a secret, but I'm rooting for you, okay?"

Rooting.

"I heard that," Flora said in that bored, not-giving-a-damn voice of hers.

"Oopsie," Florin said.

"I'll be here to referee the fight," Rhodea said. "But if you so choose, I could also provide you with any information you might need. As per the rules of the league, of course."

"Glad to see the league has its priorities straight," Will said through clenched jaws.

He wasn't sure if Rhodea got the message. "Need some advice?"

Will looked at Flora, who calmly held his gaze. "No."

"Wow, love the confidence. This is going to be a singles match, six versus six. First opponent with no Pokemon left loses."

"Yeah yeah," Flora said impatiently. She walked away from the pond and took her position at one side of the clearing. "Are you done talking? You certainly took your time."

Will shot Rhodea another look before mimicking Flora, putting himself at the other side of the clearing. He didn't bother coming up with a response - Flora would find a way to verbally put him down regardless of what he said. Instead, he drew his gaze across his battlefield, recalling the specific way with which Florin had described Darchlight Woods.

It was a forest, so Flora had the homefield advantage. He didn't feel like burning down the entire forest just to take away Flora's advantage, but maybe he didn't have to. The air was thick with mystical energy, an aura of power that he knew would affect certain Pokemon and their attacks. Considering the large amount of Fairy-type Pokemon around, there was something in this forest that either attracted or nourished them. He could work with that.

"You're a curious case, Will," Flora continued. "I can't get a good read on you. So I'll use this battle as a way of seeing how you tick…"

"Are the both of you ready?"

Flora and Will both nodded tersely.

"Okay…begin!"

Flora waited for Will to send out his first Pokemon. It suited him fine; as the Grass-type Leader, her team would likely be brimming with tools to defend against Fire-types. The sooner he learned what kind of tricks the leader of Bladestar could throw his way, the sooner he could put together a plan for the absolute worst-case scenario where he'd have to come knocking on her door for a talk.

Will sent Blaziken out. She glanced up into the air, feeling the rain trickling down on her fuzzy forehead, and then shot him a look of annoyance.

"I know," Will replied. "We're coping."

She snorted angrily, then turned her attention back to her opponent.

"Of course," Flora muttered. She unbuckled one of her satchels, gripped a Pokeball and sent forth her Pokemon of choice.

A bipedal, plantlike Pokemon with purple legs hit the battlefield running. Powerful and aggressive, the Tsareena's legs weren't just for show. Back on Blacksteeple Castle, one had very nearly kicked Will's head off his shoulders before Blaziken interfered.

Blaziken braced herself as Tsareena lunged. It lashed out with a purple leg, driving the sharpened tip towards Blaziken's face with reckless abandon. Blaziken brought her arms up to protect her face and parried the first kick, before blocking a second and a third. Neither she and Will saw the Zen Headbutt coming until Tsareena suddenly launched herself forwards, face first, wrapped up in a purple field of Psychic energy. The heavy blow forced Blaziken's arms apart, leaving her head exposed.

Swiftly, Blaziken stepped two paces back before Tsareena could follow up. A furious Tsareena bounded towards her again with a flying kick, but Blaziken ducked low and intercepted her mid-kick, grabbing a hold of Tsareena's leg and then planted her other claw against its face. She flung Tsareena over her head and into the air, then gathered fire to her right leg.

"Power Whip!"

Blaziken tried following up with a Blaze Kick to her foe's sternum, but twin vines emerged from Tsareena's bulbous midsection and shot towards Blaziken's head. Will's Fire-Type was forced to throw up one arm for the whip-like vines to wrap around instead, and Tsareena used her as an anchor to sling itself back to its feet.

And then the little shit began cackling.

The two brawlers charged each other again. Tsareena aimed a kick at Blaziken's sternum but Blaziken caught it with her right claw and shoved it aside. As she spun away, Tsareena lashed out with a Power Whip at her face, which Blaziken batted aside with a quick claw-swipe. She pressed the advantage, stepping closer and then whirling around to deliver a wicked elbow-jab at Tsareena's face. The Grass-type wasn't able to fully dodge it and the powerful blow sent her stumbling backwards.

"Keep pressing her!"

"Zen Headbutt!"

Blaziken hopped to Tsareena's side and struck a Fire Punch at its shoulder with enough force to send the Grass-type crashing to the ground. Instead of trying to break her fall, as Blaziken had anticipated when she closed in for a Blaze Kick, Tsareena took the crash without flinching and flung out her Power Whip. Blaziken drove the tendrils back with a wash of flames, but Tsareena managed to spin around on her back and landed a Low Kick, violently sweeping Blaziken off her feet. She landed heavily on the wet grass and Tsareena went in for another Zen Headbutt, rushing towards her fallen foe.

Blaziken twisted around on her back, kicked a wall of flames towards Tsareena to blind her and then planted her claws against the ground. As Tsareena pushed through the flames to deliver a punishing headbutt, Blaziken did the cool leap thing where she drove a double Blaze Kick at her opponent while shoving herself back to her feet.

Tsareena slammed into one of the trees a full eight meters away, landed groggily on one knee and was just about to spring back to her sharp, mean little feet when Blaziken grapeled her and then sent her through the tree, completely shattering it in half in the process. The upper half of the tree crashed to the ground with a violent cacophony.

Florin winced, Rhodea got out an impressed "Wow!" and Blaziken ran a fuzzy arm past her face, rubbing the water and mud away.

Will would have been very surprised if Tsareena got up from that one. So was Flora, apparently, because she recalled Tsareena and sent out a very happy Ludicolo next.

Seeing that Ludicolo waggle onto the battlefield, Will couldn't help but think back to Rorim B the Dancing Man.

Something was different about this Ludicolo, though. As the rain kept falling, it didn't seem to stick to Ludicolo. It moved with a strange sliding effect, as if walking across ice instead of pools of water and grassy mud.

"Keep your foe at a distance, use Surf to wear it down," Flora commanded.

As Will watched with mounting confusion, Ludicolo performed a very theatrical backflip, landed heavily on its flipper-like legs and then somehow managed to slide backwards as if jerked by a cable. It moved as if little things like friction and momentum suddenly didn't matter to it anymore. As it did, it opened its beak and spewed a jet of water…but not at Blaziken. Instead the water began pooling across the ground, visibly connecting the loose puddles together. Then, it flung its hands to the side and the water just…coalesced into a giant wave that moved as if it had its own will. It pulled back from the battlefield towards Ludicolo and Ludicolo hopped forwards, planting itself into the wave and riding it towards Blaziken.

"Run for the trees! Get higher!" Will yelled.

Blaziken heard the order to get away from the giant wall of watery doom and she didn't need to be told twice. She started sprinting, her clawed feet kicking up dirt and grass as she struggled to gain traction on the terrain. Ludicolo swept after her, bringing down its giant wave right as Blaziken jumped.

The wall of water washed across the trees, tearing off branches and throwing Blaziken across the forest floor. It wasn't a violent affair, as Ludicolo lacked the sheer volume of water and intensity of control that Kyogre had, but he still threw Blaziken around with a giant wave of water in a damp forest and she must have loathed every second of it.

Soaked to the bone, Blaziken climbed back to her feet. She swayed a bit, before leveling a furious glare at Ludicolo.

Ludicolo skidded around in the rain with a speed that belied its bulk. It must have had something to do with the rain. Somehow, Ludicolo was manipulating the water to make itself faster. Blaziken wouldn't be able to catch up to engage it in close quarters and her fire wouldn't help her. This wasn't a good matchup at all.

Time to switch things up. "Blaziken, you did 're going for a different approach."

He recalled his soaked Fire-type, then sent out Fraxure next. There was something he needed to test regardless, and Fraxure never minded the water much.

"Fraxure, time to start working on our Dragon Claw," Will said.

Fraxure squared his shoulders and lowered his head, preparing himself to face down the aqua-planing Ludicolo.

Kanon's Salamence had manipulated its draconic essence into something real and tangible, something that he could use as a weapon. So far, he hadn't managed, but if Fraxure could get a handle on Dragon Claw, he might just be able to use that for other moves, too.

That was when Flora ordered, "Ice Beam," and Will's entire plan fell apart then and there. Ludicolo opened its maw and an orb of bright, white light grew into life between his jaws.

"Fraxure, fire back and move!"

As it zipped across the battlefield, Ludicolo began pelting Fraxure with freezing Ice Beams. They lacked the ferocity and force that a true Ice-type could have imbued them with, but at the end of the day it was still a freaking beam of supercooled energy spearing towards Fraxure's face. Not good.

Fraxure started moving across the battlefield, exchanging fire with Ludicolo. Blasts of destructive energy streaked back and forth, a dragon pulse cleaved through Ludicolo's wave of water and tore it in twain but the Grass-type simply called more water to itself to fill it back up and Fraxure very narrowly avoided getting speared in return.

Will glared at Ludicolo, trying to discern how it was doing this, trying to find a way to break its pattern of moving. A way to…

"Its feet Fraxure!" Will ordered. "Aim for its feet!"

"Ludicolo, use Protect!" Flora ordered.

Ludicolo stopped mid-slide and raised its hand as if warding off an incoming blow. In doing so, it created a shimmering bubble of green energy around its body.

The incoming Dragon Pulse slammed into that dome of light but Will could already guess that it wouldn't punch through. Fraxure was tough, but his ranged attacks seemed to lack the bite needed to crack his opponent's defenses. That was only to be expected; Fraxure was young and he'd routinely gone up against enemies far above his weight class.

But in issuing that order, Flora slipped up. First, it revealed that taking a Dragon Pulse to the feet would be a very bad thing to happen to Ludicolo.

Second: it kept the annoyingly-mobile Grass-type locked in one place. Fraxure exhaled a furious snarl and then charged towards Ludicolo, rapidly closing the distance.

"Ludicolo, Surf!" Flora ordered.

Its protective shield flickered away as Ludicolo backflipped straight into its wall of water again. It started zipping away from Fraxure.

"Good, now Ice Beam again!"

"Its legs!" Will yelled. "Again!"

Twin beams of elemental energy slashed through the air as the two Pokemon opened fire. Fraxure's Dragon Pulse cut through the watery layer at Ludicolo's feet and the strange Pokemon lost its balance, toppled and fell.

A fraction of a second later the Ice Beam collided with Fraxure's body. It fell an inch to the left and way up, nailing his left shoulder. The force of the impact spun Fraxure around, and he clutched his shoulder in pain.

But Ludicolo, for the moment, was vulnerable.

"Now Fraxure! Get him!" Will said.

Fraxure fought through the pain and went for it.

"Use Surf again, quick!" Flora ordered.

Ludicolo scrambled back to its feet and called water to itself again. It hopped back into its wave -

And Fraxure shoulder-checked him hard enough to send the both of them flying tumbling through the water and out the other side. Fraxure and Ludicolo rolled across the ground together. They struggled against each other, but even with his wounded shoulder, Fraxure knew how to apply force. He ended up on top of Ludicolo's odd bulk.

"Giga Drain!"

Ludicolo's hand shot towards Fraxure -

Fraxure shoved it aside, his eyes glowing with draconic energy. Red, blue, red, purple, blue - it was impossible to make out.

What happened next, however, was impossible to miss. As Fraxure fought to keep Ludicolo's glowing limbs away from his face, that draconic energy flared around his right claw in a sharp, bright corona of blue energy. It cascaded down his limb like liquid flames, flickering erratically as Fraxure struggled to shape it. Will thought he saw something like curved blades flash through the air, if only for a split second.

Fraxure brought his claw down on Ludicolo's face, hard. At first, it was a regular Slash, the one he'd been using since he evolved. Ludicolo reeled from the shock, but he managed to rip his right arm free and he seized Fraxure by his throat. Green energy surged through the offending limb.

"Fraxure! A claw!" Will shouted. "Dragon Claw!"

Fraxure gave no visible indication that he'd heard. He struggled against Ludicolo's limb as the Giga Drain began taking its toll.

Then, the bluish aura around his right hand coalesced into three claw-like shapes. They were blurry and difficult to make out, but they were there.

Fraxure struck a savage blow at Ludicolo's face. One, twice, then at the third time, Ludicolo let go of him. After a fourth blow, the Grass-type went limp.

When he noticed that his opponent had stopped resisting, Fraxure dropped his arms as well. He pushed himself off of the Grass-type and flexed his shoulders. He rolled his neck, as if trying to loosen up a tense muscle, then craned his neck to look at his trainer.

"That's my dragon," Will said, grinning. He'd come a long way since he hatched back on Route Four.

"I see," Flora said, her face a mask of concentration as she recalled her Ludicolo.

"Two Pokemon down for Flora," Rhodea whooped. "Don't get cocky now, Will, you haven't seen anything just yet!"

Will begged to differ, but then very quickly pushed that thought away. He'd seen firsthand what happened when people got overly confident. It was a dangerous line of thinking. Flora wasn't just a Gym Leader, she was the leader of Bladestar as well. There was no saying what kind of firepower she still had at her disposal.

Flora stashed Ludicolo's Pokeball away and picked up the next.

Well, he supposed he was about to find out regardless.

~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~

---

Twelve kilometers above Route Seven and Darchlight Forest, the unmanned aerial vehicle drifted closer to its target location. Built for speed, endurance and stealth, the Argus Survey Drone went unnoticed by those below as it drifted on its course.

Neved leaned closer towards the viewscreen as his operator steered the state-of-the-art surveillance drone closer. After a few minutes of careful maneuvering, its large, faceted sensor cluster began transmitting cartographic data.

His team of intelligence analysts went to work processing and interpreting the wealth of information transmitted by the device. Before long, snapshots of the civilians in and around the forest began flickering across their screens. It was an arduous process, one that Neved did not completely entrust their digital database. As the systems began pouring through the hundreds of images, Neved resisted the urge to scratch at the itch in his right arm for what to he the ninth time that day.

it is not there, he told himself. It is not real.

He stilled the lake of rage within his heart, and continued watching the viewscreen. His analysts muttered instructions to each other, and the drone operator steered the Argus Drone towards the ruined bridge that led from Route Seven to Grand Dream City…and the train that had curiously managed to stop with a mere dozen meters to spare.

The screen flashed: the image changed to show passengers streaking out of the old train as a small group of individuals spread throughout the perimeter. Meticulously, the Argus Drone began mapping the appearances and faces of every single individual down there.

When the system alarms began blaring, Neved allowed the smile to come over his features. Finally. "Report."

"Sir! One of the suspects has an eighty-three percent match with the Primary Target."

The image changed several times in rapid succession as it zoomed and enhanced on the lone, golden-haired girl standing in front of the river.

There you are.

"Hello, Emma," Neved whispered.

Grim, raw satisfaction at finding the Madame's quarry wrestled with the savage delight that he was about to locate his own prey. After all, wherever Melia appeared, he was not far behind.

His fingers dug into the seat of his chair. Finally. Finally!

"Find him!" He snarled.

His team began pouring over the passengers that spread out across the disaster zone. Lines of information zipped across their consoles as they began comparing the people down there to their database until…

"Seventy-one percent match!" Another analyst reported.

The screen flashed one final time.

The rest of the office's occupants turned to look at the viewscreen with various degrees of rage, disgust and, much to Neved's own fury, fear.

Because William was on the screen.

It was a snapshot, frozen in time as their prey moved across the field and Neved felt such loathing that it nearly swept his focus away. He took a moment to revel in the knowledge that his taskforce had finally found him.

What are you doing down there, William?

This world did not permit coincidences. William being here meant only one thing: this warrior had learned about the fate of his comrade. A storm was coming, and he had come to bring it straight to the gates of Grand Dream City. There would be a reckoning for the loss of his comrade.

Good.

"Send word to Captain Evan. I want Third Squadron on standby," Neved ordered.

"Sir!"

Neved split the still image of William striding across the plain off to a different monitor and continued watching the footage as it played out. The only area around Route Seven was the ranch to the north and Darchlight Village to the east. That train's final destination was GDC Central Station.

There could be no more steel against steel. The mettle of men would not succeed against someone like William. No, his execution could not be a cathartic or soothing experience. William's death would have to be inescapable in its swiftness and immutable in its violence. There could be no substitute for the firepower the Initiative would need to bring to bear.

This was a chance he could not afford to miss.

Neved flicked his phone open and began preparing his contacts for the next operational field order. Amongst others, Captain Evan's Third Death Wing Squadron excelled in asymmetrical fighting tactics. They were the perfect unit for the job.

Considering William's uncanny ability to survive impossible odds, he could accept no substitute. He performed some quick calculations, then placed an order for eight levels of M38 kits.

Extreme prejudice.

"Continue monitoring his movements," Neved ordered. "Inform me when you discover where he sleeps."

After a quick chorus of "Yes sir!'s" Neved stashed his phone away again. Surely, the Madame would understand his rationale. With Melia's greatest protector out of the picture, the other operations could proceed as planned.

And in William's death, Neved would finally find peace.

He continued to stare at the viewscreen as his intelligence team began updating the dossier. He reveled in the knowledge that soon, he would have the initiative again. This dark stain in his life would be erased and he would have his retribution.

Soon, warrior. Soon, you will have nowhere left to run.

~~~~~~~(III)~~~~~~~

---

"Roserade! Use Sleep Powder!" Flora yelled her command.

Not eager to see another Pokemon fall prey to that move, Will ordered, "Kirlia, blow it back!"

Kirlia surrounded herself with Psychic power as Roserade swung her flowery hands through the air again. A fine cloud of greenish particles burst from her rose-shaped limbs, swiftly spreading through the air like it had when Will had ordered Fraxure to go on the offensive. Flora was down to her final two Pokemon now; her Ferrothorn and Shiinotic had been tough nuts to crack, but after a few tactical switches on both sides, Pidgeot, Blaziken and Froslass had managed to take care of matters.

Kirlia's Psychic energy swept outwards in an invisible bubble, throwing up mud, water, leaves and plants. Her invisible shockwave clashed with the cloud of Sleep Powder and blew it apart, showering the forest with a thick coating of mud, leaves, water and little particles of sleep.

Roserade charged forwards, her body glowing an incandescent green. She left a trail of energy in her wake as she moved.

"Kirlia, Reflect! Don't let her touch you!"

Flora's Roserade drove a blue, flowery limb towards Kirlia, green light flashing. Kirlia managed to throw up a transparent barrier just in time to block her foe's limb.

"Weather Ball!"

Instantly, Roserade leapt back, brought her petal-like limbs together and created an sphere of white light. She raised her hands and flung the orb into the air, where it burst into a bright, blue sphere twice its original size.

"Kirlia, teleport away!"

The sphere of light came crashing down on Kirlia who barely managed to teleport out of its way again.

"Good, now use Psybeam!"

Kirlia's horns crackled with purple energy as she gathered power. She fired -

Roots erupted from the grass beneath her feet, wrapping themselves around her legs and pinning her in place.

Pysbeam went wide.

"Giga Drain, then get ready for his next Pokemon," Flora calmly ordered.

Roserade charged.

Kirlia tugged and pulled at the roots, her eyes wide with alarm, but it was no use. However Flora had managed this, she'd gotten Kirlia pinned and ordering another teleport would risk depleting Kirlia's reserves. He'd been playing it too safely with his Roserade, constantly ordering Kirlia on the defensive.

Roserade trailed green energy again.

Staying on the defensive was never the solution, but still…there was no time, they had to start hurting Roserade before it could completely seize the initiative.

Putting screens in place would just let Roserade dance around Kirlia and strike her from behind. No, he had to utilize her talents in a different way, like his enemy had, like…

Like Mewtwo had.

Telekinesis wasn't just limited to the environment.

"Kirlia, forget screens, use your telekinesis on her limbs!" Will shouted. "Don't bother blocking, just redirect them!"

Roserade closed the distance and thrust a glowing, rose-bud like limb towards Kirlia's chest. Kirlia's eyes glowed with a deep shade of red. She reached towards Roserade with one hand and a burst of psychic energy shoved Roserade's limb aside before the Giga Drain could connect. Will could only imagine the look of confusion on the Grass-type's face as she overreached and lost her balance, stumbling. She caught herself and whirled around, trying to strike another blow, but Kirlia managed to telekinetically shove her limb aside again and the flower passed just inches from Kirlia's face.

Psychic energy rippled through the forest as Kirlia then struck Roserade with a blast of purple energy. It hit Roserade like a shockwave, blowing her off her feet and shearing away the roots that had been pinning her down the ground. Roserade tumbled head over heels and tried to press one of her flowery hands into the ground to stop her uncontrolled motion.

The crimson glow of Kirlia's eyes in the dark forest was a sign to behold as she fired off twin beams of multi-colored energy. One tore through the ground in front of Roserade - a clean miss - but the other speared the Grass-type right as she tried to get back to her feet. The impact spun her around, clutching her chest as collapsed on the ground. She tried to get back to her feet, but she couldn't do much more than put her arms underneath her chest.

Kirlia surrounded herself with more Psychic energy, purple static crackling across her broken horn.

Roserade fell again.

"Kirlia, wait," Will ordered.

"It's fine, Roserade," Flora said, aiming her Pokeball to recall her -

Kirlia fired another Psybeam that sent Roserade crashing into the tree behind her.

"Enough!" Will shouted.

The Psychic energy dissipated and Kirlia lowered her arm again.

"Come back, Roserade," Flora said, recalling her fainted Pokemon.

Kirlia looked at him and the look in her eyes was difficult to place. It could have been guilt. It could have been annoyance. It looked like indifference however.

"Maintain control," Will urged her. Even for a Pokemon, combat could be an ugly and stressful affair. He didn't have a clue what she went through as a Ralts, what Team Xen did to her. He wouldn't scold her for slipping up like that - but he also couldn't tolerate it. "Stay calm, Kirlia."

With Roserade down, Flora was down to her final Pokemon. With a steely gaze, she sent it into the fray. A heavy-built, quadrupedal Pokemon with warty purple skin and a large, purple-spotted flower on its back.

A Venusaur, but it looked different. A Shiny Venusaur then?

That was fine. He knew how to handle Venusaurs.

It stared down Kirlia, before extending a pair of thick vines from its flower. Having seen first-hand what kind of damage Grass-type Pokemon would wreak with those vines, he decided he wasn't going to risk Kirlia. She was a small, frail thing, and a single direct hit with that kind of weight behind it was far, far more than she could take. She already didn't have much gas left in the tank after that protracted fight with Roserade.

"You've done well enough, Kirlia," Will said. "Come back." He recalled her, gave it some thought, then sent Pidgeot out next. "Pidgeot, knock that thing over from range, mind its vines."

"I see you are an experienced battler," Flora commented. "But have you experienced this before?"

She removed her flower-shaped hairpin, held it tightly in her hand and then extended it towards her last Pokemon. "Venusaur!"

Something like a gemstone or crystal embedded within the center of the hairpin glowed a brilliant shade of green. It was like it contained a source of incredible power just barely contained. Jagged beams of energy erupted from the gem, bright beams of light that dragged across the ground and split the sky like great torrents of water.

Venusaur opened its gaping maw and roared. A pulse of energy expanded through the ground as pinkish-purple fire engulfed Venusaur's bulk. The flower on its back grew more prominent and two smaller flowers sprouted into existence, one atop its head and the other one on its rear. Its limbs became stockier and additional leaves sprouted from its back.

Mega Evolution, Will realized. So Flora had access to this power as well?

"Venusaur, Sludge Bomb!" Flora ordered.

The light didn't so much fade away as it exploded off of Venusaur's body, and the newly evolved Mega Venusaur opened its maw again to spew out several brown globs of sludge.

Pidgeot didn't need any orders that time; he flapped his wings and quickly gained altitude, narrowly avoiding the barrage of toxic sludge arcing through the air.

Where those globules of sludge hit the ground or the surrounding trees, they promptly detonated with teeth-shaking force.

"Take him down with Leech Seed then!"

"Knock them back!" Will ordered.

Pidgeot spread his wings to arrest his momentum and arced his majestic head down in time to see Venusaur launch an entire freaking cloud of seeds into the air with its flower. They exploded into a net of writhing roots and tendrils.

Twisting around in mid-air, Pidgeot beat his powerful wings and kicked up a windstorm with just a few flaps. He blew back the cluster of Leech Seeds, which scattered across the canopy of the forest.

Pidgeot continued buffeting the forest with a galestorm, snapping branches like matchsticks and uprooting smaller trees. Flora grimaced as the wind nearly blew her off her feet, but she kept her gaze locked on Venusaur.

Her ace kept itself rooted solidly to the ground. The storm that was capable of uprooting entire trees failed to shove it off balance, and already Venusaur opened his maw to spew out more Sludge Bombs.

Mega Venusaur was too heavy to knock off its feet.

"Venusaur, head into the forest," Flora ordered. "Do not present Pidgeot with a target."

Venusaur growled in acknowledgement, and then began backing away towards the treeline.

That could be a problem.

"Pidgeot, Wing Attack!" Will called out.

Pidgeot flattened his wings to his body and sped towards Venusaur. It unleashed several more Sludge Bombs that blew apart mid-air, and Pidgeot banked to the left to avoid the worst of the damage. When he came down on Venusaur, he didn't have the immense momentum and kinetic energy he usually packed into his divebombs. He slammed into the Mega Pokemon and it held its freaking ground. Pidgeot's steely wings slammed into its flower with enough force to shatter stone and the damn thing merely flinched and snarled in pain.

"Venusaur, Uproot!"

Pidgeot seized one of its petals in its hooked beak and began clawing savagely at Venusaur's face. The tanky Grass-type bellowed in fury. A greenish aura flared to life across its body -

"Pidgeot break off!" Will shouted in alarm "Now!"

- enormous roots erupted from the ground everywhere around the two Pokemon. Pale, slithering pillars dotted with spikes and other, writhing tentacles. They burst from the ground with such force that the entire forest seemed to quiver in response, and Pidgeot wasn't able to get off the ground quick enough. The roots curled inwards from all around, forming a spiked cage thirty feet in width.

Seeing that there was nowhere to go, Pidgeot resumed his attack without hesitation. He fell upon his foe with renewed vigor, clawing and swiping with ferocious fury.

Clusters of seeds erupted from Venusaur's massive flower. They burst apart into a cluster of vines and squirming tendrils and Pidgeot had zero room to maneuver. He spread his wings and shrieked in defiance as the Leech Seeds wrapped themselves around his wings and torso and began immediately sapping his strength.

Will spat a curse. Had Flora baited him into attacking before she could gain the terrain advantage? Had she guessed that he would attack with more aggression if she tried to maneuver her ace into a better position? She'd done it so blatantly, too.

What else could he have done? If Venusaur had retreated into the forest there was no way for Pidgeot to get to him there.

Clenching his teeth in frustration, Will recalled Pidgeot before Venusaur could sap too much of his strength back. Fraxure was still asleep, Kirlia lacked the energy to keep going and Nidoking had proven vulnerable to Leech Seed before.

Blaziken made the most sense to him, which meant it made sense to Flora too. She'd have tricks in place against Blaziken and it was still raining, to boot.

Will sent out Froslass next. With Blaziken, the rain would be Flora's weapon. With Froslass, it was hers.

Flora looked at Froslass with an unreadable expression.

The cage of roots shifted as some of the tree-sized tendrils slithered back into the ground, while others bent out of the way for Venusaur to step through. He stomped towards Froslass instead of taking the opportunity to hide in the forest. And odd decision, but Will guessed it made sense. Too many shadows for Froslass to hide in, too little room for Venusaur to maneuver.

Just like that, the terrain favored him again.

"Venusaur, Leech Seed!"

"Avoid those seeds!" Will ordered.

Venusaur launched another barrage of Leech Seeds that slithered through the air. Froslass turned invisible and intangible. The constant downpour would make it easier for Venusaur to track her movements though, but Will had a plan for that.

The wriggling nets of Leech Seeds missed their mark and Froslass began exuding an immense aura of coldness. It bled off of her in waves, ever increasing in size and intensity. Venusaur shifted his fire and began launching Sludge Bombs in-between clusters of Leech Seed, slowly covering the forest floor with writhing clusters of roots - sterns? - and toxic sludge.

It was a gradual thing, the chilling cold that seeped into the air. The rain snap-froze to hail in an ever-increasing radius around Froslass. The roots on the ground froze over and stopped moving.

"Seriously?" Flora snarled, the word coming out in a white, puffy cloud of air. She wrapped her arms around her chest and began hugging herself for warmth.

"G-g-g-guys!" Florin stammered. "W-W-Wrap this u-up pl-please!"

A gradual, biting thing that reminded Will vividly of how close he'd been to dying of hypothermia in Angie's realm, where warmth had been death and pain had been life.

Venusaur roared and lances of green energy erupted from its flower; strange arcs of light that moved with a will of their own, arcing towards Froslass.

Froslass raised her arms and unleashed another wave of biting cold. Those green tendrils didn't wilt or shiver or die, but they just kept going and wrapped themselves around his Ghost-type.

They weren't physical in the sense that they could be frozen solid, then?

How many tricks did Flora have?

Venusaur's strange energy roots wrapped tightly around Froslass' body, holding her in place as arcs of green energy bubbled across their length.

"Don't let her go!" Flora said. "Focus on the Giga Drain. Do not let her escape."

A different form of Giga Drain? But how - ?

Fine. He could work with that. "Froslass, use the water in the ground!" He yelled. "Nobody's walking here anymore!"

She got his intention, she always did. Pinned in place by Venusaur's ethereal Giga Drain, Froslass called for winter, and winter answered her.

It was like an entire network of pipes bursting beneath a city all at once. An earthquake that upturned the land, shattered foundations and changed the lay of the land. The already-frozen ground shattered, exploding into a jagged field of teeth and spears. They sprang up like trees in a sculpted forest of blades. Dozens of them, hundreds of them. By her will, Froslass turned the forest into a graveyard of blades.

Venusaur barely had the time to register something was off before he was shoved upwards violently by the snap-freezing tips of a dozen spears. It wasn't Angie's ice, and Venusaur's thick, wrinkled skin protected him against any actual slicing and wounds. Nevertheless, his massive bulk now rested atop a field of blades, and it went mad. it thrashed and thrashed, lashing out with thick tendrils that smashed through the frozen sculptures and produced thick clouds of icy micro shrapnel.

The Giga Drain dissolved.

A pulse of energy exploded from Froslass' body and one half of the spikebed Venusaur thrashed around on erupted upwards, sending the massive Mega Pokemon rolling onto his back. His bulk shattered the jagged teeth of ice beneath him with a heavy impact that sounded oddly muffled through the frozen forest.

Look, a vulnerable stomach.

"Get up Venusaur!" Flora yelled. "Protect yourself!"

Froslass surged towards Venusaur, dodged a last-ditch Power Whip and then readied a Shadow Ball. Venusaur extended a sturdy vine to the left side of his body, planted it against the ground and began shoving himself upright again.

Froslass loosed the ghostly bolt. It splashed across Venusaur's jaw, slamming his head back against the ground with a heavy thud.

"Venusaur!" Flora called out.

Venusaur stopped moving. That same pink energy as before welled up from its flower, swiftly enveloping its entire body. Losing the Mega Evolution was like watching a Pokemon evolve back in real time. Its bulk slimmed down, its flowers slowly shrank and some disappeared entirely.

"I tried," Flora sighed. Wordlessly, she recalled her unconscious ace.

A haunting laugh reverberated across the silent, frozen wasteland that had once been forest. Froslass zipped back towards Will and blew frozen air into his face.

"Grah!" Will cried out, rubbing at his eyes. "Seriously?"

"And that's it!" Rhodea whooped. "Will is the winner!"

Froslass floated around to his back and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Yeah yeah," Will grumbled. "But don't take all the credit. Pidgeot helped."

Florin stared at him slack-jawed. "Wow," was the only thing he could muster. "Just…holy…wow."

And Flora…Flora stared at him as well, and Will didn't appreciate the look she gave him at all. "Interesting…not bad. Not bad at all, Will."

Then, the strange look in her eyes was gone, and it was back to regular old pissy Flora. "Anyway, you beat me," she said, before shoving her hands into her pockets and strolling towards him. "So you deserve this. It's the Rose Badge."

She slapped the little piece of metal into his outstretched hand, then watched him unslung his backpack and stash it into his casing. "I have to say that I'm impressed with your strength. You'll make…a great "friend". Hah."

"Don't make me regret my decision," he said, lowering his voice so that only she could hear him.

A cocky smirk played over her lips. "You won't."

Will's bullshit-detector wasn't sure what to make of that one. He didn't have the time to reflect on the odd tone in her voice because Florin cut in with his tone and yelled, "Wow, you guy, that looked so awesome! Flora, you were calm and collected, but Will was like a storm! He freaking uprooted you!"

"Yes, Florin, I noticed," Flora said thinly.

"But Will!" Florin continued. "Look at your carnage man! It's gonna take people days to fix this!"

"Flora was strong," Will replied, making a point to glance her way as he said that. "I didn't expect that. She left me no choice."

Judging by her stony expression, she got the message.

"That's a wrap, anyway!" Rhodea said. "Will, seeing the way you battle makes me think you're going to fit into GDC just fine. I wasn't quite sure before, but man, something tells me things are going to work out."

Why would she say that? Will couldn't think of a better way to jinx things. He should know; he'd had a habit of doing that exact same thing until the universe taught him better.

"I'm willing to bet that bridge is fixed now," Rhodea continued. "We'll be able to make our way to the city finally. Will, you should head back to Darchlight Village and rendezvous with the others. With some luck, they will have found your friend, and we can all head back to the train. Would you…?"

"Got it," Will replied. "Flora, Florin, I'll meet you two in the city."

"Heck yeah! It was fun hanging out, and good luck!" Florin said.

Flora didn't reply, but she wasn't being aloof either. Will felt her gaze burning a hole in his back as he turned and left the old Bladestar compound behind him. Something told him that he hadn't seen the last of Flora Grevillea yet. He simply didn't have that kind of luck.

Time to report back.

~~~~~~~(IV)~~~~~~~

---

Darchlight Village

Bakery

The nice lady behind the counter brought them their snacks, and a very grateful Venam wasted no time digging in. Erin, meanwhile, didn't so much as glance at her bread. Her stern expression had not changed since they had returned from their fruitless search, and she wore it with the sort of conviction that suggested a storm brewing within her thoughts.

"Honec Woods is a bust…" she murmured, scribbling something down on a worn notebook. "Route Seven?"

"Nothing," Venam said with her mouth still half-full. Melia shot her a rebuking look and Venam quickly swallowed. "Uh, nothing. Again, not a scrap or sign."

"Great," Erin said. "Cool. Just…awesome."

"Aelita's like, the toughest girl I know," Venam quickly said. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I will believe that when I see that," Erin said, before slamming her notebook shut and putting it away in her bag.

"I'm just curious what she's doing all the way down here," Melia said, picking up her own sandwich. "Route Nine was supposed to be way up north, on the other side of GDC."

Erin rested her head on her hand and cast a dreary gaze towards the window. "I'll be sure to ask her, when I find her…"

Not sure what else to say to make Erin feel better, Melia dug into her lunch. A few minutes passed by in silence - which had to be unbearable for Venam - until someone pushed the door open, causing the bell to chime and Venam and Melia to look up.

Will entered the bakery. He glanced at the lady behind the counter - who cheerily waved at him - and then did the thing where he forced his expression into one of carefully-constructed neutrality.

"Oh, hey Will!" Melia said. She noticed that Will was alone; no Florin and no Aelita.

Darn.

Then, he flicked his eyes over towards her and Melia watched with some satisfaction as that carefully-constructed neutrality crumbled. Wordlessly, he approached their table, pulled up a chair and sat down next to her.

"How are things for you?" Melia inquired.

Will inhaled deeply and fixed his eyes on a certain point on the table. A scowl grew on his features. "We didn't find her."

Melia brushed aside the kick of disappointment. She'd hoped that somehow, Aelita would still have been around. But if Will hadn't found her, then she simply wasn't here anymore. "Then we might need to look other places…"

Erin heaved a sigh.

"And that bit with Florin? Did he challenge you to a Gym Battle?" Melia said, trying to lift the mood at least somewhat.

"No," Will said, his scowl deepening. "Flora did."

Oh boy, that tightening around his jaw and the way his eyes narrowed…Will did not have happy thoughts when it came to Flora.

"Thought I felt the world shake," Venam said. "Did you beat her?"

Will shot her a surprised look. He was silent for a bit longer than would be normal, before saying, "I did."

Heh. Of course he did. "Look at that! Won another badge!" Melia cheered. "One step closer to the end goal!"

His frown softened a bit, "Thanks," he muttered. "Rhodea said the bridge is finished. We can - "

"The bridge is done? Fiinallyyyy!" Venam cut in.

"Congrats on the badge, but I'm about to lose my shit," Erin said with a sharp tone. "Why couldn't this girl just sit still? I wouldn't be in this mess if she just listened." Frustrated, Erin shoved herself to her feet and started pacing.

"That's Aelita," Melia tried. "She's headstrong and proud."

"A pain is more like it…" Erin sighed.

Will placed his hands on the table, palma down. "We can switch locations. I'll take Route Seven, you can take Darchlight and Honec."

"...no," Erin said, much to Melia's surprise. The white-haired woman shook her head and leaned back against the bookcase. "No, you need to catch your train. You guys can forget about me in the meantime."

"Uh…" Venam said, shooting an uneasy look Melia's way.

Judging by the look in Will's eyes, he was about to set his mind to maximum stubbornness. For good reason. "Aelita is important to us too, Erin," Melia gently said. "We can stay and help. The Grand Bridge won't stay broken for long."

There was a funny look of disbelief on Erin's face and she peered into Melia's eyes, as if searching for something. "It's fine," Erin said, her pacing taking her back to the table. "I've managed on my own thus far, and I'll continue to do so." She glanced at Venam, then at Will, before her gray eyes went back to Melia. "I appreciate the offer, though."

"Welp," Venam said, getting to her feet. "In that case, we should make sure we don't miss the train. Let's go guys."

With painfully uncertain eyes, Will turned to look at Melia, a silent question burning in those emerald eyes of his.

What do I do?

It wasn't often that Will didn't know the way forward. When things got bad and lives were at stake, he always seemed to know just what to do. He always found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, always managed to forge a path when the entire world seemed content to block the way.

Yet sometimes, there were moments where even he was lost, and didn't know what to do. That he looked to her for guidance during those moments of helplessness was…it was a gentle, fragile thing, the trust he placed in her. She wanted to keep it safe, cup it in her hands and make sure it was warm and loved and protected.

"We have a mission to achieve," she gently reminded him. "You and Venam go ahead and go back to the train. I'll be right behind you."

"Sweet. Come on Will, I'm not going to make my way through this spook-ass forest on my own…"

"Okay," Will said, his voice barely above a whisper. He joined Venam, and the pair left the bakery, which left Melia alone with this curious, curious girl.

"Say…Erin…" Melia started.

"Hmm?"

"We'll be staying in Grand Dream City for the foreseeable future," Melia said. She offered the girl a smile. "If you need a place to crash at, I'm sure we can make things work."

Erin kept her expression oddly guarded as she replied, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She reached into her pocket and retrieved her cellphone. "I'll give you my phone number…"

Melia took her own Cybernav and the two of them took a minute to exchange numbers. As Melia sent Erin a greeting with a wavy smiley, she noticed Erin taking a closer look at her appearance.

Suddenly, Erin's eyes widened and she backed off until her back hit the bookcase again. "What?" She breathed.

Alarmed, Melia froze. "Wh-What is - "

"That dress you're wearing," Erin said, her eyes frantically searching Melia's body. "That hair…" Her expression twisted into one of anger and Melia didn't understand for the life of her why. "What kind of games are you playing here?!" She demanded loudly.

"H-Huh?" Melia could only stammer. "What's wrong?"

For an instant, Erin's anger was a pained, frustrated thing, before she looked aside, visibly wrestled those emotions away and then put on that same cold, calculating look from before. "Sorry," she said. "I lost my sense of reason for a second." She took a deep breath. "This must just be some sort of weird coincidence that lines up perfectly."

Melia just stared. It…didn't look like a panic thing to her. It was an emotional outburst, but why? Her appearance? What for? "I'm not sure I follow?"

"Forget it," Erin said dismissively. She turned away again. "Forgive me for yelling like that. Go catch your train."

"...okay," Melia quietly said, not sure what else to do. "I'll give you a message when we find out where we sleep. If you need anything…"

Erin looked at her sharply again, and for a moment Melia feared she'd said something wrong. Erin blinked at her a few times, her expression almost…almost a bit sceptical. "Right. I appreciate that."

That taken care of, Melia left, leaving Erin to her thoughts. That was a very weird thing to experience. Maybe…maybe Erin recognized her from that Team Xen broadcast? Or maybe it was a case of mistaken identity?

A weird coincidence…losing her sense of reason…?

She didn't know, and of all the bizarre things she had yet to wrap her head around, Erin seemed by far the least worrisome.

It was time to cross a bridge!

~~~~~~~(V)~~~~~~~

---

Venam was being quiet and Will didn't like it.

It wasn't something he'd ever worried about before. To Venam, a minute of silence was just too unbearable to even think about, and she'd gladly do whatever it took to fill that void.

Not now. As Venam and him followed her Seviper back to the train, the silence stretched out way past awkwardness. It became painful, and Will didn't know for the life of him what to do. Thoughts flickered through his mind, each more difficult to slap away than the other. He thought of Carpenter, of Crescent, of Aelita being out here somewhere alone - this was her first time being here, she shouldn't be alone, she couldn't be alone - and he'd have given anything to have Venam smalltalk him out of that churning mess.

That she didn't…scared him. Was she still angry with him? She had to be. But why? And what could he do to make things better? He cherished their friendship and he didn't want to lose it, but if he tried to talk about things with the way his mind was right now, he might make things worse.

He might take a strenuous situation and ruin it. Ruin his friendship with Venam.

That thought made him feel sick.

Kirlia, strolling through the forest by his side, suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. It took Will a few steps before he noticed what was up. "Kirlia? Something wrong?"

His little Psychic-type slowly scanned her surroundings, turning her head from the left to the right before she just bolted. She started running in one direction, made it perhaps a few meters before she suddenly teleported away.

"Kirlia!" Will shouted.

"Shit, what's she doing?" Venam said.

With the looming threat of Bladestar and Team Xen, no way would Kirlia ever run off like that without a damn good reason. She'd found something. Possibly something dangerous.

"Trouble," Will grimly said. "I'll go after her, you head to the train."

"Fucking damnit Will, what if is trouble? What if you'll find it? What the fuck do we do then?" Venam snapped.

"What if it's trouble and I don't find it?" Will fired back. "What if it's Giratina coming back to blow up the train?"

Venam stared at him, horror slowly spreading across her features. She opened her mouth, but no answer came.

"Exactly," Will said. "Meet you there."

He didn't wait for Venam to get her thoughts back together; Kirlia was moving through the forest with surprising speed for such a little gal. She crossed large stretches of forest with each teleport, always popping back into existence somewhere out in the open, where her white body and glowing stuck out enough for him to notice her every time she did it. Only when she had made sure that her trainer was still following behind would she run off again, before promptly teleporting away again.

"Kirlia, hang on!" He yelled after her. "Where are we going?"

She led him south, back towards Route Seven but not via the main road. Instead, Kirlia almost seemed to be leading him across the abandoned train tracks he'd been following when he first tried to get into Darchlight Woods.

No, it was exactly that. Curiously enough, Kirlia led him through the tall grass leading to the abandoned train cabin where he'd first met Yira. With one final teleport, Kirlia flickered back into existence across the tall grass and right on top of Yira's train cart. She dangled her legs over the edge, slowly thumping her little feet against the metal frame as she looked down at him.

"What's gotten into you?" Will asked. If there had been a threat around, Kirlia wouldn't be sticking out like that. She'd be hiding in the tall grass, a master of stealth, only missing a jungle or boonie hat to conceal herself further.

Kirlia hopped down from the train's roof, landed in front of the door and then gestured at the knob.

"Something inside?" He asked.

Kirlia continued staring.

"It won't kill you to nod every now and then," Will told her.

Kirlia blinked.

Then she nodded. Yes it would.

Will chuckled, reached down to pet her head and scooped her up in his arms. "Am I going to get shot if I enter?" he asked, lowering his voice. For all he knew, Yira would be having a beauty sleep inside.

Kirlia didn't nod again, which was all the assurance he needed. He twisted the knob. The door was unlocked. He pushed it open.

~~~~~~~(V)~~~~~~~

---

Quiet footsteps. The subtle tick of metal against metal. The creak of the door to the train cabin opening. Those were the warnings the young woman had. She lifted her head from the bed, wondering if perhaps Yira had come back early.

Her heart stopped.

Because there, finally, finally, stood her friend, her best friend. His hair was longer than she remembered, reaching well past his jawline now. His clothes were different too. They fit, much more than when he would have put them together himself. Melia must have finally taken him out shopping.

A ridiculous, far away thought - a solid reminder of what she could no longer have.

She took that in, dimly, distantly, because he was alive, alive so very alive he was standing right on front of her, he'd made it, he'd did it and that was a fucking scar running across his eye.

Lightning coursed through her body as she scrambled off the bed and to her feet.

A large scar ran across his eye, angry and vivid and so, so very present. It arced through his eyebrow, through his eye and then curved across his sharp, pale cheekbone. His left eye, usually so vibrant and green and alive was now dull and devoid of its light.

She clenched her hands into fights at her sides, her nails cutting into her palms. They'd touched him. They'd hurt him.

One single second stretched out into an eternity as she stared. She couldn't move, could barely breathe as the image of a knife sweeping through his face burned her from within

In his hands, Will held his Kirlia. Kirlia stared at her with a terrible, knowing look in her eyes.

They look alike now, Aelita dimly thought.

Will stared at her. His eyes were exhausted and different and - he was blind there now, the bastards had blinded him in his one eye, she would get them, she would tear them apart for that - but she could see Will in them, burning bright.

"I…" she started, her voice drying in her throat after that single syllable..

They had hurt Will and she hadn't been there for him, she'd failed him and the rage, it came with a force that swept her off her feet, wracking her body and burning so hot within her head that it felt as if it would melt through her skull.

In his hands, Kirlia began twisting and squirming. Her mouth opened in a silent snarl as she ripped herself free from Will's hands. His eyes, on the brink of recognition, flicked down towards his Pokemon as she hit the ground.

The moment shattered like spun glass. Aelita turned, shoved the window open and jumped outside, her kimono flowing behind her as she bolted.

"Wait!" Will yelled. "Wait!"

She did not. How could she? He had needed her and she hadn't been there and now…now, she was dangerous. She would hurt him. He was her best best friend and the world had hurt him and now she would hurt him -

Aevium had hurt him enough. She would not add to that burden.

She ran. And she prayed to whatever cruel deity had condemned her to this non-existence that Will would not follow her.

~~~~~~~(VI)~~~~~~~

---

That single, fragile moment snapped when Kirlia began thrashing in Will's arms. She fought with an uncharacteristic fury, flailing and struggling like crazy to get free. He'd barely pulled his arms back to let Kirlia drop when the girl in the kimono bolted. Her long, pink hair whipped around her as she flung open the window and vaulted through with practiced ease.

"Wait!" Will yelled after her. The girl - so familiar, so hauntingly familiar - did not listen. She fled, and she did so with alarming speed.

There was no time for thinking, no room for any other thought than find her!

The girl took off running and Will gave chase. He sprinted for the window, placed one hand against its frame and jumped through.

It was higher than he expected. His stomach lurched as he suddenly dropped six feet. He hit the ground, instinctively rolled to dissipate the momentum and took off running after the pink-haired young woman. "Wait!"

Holy hell she was fast. She ducked and weaved through the tall grass like some sort of professional sprinter. She disappeared into the treeline and Will snarled a curse.

What's the plan here?

No clue. He picked up the pace, pushing himself to a full sprint after her. It was to no avail; if this kimono-clad woman was who he thought she was, he'd never be able to catch up with her.

And then what?

Irrelevant. Why was she running from him in the first place? Why was her hair like that, what was with that fierce, almost savage look in her eyes?

Will came to a stop at the edge of the forest, breathing heavily. He watched the girl disappear into the forest, moving as if she hadn't just spent weeks in a coma.

"Goddamn it," he spat. He glanced over his shoulder. He could just barely make out Kirlia's outlines, standing in the open window of Yira's train cabin.

Too much thoughts, too little mental clarity to make sense of them. He had to scale back. Think logically.

God, that was almost impossible. Why? Why would she run from him? Why did she look like that?

"Kirlia!" Will yelled as he worked his way back to the cabin. "Kirlia? What was that?"

Kirlia walked out of the window frame. Psychic energy slowed her down, and she floated towards the ground in a familiar manner. She looked up at him, her crimson eyes staring into his.

"Why'd you do that? What was wrong?" He continued.

She kept staring.

"I am going to get you some crayons and then you can show me," Will conceded. Chances were that Kirlia knew what she was doing better than he did. Okay, that was a low bar to clear, but still. There was a point behind every action she took. He just wished he knew that damn point. "Let's head back to the train. Report in."

As Kirlia and him headed back to the train, he kept playing back that odd encounter in his mind, trying to look at it from different angles. It just didn't make sense to him. That look in her eyes was recognition. Nobody had ever accused him of being savvy to people's nonverbal cues, but recognition was almost impossible to hide, and he knew he'd picked up on that.

Why had Kirlia led him there? Why freak out and then not help him?

None of this made sense.

What else is new, he thought bitterly.

Nothing seemed to make sense these days.

Much to his surprise, when he finally reached the bridge connecting Route Seven with GDC, he saw that it had actually been fully repaired. Kelvin must have put in some overwork to get that done.

Will walked across the train tracks, balancing on the steel rail as he crossed the bridge. He put one foot in front of the other, wobbling occasionally as he kept an eye out for any unwelcome surprises barreling towards him. His lack of depth perception bit him in the ass once again though, and he kept slipping off every few steps.

Balancing on small things used to be a lot more fun with two working eyes.

"If that really was her, then she's alive," Will said. Kirlia, balancing herself on the rails a few meters ahead of him, jolted a bit when he spoke, and she slipped off the rails as well. "I think, for now, that's the most important thing."

Kirlia gave him a look, then hopped back onto the rails to try again.

Luckily, the passengers were still too busy embarking, the conductors were still too busy with their headcount and Bladestar didn't seem interested in coming back for a do-over.

Up ahead, Will saw Melia and Venam hanging out at the edge of the river together with Kanon and Florin. Flora was there too, keeping her distance, while Rhodea was deep in conversation with one of the police officers. Going by the heated gestures, all was not well in her kingdom.

Will headed over to his friends, still debating if he should tell them what he just saw. He couldn't be a hundred percent certain it was truly her.

"Hey Will!" Florin said upon seeing him. He waved him over, as if Will wasn't going to put himself next to Melia - and Venam - as soon as humanly possible. "You got here late!"

"Yeah, what the hell was that about," Venam asked, eying him suspiciously. "What did you find?"

At least she was talking now…

"Huh?" Melia said, looking back and forth between Venam and him. "I'm missing something. Did something happen?"

Nothing. Nothing happened. Don't get their hopes up -

"I…might have caught a glimpse of Aelita," Will admitted, the words falling heavily out of his mouth.

Melia gasped, Venam's entire demeanor shifted and Florin looked like he was about to hug him.

"Who?" Kanon asked.

"Where?" Melia said. "How! But…didn't you make contact? Did you find her?"

Will looked from Melia, so hopeful, to Venam, eyeing him with a blank expression, to Florin, so eager to hear more. All three were patiently waiting for an explanation.

"...she ran away," Will admitted, his voice coming small and soft.

Melia's eyes widened in shock. Florin gasped, while Venam scoffed deeply and said, "So you ran after her, didn't you? Come on dude, use your fu- uh, freaking words!"

I'm trying, Will thought furiously. "She ran away from me," he said with a frustrated huff. "Of course I ran after her. If Aelita doesn't want to be caught, you're not catching her. What'd you want me to do, stop her with my Pokemon?"

"N-No," Venam said, taken aback at his harsh tone. "Of course not! I didn't say that!"

"Why," Melia cut in, "Would she run away from you? Are you sure it was her?"

"...no," Will sighed. "She looked different. She acted…strange. Not like Aelita at all."

"So it could have been someone else?" Florin asked.

"...it's not impossible," Will said. "She bolted before I could ask but…"

"You chased a woman through the forest without being certain it was your friend?" Kanon asked.

Aghast, Will leveled a glare at the guy. "Look - "

Venam slapped her hand in front of her mouth to hide her snort.

Luckily, one of the conductors chose that moment to blow his whistle and announce, "All passengers, please finish boarding! We are embarking for Grand Dream City!"

"Well guys, let's take this discussion inside, shall we?" Florin said with a wink. "Flora! Did you hear that? Flora!"

"Of course I heard, Florin, I'm not deaf…"

The Flo-siblings walked off, bickering as usual, and Will made use of that moment of respite to wrestle down his mounting frustration. He couldn't wait for this day to end.

One by one, the remaining passengers boarded the train. Will recalled Kirlia and then joined Melia, Venam and Kanon in boarding the train.

Will took up the rear. His friends got in, and he took one last moment to sweep his surroundings, just in case.

The conductor blew that shrill whistle again. A chilly wind blew through the clearing and the forest held its breath.

Slowly, Will swept his gaze through his surroundings. He pictured Aelita bursting from the tree-line, yelling at him to wait, that she'd changed her mind and that she wanted to come with them. She'd run across the field, waving and yelling, and Melia could give Erin a call and tell her that everything was okay. Aelita would join them and then, four would be five. Aelita would have his back, and he would have hers.

In another world, perhaps. But in his, that never happened. Will stared out over the empty plains. Unbidden, his thoughts returned to Carpenter and Crescent and Aelita. Aelita, who had mysteriously awoken from her coma. Aelita, who kept running away from her friends. Aelita, whose eyes had burned with a rage he had never seen before, whose hair had turned a warm shade of pink and -

she ran her hand through that rose-colored hair, grimacing as she watched herself in the mirror. "I can't do this."

"Sure you can," he told her., aching at the quiver in her voice. "You're stronger than you think."

"That's the point! I don't want to have to be strong every day, all day." She splashed some water into her face, steadying herself against the sink.

"You're not alone," he offered. "We're here for you. All of us."

Someone put their hand on his shoulder and said, "Will, are you okay? You're staring. Will?"

A hand cupped his cheek -

With a gasp, Will tore his eyes off of the pink-haired girl. The memory dissolved and he found himself standing in the opening leading into the train. He wasn't alone anymore. Somehow, Melia was now there with him, having positioned herself in front of him, She had trailed her hand up his neck and settled it on his cheek. Her thumb brushed at his cheekbone as she gazed into his eyes, her forehead wrinkled in concern.

His hands fidgeted at his sides. He resisted the urge to pull Melia in for a hug on the spot, and he definitely managed to resist leaning into her touch.

"Will?" She said again, her silver eyes large and filled with concern. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," he muttered in reflex. He was not fine. He blinked away the images of the unfamiliar girl. A headache began working its way through his temples towards his brain again, throbbing and pounding. He felt…unsteady. "Just…"

"Just what?" Her voice was soft as her eyes looked into his, focusing on him as if there was nothing else around them.

His pulse quickened at Melia's presence. "I think I remem - "

The door behind her slid open and April of all people came bounding through. She very nearly bumped into them. "Oops! Sorry about that Will, Melia, I didn't see you there!" Her dark eyes darted between the two of them and she said, "Oh, was I interrupting something?"

Melia's hand lingered just long enough to be noticeable before she slowly let go of his cheek and put her hands in her pockets. "Is something the matter?" She met April's question with one of her own.

"Just wanted to look for you, see if you were still outside," April cheerfully replied. "But it seems like someone else found you before I could."

"Of course," Melia replied easily. "Just keeping an eye out, so he doesn't get in trouble again."

…his cheek felt cold where her hand had been moments before. How…how long had he been standing there, staring into nothingness? Why had he been staring?

"That's good!" April replied. "Friends ought to take care of each other, and maybe…more? But that's not my place!" She hastily added. "Anyway, we're about to embark, so…"

Her voice trailed off. All three of them turned to look at the lone figure strolling across the open space towards the train, moving with a slow purpose.

Erin?

"Oh, I was sure the train would be out of the way by the time I got here," she said, glancing at the three of them. "Awkward."

"You made it just in time, actually!" April said. She stepped aside, then gestured for Erin to get in. "Better hop on before it gets going!"

"You misunderstand," Erin said, the politeness in her voice never quite reaching her eyes. "I don't have a ticket. I'm out here looking for my "friend", but there have been no leads and I'm about at my wits end." She sighed. "And with the Grand Bridge broken, I can't go back home at the moment. So…I'm here, stuck, and annoyed."

Stuck. Out here, alone? Will didn't see a backpack, just a small bag dangling at her hip. No supplies, no water or rations and no way to spend the night. Erin was ill prepared for camping.

"Oh dear," April said. "I'm very sorry to hear that."

A shriek, a booming shockwave of displaced air as a Pokemon soared overhead at incredible velocity.

April visibly paled. "On second thought…" she quietly said, before rummaging around in one of her pockets and producing a little sliver of paper. "Here, why don't you take my ticket?"

"What?" Erin said. "Sorry, ma'am, I couldn't do that."

"No, no, it's fine!" April insisted. "I forgot that I uh, have some business at Darchlight Village."

Will stared at the woman. What was she doing?

"It'd be a waste for this ticket not to be used, right?" April continued with a smile.

Erin put a thoughtful finger to her lip. "It's possible Aelita made it to GDC while I was stuck down in those caves…" She shrugged, then strolled on over to April and took her ticket. "Well, if you insist, I'll take it. Thank you."

"No problem!" April replied. "And I'll even call you if I find any useful information about your friend!"

If Erin found the sudden generosity suspicious, she didn't show it. "That would be most appreciated. Here, I'll give you my number…"

"Got it!" April waited with bated breath until she and Erin had swapped out numbers, then hopped out of the train. "Sorry for the sudden departure, Will, but this gal's gotta go! See ya!"

She didn't even wait for their response and hurried off. Will noted she went for the cover of the forest first. Was it that guy again? What about him had her so spooked?

Again, he found himself wondering who April really was.

"Well, that worked out," Erin said. Melia and Will parted to allow her to get on the train. The moment she did, the doors shut behind her. "I've gotta call and thank her properly soon."

"Welcome to the club!" Melia said. "You'll fit in just fine!"

Erin's expression told Will that she didn't particularly care about fitting in. "Guess I'm headed to GDC as well, then."

"Yes!" Melia cheered. "Come on, Will and I will show you the way." Her slender fingers wrapped around his wrist in a firm grip. She pulled him with her.

Will tore his gaze from the sealed doors and let Melia sweep him along.

~~~~~~~(VII)~~~~~~~