"Misdreavus, run!"

Misdreavus didn't need to be told twice. The ghost weaved to the side as another frenzied Combee dove for them. With a violent shake of their head, they flung the ones gnawing on their hair loose.

Persephone cringed and clutched at her head, certain that her own hair had just been ripped out. But despite what her nerves told her, her fingers grasped comfortably around undisturbed fibers.

In her panic, the fledgling trainer might have turned and ran. But she didn't have that luxury- if they caught Misdreavus she was in just as much trouble.

Heracross had thrown the ghost further from Persephone than from the vexed swarm, and several of the Combee had split off to chase Misdreavus now. Individually they were weak, and Misdreavus danced frantically past a few feeble lunges. But Misdreavus wasn't much of a fighter either and the more they evaded, the more Combee split off to chase her.

Persephone's heart and mind were racing, and she ripped herself straight from her pained clutching. She had to act.

"Hey! Stupid bees! I'm gonna—Hyaah!" Persephone sprinted forward and put all of her meager might into kicking the undefended hive like a kickball. A huge chunk went flying off before splattering amid clovers.

The battle paused as a swarm of Combee, a frantic and wounded Heracross, and Misdreavus all took a brief moment to gape at Persephone's sheer audacity.

She used that brief moment to calculate that her next action would be running like hell.

Amazingly, she avoided tripping on the exact same root this time as she trampled the wildlife. The branches cutting against her hurt but she wasn't feeling any phantom injuries, which meant her plan had worked—the Combee had abandoned Misdreavus.

She hoped the ghost wrecked their whole stupid hive while they were distracted.

The buzzing was growing louder and louder- a constant presence above her panting and the blur of green rushing by- as the swarm gained ground.

Persephone burst from fuzzy green and nearly twisted her ankle as she fell a few feet. She instantly felt water seeping into her shoes, as her eyes swept the ground to realize she'd burst into a creek.

She was faster wading through water than trying to fight the entangling grasp of the forest floor, so she span and booked it downhill. Her shoes and pants were ruined by mud that kept threatening to swallow her feet and leave her helpless, but she moved just too fast for it.

Persephone spared a glance behind her to see the ever-shifting mass of yellow and fury still approaching, filling the forest's quiet air with an overpowering buzz. She skipped across several stones embedded in the stream- nearly sliding off the mossy rocks as she did- and saw her first bit of good luck all day. An old, simple bridge intersected the creek ahead. And a bridge meant a trail.

Her energy renewed by the hope of escape, she ran faster. And as she did, a new feeling was bubbling up. Growing loud enough to be heard above the terror and exhaustion of being chased:

A horrible, confining sense of dread.

It wasn't just the fear of the thousand stings hot on her tail. It was like in the nursery the night prior. Like she couldn't breathe, despite how desperately her lungs were beating to keep her moving.

She had no choice but to keep running, though, as it got worse with each step. Reaching the structure she vaulted onto the bridge in one tremendous leap. As soon as her legs shook off the shock, she spun and turned to bolt down the trail.

And immediately collided with someone.

Persephone bounced off of him and finally smacked into the ground— perhaps the longest she'd ever run without hitting it. She looked up and barely registered the face of the strange trainer in a shako before pointing at the bees and frantically blubbering.

"Bees!"

Kona tilted his head at her, before turning to frown at the bees. "Bees?"

"BEES!" Persephone exclaimed.

"Bane!"

The doll-like Pokémon cried all too eagerly at the sight of the angry Bug-types and leapt from the bridge with claw outstretched. Shadowy energy ran down it as Banette took a wide swipe and cleaved the swarm in half, several going down with shrill squeaks as they were caught in the Shadow Claw.

Kona applauded with a manic giggle. "Wonderful, wonderful dear! Now, watch carefully, and Sucker Punch!"

Persephone dragged herself to her feet, grateful to see that the Combee had turned their attention to the more immediate threat. And that crushing send of dread she'd been feeling was rapidly dwindling in her chest.

Banette had paused, arm twitching faintly as it eyed each Combee carefully with its eerie and ever-present grin. Each eye was pointing in a different direction, a hideous face that made Persephone recoil.

Suddenly, two Combee lunged. As soon as they had, Banette's fist was in their face, one after the other. Persephone could barely see the ghost move- it was more like the strike had teleported into each of them.

Two more Combee fell, and the lingering ones were suddenly a lot more hesitant. Kona was positively hopping on his toes in glee. Wasn't this freakshow supposed to be a new trainer? He and Banette were practically playing with the irate swarm.

"Okay! Your turn, Percy dear!" Kona exclaimed, making a sweeping gesture to pass the spotlight.

She blinked at him. "…What do you want me to do, punch them?"

Kona tilted his head at her, the shako slipping off-center. "Didn't you get a Pokémon at the licensing center the other day?"

"Yes! Well- no! But yes! But she's not-"

"Missss!"

Misdreavus's cry sounded more distressed about the whole situation than Persephone was. Persephone wasn't even sure where they'd come from- they just darted straight into her chest. Utterly confused, Persephone hugged her by instinct.

"Uhh…? Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, gently pushing Misdreavus away after the ghost had their moment. Any sentimentality on her end was ruined by the shrill cries of Combee in the background as Banette sadistically terrorized the remaining few.

Misdreavus obliged her and floated back, staring up with big, teary eyes. Persephone watched her, confused, but found herself forced to tear her gaze away again. She still felt weird looking Misdreavus in the eyes.

"Well, if whatever that was about is sorted, what do you say?" Kona exclaimed, cheerfully offering her a hand. "Banette, dear! Leave some for our friends now!"

Banette glanced back with a look of mild annoyance, but nodded. Only three Combee remained now amid a dozen others lying unconscious on the ground. One was already fleeing, and another made a misguided lunge for Banette that resulted in the doll grabbing it by the face. The third was floating there stunned, practically offering itself.

Persephone was so utterly lost and confused by everything that had happened over the past ten minutes that she mindlessly obliged. She pointed a finger towards the Combee and shouted just like she'd seen the performative trainers on TV do.

"Misdreavus! Use… that invisible thing, again!"

In spite of the uselessness of it, Misdreavus's eyes lit up at being given a sane command, and they let out an excited squeak. They vanished.

Combee had already turned to flee at merely being acknowledged. But it was too late. Misdreavus abruptly manifested in front of it, eyes wide with an uncharacteristic frenzy and glee, and shrieked.

With a soft splash, combs dropped into the creek. Combee had fainted on the spot, perhaps simply from fear. And the only thing left hovering in the air was a faintly giggling ghost, grinning from hypothetical ear to hypothetical ear.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline leaving her, but Persephone couldn't help giggling as well. There was something so satisfying in seeing her last tormentor succumb to terror. Her giggling turned to raucous, exhausted laughter, and she collapsed on the bridge.

Misdreavus looked worried a moment, before seeing their trainer still laughing like a lunatic. Their smile returned, and they floated back to giggle some more with her.

"Well, would you look at that! A perfect match, I dare say!" Kona exclaimed, his motions as flamboyant as ever as he bent down to frame them between his fingers. 'Capturing' his perfect shot, he stood up and straightened out his patchwork jacket, still dressed in the same eccentric showman's outfit as the other day. "But taking them all on at once was quite the overestimation, don't you think, kit?"

Persephone opened her mouth to answer before freezing as his words fully registered. Her delirious glee fled in an instant and she squinted scrutinously at the bizarre trainer. "…Did you just call me kit?"

Kona threw his hands up and took a step back. "Ah- the claws come out at that one, I see." He chuckled with an odd insincerity and took a small bow. "My apologies."

Persephone frowned, shifting to a defensive posture. She was scratched up from her ankles to her head, exhausted, and had several lingering phantom pains from where Misdreavus was struck. By all accounts, she should have just been grateful. But Kona still gave her weird vibes.

"What were you even doing out here?" she asked.

Her eyes ran past him and down the trail, but she didn't recognize it at all. It was narrow, and not well-maintained. Probably among the deepest public trails ran into these woods. She'd wandered further from home than she'd realized.

"Well, I'd wanted to make the most of our official liberation! I don't much like people, truthfully," Kona hummed, unbothered by her accusing tone. "So we've been camping. Then, while we were out Pokémon-watching, we heard such a horrid cacophony! Naturally, we walked towards it. You're quite loud, you know?" He snickered.

"Yes. I know. Loud, and careless," Persephone repeated back, barely resisting a roll of her eyes.

Banette had been preoccupying itself with licking… Grand Ho-oh knew what, off of its sleeves. But finished now, it hopped back onto the bridge and glanced at Persephone. It scowled briefly at her wounds, before turning its interest up to Misdreavus, far more fascinated.

Misdreavus squeaked slightly at its gaze, slipping behind Persephone again for cover. They didn't seem to much like being seen.

"Well, if I may be so bold-" And Kona always was. "-you seem rather thoroughly battered. My campsite isn't far. Would you like to come back for first aid, and maybe a spot of tea?"

Persephone grumbled, but one glance at the strokes of red along her arm and the various needles and burrs which had painted them changed her tune.

"I'll take the place to sit and apply bandages," she relented.

Persephone was an expert at bandaging cuts, scrapes, and bruises. The sting of disinfectant barely registered anymore. And she knew a surprising amount about her bones and how much strain they could take before breaking. For all the wrong reasons, of course.

Kona hummed cheerfully, Banette making a horribly scratchy hum in tune with its trainer as together they heated water for tea. Surprisingly, he hadn't spoken much on the way back to his homely camp. A small space had been cleared for his pitch tent, a fire pit had been constructed of stones, and he'd done it all around a fallen tree to use as a makeshift bench. Persephone had made sure to shift well down its length, away from the collection of creepy crawlies still sifting through the strained roots trying to connect to the earth.

Applying a band-aid carefully over the last of the cuts Persephone deemed deep enough to bother with, she turned to inspect Misdreavus. The ghost had fallen into a heap beside her, which one might have easily mistaken for discarded cloth. They hadn't stopped watching Banette warily.

"Come here," Persephone grunted, grabbing the ghost by her collar and lifting her up. Her arm snapped up twice as fast as she'd expected—Misdreavus weighed practically nothing.

The ghost pouted, but didn't resist, and Persephone dangled them in front of her face. Their cloth had several gashes in it. Persephone couldn't resist gently tracing her finger along one, and though it was truly her imagination this time, she remembered a familiar pain along her own side.

"What the hell was that about?" she whispered, the seriousness of the anomaly setting in. "I could feel… everything."

Misdreavus glanced up at her, and though Persephone quickly looked away, even at a glimpse she got the clear message in the ghost's eyes— They knew.

She wasn't sure it would help with… anything, but in lieu of any competency here, Persephone placed a bandage firmly over one of the wider tears in Misdreavus's cloth. They twisted their neck back to stare at it with a small, confused gape.

"Mm, I wouldn't worry too much about her," Kona offered as he tossed leaves into the boiling pot. "Pokémon are resilient! Those little cuts will heal up just like skin by the time night falls."

"By the time…" Disbelieving, Persephone picked up Misdreavus again to inspect the tears, earning a small and indignant squeak. To her surprise, she could indeed faintly make out the torn fabric regenerating at a glacial pace.

She dropped the ghost into the air and turned to frown at Kona.

"Aren't you like… a new trainer or something? How do you already know all this stuff? Why's your Banette so..." Persephone glanced at the Banette in question and curled her lip. "…Murdery?"

"Ah… My wisdom… A colorful story, that…" Kona hummed, smiling wistfully up at the dimming sky. He let that hang a moment, as if the tale were washing all over him anew, before replying frankly- "I actually paid attention in school."

Persephone glared at him, and he choked out a sudden laugh.

"As for Banette- I may not have been licensed before, but Banette has been my partner for many years now! We've had all that time to forge our bond," he continued. In spite of the joke passing, his smile was still wistful. "And bonds… Bonds are a powerful thing. People twist them, pervert them… But Pokémon are pure. A bond with a Pokémon is the purest kind there is."

Persephone raised an eye at Kona and his eerie partner. "Right, and you just… found that… Pokémon"- she narrowly avoided using the word 'thing' - "under your bed one day, and decided 'bond with me'?"

Kona laughed again, kneeling to ruffle Banette's head affectionately. The ghost squealed with delight and nuzzled his leg affectionately. Somehow even that seemed creepy.

"I don't usually like to get into it much, but, ah… Well, to hell with it! We're alone in the woods, and you seem…" From the way he trailed off and only smiled at her, Persephone chose to assume the next word would have been offensive.

"My family has a history," he explained. "A big name, and big expectations. Unfortunately, I got saddled with both."

Persephone had a hard time believing that the cackling madman camping in the woods wearing an outfit that looked like it was a hand-me-down from a circus clown. But she wasn't going to say as much. That would be rude.

"I'll spare you all the details of my rough childhood, but it was nice having a friend with none of that. Don just wanted to play. Don didn't care when or where or how I looked doing it. Was a hard sell to keep my father from chasing him out, though." Kona hummed thoughtfully, before grinning. "Dear little Don doesn't quite fit the image of the corporation."

Banette- Don- snickered, curving a malicious grin up towards the sky.

Unless the 'corporation' sold torture devices, Persephone could understand why. But she was the last person that was going to side with big business.

She snorted. "How nice of them to expect you to live your life for their optics."

Kona smiled and tilted his head at his guest. "Ah, do I sense some resentment? Perhaps hitting a bit too close to home? Misdreavus aren't the most smiled upon either now, are they?"

Misdreavus pouted, giving a sad little squeak.

Persephone rolled her eyes and shrugged on instinct, not liking that sense of anyone poking into her business. "I didn't pick Misdreavus- it just kinda happened, and we're working together for now. But I've received more than my fair share of lectures for not being proper. And a lot of other things too, and like- I get it! I'm clumsy, I'm rash… But how am I supposed to take any advice seriously when the advice for not getting killed is handed out on equal pedestal as the advice for not violating the arbitrary sensibilities of every old fart who managed the wisdom-bestowing feat of not dying for a long time."

"Mm, what a complex dilemma." It sounded sarcastic to her, but his stare was more curious and thoughtful than derisive. There was some unspoken machination behind that smile. "I can't deny I've certainly seen as much folly borne of age as I have wisdom. But that's your deal, then? You hate being held to others' standards? You resent their derision, their dismissal, their distrust?"

She folded her arms and leaned back. Forgetting where she was, she fell directly backwards off the log she was sitting on, adding a fresh new bruise to the pile.

By this point, Misdreavus seemed more concerned about Persephone's apathy towards injury than the fact of the matter.

"I dunno- what're you, my therapist?" she grumbled, pulling herself up and wiping the dirt off her shirt. "I guess so. It's just like… sure, whatever worked for you, grandma. But times change, and forcing students to dress as stuffy as you did is never going to make it cool again, and no it's not 'benefitting us culturally'. It just makes people miserable."

Kona seemed… amused, somehow. There was a deep stare that made Persephone shudder and look away, before the odd man turned his gaze to Misdreavus.

"And your partner was… An accident, you say? I so struggle to believe it." He stirred the pot whimsically with a wooden spoon, flicking his wrist through it like a wand. "You two seem to get along so well!"

The girl and the ghost both looked at each other and blinked as if neither could believe he'd suggested as much.

"Yeah, why, because we both scream in pain at the same time?" Persephone muttered. Misdreavus winced and glanced aside guiltily.

Kona's manic smile left his face and he frowned, looking at Persephone expectantly. As he did, Don snuck a cup into the pot and stole a sip. From the way he puckered his… zipper, he wasn't a fan.

"Hm? Forgive me, m'lady, but the joke has gone so far over my head, I appear to have preserved my hat." He tipped his shako in demonstration.

Persephone raised a finger abruptly. "For one, never call me 'm'lady' ever again. In fact- never call anyone that. You sound like a Gimmitor."

Somehow, that seemed to be the first thing Persephone had said that had actually offended Kona.

"For two- Maybe you can tell me, Mr. Paid Attention in School." Persephone plucked her partner from the air and dropped the stunned pile of cloth onto her lap. She prodded their cheek with a finger, awkwardly rubbing her own with the other hand. "When those little buggers hurt Misdreavus, I felt it! Is that some sort of ghost thing, or…?"

Kona paused his brewing for a minute to stare at her, confused. Confusion seemed to be one of the few emotions that could break him out of his fervent persona.

"Well, it's not unheard of for trainers to be pained by their Pokémon's injuries. They're empathetic to their close friends, of course," he muttered, clearly skeptical that was what she meant. He was watching both of them carefully now, as one of Misdreavus's hair tendrils rose up to bat away Persephone's finger.

"I met her a day ago and I felt like my hair was literally being ripped out," Persephone said flatly.

"Literally literally, or the modernized degradation of the word literally which undermines its linguistic purpose entirely?" Kona clarified.

"Literally literally, and also we speak an evolving language get with the times," she responded, rolling her eyes. "I'll take that as you don't know, then."

"I'm…"

Kona held his tongue, looking truly dumbfounded. Don seemed equally as confused, staring up at his trainer with significance. After a moment, he tugged at Kona's jeans and snapped the man out of it. Kona shook his head, returning to brewing.

"I've heard tales before of people who had truly… bonded with a Pokémon, to the point they could exchange feelings like that. But ah, these were… 'tales' mainly. Stories unverified, one way or another. And those sorts of bonds were the product of years or decades spent in harmony. Now, please don't take this the wrong way, m'l—dear, but that certainly isn't something known to emerge from a day. Surely there's more to the story than that?"

Persephone pursed her lips, folded her arms, and started to lean back again before catching herself and deftly managing not to fall off a log.

"Not really! I was trying to catch another Pokémon when the floor blew up and I fell into this huge buried chamber, and-"

"The floor did what?"

"—Misdreavus got caught in the rubble. I pulled them out, 'cause like-" Persephone glanced down at the Pokémon in her lap, still pouting and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "Cause like, I'm not just gonna leave them there. Then some… " She trailed off briefly, remembering the bizarre out-of-body experience she'd had when Smeargle attacked. "…weird stuff happened, and I woke up in the hospital and Misdreavus had followed me there."

"Mm." Kona pulled out a few cups and began hastily pouring out tea without bothering to taste it. "Well, I'm not an expert, but the phrase 'weird stuff' seems to be doing a lot of work there," he pushed. He practically flung his arm towards her with a cup.

Persephone recoiled, taking the tea cautiously as if he might beat her with it. His odd behavior wasn't lost on her, but thus far all of his behavior had been odd, making him very hard to read.

"I don't know. It was just like… a weird feeling. Like I was falling, deeper and deeper. And it was weirdly… comforting. Or maybe I was blacking out, or leaving my body, or… I don't know! It was a panic-induced hallucination how am I supposed to describe it!?" she exclaimed, tea splashing from her cup as she jerked in frustration.

But before Kona could reply, she remembered one more detail and froze with an inquisitive squint locked on her face.

"And I remember… someone apologizing to me," she murmured, more to herself than to Kona. "Who… ?"

Kona's face had fallen solemn and distant—a jarring change from his usual jest. His eyes were locked on Persephone- no- on Persephone's lap.

"I believe her expression says it all," the trainer muttered.

Persephone glanced down at her lap to see Misdreavus looking… deflated. But more than that, she knew childlike guilt when she saw it. The way the ghost pouted and tilted her head so that Persephone was always behind her. That their eyes would never meet and they could perhaps pretend she didn't exist.

It took Persephone a moment to process the implication.

"Are you saying that Misdreavus… ?"

Kona nodded, his gaze transfixed on the two of them with some profound emotion Persephone couldn't quite place. "It only makes sense, no? No one else around, no other moment this oddity might have occurred. Percy, dear… do you… understand the implications of all of this?"

Persephone paused a moment, her fingers tensing around the bark beneath her. She nodded slowly, her lip beginning to curl. "I… do."

Abruptly she threw her tea aside and it splashed unappreciated into the dirt. She grabbed Misdreavus by the collar and yanked them into the air, dangling them in front of her manic eyes.

"You little rat! You did this!" she barked, furious. "What the hell did you do to me?"

Misdreavus's eyes went wide in horror, and she let out a regretful squeak. The Pokémon could have easily overpowered Persephone, but in spite of their terror, they did nothing to defend themselves. They only hung limply in the grasp of judgment and cowered.

Something else stronger than Persephone wrapped around her wrist though, and with a violent force Kona yanked her arm back, forcing her to let go of the Pokémon. Misdreavus used its newfound freedom to float only a few feet away, hanging just within reach as if it deserved the fury.

"How dare you!" Kona spat, enough vitriolic hate in his tone to briefly stun Persephone. His visage had changed entirely—the eccentric persona was gone and left a hateful glower in its place. He released her arm but remained leaned in uncomfortably close to her face. "Do you understand how few people ever get to experience something like this? Do you understand how much that Pokémon must have admired you to bless you with such a bond?"

Persephone gaped and leaned away, baffled. "Blessing? Bro, I met that thing two days ago! Freaking with my head isn't some kind of gift, it's a personal space violation!"

"Thing?" he hissed. Kona looked like he was about to continue his transformation into a demon, but something tugged at his leg again. He looked down, startled, to see Don giving him a warding look.

That was enough to vanquish whatever had come over him. Kona took a very deep sigh, and eerily fast the tension all faded away. He only looked deflated as he went away from her.

"I am… sorry, Percy dear, for the outburst," he relented, taking a small and unenthused bow. "But like it or not, you appear to have forged a bond with this Pokémon. And given the unusual nature of it and how long it has already been, it's impossible to know how deep it runs, or if this is… a temporary effect."

Persephone had scrambled backwards up her log like Kona was an Ekans slithering towards her. His explosive outburst had somehow been more terrifying than what he was implying, and his erratic return to form wasn't much better.

"Please, relax." He raised his arms and gently gestured for her to get down. "I may be able to help… I don't like to use them often, but, well… I do still have my family's connections."

A few gentle gestures weren't enough to calm Persephone down from the frantic state he'd put her into. She was crouched on the fallen tree looking borderline feral now, narrow eyes flitting between Kona and Misdreavus, not quite trusting either. She seemed a few seconds away from starting to hiss.

"Connectionsss?" And there came the hissing.

Kona nodded slowly. "My father's company has a large and well-equipped research department, and this sort of thing would be… well, up some peoples' alleys, at least. They can check you out, see if this is anything serious." His brow furrowed, and just the tiniest hint of that prior anger returned. "But, I'd have one condition."

Persephone glared at him with a hundred nasty things running along her tongue. But fortunately, none of them escaped her lips. She waited expectantly.

"You called her a thing," Kona repeated, clearly making an effort to contain his anger over it. "Have you made any effort to reciprocate this Pokémon's affections?" he asked. Something else occurred to him. "…Have you even given her a name?"

The log-goblin was silent a moment, staring back at him with a furious scowl. Her gaze slowly turned to Misdreavus without softening much.

"Look at her!" he continued, unable to stop a bit of emotion from returning. "She's clearly deeply sorry. How do you know she even intended for this? I can't imagine she wanted to bond so closely with someone who treats her like this, anyhow."

Persephone continued to maintain her spiteful look at both of them for a moment longer. But even she had her limits, and the imminent danger he'd seemed to present a moment ago had passed. She finally let out a sigh, and the expression relaxed a bit. "What is your condition?"

"I'm not taking you anywhere until you spend some time with her first," Kona answered firmly. "At least a night. Learn about her, work through these… 'issues'. Give her a damned name, by the scales of Grand Lugia."

Persephone glanced at the ghost, who was still floating there looking like a guilty puppy. More concerningly, they had drifted further and further with each passing moment. Too much longer, and she might have disappeared into the woods. Persephone pouted.

"…Fine. We'll… talk." A pause. "Or like, I'll talk, and they'll go 'Mi! Mi! Missss!' back at me."

Kona narrowed his eyes. "You do that weirdly well."

"Yeah, well, maybe that's them infecting my mind! Maybe soon that's all I'll be able to say."

Now it was Kona's turn to roll his eyes, though like with everything it was theatrical, the motion rolling along his shoulders. "Go home, Percy dear. It'll get dark soon, and my camp doesn't have room for two. You have a long walk ahead of you. Spend it well."

Persephone hesitated a moment before relenting. She got down from her log and glanced over at Misdreavus, who was still avoiding her gaze. Her fingers briefly brushed across the Pokéball on the side of her pack, but she remembered that crushing sensation she'd felt when she'd used it.

Now she was starting to theorize why.

"Come on, Misdreavus," she called, gesturing for the Pokémon to join her. But instead, they drifted closer to a tree and buried their head against it.

Persephone sighed, rubbing her temple. "Were you not listening? We're gonna talk about it."

"Mi…" They huddled closer to the tree.

Persephone shot Kona a glare as if to say 'told you so'. But the more experienced trainer didn't notice; he was too busy tampering with the tea in the pot again, trying to fix his hasty work.

She held her tongue. There was something gnawing at her stomach the more she watched Misdreavus wallow in her own misery. And at this point, Persephone couldn't tell anymore if it was some mysterious power working on her, or just… mundane guilt. She glanced aside, soon mirroring the ghost's ashamed expression.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. She hated those words and could barely get them out. Especially wondering if she was being manipulated somehow. Made to feel guilty. The thought made her blood boil—at the same time, she felt guilty nonetheless.

Misdreavus glanced back at her, before shaking their head. "Miss…"

The message was clear. They were blaming themselves.

And that annoyed Persephone enough to overpower the guilt- whether it was mundane or arcane.

"We're not doing the guilt-loop thing," she growled, stepping forward and suddenly grabbing the ghost.

Misdreavus gasped, and Kona quickly shot her a warning glare, but the grasp wasn't malevolent this time. She had the Misdreavus by the back of her neck, grabbing cloth-like scruff, and only pulled them out of their self-imposed corner before plopping them back down in the air.

"It's the stupidest thing ever. 'I'm sorry', 'Oh no I'm sorry', 'Well I'm sorrier'—eugghhh. Kill me," Persephone groaned. "Fine. It's all your fault. You can make it up to me by coming on and having this dumb talk."

Kona gave her a disapproving look as he poured out a fresh cup of tea. And Misdreavus blinked at her confused. But after a moment, the ghost gave a small, stifled giggle. It didn't entirely reach her eyes, but the orb on their neck shimmered faintly and a bit of Persephone's irritation dissipated.

"Not the approach I would have taken, but I'm not the judge," Kona hummed, standing up. His agitation had evaporated with Misdreavus's laugh, and he reached out to offer her a fresh cup of tea. "For the road. You may return the cup to me tomorrow."

Persephone took the cup and grasped it in both hands, taking a quick sip. She smiled. "Thanks. I'm, uh…" She hesitated, realizing she was about to apologize for the second time in three minutes. But at least she could trust this guilt. "Sorry about throwing your tea."

A smile twisted onto Kona's lips, one that reminded her of Don and might have been sinister were Persephone not getting used to his eccentricities. He removed his hat and took a wide bow with it. "Ah, think nothing of it. It seems the tossed tea has led to the best outcome. Do enjoy your time together."

She glanced again at Misdreavus to confirm they were ready for this, and to her relief, they looked… better. Willing, at least, to keep moving. Willing, perhaps, to give what answers they could.

In concept, Persephone should have disliked trails. What was the point of following some pre-defined path, anyway? One that any Pokémon of standards would avoid like a plague, and guaranteed not to pass anything worth seeing. Or worse yet, it would pass something of beauty, and the popular appeal would ruin it as they rushed to fling as much litter into it as they could, and loudly clamber over each other screaming about getting the best picture.

Annoying.

But tonight, after a long day of trudging through the brush, hiking over logs and scaling up ridges, opening a diverse cast of freshly sealed wounds the entire way, she was grateful. Especially since it had grown too late to encounter others on the trail. Kona's estimates were off, and she was hardly halfway home by the time dusk fell. By the time the woods fell silent, save for the symphony of insectoid chirping, its origin always just out of sight.

But Persephone didn't mind it, even if she should have been a bit worried about being alone in the woods at night. The cool night breeze felt good running through her hair, and despite how rough her morning had been, she wasn't too tired now.

Misdreavus must have felt the same way, as they seemed slightly more confident now. They still avoided Persephone's gaze just as eagerly as the girl had avoided the topic. But they no longer hid behind her in the dark. The night was their world to roam, letting that wind ruffle their skirt-like body.

And for a long time, they both tolerated this state of affairs. But the closer home loomed, the closer failing Kona's condition came- and against all logic, Persephone was certain he'd sense her failure somehow. She eventually let out a sigh, as they came to the top of a winding series of wooden blocks, forming semi-natural stairs down a hill.

"So, Misdreavus huh. That's cool. You're like, uh… dead," Persephone opened smoothly.

Misdreavus broke from their own distant thoughts to stare at her with big, uncertain eyes. They quickly glanced away.

"I mean, I guess like, not actually dead. But a Ghost-type. Which aren't dead. For some reason," Persephone continued to ramble.

"Mi…"

"And he called you 'she', so, a girl. I…" Persephone opened her mouth and then froze, locked in place by a baffling thought. The abrupt stop startled Misdreavus, who glanced back at her expecting some grand epiphany.

"I have no idea what you being a girl even means," she realized. She looked at Misdreavus for a long moment, trying to detect any feminine features. And she found some, but admittedly she probably would have found them on a male Misdreavus as well.

"Miiissss…?" Misdreavus responded, equally confused. It wasn't quite clear if she didn't understand her own biology, or just didn't understand the question.

Persephone's eyes searched another minute before she blinked, shook her head, and snapped back to reality with the conclusion that she probably didn't want to know.

"…Anyways. She. Got it," Persephone continued on before accidentally uncovering eldritch knowledge. There was a long delay, as she tried to figure out a way to continue the one-sided conversation. "You got any, uh… hobbies?"

Again, the question seemed to confuse Misdreavus a moment. But after that delay, there was a flash of recognition, and she grinned.

And then disappeared.

Persephone stopped, her stomach clenching. "H-hey, wait! How was that the wrong thing to say?" she protested. "I'm not like, saying you have no hobbies or something! I was just aski-"

"MieeeEEEEE!"

Persephone yelped and leapt to the side, trying to land on one foot and instead toppling over. She hit the ground like timber, and after the dust cleared all that remained was Misdreavus rolling backwards through the air and giggling furiously to herself where Persephone's ear had just been. The orbs of her necklace glimmered with faint light.

"That's- That's not a hobby!" Persephone exclaimed, pulling herself up with a growl. "That's just screaming in people's ears!"

Misdreavus cowed a bit at her anger, floating lower and her giggle quickly falling off. She stared back at Persephone with an unusually serious look, and for once Persephone forced herself not to avert her gaze.

Those eyes… Outwardly there was nothing unusual about them, but something about Misdreavus's gaze haunted Persephone. Like they were staring directly through her, and she was exposed.

Misdreavus raised her head, exposing the orbs around her neck to her trainer, still shimmering in the early moonlight. She drank from them. They were why she startled people.

The ghost tilted her head after letting Persephone get a good look and continued to stare back. Invading. Persephone was frozen beneath the spotlight of that exposure for a moment. It wasn't until she had a paranoid thought that they might have been trying to steal some thought from her mind that the girl broke eye contact.

The trainer was briefly stunned, processing her thoughts on that short exchange of gazes. Until being still was too maddening, and she instead abruptly started speed-walking again, nearly tripping down the first three earthen stairs.

Misdreavus's orbs stored shock and unease.

How had she known that? It wasn't intuition- she knew it was true, and people didn't just know things.

It had to have been in a lesson. Now that she thought back on it, it definitely was. She'd learned plenty of facts about many Pokémon in school, especially local ones. Misdreavus fed on fear and unrest. Seeing those orbs had just… reminded her of her lesson.

Unconvinced, Persephone shook herself from the stupor and let Misdreavus catch up. "Well, either way. Don't startle me," she chided. "Do that to, uh… Annoying people, if you have to."

"Mis?" No freaky magic was necessary to interpret that confusion—she didn't know who counted as 'annoying'.

"If I roll my eyes and groan at them a lot, you can scare them," Persephone explained, kindly demonstrating the motion with a grin. "And then I might have to pretend to be mad at you, depending on how much I care about their opinion."

Misdreavus snickered at that, scrunching her face and burying her mouth beneath tendrils of hair. Pokémon's emotions were often fleeting, their moods cycling much faster, and much of her prior depression seemed to have passed.

Which made it quite inconvenient when Persephone recognized the split at the bottom of the hill. This was where they had strayed from the path in the first place. Taking a left away from the river would put them onto the route back home- a known deadline.

Her own brief smile faltered, and she took a deep breath as they passed the fork. She had to address the Copperajah in the room.

"So, this… bond, thing."

And just like that Misdreavus's joy evaporated. The ghost winced and started to turn away before stopping and forcing herself to keep an eye on Persephone from the corner of her vision. Her hover slowed, and her fabric rippled faster as if the wind had suddenly picked up.

"Mii…"

It was apologetic, again. Persephone scrunched her face and shook her head. She turned and looked at the ghost- braving her eyes- with a determined gaze. But this time it was Misdreavus who quickly broke the contact.

"Forget the apologies. I need to know what you did. Was this on purpose?"

She shook her head frantically, hair swinging in tight bundles. With that confirmation, Persephone suddenly felt a bit guilty for practically strangling her earlier. Though she also wasn't entirely sure Misdreavus needed to breathe, so…

"Do you know what you did?" Persephone tried next.

Misdreavus hesitated at that question, her head quivering as if she were trying to answer both yes and no at once. She finally just pouted and let out a fresh "Mi."

Something in the back of Persephone's head urged her to try reading the meaning of that from Misdreavus's eyes, but she stuffed the thought down. That wasn't real; she couldn't do that.

The girl sighed. "Alright: Can you undo it?"

The ghost grimaced, considering a moment. She buried her eyes beneath her hair in flustered shame and looked away. "Mis."

The body language was clear. She wanted to but couldn't. Whether that was owed to a lack of strength, a lack of knowledge, or its impossibility was hard to read from the Pokémon's emoting alone.

Persephone prodded at her temple, shutting her eyes in exhaustion. She was rewarded with that by her foot nigh instantly slamming into a branch and sending her scrambling to keep her balance.

After regaining her footing, she groaned. "So where does that leave us, then? We just go see Freakshow's friends and hope they can help?"

Misdreavus was quiet a moment, thinking warily. She began to drift, floating all around Persephone in circles. The girl stopped walking and frowned, folding her arms as she watched the haunting unfold.

The ghost's eyes glowed a faint pink, and her orbs shimmered. But neither move nor telekinesis seemed to follow. Persephone felt the strangest tingle in her stomach, but it was hard to tell if that was the work of some secret ghost magic or simply unease with being the foci of this ritual.

The show concluded anticlimactically when Misdreavus suddenly gasped and the power dissipated from her eyes. Persephone could feel the spike of anxiety from the ghost in her own stomach, where it naturally spread.

"W-what? What is it?" she demanded.

Misdreavus, of course, didn't answer. Her hover tilted downward, and she stared down at her own tendrils with mouth agape. They pulled in tighter, defensively. Persephone couldn't help but feel a tinge of relief at the realization that whatever startled Misdreavus seemed to be affecting the ghost this time, and not her.

"Misssssss…" She let out a long whine and floated closer to Persephone as if seeking protection.

The trainer allowed it, shifting her posture to let the ghost hang over her shoulder. Not that Persephone would be much of a bodyguard. Hesitantly, she reached a hand up to feel Misdreavus's head for the first time.

The sensation was… not what Persephone had expected. The ghost's 'hair' felt somewhere between that and goo. She could feel discrete strands, but the way they moved between her fingers was nothing like real hair. They were cool to the touch and almost slimy, sticking and bundled together without any visible ooze adhering them.

Perhaps more disturbingly, she was simultaneously horrified by the texture and feeling a faint pang of contentment as she ran her finger through them and scratched the Pokémon's scalp. Misdreavus's fear melted away, and the ghost let out a strangely adorable coo.

As that echoed anxiety left Persephone, so did the primary motivator to tolerate the bizarre feeling in her hand and she quickly withdrew it. She tried to be subtle with how she searched her fingers for any hint of ectoplasmic slime, but as usual, she was not.

Fortunately, Misdreavus didn't seem to mind. She was still humming contentedly at even the brief moment, whatever had frightened her having left her mind.

Persephone wiped her dry hand on her ruined jeans for good measure and looked ahead. She could see buildings in the distance. Their walk was almost to its end, and she still had one promise left to fill.

She eyed the ghost for a long moment. And then choked out a laugh. A laugh that was far too loud to be deserved, which made her laugh even more.

Misdreavus opened her mouth in surprise. But she was getting more used to her trainer's deranged behavior, so she waited patiently for an explanation.

"Haedys. You're Haedys… because you abducted me," she giggled, grinning wide and staring at Misdr—Haedys with an expectant look.

A blank stare met her in return.

"And you can't even appreciate the utter brilliance of my mythological gags." Persephone sighed emphatically and shook her head, still giddy.

Haedys of course still did not understand. But her trainer's excitement for the name was enough to echo, and the ghost gave an eager squeak. She began to dance around Persephone's head as they walked, that curious energy she had lost finally returning in full. It occurred to the trainer for the first time that she had to have been fairly young. Persephone could only hope that she hadn't accidentally stolen Haedys away from her parents.

…Speaking of parents.

Persephone stood before the large sliding door to their family home and gulped. She looked up at the sky, and then down at herself. The moon was high in the sky already, she had reopened half the tears she'd just patched, and her jeans were torn and stained with dried honey and mud.

She'd promised she wouldn't come home like this again.

Oh well.