"Can you tell me the story about the Zorua and the Pangoro again, Mummy?" A young girl asked as she layed in bed.
"Alright, I will," her mother responded as she sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed. "There once was a lonely Zorua living deep in the darkest forests, he was a mischievous one. Transforming into other Pokemon and beings that lived around. He would often use this ability to trick others into handing over food, or using their homes to sleep in. Because of this, he didn't have many friends. I'm sure you can piece together why? But one day this changed when Zorua met a powerful Pokemon called Pangoro. Zorua and Pangoro were fighting over a rare and coveted golden apple."
The woman shifted slightly on the bed, her hands clasped on her lap, before continuing the story. "Many hours later, their fight came to an end and no victor was revealed. They knew they were evenly matched. One could not take out the other. With both staring at each other intensely, they knew that they were destined for friendship. The two became quick companions. They were two peas in a pod, if you will. They travelled the world together, overcame hardships, went on thrilling adventures… life was good for the pair, until one day Zorua went too far. Zorua planned a devious prank on Pangoro."
"I shall transform into Pangoro's fallen mother, that would surely give him a spook. It'll be my best prank yet!" The woman put on a slight voice as she spoke as the Zorua in her story, before moving back to her normal voice. "So while Pangoro left to find food, Zorua put his malicious plan into action. When Pangoro returned home, he was greeted with the sight of his dead mother. Paralysed with a mixture of extreme emotions, Pangoro dropped his collection of food on the ground. In that collection of food was…"
"A golden apple!" The kid responded with excitement.
"Yes, that's right, a golden apple. When Zorua saw this, he transformed back into his normal state and looked down at the food and said: 'Hey! Where did you find this golden apple? It looked fresh and incredibly delicious!' But when Zorua raised his head, he saw a face filled with fury, sadness, but most importantly, disappointment. Zorua hurt Pangoro very deeply and tried to apologize, but Pangoro wouldn't hear any of it and immediately ran into the forest. Shaken and worried, Zorua ran after him, but Pangoro was nowhere to be found. Zorua realized that he repelled his only friend with his selfishness, and Zorua became lonely once more." The woman rose from the bed, before turning to look at her daughter. "Sleep tight, Maria."
The next morning, Maria slowly woke up, yawning as she sat up in her bed. After rolling out of bed, she walked past the desk in the middle of the room, the book about the lonely Zorua sitting alone on the desk. As she walked downstairs, she was hit with a waft of breakfast, the aroma alone enough to make her mouth water. "Good morning mummy!"
"Good morning Maria, did you sleep well?" Her mother responded from the kitchen as she prepared breakfast. "I'm preparing breakfast right now, do you mind fetching your father? He's working in his study, but don't take too long! I don't want his food to get cold."
"You can count on me, mummy!" The girl responded enthusiastically, before quickly running across the hallway to her father's study, passing by the large family portrait hung up on the wall.
As she entered the study, Maria's father turned to look at who just entered the room. "Ah, Marin- …Maria. How are you doing?"
"Mum said breakfast is ready so get your butt out of this room and have good food!" Maria replied, completely ignorant to her father's falter.
"I do love your mother's cooking," her father said with a slight chuckle. "All right, I'll be out in a few moments. Now go back to your mother, you need food too."
"Okay daddy!" Maria responded before running back out of the study, past the family portrait, and into the kitchen. "Dad said that he'll be right out!"
"Did he now? Well there's no use in rushing him, you should go upstairs and freshen up. I'll have your breakfast ready by then."
"Okay, and then we get to play outside afterwards, right?"
"Of course we can, darling," the woman responded, a warm smile on her lips. "Now go on Maria, I'll be waiting for you down here."
"Okay!" Maria nodded, before running back upstairs towards her room, but the moment she stepped into her room, she felt something weird, as if something had changed. She paused for a moment, before hearing a plate crash downstairs. "Mum?" She shouted, in hopes of a response, but none came.
Worried, Maria rushed back downstairs, still shouting out. "Mummy?! Mum-" Maria cut herself off. Her mother wasn't in the kitchen, and there was a masked woman in the hallway to the front door, staring at her. "Who… are you?"
"How many times?"
"Wha-what…?"
"How many times are you going to make this little girl suffer? How many times are you willing to put her through this chaos?!"
"I..I'm… I don't know what you're talking about," Maria stuttered slightly, trying her best to stand her ground in front of whoever stood in front of her.
"I'm not talking to you." The stranger responded, her voice somehow not harboring any hostility whatsoever, despite the words that left her previously.
"O-oh, well… do you know where my parents are?"
"...They're downstairs."
"Oh… okay, well… I'm going to go to them now." Maria turned quickly before beginning to walk towards the steps to go downstairs, before the masked woman spoke again.
"Maria."
"Yes…?"
"No matter what happens, don't you dare lose hope. Don't lose who you are and don't you dare forget what's about to happen. You understand?"
"Yes, I understand!"
"Good. Go to them now, they're waiting for you."
Maria nodded hastily, before running downstairs, not noticing that the family portrait no longer was up against the wall. Once she made it downstairs, she looked around, before noticing an open door and running into the room, before freezing once she saw her mum, laying down on some sort of pedestal in the centre of the room, her father on the other side of the room, facing the wall.
"Mummy!" Maria shouted, running forwards to her unconscious mother. "What are you doing to mummy? Mummy wake up! Daddy, get out of the way! Get out!" A pause, her father still silent. "Why won't you say anything to me?!"
"Marianette, your father wishes to see you now." A separate voice spoke up, not the voice of anyone she recognised, but for some reason, she assumed it was her father speaking.
"What are you talking about?"
"Marianette, your father wishes to see you now." The voice repeated.
"What are you doing?!"
"Marianette. Marianette!"
"Marianette!" The voice made Maria come to her senses. Where exactly was she? In a different room than she just was, that much was obvious. She was staring right at a mirror, unable to see whoever was behind her, but out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed what appeared to be a Zorua statue on her left, and a Pangoro statue on her right.
"What?" She asked, slightly frustrated, turning around to see the woman speaking to her, who appeared to be some sort of maid.
"Now, for the fifth time, Marianette. Your father is waiting for you in the East Wing. You're making him wait longer than he has time for. So get to it."
"Wh-what?" Mari̴̡͋̓̂͗̚ͅa̸̬̦̜̔ - Marianette, asked. "What am I doing here?"
"Marianette, I won't say it again. Just hurry along then."
"M-my name isn't Marianette, it's Maria…" Marianette responded, confused, but she got no response, and the maid turned around on her heel and walked out of the room. Marianette paused for a moment, before hesitantly walking forwards and out of the room, finding herself in a strange hallway, maids talking and working all over the hallway, but Marianette ignored them, opting to walk into the only open room that the hallway gave her access to.
In this room, was another pedestal, with a lone maid standing on top of it, several other maids standing against the wall of the platform the pedestal was on, which Marianette found herself walking onto, staying silent for a moment, before asking her father - who stood on the other side of the platform: "Where's my mum?"
"She's sleeping with our lord now, Marianette." A maid responded, her father still silent.
"Stop calling me Marianette! My name's Maria!"
"What is with this disrespect?" Her father spat, anger prevalent in his tone. "Your name is no longer Maria. Now, as I was initially planning to do-"
"No need for explanation, sir." The maid on the pedestal spoke up, interrupting the man. "Demonstration may be the key to this girl's mind."
"Very well," Marianette's father nodded, before he began speaking in a strange language that she didn't understand, however once he finished, the maid disappeared, seemingly swallowed by time and space themselves.
A moment passed, before Marianette's father spoke up once again. "She's gone now, Marianette. She is with the lord now. She won't need to suffer the calamity that soon befalls this earth. Marianette, it's your turn now."
"No, you can't make me do it…" Marianette responded, slowly backing up.
"Maids, bring Marianette to the altar."
Two maids moved from their positions and towards Marianette, grabbing her arms and pulling her towards the 'pedestal.'
"Let go of me! Let go of me!" Marianette flailed in their arms in a futile attempt to escape, before she was locked onto the altar. "You said the same to mummy! She's gone because of you!"
"Enough, Marianette," her father spoke, calmly. "Go with dignity."
"I don't want this! Let me go!" She shouted, trying to move her limbs, but her body didn't let her.
Her father began speaking in the strange language again, and as Marianette begged and begged for help… but none came.