Persephone had the chance for a bit of freedom. They had been outside already, with no new commitments. No one demanding that they stay and perform some test for the rest of the day.
Instead, she'd returned to her room. Closed herself willingly in her cell. Fell onto her bed in full view of the camera. Turned on the TV and spent the remainder of the night watching mindless action slop.
She wasn't even paying much attention to it. It was a distraction. Something meaningless to fill the space where difficult thoughts might have otherwise entered.
Haedys watched too, struggling to follow a lot of it but fascinated by the special effects and visual spectacle. Percy tried to explain what was going on, to mixed effect. But at some point she realized that explaining the plot of this movie would have required her to explain about seven movies prior. And in that moment she decided 'cinematic universes' were stupid.
She marathoned the series all night long, falling asleep still dressed and to the sound of superheroes wreaking tremendous collateral in the background.
At some point, a squishy, timid, and… frustratingly cute little ghost had crawled onto her chest and clung to her like a pillow. A week ago she might have plucked Haedys off and plopped her onto a real pillow. But at this point, Persephone didn't have the energy left to care. What did it even matter?
Which was why, when awoken the next morning by a sudden banging on her door, her first hypnopompic instinct was to shoot awake in a panic and pitch the Misdreavus like a baseball at the door.
Karma struck hard and fast as Persephone shared the blunt pain of smashing into the wall. Luckily the ghost was light and bounced off largely unharmed, save for the sudden shock of being awoken by the impact.
Percy gasped and covered her mouth, cringing so deep that her head ducked below her shoulders. "Crap! Sorry!" she yelped. She scrambled up, reaching out to try and help the Misdreavus.
Haedys let out a pained groan and hovered a few inches away from her— not out of fear that Percy meant any harm, but being realistic about the chance of another accident. Her hair tendrils reached up to rub her own face, circling her cheeks a few times before she shook them vigorously.
She was okay. …Why was Percy's first instinct to throw her?
Percy cringed again— somehow the question was as painful as the impact. "I, uhh… well usually if I'm sleeping with something on my chest it's just like, y'know… a stuffed toy or something," she muttered, her voice getting lower with each word.
Haedys blinked. At first confused why this was a source of great shame to Percy. And then confused how that at all explained why Percy threw her.
Any further conversations were interrupted by another loud knocking on the door.
"Oh, uh, crap!" Persephone looked down at herself, about to scramble and get dressed before remembering she'd never changed from last night. "Uh, come in?"
The door creaked open and, to her surprise, it wasn't Kona that came through. It was Cayenne, with Pepper skipping in by his feet. There was something strangely grave in their demeanors. The man seemed tense and even his usually-jolly Cherrim had a frown, and stared up at everyone with evident worry.
The expressions put Persephone and Haedys each on edge. They both straightened up and watched the newcomers defensively, mentally bracing for something horrible.
Cayenne stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind him. He was silent for a moment, staring at them with an uncomfortable intensity.
"Did you get my text?" he finally asked.
The blank stare that Percy returned didn't capture her confusion at the question. He'd come here with all this grave demeanor over a text?
Without daring to take her eyes off of him, she reached down and grabbed her phone from the side of her bed. Holding it up to her face, there was a single text notification displayed on her lock screen.
[10:34] Unknown Number: You need to get out of here.
Persephone looked back over to Cayenne and blinked, even more confused. And then squinted as she noticed the current time.
"You sent this two minutes ago," she pointed out dryly.
Cayenne's cheek twisted and his eyes narrowed. Subtly, he bobbed his head to gesture towards the camera in the room. He eyed her intently to impart the silent warning.
Persephone and Haedys followed his gesture and turned to the camera. They tilted their heads in unison. "The camera[1]? What about it?"
Cayenne opened his mouth in dumbfounded exasperation but stopped himself from saying anything aloud. The man remained steel-willed in not letting his utter befuddlement reveal that reaction from an angle the camera could see.
"What? What does that have to do with anything?" He shook his head and continued quickly to prevent their reply. "I don't have time for this. Let me just send the rest of it so I can get back to work."
Percy scowled, looking at her phone annoyed with whatever game he was playing. She'd had enough of everyone and everything here. But she still had to do what these clods said. And seeing what he had to share was probably the fastest way to make him leave, anyway.
[10:38] Unknown Number: Were you dropped on your head as a child?
[10:38] Unknown Number: They are recording.
She'd been a bit slow on the draw, but that was what it took to finally click in Persephone's head. Cayenne wasn't supposed to be here.
[10:39] Unknown Number: Kona's nuts. No one is going to say no to him. And I don't know where he'll stop.
[10:40] Unknown Number: You need to get out of here.
[10:40] Unknown Number: Pretend I just sent you some documents.
Persephone's gaze snapped back up to him with a fearful look, her heart and thoughts racing now. She'd been worried about Coriander, but now Kona? And why was Cayenne helping her?
"What- what happened?" she stuttered nervously. After a brief pause she quickly, awkwardly corrected— "in these documents. What happened in these documents?"
Haedys staring awkwardly at the camera was certainly not helping to sell this situation.
"I don't have time to explain it to you," he scoffed. "I just had to make sure you got it. Read it carefully, because it's going to matter for tomorrow's testing."
He gave her another pointed look. Silently emphasizing his desire to not see her tomorrow.
Persephone could only stare. Her lips moved to form a "but", only stopping when Cayenne's glare intensified in warning. She desperately wanted to ask questions— she needed answers. But all she was getting were more ominous warnings, more hazy relationships between these people, and none of them seemed well-intentioned.
Why didn't Haedys just ask?
Percy glanced at the Misdreavus floating by her shoulder with a dry expression. "I don't know, maybe because you communicate exclusively in squeaking?" she thought at the Pokémon.
But Haedys wasn't looking at her. She wasn't looking at Cayenne, either. The Misdreavus' gaze had turned downwards and she'd locked eyes with the anxious Pepper, who was swaying back and forth at her trainer's feet. Even a nervous wreck she seemed unable to escape the urge to move and dance a little.
"Mi… mis… ?"
Persephone could parse the intention behind it. Haedys had asked Pepper what had happened.
The inquiry caught Pepper off guard, the Cherrim flinching at suddenly being addressed. But after a quick look around to ensure she was in no danger, her petals perked up a bit and she frowned, thinking. She glanced up at her trainer as if to ask permission.
Cayenne looked at Haedys first, narrowing his eyes as he tried to understand what she'd wanted. He followed her gaze down to Pepper staring up at him, and there was a tiny flicker of epiphany in his eyes. He faintly nodded.
"Chiii-chi. Chi. Chi-chi-chii."
The strange, whistling squeaks that she returned were incomprehensible to Cayenne. Incomprehensible to the cameras. But very comprehensible to Haedys. And strangely, while she couldn't quite place meaning to them… Persephone could vaguely sense a meaning behind the noise.
Kona had been talking to her dad— to Cayenne— about something. Planning stuff to do soon. His plans made Cayenne upset. They were reckless. They might make Persephone and Haedys upset. Cayenne doesn't want to hurt people anymore.
Persephone lip curled into a tight frown. Something in particular had spooked Cayenne. Something that was coming soon.
She wasn't sure what to make of that. Cayenne didn't seem like the type to spook easily, but she wasn't really sure how much worse things could actually get. It wasn't like Kona had been respecting her feelings up to this point, and things were… tolerable.
Okay, that was a lie. But she didn't have any other options.
"Ask her when?" Percy prodded Haedys.
A series of squeaks were exchanged between the Pokémon, and the response funneled back to Percy.
Tomorrow.
Persephone swallowed and nodded. That was what he'd meant by it mattering for tomorrow's testing.
"Whatever. I'll read it before then," Percy responded to Cayenne somewhat dismissively. She turned around and pulled herself back onto the bed.
Cayenne grunted. "Good. I'll see you then." He turned to leave, pausing briefly in the doorway. "Good luck today."
Pepper hesitated to leave, watching the both of them with big eyes. But after a moment she offered a sympathetic "Chi." to them both and skipped after her trainer.
The door fell shut behind him. Percy and Haedys both remained silent for a moment in anticipation. Waiting for a certain sound…
But no click followed. The door was left unlocked.
Persephone let out a heavy exhale, grabbed a pillow, and crushed it into her own face.
They had to get out of here.
For a moment, Persephone trusted that thought as her own. It was obvious. Rational. But on closer examination, she realized it hadn't come from her own head.
They knew something bad was going to happen, now. They'd known the whole time, hadn't they? That something was very wrong here. They had to have other options than this.
These were Haedys' thoughts. Haedys' feelings. It was so easy for them to slip in unnoticed, at times.
"Do we?" Percy muttered back. Her voice was entirely drowned by the pillow, but perhaps by their connection it still carried through to Haedys. "Do you know any other aura scientists eager to assist a stranger?"
No one here was eager to help them. These humans were eager to help themselves. Percy was an object to use. They didn't care about her at all.
Persephone knew the Misdreavus was right about that. But that didn't mean they wouldn't help her. Even if the help was incidental. Even if it was coerced by necessity. There was a chance.
And was that chance worth the risk?
Persephone let out another long groan, the sound drowned and muffled by the pillow. She didn't know which of them had thought that. And she didn't know the answer. She really didn't know. Wandering into whatever mystery Kona had in store for her was scary. But leaving was terrifying, too. Leaving was synonymous with accepting this fate. To accepting a life of not knowing if her thoughts were her own—if she even still had thoughts of her own when all was said and done.
Persephone calmly emptied her lungs of the stale oxygen by screaming impotently into the pillow, letting thick fabric and stuffing absorb her stress. She realized too late that Haedys had settled on top of it, and the startled Misdreavus jolted airborne as a result.
She was between a rock and a hard place. And that left her only one choice.
The moment her lungs had been drained, Percy threw the pillow aside and sat up straight. "Whatever. This doesn't matter today," she decided, tired and bagged eyes shutting. "We can figure stuff out today. See what he's like, and if something feels off we can bail in the morning. Just hit the wrong elevator button and run when the doors open."
Inaction. The only choice to make when choice was hard.
Haedys' unease seeped over to Percy. They were playing a dangerous game. And she knew Persephone was delaying. But at the same time, she could sense the dread that pushed Percy to do so. How tremendously hard of a choice this was.
Deflating a bit, the Misdreavus relented. If things weren't supposed to go wrong until tomorrow, then… as long as Percy was prepared to make the choice then.
They didn't need to make a choice that night.
Kona came to their room that night.
He'd seemed normal all day. Until that point, everything had proceeded exactly to their usual schedule. That small comfort of routine had granted Persephone a false sense of security. And until he broke that promise by showing up to their room, Percy had nearly been able to convince herself that nothing would happen. That Cayenne had been exaggerating.
He knocked and then let himself in uninvited after only a brief wait.
Persephone and Haedys both tensed instantly, sitting up straight and taking to the air immediately. Any calming they had felt by the normal day was quickly replaced by dread as the truth overpowered their delusions. Whatever Cayenne had warned about was clearly coming. It wasn't supposed to be until tomorrow, though. Had plans changed?
Percy swallowed and quickly clicked the TV off, as Haedys assumed her position wedged halfway into Percy's hair and peeking out. "What's up?" she blurted awkwardly.
For once Kona's bluster was preempted and whatever energetic thing he was about to say was put on hold while he watched them both strangely.
"Is something wrong?" he wondered. In spite of the hesitation, it couldn't hide that he was excited.
Persephone waved a hand to dismiss it. "No, I just— why are you here? I wasn't expecting you tonight," she quickly answered, and quite candidly.
In his eager mood the answer seemed to satisfy him, and he perked right back up with a smile. "Well, you see, I've been speaking with the staff some and there's something they'd like you to do ahead of tomorrow's tests."
Percy relaxed just slightly, releasing a long breath. She shifted to the side slightly, as if trying to look behind him for a trap. "Oh. Uh… okay? What is it?"
Kona outstretched his hand to offer her something. And her heart sank again.
Two small pill bottles.
"They need you to each take one of these before bed tonight. Now, I know you're a bit accident-prone so we've labeled them very carefully. Just make absolutely sure you take the one with your name on it, and Haedys takes the one with—"
"I'm not taking any mystery pills," Persephone instantly blurted, cutting him off.
The potential implications of her refusal weren't fast enough to stop her, but they were fast enough to grip her with anxiety the moment she'd said it.
She had no idea if this was what Cayenne had been warning her about, or whatever came in the morning was. And if she refused this, her choice was made. Kona, Coriander, or someone would push her until she agreed, and she'd need to get out before that happened.
Kona's smile flattened with her blunt rejection, but she could feel Haedys' relief in turn. She didn't know what those pills would do, but she didn't trust anyone here anymore.
"Percy, dear…" Kona chided dryly, his voice falling low and his cadence slow. "You should really let me finish before cutting me off."
A disapproving frown had replaced his eager smile. He stepped over and placed the two pill bottles on her desk before stepping back and gesturing emphatically for her to look at them. He tapped the one labelled "Haedys".
"A psychological suppressant."
He tapped the one labelled "Persephone".
"A physical suppressant."
He shrugged and gestured to her phone. "They're both labelled with the drug and the dosage, and you're free to look them up. No 'mystery pills' here."
Kona looked Persephone dead in the eyes, the faintest smile returning to his lips.
"And trust me: This is the last thing you want to skip, Percy dear."
The eye contact made Persephone flinch. Something about his gaze was so unsettling. She instinctually gripped the blankets and dragged them closer to her defensively. "What do you mean? And why suppressants?"
"Untangling your auras is looking… difficult. There might be experts out there, but we don't know them," Kona explained with a sorrow in his voice that was too deep to be genuine. "A surgical untangling is out. And Haedys is still far from skilled enough to undo it herself. No matter how you dice it, the odds of you being freed just don't look good." He shook his head with faux disappointment.
"So I suggested another approach. If we can temporarily weaken your auras enough, they may simply 'come loose'. We're not sure which suppressant will be more effective, so we decided to try one each. Tomorrow, we'll monitor if either seems to be having an effect.
"All of that to say… this may be your only chance," Kona hummed woefully.
Persephone glared a thousand daggers at him. His attempts to manipulate her were so obnoxiously transparent. But that was because he knew they could be, wasn't it? Because manipulation or not, it was true. Even as she tried to incinerate him with her scowl alone, she could feel her attention tugged towards those pill bottles.
Kona left her no time to consider, throwing his arms up in surrender at her nasty look.
"I can't force you to try anything," he relented, stepping back disarmingly. "But you two should talk it out together. I'll just leave them here, and if you choose to take them, we'll study the results in the morning."
Persephone still refused to reply. And after a moment, Kona shrugged. Pulled the door open and held his stop in the frame. When she still didn't comment, he sighed.
"Whatever you do, sleep well, Percy. Haedys. I'll see you in the morning."
He didn't glance back again, and the door slammed shut behind him. Leaving her alone to make her choice.
No… Not alone. Never alone.
Please don't do this.
Haedys' pleading was silent, but no less tearful.
This was something bad. Some kind of trap. Percy had to know that. The warnings they'd been given…
Persephone was already inspecting the pill bottles, reading long and complicated names off of them that she didn't dare try to pronounce. In her other hand, her finger was tapping away to try and copy them into a search bar.
Yes, it was very obviously a bad idea. She didn't trust Cayenne as an ally, but she also didn't see an ulterior motive for him to lie about this. And she definitely didn't disagree that Kona was nuts.
But…
Was anything Kona had said untrue?
They'd made zero progress towards undoing things. Haedys couldn't do much but injure herself with uncontrollable moves. Cayenne was perpetually "still trying" to get in contact with someone who could help. The rest of the research staff were useless at best, malignant at worst. If things continued on their current course, who knew what would be left of Persephone by the time anyone actually accomplished anything?
As far as she could tell from a quick search, what Kona had told her about the medications checked out. They were both potent stuff— the type of thing Kona probably shouldn't have been able to give them without a professional's approval. But they were known drugs, at least, and they worked as he'd claimed.
It seemed he'd left her an honest choice- even if he'd clearly intended it to be a false one.
"What's… the worst it could do, really?" Persephone slowly rationalized, as she stared at the bottle in her hand.
Haedys' pleading paused, as she stared back at her trainer with big, nervous eyes.
"Cayenne was probably just worried since it's not a real prescription, or whatever. He's a doctor and all. I think. But for just a one-time thing? That's kind of worth the risk, right? It's not like taking it once is gonna kill me."
Haedys fluttered close to her chest and stared up with intense worry as the young woman slowly untwisted the cap and peered into the bottle with her name on it.
Percy… you can't possibly be thinking of…
"It's not like he's trying to kill us or something," she continued. "And if this doesn't work, we never have to try it again. Maybe we can even bail entirely tomorrow afternoon, just like we'd planned."
Haedys frantically shook her head, her skirt fluttering like it was caught in a windstorm. She stared up at Persephone with tearful, pleading eyes.
When would this end? Percy had come here to get better, but things had only gotten worse and worse and worse. The signs of danger were getting brighter and brighter. But every time, Percy would find a reason to continue.
Persephone knew Haedys was right. No matter how many times she'd been at her boundaries, her boundaries just kept pushing. What she'd once been willing to tolerate had ballooned further and further out, until now. She'd been told outright to run, yet she was still deciding if even that was enough.
She shuddered, as the memories of yesterday's battle came back. Even in hindsight, they were impossible to parse. She was the one on that battlefield. She was the one fighting, the one being beaten, the one who'd caught on fire.
But it wasn't her either, was it? In those moments, Persephone Perennial had been gone. Haedys too. Both of them, obliterated entirely. And some shell in-between left to walk around with their faces. Claiming their names, claiming their identities.
Did she know that Haedys was right? Or did Haedys think that Haedys was right? Would she even be able to tell the difference?
Persephone's trembling fingers coiled tighter around the bottle. She let out a heavy, staggered breath.
"I need you… to trust me," she whispered.
Persephone hated herself as soon as she'd said the words.
What had she done to earn that much trust from another living being? Even now, she was doing what she needed to do for herself. Saying what she needed to hear. Persephone had no idea what she was doing, much less was she suited to be leading someone else into it.
And yet, she needed this. She needed to say it, no matter how selfish and unfair it was. Because she needed to make herself believe that she trusted this choice. She just needed something to work.
Haedys could sense the sinking feeling in Percy's stomach. The aching of her head. The turmoil in her mind at what she was doing. Her guilt at asking for trust.
The Misdreavus had frozen, mouth agape and her own turmoil playing out. Never before had she faced a precipice so intimidating. But after a moment, she let out a quiet whimper. And her hair flattened and drooped down over her face.
Her fluttering slowed to crawl in resignation. The little ghost floated over to grab the other bottle.
In spite of how little faith Percy had in herself, she wanted Haedys' trust. This was what a 'friend' was like, wasn't it? Trusting each other. Caring about what meant so much to her.
The victory brought Persephone no joy. They locked eyes and she swallowed. Haedys nodded to her. And then opened the bottle.
…Or tried to at least. The ghost found themselves tugging on it for several seconds without it budging. They let out a small, indignant squeak.
Persephone exhaled a heavy sigh, releasing her pent-up breath. Her tongue moved to try and wet her dry mouth again.
They were doing this. The moment of decision had passed, and they were doing this…
She reached over and gently pulled the pill bottle from Haedys grasp. She struggled for a moment herself, before undoing the anti-child twist cap.
Every movement slow and cautious, as though the medicine might detonate, Percy popped a single white tablet into her hand. And then from the other bottle, popped one into her other hand. She held them both aloft, one in front of herself and the other to Haedys.
"Ready?" she asked nervously. Her heart was pounding.
No.
But the Misdreavus slopped her oversized tongue across Persephone's palm regardless, slurping up the tablet.
Persephone grimaced as her palm was coated in spit, but at this point she was bordering on used to it. She pulled her hand back and shook it vigorously, flicking the residue to be the floor's problem. And with a heavy heart, she put the other to her mouth, grabbed the glass of water by her bedside, and swallowed it.
She felt every motion with acute detail. As it sat on her tongue, passed down the point of return, traveled down her throat on the stream of water…
And when she could feel it no more, her anxiety finally broke.
She let out a heavy sigh, the knot in her chest untying, and fell down on the side of the bed. She was liberated from the burden of choice. Whatever happened, she was locked onto this course. It was out of her control.
But while Persephone was relieved by her nihilistic release, Haedys was more anxious than ever. The little Misdreavus felt like she'd just wandered straight into a predator's den and now she was wondering when they'd wake up. Glancing around nervously, uncertain where the dangers of this medicine would come from.
Guilty, Percy reached out and grabbed her partner by the skirt, yanking her in to hold close in a hug. The bit of reassurance was the least she could give her Pokémon after manipulating them into this.
It almost made her feel worse that it worked. That just being held tight in someone's arms was enough to let Haedys convince herself that things would be okay again. That she was so desperate to be held.
"Let's just get ready for bed, okay?" Persephone whispered, cradling the goopy ghost as she walked towards the bathroom to prepare. "We just need to go to sleep. That's all. Nothing scary. Everything else… will happen from there."
Haedys let out a few low and muffled squeaks hesitantly affirming, before snuggling closer to Percy for comfort.
Persephone knew her trust hadn't been earned. She just hoped it hadn't been misplaced.
The sun had long since set. And that was odd.
Haedys had flown to the apex of their home and perched atop the broken, jagged pinnacle of the tower's central pillar. At her weight, pointy things weren't particularly terrible places to sit and pout. And in the daylight, it was a safe place. Birds had little reason to bother her, and no one else could notice or reach her.
Sitting up here allowed Haedys to play one of her favorite games: trying to spot her mom's or her dad's silent approach, as they returned from whatever business sent them out into the daylight. The elder ghosts were stealthy, in spite of their bigger sizes. Flying silently through the air, swimming swiftly through the shadows. Another of her favorite games was in trying to emulate their sneaky movements. And she was getting better, too!
But Mom and Dad had yet to return today. She was sure of that. If they had, they would have told her to come down from her spot by now. The dark-feathered birds came out after dusk, and they were much quicker to attack.
Perturbed, the Misdreavus rolled off of her spot and freely into the air. She let out a sigh.
Perhaps a hunt had gone long? Or something to do with the other things Mom did when she was out… Haedys didn't know much about that. All Haedys knew was that she'd come back before dusk to take Haedys out for the night.
She let gravity affect her once more and fell all the way down to the first floor before catching herself, her skirt poofing from the sudden stop inches off of the ground. She spared one last frown towards the shattered gateway of the building's entrance before flitting over to the hole that led to the basement and squeezing her way through.
She was getting a bit big for it, now.
The tremendous, open chamber of the tower's basement had always left her with an odd feeling. It was dark, and cold, and empty. So it should have been very cozy. But instead, it felt isolating. The vast, empty space was a silent reminder of the vast vacuum that existed around their little trio of ghosts.
Even if she was alone in it, Haedys returned to the quiet corner where her family would cuddle in the daylight and squished herself against the wall. She'd simply pretend it was them, until they got back.
Unfortunately, the stone was no good substitute for the squishy, soft fabric of her mother, or her father's ectoplasm. No matter how her she squished herself against it and scrunched her eyes tight, she could never get comfortable. Until she eventually surrendered that entirely and just lied there.
Alone in the darkness. Alone in the silence. Nowhere to go, and nothing to do.
If comfort couldn't lull her to sleep, complete de-stimulation could. She could feel her consciousness fading, if not into sleep then at least into an empty stupor.
Until it was broken with two whispered words.
"Little one…?"
For a moment, Haedys almost couldn't recognize her own mother's voice. She'd never heard her Mom sound so desperate.
So pained.
So vulnerable.
She looked up to see an unfamiliar Mismagius hovering above her. Certainly not the fierce, furious, powerful witch she'd always known.
No, the Mismagius staring down at her was haunted. Her eyes soaked and strained. Her fabric shredded and worn. Her mouth hung agape as if disbelieving— distrusting— that Haedys was still here in front of her.
She tasted of overpowering pain and sorrow.
Haedys instantly reinflated, dread gripping her as she pounced off of the floor to come before her mother. She wanted to ask what was happening, but she couldn't exhale the breath she'd drawn. All she could do was stare up at the Mismagius in silent terror.
But rather than answer her unspoken questions, her mother released a sob. The Mismagius launched forwards and Haedys' vision went dark as she smothered within cloth. A tight warmth enveloped her, cradled her close. And vibrated softly as the older ghost sobbed with her child in her grasp.
"He is gone," she whispered distantly between sobs. "They took him. They wanted me. It should have been me."
Haedys still didn't respond. Didn't move.
She couldn't.
She was in shock, unable to do anything more than exist, cradled in her mother's grasp. Held tight against her, comforting the Mismagius by her mere presence.
But Haedys was getting no comfort in return.
She couldn't even grasp it.
Dad was never 'gone'. Dad was… a constant. Dad was always here. Each and every day, she'd come rest here beside him. That was what life was.
What was currently happening simply… wasn't a part of the world. It wasn't something that could be real.
And so Haedys couldn't react.
Maybe Mom understood how she felt. Or maybe she just didn't have the energy for more words, either.
She said nothing more, only holding her child tight and refusing to let go.
That mournful moment in each others' embrace couldn't last for an eternity, however. As much as either of them might have wanted it to, lest they be returned to the reality they had to face.
Eventually, Haedys' mother loosened her hold. It was hard to tell if she was ready, or had simply lost the strength. But after she did, she gently pushed the Misdreavus away. Looked her in the eyes with a sorrowful gaze.
A gaze that slowly turned more distant. More maddened. The fluttering of her dress slowed to a near-standstill.
"I have to go," she whispered.
The dread had only loosened slightly in Haedys stomach. But those four words brought it back twice over.
"Go?" Haedys squeaked quietly in disbelief. "N-no, you— what do you mean go?"
"I can not lose him," Mom replied, her crimson eyes wide and staring straight through Haedys. To something far away beyond the Misdreavus. She floated backwards and upwards slightly.
Haedys' mouth hung open, no breath entering or leaving. Her eyes wide in shock and in horror. It was nearly too much for her to act, again. But if she didn't act, then—
"No! You— you can not!"
Backing away slowly, Mom was putting more distance between them, even if it pained her to do so. "I will find him. I will take him back. I will make the humans pay," she promised, her voice quivering.
Haedys flew after her, refusing to let her close the gap. She tried to push into her mother's grasp once again. Tried to lodge herself in that embrace, so she could never leave it again.
"You can not go!" she cried. "Do not leave me!"
But the embrace never came. Haedys came to a jerking halt as a force suddenly pushed against her. Invisible yet firm. Holding her still.
A fresh pain was scrawled on her mother's face, as the Mismagius's wide eyes glowed a soft purple that reflected off her tears. She slowly floated backwards once again, her hover trembling and uneven.
"You are grown now. I have shown you how to hunt. I have shown you how to hide. You are…"
The Mismagius's lip quivered.
"I will come back. I will bring him back again. Please, little one. Be strong. Be safe."
But Haedys was not strong. Certainly not strong enough to escape her mother's psychic grasp, no matter how much she squirmed and struggled. No matter how desperately she tried to break free and force herself into the Mismagius's grasp again.
To cling to the only thing she had left. The only thing she'd ever had.
"Bring me with you!" she pleaded, hair flailing frantically around her and skirt fluttering like in a windstorm. "Please, just—please, I do not want to be alone!"
Mom winced as though she'd been speared through the chest. She forcefully jerked her neck to look away, the loose tears flying free in the wake of her mourning gaze.
And she would never look back again.
The Mismagius's voice was vacant and raspy as she spoke her final words.
"When I come back, you will be health. And bigger, and stronger. And… happy. And we will all be a coven once again. I love you, little one."
Unable to bear it any longer, the Mismagius rocketed skyward before she could dare to doubt her own words. Launched straight through the ceiling and vanished from sight.
Leaving her single, tiny, heartbroken offspring alone in the darkness.
Haedys felt the force restraining her fade as the Mismagius left. But she didn't have the will to pursue. By the time she had so much as wormed her way to the surface, her mother would have disappeared into the night.
Instead, she simply turned off. Collapsed to the ground without bothering to catch herself and dissolved into a heap of lifeless fabric that only stirred with each echoing sob.
Isolated here, Haedys had never had anything but their little family. And within the span of an hour, she'd lost even that.
The cavernous, vacuous space was hardly large enough to hold her cries.
Persephone awoke with wet eyes and a profound sadness in her heart.
The story would have been a depressing one even if she hadn't experienced it firsthand. Hadn't felt the grief of losing her parents firsthand. Hadn't come to terms with why the tiny Pokémon she'd manipulated just the night prior was so misguidedly trusting of her.
She wasn't sure if it was the grief or the guilt, but she felt sick.
Percy tried tossing, and turning, and trying to shrug it off and return to sleep. On some level, she knew to blame the medication, but she sort of hoped that if she ignored it enough it might just go away. The more she stirred, though, the weirder and weirder she felt.
She was crumpled up on herself, her arms were numb, her cheeks flattened wide against the pillow. She tried to let out a groan and relieve the tension in her chest, but the best she could muster was a long squeaking sigh instead.
Finally surrendering, she creaked an eye open to be met with a colorless, dark room. Kona hadn't come to wake her yet; it had been her own anxiety that did the deed.
But after a moment for her head to clear of the morning grog, she realized just how distorted her vision was. It was like her field of view had been condensed, and everything looked magnified. The bed stretched out in front of her, her legs distant lumps beneath the covers. She couldn't feel them either.
It suddenly occurred to Persephone just how sick she was.
At that, she finally sent a firm signal to her body and attempted to sit up. She shifted upright slightly, but still barely moved her head off of the pillow. Panicking now she attempted to swing her body up and out of the bed.
Instead, she flipped over entirely and threw herself onto the floor.
She braced and prepared to let out a pained moan when her face smashed into the ground. But what came out instead was again a shrill squeak, and to her surprise, the impact didn't hurt. There was little impact at all.
Now Persephone was panicking. Was she too numb to feel pain? What had that medication done to her?!
She got upright and tried to stand, tried to push herself up, tried to do anything but her arms and legs weren't responding. Weren't moving. No, she couldn't even feel them at all. She couldn't—
Why could she see in this dark room?
And why was the hair falling from the corner of her vision gray and pink?
Persephone quickly turned to where the mirror sat against the wall. And the horrified expression looking back was not her own.
The Misdreavus in the mirror screamed.