The gunshot that rang out from the rundown building startled the passersby, but considering the history of the family that lived there, most of them dismissed it as the father of the household having yet another aggressive episode. And with Mrs. Graham leaving the building soon after, looking like she saw a ghost, they felt affirmed in that hunch.
Knowledge that an ambulance was on its way helped Luxie calm down after the violent display she’d just witnessed. The lil’ bee worried whether it was right to ever inflict such a harm on anyone else, but after thinking back to what she’d seen of Anne, she couldn’t find any empathy for the girl’s father in her. She just felt… so very cold.
Lumi was surprised his coworker was even capable of a violence like that, the bloodthirst so unlike her. He sure wasn’t gonna object to an awful human getting put in their place, though. “Where are you leading us to now? Is this not everything the girl had?”
The translated barks made Olive flinch, startling her out of her shock at what she’d just witnessed. She shook her head, trying to push it aside, before answering, “~It is, yes. I want to add something from myself, too. If she’s gonna live away from other humans, she’ll need... a few things sooner or later. And a few books she liked wouldn’t hurt either.~”
“Things? Such as?” Lumi asked.
“~Personal hygiene. Knowing what will happen to her body in the next few years.~”
The latter aside got the Electric-type particularly confused. His vocalizations caught the attention of a few bystanders as they ventured deeper into the town, the surrounding buildings growing denser and taller. “I thought humans didn’t evolve.”
“~No, no we don’t. This is something else.~”
The aside explained precious nothing, making Aria concerned. Hopefully, whatever that mysterious process was, she’d be able to help the poor girl through it—assuming Anne would be allowed to stay for that long. Alternatively, having Olive nearby to help answer any further question would help too, but… that wouldn’t be an option, unfortunately.
The Gardevoir had to put in more effort with her every step, the growing number of onlookers straining her psychics. Erasing the image of herself from one mind was straightforward, but by the time she had to split her attention a dozen ways, she could barely keep walking straight. Her breathing grew loud enough to make a few passersby glance over their shoulder as they walked past.
Lumi wasn’t a fan of more humans either, sticking close to the local half of the group. The metal monstrosities whizzing past them kept startling him, though less and less each time.
The town center was less drab than the outskirts, but much of the colors it had were visibly flaking paint or weathered storefront decorations. Some of the promotional posters were eroded down to just cyan and white as they proudly advertised an upcoming music festival here in Mylock, in just seven years ago.
Lumi had no idea what any of it meant—only that it all just looked tacky. There was something he did recognize, though, scattered all over the place. He asked, “Is that the girl’s face on those white things flopping everywhere?”
Olive sighed and nodded. The missing person posters had only been put up yesterday, but many of them were already illegible because of snow or vandalism. They proudly displayed an out-of-date school photo, Anne’s thousand-year stare visible even then.
----------------------------------------
MISSING
ANNE MARTIN
Missing from: Mylock, Lillywood County, ML
Date of Birth: February 10th, 538
Date Missing: January 29th, 549
Height: 4’5”
Weight: 61 lbs
Hair: Shoulder length, Brown
Eyes: Brown
Anne was last seen wearing a green jacket, a pair of blue jeans, and a gray cap.
CAN YOU HELP?
Please call the Lillywood County Sheriff at
555-252-1221
Callers may remain anonymous
----------------------------------------
“~They’re missing person posters. Supposedly, they’re there so that people can be on the lookout for those who’ve gone missing. In practice… they’re an excuse to not do any searching for those with the resources to do so,~” Olive explained, trying hard not to audibly scoff at them—and especially at the people that had put them up.
The Luxray nodded along as they kept going, looking around for any suspicious humans. “How long until we’ll get there? This place gives me the creeps.”
“~Hah. It’s ugly, yes, but most have a better idea than to bother strangers like that.~”
“It’s such a shame, Mylock feels so gray and boring,” Luxie commented. The librarian couldn’t help but concur, sighing as they all turned the corner. The side road was much narrower, leaving less of the sidewalk usable—especially with much of it occupied by parked cars.
Outside of a miserly church that she couldn’t force herself to attend anymore, there weren’t any social spaces left in the town. The small park on the southern end? Swallowed by the woods. The plaza where a small basketball court stood once? Converted into a supermarket, struggling to stay afloat just a few months in.
“~That’s because it is. And we’re almost there, the library’s just up ahead,~” Olive explained. As much as she meant these words, they weren’t *entirely* true. Sure, the town wasn’t doing well, but there were some signs of life left in it.
One of them was right ahead, no less, trying to open the library’s front door. A few attempts to budge it later, his mom finally spoke up after making it across the street, profoundly exhausted, “~Liam, it’s closed, don’t you see?~”
“~But it’s Thursday! It should be open!~” the little boy responded.
“~But it’s just not. Mrs. Graham isn’t in, let’s head back home—~”
“~I’m here, I’m here!~” Olive spoke up, perking up the attention of both the tyke and his mom.
The former immediately scrambled over towards them, waving excitedly in the air, “~Hello Mrs. Graham! Hello Leo, hello Luxie!~”
The Arcanine sped up as the boy approached, both of them at approximately the same eye level. It let the latter hug the former with ease, the warm mane returning sensation to his nose as he nuzzled into it.
“~Good afternoon Liam! I apologize, I was busy earlier, but I can stop by for a moment and let you grab something.~”
“~Thank you!~” Liam said. Without wasting another moment, he turned around and bolted towards the library’s entrance. Leo took off in a slow jog next to him, starting an impromptu race he tried to not win too hard.
With fewer minds around, Aria found herself able to do more than just walk and hide. The boy’s excitement soon grew contagious to be around, bringing a smile to her face. “^Aww, he feels like one of my own kids...^”
“~He’s sweet, isn’t he? Guess expecting a sibling in not too long really gets one excited about reading to them, hah,~” Olive whispered, a soft smile filling her weathered face.
Leo predictably won the race against a four-year-old, but the consolation prize of more puppy hugs and kisses made the bitter defeat more than palatable. As the group approached the library’s entrance, more and more of the spray painted mural on the building’s front facade came into view. The passage of time had left it tarnished, and hardly of highest artistic quality even when it was new, but the picture of a Dragonite enjoying a book while surrounded by piles upon piles of other books still beat bare glass and stone.
“~M-Mrs. Graham, there’s really no need,~” the boy’s mom pleaded.
“~Oh it’s no problem, Julie. I need to grab something from there myself, anyway.~”
Once Olive made her way to the door, Liam stepped away to give her space. He was giddy to rush in as soon as he could before spotting someone he hadn’t seen before. The Luxray’s expression wasn’t particularly friendly, but the boy wasn’t about to let that stop him. “~Who’s that?~”
The sight of a proud Electric-type backing off at being approached by a little child made the two town mons giggle. His mom wasn’t quite as amused, though, unnerved by the lack of any collar on the mon, “~Liam, give the Luxray some space, they’re not used to you.~”
“~Mhm! His name is Lumi and... I’m looking after him while his owners are on vacation. He doesn’t enjoy being touched, so listen to what your mom said, Liam,~” Olive explained.
“~Awwwh, okay...~”
Even if hugs were off the table, the boy wasn’t gonna waste the chance to at least greet the hound. He waved excitedly at him, much to Lumi’s confusion.
“W-what is he doing...?” Lumi asked, his growls making the boy’s mom gulp. She grabbed her son’s hand and dragged him into the library proper the moment Olive unlocked the front door.
Luxie just found it all amusing, laughing in her twinkly voice, “He just wants to say hi!”
Despite Lumi being taken aback and not exactly feeling like meeting any more humans, even he couldn’t deny that this was one of the nicest possible answers to his question.
The mons made their way in shortly after the humans. Aria immediately scurried further in, searching for a spot to catch her breath, while Lumi took in the view. Out of everything he’d seen in this bizarre human town, this was the most confusing place yet.
Almost every wall was filled with colorful stripes. The few shelves that weren’t full let the Luxray see how it was all laid out. As it turned out, the colors he saw were just narrow sides of larger, rectangular slabs that filled the shelves up, both those against the walls, and a few freestanding ones. The realization didn’t make the end result any less overwhelming, though.
What space wasn’t being taken up by shelves of colorful blocks, was instead filled with a couple of tables, and a few chairs—one of them getting immediately taken by the boy’s mother. The only other element of note was an unpainted counter that Olive soon walked behind. After a few clicking noises, the off-white rectangular object on the counter spun back to life, ancient fans whining and rattled as they begged for mercy. The similarly colored object that stood on top of the box soon shined light, but only in the librarian’s direction.
“~I want to return these!~” Liam said, following his cheerful call by grabbing the bag next to his mom’s chair, and pulling all the books out onto the counter. They may have had more pictures per page than the words on them had syllables, but that didn’t make the librarian any less happy to see them be taken out and read.
“~Sure thing, Liam. I’ll take care of them, you go and look for more in the meantime.~”
“~Okay!~”
Off in the nook between bookshelves, Aria took her time getting her bearings after taking her disguise off. Olive’s explanation of why they had ventured here made sense, but the Gardevoir didn’t expect just getting here to be so draining. If she was ever going to repeat this, she would need a less demanding way of hiding—
“~*gasp*!~”
The Gardevoir’s eyes snapped open at the sound; the sight of a young human boy in a funny-looking outfit looking up at her froze them both. Most of the rest of the library as well, with only the boy’s mother ending up confused instead of shocked at hearing the telltale sound.
In the tense silence that followed, Aria moved a finger to her lips to try shushing the boy.
Before she could even get halfway there, though, Liam erupted with excitement, running away and shouting, “~Mom mom mom there’s a big mon and white and green in there!~” To everyone’s relief, Julie’s reaction to her son’s words was only an exasperated, tired sigh. She pried her eyes open as her son ran towards her, desperately trying to catch her attention. “~MOM!~”
“~Liam, what are you talking about...~” Julie groaned.
“~Mom there was a big mon there!~” her son explained.
Realizing there was no way to get out of being dragged along, Julie slowly stood up and followed his son. Olive hoped that Aria had this under control, despite letting herself be seen like that.
“~Where did they go?~” Liam asked the empty space before him.
“~I truly wonder,~” his mom answered. Her dead tired sarcasm went over her son’s head as he looked all over that part of the library. Meanwhile, Aria slowly inched away with the aid of levitation, making no sound as she hovered over to Olive’s side.
“^Sorry for that, I was catching my breath and let my guard down.^”
The librarian shook her concerns off. Liam’s mom didn’t see any of it; there was no reason to panic. She whispered over to the psychic, hoping to calm her down, “~Don’t worry, she just thinks he made it up.~”
“^I know, I know, thank goodness.^”
“~But it was right there!~”
“~Big and white and green mon, right in that corner?~” Julie asked, somehow sounding even more done than before. As she passed by the counter on her way back to her seat, Aria saw—and sensed—something extremely off about her, even beyond the unusually large belly. The realization made the Gardevoir freeze as the mom kept chatting with her son.
“~Yeah! I told you!~” Liam said.
“~Sweetie, a Snorlax wouldn’t even fit there.~”
“~Not a Snorlax, they’re not green!~”
“~They kinda are,~” Julie argued.
“~No! And it wasn’t fat, it was just big like you!~”
Olive and her companions had to focus to keep their amusement to themselves, the librarian managing that much better than Luxie. The bee’s twinkly laugher made her human break the facade of calmness as she finished checking the books in. Julie didn’t mind, glad that someone was enjoying the silly stuff her son was saying, but Liam remained determined. He ran up to the librarian and asked, “~Mrs. Graham, are there any big and white and green mons out there?~”
Aside from the one standing almost shoulder to shoulder with her?
Olive chuckled softly at the thought as she returned the thin books to their proper spots, smiling at the boy and answering, “~I don’t know Liam. I really don’t know Pokemon all too well.~”
It was a convenient enough lie, if nothing else.
Even if Julie saw right through it on account of the elderly librarian being her biology teacher back in the day, Liam didn’t know that. He deflated as he thought about what to do next, the burning mystery frustrating him. If not for the answer to that particular riddle giving her away, Aria wouldn’t be able to resist giving him a hand, all too familiar with Bell getting stumped on questions like that.
Unfortunately for their secrecy, Liam soon reminded himself of one way to figure out what that mon was. It was a very slow way, but a guaranteed one, making him dash over to the large shelf filled with massive tomes bound in fake leather and ask, “~Mrs. Graham, can I go through the dexes?~”
“~Sweetie, we don’t have time...~” his mom pleaded.
“~But mooooom!~”
“~How about I let you borrow one and then you can go through it at home, Liam?~” Olive asked. Julie looked at her in concern, not just at the prospect of listening to her son’s excitement every time he saw something vaguely tall and white, but also at the librarian letting anyone take the expensive-looking tomes out.
Then again, there were digital versions now, even some on smartphones—figures that the big books weren’t as valuable anymore. Still, it made her feel bad to have the librarian cave to her son’s silly demands. “~You really don’t have to, Mrs. Graham.~”
“~Don’t worry Julie, it’s not an issue. So, how’s that sound, Liam?~”
“~Yes please!~”
“~Alright! I’ll get it checked out for you while you look for other books to take home, okay?~”
“~Mhm!~”
The boy’s mom shook her head with a sigh as she leaned back in the chair. Her tummy didn’t leave her with many comfortable positions, and this one was the least bad, she supposed. Leo’s warmth helped immensely as well, taking the edge off her strain as she closed her eyes and reached her hands into his mane—catching Lumi’s attention. Wonder what was up with that massive stomach—
...
Oh heavens.
“Aria, are you seeing this?” he growled, perking the drowsy woman up. She eyed him out with more than a bit of uncertainty, creeping ever closer to fear.
It made him lie down to look less intimidating as Aria responded, “^Yes, yes I am. O-Olive, what is—what is going on with her?^”
“~Hm?~”
As the librarian grabbed the books for the girl they were here for, a quick glance around the nearest shelf let her see that nothing had changed about the expectant mother since the last time she’d seen her, approximately thirty seconds ago. She whispered her response, hoping Aria could still hear it, “~I have no idea what you’re referring to.~”
“^Her... stomach.^”
Olive blinked in confusion a few times before the question finally clicked for her. An amused smile filled her face as she kept whispering, building a pile of books on the counter all the while, “~Forgot that all mons lay eggs for a moment, hah. Well~ humans don’t. Instead, we... how do I put it. You could say that instead of growing in an egg, the baby grows inside us. And then later instead of the baby hatching out of the egg, we... lay the baby, already formed and breathing.~”
Both Lumi and Aria were left dumbfounded at the revelation, though to a very different extent.
As weird as an idea of growing offspring inside one’s body was, it was the part at the end that shocked the Luxray the most. That baby was massive! There’s no way this human was going to ‘lay’ it, it wouldn’t fit! Though… it’s not like their normal, proper eggs weren’t similarly sized, either. And these got laid all the time, which—how in the world did that work either, what—
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Amused laughter at his expense filled his mind, chilling Lumi’s racing train of thought. Aria snickered at seeing a father to a lil’ cub not having any idea about how that entire process worked beyond the immediately pleasurable part. That’s not to say she wasn’t confused at Olive’s words. In her case, though, the broad strokes made enough sense that the Gardevoir could at least visualize it all.
It sounded… very unpleasant, much more so than what she had to go through with Bell and Cadence. “^I see... that sounds so, so much worse compared to just laying an egg.^”
“~Oh, I’ve no doubt it is. Thirty-nine weeks as opposed to what, three?~”
“^More or less, yeah.^” Aria answered.
“~Hah, I would’ve gladly taken the egg option after my oldest, believe me. Alas, we have to go through that entire process the hard way.~”
And a hard way it clearly was; the wear on Julie clear to the Gardevoir. She could only do so much to help without getting herself spotted again, but a touch of relaxing warmth applied to her joints and muscles wouldn’t hurt. As much as the expecting mom’s body appreciated the gesture, her mind was taken aback by it, making her look around the library in confusion. Just the Luxray off the side, Leo snuggling her, and Mrs. Graham and her son assembling a stack of books each, the latter with Luxie’s company.
“~Something wrong, Julie?~” Olive asked.
“~No, no, Mrs. Graham, just...~”
“~Tired?~”
“~That too, yeah, heh...~” Julie chuckled, shaking off her earlier surprise as she tried to stretch a bit. Her past teacher’s caring nature was appreciated even now, long after her graduation.
“~Managing to get some sleep in?~”
“~Barely, though today was especially hard with all the news of Anne.~”
As Olive acknowledged her former student’s words, Aria kept close attention on the conversation being had, just in case.
“~Terrible situation, isn’t it?~” Olive said.
“~It is, poor girl. Hope she ends up somewhere safe.~”
Everyone gathered agreed with that sentiment, with many present contributing to it more directly than Julie could’ve ever known. Her worry for Anne reassured Aria, a gentle and well-needed reminder of not all humans being malicious—especially with her clearly having known the girl at some level.
“~I’m sure she will,~” Olive reassured with confidence, though not as much as to feel suspicious.
Julie appreciated some feel-good reassurance, even if she didn’t believe it deep down herself. “~I don’t know. Did you hear about what the police said?~”
“~Hmm?~”
“~I heard she was spotted in Lillywood yesterday, but apparently that wasn’t true. Nobody has any idea where she is. She took a path through the woods, has to be in Lillywood or nearby, but if nobody spotted her there… I-I don’t know, it’s nightmarish. I can’t wait to get out of here,~” she muttered, voice growing wobblier as she continued. Olive paused her book hunt to walk over and reassure her with a pat on the shoulder. As she did, the expectant mother wiped off any tears before they could finish forming.
“~How’s Ethan’s job hunt going?~” the librarian asked.
“~It’s going well, thank the gods. Has a couple interviews in Mistralton scheduled up this week, the house is mostly packed up and ready to move whenever. This whole mess gave us a kick in the butt to get that done before the due date. Once we get a go ahead, I’ll start looking around for school vacancies there. Hopefully, there’ll be some spots somewhere.~”
“~I’ll miss you all, hah. Not many bright spots left in this town.~”
Julie nodded somberly, wishing she could disagree with that assessment. Even after teaching here for a few years, it was very hard for her to do so. She replied, “~Y-yeah. It’s just an hour by car away. Wonder if Liam will be up and asking us to take him to visit you all again, hah.~”
“~I’ll try to keep the library well stocked for him, just in case.~”
The boy peeked around the corner at hearing his name—only for the Ribombee to interrupt that by tickling his exposed neck, lighting up the atmosphere some more.
“~How’s the book search going, Liam?~”
“~It’s going good Mrs. Graham! Just one more! Can I take out one more, mom?~”
“~Yes, yes sweetie, go ahead. Remember, you’re the one carrying them,~” Julie chuckled.
“~Mhm!~”
As the adults chuckled, the distant sound that had been creeping closer caught their attention, though not all of them knew what it meant. It got everyone looking through the windows as it grew even louder. The wildlings winced at the sudden intensity, before being taken aback by something very large and very red moving past their building.
“~Oh shoot, hope it’s nothing here,~” Olive said.
“~Oh no, did I miss it?~” Liam asked, visibly deflating with an ‘awwwh’ as he dropped off the final book, sighing to himself.
“~Yeah, it was a fire truck, sweetie. I thought your preschool took you to see them recently?~” Julie asked.
“~We did, yeah! It was so, so cool and the Blastoise wore a big cool yellow glowy suit! I wanna see more!~”
“~Hopefully we won’t have to see it from up close...~”
As the mom and son chatted, Olive checked all the books out and packed them into bags. Quite heavy for Liam’s size, but she had no doubt the boy’s excitement would let him carry it all. “~Alright, all checked out!~”
“~Thank you, Mrs. Graham!~”
After the boy moved the bags over to the front door to the library, he scrambled back over to the librarian and hugged as much of her as he could. He then did the same to Leo, Luxie—as carefully as he could—and, mistakenly, to Lumi, too. “~Hehe, tickles!~”
The Luxray was as startled as the boy’s mom, both of them too taken aback to react, if for vastly different reasons. Thankfully, Liam’s hug was short-lived, his hair frizzled out as he dashed over to the front door.
“~L-Liam, Mrs. Graham told you he doesn’t like being touched...~” Julie reminded, aghast.
“~Oh! Sorry!~”
Aria passed the apology on; herself trying not to giggle at seeing her coworker so startled by a literal harmless child.
“~L-let’s get going, sweetie.~”
“~Mhm! Bye-bye, Mrs. Graham! Bye-bye, Leo! Bye-bye, Luxie! Bye-bye, Lumi! Oh, Mrs. Graham, if you see any big white and green mons can you tell me when we come next?~”
“~Teehee. Yes, yes I will sweetie, pinky promise!~”
Liam was convinced, so excited at the possibility of finding the mysterious mon that he literally ran circles around his mom as they walked out of sight. Once they were gone, the librarian turned towards the now-visible Aria and whispered, “~Found them.~”
Luxie broke into chirping laughter, with others soon following in her steps. The release of tension was well appreciated as the librarian started to check out Anne’s fill of the books, their covers much less eye-catching than Liam’s.
“How did he even see you, Aria?” Lumi asked pointedly, the question making the Gardevoir sigh and roll her eyes.
“^I had to catch my breath without the disguise. Believe it or not, keeping oneself hidden is much harder than just staring grumpily at everyone,^” Aria answered, her voice almost as tired as Julie’s was moments prior.
“~And besides, nothing came of it now, did it,~” Olive chuckled.
“But what if it did?” Lumi persisted.
“~I really doubt anything would, even if Julie caught a glimpse of Aria too. She’d maybe freak out a bit, but eventually she’d just think she hallucinated something in her exhaustion, and that would be it.~”
“Do humans lie like that to themselves all the time?”
“~From what I know, confirmation bias is hardly a trait that’s exclusive to humans—as demonstrated very well by you, Lumi,~” Olive explained, not looking away from her current task.
Luxie and Leo giggled at the Luxray’s grumbles to a backdrop of repetitive beeps. As each book was checked out, Olive put them into a hefty bag, the sight catching Aria’s attention. She figured this was a good time to find out what these things even were, asking, “^These books. What are they?^”
The phrasing gave Olive a pause. Eventually, she decided to just go through the titles already in the bag, one by one. “~This one’s about puberty and how it impacts one’s body, this one’s a fantasy novel she liked a lot for a good while, this one’s about processing trauma—~”
“^No, I mean... what are they as items? How does Anne get these abstract concepts from them?^”
Without skipping a beat, Olive laid the book she was holding on the counter, and opened it to a random page. Aria was taken aback at the block just splitting in half like that, and even more so at the ocean of tiny, black symbols filling the off-white interior, their sheer number making her eyes glaze over.
“~Simply put, they’re stacks of pages with words written on them. You read the words in order to get what the author was saying.~”
Even though it felt weird to explain books on such an abstract level, it wasn’t entirely unexpected here. As much as the adjective ‘illiterate’ clashed with the graceful, almost ethereal appearance of Anne’s guardian, it’s not like it was inaccurate.
“^And all these symbols are the human writing?^” Aria asked.
“~Unovan more specifically, but yes.~”
“^And if I don’t know that writing, then I’m not getting anything out of these books?^”
“~I’m sure Anne would be happy to teach you.~” Olive reassured.
The librarian’s assertion took Aria off guard. She watched, confused, as the librarian gestured at Leo to help carry the books before asking, “^Are you sure? I don’t know if I could even learn it—^”
“~I’m much older than you, and I’m learning a new language right now. You’ll figure it out.~”
“^I mean, I’m not human—^”
“~And?~” Olive cut in. The blunt question left the Gardevoir uncertain how to word her worry before the human continued, “~It’s just a language and a bunch of symbols. There’s nothing inherently human to it. We have to learn it too when we’re very little. You’ll manage, honey.~”
As much as Aria worried about Anne getting properly acclimatized to and learning about the village, she didn’t consider the possibility of the knowledge exchange happening the other way around.
Which… the more she thought about it, the more useful it sounded.
“^And these books, the other ones in here, what... ‘words’ do they have in them?^”
“~Hundreds of stories, large and small in scope. Religious texts from many religions. A hoard of knowledge about our world, both the natural and manmade parts, and its history. How do we breathe and eat, what are the migratory patterns of birds in southern Galar, what’s the chemical composition of the Moon, who were the peoples that lived here before the Kantonian Conquest and the Unovan Expansion massacred them, how are these very books made. If you’re curious about something, anything, it’s likely that someone has already written down their knowledge about it.~”
“^And—and all you need to get that information is to just know how to read the human writing?^”
“~Pretty much, yes. Hope that was a good pitch for getting you into reading, hah. Alright, ready to get a move on again?~”
Aria might have heard Lumi’s thought process shrugging it all aside as just silly human nonsense that wouldn’t ever matter for them—but she knew better. Those that had lived amongst humanity didn’t shy to share the stories of their contraptions, ranging from merely handy to society-warping. Even something as basic as being able to write down their knowledge to make passing it down over generations easier would help a lot—and that didn’t come close to half the wonders human inventions were supposedly capable of.
“~Aria?~” Olive asked, growing concerned.
“^A-ah yes, yes. Let’s move on.^”
She couldn’t deny that some of Lumi’s objections did hold water—such as the question of how much Olive could even help them with in the end. The uncertainty and its implications refused to wash from her mind as the librarian led them out of the building, leading their impromptu pack. As they turned the corner back onto the town’s main road, an odd sensation struck Aria. The humans’ attention wasn’t anywhere near as hard to redirect anymore, almost all their focus honed in on something behind the group—
...
“^O-Olive...^” Aria whimpered, making the librarian look over her shoulder—followed by the rest of the group.
A pillar of thick, black smoke rose from a burning house in the distance, reaching up for the clouds. The firefighters’ attempts to douse it proved ineffective until the second fire truck showed up, their combined efforts finally making an actual dent in the blaze—
*BOOM!*
The group gasped at the massive fireball that suddenly engulfed the building. The already-present paramedics wasted no time before jumping into action, before the smoke even cleared. Once it had, though, it revealed Anne’s former house to have gotten completely leveled by the blast, leaving nothing but a soon-extinguished charred ruin.
“~Mein Gott...~” Olive muttered, taking a few steps back.
“I-is that—is that Anne’s house?” Luxie whimpered. Her human nodded in affirmation, making the lil’ bee huddle closer to her. Nobody knew how to process the sight before them—
Or rather, almost nobody. Lumi smirked, “Well, that’s that for that rotten place.”
“^Now she really has nowhere to go back to...^” Aria whispered to herself, sobered by what she’d just witnessed. As true as that sentiment already was, having the building disintegrate in front of them only drove another nail into the coffin of Anne ever coming back to this place. A coffin that, by now, was just about ready to break the floor underneath it from the sheer weight of all the nails that had been hammered into it.
“~I don’t think we’ll be doing ourselves any favors by staring into it. What’s done is done. I just hope not too many were hurt,~” Olive commented, calming herself down.
“B-but—what if we caused it?”
“~Nothing was burning when we left, Luxie.~”
“What if we just d-didn’t see it—”
“~I-I don’t know. I,~” the librarian tried to answer, voice catching in her throat at the possibility of being indirectly responsible for all that. It didn’t take long for her to compartmentalize the worry away in her mind, the lil’ bee’s concerns acknowledged with a sigh. “~I doubt we did it. Even if we indirectly caused it somehow, Tom only has himself to blame for this. Let’s move on.~”
Luxie wasn’t wholeheartedly convinced, but supposed the explanation made sense. In time, the group resumed their march, if more slowly this time. Olive and the lil’ bee aside, they weren’t anywhere near as concerned about the moral implications of their actions. Be it because of not having any direct impact on what had happened, or by having an ironclad moral justification.
Still, they hoped that nobody but the homeowner got hurt in that blast.
Silence hung heavy over them all as Olive led them into one of the several multi-story buildings. Its inside was weirdly barren, especially when compared to the library. Undecorated stone of the floors contrasted with the walls, full of variations of the same plain wooden door. The only color present was the plainest of white paints covering the handrails of the serpentine staircase winding upward in the building’s center.
“What is this place?” Lumi asked, confused.
“~Oh? My apartment building, I live here.~”
“You mean in this entire building?”
“~No, no, obviously not. I mean in one of the apartments here.~”
Lumi didn’t consciously recognize the word, leaving him confused as the group made it up a few flights of stairs. Eventually, they stopped before one of the less barren doors, the worn out, muddied mat in front of it providing some much needed color.
“~Here we go, make yourselves at home.~”
Even if Olive’s apartment was nowhere as massive as the building as a whole, it still dwarfed Aria’s burrow, and was more densely decorated while at that. The individual chambers were all perfectly rectangular, most painted in bright, if muted, colors. The furniture was no less eye-catching than the paint, all the shelves and drawers adding up to an overwhelming, cluttered, colorful mess.
“~Tea?~” the librarian asked.
Aria wasn’t a stranger to the drink, and even if in any other circumstance she would’ve loved to sit down and get a sip or two... it wouldn’t be possible here.
“^We’ll pass, thank you.^”
“~Suit yourselves. Come and take a seat in the living room while I grab everything.~”
The Gardevoir took her time taking all the detail in as the Luxray was just glad to see something soft he could lie down on. Still, he mumbled as he went through the rooms, “This place is still massive...”
“~For just poor old us? Yeah, not disagreeing—though back when this was a family of six even all this space felt cramped much of the time,~” Olive explained, Aria spotting the large family portrait beside the living room’s entrance on cue with her words. It looked similarly magical to the smaller painting she’d found in Anne’s doll, but much larger and depicting a much more populated scene.
A younger Olive, another adult human, three human children, and an oddly light-colored Eevee, all bundled underneath a large blanket, watching something out of frame.
“^Was this how your family used to look like?^” Aria asked.
The librarian peeked out of the kitchen and gave the Gardevoir a firm nod, before bringing her cup of tea over shortly after. She didn’t sit down, though, immediately dipping for the bathroom as she answered, “~Yep! This was... twenty-five years ago, I think—same year as when that circus truck crashed nearby, remember driving past the wreckage to get the developed photo. Anyhow—husband’s gone, boys have all moved out, and now it’s just us three, a makeshift bunch.~”
“^What about that Eevee?^”
“~Oh, Lovelace. She and my oldest were inseparable. He moved to Hoenn with her, and she evolved into an Umbreon, and now both of them have started families. Speaking of,~” Olive paused, chuckling to herself as she exited the bathroom and stuffed a few packs of something into the bag. Afterwards, she grabbed the book laying on the living room table, its front cover two colorful rectangles, and resumed an earlier topic, “~Been trying to pick up some Hoennian so that I can visit them someday without making a show of myself, hah. It’s slow going, but if I can learn a third language at seventy, then so can you at... however old you are, really. Let’s see, how did the greeting go... a-ri-ga-to... lemme check the glossary... saa-na-i-to.~”
Seeing a human having difficulties grasping one of what turned out to be many, many human languages was quite reassuring for Aria. Yeah, she could definitely do it if Olive could, and gave it enough time.
“I wonder how the mons ended up being included as a part of this ‘family’,” Lumi grumbled, keeping his tone just down enough to not appear accusatory. His intent was crystal clear to Olive by now, though, making Aria facepalm at him even trying to be coy about it anymore.
The librarian continued to fill the bag with everything Anne could need out there, including a few of her own clothes, as she answered, “~Lovelace was adopted, way back. Most of the details are blurry by now. Leo... my youngest worked as a firefighter for a while, got wind of some Growlithe runts looking for homes since they would be unfit for working with the cops.~”
She glanced over at the hound with a warm smile; the Arcanine wagging his tail in return. “~And so, one day he just showed up on my doorstep with a tiny puppy in his arms. By then I was living alone and loneliness was really starting to wear me down, but I was too hesitant to adopt again because of my age. Instead, he did it for me, and I’ve been grateful ever since.~”
Once his human wrapped her recollection up, Leo picked himself up with a big yawn and eagerly nuzzled her some more. Before Olive could continue, Luxie spoke up first, cutting her off, “Oh oh oh, can I tell this one?”
“~Of course, Luxie! Who’s better to tell it than someone who it’s all about?~”
“Okay okay! I was much much younger, just a Cutiefly far far from where I hatched, and it was so cold and I couldn’t find many flowers anywhere anymore. I was so hungry and cold and it was starting to rain, and then I finally sensed some pretty flowers nearby, I went straight for them and I really wanted to get to them! And then I hit a weird barrier I couldn’t see and was so frustrated and angry and kinda despairing a-and then Olive opened the window and let me in! And she helped me dry myself, and gave me some sweet water to drink, and I could sip the nectar of all the flowers and she was so nice! And then a few days later when the weather got better she let me back out again, but I came back because I liked it here, it was nice and warm and I had food... and then I stayed!”
As the lil’ bee finished recounting her experiences, Olive was filling in the last of the free space inside the bags with whatever potentially useful clothing she could squeeze in. Once done, she smiled up at the littlest member of her household, Luxie wasting no time in flying over and hugging as much of her human’s face as she could. “Thank you for making my life better...”
“~Thank you for being a part of mine.~”
With a couple of gentle pats on the Ribombee’s back, the human let go of her and grabbed the two sizable bags and brought them over to the wildlings. “~Alright, I think that’s everything I can fit in. Clothes, paper, pens, books, a couple snacks, hygiene—thank goodness I kept some extras of these for other girls from rougher families. I hope they will be of help.~”
Aria eyed down the spoils with a mix of trepidation and relief. She lifted them in her pale glow for a couple of moments before dropping them back down. Bulky as they were, they were nothing compared to what her mind could bench press on a good day.
“^I can’t thank you enough for all this Olive. I’ll be forever in your debt.^”
“~Then repay it by making Anne’s life as good as you can, Aria.~”
The Gardevoir nodded deeply, “^I will. I promise.^”
“~Godspeed, Aria. She counts on you.~”
Aria acknowledged Olive’s words as she closed her eyes, mulling through an internal conundrum.
One that a whole lot more light was about to be shone on.
“C’mon, get it over with and let’s get out of here,” Lumi muttered.
“~Get what—~” Olive tried to ask, before she and her companions were surrounded with the same white sheen as the bags from moments prior. Aria’s mental grip bound them in place, only letting them breathe and mutter. “~W-what are—~”
“^I’m sorry. I can’t express how much I appreciate everything you’ve all done for us, but... I, we, can’t risk you knowing where Anne is, or about our involvement. The stakes are too great. I wish I didn’t have to do this,^” Aria explained, her tone apologetic.
“Wh-what are you gonna do…” Luxie squeaked. The lil’ bee’s fear cut deep into Aria, her expression flat aside from the fiercely growing eyes.
It brought all the terrifying mental imagery of ghost brides into the forefront of Olive’s mind, making the Gardevoir wince. “^You will forget everything that has happened today. You’ll only know that Anne is safe, but nothing more.^”
After a long, painful pause, the psychic’s eyes lit up brighter still, making the whole group recoil in various ratios of fear and anger. Luxie was obsessively going through the events of the day in her little head, trying to hold onto the memories as well as she could. About as effective as pushing back a tidal wave with one’s bare hands.
“^I’m sorry.^”
The mental grip grew tighter, almost painful, as the family either stared back or braced themselves for the inevitable. They waited for the evil deed to happen, moment by moment…
Only for it not to.
Before the group’s expressions could change to confusion, they heard Aria’s voice again, little more than a hushed whisper this time, “^Keep your faces like this. Don’t speak, think aloud.^”
The instructions made little sense, but the trio were much too shaken to even think about not following them. They kept their faces frozen as an expectant space filled Olive’s living room.
“^I... don’t want to do this. But I must know, with absolute certainty, that no word of this will ever reach anyone else. Your aid and knowledge has been invaluable, and will continue to be so if Anne stays with us, and it would be cruel of me to reward it like this. But I cannot risk our safety—ours, Anne’s, the safety of hundreds of other beings that would be in peril if the human world at large knew.^”
A heavy pause followed, mental grip relaxing ever so slightly as Aria took a deep breath.
“^Can you all, especially you, Olive, promise me that? Promise that no word of what had happened beyond the pretense you’ve already set up will ever reach anyone else, not even your loved ones?^”
As much as the Gardevoir’s actions made sense with how much was at stake, the group in front of her still felt betrayed at a threat like that being held over their heads. Leo in particular wanted to bark something back at her, literally and verbally alike, before ultimately keeping himself down. Soon after, Luxie’s thoughts reached the others first, “^I-I promise! I want to keep you all and Anne safe, I don’t want to forget you, forget knowing she’s gonna be alright.^”
“^Hmph, fine. Promise,^” Leo added.
“^Olive?^”
The old woman remained silent for the longest. Terror of the situation, sting of betrayal, fears of losing her memory, and affection towards Anne all swirled under her skullcap. Her hand clenched briefly as she got a grip on herself, before responding at last, “^Just as you promised me her safety, I promise you your secrecy, Aria. If she ever needs anything, I want to be able to help.^” Her words were hurt, dripping with resentment towards the Gardevoir for even considering just using them all like that.
Resentment that wasn’t at all unearned, as sad as Aria was to admit that. Alas, that was the only way Marco and Lumi would’ve ever agreed to confide in a human. As much as she was growing to hate the forced secrecy of their village, she couldn’t deny things being the way they were for a good reason.
“^From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you all, for everything. When I let go of you, pretend to be dazed and confused.^”
Aria’s grip held them for a few more moments before fizzling as suddenly as it had initially appeared. Olive blinked at her surroundings as she took a few steps back, Luxie buzzing straight into Leo’s mane, and the hound flopped onto his side, staring up at the ceiling.
“^Quick, before they come back to,^” Aria urged Lumi the moment she ended her part of the charade. The Luxray didn’t have to be told twice, bolting out of the apartment as Aria levitated the bags with herself. Just before following him out, she passed the group one last, brief smile before running out.
Into the vastness of the human world.