CHAPTER 36 — Through the Ages

I got a mouthful of winged fluff and tracks of drool over my exposed skin, but I eventually managed to sit upright. Then I had to gently pry various Pokemon off of my sleeping bag. It got easier once they realized what day it was, and suddenly all my Pokemon jumped to the side with excited expressions. I was pretty sure my own face mirrored theirs.

Dad and the others were still sound asleep, so I quietly gathered all my things and crept back into the house for a quick shower. I grabbed certain objects from my room before heading out.

When I returned to the backyard, I was surprised to see dad up already. He was hunched over a messenger bag on the ground. We didn't have to feed the gym Pokemon or conduct morning training for another hour.

Dad hadn't noticed me yet, so I carefully toed around various sleeping figures and approached him.

"Couldn't sleep—?" I began to ask, but I stopped abruptly when dad turned around.

His face was pale. Incredibly pale, yet what my eyes focused on was his right arm. It shook intensely. Dad's arm tremors up until now had been mild enough that they didn't affect his everyday life too much.

I unfroze when an amber pill bottle slipped out of his hand. Quickly, I crouched down and snatched it up as it rolled away. A glance at the label revealed that it held very specific medication for managing his illness.

I uncapped the bottle for dad and held it out to him wordlessly.

"Thanks," he murmured. His voice was noticeably hoarse. "Chansey's sleeping, so I was trying to do everything myself."

He held out his good hand, and I carefully tilted the bottle to let one pill slide into his palm. While he popped it into his mouth, I unscrewed dad's thermos for him. I was still quiet as I watched dad throw his head back and swallow the medicine with the water I'd offered.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that dad was sick. He was always smiling and acting like everything was fine…

"…It's getting worse," I commented out loud cautiously. It was part statement and part question.

Dad didn't look at me as he put away his medication.

"Just a bit," he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. The action seemed almost too careless to me. "It's manageable, though. Nothing to worry about."

Even as dad said that, his arm continued to tremble violently. He used his free hand to wipe away a light sheen of perspiration from his forehead.

An uncomfortable and almost ugly feeling settled in my stomach as I stared at him. Seeing my only remaining family — the parent I'd reconnected with and was learning to love again — like this was upsetting, and it once again made me remember how dad's life was on a timer.

I'd shoved that fact deep inside my mind long ago and tried not to think too hard about it. It was something neither of us could control; instead, we'd both focused on enjoying time with each other since my return.

That didn't mean I couldn't worry. There was a lot I wanted to ask him: if he was truly alright, how painful it was…

"We should visit the hospital today ahead of your next check-up," was what I settled on instead in a firm voice. I'd accompanied dad on previous trips to the hospital before, and I would keep doing so. "I want to make sure everything's okay."

To my displeasure, dad shook his head.

"Not today," Dad replied. "Today's about you and the gym, and it's not a medical emergency anyway."

"But—"

I'd raised my voice a little too much, and dad quickly brought a finger up to his lips in a shushing gesture. We both glanced around us. Thankfully, everyone slumbered on.

"I'll call up Dr. Monzen later and set things up for tomorrow instead, how about that?" Dad said, and he offered a gentle smile. "I've got the necessary medication already. I just want to celebrate today instead."

I wanted to make further objections, but the adamance in dad's eyes made any words of protest die in my mouth. He knew his body best, and I knew he wasn't actively trying to throw away his health. If he wanted to go tomorrow, then that was that.

So, I reluctantly nodded.

"…Okay."

That was the end of that particular conversation for the time being. I ended up taking a seat next to dad on his sleeping bag. Together, we talked quietly among ourselves and watched the sunrise.

About ten minutes into our discussion, dad started looking better as the effects of the medicine kicked in. His arm tremors stopped. It was obvious how much dad didn't want to talk about his illness given the way he steered the conversation toward more cheerful topics, and I let him.

He mostly talked about how excited he was to see the Gym. I knew what it looked like already given that I'd been given daily construction reports, but I also knew seeing it in person was going to be a whole different experience compared to looking at digital photos.

The whole time we talked, I couldn't help but dwell on dad's health in the back of my head. He had his prescribed medication, but I wanted to look into more ways to help him prolong his life as long as possible. One of the gym Cutiefly had recently showed signs of an impending evolution. Perhaps I could harvest Pollen Puffs from them once they evolved into a Ribombee. Then I could turn the Puffs into nutritional supplements like how they did it in Alola…

More ideas filtered through my head as the minutes drew by.

One by one, the others eventually woke up and rolled out of bed. I thought I had terrible bedhead in the morning, but Hazel and Souta took the cake in that regard. Their heads resembled Pidgey nests. Yurie was so amused that she doubled over and clutched her sides from how hard she laughed. Hazel just scowled grumpily in response while Souta hurriedly fixed his hair in embarrassment.

Everyone was so restless that it was a wonder we were able to get through the morning feeding and training sessions, but soon we were making breakfast. Simple but heartwarming egg over rice dishes were cooked and handed out.

Then we inhaled our meals, packed up our things, and got ready to walk to the Gym. Our determined, shining faces resembled adventurers who were about to traverse the world and seek treasure.

It was a hectic five-minute walk. My Pokemon tagged along with us, so our small group became a massive one that hiked up the short trail. I had a grin on my face as my employees followed along, and it only grew larger the closer we got to the Gym. Dad and Neil were on either side of me, and they chatted away happily in my ears.

The cheerful mood was simply infectious.

I took the long, circular way out of the forest so we could arrive at the front of the Gym rather than the back. We eventually broke through the forest and entered the maze of sprawling, Johtonese-themed gardens that surrounded the Gym. Sounds of appreciation came from behind me as we passed through. Next to me, dad grinned proudly.

Much of the original design had been left intact, but there were numerous additions that dad and his Pokemon had helped with.

The gardens were split into sections with different styles. In one of them, we'd added a huge pond full of water lilies. Lotad and Goldeen lived there under the gym's possession, and there were lacquered bridges that arched from one side to the next. We had another section dedicated to a wisteria tunnel where beautiful purple blooms cascaded down from wooden trellises.

There was also a Zen garden where dad had spent hours upon hours arranging rocks and gravel to form a ripple-like surface on the ground. Other sections were dedicated to pine trees, weeping cherry trees that would light up and glow at night, gorgeous arrays of flowers native to Johto that dad had painstakingly grown…

There was a lot more than what we were currently seeing. Kari had a camera out the whole time and snapped picture after picture of our surroundings.

I might have been a bit biased, but at this point, dad's prized gardens were amazing enough to be nominated as national treasures.

The closer one got to the Gym, the more the gardens changed into a more 'wild' look. Giant mossy boulders and colorful, bioluminescent mushrooms eventually popped up on the sides of the path we were on. Beds of flowers were interwoven between them. I would have liked to add some mushroom varieties like the ones found in the Glimwood Tangle, but those were foreign species and couldn't be introduced to a new environment so carelessly.

Yulian whistled at one point. "These are neat," he commented with a dreamy sigh. Maybe it was the designer part of him speaking.

I smiled when I followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. There were benches set up on the sides of the path that looked just like open books, complete with actual words of text on their shiny surfaces. There were more of these spread out throughout the gardens, and they were related to my Gym's theme.

We had to stop walking for a couple minutes because everyone wanted to try sitting on them. Kari happily took group selfies and squealed about how cute we all looked.

We kept going after that. Eventually, we reached the outermost edge of the gardens. The Blossom Hall workers were already there waiting for us. They'd changed out of their work uniforms, and every single one of them had a satisfied smile on his or her face.

Eric waved at me.

"What do you think?" he yelled out excitedly, and he gestured wildly to the scene that lay behind him.

Everyone around me had stopped in their tracks. Mouths hung open like Magikarp as people stared with open astonishment.

My own heart swelled with emotion as I stood there and took in the sight of the Cherrygrove Gym, my Gym.

We stood at the edge of a moat. In my peripheral vision, I saw ripples in the water as Finneon and even one Lumineon swam along. They had been imported from Sinnoh. There were a few others under my possession who would be used in gym challenges, but the ones living in the moat were not a part of that bunch.

They weren't the only Pokemon I'd imported from another region either. We also had Volbeat and Illumise from Hoenn that would be living around the gym and its gardens from now on. At night, they and the Finneon family would make for a spectacular sight as they lit up the darkness with their natural abilities to glow.

My eyes were drawn to the massive structure on an island in the middle of the moat, the Cherrygrove Gym.

An ivory castle stood there in all its glory. Gigantic columns and towers had been built with alternating heights on the roof. Their edges were accented with cherry pink. I'd wanted to pay tribute to the Gym's previous history as well as my city, so… instead of the towers being topped by spires, they had various kinds of cherry blossom trees growing from them.

Dad's Elite team of Grass types had been a huge help regarding this part of construction. We'd had to wait until the towers were properly built before we could plant the trees, so there hadn't been much time.

That wasn't a problem for decades-old Grass types who'd been honing their craft for many years. Accelerating the growth of trees was as easy as breathing for them.

As a result, we now had fully-grown cherry trees swaying in the breeze from high atop the castle. Soft petals rained down without end and fluttered through the air. We'd planted different seasonal breeds, so no matter what time of year it was, there would always be some trees in bloom.

We'd let the cherry trees grow a bit wild as well.

Gigantic tree roots curled around the columns and towers attached to the castle. They lovingly wrapped themselves around the building's exterior on all sides and created a more natural, fantastical look. In addition, sections of luminous moss grew across the castle walls. They were joined by flowering vines and waves of ivy.

Past rows of arched windows and a symbol of the gym badge, watchtowers rose up from the ground. Like the rest of the castle, these had cherry trees and roots attached to them. Light blue staircases with glass railings spiraled outwards from small entrances high up on those watchtowers to the castle's upper levels. We could only fully make out two from the front view of the gym, but there were six watchtowers in total that were evenly spread out around the castle's whole perimeter.

Placed in between them were an equal number of entrances for the gym. Petal-like roofs arched outwards from the walls with flowering vines hanging from their tops. Underneath their embrace were glass walls and doors. The gym would be accessible from different sides and entry points for visitors, but the middle back entrance would always be staff-only. From these gym entrances, large stone bridges full of moss spanned the length of the moat and connected the castle to the rest of the world. Book benches and greenery, both potted and wild, further decorated the bridges.

A love letter to the past and an ode to the future. This castle of nature represented that and so much more.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

The Blossom Hall workers were still looking at me with expectant gazes. I took in the Gym for another minute before turning to face them. I didn't need a mirror to know I had what was probably the biggest smile of my life.

"Perfect," I said with as much sincerity as I could imbue my voice with.

That was the only word they needed to hear. As one, the Blossom Hall workers broke out in cheers and celebrated the end of a successful project. The rest of my employees unfroze as I went up and down shaking hands with every construction worker in turn.

I was fairly certain Eric and his crew would become famous after this.

"Pictures! We need to take pictures to commemorate today!" Kari hollered above all the noise, and she excitedly waved her camera around in the air.

Thus began a photography session. With the gym as our distant backdrop, everyone left their luggage and belongings way off to the side and gathered at the foot of the bridge for pictures. We took one of me and the Blossom Hall workers, one of just me and dad, one of me and my Pokemon team, one of me and all the gym trainers and employees, one with everyone smushed into the frame, and many more.

We snapped countless pictures, and my heart swelled further with each one we took. I would look back on these photos someday and forever recall this moment in time.

I thanked Eric and the workers for what felt like a hundred more times before they finally departed for home and some much needed rest. They deserved it after all the work they'd put in over the last few months.

The gym's exterior was already stunning, but I was excited to see the inside now. First, though, my gym trainers needed to drop off their luggage.

I reluctantly tore my gaze away from the castle and trudged off in the direction of the staff lodgings. Everyone followed, but none with more excitement than my gym trainers who would actually be living on gym grounds. Yurie practically skipped along as she hummed some sort of song to herself.

I was also partly distracted by dad gushing praise and comments about the gym's final look in my ear. He looked so enthusiastic that it was hard to believe he'd been feeling sick earlier in the morning.

Luckily, the staff lodgings weren't too far away. We soon came upon two connected buildings in a similar architectural style to the gym. The instant I pointed a finger at the castle-like apartment complex, Yurie and the others sprinted off to explore and lay claim to a room they liked. We followed them in and briefly looked around the ground level while we waited. Every apartment had its own small kitchen, shower, and bathroom, but there was a cozy common room for people to lounge around in and a communal kitchen.

Yurie and Hazel ended up claiming rooms on the third and fourth floor respectively, and Souta and Haru chose rooms on the second floor. As soon as they dumped their luggage in their new living spaces, my gym trainers barrelled right back out and looked at me excitedly.

I took that as my cue to lead everyone back to the Gym. This time, we actually crossed one of the bridges. I couldn't help but feel excited as the building loomed ever closer with every step I took.

Minus the staff-only entrance, the other five entrances all had automatic doors. They opened for us as we approached.

I took my first step into the Gym I could truly call my own.

Cold air instantly settled over my skin from air conditioning, but my attention was elsewhere. We'd stepped right into an enormous entrance hall that looked like it came out of a fairy tale.

Much like the castle's exterior, the interior followed a similar color scheme with ivory walls accented with cherry pink and gold. Rays of sunlight poured in from arched windows and cast their dappled light on expensive marble flooring. There was not a lot of furniture — only a few book benches here and there and some paintings hung on the walls — but that did not mean the gym's lobby was empty. Flowering vines snaked across the walls and looped around columns, all of them adding vibrant color and life to the already majestic hall.

At one end of the entrance hall was a closed-off reception area. I'd hired additional employees for gym maintenance through the Indigo League's network already, and receptionists were among them. They'd come in starting tomorrow to get used to their work and take calls for the Gym. Behind the reception counter were several different screens. The one in the middle explained different challenge formats the Cherrygrove Gym offered, and the others surrounding it would display the names of challengers and their match appointments once the next League Circuit started.

Different sets of staircases were placed on either end of the room and could be taken up to a balcony level that overlooked the entrance hall. There were elevators up there that led to other parts of the castle, but a lot of those couldn't be accessed by the public. The only upper level visitors could access was the rooftop full of cherry blossom trees and other plants. Dad had kept a rooftop garden of his own, and I'd wanted to keep another reminder of the old Cherrygrove Gym. There were battlefields up there for special events along with some stands.

My favorite part of the gym lobby was not the immediate surroundings, but what you saw when you looked up. I grinned to myself as I tilted my head back.

The entrance hall had a remarkably high ceiling, and the only word to describe it was beautiful.

A vision of the night sky and moon twinkled back at me. It was not a mural but a gigantic animated screen. Stars, constellations, and other celestial bodies glowed and crawled across the ceiling slowly. Eventually, they winked out of existence and were replaced by new constellations. I even stared long enough that I saw the moon beginning to shift phases.

It felt like I'd been transported to outer space, and I loved it.

Kari looked like she was having a field day as she frantically took pictures to upload on the Gym's website later. I gave her and the others enough time to drink their fill of the lobby's scenery, and then I led them to adjacent rooms.

Attached to the gym lobby was a gift shop full of gym merchandise, an empty exhibition space that could be used for events, and four different doors. One door led to the waiting room for challengers, another was staff-only and led all the way to a waiting room of our own, and the other two led to the stands in the battle hall.

The battle hall was more like the inner sanctuary of a forgotten temple.

Scattered across the corners of the room were columns that rose up high into the air, each covered with moss and vines that draped across their ivory surfaces. There were also fountains and statues of figures from mythology carefully placed in intervals around the room. Glowing lights were embedded in the walls and shone like stars in the half-darkness. I'd wanted to decorate the ceiling here as well, but I hadn't wanted to distract gym challengers too much.

In the middle of the room stood a standard battlefield for gym matches. Rows of ivory stands surrounded it on all sides, and famous quotes had been inked into their surfaces. There were separate private viewing boxes that important guests could reserve. At the very back of the battle hall was a medical bay and a waiting room for me and the other gym trainers.

We'd seen everything there was to see on the first floor, so we headed up to the second level that was staff-only. The second floor mostly consisted of meeting rooms and offices for me and the gym employees. There was also a break room with a warp tile that led to our waiting room in the battle hall. When we dropped by the security room full of monitors and other equipment, I briefly took out my laptop and transferred some of the Porygon family over.

While the others went to explore the second floor on their own, I made a pit stop to my personal office. I'd brought with me the Fairy-themed office supplies Rika had gifted me long ago, and I gleefully decorated my desk with them now.

It already looked a lot more inviting. I only hoped the fun decorations would be able to get me through loads of paperwork later on in the year.

I went back out and couldn't find anyone at first. That was quickly rectified when muffled, jubilant exclamations rang out. I went through a door to an outdoor balcony and found everyone admiring the view.

"Freaking fresh air!" Yurie grinned as she threw her arms out, and Hazel had to duck to avoid getting a smack to the face.

I looked around with brows that gradually furrowed. "Wait, we're missing someone. Where's Neil?"

"Oh, he's—"

"YAHOO! THIS IS A GREAT VIEW!"

We all turned around at the sound of a distant booming voice. Neil seemed to have found the entrance to one of the watchtowers and ascended the staircase that spiraled upwards. He waved at us now from the middle of the stairs out in open air.

At least now I knew he wasn't afraid of heights.

Everyone had fun running up and down the upper levels and outdoor staircases, peeking into rooms, and simply exploring every inch of the Gym. I received many questions about certain rooms that were set aside for future gym challenges.

"We'll talk about those over the summer while we're preparing for the Circuit," I told them with a mysterious smile.

Oh, I was definitely looking forward to the next League Circuit. I didn't think my challengers were going to be quite prepared for what was going to be a… unique experience here at the Cherrygrove Gym.

I still needed to hash out specific details over the summer and train the gym Pokemon up for their roles, but I already had most of it planned out already.

About an hour of exploration later, I put a halt to everything and called for our first ever meeting at the Gym.

As soon as everyone filed into the meeting room I'd designated and sat down, I pointed at several different boxes on the table.

"They finally arrived," I said to start things off.

They all looked first at the grin on my face and then at the objects I was pointing to. Dad was the first to figure it out.

"The gym badges and TMs?" he asked with wide eyes, and I nodded.

Most of the TMs were pretty standard stuff. Simple moves like Disarming Voice or Charm would be handed out to challengers who won the lowest tiers of gym challenges, and more advanced moves like Draining Kiss would be given to trainers who won gym badges at higher levels.

What I was more excited by were the gym badges. Physical copies, each with their own code number that was logged in the system, would be handed out to challengers for their first successful win at any gym. After that, digital gym badges were granted for repeat victories in the years that followed.

Everyone leaned forward as I opened one of the boxes and pushed it closer to them. Inside, rows of gym badges attached to velvety cushions gleamed under the lights.

Not just any gym badges, but the Cherrygrove Gym Badges.

Dad carefully pulled one of them out and held the small metallic object up to his face. The badge was in the shape of a closed book. The cover was a rich emerald green, and the book was accented by gold pages and a crescent moon on its front. I saw dad's gaze soften the longer he stared at it.

He recognized the specific shade of green I'd chosen. It was the color that had once represented the former Cherrygrove Gym, a rich and lustrous green that represented nature and the beauty of life.

A tribute to our family's history and the Grass type.

"What's the name of this badge?" he asked quietly in a voice full of wonder.

Everyone else had picked up badges of their own to admire them more closely, but they paused and waited for my answer. My voice cut through the calm of the air.

"The Fable Badge."

Nobody spoke as I swept my gaze across the room and looked at each person in turn. My heart pounded just a bit faster in my chest as I began to explain the meaning behind this badge and the gym…

The meaning of the work I would be undertaking from now on.

"Fables are stories," I began, "ones that are passed down through the ages from generation to generation. They impart truths to those who recognize their value, and they teach people life lessons or morals. Through them, we can appreciate time-old traditions and the past. At the same time, they also teach us new ways of appreciating the world around us and convey knowledge we can use for the future."

Without realizing it, I began to slowly pace from one end of the room to the other.

"Fables used to primarily be for adults," I remarked. More than a few people reacted with surprise to that, but I continued on without pause. "Nowadays, they target a much younger audience. I personally believe that no matter how old you are, there is always something you can learn from stories and records of the past."

I kept walking, but I held up a hand and clenched it.

"Let me repeat what I first said about fables because it's important. They are stories passed down through the ages. That means they have endured. They have cemented for themselves a place in history because of what they can offer… the things they can teach the generations that come after," I said.

I paused where I was to look at the fully attentive group.

"We, the Cherrygrove Gym, will be much the same," I declared firmly. I raised the gym badge I still held. "I've taught you all a decent amount about Fairies by this point. Their elusive and whimsical natures, the way they believe so strongly that they can influence reality… and the way they make a place for themselves in this world."

A single and almost shuddering breath left me.

"I chose this badge because I want the Gym and the Fairy type to be remembered for eternity. I want people to remember us for the wisdom we can impart, and the magic they will find within our castle's walls."

My lips tugged upwards in a faint smile.

"We'll show them Fairies."

I'd never been more sure of myself.

I had agonized for hours, days even, about the direction I wanted to take the Gym in and what I — Arin Watanuki — could specifically offer the people who challenged me. And after a long deliberation, I'd finally decided on this badge's meaning.

To look to and learn from the past.

To enrich one's imagination and open their eyes to the world.

To seek out new truths and improve oneself as a person.

What I could offer them was a fun and stimulating experience here at the Cherrygrove Gym, one that would convey to them lessons that would hopefully stay with them long into their journeys and beyond.

Judging by the sea of emotional, moved expressions I saw before me, I believed I had gotten the point across to my gym trainers at the very least. Dad's eyes were particularly shiny. I didn't comment on it as I walked back to the front of the table and slipped the gym badge I held back into the box.

"Well… that's the gist of it. The meaning behind the badge. It's why the gym looks like it does, and our gym challenges later will be tied into this as well. I'll discuss them as we prepare this summer. Does everyone understand?" I asked.

No one responded verbally, but I did get firm nods in return.

Smiling, I clapped my hands together. "Okay. Then let's move on to some important business. I've brought it up in conversations before, but there will be an official grand opening for the Cherrygrove Gym this weekend. Saturday from 9 AM to 7 PM. Mark it down if you haven't already."

I was pleased to see that nobody pulled out their phones or notepads, and I continued.

"How're the ads looking?" I asked. The question was directed at my two social media managers, Kari and Yulian.

"Good! I can start posting them later today on social media," Kari instantly answered with a confident smile. Her brother nodded from beside her.

"I'm ready to get posters printed and put up around town, too," Yulian replied.

I'd had to apologize to them already for making them revise all the posters when they were done. That was when I'd found out Wallace wanted to come perform at the Gym.

I still remembered how shocked my gym trainers looked when I told them who I'd hired as a performer.

"Great. What about merchandise and free samples?"

"I ordered additional stocks for the grand opening!" Kari chirped an affirmative.

We were giving out free stickers of Fairy Pokemon on the day of since those were easy to mass produce in a short period of time. We were also planning on actively selling gym merchandise while we had a larger than normal visitor count.

T-shirts, bracelets, and flags for fans to use during the next League Circuit season; plushies of my Pokemon that were catered mostly to young children; sports caps and more conical, witch-like hats modeled after those of the Hatenna line… there were more fun options, too.

Once Kari found out some of my Pokemon had artistic talents, she made huge prints of Silque's art or CDs of songs sung by Arya and Fizz. She'd even put them online on music platforms for people to buy. I don't know how she managed to work out the intricacies of copyrights regarding Pokemon-made art, but I gave her serious props for figuring everything out.

With some… reluctant approval on my part, she also ordered some CDs featuring screaming duets by Lico and Mr. Puff. Was it considered heavy metal? I had no idea, but whatever genre of music that was… it scared me.

Kari was certainly creative, I would give her that.

The bakers I'd formed a contract with previously would also be coming by on that day to sell limited quantities of new breads and cakes that would be Cherrygrove specialties, and we'd be splitting the proceeds.

There was a lot more to prepare, and I was looking forward to the grand opening.

The meeting went on as we discussed logistics and things we needed to do. Right as we were about to wrap up our discussion, I felt a vibration from my pocket as a notification came in.

I pulled my phone out and read through the new text message I'd gotten.

Huh, it was from Fantina. Was this the message Cynthia had told me to look out for?

Fantina [11:14 AM]: Hello hello, Arin! Long time no talk. Dear Wallace mentioned you were looking for performers for your Gym. I know it's a bit late, but I had to work out details regarding travel and work first. May I join?

First Wallace, and now Fantina?! I hadn't seen her in years. I'd gotten to know her through a few Contests I had participated in during my run of Sinnoh. She was a Top Coordinator and one of Sinnoh's most beloved celebrities. She was friends with Wallace, though… they also shared a friendly rivalry as fellow Coordinators.

I definitely wasn't going to say no to major advertisements and entertainment for the Cherrygrove Gym.

I was in the middle of typing back a reply when I remembered to look up and give Kari and Yulian an embarrassed look.

"Er… sorry, can you change the posters and ads one last time?" I asked with a sheepish smile.

Yulian raised a brow. "Sure, it's not hard. What do you need?"

"…Can you add that Fantina's going to come perform as well?"

"Oh."

Cue the shocked silence. I finished sending my text message and figured I'd drop another bomb I'd forgotten, too.

"I forgot to mention it the other day, but we also need to expect and receive important guests. The Stones will be visiting."

"Oh."

…This event was growing possibly, possibly just a bit larger than I'd originally anticipated.