Chapter 13 – Day 7, Part 1: Meeting of the Matriarchs

Chapter 13 – Day 7, Part 1: Meeting of the Matriarchs

It takes quite a bit of effort for Marigold to get around Kebia Castle.

The Primarina has to drag herself, or flop around like a beached Wailmer. It’s not very pleasant, or something Marigold ever really enjoyed having to do. Any chance she’d get, Marigold would flop on over to the pool and swim like the majestic water type she is. She was a water pokemon in the purest sense. No legs, no fingers, and a pension for getting dehydrated. Still, she wouldn’t trade her flippers for anything in the world.

…Okay…maybe legs. Don’t tell anybody she thinks that though.

Marigold, or Mari if you’d prefer, was summoned to a meeting with the other matriarchs of Kebia. One of Anemone’s messengers, or “channelers” as she likes to call them for some reason, communicated to the Primarina that the matter was urgent.

Haven’t had one of those in awhile, Mari thought. There were always the monthly reports, but every so often the Gardevoir calls for a gathering unscheduled. Such matters usually had to do with a problem that must be solved immediately, or information that couldn’t be shared through secondary sources.

Or she was just lonely. Anemone was like that sometimes.

Marigold was certain that wasn’t the case however. Less than a week ago, she sat down with one of Anemone’s channelers and was told that a human had joined the explorers guild. The idea of such an exotic kind of creature in town was enough to excite the Primarina into meeting the human herself.

…Only to be moderately disappointed at how…normal and…not human he was. Such a shame.

Regardless, Mari had been woken up after the day of her performance by a Natu with eyes so glossy she wondered if it was even alive. The channeler, with its tone so horrendously monotone, explained that Anemone will detail what was happening in her office.

The bird even had the insight to wake her up early so she wouldn’t be late. I swear that Gardevoir puts so much thought into everything. It’s no wonder she’s in charge. Mari was still in disbelief over how Anemone had been so adamant about her showing up on time once that four Machamps showed up at her door one morning and offered to carry her there. She was…flattered by the gesture, but the day Marigold couldn’t get across the castle on her own was the day she invested in wheels. She wasn’t any special pokemon, after all. What right did she have to take handouts like that? Mari could move perfectly well on her own thank you very much.

Marigold took her time getting to the elevator. It wasn’t in her nature to pass up a chance to say hello to the members of the guild as they passed. The Natu channeler following her would remind her to pick up the pace each time, and she ignored it. Anemone knew that Marigold wouldn’t rush. Urgency was rarely a reason to forgo her fellow pokemon.

When Mari got to the elevator that was just large enough to fit her, the natu fluttered off, it’s duty done. The Primarina was left alone, but she wasn’t really alone, was she?

“Hellooooo, Marigold~!”

A ghost and her friend passed through the castle wall next to the elevator and floated up to the Primarina. “Quite the show you put on last night,” Calluna said in her signature inviting tone. “It’s always wonderful to hear you sing~”

“I liked the part where you implied that sailing kinda sucks,” Aster added, devious as always. “That’s sure to improve morale. Hehe~”

Marigold addressed them plainly. “Goodmorning, Calluna. Aster. I’m happy to hear you liked it. Some of the girls were worried it didn’t go all that well.”

Calluna flourished her eyelashes. “Ooooh let me guess…was one of them Mazus? She’s such a nervous wreck, that Lilligant. You’d think that evolving would improve her confidence…”

“Calluna…” Mari fretted, “what did I tell you about creeping on pokemon without their consent? It’s bad enough that I hear such rude things about my girls. I don’t need them worrying about a snoopy ghost like you.”

Aster elbowed the Mismagius. “Yeah, Calluna,” he sneered, “don’t wanna…make any pokemon uncomfortable, now do we?”

Calluna chuckled. “Hehe, we sure wouldn’t, Aster.”

Marigold frowned. It didn’t help that she had to meet these jokers more often than she’d like. Always messing around, invading pokemon’s privacy, these two. Mari had no idea what Anemone saw in these ghosts. She understood that they managed the castle finances well, but trusting them with every business in town? And giving them free reign to do whatever they want? What was that Gardevoir thinking? The Primarina had to accept that, no matter what, no corner of the castle was ever free of surveillance. Arceus forbid her girls ever find out. They’d leave and never come back out of fear!

“So, Mari, do you know what Anemone wants to see us for?” asked Calluna.

“I do not. Do you?”

Calluna shot her a smug grin. “Mmm, maybe~”

“I’ll give ya a hint,” Aster said, “it’s not what you think.”

“Does it not have something to do with the human?” Marigold wondered. “Or recent criminal activity? I don’t recall anything else of note happening recently.”

There was a glimmer in the Mismagius’ eyes. The kind that only appeared when she had the upper hand and complete control over the pokemon she was talking to. Marigold knew it well, and she hated it wholly. “You’ll just have to find out,” Calluna quipped. “It’s quite sobering, let me tell you~”

Well, that doesn’t bode well. How does Calluna even know already? Mari pondered. If something bad has already happened, I would’ve found out about it. Someone would have told me. Has she found a way to stalk Anemone? Now that’s a frightening thought. I can only imagine why a pokemon like Calluna would even want to risk their life to uncover her secrets.

Marigold dragged herself to the elevator. “Well, now you have me curious,” Mari stated, pulling the metal gate open. “We shouldn’t keep Anemone waiting.”

The two ghosts giggled and followed Mari onto the lift. She grabbed the lever with a flipper and pulled it until there was a click and the lever corresponded to the copper etching that read “throne room.” There were five floors that this elevator went to. The basement, the first floor, the fifth floor, the throne room, and one last floor. The last floor was somewhere Marigold had never been. She assumed it was Anemone’s bedroom since she’d never seen the Gardevoir sleep for the two decades the Primarina had lived in Kebia Castle, though she wasn’t entirely sure if that was the case.

Anemone could teleport. If she needed to get somewhere in the castle, she could.

She’d never put much thought into it, but Mari would be lying if she said she wasn’t the least bit curious about it. That curiosity would never be sated, however. The lever won’t move that far without a special key. One only Anemone has access to.

The Primarina coiled her tail behind her in an attempt to get comfortable. The size of the elevator didn’t give her much to work with, but that didn’t stop her from trying. Calluna and Aster hovered above, looking down on Mari with their eerie smiles.

Sometime into the ride, Aster floated down to Marigold’s eye level. “So, Mari,” he started, “you gonna ask ol’ Ane-manny about the orphanage again?”

“I’m going to try,” Mari responded longingly. “She knows how much I want it. It’s just a matter of whether Anemone’s in a good mood or not.”

Aster laughed. “You might as well wait for Giratina to show up and start the apocalypse. Anemone in a good mood. Ha!”

“It happens more often than you’d think, Aster,” Calluna said. “I’ve seen Anemone at her best.” She chuckled under her breath. “Her sense of humor is darker than mine…”

Mari went back to staring at the wall. In truth, she wasn’t confident that she’d be able to convince Anemone to go along with building that orphanage. It was a personal dream of Marigold’s to give all of the parentless pokemon in Kebia Castle a proper home. She sees so many running about, risking their lives to stay here. It breaks her heart, especially after the last orphanage burned down.

The Primarina had been asking Anemone for permission to have one built for months now. Anemone always turned her down for one reason or another. May it be that there were projects that needed to be completed first, a lack of funds (which Marigold knew was complete nonsense), or the Gardevoir just…didn’t feel like doing the proper paperwork that day. That always made her mad in particular. There were children—orphaned children—running around the castle and she doesn’t even care!

But what can one Primarina do? Anemone had the final say. The time had to be right, and Marigold was hoping that that time was today.

The lift ride ended. Mari was thankful—her flippers were starting to get cramped.

Now that she was near the mind-reader, Marigold began reciting lyrics to songs in her head; It kept her mind from wandering. Anemone hears everything any pokemon has ever thought or experienced when they get close. Her powers were so strong that even dark types weren’t entirely safe. The Gardevoir had explained to Mari once that reading a pokemon’s mind was like having a very big book smushed into her brain all at once and then having more pieces of paper forcibly stapled to the book constantly. There were no patterns, no easy way to organize any of it, and Anemone has just gotten used to it.

With pokemon she’s already met, it helped to have a point of reference to start with so Anemone doesn’t have to re-experience old memories while being hounded by newer ones. Hence why Marigold recites song lyrics. Anemone can ignore it because she already knows them.

Mari internally sang the songs from last night’s performance as the three of them approached the throne room doors. The ghosts were quiet for once, most likely too focused on repeating their thoughts much like Marigold. The doors were already open, so they “walked” right in.

The silence of the throne room was enough to make the smallest sounds reverberate off the walls. Mari was certain that staying in a place so devoid of sound would drive any pokemon insane. Not Anemone, though—she probably relished in the quiet moments that she could get.

The Gardevoir in question was sitting on her desk, watching the three of them enter the room pensively.

“You three took your damn time,” Anemone said from across the room. “I thought I told my channelers that this meeting was an urgent one.”

Calluna hovered in place. “Some of us are faster than others, Anemone-dear.” She side-eyed Marigold, much to her annoyance. “But come now, darling, this ‘problem’ of yours isn’t nearly as urgent as you think it is~”

Anemone crossed her arms as she jumped off her desk. “I was also hoping that the three of you wouldn’t be aware of what was going on.” She glared at Calluna. “You ought to keep your spies in check. I won’t tolerate any breach of my privacy or mail, understand?”

The ghost was unfazed. “Hm. I’ll have to keep that in mind,” Calluna acknowledged satirically. Aster snickered behind her.

Despite appearing quite peeved, Anemone moved on past the ghost’s mockery.

“Since there’s no point in beating around the bush,” Anemone started, “I’m just going to say it outright: one of the Kingfisher gems was stolen.”

Marigold audibly gasped. She was completely baffled. “Stolen? H-how is that possible? Weren’t the Tapu’s guarding them?”

“I don’t know how, but a group of pokemon were able to overpower Koko,” Anemone said.

“That tends to happen when you leave a rusty old legendary all on their own and expect them to defend themselves,” Aster added. “Tsk tsk tsk. How negligent of you, Anemone…”

The Gardevoir sent the Banette a harsh look. “Well, excuse me! Twenty something years and no incidents doesn’t give me much credence to incentivize their safety.”

“Was the gem all they took?” Marigold asked.

“Yes.”

Calluna laughed heartily. “Oh my! That doesn’t bode well~”

Mari was still in hysterics over the news. She had been aware of the Kingfisher device since she had come to live in Kebia Castle. What it actually does, or did rather, she had no idea. Anemone didn’t bring it up often, but she always talks about its significance in the wars when she does.

Most believe the castle was what the wars were fought over. A struggle for power and land ownership. That was partially true—the castle was the main goal of both opposing sides. But the Kingfisher device…it had a role as well.

The evil warlock, Carnation—a Grimmsnarl that had plans to take over Kebia with his second in command, Larkspur—would have used the Kingfisher device to do…something. Anemone says she wasn’t aware of the device’s true nature, but aimed to stop them regardless.

Of course, both Carnation and Larkspur are dead now. The wars ended and Anemone took full control of Kebia. However, Marigold and the rest of the pokemon in Kebia still felt the effects of the wars. It had been a long time, and no other groups had sought to repeat what happened thirty years ago, but still.

That was why Mari was so afraid of what the gems being stolen meant. Handled poorly, this continent, Enigma, could see another pointless war. A war that Marigold wasn’t prepared for. A war that no one in Kebia is the least bit prepared for.

Anemone had taken notice of Marigold’s worried mind, and the Gardevoir watched her expectantly.

“A-Anemone…what do we do?” Mari breathed.

She sighed. “I’m not sure. That’s why the three of you are here.”

“We have to stop this from going any further!” the Primarina trembled. “Get the gems and bring them back here!”

“A novel concept,” Calluna said sardonically. “But I raise you this: what would be the point of trusting the Tapu’s with the gems if we’re just going to take them back at the first sign of trouble?”

Marigold didn’t have an answer to that.

Beginning to pace in front of her desk, Anemone answered both of their concerns. “I trusted the Tapu’s with the gems because leaving them here would lead to too much of a risk. The castle would become a target in the event that someone would come looking for them. It doesn’t matter how well hidden they are, I don’t want there to be a panic. By leaving the gems with the Tapu’s, they would be not only naturally hidden, but protected as well…”

Anemone pinched the middle of her eyebrows. “Clearly, I was wrong,” she grumbled. “‘Legendary’ doesn’t mean shit when you’re well prepared, apparently.”

Aster floated down onto Anemone’s desk, landing in a lounging pose. “Which is exactly why we should help them on their turf,” he smirked. “Send out a team or two and station them at each of the remaining Tapu locations. Even one well placed Tyranitar could make the difference~”

The Banette jumped away as Anemone waved him off her desk. “Off. Damn gremlin.” Aster glided through the air until he was next to Calluna, giggling all the way.

“I’m worried that’ll spread us too thin,” the Gardevoir responded.

“Give me an hour and I’ll find the best candidates and create a cost-efficient system for guard duty,” Aster retorted.

Anemone raised her eyebrows and laughed, “I’m sorry, do you know when they’ll strike? Please tell me, Aster, how do you expect to cover expenses when we have a chunk of the guild hanging out in the middle of nowhere doing literally nothing?”

If Aster had a response to that, he was too scared to say it. He slowly floated behind Calluna timidly.

“That’s what I thought.”

Calluna, being the only pokemon in the room to not offer a suggestion yet, approached Anemone slowly. “You know, Anemone,” she began, her voice low, eyes almost obscured by her hat, “we could let the guild know what’s going on-“

“No. Absolutely not.”

“-and let them decide for themselves.” The Mismagius raised an eyebrow. “Come on…you don’t trust the pokemon that risk their lives for you everyday?”

Anemone frowned. “I trust them to keep this organization from going under,” she said. “I don’t trust them with keeping precious artifacts safe. There are some untrustworthy pokemon in this castle, in case you forgot. The less pokemon that know, the better.”

“…Don’t you think that that’s what they want? An easy victory? To take the entire castle off-guard? Doing nothing won’t do anything except guaranteeing the loss of the Kingfisher gems.”

“I’M NOT-“

Anemone cut herself off. She closed her eyes in concentration, blowing air out of her nose in an attempt to stay calm.

She spoke slowly. “I’m not…doing nothing. I just haven’t decided on what I want to do yet. I need more time. “

Calluna narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t decided?” she asked. “Or you can’t accept that you’re approaching this the wrong way?”

The Gardevoir frantically paced back and forth. She rubbed her temples. “Just…be quiet. Let me think. LET ME THINK!”

Marigold took that as the cue to wipe her thoughts of anything obtrusive. When Anemone asks someone to “let her think,” that means that you stop thinking. She needed complete concentration. The thoughts of others could interrupt that.

As a result, Mari began focusing on the most bland and uninteresting thing she could.

The color of the carpet was red. Very red. What kind of red? Doesn’t matter. The design of the carpet? Hmmm…not that interesting. How was it made? Who made it? Who cares? Marigold doesn’t. She likes it though. It was a nice carpet. She should get a copy of it. That’d be great.

Mari’s carpet analysis was interrupted by Anemone, her moment to think finally finished.

“Alright, I’ve decided. We’re going with a version of Aster’s plan. I’m putting you in charge of making sure it goes well, Aster.”

The Banette’s apprehensiveness faded and he exclaimed in victory. “Yes!”

Anemone swore under her breath. “This is going to be such a waste of resources…” she mumbled. “I hate this…ugh…okay, we’ll cycle out teams that will protect the gem sites. Don’t let them know what is really at stake. Tell them…there are pokemon after the Tapus treasure. Be unspecific. Just tell them that it’s my orders if you have to. And SMALL TEAMS, please! We want to keep the amount of pokemon that are even aware of the Tapu sites to be at a minimum.”

Aster saluted. “You got it, boss! I won’t let you down!”

Mari was wondering what her role in this situation would be. Unlike Aster and Calluna, she couldn’t organize teams to guard legendaries on her own.

She raised a flipper. “What should I do, Anemone? I don’t think I’ll be very helpful with defending the gems.”

Anemone smiled. The first genuine smile Marigold had seen from the Gardevoir in quite a while. “Do what you always do,” Anemone told Mari, “except in the opposite direction. Keep rumors from spreading about the gems getting stolen and the Tapus being attacked. Just…lie if you have to. I need time to work all of this out.”

“You expect me to lie?”

“If you have to, yes.”

You’re lucky that I’m good at that sort of thing, Anemone.

“I know, which is why I chose you. This news is bound to fan out to the entire castle and beyond, so If you can slow down the spread of information even by a day or two, that’s fine.”

Marigold nodded, well aware that lying was one of her strong suits. She’s had experience with countering rumors of pokemon that didn’t want to be talked about with better rumors. She’s done it with her own performance group many times. Some might see this as a bad thing and overstepping her boundaries, but Mari knows that it’s necessary sometimes. If there was a good reason to do it, then it was justifiable. Granted, she didn’t like doing it, but she didn’t like a lot of things.

Calluna had been uncharacteristically quiet for the last discussion. Usually, Calluna was the one to contribute the most in these meetings. But now? She was silent—staring Anemone down as Anemone stared back.

“Well, Calluna?” Anemone challenged. “Do you disagree with my plan at all?”

Calluna was quiet for a moment, bobbing in the air slightly. Mari caught sight of her eyes…they were intense! The Mismagius clearly felt strongly about something to do with the plan. Anemone probably knew what it was but was willing to let Calluna explain it in her own words.

“What about the human?” Calluna finally asked.

“What about him?” Anemone asked back.

The Mismagius hovered ever so slightly closer. “Don’t you think he deserves to know what’s going on?”

“I already told him about the first gem being stolen. I don’t want him involved.” Anemone crossed her arms impatiently.

Calluna spoke no louder than a whisper. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about, Anemone…”

Anemone sent Calluna a firm glare. Mari could tell that whatever they were talking about was making the Gardevoir very mad. “He doesn’t deserve to know,” Anemone said fiercely.

A malicious grin creeped onto Calluna’s face. “That’s awfully selfish of you, Anemone,” she taunted quietly. “Thinking of yourself before your subjects isn’t very queenly, don’t you think?”

The two of them stared at each other for some time. The atmosphere was tense as both of them waited for the other to respond. Meanwhile, Marigold looked on, confused. She wasn’t aware of what had them so conflicted. Why doesn’t Oswald deserve to know? And about what? Mari thought Anemone was thinking about the guild first. She was making so many compromises after all.

After a few moments, Anemone sighed, turned around, and leaned over her desk. “The spatial dungeons are playing with his mind,” she said.

“Oh! Like Ranun?” Calluna questioned in a derisive manner.

Anemone physically flinched. Marigold did as well. Ranun was a name that she hadn’t heard in a long time. Calluna had some serious guts to bring him up in front of Anemone…

The Gardevoir sighed shakily. “Yes,” Anemone murmured, “like Ranun.”

Suddenly, she slammed her desk, causing Marigold to blink. Anemone stood up straight abruptly and turned back to glare at the Mismagius. “We’re moving on,” she fumed, audibly keeping her anger subdued. “If you have any more grievances with how I’m handling this—by all means, let me know.”

Calluna’s only response was a slow shake of her head. That grin of hers hadn’t faded.

Mari finally gave herself the chance to breathe. Thank Arceus, she thought breathlessly, that could’ve gotten bad. The Primarina, now free of tension, felt something shaking on her back. She turned her head to find Aster trembling behind her.

Even Aster was scared.

The discussion turned to one of mundane matters after that; the usual monthly reports. Construction was going well, new residents, no notable incidents—that sort of thing. Marigold contributed some, though the bulk of the conversation was dominated by Calluna and Anemone despite their previous argument. Mari wondered how the two of them could even stand each other, let alone discuss important business matters after being at each other’s throats just five minutes before. I guess that’s why they work so well together. They keep each other in check.

Half an hour passed. Anemone and Calluna had just finished deliberating over a potential tax increase when the Gardevoir called the meeting. “That should be good enough for today,” she said. “Remember, do what you can to keep news of the gems being stolen a secret. We’ll meet another time.” She started to walk around to the back of her desk before Marigold stopped her.

“Anemone, wait!” Mari shuffled closer to Anemone, prompting her to halt in her tracks.

“What is it?” asked the mind reader.

Marigold was silent for a moment so as to properly find the words. Anemone undoubtedly already knew what she was going to ask, but she had told Mari once that thoughts aren’t always the most reliable, so she won’t always listen to them. “Would now be the right time to ask about building the orphanage? I realize now would be awkward for you, but I promise it won’t cost us much.”

Anemone stroked her chin in thought, and Mari waited with bated breath for her reply. Eventually, her response was, “You know what? Sure. It’ll be a good distraction. I’ll write out the work order right now.”

The Primarina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her eyes lit up and she squealed in excitement. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You won’t regret this!”

There was a smile on Anemone’s face as she finished the paperwork. The second one today. Is that a new record?

And now the smile was gone. Drat! She heard me!

With that, the four pokemon dispersed. Marigold was very satisfied with the meeting. She got what she wanted! Next stop, vocal practice! She could already tell today was going to be a good day.

The resulting elevator ride was quieter than she would’ve expected. Neither ghost had anything to say. Aster, uncharacteristically, even seemed troubled. His signature zipper grin was replaced with a zipper frown. Calluna did have something to say about half way down, but it was nothing positive.

“Marigold, dear, there’s something that you should know.”

“What is it?” she pondered curiously.

“Anemone, well…I would advise you to be wary of her in the near future.”

Mari blinked. “What? Why?”

She was silent for a few seconds. “If worse comes to worst—which it might—she could potentially become very dangerous…”

Aster trembled in the corner. “Very, very dangerous…” he whispered.

Marigold raised an eyebrow. “I understand that you might be concerned about a war starting over this,” she said. “Trust me, I am too, but that isn’t a good enough reason to talk behind Anemone’s back like this.”

Calluna looked away pensively, her eyes dull and dim. “I’m not going to force you, Mari…”

The elevator stopped.

“…But you should know there is a lot more than a war at stake here.”

Aster didn’t wait to rush out of the elevator, leaving the matriarchs to themselves. Calluna and Marigold left the lift shortly after.

“What are you talking about, Calluna?”

The Mismagius hovered close, her smile gone. That rarely ever happens. “Let’s just say…that Anemone might become…irrational if everything goes poorly.”

Mari frowned. “I am not conspiring against Anemone like this.”

Calluna floated back. Her smile had returned, though it was weak. “Fine,” she retorted, ” be that way. It’s your funeral. I’ll see you around, Mari~”

The ghost was gone before Marigold had the chance to say anything else back. That was strange. What could Calluna possibly be talking about? Anemone becoming irrational? Why would that happen? Mari didn’t know what to think about Calluna and Anemone’s little spat. Regardless of what it is, it doesn’t involve Mari in any meaningful way. It was just…a petty squabble. That was it. It’ll all blow over in a week, she was sure. This Kingfisher issue would blow over too. Nothing to worry about.

Besides, she wasn’t going to let this ruin her day. She had vocal practice with the girls in a few hours. Marigold was excited to tell Prim how great she did last night. That Brionne has come a long way.

And the orphanage! Oh, she couldn’t wait to tell the patrons at Altaria’s all about it.

Yes indeed, today would be a good day. Nothing to worry about. Nope. Nothing at all.