RIFT — SEGMENT 03

Chapter 28.3

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Rift

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The streets were emptying out.

 

Even guards were more scarce at this time of night.

 

The city was quiet. No NAM recruitment…no shouting…just a peaceful city, Avery’s friends at his side.

 

“Hey Avery, we should totally get together again some night!” Lahnae said, not even acknowledging the Plusle’s apology. She was trying to lighten the mood, clear the air, focus on the good. “Like, maybe the Raffle House!!”

 

“Nuh-uh, no, you definitely should not be gambling your already meager funds.”

 

“Aw C’MON, KIP, I thought you were COOL NOW.”

 

“Not irresponsible!! Sheesh!”

 

“I hit JACKPOT last time so maybe it was totally responsible, so there!” Lahnae stuck her tongue out.

 

“Y-yeah…” Avery said, wiping at his face as he let out a little laugh. “The last time we went there we won…basically most of the funds I’ve been using for the past few days. We got lucky…! You just gotta use a budget, you know? Don’t go past it…!”

 

It was so much more…

 

Playful now.

 

Everything was safer with…

 

…family.

 

In short time, through the cold and damp air, they all arrived at the darkened guild hall across from the massive castle.

 

“Gah, is it past curfew?” Kipuuna hissed. “I can’t be slipping like this-“

 

Lahnae and Ganisus snickered.

 

Avery took a deep breath of the petrichor as the rain clouds receded, and let it out. It was fine. They were fine. It would be fine.

 

“I-I mean to be honest I’m not sure how much more energy I have for the rest of the evening. If we do anything else it’ll…probably have to be pretty low key.” Avery suggested.

 

“Nope nope nope, vetoing that right now.” Kipuuna said.

 

“Awwww!!”

 

“It’s waaaay past our bedtime! Think of what Nivanee would say if she saw her guild so rambunctious and out of control that they couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep!!”

 

“Maybe ‘oh wooow’!” Lahnae faked a Nivanee voice. “‘The guild is so cooool and rebellious nooow’!!”

 

“She does not sound like that!” Kipuuna huffed.

 

“…no duh.” Ganisus said. “Her voice is, like…sing songy…‘Like thiiiiis~♡’…”

 

Lahnae snorted, almost falling apart at the Shinx’s impression. Avery let out a quick guffaw, not expecting that from Ganisus at all.

 

“I…I have no idea how you’re good at that but congratulations-!” the Plusle laughed with Lahnae, the both of them nudging each other.

 

Kipuuna huffed, pushing at Lahnae and Ganisus’s backs.

 

“In! Iiiin! Go to bed, you!” He said, Lahnae shoving at him but ultimately conceding and returning. Opening the door, she beckoned Avery inside.

 

The Plusle put his hands up.

 

“Alright, hah…I’ll…”

 

Avery’s smile faded.

 

“Go to bed.”

 

‘Right. I’d have…to probably go with Vizon.’

 

Kipuuna perked up at the change in tone of Avery’s voice, looking over at the Plusel, staring at his fallen smile. Obliviously, Lahnae and Ganisus walked ahead down the hall.

 

“Say, everyone…” Kipuuna called out, making Lahnae pause. Ganisus paused half a second later.

 

“What’s up??”

 

“Here’s an idea. Poor Vizon might need some recovery time tonight. The guy really partied today, I’m hoping he’s not feeling sick tomorrow…!” Kipuuna said, glancing over at the Plusle. “Avery, why don’t you sleep with one of us tonight? Maybe-“

 

“YO??? SUPER BEST RIVAL SLEEP OVER????” Lahnae shouted, with Kipuuna wincing.

 

“Well, that settles who with.” He laughed. Ganisus just looked behind on the conversation, already tuned out.

 

Visibly, Avery relaxed at that.

 

“You don’t think Loshjno will mind?” He asked, looking towards Lahnae. He had to stifle a yawn as he said it, but he did end up rubbing at his eyes a little bit. “I don’t want to put him out…is there room?”

 

“There’s ALWAYS room for my Rival, dude!!” Lahnae cheered. Kipuuna let out a silent sigh of relief, seeing Avery relax as the Torchic bounced excitedly. “WE’RE TOTALLY GUNNA STAY UP ALL NIGHT AND EAT SNACKS AND-!”

 

She stopped herself, looking over at Ganisus who was already going down the stairs. Kipuuna walked ahead, patting Avery on the shoulder with a warm smile, leading everyone down to follow him.

 

“No, but, yeah! OH MY GOSH, AVERY, LET’S TELL SCARY STORIES OR SOMETHING!!” She pressed into the Plusle, eyes lighting up in pure excitement.

 

“…I do have a few,” Avery said with a little laugh, leaning a little closer to her. “But I don’t want to keep Loshjno up if he wants to sleep.”

 

He paused. Maybe…they could go into one of the spares? No, no, that’d be weird. Those were unoccupied for a reason, he was sure. It’d be weird to sleep in the bedrooms of ex-teams.

 

“Mannn…I GUESS.“

 

Lahnae blew a raspberry as they all descended the stairs, entering the silent guild hall. Of course, even if there was only dim candlelight and no sounds, the presence of the four made it so much less lonely.

 

Ahead, Avery could see Team Spade’s door slightly ajar. Lahnae bounded towards it, flinging it open as Kipuuna and Ganisus went to their own rooms.

 

“HEY LOSHJNO, WE-…” Lahnae stopped, peering inside. “Uhh…Loshjno? Where are you??”

 

She stepped inside, Kipuuna stopping short of entering his room and leaning over to look.

 

As Avery approached the door he looked in and saw Lahnae standing at the side of her bed, holding a piece of paper in hand. She squinted at it, reading close, walking back over to Avery, allowing him to see it as well:

 

Lahnae,

 

Staying with Vizon in his room tonight to make sure he recovers by tomorrow. He’s going to need it.

 

Have fun!

 

Loshjno

 

‘Have fun!’

 

That son of a gun. He knew. Loshjno saw this rooming situation coming the whole time. He hadn’t even known that Avery wouldn’t be staying with Vizon, let alone that Avery would be with Lahnae.

 

Or…maybe he did. That’s just Loshjno, Avery supposed with a bemused sigh.

 

“Guess we can tell those scary stories after all, huh?” Avery said with a little laugh as he walked into the room after Lahnae. “As long as we don’t keep our neighbours up.”

 

“Uhhh…!”

 

Lahnae leaned over, poking her head out the door.

 

“SORRY IF I SCREAM, NEIGHBOR!!” She shouted to Kipuuna as he walked into his bedroom.

 

“Auughh!! Goodnight, Lahnae!!” He shouted back, closing the door at once. Lahnae winced with a snicker, stepping back to close the door behind Avery.

 

“AAAALRIGHT!” She cheered, doing a little spin from the door. “Super best rivals operation sleepover is GO!“

 

She slung her satchel over towards the nightstand, the brand new bag tumbling with a few orbs and seeds and coins spilling out onto a little piece of blue cloth precisely laid out on the floor to catch every item. The Torchic ran to the bed, covered in red sheet and blue pillows, flopping onto it and bouncing.

 

The whole room had that look to it. Red candles…blue painted desk, red chair, blue and red rug. Lahnae and Loshjno really went in to their team’s aesthetic. The room had a honey scent, the candles were clearly specially scented.

 

“Maan, this is gunna be so much fun!” She cheered, wiggling excitedly. “Okay, okay, I’m way too jazzed to go to bed. What should we do first???”

 

“It’s a really nice room,” Avery said, looking around with an obviously impressed expression on his face. “Smells nice too.”

 

“Yeah!! The candles were Loshjno’s idea! He really likes the honey scent but I’m WAY more into, like…CINNAMON SPICE, so I’mma get THOSE next time! Which, funnily enough, are blue colored candles!!”

 

With a good bit more decorum than Lahnae had shown, the Plusle put his bag down on the floor beside the door, and hopped up onto the bed beside her.

 

“We could do the scary stories, unless you have another idea? I think…just being distracted would be good right now.”

 

She snickered, sitting up and scooting closer to Avery.

 

 

“Yeah! We can do scary stories…and card games…can’t really spar in our room since we’d PROBABLY WRECK THE PLACE, HEHEHHE.“

 

She tapped a wing to her chin, thinking hard on what to do.

 

“I got some dumb game ideas nobody else ever wants to try with me. Like hot mouth, where we eat a blast seed and TRY TO HOLD IT AS LONG AS WE CAN-!” Lahnae stopped herself. “Oh, wait…that might be too loud since it’d basically explode in our mouth. Uhhghhhh, okay, yes, QUIET STUFF. You got any ideas??? YOU PICK.“

 

“…Hmm…” Avery looked up. “…Well…they don’t have to be scary, but…maybe we could tell stories? You could talk about some of your favourite missions, maybe…and I could talk about…”

 

Avery stopped, frowning a bit.

 

“…Maybe I could try and remember bits of my old life. Or I could fill in some gaps from missions you weren’t there for.” He shrugged. “Or I could make something up. I feel like I’d be good at that, heh.”

 

Making up a story, curled up on a bed next to Lahnae. He could…probably do that.

 

“I could even go first, if you need time to think about something to talk about? I just want to hear…everything about you, hah.”

 

“OOOOO I can do BOTH, how about??” Lahnae said, snatching one of the scented candles from the wall, holding it under her chin. “My favorite mission…AND a scary story in one spooktacular tale of Team Spade!!”

 

She let out a fake-evil guffaw before smiling again.

 

“And, hey, I’d totes love to hear about your old life! Anything you can remember anyway! It must be wicked being a human, huh??” She asked, bouncing. “Maybe that can be kinda like a scary story! Stories about spoooooky monsters who aren’t actually all that scaaaaryyyyy!!!“

 

Avery laughed a bit, leaning back against the bed. It was pretty plush…And he gestured for her to go on.

 

“A spooktacular, huh? If I don’t hear your best Loshjno impression during this that’s going to deduct points, y’know.”

 

There was a little twinkle in Avery’s eye as he said that. The introduction of points, of competition…even if it was meaningless since the only judges were also competitors…he thought Lahnae would like that.

 

“Manage to scare me and you get twenty bonus points though~!” Avery said with a nod.

 

Lahnae’s eyes lit up the moment he said that word. Points.

 

“Alright, you GOT it!!!” Lahnae promised, pulling at the blanket she sat on to cover her beak mysteriously. “This is the story…of the spooky manor of Beachside Cliff…!”

 

A peal of thunder sounded outside. Lahnae jumped at how well timed it was, but smiled wider, her mood set.

 

“This story takes place a long, long time ago…last year. Some base or encampment or something way up north off the coast of Mist Island had put in a request months and months prior to the elites that the soldiers were refusing to patrol the full area during the waning hours of sunlight due to some rumors going around and the army captain was getting mad. Of course the elites blow it off ‘cuz it sounds like a stupid mission.”

 

Lahnae’s eyebrows raised.

 

“But then…Olistia herself comes into the guild, asking for a follow-up on the Beachside Cliff mission. Sarfallinus is confused at first but then sees the months old request. He’s already got Nivanee and Aquashock doing super important stuff…okay, well, Aquashock was just doing more Warehouse work as usual but…!”

 

She recovered from her tangent, covering her face more.

 

“ANYWAY, Loshjno and I were the only team available, but since it sounded like a stupid time-waster I guess that’s why he didn’t even hesitate to put us on it.”

 

She rolled her eyes indignantly. She couldn’t help but inject her own commentary.

 

“ANYWAY ANYWAY…Loshjno and I make a long trek up north to the Arcean coast. And man it is COLD up there. I think it was, like…mid-fall by this point and it gets FROSTY up there REALLY FAST. The grass was all short and covered in a layer of frost that twinkled even in the afternoon when we finally got up there. Like, Loshjno was bundled up, there were only a few clouds in the sky, sun bright as could be and it was STILL chilly, like-“

 

Lahnae paused. Another tangent. She chuckled, continuing again.

 

“ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY, so we find the naval base on the coast across from Mist Island where a bunch of army Poke’mon have been set up for years. We start asking questions to the officer in charge…and guess what he says…?”

 

Even if it was a scary story, Avery had a smile on his face that grew each time Lahnae got off topic.

 

‘Can’t even stay focused to tell a story, huh, Lahnae~?’ He thought to himself.

 

Avery still found himself hanging on her words. It was new information after all – the northern coast of Arcea was a place he’d never been to before. He remembered way back in the ruins, Loshjno was somewhere cold when he found him…maybe they’d gone through a portal to the Arcean Coast up north…?

 

Great, now he went on a tangent!

 

Instead of answering directly, Avery just gave Lahnae a little shrug, and gestured for her to go on. He leaned forwards on the bed, anticipating her continuation of the story.

 

“He says…”

 

Lahnae puffed out her chest, doing a deeper voice, as though impersonating an army official, an exaggerated bluster to her voice now.

 

“Hrymphfbbb!! The silly sods have gone and convinced themselves that this old shack up the cliff is haunted!! It was some old estate or another that’s not been touched in years but someone’s mentioned it as a ‘murder house’ and now it’s all anyone here talks of! Rubbish! Humbug! Grandiose!”

 

That impression got another laugh out of Avery.

 

“Okay, it’s not a Loshjno impression like I said but five points for the general impression, that’s good-” Avery said through little bouts of laughter. He let her keep going though. Even if it wasn’t that scary, the Plusle was still getting invested in the story. Even with her tangents and distractions, there was something…enrapturing about the way she told the tale.

 

Lahnae snickered to herself. It seemed as though she was having more fun just telling the story than trying to make it actually scary. But, she shook her head, refocusing.

 

“Right, but! Okay, so, Loshjno and I take the job. One of the soldiers agrees to take us up there but he’s shaking the entire time. We walk up the really remote dirt road where some village used to be. Like, you could see old wood posts and some abandoned buildings way out in the tall grass. You have to go this long way around because the cliff is so sheer by the water that you have to back out into the hills south of the beach to circle back up to the top of the cliff. Like the cliff is massive, seriously, I got to take you some time because it’s really pretty. Just like huge wall of rock towering hundreds and hundreds of feet overhead…”

 

Lahnae shook her head again, focusing. Focusing.

 

“So we pass all these old houses and eventually come up to the top of the cliff. There’s, like, old benches up here. It’s already kind of spooky because…you just imagine Poke’mon living here a long time ago and all this stuff is just left behind. I think the village was abandoned in late 5th Turn or something.” She shook her head. “Anyway, as usual Loshjno isn’t worried at all. He’s still doing that thing of not really taking missions seriously, and he’s already predicting the house isn’t actually haunted at all and it’s just a bunch of superstition. The army guy points at another path leading down the cliff face and into what he said was an inset in the cliff face where the house stood.”

 

Lahnae smirked, holding the candle closer to her chin, the flickering and wavering lights making spooky shadows bounce around her face.

 

“…and he refuses to go any further, oooOOooOO~!” She giggled. “Says ‘the ghosts will get him’. The soldiers say they see lights flickering…hear screaming…even once someone saw a tall shadowy figure with glowing eyes standing in front of the house, like it was staring down at the camp and there was such an evil aura coming from it~!”

 

Lahnae lowered the candle again.

 

“So we go down the path…it’s all rocky, the stone is cold, the air is salty and chilled…and we find that house isn’t a house. It’s a manor built against the cliffside, right in front of a sheer drop down hundreds of feet to the ocean below. Kind of a weird place for an estate but hey, I dunno, maybe they lived more DANGEROUSLY back in the old days!!!”

 

“Maybe they were really into diving,” Avery said with a half-hearted shrug. “What a soldier, though, huh? Shows how tough Team Spade is in comparison! You guys aren’t afraid of no ghosts. Or…superstition, according to Loshjno, heh.”

 

“YEAH! That’s why HIM AND I are guild members!! And YOU TOO!!” Lahnae said with a bounce. She coughed, immediately recovering from her outburst, trying to bring back the spooky atmosphere. “But as for the diving thing, I’d hope they’re a water type because man it was a sharp drop, Avery! Seriously, just wait until you see the Beachside cliff! It actually blots out the sun when you’re down by the beach-!”

 

She stopped herself again.

 

“Okay, ANYWAY, the manor. So it was a pretty big place. Three stories, back of it was right up against the rock wall. There was no grass here, just some dirt and gravel laid down. There wasn’t even really any fence or anything, I guess whoever built it didn’t wanna crack the rock to put down posts. But man it was quiet up there. Like, besides the slight ocean breeze there’s not a sound there. You can barely even hear the ocean since the waves are so far down below from where we were.”

 

Lahnae lifted a wing from behind the blanket, gesturing as she told her tale.

 

“Ok, so, as we walk up, Loshjno is telling me about different ghost folklore, like Echoes that copy your voice to lure others and shorgaths, which are like clay monsters that prowl open fields by day and freeze by night….and the soldiers probably thought they had a screecher living in the house, which he told me was like an angry spirit of a Poke’mon killed in cold blood. You know, even though there was no murders at this place, it was just financially unviable to keep maintained so the owner left it to rot.”

 

She shook her head.

 

“Yeah, I wasn’t scared, either!  Ghosts are STUPID. Well, ok, I did get a bad vibe from the place but c’mon, I’d been beaten up, shocked, slammed, knocked out, punched, stabbed and thrown like a ragdoll in just that month. What was a stupid lil wispy cloud of dead Poke’mon gunna do??”

 

She snickered, leaning in, her face getting serious.

 

“But then…we entered the place.”

 

A peal of lightening crackled outside the window. Lahnae smiled wide.

 

“Loshjno goes in first. Door creaks and everything. First thing we notice is how dark it is, so he strikes a blast seed as a light. Next thing we notice is that it’s actually kind warm inside the mansion. Which is, like, weird, because it’s practically frigid outside. So who’s making warmth inside the manor??”

 

She tilted her head, her eyes wandering up toward the ceiling. Avery could hear the rain picking up again, pitter-pattering on the window, the scent of honey strong.

 

“I see Loshjno freeze. Let me tell you, Avery, I think you can guess: When Loshjno is legitimately caught off guard you have a problem.” Lahnae’s eyes looked back down at Avery. “He’s immediately in investigation mode…which usually means I follow him while he goes in his mind palace or whatever and totally shuts me out while I wait to punch something.”

 

She snickered again.

 

“Anyway, yeah, it’s dark…it’s dusty. There’s still some furniture in here but what immediately unnerves me is that, like…you can tell the dust is uneven in a lot of areas. You know, like it’s clear the dust has been disturbed in very…very subtle ways.”

 

She leaned back.

 

“Loshjno’s immediately like ‘Oh-kay, I deduce this must be ghost poke’mon’. Probably not in those words, but that’s his immediate guess…”

 

She paused a moment, looking dead at Avery.

 

“Then…it happened…”

 

Avery was hooked. No quips this time. He was lying on his stomach now, head propped up by his hands.

 

Lahnae was silent…dead silent, staring at Avery. Slowly, one of her wings raised…and she ominously whispered.

 

“…a moan.”

 

She moaned, simulating the sound. Like a mournful, half-screaming moan of pain and anger.

 

“…muffled. Distant. Like it was coming from upstairs. I saw Loshjno freeze. Heck, I froze. Something scraped on the floor upstairs. Like a chair or bed. Loshjno tells me to head back out and cover the windows and prop open the doors. I grab one of the chairs and throw it against the doors, swinging them open and holding them. And you could feel them trying to close, some invisible force pulling on them that I thankfully overpowered.”

 

She stared up at the ceiling, the candle flickering on her face.

 

“I stand outside, standing at the ready. I really don’t wanna use my fire on a rickety old wood house while Loshjno is still inside so if anything comes out the windows I plan on kicking it. But man…that moan chilled me. It still chills me thinking about it now…”

 

She shuddered.

 

“So from outside I watch through the open door as Loshjno moves to the east side of the house, I guess trying to find the stairs. I could see his the light shining through the dirty windows of the manor so I could at least tell what room he was in. But I don’t see anything else for a while…nor hear anything.”

 

She clicked her tongue, quiet for a while to emphasize the wait.

 

“Soon, I hear Loshjno call for me, saying ‘Lahnae it’s all clear, come back in’. So I rush back in, trying to listen for any more shuffling. I look over to the west side, into another room, and Loshjno is standing there, kind of intensely looking at something. So I walk over to him and notice he doesn’t have his blast seed, he tells me ‘something blew it out, there’s definitely something here’. I ask him if it’s a ghost and…he only shrugs, looking back towards another room. You can see the ground floor makes, like…a loop, right? So this room goes into the kitchen at the back of the manor and it’s SUPER dark because there’s, like…zero windows.”

 

She paused again, thinking hard.

 

“So he asks me to go in the kitchen with a small fire stream to light the place. I’m like, ‘okay, cool’ and go in. The place is nasty. There’s black sludge and goop coming out of the cabinets, dust everywhere, decades of neglect and rot I could practically gag. Not to mention, those bad vibes? They’re tenfold in here, probably because it’s pitch black…”

 

Lahnae’s voice stopped…the candle went out, plunging them both in darkness. A roll of thunder sounded outside. She continued, and Avery could only make out the vague outline of her shape.

 

“…Loshjno’s not behind me anymore. He didn’t come in the kitchen with me.”

 

She’s silent. She was going unnervingly slow.

 

“…I’m alone in there. Scared. I just stand there, confused for a long time…then jump…I hear another shuffle upstairs. A scrape. A creak…I want to run but…which way?? It felt like something was coming for me…”

 

She was so still in the dark.

 

“I could feel it standing behind me. I couldn’t see it. I just knew it was standing behind me. Staring. Tall, eyes wide. I couldn’t see one bit of it in the dark, but I knew it was there. It was staring at me. Just standing. Watching.”

 

She was silent.

 

“The shuffling stopped. The manor was silent. It just…stood. I didn’t want to make a sound. Make a move. It had come for me.”

 

Avery didn’t move a muscle.

 

His fists gripped the sheets of the bed.

 

…Well…that…and his eyes, wide as dinnerplates.

 

Lahnae…Avery could see her cock her head to the side in the dark.

 

A moan. A mournful, pained, angry moan. Shuddering. Terrifying.

 

“Right.

 

Next.

 

To.

 

Me.”

 

She cocked her head to the other side…the other. Twitching in the silent dark. Avery couldn’t see her face.

 

She was…

 

just silent

 

silently twitching unnaturally. Avery was scared she would scream or jump at him.

 

But she didn’t.

 

Was…was it even Lahnae? What was happening to her?

 

She stopped…her twitching ceased…she was frozen…unnaturally frozen.

 

And she puffed an ember, the candle re-lighting.

 

As soon as the light came on, Avery saw her head cocked to the side, tongue rolled out and a goofy ghoul expression on her face, one that immediately broke with a cracked grin the moment she saw Avery’s terrified expression.

 

“Gotcha~”

 

For a few seconds Avery stared in an almost paralyzed horror after Lahnae’s story- even after she turned the light back on-

 

And then he buried his face into the sheets with his own groan.

 

“Ghhhhh dang it you totally did-” Avery conceded.

 

He mockingly pounded the sheets.

 

“But!” Avery sat up, lifting his chin. “You didn’t do a full-on Loshjno impression. So…that’s…only twenty five bonus points. Five for the general, twenty for…”

 

He puffed, crossing his arms.

 

“…for scaaaaaring meeee…” He laughed.

 

“Whaaat, what about the whole ‘I deduce it’s a ghost’ bit! I toootally did Loshjno!” Lahnae snickered, not really minding one way or the other.

 

“But seriously how much of that was true?? How did it end?” Avery demanded, leaning forward again. “You can’t leave me on the hook like that, scare or no scare!”

 

Lahnae leaned back, eyes rolling up to the ceiling.

 

“Okay, well, the ending kind of ruins the whole thing but if you gotta know, that’s the moment Loshjno found me. With lit blast seed still in hand. He told me he had been upstairs when, apparently, I approached him while he was in the bedroom telling him that I saw something up on the third floor, but I didn’t come with him when he went up…and he apparently got terrified by the exact same thing I did. He just went in the dark storage room up there and was paralyzed by some vague perception of some entity until the feeling vanished.”

 

Lahnae smirked.

 

“So…what’s up with that, huh? Both he and I were talked to by some weird fake version of each other…well, wouldn’t you know it? We immediately decide to ditch the house and run out the manor and find out something very interesting! A group consisting of a Krookodile, a Mandibuzz and…drumroll, please…a Zoroark ran south away from the Beachside cliff, according to one of the scared guardsmen that refused to lift a finger. He was convinced they were some wayward spirits…Loshjno, humiliated, said…ahem…”

 

Lahnae cleared her throat and deepened her voice for a Loshjno impression again.

 

“‘That was not ghost, my good man, it was our culprits, possibly spies, and I’m sorry to say that you just let them stroll by’. But, MYSTERY SOLVED. It wasn’t a ghost, it was a Zoroark illusion making the house go all weird…as well as a Zoroark impersonating Loshjno and I.”

 

She blew a raspberry, shaking her head.

 

“Maaan, it’s so lame remember it. Some dumb outlaw pretending to be Loshjno and I DIDN’T EVEN CATCH IT. UGH. Stupid!!” Lahnae shook her head with a huff.

 

“Aww, that’s cool though!” Avery said with a little laugh. “Plus, since you did a little longer one, I’ll give you the ten extra points.”

 

He gave her a wink.

 

“That’s one of the things that…I honestly do want to do more.” Avery said. “It’s probably my favourite part of being part of the guild – seeing weird things, going weird places, seeing the world. It’s like…”

 

The Plusle sighed, flopping back on the bed.

 

“…I dunno. I don’t remember a lot at all about who I was before all this. But…I’m pretty sure I never went anywhere. I think that was normal. As far as I can figure, me and my friends just…stayed in and around the same town. Maybe went camping every so often, but that was only ever a couple of hours out at the most. So…going to Windscorch, Qeasé, Dove Fo Uddjo, the Delta…I really feel like I’m seeing the world. And it’s a new one. It’s scary sometimes, sure…scary a lot of the time, actually. But it’s still really cool when I think about it like that. I’d just…”

 

It was a strange feeling, how the vague feelings of memories could be recalled, like whatever was locking his memories waxed and waned.

 

Trailing off for a moment, Avery looked out the window, towards the canal.

 

“…Today, after my fight with Vizon, I just…walked. Just…I was feeling all empty and upset with myself and the city and everything so I just…I wanted to get away. So I just…picked a direction and walked.” He gave Lahnae a glance. “Did you know there’s like…other villages up near Windscorch? And you can see the entirety of Arceliaze up there. Part of Breezy Plain too. Never knew how big the plains were until I was up there. I think…I just like the idea of being able to explore. Find new things. You know?”

 

Lahnae listned, flopping back on the bed with him, staring up at the ceiling.

 

“Aw, dude…” she sighed when he mentioned how empty he felt. She looked thoughtful for a moment, wings behind her head.

 

Then, she turned her head to look at Avery.

 

“Yeah…you know I kinda do know.” She said. “I mean, I got into the guild to help people, save others, be a hero and all that STUFF but…man, seeing all the different places in Arcea is so cool! The high mountains, the vast plains, I’d never have seen any of this stuff if I went into bakery like my Mom wanted me to.”

 

She sighed, staring back up at the ceiling.

 

“Though I admit…sometimes it sucks only seeing these places on missions. Off-duty I’m basically just rooted here in Arceliaze. All the small villages, the little vista, all of ’em are RUSHING BY as Loshjno and me go to our next mission AND LIKE…I’m not SHRIKING WORK. People NEED US and I won’t REST until they’re safe, but…”

 

She groaned, folding her wings over her chest.

 

“It’d be nice just stopping somewhere and being somewhere different.” She said, frowning. “I’m getting sick of Arceliaze. Wish I could take missions while staying in another town or village or something, just for a change, Mannnn…”

 

Avery stared up at the ceiling, listening to her.

 

Lahnae? A baker? He couldn’t imagine it. Even if she got to work with someone like Banitus…well.

 

“That reminds me, next time I go out with Kellixae…you should come. There’s a place over in that district I think you’d really like.”

 

Lahnae perked up, looking back at Avery with an excited look.

 

“A place? Over in the Illaminian District? YOOO That sounds sick!” She said, brightening up. “I’d love to come with you, dude!”

 

The both of them laughed with a nod, the promise made.

 

Avery nestled on the soft bed, on his back, still staring at the ceiling.

 

“But I get what you mean about going places. Qeasé, Windscorch Mountain, all of them feel so…transient, you know? Like…we’re there to do a thing and then when we’re done we’re done. The only place that didn’t feel that way was Dove Fo Uddjo, and that’s because we had to stay overnight. And…” Avery blew air through his lips. “That was its own very necessary disaster.”

 

Lahnae huffed at that.

 

“‘Transient’?? What the heck does that word mean…?” The Torchic shook her head, sitting up with Avery. “Maybe sometime you and I should like…go somewhere. Like, screw it, LET’S JUST GET ON A CARRIAGE TO SOULJRAAN ONE OF THESE NIGHTS. Go eat there or something instead of Arceliaze. Just for the fun of it…! I mean, if you don’t mind getting home kind of super late…”

 

Avery’s ears perked up. The idea awoke a feeling in his heart, an old passion being rekindled. It sounded like something he’d have loved as a human…because it made him so happy right that moment.

 

“Yeah…yeah, that sounds like fun!” Avery said merrily, making Lahnae brighten up even more in return. “Next time we’ve got a night free…!”

 

“YEAH! YEAH YEAH YEAH!!” Lahnae cheered loudly, flapping her wings merrily. She shut her mouth quickly, however, when a loud knocking came from the wall facing Kipuuna’s room. “…oops…”

 

Avery snickered and scooted closer.

 

“…But…! You told your story…I’ve gotta have an opportunity to make up for some points, right?…If you want, anyway…!”

 

Lahnae smiled excited.

 

“Yo, YES. I am SO DOWN FOR STORY TIME.” She said, quieter this time, flopping on her chest and crossing her ankles, looking up at Avery. “Hit me with your BEST SHOT, AVERY.“

 

“Okay, okay!” Avery said, hyping himself up. “So…”

 

He took a breath and began to tell the story to his enraptured audience. He was going to need to improv this story, going off what little he knew of his human life, filling in the blanks where he could.

 

“This is something I haven’t really told a lot of other people. For…a good few reasons. I think it’d worry Vizon if he knew. But if we’re going for scary stories, it’s what I’ve got.”

 

Pause for effect.

 

“I don’t remember a lot from my old life. I had a couple of friends, and a Vulpix named Ember. She’s the only one I can really remember anything about. My two friends? Their faces are completely blank. I only remember their names because Dean Malzena told me. Luke and Addison. And like I said, I feel like we used to go camping a lot.”

 

Lahnae nodded.

 

“But this is one of the only things I really remember. And…it’s kind of funny. It…”

 

Avery paused a moment, and got up off the bed. It felt easier to talk if he paced. Lahnae popped up as he jumped off the bed, the Torchic leeeaaning over to look at the Plusle intently while grabbing the blankets. While before she used it to spookily hide her face now she held it bunched up under her chin like she was bracing herself.

 

Avery looked out the window – lightning flashed, illuminating the front of his face to Lahnae for a few moments.

 

“…Humans haven’t been here for eons, Lahnae. But from what I’ve heard…and what I know…it makes me wonder how much you guys do know about us. All because of the one camping trip that I can’t forget.”

 

“Yeah…? How much we know about you?” Lahnae asked. “I don’t go camping much unless it’s for guild stuff…you and your friends…Luke and Addison? You guys did it for fun? Cool…”

 

She sounded genuinely awed to be hearing about humans.

 

Avery smiled a little at that…but continued his story.

 

“So we had everything ready. A spot picked out. Cliffside forest, an hour out of town. The road rides by the cliff for a good twenty minutes, you get an entire view of the valley we lived in when you looked. There were beasties in the forest if you weren’t careful but this wasn’t our first rodeo, we knew the ropes by now. We had Ember to keep us safe if it came down to it, and if all else fails we could find a big stick to whack something over the head with,” Avery said, swinging his arms down for effect. “…Humans didn’t have electric powers or anything. No psychic, no fiery fists, no nothing. We just kind of operated off of tools and stuff we made. It’s…kind of funny how defenseless we are when you think about it.”

 

Lahnae didn’t crack wise at that. She only nodded in understanding, soaking in every word. It was hardly surprising, considering she was listening to what was essentially a mythical beast talk about his mythical beast culture.

 

“But we had everything packed. Tent, sleeping bags, food for the journey there and back, campfire starters, and a hatchet, for getting wood and kindling. As we were going up there, though, Addy notices that there’s like…this other trail, that branches off to the left, into the forest. We’ve been up and down the road a few times, and this thing hasn’t been there before. But hey, maybe the park rangers made a new hiking path or something. It looks worn, but Luke and I had already passed it by so Addison just kind of dropped it and we kept going. We get to the spot, set up camp…the view’s gorgeous. There’s even a creek nearby. Some…I guess Bibarel had made a dam upstream, so it was shallower than normal, but god that water sparkled in the sunset. It looked like it was on fire.”

 

“Wow…so, wait…you still have Poke’mon where you come from?” Lahnae asked. Avery blinked at that question, trying to wrack his brain.

 

“I mean…I guess there was.” He said, scratching his chin. “…I remember Ember and she was a Vulpix I’m pretty sure. So that probably means there were others, too. But they aren’t…sapient?”

 

Lahnae mouthed the word ‘sapient’ to herself, clearly not understanding.

 

“…that means the Poke’mon didn’t talk. At least…they never talked to humans.”

 

“You remember all that?”

 

Avery was silent. No, he didn’t remember that. It was all just…an assumption. But what else would be there besides Poke’mon? Whenever he tried to picture the scene he only ever saw Poke’mon. A vulpix, Bibarel, Swellows in the trees…that’s just what made sense, right?

 

He shook the thought from his head.

 

“Hey, I haven’t even gotten into the story yet!” Avery said with a sly smirk.

 

Lahnae nodded, hunkering back down to get cozy with her blankets. With his audience’s attention returned, the Plusle continued his tale. Avery had moved to the window now, looking out at the rain.

 

“So…Ember and I went looking for twigs and leaves for making the kindling for the fire while Luke and Addy set up the tent and stuff. Addy and I were going to sleep under the stars, but Luke’s kind of fussy about bugs crawling over him while he sleeps so he went for the tent. And Ember and I could hear ’em as they were talking and stuff…tents were really hard to set up, after all. But Ember and I, we were finding these sticks all over the place. Real easy like. ‘I’m a natural at this,’ I say to myself, looking at Ember with her bundle of them in her own mouth, but she just…kind of growls a bit. Like I said, back then I couldn’t understand her, not like I can you. So I just thought she didn’t like the busywork and began to head back.”

 

Lahnae nodded again, having fully accepted the idea of Poke’mon that just growled and barked.

 

“And then I noticed something about the sticks we’d gotten.”

 

Avery turned back to face Lahnae.

 

“It wasn’t all of them. But a good third of them were stripped clean of bark. Smooth as anything.”

 

“What the heck, random sticks in the forest had their bark stripped? That sounds kinda weird…”

 

“Well, sure, it seems that way. But I thought ‘well, that makes sense. There’s a Bibarel dam upstream. They chew on sticks all the time to bend them into the right shape. I think nothing of it and start to bring them back, picking up a few more along the way. But Ember’s still bothered. She’s not saying anything anymore, but I can tell she’s stressed. Fur’s standing on end, ears pricked backwards to listen behind us. That sort of thing.

 

“And then she just, drops them. Click-clack-clatter, she drops the sticks, whirls around and just starts BARKING behind us at the top of her lungs. I have to drop mine and comfort her, kneeling down to pick her up and pet her the way she likes. She’s freaked out. And that’s…that’s where I started to get a little weirded, Ember’s not like that. She’s prissy, sure, but I’ve never seen her like that before. It felt angry, but… There was something below it. I picked up my sticks and headed back to camp, figuring I’d retrace my steps and get Ember’s later on my own. Didn’t want to bring her back there with her all frazzled.

 

“Luke’s got the tent set up, I tell them about the dam, and ask if they can watch Ember for a sec while I get the rest of the sticks. ‘She can help with the fire!’ Addy says, I agree, and I go back for the other set.

 

“I get back there.”

 

Avery leaned forward.

 

“Every single stick is stripped clean. Like meat off a bone.”

 

Lahnae’s brow furrowed, a little shudder running over her body.

 

“Wait, it went from some…to all…?” She asked, squinting, pulling the blanket up tighter under her chin and around her body. “In the short time you went up to carry Ember to camp and came back???”

 

She paused a moment.

 

“Man…Avery carrying a Vulpix. It’s hard enough imagining that. Humans must be a lot taller than Plusles, huh…?”

 

She clammed up, trying to not let her meandering tangents interrupt.

 

“Oh, yeah,” Avery said with a chuckle. “I was taller than Olistia, if you can believe that. Taller than Sarfallinus. Taller than Team Spade and Team Aquashock if y’all stood on each other’s shoulders!”

 

The Plusle coughed. He was getting distracted, too.

 

“But they were clean. I was gone for maybe four minutes, tops. And more than that, as I started to pick them up again, they were wet, too. Not like creek wet. Sticky. Frothy. Dribbly. I didn’t think too much of it though. I couldn’t afford to. Because if I thought about it, I’d get myself freaked out. The more I thought about it, the more I’d descend down a spiral and psyche myself out, I told myself, so I just wouldn’t think about it. Don’t think about how you can feel the bubbles popping against your arm. How you can feel the stuff dripping through your fingers. Thick. Like syrup.“

 

His voice lowered in volume, forcing Lahnae to lean closer to listen.

 

“Don’t think about the noises you hear. Crrk. Crrk. Like wood being broken. Like bark being stripped. Away from the creek. Just don’t think about it…and it won’t bother you. Right?”

 

“Uhhhhh…”

 

Lahnae, for once…was nearly speechless. She wrapped the blankets around herself tighter, a frown on her face, brow furrowed, feathers bristled, eyes wide, looking as though she were about to spring into a fight for her life any second now.

 

“…right. I guess.”

 

She shuddered. He had her.

 

“…So I get back to camp. Use a towel to dry the stuff off. Weird creek water, right? You know how scummy stagnant water can get! Grossss, pond scum on my shirt, haha…”

 

Avery laughed it off. As if they were there. As if he was trying not to think about it. Pond scum doesn’t form in a creek. She knew it. He knew it.

 

“We make a fire. We have dinner. And you know what? I forget about it. I forget about the noises. The bark.”

 

Crack. The lightning flared.

 

“But Ember doesn’t. Addy’s asleep, curled up in her bag by the twinkling remnants of our campfire. I already feel the sleep starting to pull my eyes shut. But Ember’s sat on my chest. Staring into the forest. And she just…starts a growl. A low one. Puffs out some fire out of her nose, tails flaring up in front of my face. I have to move my neck so I can see where she’s looking, telling her to quiet down…

 

“It’s like she’s blocking my view. But I hear it. Crrk. Crrk. Bark, stripped off of wood. But there’s another sound with it. A wet sound. Swallowing. Long, strained, painful swallowing. Over and over. Crrk. Glp. Crrk. Glrk.

 

“…This is the last thing I remember. My last night I remember in the world of humans, the last sight I saw…was clothed in shadow. Ember’s flame flickered across it, dancing over long, spindly limbs that bent at awkward angles like the sticks we’d been collecting. A tall, skinny thing that seemed contorted, somewhere between a crawl and a stoop. But the light never hit it directly. It was always obscured. Except for one place.”

 

Unnaturally, Avery’s mouth began to spread to a smile. A grin. A grimace that seemed to split his head sideways.

 

“I could see two rows of thirty square teeth shimmering in the firelight.”

 

“NOOOO!!!!!”

 

Lahnae slammed her head down into the bed, pulling the blankets over her body, all at once turning into a quaking lump of terrified bedsheets.

 

She sure didn’t seem like a girl that just yesterday defeated an ancient god. Not at this moment.

 

Slowly, her beak gently poked out of the sheets. Avery couldn’t see her eyes at all.

 

“Is…is that true? Is that seriously…the last thing you remember??? Oh Arceus is this some kind of messed up REINCARNATION thing???” She squealed, vanishing under the covers again, her voice muffled under the thick sheets. “That’s MESSED UP, YO!!”

 

Avery laughed a bit, the chilling grin turning into a more genuine smile to diffuse the tension as he flopped back onto the bed.

 

“Shhhh shh shh-” Avery hushed while stifling his own giggles, sidling up next to her. “I might’ve made up a lot of the…finer points. But if it means anything, I don’t think I died that night. There’s other bits and pieces of us together that come to me occasionally, and…I’m at least pretty sure some of those happened after that. But we didn’t go camping up there again.”

 

Avery folded his hands behind his head. He didn’t both to say most of it was made up. He rather enjoyed being able to make up stories like this, especially for entertainment.

 

It wasn’t like he was going back any time soon.

 

“…Just makes me wonder, heh. Apparently, you ask an Arcean what a human is, they say they’re some warmongering creatures, horrible beasts capable of ripping apart cities. But you ask an Illaminian…And they’ll speak of…what was it she said…” Avery squinted his eyes shut. “…A writhing amalgamation of flesh and interweaving limbs…mouths, inside and outside…sounds a lot like what I saw that night.”

 

He flashed another cheeky grin to the frightened Torchic.

 

“Makes me wonder if humans like Luke and Addy and I were the only kinds of ‘humans’ out there.”

 

Lahnae poked her head out of the mound of blankets, pressing up against Avery at once.

 

“Man that’s freaky!! Here I thought ‘oh cool I have a human friend and he’s NOT a monster’ but uh oh! Now those monsters do exist and they’re monsters to the monsters!!!”

 

She smiled, sitting up and punching Avery’s arm softly with her wing and laughing.

 

“But MAN you tell a great story…! Can’t believe that’s real…Arceus I hope EMBER is okay, like, geez…”

 

She shook her head, huffing out a deep sigh. Lahnae turned her head to look at Avery, another smile…a warmer look crossing her face.

 

“Today’s been pretty great…well, obviously mostly just tonight, am I right? Aha, but!! Point is I really liked going on that mission with you.” Lahnae said, beaming. “And I really dug getting to hang out with you again, Rival.”

 

She paused a moment, staring at Avery for a while.

 

“Honestly? Kinda really wanna hang out with you more…you know? This is fun!”

 

Avery looked back at her.

 

‘Deep breath…let it out.’

 

“…It was pretty fun,” Avery said, settling further into the bed. “The tail end of it. I got to hear some of your stories, you got to hear one of mine…it’s a little funny. Telling you that just now kind of…made the memory clearer. Like, even if I made a bunch of it up…it’s as if I can imagine it more clearly. Not like a distinct sequence of events, more like…a vivid image. Maybe I’ll be able to remember some more things…if you keep wanting to hear about them. Hopefully they won’t always be as scary as that, though…!”

 

Further into the down of the bed he sank, leaning up against it. It was warm. Really pleasantly warm. Avery’s eyes were closed…but he felt comfortable.

 

“…You know what would be good…?” He said, a bit of a sleepy drawl in his voice. “…If we just…did it. That carriage thing. Went off to another city for a night. Just because.”

 

Lahnae’s eyes sparkled, a wide smile across her beak.

 

“Yeah…yeah yeah yeah! We can totally just…take off one night and…I dunno, go camping or something out in Rocky Hills and tell more stories about humans and missions and….”

 

Lahnae huffed, her smile widening.

 

“Screw it, we can be late for rollcall. It’s not like my rank can go any lower! Hehe!” Lahnae’s cocky, mischievous smile radiated a fun energy. “Hanging out with you is way more important!”

 

She paused a second, looking at him with a smile. She lifted her wings, slowly, almost exploratorily…feeling Avery lean against her…she brushed her wings over his body…and softly hugged him.

 

The hug was firm. It felt…different from her other hugs. It wasn’t for a friend. Or a rival or a confidant. There was something…else in that warm, meaningful hug as she gently tucked Avery under her chin.

 

 

And she said…nothing. She was just quiet as she hugged him.

 

Avery was already half asleep. He could feel it coming. He nestled into the bed a little further, burying his face halfway into her warm downy chestfluff.

 

“…Nnighht, L’hnae…” He mumbled sleepily.

 

She was quiet. Avery could hear her…chuckle, lying down with him in her arms. She was unyielding in her grasp, like nothing could ever take him from that hug as he buried in her warm feathers, listening to her heartbeat. It was beating at a quickened pace. Her wing stroked down his head.

 

She was quiet…almost as though contemplating if she actually could…or should say the words.

 

But just like that first night with her, when he took a leap of faith with her at the raffle house…she took one for him right back.

 

“I love you…Avery.”

 

Lahnae buried her beak into Avery’s headfluff, snuggling him securely on the bed.

 

Avery hugged her closer to him, just as she was hugging him closer to her. She was so warm.

 

“…Love you too…” he softly whispered.

 

Even as he felt sleep take him…Avery felt warm. So warm…wrapped in her wings…it was easy to let the world slip away. The darkness clouded his mind again, unconsciousness taking over again.

 

Darker…darker…

 

Avery knew what was coming. As his mind returned from its hazy state into its half-awake state…he knew what he was being faced with.

 

But…

 

…something felt different.

 

…he still felt warm.

 

[[ RETREIVAL FAILURE]]

 

Even as the darkness overtook him, Avery still felt cozy and warm.

 

…It was nice. It was nice to just…sleep. He barely heard the voice. He barely heard the command, the…whatever that was.

 

It was nice.

 

And he had…a nice night’s sleep.

 

Chapter 28.3

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Rift

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