Chương 48: Chapter 42

Now that Misdreavus is done with whatever had Weaver carrying them behind her like that, something that's had them thinking for the last few hours, they've been talkative. Or as much as they can be, at least. Although I think Weaver might have pushed them a small bit. I had been hoping that Misdreavus and I could continue our progress from yesterday. Ironically enough, Weaver was preventing that from happening at first since Misdreavus was socializing with her and letting her drag them along instead.

Apart from that, however, today has been– normal. Today has been normal. On the better side, certainly, but perfectly average. A few quests that didn't take long, some questions from the significantly more polite second and third-wave tourists, no missions, and no word from the Union about the events from yesterday. I've noticed more avian pokemon around, murkrow especially, but that's no surprise after a forest fire."

Misdreavus," The ghost-type says, reappearing as they rotate before falling behind to settle next to Weaver again. Nothing notable from the sky right now, it seems. Although Dodrio's right head is still watching Misdreavus for some reason. I'm not sure what was said, but Misdreavus surprised them with something. I think that makes the most pressing issue at the moment lunch, since it's a bit after one-thirty.

"Are any of you hungry?" I ask the many pokemon around me at the moment. Dodrio's heads all nod. I give her an acknowledging pat as I turn in the saddle to look at my two partners. Weaver is nodding, although the way she's moving and flexing tells me she'd rather find something for herself. And Misdreavus barely thinks about it before shrugging, their entire mane undulating with the motion." Only if something catches your interest?" I ask. The floating pokemon bobs in response.

So, I turn my thoughts to food nearby. Although if it's just me, Dodrio, and possibly Misdreavus, I know three places nearby that have good, fast lunch. It isn't as if Vientown is short on places to get food. Comes with being a tourist destination. Dodrio are herbivores, or if you want to be more accurate, primarily herbivorous while being opportunistic carnivores. Many larger vertebrates are. Although the important thing here is that they generally aren't too picky.

Even Weaver, while being an obligate carnivore, can supplement with many things that aren't too high in simple sugars. Misdreavus is still a bit of a mystery. They don't get anything but the experience out of eating regular food. We'll need to decide where to go fairly soon.

"Salads, sandwiches, or a lunch cafe?" I muse aloud. Pastries aren't the best to have every day, but I know Misdreavus likes them." Wea," Weaver says, rocking a hand back and forth." Go hunt if you want," I tell her, shifting in the saddle to face forward again. The weavile doesn't need any more encouragement, hopping down and vanishing in a blink." Misdreavus? Dodrio?" I query.

"One, two, or three?" Dodrio talks to herselves for a second before two of her heads go down slightly. Not really a surprise. I give a look over my shoulder to see Misdreavus looking conflicted for an instant before shrugging. Mmm. I suppose we're decided then, but…

"I can make a second stop if you want," I tell the hovering pokemon. Misdreavus seems to think about that for a second before rotating, no longer conflicted.

"Okay," I accept.

"Just let me know if you want anything." Our meal chosen, I direct Dodrio two streets over. It doesn't take long to get there. Once we arrive, I dismount– A long, high whine presses out of my radio. Emergency broadcast." Clear all operations lines," Barry, who is supposed to have today off, says.

"Fallback to peering." I wait for more, standing, ready to remount and go where directed. Some of the people around who heard the broadcast notification look nervous, but I'm just as in the dark at the moment. Nothing seems to be forthcoming from the operators, however. Clearing everything means they're expecting to be busy in a moment. Busy enough to put us on the open channel. Karlos is fielded, so he should be saying something soon. Sure enough, "Ranger Monte to all receiving, no confirm.

Keep chatter to a minimum, maintain routes, and use best judgment. Acknowledge in order. Confirm?" Mmm, something's going on, and he wants us to maintain radio standards. My badge number is first on that list.

"Confirmed," I reply, Emil and Maya following soon after. As I get back to feeding myself and Dodrio, the wind shifts for a moment before a window-rattling crack, and an instant later, another sound from all around. Looking up, I can just make out something already well out over the forest. Heading North. That had to be Ranger Holt. The simple fact that she was given clearance to go sonic leaves me with a pit in my stomach. I can't even ask why until radio is cleared for general use again.

I don't feel much like eating now. Still, Dodrio deserves food, at least. ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Coordinating even a small group of rangers requires logistical staff. Early on, when we only had around twenty staff in total, Lamont, Shinbara, and I discovered the best ratio to be one radio operator for every four rangers. It simplified the transfer of information. Rangers relay to the operator, and the operator relays as needed. And it's still a very functional system today.

Although currently, we're closer to one active operator for every six rangers. Five-point-six, according to recent review. It isn't ideal, doubly so as none of them are getting days off, and many are working extended shifts. However, Lamont has made certain we're nothing if not discerning in who we graduate into the union, and who simply get their degrees. An excellence being put on display now, as our operations staff scramble to figure out what is going on in the largest population center in Almia.

From listening in, the same thing that happened at Lamont's school. The same thing that nearly happened in Vien Forest. Someone is weaponizing a technology that perhaps two humans in the world understand. I take my leave of operations. If anything happens that requires my immediate attention, I'll be notified. Part of me, as always, wants to head back into the field and help to handle the crisis in person. Of course, not only am I the head chair of the union, but I'm in my seventies.

And despite how well I've aged, thanks in no small part to Riley's teachings, I'm not fit to do fieldwork anymore. It is the unenviable position I find myself in all too often that the only thing to do is wait and trust in my organization. Unfortunately for the current emergency, a not insignificant portion of said organization's local staff had been allocated to Vien Forest late yesterday. Three of our Union rank rangers were given clearance for super-sonic flight, including one from Vientown.

Which means we'll have government representatives asking questions before the end of the day. I find myself nearing Shin's workshop, a habit worn in over decades of handling our organization. I imagine if Lamont worked here, I'd be meeting with him, too. There's only one other person in the room at the moment, the rest of the engineers likely taking lunch.

"Shin," I greet, seeing him still working on his latest obsession. The man looks up from where he has Riley powering the stripped-down remains of what he's dubbed a 'giga remote deployed resonant empathy tower.' A mouthful, but significantly better than his first attempt of 'negative empathy blasting column.'" Sasako?" He blinks, glancing at my partner before gesturing for the lucario to stop supplying aura.

"What brings you to my mad science lab today?"" Pueltown seems to have several of these machines in it," I say, not making any attempt to sugarcoat it.

"Please tell me you have anything new." My eldest friend's face falls.

"I think so?" He nods.

"Although I don't know how much help it will be on its own. Riley, what did you write again?" He queries my partner, eyes moving to scan one of the ever-cluttered workbenches." Lucar lu rio," She supplies." Static?" I ask, looking between her and Shin.

"As in, no control whatsoever?"" As far as we can tell, now we've been testing," Shinbara confirms, refocusing.

"No modulation to control output power, no filtering to remove minor emotions. What comes out is based entirely on the power source and maximum emitter load."" No easier way to stop it, though," I say, tiredly. Shin pauses.

"Well, yes and no. A pokemon that can control aura would have an easy time of it," he informs me, inclining his head at Riley.

"As would the same process that destroyed this unit's source. You could also flood the exhaust ports, which would lower the output enough that most any pokemon could break the device."" And what about protecting a pokemon long enough to do that?" I ask.

"Almost every ranger whose partners have been exposed has had to get them out of range." Shin frowns at that, stroking his mustache.

"I… Don't know if there is a reliable way," He admits.

"An energy shell could work, but those are intensive on the pokemon and require constant focus."" Lu rio," Riley says. Which I've no doubt is true, but– "Car, rio'lu," She finishes. And that's the problem with her statement. She, and likely any elder lucario, could provide shielding from the effect. While guiding their ranger to the source, even. But lucario are famously selective and insular, very rarely entering human territory. Even in places like Sinnoh's Lucario Province, they tend to avoid humans.

Most of us are quite loud to their senses." Find the partners that handled it best, and attempt to inoculate them to the effect?" Shin suggests after a moment's thought.

"Certainly not ideal, of course. But from my understanding, possible. I suppose a better, although more restrictive, option would be to find all our rangers with partners who are inherently immune and create a task force." Before I can reply to that idea, an out-of-breath operator enters the workshop.

"Ma'am, we have reports that the situation in Pueltown has resolved." That is specific phrasing, and operators don't choose words randomly.

"Tell the returning rangers that I want to see them in conference room one," I say.

"And please prepare your own reports of the events, preferably by tonight." It isn't standard procedure, and I don't like asking that of them when they're already overworked, but we will need to have records once various parties start asking questions. First, however, time to learn what exactly happened for myself.

The picture I'm getting of what took place is disquieting.

"A distraction," I flatly repeat.

"Threatening a significant portion of Pueltown. As a distraction."" It seems so," Ranger Schnett confirms.

"We didn't manage to find any of the devices, and the ones being transferred from the forest are now missing."" Staff at the depot we'd been using to help move them told us that ranger engineers received the devices just after the situation began at one-thirty-two." Ranger Holt adds.

"They've given us copies of the receipt and transfer documents. Whoever did this knew the shipping numbers and signed with one of our engineers' names."" And the name used?" I ask, placing my head in my hands." Brian Delman. I checked, he was here the whole time."" How many human casualties?" No one answers for several seconds." How many?" I ask again, putting some steel in my tone." Sixty-one," Ranger Abrams finally says.

"Three dead. Thirty-three in intensive care. Twenty of the cases involved citizen pokemon. Though thankfully, none of the deaths."" Schnett, get them in contact with our lawyers, once we're done here," I order.

"How many pokemon casualties?"" Depending on definition," Abrams sighs, "anywhere from eighty-nine to most of the population in the city. No deaths, one in intensive care. I would recommend psychological therapy for the worst affected, though."" Property damage?"" Will need to be evaluated," Schnett says.

"My estimation would be not much, overall. The affected pokemon were wandering until approached." Events cannot be allowed to continue this way. Many of our rangers are expected to be able to act without much more than a goal, our union-ranked personnel especially, and they're given the discretion and authority to do so. This meeting isn't how things normally should go, but decisions need to be made quickly and without argument." Abrams," I address." Ma'am.""

I want you to make a list of all rangers we have with dark-typed partners, then I need them evaluated by ability. Schnett, I want you in charge of follow-up and cleanup. And Holt," I say, looking at the woman in question.

"I understand that you need to fly back to Vientown. I'd ask that you remain here until the inevitable inquiry gets a chance to talk with you."" Of course, Ma'am."" Dismissed," I order the three. Once they all file out, I find myself exhausted. The worst disaster in almost thirty years, and it's very clearly not over. I would be lying to myself if I didn't acknowledge the part of me that wants to run around the state, calling in old favors and treaties from the alphas. But I know better.

Oh, they would certainly solve the problem, but too many people would be hurt in the process. No, best to let sleeping dragons lie. One will inevitably be caught up in whatever this plot is, should things continue, but there isn't any helping that. Only prayers and damage control after the fact. ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Onaga is… worried. Which, of course, Weaver noticed as soon as she returned from her hunt. And I'm not sure if getting updates on what happened is helping the ranger's anxiety." The entire downtown area?"

She quietly asks her radio, having moved us away from anyone eavesdropping. She had us check. From her side of the conversation, it's pretty obvious she's worried for her grandparents." Really tempted to tell her," Weaver muses from where she's leaned against the woman. Apparently, the weavile caught on to that, too." But," I prompt." But she deserves to hear it from them," The weavile huffs.

"She doesn't have a great relationship with a lot of her family, and I don't want to hurt what she has." Barry's voice starts coming through Onaga's radio again, and the woman sighs." Even if you really want to tell her."" Yeah."" Of course they are," Onaga says with a resigned tone, some annoyance leaking out of her.

"We're getting all their work so far, at least?" More unintelligible words stream from the small speaker, the ranger nodding along.

"Okay. Thanks for updating me, Barry. I need to find a phone now. Yeah, I'll let you know when I'm done." The woman's anxiety hasn't faded. It hasn't risen beyond a low simmer either, but for someone like her, that's honestly quite a bit. She doesn't get anxious so much as concerned. Or briefly worried, generally before either setting it aside or resolving to do something about it." Phone-booth…" Onaga murmurs, rubbing her temples. It's actually neat that they still have those here. Oh, hang on.

"That way," I say, pointing down an alley between two rows of buildings. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The red-clad ranger glances at me for a moment, then follows my pointing limb.

"Thank you," She says, patting Dodrio into motion." You must have the whole town memorized by now, huh?" Weaver comments, settling herself back into the saddle behind Onaga." All the roads and things on them, yeah," I nod, sweeping ahead a bit to keep pointing the way.

"The outsides of stuff, too. And the time on every street clock when I've passed them." Weaver nods, but doesn't say anything more, letting me point us right out of the alley. From there, it's only about twenty feet down and across the street. A classic-looking, glass-walled, green-trimmed phone booth. One of one hundred seven around the city, at least that I've seen. I never got to see one for myself in real life before I died."

You know, it's only a matter of time before these start vanishing," I comment as Onaga dismounts and steps into the booth." Really?" Weaver asks, giving me a side glance.

"Why's that?"" In about… I'm going to say eight years at most, cell phones are going to start being made, if they aren't already," I inform her, shrugging.

"They'll be pretty terrible at first, but advance quickly."" More stuff from the future?" Right Dodrio asks."' Cell-Phone'?" Weaver adds." The radios the rangers use aren't far off from one," I say.

"Well, not an early one. Smartphones are maybe thirty years off."" I think they're sayin' they've seen the future," Middle Dodrio chuckles.

"Like Xatu could before he flew up north."" Xatu only ever predicted a few days," Left head speaks for the first time. She sounds pretty gloomy.

"He was kind of panicky that last day, though."" Nah, Smokey can't see the future," Weaver says, sadly.

"They're from there!" All three of Dodrio's heads stare at her before turning to look at me. Thanks, Weaver. Yes, I see you smirking at me." About forty years or so," I sigh.

"No, I don't know how, just that it had to do with me dying."" Sick," Left Dodrio says, earning herself a horrified look from Right. Middle Dodrio looks thoughtful.

"Anythin' important you could share?"" There might be a kid named Ash in… I don't know, twenty years? And he saves the world a few times," I say, getting blank looks from all the heads. And a raised eyebrow from Weaver.

"Or maybe things are different, and you should avoid Sinnoh and Unova in about twenty to thirty years. Or I don't know what I'm talking about, and none of that means anything."" Huh. Can't say today's been boring," Is all Middle Dodrio has to say." But that's why you want to see Celebi again," Weaver says, nodding." I mean, maybe a little?" I shrug.

"Their comments about me didn't feel right, though. And Onaga wants to find a shrine to them. Oh, also, she's feeling a lot better now." Weaver gives me a flat look at my blatant redirection. I smile back, completely innocent." There's a fairly unknown spot near where all the hotels are that's supposed to be an old shrine to celebi," Right Dodrio says. Weaver and I both turn to look at her.

"What?" She asks." You've been a city-ride pokemon before," Weaver notes." Easy life," Left Dodrio comments, her other two heads nodding in agreement." We decided not to this year. At least 'til summer," Middle says.

"All the rangers leavin' didn't feel like a good omen."" Where exactly?" I ask. Left and Middle Dodrio both swivel to look at Right.

"About halfway down Serine, on the north side," She huffs." Oh!" Middle realizes.

"Yeah, that place." Near all the hotels… I wouldn't have looked that far north at all. Of course, Marshal hasn't been here in a while and wouldn't know that it got swallowed up by the city." Since when could you–" Left Dodrio begins, only to stop as Onaga steps out of the phone booth." Everyone set?" The woman asks, looking between us. I've been tasting her relief for a bit. She's not hiding it." Do we tell her now, or later?" I ask, looking down at Weaver." Later," The cat says, nodding at Onaga.

"We still have the rest of the day to go first, and I think she needs to relax a bit before then. Probably best tomorrow morning."

"' Nightmare' shows up a lot in here, huh?" I say, having finished a story from Weaver's book of Sinnoh fairy tales. And she was right, reading aloud is helping my speed.

"Why is that, do you think?"" Only sometimes," Weaver smirks, lifting another berry to her mouth.

"There's a story in there called 'The Moon Maiden,'" Weaver continues, using a free claw to gesture.

"You should read that one. I think The Nightmare is supposed to be a lesson about something, in that one."" You don't know what?" Weaver shrugs, "Maybe. I think it's supposed to be about balancing dreams with the effort they need, or else they turn into nightmares."" Huh," I say, moving back to the book. Wait, hold on.

"And hello, my favorite stalkers," I muse, tasting a certain mix of emotions I've come to associate with the two scientists. Anticipation featuring heavily at the moment." Really?" Weaver asks, her ears going up as she quickly swallows the last of her dinner." I'd bet there's going to be a knock on the hall door any second now," I say. Espeon is apparently listening from the kitchenette, since I taste a flare of confirmation." Yeah, I hear them," The weavile nods.

"You think they want to follow you around again?"" I hope not," I sigh.

"I was planning on doing some other stuff tonight. Or at least a few things I'd rather they not be following me for."" Too slow? Or too fragile?" Weaver asks as a few quick knocks sound from the hall door." Too curious and attentive," I say, shrugging.

"Also, yeah. Slow. I may as well go see what's up." Instead of heading out to the hall, I float through the outside wall. It would be faster to go through the shower room, but I still have some hangups. I fly around the building and into the lobby, where Emil is just letting Oak and Rowan into the back. The ranger notices me. And to his credit, he doesn't ruin my fun, simply guiding the two other men back. I follow, of course. Completely silent.

I need to pull back entirely when Oak seems to get wise and looks back for a moment, but he doesn't see me. I don't exist anymore. I move slightly farther up before shifting back to reality. Hmm, nice to know most of the rangers seem to find this amusing as well. Emil is definitely holding back a smile as we reach the kitchen area. There are quite a few people in this room at the moment. Onaga, Maya, Espeon, Barry, Lerp. And now Emil, Oak, Rowan, and I. Barry and Maya barely look up from their food.

Both of them are tired. Espeon remains focused on his new favorite thing, the cube rapidly spinning its segments as he puzzles it out. The psychic stops for a moment, spins it a few times, and continues twisting the puzzle again. He has seven psychic zones around the thing, and they aren't messing with each other. Damn. I really wish I could do that, but I'd just end up twisting it apart. There has to be some trick to lowering the power enough."

Rowan, Ohkido," Onaga greets, giving the game away with a quick glance at me.

"Karlos said you'd be here tonight. More testing for Misdreavus?" I fully phase out again, quickly moving over to where Onaga is while the two professors look at where I was. I'm phased in by the time they look back.

"– few more, yes," Rowan says, blinking as his eyes fall on me. I'm pretty sure he and Oak are the source of all the uncertainty now.

"Truthfully, what we need now is more individuals to study, and more observations of wild specimens. Although we may have a lead on that." What?" Oh?" Onaga asks.

"That's a lucky break for you."" Perhaps," Rowan sniffs before indicating a chair. At Emil's nod, the man sits, Oak doing the same.

"Sam and I have had ample time to go over various reports shared by your institution during our days here. With some of our recent observations of Misdreavus, we think there may be another up in the Chroma Highlands that simply hasn't been identified before."" What makes you think that?" Emil asks them.

"And would you like some quiche? Perhaps some tea? I prepared slightly too much."" Please," Oak says.

"And of course, we can't be certain that there's a misdreavus up there, but I feel it's worth looking into. Rangers stationed nearby have regularly reported strange lights and a fog that appears at night, moving along the cliffs. In exactly one instance last year, an unknown cry was heard that was apparently loud enough to cause a landslide."

Oak pauses to accept a plate and cup from Emil, taking a sip before continuing, "The phenomena were put down to unknown pokemon, and not looked into very much since it's both so out of the way, and there haven't been any issues. But now having seen a misdreavus and how they act first-hand, it feels likely."" We won't be going immediately, of course," Rowan adds, also accepting a cup and plate from Emil.

"To begin with, while the misdreavus here has been relatively docile with us, they have critically wounded people, yes?"" You should ask them," Onaga says, rather flatly." Yes. My apologies," Rowan nods, actually showing some emotion as he looks at me. At least I can tell he's being genuine, but it's not the first time he's done this. It has to be cultural, right?

"But to ask again, you have, haven't you?" I don't know if I'm allowed to answer that. The rangers have rules around active cases and sharing information. Except that I'm held to a different standard since I'm a pokemon. So, instead of confirming anything, I glance at Onaga. And I think she was testing my response to that." Strictly speaking, no, you shouldn't answer him." She tells me.

"Which I imagine could be seen as confirmation, if one were an intelligent and observant man."" Samuel and I would rather conduct as many studies on you, Misdreavus, as we can before moving on," Rowan says before taking a bite of his food.

"And part of that is safety concerns. Another part is merely that it is easier to do so as we're already here."" On that note," Oak adds, looking at me as he places his fork down.

"We'd like to perform type interaction tests. We aren't sure of how the ghost-type interacts with others, or even of your specific typings, beyond almost certainly ghost. These will give us at least the beginning of an idea." Everyone's focus has moved to me, now. I suppose it's my choice. I'm not sure what he means, though.

"What would it be?" I ask, stressing the question in my voice as I roll an arm in a 'keep going' motion." You want to know about the tests first?" Oak asks. I nod.

"I suppose that only makes sense," He says, nodding back.

"There are a few different versions of them. Overall, you and however many participants we manage to gather would take turns exposing you, themselves, or the various energies you can control to each other. Type theory is a rather… immature field for how old it is as a concept, but it holds up well enough to be useful and considered accurate. At least until a better theory is proposed." The man takes another sip of tea.

"Effectively, we want to see how the 'ghost energy' you've demonstrated control of interacts with other types, others' bodies, and how other energies interact with your type and body."" Closely monitored, of course," Onaga adds." Of course, there would be no point, otherwise," Rowan agrees.

"We've already secured a medical professional to attend as well. This is science, after all." They all look back at me again. That actually sounds interesting, and more knowledge about myself can't be a bad thing. It might end up like my orbs again, suddenly figuring something out.

"Sure," I say, nodding." Okay then," Onaga nods, looking at the two researchers.

"When?"" We've rather resigned ourselves to working when opportunity arises," Rowan says, eliciting a chuckle from Oak.

"It's simply part of studying pokemon, they generally don't schedule things after all." Rowan pauses, considering for a moment before continuing, "Searching for other participants here has been an… enlightening experience. So, we spent the majority of today finding varied pokemon to attend." Rowan pauses to take another bite of his food. He looks up Onaga, catches himself, and returns his focus to me, "We can't do these tests tonight, unfortunately. There are too many people involved for such short notice.

So, we will need to know the time beforehand." He clears his throat, "We can perform the tests at most times between nine-thirty AM and six PM within the week, if it's acceptable." I nod again. This is on my time, apparently, but… After an awkward moment, Onaga seems to realize the problem I'm having.

"Tomorrow?" She asks. I nod.

"Early?" I nod again.

"Nine-thirty, then?" I shrug, but nod, "Yeah."

Why is there nothing about celebi or forest guardians in any of these? There are bringers of seasons, heralds of change, 'elemental titans.' And there are guardians. Lake guardians, I remember those from Pearl. There's even Marshal in one of them! But no mention of celebi. Weaver was right, they're just not really a legend that exists here. At least I have a new perspective on the big otter. Part of me wants to confirm a bit of what I've learned, the other really hopes she never actually gets angry.

I have a brand new appreciation for how much self-control she has. I may have been panicking at the time, but I remember how much hate was coming off her a few weeks ago. And, um… I can understand now. Why? Well, Vientown was kind of awful a hundred years ago, apparently. I'm going to need to find an actual history book or something, but lumber, pokemon, and pokemon-based products used to be major exports. Marshal, along with many other alphas, seemingly appeared out of nowhere and made their displeasure known.

Repeatedly. None of that was very long ago. I could probably find people in Vientown who lived through it. I should ask Marshal about some of it when I see her next, actually. Get an accurate account of things. I'm wholly off track. I'm also at my destination. Serine Street. So, about halfway down on the north side… Huh. The building is very clearly old. It's separate from the others around it and has just a bit of flair that makes me think Asian for some reason. Or, Indigonian?

Maybe it's the way the roof is tiled, how its walls are framed, the way the wood is finished, or the paper in the windows. Or all of it. I've seen this building before, from above. I just didn't pay it any mind. It's not the only interesting piece of architecture around. There's no signage outside, and no address number anywhere. Just a well-manicured set of almost overgrown wooden boxes framing the entrance. I phase out.

There's something in the foyer of the building, but I can only just make out its edges in my glow. There are two people inside as well. And like most buildings in this city, there's a place to sleep inside, occupied at the moment. Notably, the human who isn't sleeping has a lot of and not much gray to my sight. Same color as Celebi. I would absolutely love to know what that means. Outside of probably confirming I have the right place.

I drift inside– And pause as the awake human starts and shifts from where she's sitting, her head turning to face me. Okay… New thing. I shift back to reality enough to see an elderly woman grasping for glasses on a table next to her. Oh, I think she might have been sleeping as well. She's definitely not from here. My best guess would be she's from Johto, but that's just from context." Spirit? But not the spirit of this shrine?" She questions, finally finding her glasses in the dark.

When she sees my eyes, she pauses. Concern, fear, and a bit of indignation wash over me.

"No, a mischievous thing. Maybe smart enough to know the danger of this place for its ilk? The guardian has been and gone quite recently." Deciding it's best not to antagonize her, I simply nod, looking around the room. Huh. So that's a shrine to celebi. A relatively small, obviously hand-carved and well-cared-for wooden box on stilts. It's like a small house, with a gabled, inward curving roof. Where the halves meet, they join and then continue for several inches. And the doors…

The doors on the front of the box are genuinely beautiful. Artistically carved, even as small as they are, I can see the forest depicted, and the small fairy hiding in it. The rest of the room filters into my perception a moment later. It's spartan. Four walls, exposed rafters, two windows, two doors, a mat in front of the shrine, a side table, and an occupied chair. The old woman in said chair is also getting increasingly frustrated with me, so I very openly back out through the front wall.

It'll probably be an experience when I come back tomorrow with Onaga and Weaver. Rangers have a great reputation, dark-types less so, and I'm apparently not wanted here.