Chapter 10: Rest

The long range Teleport that followed their departure had the Gardevoir stop in her tracks and spend the next half a minute or so just catching her breath, Lumi only needing a moment to gather his bearings after suddenly finding himself back on the snowy path before immediately standing guard for his coworker- though thankfully, the sight not too far away from them was keeping a firm hold on the attention of any nearby humans. Once Aria recovered enough to be able to push herself into walking again, she found herself unable to resist that curiosity either, mind complaining as it disguised her once more, this time fortunately only for long enough to take a look at what had happened to Anne's former house from up close.

The previously imposing, multi story structure was reduced to little more than a heap of charred rubble, everything but bricks reduced to ash and an occasional irregular mass of once molten metal, the buildings beside it visibly damaged along the walls that faced the now destroyed household. Aria had no way of knowing whether it was true, whether her actions did indirectly lead to all this destruction in the end, but once she'd gleamed the information about only a couple surface level injuries among the humans that had tried to extinguish the fire, she found herself unable to care all that much about the answer in the end.

With the final sendoff consisting of a few more malicious thoughts aimed at the former homeowner and prayers for all the innocents that got hurt while tending to the inferno done, they could get going for real, the Gardevoir catching up with the Luxray shortly afterwards at the end of the human side road, double checking whether nobody else was around before returning to her normal appearance.

"^It's all rubble now. Sounds like nobody got seriously hurt in that explosion, thankfully.^"

"Good riddance, eh?"

"^...yeah. Good riddance.^"

Right as Aria was about to pick the bags back up and start making her way home, she felt a small, hard to spot mental presence behind her, quickly looking over her shoulder to see whether she'd have to daze one more human today, for real this time, but fortunately only finding a small Magnemite hanging down from one of the cables supported on pillars that seemed to span the whole settlement, presently staring at them curiously.

"^Let's go.^"

__________________________________________

Even if each individual bag didn't weigh all that much, any relief was appreciated with how much strain the whole day had put on her, Lumi gladly taking one of the bags in his maw before racing on to drop it off in the girl's room- even if he did ask for a payment of explaining to him what in the world did he walk in on earlier. As unenthused as Aria was at the idea of explaining these events to the hound himself, keeping everyone on the same page was a much more alluring offer, and hopefully they'd be able to find some other scouts on their way over to spread the news- the possibility sounding more than likely with the rapidly setting sun overhead.

Drop the bag at the clinic, make sure everyone is up to date about the girl's situation, discuss a meeting tomorrow to discuss what they were gonna do next, race riiiiiiight back home, and probably spend the next week just catching up on her rest after the bedlam of today. Or at least that's what she wished they could all do- even if they were sure that Anne posed no threat and that nobody else was gonna come looking for her any time soon, there was still the matter of starting to think through a possible way for her to return to humanity in the long term, something that Olive would hopefully end up helping them with-

Before Aria could continue planning in the abstract any more, the stray, passing thoughts she'd begun overhearing after stepping back into the village snapped her right out of her train of thought- worries about the human were expected by now, thinking about them and Ember together in one breath was the kind of information she thought only Autumn and some of the scouts to have access to. There was always an all too likely possibility of someone spilling to Holly, but something inside her told her that this was not quite it, hastening the Gardevoir's steps as she made her way towards the clinic, dreading what she was going to find.

Gods there so much noise and attention and-

Marco!?

Aria couldn't wait an instant longer at sensing her brother's palpably worn out and injured aura, blinking the remaining distance over and spontaneously appearing beside his bed, startling the nearby medics as she found herself feeling all the more woozy afterwards- but that didn't matter, Marco was hurt- and so was Autumn, the two taking adjacent beds she had suddenly found herself in between.

"^Marco, what hap-^"

She couldn't even finish forming her question before the very stark answer reached her mental senses, Anne's and Ember's auras meshing together on the other side of the tent's wall feeling warm and loving, even if neither girl was conscious in the moment.

"Uuughhhh... yeah."

Her brother's voice was tired and audibly pained, the Gardevoir attempting to banish some of the pain with Calm Mind out of reflex only to see the Gallade firmly shaking his head at the attempt, scrunching his expression further at the motion only aggravating the aching-

"D-don't, I've never felt this sore in the brain, there was just so much all at once..."

Before Aria could ask for an elaboration, she found herself being lightly shoved by one of the medics to get a better access to Marco, backing a couple paces and taking a seat on the unused part of Autumn's bed, the Indeedee taking the initiative to explain as her son in law drank some medicine-

"It seems that our Ember is indeed Anne's Ember, and they did indeed love each other as much as her words had us think... but also that Ember had any memory of Anne erased out of her mind at some point, and helping her remember was so intense that it wiped all of us, hah."

"I'm still seeing some of their moments when I close my eyes... gods it's such a weird sensation." - Marco added after finishing the bitter, medicinal drink with a large gulp, pushing through his burned aching to take a seat up on his own bed, involuntarily leaning forward a bit.

The explanation only raised more and more questions, all of them the kind that Aria didn't like one bit, but one of them pushed ahead of the pack by far, the Gardevoir's eyes narrowing a bit-

"^Erased?^"

Both Marco and Autumn firmly nodded in response, the inevitable question about the most likely suspect sliding onto their minds shortly afterwards, the Gallade simply admitting what had happened-

"Yep. I don't know who did it, but with how Cinder reacted to me even bringing the girl up when talking to Ember, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if there was some meddling involved on her end."

A closer look at Marco's front let his sister pick up on what he meant by 'reacted', feeling her anger spike at her brother having been treated that way, leading Autumn to slowly scramble over to her side and reach up to pat her shoulder, the touch helping dissolve her emotions before they got any more intense. Her own fury or not, they'd have to figure this out and have Cinder answer for what she had done, the Gardevoir of half a mind to just walk over and interrogate the vixen there and then, at least before the sore muscles chiming in swiftly took that idea out of consideration.

"Don't know if I would trust her at all right now, the way she talked about all this you'd think she was just about ready to come in and incinerate Anne with her own paws."

Before Aria could get closer to successfully convincing herself to push through her exhaustion and start forcibly interrogating one of the more proficient fighters of their village on a subject they were both extremely emotional on, a familiar presence entering the main chamber of the medical tent perked her up, the Decidueye no less baffled at the bustle than she herself was minutes earlier.

"^Sprout?^"

The owl wasted no time walking over to their beds as she tried to piece the situation together herself, ultimately arriving to nothing more than vague concern, the emotion only stronger after taking a good look at the family she'd been long time friends with.

"Aria, Marco, what's all this, what happened to the girl?"

"^She and Ember, well...^"

As she tried to twist the facts around in her mind to complete her mental image, the Decidueye instead opted at taking a look at the facts of the matter herself, briskly walking over to the entrance of Anne's room and peering in, her gasp at what she saw finally convincing the Gardevoir to leave her family's side and do so herself.

Ember's head was resting on Anne's chest, her body language curled up and small as it tried to keep the bulk of her weight off of her friend's torso, furry arms wrapped around the human as Anne's one good arm wrapped around the vixen in return, both girls feeling similarly mentally strained to Marco, but at least without the pesky consciousness that would keep badgering them with pain.

"A-are they friends?"

"Yeeeeep, they grew up together and from what I picked out from the flood, were really protective of one another."

As deeply heartwarming as the sight was, especially with Marco's clarification, it only brought forth with itself more questions, now that the human's reputation was cleared of any presumed guilt when it came to her and Ember's combined past. Or at least it did for Aria, Sprout seeming to have them all eagerly answered-

"Oh goodness... well, time to start looking around for a home for her to stay in here, hah." - Sprout's cooed exclamation had both psychic siblings start to think through the idea some more, some of them for the first time- Aria couldn't deny that the prospect of Anne staying here for a longer amount of time was nowhere near as outlandish as it was earlier in the day with what they knew now, but at the same time, longer time wasn't the same thing as forever, and something told her that Ember in particular would be heavily opposed to anything less.

"Won't this room suffice until she can get a move on?" - Lumi's not-as-gruff-as-usual voice caught both women's attention as he stepped out of the side chamber, Aria spotting the bag he'd been given safely put away in the small space, his neutral expression perking up a bit at the sight of the psychic finally being here-

"Ah, here you are, figured that you wouldn't know what happened here either."

Sprout had to keep herself as composed as possible to avoid blowing up at the Luxray at the idea of rushing the girl out of here, the task made easier once the Gardevoir brought up the unpleasant subject that underlined this new revelation-

"^No, Marco figured it out while we were gone. Though considering that the only reason we didn't know about this earlier was because someone erased memories of Anne from Ember's memory, we still have much to discuss.^"

The Decidueye in particular narrowed in focus upon hearing that, the implication not exactly difficult to see, Aria's hand on the owl's shoulder ending up as the only thing that kept her from flying out right now and threatening to turn the fox into a pin cushion if she didn't explain herself.

"Wait- you mean Cinder?"

"^We can't know for certain Lumi, but it sounds like it, yes.^"

"Oh just let me and I'll figure all this for very certain in no time-"

"^Sprout, please, I don't want you to get hurt over this, especially since even just a question had her blow up at Marco earlier today.^"

The realization thankfully chilled her enthusiasm significantly, not even her zeal at the little ones getting mistreated was enough to push Sprout towards risking her own life on this, though it did make her much angrier, the owl stepping out of the human's room to express her anger in a louder, more avian way without waking them up.

"I can only imagine what she'd do if she saw this then. Perhaps we ought to keep an eye on her for now regardless?"

As absolutely correct as the concern was, Aria had to do a visible double take at it coming from the Luxray of all people, blinking at him in utmost confusion for a few moments as he flatly stared back at her, growing increasingly baffled at the Gardevoir's apparent astonishment-

"What?"

"^No, nothing, just... yeah, that's a good call. Sprout-^"

"On it."

Without waiting for any further elaboration, the Decidueye was gone from the medical tent, her friends left more so worried for her over anything else, the resulting tension thankfully broken through not long afterwards once Autumn spoke up again, taking advantage of the opening in the clearly very important scout talks to vocalize her own curiosity-

"So~ what's all this stuff that you brought with yourself Aria?"

Both the Indeedee and the Gallade were eyeing the clearly human bag, the material it was made out of as colorful and shiny as its contents were hidden, all seeming to be covered by a large layer of darker, fur like clothing, leaving all the world to the imagination, including how their sister and daughter got her hands on any of it in the first place.

"^These are things for Anne- the human that was looking for her turned out to be someone who knew and cared for her a lot even if she couldn't give her a home herself. She helped us with knowing what things to take for her, especially weirder human ones for human needs, though these turned out to just be clothes, something they call "books" with a ton of writing, some art supplies, and something she called "hygiene products", though didn't elaborate as to what those were.^"

Autumn wasn't sure which aspect of that answer she wanted to ask about first, the human that had apparently helped them out or the nature of some of the apparently very many items that hid inside this funky bag, Marco cutting her off before the obvious concern could get raised.

"Aria wiped all this from her memory, don't worry mom."

"^Y-yeah.^"

The tiny bit of hesitation in Aria's affirmation wasn't lost on either Marco or Lumi, but before either of them could prod the subject any more, Autumn followed up with her actual question-

"That's not what I'm curious about- what do you mean that human couldn't give Anne a home? Did she not have the space or~?"

"Oh space she had plenty."

"^It's not about space mom, it's... it's their laws from what I understood, preventing her from that since Anne still had family, even if a terrible one.^"

"Oh you don't know the half of it, the things we've seen... b-but- what do you mean, Anne was being borderline tortured in there! They can't be saying that even a literal living hell on earth like that would be preferable to her living with a friend!"

"^I think that's exactly what they're saying mom.^"

Autumn didn't respond, too preoccupied by switching gears to calm herself and her mind down at the harrowing knowledge, the human world growing all that more disgusting at the revelation, and her resolve to help the little one out in all the ways she could growing all the more unbreakable, no matter how unthinkable the things she'd need to do to accomplish it were to the rest of the village.

"If that's the case, then I'm not letting her step a foot back in that terrible world ever again."

Lumi just rolled his eyes at Autumn's steadfastness, not expecting it to last for anyone here once the reality of what keeping a pet human in their hideaway spot would actually imply were to hit them- but before he could put a snarky voice to that attitude, a chirped out call from the clinic's entrance caught their combined attention instead-

"Cinder's not in the village."

Sprout previous boldness had mellowed out to a nervous uncertainty, even if it was accompanied by the same, cross expression as the owl walked back to the beds.

"^What do you mean?^"

"She seems to have ran out of her den into the woods earlier. I didn't follow her, but can circle back and-"

"^No, I don't think that's necessary.^"

As angry as Aria was at the vixen earlier, hearing about Cinder having turned tail and ran did elicit the slightest flicker of sympathy in her in response, even if it was immediately dwarfed by the anger at the knowledge of what she'd almost certainly done to Ember. She wasn't gonna feel sorry for her in either case, but at the same time there really was no telling what the vixen would do now that her jig was up, the minds of everyone gathered venturing in vastly different directions, from an attempt to take out her wrath on the innocent human, to trying to... permanently escape any accountability for what she'd done.

"Someone's gotta keep watch on either her or Anne to keep her away if needed though."

Marco's point wasn't disagreeable in the slightest, but it was truly the details that made a choice like that more difficult, Aria articulating her concerns shortly afterwards-

"^She's strong enough to be able to pick up on someone following her, she'll likely feel cornered and lash out at them.^"

"Even a dark type?"

"^No Lumi, but you know as well as I do that Rose and stealth don't mix whatsoever, and I wouldn't feel safe for Ruby in case she slipped up and let herself be spotted.^"

"I could keep watch over Anne then."

"Are you sure Sprout?"

"Why not? You think I wouldn't hold my own against Cinder if she showed up?"

"If it got to throwing moves I've no doubt you'd win, but if it ever were to get to that point then that's already too late, isn't it?"

Autumn's concern made everyone pause, even the proud owl eventually unable to help but to agree with it, sighing as she grumbled quietly into her own down. Fighting was one thing, and while she might have evolved into being a ghost, her natural talents for confusion and misdirection were severely lacking in comparison to the rest of that type.

"Alright, you're right. Hmm... guess that leaves Cypress, doesn't it?"

"^Mhm. Sprout, if you could-^"

"On it."

The Decidueye made her way around the medics before stepping out into the steadily growing night, the dim orange light of sunset's dying breath briefly lighting up the entrance to the room Anne rested in her wake. As much as the medics helped the situation shortly afterwards by lighting up a couple candles, everyone's bedtime was coming, and it was coming fast.

"I suppose any further discussions on what to do next can wait until the morning now that we have someone to look after them?"

Aria thought briefly before agreeing with a nod, Marco confirming it not long afterwards, a quiet wince leaving him at having to move his head like this.

"^Yeah. See you in the morning Lumi, I'm gonna wait for Cy to get here and relay what we know so far to them.^"

"Sounds good. See you all in the morning then."

With another scout's departure, the tent began growing increasingly quiet, most of the patients starting to settle in for bedtime- a group that notably didn't include Marco, the Gallade attempting to slowly stand up from his bedding- only for Maple to come right over and swat any such ideas out of his mind.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Home? Got my duties tom-"

"Oh no no no I do not think so. You're not going anywhere like this Marco, you can barely stand up and we need to swap the dressings on your burns anyway."

"Come on Maple-"

"No, you come on Marco, you're in no state for anything but resting right now, and for a couple days at that. Besides, you helped Ember out from what I've heard, you've earned some rest."

"^She's right you know.^"

His sister's gentle chiding had the Gallade grumble a bit louder, sitting back down even if he was still opposed to the idea of taking a break to recuperate, Aria's little comment seeming to make him even more annoyed much to her chagrin. She might not have known why that was, but she wanted to do something about it all the same, walking over to the side of the bed he sat at before sitting down beside him, passing him a smile she wasn't sure whether he could see, but which he could certainly sense all the same.

"^What's wrong Marco?^"

The discreet words might have helped on her end, but they didn't have much in the way of immediate impact, the feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment peeking out of the cracks in his usually well composed mental facade, the pain and strain weakening it to the point of being permeable. Even if she wasn't gonna be getting an immediate answer, she knew what she had to do all the same, one arm carefully wrapping around her brother's shoulders while avoiding the burned spots before pulling him in closer, the Gallade not resisting, a small hint of a grimace briefly creeping up onto his expression.

"I-I should be out and helping a-and not licking my wounds..."

His mumbling was only barely audible, but thankfully still sufficient for his sister to make out his words, her embrace growing closer afterwards.

"^But you've already helped out a ton today! I can only imagine how grateful both Ember and Anne will be towards you once they wake up.^"

There was a longer silence after that point was made, Marco leaning forward that bit more, staring down at the floor before finally getting to the crux of the issue-

"You've been helping out e-even more and you don't have t-to rest..."

The words took Aria aback, the Gardevoir unsure how to interpret them for a moment before feeling another pang of inadequacy resonate through her brother, her subsequent embrace growing that much firmer, her head pressing into his-

"^I wasn't on the receiving end of a fire type's outburst and didn't have to sift through enough memories to leave me incapacitated. It's not a competition Marco, my contributions don't diminish yours- and besides, I think that between the two of us Ember in particular will be much, much more thankful towards you than me, hah.^"

As much sense as his sister's words made, they still deep down felt like excuses in his favour, the unpleasant sensation hard to shake off, the Gallade curling up more as his sister continued to patiently hold him-

"^I mean it Marco.^"

"I-I know, it's just..."

Thankfully, she could for the most part sense just what exactly 'it' was here, their breathing eventually synchronizing as she continued to hold him, the mental words that eventually followed beaming with reassurance-

"^You've very likely changed several people's lives for the better today Marco, you deserve all the rest in the world after something like that. We'll keep this place safe while you recover, you just gather your bearings and accept your positive impact on the world.^"

The affirmation was enough to start chipping away at the Gallade's composure, but the admission afterwards helped fully break it down, the knight reaching up to embrace his sister in return at hearing her words-

"^I'm so proud of you Marco.^"

Even if Autumn didn't have the spare mindpower to follow along with the siblings' words, she could easily see that Marco wasn't doing too well in the moment, wincing a bit as she scrambled over onto his bed next to him, comforting him from his other side, his tears starting to flow down his cheeks as he was being held.

"I'm p-proud of you too..."

Aria let go of the embrace with one hand to reach up to start lightly petting her brother next to his crest, the expression of affection growing increasingly less common as they both grew up and evolved, but he couldn't deny it being any less effective than when he was still just a lil' Ralts being comforted by his big sister, his hug growing that much tighter. Steadily, each individual pet began to calm the Gallade back down, his own worth and today's accomplishment finding an increasingly fertile ground on which they could settle on and take root, the offer of rest becoming more justified by the moment.

"^Love you.^"

"L-love you too. Sorry for-"

"^Anytime Marco. This is what big sisters are for after all, isn't it~?^"

"Heheh, y-yeah..."

"^Gonna be calling it a day?^"

"I-I think so, yeah. Thank you."

"^You're welcome bro. Sleep well.^"

With a couple more pats on the back, the siblings could start to detach themselves from each other, Autumn likewise scrambling off of the bed to let the Gallade actually lay down, Aria's mental grasp pulling the covers over him before he could even start reaching over. As much as he might've grumbled at that, and at the couple pets that followed afterwards, boy did he appreciate them more than his sister could ever know.

As the tent's main chamber fell into increasing slumber with the exception of medics busy at their crafts, Aria saw it fit to spend the rest of the downtime in Anne's temporary room, taking in the bag of human stuff with her and Autumn following shortly afterwards, the chamber almost completely dark with the exception of whatever sparse moonlight that crept in through the lone window. It was only barely enough to make out the two sleeping girls, but it was all Aria needed, slowly walking over to the bed and gently ruffling both their heads in their sleep, a bit of applied Calm Mind hopefully helping at working away the aching they were likely gonna wake up with.

"What do you think is gonna happen to her, Aria?"

Her mom's hushed words put the Gardevoir in a pensive mood, the question one she wished she had anywhere near a complete answer for.

"^I was already thinking we bring up everything we know up to the elders tomorrow, together with what Cinder did, and... decide on what's exactly gonna happen to her.^"

"By one of your fancy votes, eh?"

"^Mhm. I... I imagine most scouts would be supportive of her staying here for as long as she needs to once we explain everything in detail, what I'm more concerned about is how many of the elders we'll sway.^"

"Can't you just outvote them?"

"^Yes, we can, but with just thirteen votes, having three of them vote against Anne no matter what we say doesn't leave a lot of room for error. Hell, you can add in Lumi and make that four for all intents and purposes.^"

That indeed was a much scarier thing to consider, the elderly Indeedee walking over to her daughter as she chewed through the dilemma, eventually ending up just bumping into Aria's leg in the dark.

"Ana has always felt reasonable enough in that regard. Winnie... yeah, unlikely. Celia..."

Autumn trailed off as she considered the final elder, this one in particular being a crapshoot. The Primarina was by far the most exotic and the most outwardly kind member of the trio, but at the same time, she was also the most experienced with some of the worst of what humanity had to offer, the missing fins, fingers and the many scars that adorned her body after being forced to perform to humans' amusement enough of a testament to that fact. The possibility of maybe swaying one vote was not particularly reassuring, but it definitely beat having that one vote aimed in the opposite direction, Aria's thoughts narrowing afterwards in the direction of trying to come up with something to help convince the Torkoal, only getting interrupted by her mom speaking up again.

"And all that would accomplish would be letting her stay here, kept at arm's length from the rest of the village, wouldn't it?"

Aria slowly nodded with a sigh- with how uncertain even getting them to agree to just grant the girl refuge felt, anything more than that might as well have been a pipe dream- but it was one that Autumn was willing to fight for.

"That's- no, I'm not settling on that, I don't agree to making her out to be some sort of nuisance we'll benevolently put up with, not a child!"

"^Mom!^"

Autumn's raised voice had the girls shudder a bit in their shared rest, the Indeedee feeling a pang of guilt at the sight before they eventually calmed back down, making her breathe out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, it's just-"

"^Shhh, it's alright mom.^"

Autumn gave her daughter a look before breaking down into a quiet chuckle at her own weapon being used against her, relenting with soft nods.

"I don't want her to be tolerated, I want her to be accepted- and I doubt that Ember will appreciate her friend being treated like an ongoing issue and being expected to eventually leave her either."

The very idea had the Indeedee have to hold back a few tears, the emotional gash of witnessing Anne and Ember part ways from both perspectives simultaneously still very raw, the mere thought of forcing them to relive it making her want to throw hands, physical and psychic alike.

"^I- I want that too, but I've no idea how we'd go about that. People are gonna have questions, where would she even stay for one-^"

"With us!"

This time, Autumn managed to keep her raised voice still firmly in the whisper range, though it had stunned Aria as much as her earlier, louder comment.

"^What-^"

"At our burrow. With us. In our house. However you want to say it- we've got plenty space even in the kids' room, things are sized right for her, we can talk with her even while she's still learning the language."

On a logistical level, Autumn's suggestion made all the sense in the world, there most likely wasn't another dwelling in the whole village that was as suited for a human to live in right out of the gate as theirs was, but that still left so many other issues-

"^What if the kids object to that, or Garret, or Elric and Riddick, what if it won't be right for her in the end-^"

"That's what asking is for~. And, besides, knowing that it's either this or her going back to the human world will help sway them as well."

"^That just feels like manipulation-^"

"But it's true, isn't it?"

"^What about everyone else being opposed to her staying-^"

"I'm sure opposed to Cinder ever setting another paw in here again and you won't catch me protesting her right to safety here... not out loud at least."

As much as the addendum made Aria chuckle weakly, she remained unconvinced for the most part, the Indeedee briefly stroking her chin as she attempted to come up with something more persuasive- and it was the concept of persuasion that gave her her next idea, the chuckle in the dark making Aria briefly worry just what did her mom come up with this time. Right as she was about to speak up, both her and Aria felt a bit of an odd chill in the air, instinctively looking over towards the door to the side room, Autumn asking in the silence-

"Cypress?"

Right as they were both about to look back over towards the two sleeping girls and the window, they both felt a cold tentacle being placed on their shoulder, the sensation making Aria jump much more than Autumn as the bespoke ghost spoke up-

"Present...~"

The Mismagius' drawn out, whispering voice may not have brought any curses with it, but it was still startling in the dark, the purple ghost floating over to in front of the two psychics as they chuckled before continuing-

"Apologies, I could hardly resist...~"

"^Hah, I'm aware. Thank you for being here Cy.^"

"Oh it's no problem. With how incensed Sprout was I gathered it was something important~. And... I think I'm feeling more "Mister Cypress" today, if that's alright..."

"^Of course Cypress. And yeah, it is important, we'd want to ask you to watch over them tonight.^"

With how quirky the Mismagius was, it was rare to ever see him be genuinely surprised- or even just to see him at all, his duty of stirring up attention and chaos on the other end of the forest to further distract human attention away from where their village laid was an important one, but one which also resulted in him oftentimes spending whole days at a time away from home. If anything, that made the dumbfounded look on his face all the more precious as he took in just who the two souls holding each other on the bed were, the sheer extent of his bafflement making Autumn have to hold in a chuckle.

"Oh... I am hardly certain which of these two I ought to be more surprised at..."

"^Right, you've been away for the past few days. The human's name is Anne, she ended up gravely injured on the outskirts of the village and we helped patch her up. And, as we later realized, it turns out that her and Ember have been long time friends, but Ember couldn't remember because someone erased the memories of Anne.^"

The ghost didn't react to the crash course in any overt way, simply taking his time leaning in closer to the sleeping duo, the wispy extensions on the front of his body gliding over their shoulders with a gentle, slightly cold touch, verifying the truth of Aria's words as he sensed the couple's intertwined fates.

"Remarkable... I assume that someone is Cinder then...?"

"^That's what we're suspecting, yes. She ran away from the village earlier today, and in case she tries to come and hurt Anne overnight, we want you to keep watch out for her, and to incapacitate her if she does show up.^"

Cypress finally acknowledged her words with a slow nod and a quiet mumble, yellow eyes closing as he began whispering out protective incantations, the air in the room seeming to palpably shift, but not in a way either psychic could exactly narrow down.

"It'd be my pleasure..."

"Thank you Cypress. I still hope there's some grave misunderstanding underlying Ember's memories being erased like that, but Cinder turning tail makes it harder and harder to believe that anymore..."

"You're welcome dear Autumn. I... do feel compelled to ask about what shall happen to our dear Anne here...~"

"^It's... up in the air, we'll see tomorrow. Though... you do tend to mess with human kids around her age sometimes, right?^"

"I merely appear where I'm being looked for~ but yes, I've ran into many kids her age, tricky for striking the right balance between not being scary at all and being too terrifying...~"

"^In the event she'd end up staying here for good... do you think she could pose any risk to anyone?^"

Aria was ninety nine percent sure of the answer to the question she just asked, but with how much of a case they would have to make for Anne, any further bit of reassurance would be invaluable.

"She's no trainer, so no... frankly, I'd be more so worried the other way around...~"

The phrasing had both women look up at the ghost with concern, Cypress elaborating shortly afterwards-

"You could say that the drawback to teaching everyone that humans are scary monsters we're hiding from because of their monstrosity, is that some may start to believe that, especially the little ones..."

The mental imagery of one of the kids attempting to "protect" themselves from Anne out of fear sent a freezing shiver down Aria's spine and fin alike, making her walk over closer to the bed and gently stroke the human's hair out of a protective impulse.

"Not something we can't fight against, thankfully."

Even despite the terrible lighting, the worried expression on the Gardevoir's face was clear to see for her mom as she glanced over, only emboldening the Indeedee further as she heard her words-

"^How so?^"

"We can start already sowing the seeds of the idea of her getting to stay and work away at the doubts, I can bring it up with the kids tomorrow and try to work through any issues they might have. Frankly we'd just need more voices to contribute..."

"Pragmatic. I like it...~"

Out of all the voices that could feasibly contribute to something like that, there was one voice in particular that seemed to have both the volume and the reach to be of particular help here, both psychics getting the realization at around the same time-

"^Holly!^"

"I'll speak to her in the morning, I hope she'll be receptive-"

"^Oh you have no idea mom. Who else...^"

"Jovan feels like the type to love a nice story to share like that...~"

"^Like sister, like brother, heh. Yeah, him too.^"

"I'll bring it up when leaving Bell under his care. Anyone else?"

This time, no more candidates immediately came to mind for anyone involved- which, considering the hour of the day, was perfectly understandable, Aria's only resulting contribution being a feebly held-in yawn.

"That sounds like a plan enough for the time being... and you seem like you need rest, dear Aria...~"

"^Y-yeah, it's just...^"

As much as their plan was slowly coming together, it was hard for the Gardevoir to shake off the worry at nothing potentially working out and Anne ending up literally thrown out onto the snow to die- and at that point, even the cruel act of wiping Ember's memories of her once more even if just to spare her the resulting pain suddenly felt like an option potentially worth considering, just to lessen the pain. It was still disgusting to even think about, now that she knew in how cruel of a way it'd been used already, Aria feeling ill at having threatened someone with it mere hours earlier.

"Have you spoken with the girl already...?"

"^Yes, thankfully yes, we talked earlier, I tried to fool her into thinking this place was a human hospital but it didn't work out for too long, and eventually just had to tell her the truth, and thankfully she trusted me even despite that.^"

"Then extend that grace to yourself~."

That much she could do, a couple deeper breaths slowly working away at any anxiety that had begun building up inside her in the meantime as she acknowledged the Mismagius' words, giving him a light bow.

"^I will, thank you Cypress. Have a good night.^"

"Anytime... oh, it would appear that your husband is approaching...~"

The remark was enough to break through both Aria's and Autumn's somber moods, confusion at what Garret was doing here replacing it instead, the two only glancing over at the two sleeping girls before finally leaving the medical tent, just in time to see the Grimmsnarl turn the corner, the limited lighting making him almost invisible at night.

"Honey?"

"Yes, yes sweetie, we're here!"

With how excruciatingly long the day had been, Aria longed for little more than an opportunity to finally fully relax- and while this might not have been it, unless she was willing to indirectly sentence her husband to carrying her back home, just pulling him in a hug was enough to work though much of the pent up tension inside her, the hairy fairy's own anxiety quickly evaporating.

"We've all been so confused about what was going on with you all, started to get a bit worried... where's Marco?"

"He's... in the medical tent, got roughed up a fair bit today and they're keeping him overnight just in case."

The Grimmsnarl's fanged grimace shifted just enough in response for his wife and mom to clearly notice the concern it now conveyed, an unspoken question getting answered as they all turned to head back home.

"We've... learned a lot about Anne today. Cinder wasn't happy about Marco asking Ember for a possible connection, and then it turned out she'd most likely erased Ember's memories of Anne."

"I-is he gonna be alright?"

"Thankfully yes, it's just some surface burns and the medics took good care of him."

That much was relieving at least, the demon's arm holding his wife closer as they walked on, the worry about everything that had been going on lately filling his mind.

"Thank goodness. A-and what did you say about Ember and the human?"

"They used to be close friends sweetie, basically grew up together. Their... human family was absolutely wretched, to the point where Anne parted ways with Ember to keep her safe, and then ended up running away for her life, which is what lead to her crash and us finding her."

"That's... oh the deities."

The idea of a family vile enough that a child was so terrified of their parents that they'd consider running for their life made him feel deeply ill, a family like the one he ended up hatching in before being rescued and eventually raised by Autumn, the thought making him reach over and pull his mom off the ground and into his other arm with a quiet squeak on her part- though one that gave way to more affection shortly afterwards.

"The rest of the human world doesn't seem to be any better for her on that front either... her staying here would be for the best most likely."

"And I had the idea that our burrow would work well for that~"

Autumn's addition in particular had Garret pause mid step, the idea evoking so many mixed feelings inside him that it felt incredibly difficult to even start untangling them all- helping someone like that, passing the torch on like that was a concept that was basically euphoric to think about for him... but at the same time-

"Are you sure mom? I- I don't want her to live somewhere where she'd b-be scared again..."

Without their respective psychic assistances, the individual hugs that Aria and Autumn were able to provide were far from the most impressive in size, but they more than made up for that with how heartfelt they were, both women glad to reassure the most important man in their lives.

"You look mean at a glance sweetie, but brush aside the top coat and you're all honey. Her parents... looked reprehensible, and acted so, so much worse, I've seen some of her memories a-and it all still makes me ill to think about..."

The reassurance was effective in getting the group moving again, Garret nodding through his mom's words as he held her tight, trying to stabilize his breathing, doubts and worries continuing to swell inside his skull- fortunately, his wife was there for him.

"That's not something we're deciding on here and now, just... once it comes to that, once I have to stand up and plead Anne's case in front the elders, I want to know that I'd be able to bring our burrow up as a place where she could stay and be safe in- and that I do not doubt one bit."

The explanation made sense, though even just saying that felt like implicitly agreeing to such a massive commitment, the Grimmsnarl continuing to air his worries as they got closer to their home-

"Do you think we're ready for another soul to be taking care of?"

"Ready in a way of being prepared enough to start knowingly trying for another kid? Probably not~. Ready in a way of being able to provide a lost, traumatized soul with safety she'd been lacking for so long, even if it includes some growing pains? Absolutely."

It was an important distinction to make, one that sent a wave of fluster through Garret's body, his hug only barely managing to avoid lifting his wife off the ground with itself.

"Well, you've interacted with her much more than I have so far, you probably know better sweetie, hah."

"I hope that in time you'll feel as confident in your ability to be the best dad she could ever wish for as I am~"

As flustering as the previous remark was, this one was incomparably more effective, Aria getting firmly swept off of her feet and held tight, returning her embrace as the group walked within the view of the entrance to their burrow, stray bits of warm light escaping through the holes in the door or the frame it sat in betraying its homeliness. Alas, both psychics had to be lowered down onto the ground so that they'd fit through the front door, and as much as the Grimmsnarl wanted to sweep them both right back up immediately afterwards, them getting to fill their mouths with something warm and yummy came first.

The scene that awaited inside was an amusing one at least, the little ones having gone a bit hyper at the prospect of getting to keep playing even once it was so dark outside, the whole trio seeming to be in the middle of some play tussling and surrounded by their toys, their emotional state sufficiently clean of any anger to keep their guardians calm as they stepped down the stairs.

"Mom, where have you been!? A-and where's Uncle Marco?"

While the return of adults marked an end to that particular show, it sure didn't mean that the kids would get any less lively, some of the worrying they were masking by playing like that in the first place creeping right back onto the surface as they noted the absence of their uncle and friend, relieving some of it by immediately running up to their trusted adults for hugs.

"We had a long, busy day sweetie, I'm sorry for being gone for so long. Marco got injured during his duties and is at the medical tent."

As she crouched down to hug her little ones, Aria could see their expressions changing in real time, the visible concern on both Bell and Cadence's faces making her hold them that much closer as Autumn comforted the flying scorpion just off to the side.

"Uncle Marco is hurt?"

"Yes Bell, he is- it's nothing big thankfully, but he needs a couple days to rest it all off.

"Can we come and make him feel better?"

After all, a smooch was a perfect panacea to any ouchie as far as the lil' Ralts was concerned, surely it would work perfectly here too.

"I don't see why not, I'm sure he'd really appreciate it sweeties~."

The affirmation was reassuring, Bell in particular happy to hear it, squirming a bit more in his mom's arms as Cadence felt a wave of cheekiness come over her- she knew she'd get shot down, but maaaaaybe her mom was just about tired enough to agree to it-

"Oh oh oh- and could we see Anne if we're already gonna be at the clinic~?"

Aria had to stop herself from reflexively disagreeing at the suggestion, glancing over at Autumn as their brainwaves happened to reach a very similar answer as far as this particular inquiry was concerned, a playful smirk sliding up onto the Gardevoir's face as she held her daughter that bit closer-

"...you know what~? Deal."

The sudden gasp that had left Cadence and Elric in response to that was almost loud enough to stir the Gligar's dad from his hibernation, Aria breaking into giggling herself at the palpable excitement that filled the group, Bell sharing in that particular emotion shortly afterwards as well, even if he still had no idea what the whole big human deal was.

"Really!?"

"Yep! She may end up staying in our village for a bit longer, and it'd be good for her to make some friends, doncha think?"

As surprised as the Kirlia was at the seemingly completely random one-eighty turn of her mom's opinion on this, she couldn't deny liking her current logic much, much more than the scaredy and boring scout reasoning she'd heard yesterday, squeeing happily in response.

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Will we be able to play with her?" - As much as Elric was similarly brimming with excitement, his question was much more reserved, pink body making his way over to hug his current guardian, unusually warm to the touch in the shared glee.

"To an extent- she's still injured, but I think you'll all be able to figure something out~."

While the two older kids were satisfied for now and were much more eager at the idea of answering any further curiosity first hand, Bell's mind instead wandered to the question he had earlier today, whole small body wriggling with joy at getting to make a friend, even if he still had no idea what that friend looked like.

"What color are humans?"

An oddly tricky question to answer for how simple it was on the surface, making Aria pause for a moment as her husband poured her and Autumn their dinner portions in the other end of the living room.

"Many colors really- they're like us with furless skin and hair on top of their head, but I've seen their skin be anything from dark brown to whitish pink, and their hair similarly from black to yellow. Even saw one with blue hair a few months ago, but nobody else like that since, hah."

"Maybe they were just a really important human?"

"I doubt it Cadence, they didn't feel any different to anyone else. How's that for an answer Bell~?"

The toddler had to think hard and for a fair moment, the incomprehensible baby train of through eventually arriving at the Happy Feelings plaza, making him squeak out in shared excitement as he held his mom closer.

"Okay! I wanna meet Anne!"

"And you will~. Tomorrow. And now, all three of you are up way past your bedtimes~"

The shared groan that left the tykes in response to the comment was music to Aria's ears, the Gardevoir thankfully only having to assist herself a little to pick the entire bunch up in her arms and carry them over to their room. The little ones got tucked in on their shared bedding one after the other, their excitement quickly giving way to sleepiness, and eventually, rest.

For once, Aria wouldn't be too far behind in that regard either- as much as the sheer scale of what awaited tomorrow felt overwhelming to think about, she knew that Anne believed in her, and she was happy to be able to earnestly join her in that as she chewed through the slightly cold dinner. They'd figure something out, and even if the elders were about as likely to accept Anne with open arms as a fire type was to embrace a tidal wave, not even they could resist a good sob story- and all it'd take was possibly one vote to seal the girl's safety. Half an hour later, when she was in the middle of dozing off, one thought in particular continued to keep Aria warm and calm as she played the role of the big spoon, her mind steadily growing quieter and quieter much like the village at large, the mantra bringing her and Anne peace alike-

Aria would deliver on her promise to Anne, no matter what.