Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Jump Einatz]

Kalos Badlands

Under the breaking sunrise, in the midst of the constant whipping sandstorms of the Kalos Badlands, a man as tall as a Seviper is long walked alone. His clothes were old and ragged, his hair a long and disheveled white. A key hung from his neck, tapping his chest with each slow step.

The man stopped. It was faint, but there. A tremor under the bedrock, getting closer. Fifty feet away, the earth cracked and burst as a Garchomp spiraled into the air with a rugged roar. The man turned to face the beast falling towards him, letting the sand shift around him. The Garchomp dropped to his haunches, ran at the man, and leapt.

The sand shark spun, landing on his back and sliding to a halt right in front of the unflinching man with a panting tongue lolling out to the side. The man scratched under Garchomp's chin, and Garchomp wagged his tail in glee.

"Hello, friend."

~~~~~~~~

They sat together on a sand dune watching the sunrise as they had done years ago in the Orrean deserts. Garchomp laid curled up next to the man, purring as the man pet his neck. The Rough Skin barely itched the man's fingers.

When the sun had fully risen, the man stood up. "Goodbye," he said as he walked away. The Garchomp whined, pouting with a lip stuck out and big sad eyes.

"You belong with someone else." The man looked back. "I'm still searching...The flower Pokémon… The Pokémon that was given eternal life…"

Garchomp howled a lonely wail as the man walked away.

Lumiose City - South Pokémon Center

Matheson lay on his back, scratching his chest and staring at a generic flower mural on the wall opposite the bed. He’d woken up at the crack of dawn, still tired but unable to relax. He’d barely gotten sleep in the aftermath of the evening. Salieri had dropped her Pokémon off for overnight care, and his Vespiquen had helped her recovery along as she told him about her conversations with the crew and Mia. After that, she proceeded to cry until she fell asleep.

Sal was indicative of what happened to Kalosians when noble corruption was mistaken for noble excellence. Her suffering was entirely rooted in the system that kept her down in the first place. Every sob from the night before reaffirmed to him that this was the side he wanted to be on. It was his sworn duty as nobility to gut out the rot that was decaying his country.

And then there was Juliet. He had to check on her, and Alanza in the hospital. Matheson found himself increasingly torn between the worlds of the highborn and the commoners, and unable to help one side without neglecting the other. “Are you up?”

He looked to his side to see Salieri putting on her shirt at the edge of the bed without a sound, her back to him. He looked over her dark skin and saw paler marks from old injuries dotted all around her. Even now, Matheson didn’t know how a girl her age ended up with so many scars. Her Pokégear buzzed at her nightstand with text messages and notifications from her PC management. Sal ignored the device entirely. “Carpe diem," she muttered. "Don't wanna waste time."

Rhea was a qualified healer, but Matheson was no doctor. He was sure Salieri would be fine, if she took it easy. The issue was that he had never known Salieri to take it easy. “Nothing strenuous today, ok? You’re still healing.”
“Ok.”
“I mean it-oh. I didn’t think you’d agree.”
“I’ll try to take it easy, Math.”

She turned back to him with false determination. Her eyes were still reddish from last night. Matheson had never seen Salieri as tired or as upset as after fighting with Mia. When she was beaten down by Ratio, she was nothing if not galvanized for round two. Now, she looked like she’d suffered a real defeat.

“I don’t just mean physically, Sal.” He sat up and yawned. "I know we just came off a caesura, but don't push yourself too hard."
“I know. I’m fine.” She was not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sky was cloudy and a brisk wind blew throughout the day, but the sun still poked through the cover on occasion. Overnight, Mia had deposited Banksy and Biz Marquis back into Salieri’s PC, and so they regained their positions on the main team. Morning dew still clung to the grassy lawn behind the Center where Sal’s party did some warm up training after breakfast. They’d paired off to spar, switching partners every few minutes according to the large clock affixed to the building. Whenever they switched, they took a moment to look over to their trainer with concern.

Sal sat with Banksy at a small garden table, wearing aviator shades covering her eyes and sipping a smoothie through a straw. She’d hardly said anything to her party all morning, but she did have a side chat with Banksy that left the Torkoal retreating into her shell for some alone time. Sal had one hand patting the warm shell and another on her Pokégear, where Moze’s phone number was brightly displayed on the screen, a challenge for her to take up.

Sal swapped over to her messages, where Helena’s texts remained unanswered. The Unovan was trying. It was a far cry from the girl she had been when they battled in Shalour City. It was closer to the Helena Sal had wanted to be friends with, when they first met. Compared to the hurt she felt over Mia, her past spat with Helena was nothing at all. She was still hesitant to jump into a friendship with the Unovan, especially when she was so emotionally drained, but she could at least be cordial.

~All good
~We’re good

A passable, if easy, reply. Salieri didn’t know what else to say. Verbosity took more involvement than her numbness allowed. Today she would do like Matheson suggested, and take it easy. That meant throwing herself into training. And eventually, looking for Moze.

She didn’t know where to start with that. His number was hers now, but she didn’t think he’d pick up for an unknown number. If he did know who it was, he probably wouldn’t answer anyway. Her only lead was practically a dud without Mia. Mama Mia. Mia could take any one of Sal’s trash leads and turn it into treasure.

Except no, wait, she couldn’t. Sal switched off the screen to remove the option from the table. Her screen flashed, and was replaced with a blue background and an animated Ivan sprite. “Boop morning, Master.”

Sal shut the Pokégear off. Moze was keeping tabs on her somehow, and Ivan was supposed to be his ‘proxy’. The Pokémon excelled at surveillance. Even if that wasn’t Moze’s method, Ivan must’ve known where they’d come from before. They were just as complicit as Mia in keeping the truth from her.

The screen flashed on again. “Master Sali-.” Off. On. “Master-.” Off. On. “Sal-.” Off. On. “Master Salieri-.”
“Have you been spying on me for me brother?!” Sal yelled at the screen. It came out scratchier than she’d intended. Her breakdown had done a number on her voice. Sal made a mental note to try not to raise her volume for the rest of the day.
“No I have not, beep boop.”
“But you knew he gave you to Mia, and that she gave you to me?”
“Affirmative, Mozart Soledad is my OT. This means I gain experience points twice as quickly in your care. Congratulations!”

Sal set her phone down on the table and leaned over it, frowning. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that? Not in your programming?”
“You never asked.” they answered flatly. Sal chortled at that.
“Figures. How would I know to ask that, Ivan? I thought we were friends.”
“Friends? You have never told me that before.”
Sal raised an eyebrow at what she thought was audacity. “I definitely have.”
“I do not have any records of you designating me as ‘friend’. I do have a list of prior designations you have given me: Ivan, A.I. abomination, computer thing, Skynet, glitchy, broken, pest-”
“Ok I get it.” Sal’s face grew red with shame at having those terms recited back to her.
“Interestingly, in my presence, you have referred to your other Pokémon as ‘friends’ at irregular intervals. However, you do show them regular displays of affection. I have wondered why this is. Do you not consider me your Pokémon?”
“What? Of course you are.”
“Noted. Do you not consider me your friend?”
“Of course I do!”
“Noted. Thank you for the clarification. I could not say for certain based on our prior interactions.”

Sal leaned back in her seat and stole a glance at the rest of her team. Durendal was flying through the air, weaving between Reynard’s Water Guns like a leaf on the wind. He still didn’t know he had been the ante the night before. If her plan hadn’t worked, Salieri didn’t know for sure what she would’ve done. She probably would’ve razed the property to the ground trying to get him back. But she had bet him all the same.

Her Pokémon never asked her for much, and did everything she wanted. Even Reynard and Ivan had become tame and trusting. Did the rest of them know what that meant to her? Ramos said her love for her Pokémon was power. Now she questioned if that automatically meant she was a good friend. Her eyes wandered north, in the direction of the Badlands where she recalled other particularly difficult growing pains as a Trainer.

It doesn’t matter, it’s in the past.

Always a slave to her own history, Salieri did her best to brush it aside. Her feelings were just a distraction, and her Pokémon needed training. She had taken it too easy yesterday in preparation for dealing with Alanza. It was time to catch up to her own standards. And then, when she had nowhere else to mentally take refuge, she'd deal with her real problems.  

[Marsuru]

Anistar City Pokémon Center - Zack's Room

Zack awoke in a black haze, showered with sweat. His hand shook up to his throat, checking that he could still breathe. Nightmare. That's all it had been. His hand dropped to his side and he threw his legs over the edge of the bed. Sometimes he hated sleep; it was the one place he couldn't keep a handle on his emotions, and every now and then they seeped out. Summertime meant an early dawn, but it was still dark when Zack got out of bed.

His pokémon rested in their balls on the night stand, lit green by the clock, but the trainer didn't so much as glance at them as he staggered towards the bathroom and threw up.

Zack spat into the toilet bowl and sat back on the floor. His chest heaved as he fought to steady his breath, the jagged scar aching from where he'd been bitten by Ferox. It was then that he heard it. A soft cackling that made the hair on his neck stand rigid.

'S'matter, Zachary? You're looking a bit green around the gills, mate.' Zack span to his feet, almost tripping as he clung to the sink and peered into the dark bedroom. There was nothing except the dimly lit dresser and bed, but still the voice continued. 'Got your knickers in a right old twist. Make a piss-poor excuse of a pirate.'
'Ska?' Zack called out, but Ska didn't answer. His skin turned cold.
'You ******** killed me, you twisted c**t!' Someone else's voice. The girl from the farmhouse. Emily. Zack was haunted by her scream; it had boiled his bones and driven him to wake. 'Now Sintre's going to die too. You could have ******** helped me!'

Zack threw himself out of the bathroom, trampling over to his pokéball belt. He threw a ball, and for a moment the entire room was illuminated sky blue. 'Hazard,' Zack's voice almost died in his throat. 'Ghosts.'

Hazard flew around the room, her dark laughter prickling Zack to his core. She turned into a misty whirl, then reformed in front of her trainer with a shrug. [No ghosts here, boss. Excepting yours truly, kekekeke!]

'Got a habit of leaving people to die, hasn't he?' Ska's voice echoed as Zack slumped against the wall. Zack could still see him on the Fishbone, impaled by debris and wandering to his death. It wasn't too late.
'Selfish ******** is what he is.'
'Those actual tears, Zachary? My oh my, seems we've touched a nerve!'
'Took everything from me...'
'Never got to hold her...'
'Stop it.'

Ska roared with laughter. 'He wants it to stop! Didn't realise you told jokes, mate. We'll never stop.'
'We'll always be here.'
'In the darkest depths of your mind, waiting.'
'Your actions have ******** consequences, dickhead.'

Zack grabbed another pokéball, and again the room flashed blue. Serene stood opposite her trainer, eyes locked on him, studying. Zack could barely keep his heart in his chest. He felt like he was suffocating. His voice came out as a shallow gasp. 'Use Psychic.'

The Kirlia held the faint look of surprise, then closed her eyes. Her horns glowed an ethereal white, and that was the last thing Zack saw.

Lumiose City - South Boulevard Pokémon Center

The center was still empty as ever. It didn't see much use during the day anymore, and mornings weren't much better. If Salieri and Matheson were to glance into the battle yards as they made their way through the lobby, they'd see Robin training with Seraph and Reptilia.

Her level 72 Volcarona unleashed a Fiery Dance that partially engulfed Reptilia's wing. The flames ate into the ground before trailing upwards into the sky, leaving a molten pit in the arena floor. The Noivern broke away. Swooping in up close on its injured wing, it retaliated with a thundering Boomburst that struck Seraph point-blank, and threatened to blow out the reinforced windows.

Robin didn't look pleased. She'd wanted Seraph to let the dance subside for a moment, use the time to readjust its aim, then bring the fire back in full force, but her timing had been all wrong. She just needed more practice before they would be properly in sync.  

[Jump Einatz]

Reptilia's Boomburst reverberated throughout the Center's training area, causing Salieri and everyone in her party but Dune and Ivan to flinch with irritation. Wincing, Sal looked over at the source of the piercing noise echoing in her ears before 8 in the morning. Any seasoned trainer could tell those Pokémon were strong, and currently above her team's pay grade. Something about that power made Salieri nostalgic for her Pokémon she'd parted ways with months ago, but that nostalgia extended beyond her own experience. I know that Volcarona.

Her eyes wandered to the trainer as she took another sip of her smoothie. The white streak in her hair, the dark skin, the way she carried herself. ...and I know that girl too. Robin, Zack's old flame. Another trainer from the same academy, and the current trainer of the Volcarona formerly known as Zack's. From what Salieri recalled, Robin's falling out with the Redgrave had been unpleasant due to the infidelity and what-not. Did he know she was here, in Kalos?

Salieri thought it would be dicey to get herself tangled with this trainer now, when her friend had such a complicated history with the girl, a history she herself had witnessed through Bonding. But Robin's Pokémon were stronger than most of the other trainers she came across, and her Pokémon needed the levels. Despite her judgement, Sal stood and walked over to the arena Robin was using.

"Robin Carella?" she asked from behind her aviators, sipping through her straw after asking.  

[Marsuru]

Robin nearly did a double take when she saw Salieri. Trainers who walked around with their whole team out were usually trying hard to flex, but something told Robin this was the type of trainer who just liked to spend time with her pokémon. And, she realised as it clicked into place who Salieri was, this was the last girl in Kalos who needed to flex right now.

'Salieri Soledad,' Robin replied with a friendly grin. She held up her hand and Reptilia ceased combat, folding his wings in to twirl out of the air and land with a heavy crunch next to his trainer. Seraph took a moment, but turned silently and flew downwards as well, each flap of its wings releasing gentle embers. Robin stroked Reptilia along the neck as she kept her eyes on the incoming trainer. Reptilia scanned the lineup of Sal's pokémon, making eye contact with each of them and releasing a low growl.

'You're the trainer everyone's talking about right now,' she said, patting Reptilia twice. The dragon took off skyward again, soaring on a blast of air to circle the arena. 'And the conspiracy theorist who might actually be on to something. Zack told me all about you.'

She paused. Salieri knew her name. Had Zack told Salieri about her as well?

'You know, using your own pokémon as a weapon like that,' Robin wagged her finger, 'that was impressive. Where'd you train?'  

[Marsuru]

Anistar City Pokémon Center

Zack awoke to his Holo Caster vibrating on the night stand, still slumped against the wall with a pounding headache. Serene sat on the end of his bed, and looked up when he regained consciousness, but only for a second before returning to her game of making small objects race each other around the room. Zack clicked the alarm off and listened, but all he could hear was his own heartbeat. The ghosts were gone.

[WOOooOOooOOooOOooOO!] Hazard flew through the wall and into Zack's face. [I am the Queen of Ghosts! Kekekeke! Bow before meeee!]

Zack wafted Hazard away and stood up, nursing the back of his head. It was light out and, unless his Holo Caster's alarm was suddenly very wrong, six in the morning. He felt more like himself, albeit a version of himself who had recently been blasted by a bolt of Psychic. Zack spent some time in the shower, got out and dressed. He still had spots of dirt and blood on his clothes from yesterday, and decided to grab a new outfit in Lumiose once the shops were open.

'Alright, you big purple clown. Return.' Zack recalled Hazard, who had stolen Serene's objects and started juggling them with her tongue, leaving him alone with the psychic type. Zack finished brushing his teeth, threw his bag over his shoulder and began to fasten his pokéball belt.

Serene said nothing, did nothing, the whole time. Her horns were a dull red, lifeless and empty. It was like having the broken Ralts back. It had been a miracle for her to recover the first time.

'Serene,' Zack said. She didn't look up, and sat statue-still. Zack may as well have been a ghost himself. 'Serene, I'm sorry I made you do that. I was...'

Zack's voice caught, and he realised he had to make the one admission he'd been trained never to make.

'I was frightened. When I saw that list, saw my mom's name on it, I got scared, and I made a choice,' Zack said, but Serene still didn't respond. His insides turned. He saw Emily on the grass, the note in his hand, the fire behind them, the horror of the threat, and her desperate scream. Every moment he fought so hard to suppress back in full force. 'And I've tried to bury how I felt, and I thought that made me okay. Didn't stop to think that you'd be suffering. Can't imagine how it'd feel to...'

Emily's final scream echoed into Zack's mind. His first thought was to shut it out, pretend it didn't bother him. But it did. He'd deliberately rendered another human being into a vegetable. It wasn't fair to her to pretend that didn't carry weight.

He made the decision for his family. If he had to make it again, he would. Running away from his feelings didn't make him strong. Strength came from making the hard choice.

'With the way things are going, I can't promise I'll never have to do that again,' Zack continued, stepping carefully towards his pokémon. Her head turned ever so slightly. 'But I will promise that you'll never have to.'

Light flickered in the cores of Serene's horns. She looked back at her trainer with a down-turned smile, and nodded slow.

'Now come on,' Zack said, tossing his thumb towards the door. 'I'll buy you ice cream for breakfast.'  

[Jump Einatz]

As Biz Marquis made googly eyes in the presence of two certifiably badass Pokémon, Reynard growled right back at Reptilia as steam hissed from her body. "Cool it," Sal warned her Vaporeon, who still locked eyes with the Noivern heedlessly.

Everyone's talking about me? Salieri had forgotten how many people livestreamed and Chatted out her duel with Alanza. She hadn't checked social media yet, and was pretty bad at keeping up with it in general if it pertained to her. Usually Mia was the one to tell her what was going on with those platforms. Where was that text letting her know about her infamy before she got out of bed in the morning? Sal suddenly felt naked without her most trusted support. The sunglasses hid her red eyes, but they did little to hide her identity.

Zack and Robin still talked? Sal was surprised, and felt a little weird about it. Did he still carry that torch? She wondered what he said about her to Robin. She wondered what he said about her to other people in general.

"All over the place," she answered. Whether they belonged to an academy or not, budding trainers were encouraged to travel the world in order to self guide their education. Some regions had training specialties, but no matter where you went, you could learn something new. "Oblivia, Ferrum. Mostly Orre. You trained at the same academy as Zack, right? He told me all about you too."

He didn't really tell her everything. Technically he told her nothing at all, and her entire knowledge base about Robin came from holding hands with her ex for a day. Sal wasn't about to explain that to a stranger.  

[Marsuru]

So he had. Robin struggled to imagine Zack telling stories about them when the unspoken conclusion would always be "And then I cheated on her" but apparently he was comfortable enough to do that with Salieri.

'If it's all good, he's lying,' Robin said playfully. She acted like the mere mention of Orre didn't boil her blood. Pushed the feeling down, made sure she was the one in control. With Salieri wearing glasses, Robin couldn't see quite how wrecked the other trainer looked. 'Hey, no s**t you went to Ferrum? That's where I trained my Braixen.'

She pulled Xivi's ball from her belt and called the Fox pokémon out to play. The fire type stood majestically in the sun and gently twirled her stick. The sunlight shone brightly through the ends of her fur and painted them white. She scanned Salieri's squad and settled on Biz, shooting him a shark-toothed grin. Predator and prey.

'If you were around a couple years back, you might have seen us absolutely trash the Iron League,' Robin said, kneeling down next to Xivi and ruffling the fur on top of her head.  

[Jump Einatz]

Biz looked to Dune at his left, Reynard to his right, and then met Xivi's eyes and pointed to himself just to make sure that grin was meant for him. He had never been singled out before. It wasn't as badass a feeling as it was intimidating.

"Wish I coulda seen it," Sal said, genuinely. Her tour of Ferrum was more than just a couple years back, taking place before Arnaud had been burned by Kyren Balibar. That was when she and Moze had traveled together. Those days were, sadly, long behind her.

"He did tell me you're one hell of a trainer. Wasn't lying after all." She jabbed her thumb back at her team. "Think our teams could tangle while we're here? My party needs the experience, I was slacking yesterday."

During the first week of the league, Sal thought the best way to level quickly was to venture off route and challenge the wild Pokémon. During the second week, when a roster picked up more skill and only the stronger trainers remained, her preferred strategy was to get experience from her competitors. At this point, the top tier trainers would have Pokémon stronger than what would be found off route, and they used actual tactics in battle. Challenging Robin to a straight up battle with the level gap would be a fool's errand that wouldn't amount to much for Salieri's sake in comparison to free form scuffles.  

[Marsuru]

Robin gave Salieri a cheesy grin. 'Really. I saw videos of you "slacking off" already. If that's the case then I look forward to seeing you put the effort in.'

Salieri had absolutely wrecked Alanza Taine in a poké-powered fist fight, becoming the first person in memory to beat her at anything. After that, clips of Salieri's past battles had gone viral. Robin didn't exactly live on social media, but it was league season and it would be silly not to stay informed of the trainer circuit. She was genuinely excited for this battle. There was a level difference between the teams, but raw power only told part of the story.

Reptilia circled back around, hovering close by Seraph, the beat of their wings starting to compete and unleash heavy drafts of air with embers in the mix. Xivi puffed her chest out, twirled her stick, and planted it in the ground, ready to be picked first. But Robin didn't choose any of them, and instead threw out Vigant, her level 74 Goodra.

The dragon type roared, beat her chest, then gave everyone a friendly wave.

'Alright! Let's do this,' Robin said as she went to her trainer box. 'Afterwards, you can tell me where you got that sick bandana.'

Robin tended to dress practically, with cargos and a decent pair of boots. Every now and then though, she liked to accessorise with something cool.  

[Marsuru]

Anistar City

Some said that Anistar's famous sundial came from outer space. Zack had been around enough to know that was just some s**t they fed the tourists. Still, it did look pretty spectacular. Serene stayed out of her ball and walked alongside her trainer as they explored the town. While Zack liked to get up early, the rest of Kalos were still rising. It'd be a little while longer before shops were open and Serene could get her ice cream, but she seemed to enjoy being out of her ball all the time.

'What do you think? Reckon this thing landed here?' Zack asked, looking back at the Kirlia as she perched on an iron railing. The psychic closed her eyes, emitted a wave of psychic power, then gave up and just shrugged. 'Guess we'll have to work on your psychic history-reading skills.'

Sure, like those were a thing.

There was nobody around but a short railing to stop him - or anyone else, judging from where chunks of the sundial had been chipped off for souvenirs - so Zack reached out and placed his hand on its smooth pink surface. Almost immediately, the Keystone gem fitted into his Mega Ring started to glow a dazzling rainbow light. He snatched his hand back as if he'd just touched a live ********!' he said, cradling his fingers. Hadn't hurt, just a shock. Zack looked back at Serene, then to the sundial. That was... weird. He held his ring up and saw the light had stayed inside. After a moment it swirled before finally settling back to normal. 'Huh. Okay.'

Probably something he should raise with the Professor. But before Zack could do anything else, his Holo Caster pinged a text. Then it pinged another one. And another.

'Ugh, just send it all at once,' Zack grumbled, but his attitude relaxed when he saw the sender.

-Couldn't sleep. So tired. Getting breakfast in Lumiose.
-There's a cafe on Rue De La Rouquette called Unovan Delights that makes real burgers.
-Come join us?

Lumiose City - Unovan Delights

Zack and Serene Teleported into the city then caught a cab over. Zack felt like he had a decent grasp on Lumiose's layout by now, but some places were still a mystery to him. The cab driver was some dirty old fart who had probably been at it all night. He kept telling Zack ridiculous stories about being a trainer in his youth all in a thick Kalosian drawl, but Zack kind of liked him by the end of the ride.

'Oh my god,' Zack said, trying not to laugh. Unovan Delights had gone 151% with the Unovanity. Everything was Black and White, with huge repeating patterns of Unova's flag. There were supersized Twist Mountain Cakes capped by spirals of icing, Route 4 "Sand"wiches, Casteliacones, Nimbasa Pizzas...

He sat on one of the outdoor tables, both to wait for Helena and wait for Unova Delights to actually open. In the meantime, Zack opened his notebook and scribbled down some passages about what happened in Anistar with his Mega Ring.  

[Spinne Biss]

Lumiose City

"I've taken eight years of kendo, and my Pokemon are stronger than yours," Henrietta scolded Helena as the two of them walked. "I'm going to help you stop him."

"Fine," Helena relented. She had told the pink haired teen everything hoping to keep her informed but safe.

"And you're telling Azzy and Bridgette when we get back."

"You sound like Azzy."

Henrietta blushed and looked away. "H-hum."

Rounding the corner they'd arrive at the wonderful little restaurant. The first time Henrietta had taken her here Helena was overwhelmed with how comical it was. Now it just felt like being home for the tiniest of bits.

Her eyes lit up when they caught sight of Zack sitting at one of the tables and she picked up her pace to meet him, no concern for the people who stopped to look at her in her pajamas.

"You came!" she said. It was a delight to see him now that she wasn't keeping any secrets. She wanted to extend her hand to him, to get back to the adventure they had come here for. With nothing between them, nothing pulling them apart.

Helena wanted her older brother back. The one who would tell her all the insane adventures he had out in the field. The one who brought her souvenirs from all over the world. The one who told her that smiling was illegal whenever she was sad because it always made her laugh.

"I know it's ridiculous," she said as she took her seat across from her brother. "but the burgers are legit. They're super juicy like the ones Robby used to make." her voice softened to a whisper, "I think they use the same secret of adding wine when they're cooking them."

Henrietta took her seat on Helena's right, Zack's left. There was a slight smile on her face as she looked at Helena.

"This is Henrietta," she said and the pink haired girl squeaked and offered Zack her hand.

"H-hey."  

[Marsuru]

'Hey. Yeah, I've seen you before,' Zack said to Henrietta, a little disappointed that this wasn't just going to be Helena and him. After the past week, he just wanted some normalcy. Especially after this morning.

's**t. I was gonna try and eat healthy this week,' Zack glanced into the window of the shop. He could forgive appearances if it meant a Robby Tobb burger. There was movement inside, so they were probably going to open up any second.

'So uh,' Zack glanced at Henrietta then back to his sister. 'You two, uhh...?'

This was strange new ground for Zack.

'You know?'  

[Spinne Biss]

Helena looked at Zack as he looked between the two of them and after a second it clicked and her cheeks flushed. "No."

"N-no what?" Henrietta looked between the two siblings, still perplexed.


Helena looked at Henrietta. "We're not dating."

And, after a pause, Henrietta said "W-we aren't?" Then, watching Helena's entire face turn beat red, she'd start laughing.

"N-no, but I think I m-might be the one who got her to question herself." Henrietta looked at Zack, still smiling proudly at her teasing.

Helena took a few seconds longer to compose herself. "We share a bed - NOT like that."  

[Marsuru]

Zack's face was a mask, except for his eyes, which moved left and right as the two talked.

'Okay,' he said, stifling a grin. 'If not in a gay way, in a what way?'  

[Spinne Biss]

"When the caesura started I felt really isolated. I felt like you didn't want me here, Sal hated me, and Ben was just a stranger. So I confided in Henrietta, and a few other people. Azucena, or Azzy and Bridgette. We have a suite in the city with a giant bed and we share it cause," she was still blushing and she looked away from Zack now. "it makes me feel safe."

Helena wouldn't catch it but the entire time she spoke Henrietta watched her with a different sort of smile. When she smiled at Zack it was a normal smile, but when she watched the Redgrave sister talk there was a fascination in her eyes, like she did not want to look away for even a second. "Sh-she's comfy," Henrietta said as she looked to Zack apparently taking pride in teasing Helena.

Then the bell rang on the door as the restaurant opened, door swinging wide. "Oh thank Arceus," Helena said, and she waved over the waiter.