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Whenever Clara would wake up after the events at the Battle Chateau, she’d find herself in a plush bed, under quite possibly one of the softest blankets she’d ever felt. If she looked around the room, she would notice that it was very well furnished, with a couple of small paintings on the walls. Most every piece of furniture in there looked like it was made from a dark wood, and was ornately carved. On the nightstand next to her, she’d find most of her smaller belongings on there, including her SNAG, which probably still smelled faintly of burnt electronics. One thing she would find missing would be her corset dress, which was replaced with a nightgown at some point during the night.

After a couple of minutes, or sooner if she said anything after waking up, the teen would hear a knock on the door. “Madamoiselle? May I come in,” what sounded like an elderly woman’s voice would ask, coming through the door quite clearly. If nothing else, she could probably guess that she was still in Kalos.

The elderly maid would look at Clara with a confused look on her face. "Um, I do happen to, yes. Also, hopefully, these clothes will fit, my dear. We eyeballed your size when you arrived, but these were the only clothes we had around that side. Please, go ahead and try them on." She'd walk forward and put the set of clothes on the bad and bow. "Whenever you are ready, the lady of the house would like to see you. And do be careful, my dear. She mentioned that you had fell and that's why you were asleep when you arrived. Now, I shall give your your privacy as you change. Just let me know when you're ready, my dear." With that, she'd bow and walk back outside, closing the door behind her.

When Clara walked outside, the maid would bow once more. "Ah, I see you are ready. Please, follow me." She began walking, making sure that Clara could keep up. If Clara took a look around, she'd see that it was most definitely not a mere house, but a small mansion, and she would find that she was on the second floor. The same type of theme from the bedroom would carry out into the rest of the building, though the carpet would be replaced by wood flooring. "The lady will be down in the study here. If she hasn't been outside tending to the birds or working on her archery skills once again, she's been in the study, trying to catch up on everything the family has done or had planned to do in the years she's been away. Such a heavy burden to pick up at her age. I don't believe she's even caught up on the other events of the nobility. Ah!" She would stop in front of a room on the first floor, door open to a large study, with plenty of books on the walls, a couple of small desks floating around in there where they wouldn't be in the way, and then a large table in the center, with four plush chairs around it. One of said chairs would contain a familiar face, Aile, who had her right arm on the table, the hand propping up her head. Her left would be flicking the surface of a tablet, mumbling to herself. She hadn't even noticed Clara or the maid yet.

"My apologies for rambling on, but if I might introduce the Baroness Alysandra Wyndra. She brought you back in the arms of her Nidoking passed out. Apparently, things went quite south at the Chateau last night. She's been in a worse mood than normal. My lady," she'd call out, causing the woman's head to jolt up. "The young woman you brought back has woken up. So far, at least, she seems to be fine."

"Ah, merci," Aile would reply, standing up and nodding. She'd walk up to the maid and give her a hug, followed by a couple of air kisses on the cheeks, a small smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, Amelie. Could I ask you to bring some tea, as well as something to eat for our friend here?"

"Most certainly, my lady." Amelie would do a deep curtsy and return a warm smile to Aile before hurring off. The apparent noble would offer a seat next to her to sit in.

"Please, take a seat, Clara. How are you feeling? You took a fairly bad fall last night at the Chateau last night. And, on that note, what all do you remember from there?" Aile herself wouldn't take a seat yet, leaning on the back of the chair she was sitting in earlier. Her eyes would show concern, but they were also bloodshot, either through lack of sleep or possibly crying, it was hard to tell at this point.

"Thank you. So you just had too many drinks then. This explains a lot...." The woman would take a deep breath and sigh, brushing back some of her hair behind her ear. "So." She'd tilt her head at Clara, noting her body language before finally taking a seat herself. "Any questions you have for me? I'm sure you have them. And don't worry about offending me or anything like that. With how it's been the past week or so, especially last night, being offended is the least of my problems." Aile would fold her hands in front of her and give a faint smile. "Please, go ahead and ask whatever comes to mind."

"Aile, though that's just what I've gone by for over six years... If you want to be really technical, it would by Alysandra. But Ally works, too, I suppose." A small chuckle would escape from Aile, looking down at the table now. "That's what they'd shorten my name to sometimes. My family, I mean. And as for what kind of royal, I'm way far back from the proper royal line. I'm a baroness, the lowest tier. Something extreme would have to happen for me to be considered next in line. And really? I would have thought you'd have more questions, like what happened after the party at the very least."

"The news paints it as very chaotic. Those reckless Snagems, I'm glad that you left that life behind, my dear," Amelie would comment as she came in, the maid laying a large tray with a tea pot, two cups, cream, sugar, and plenty of pastries onto the table. She'd continue on as she began to pour the two their tea. "Eyewitnesses commented that they saw plenty of the wanted Snagems at the party, largest among them that Gilt Reaper. My mind is still boggled by how you became involved with that lot in the first place, my lady. My word, there was a ruckus raised when a noble of all people was found to be in line with them. Your mother, rest her soul, was furious when they fully identified that picture taken by the Pokéball factory. I'm just thankful they put a stay on that bounty for you to come and handle the family affairs. And that bird that wound up becoming a Duke! Rumor has it that he was cooperating with those Snagems. Even if it was in the ruling within the Battle Chateau, he should have never- Oh, my lady, pardon my rambling," she'd apologize, bashfully looking down from Aile's stern glare.

Aile would sigh as she removed the look. "It's alright. He's quite the trainer, honestly. Based on battling prowess alone, he deserves his title."

The maid would tilt her head, her brown eyes taking in Aile in a new light. "You most certainly have changed from that rebellious woman I took care of before. You would have immediately dismissed him on the basis of being a hybrid."

"I've had plenty of experience with them. They have thoughts and feelings just like us. The only difference is that they're part Pokémon, through one way or another. I've seen pure humans act worse than most of them." She'd go back to looking down at the table, her shoulders sagging. "Thank you, Amilie. You can return to your other duties now." The old maid would look at the woman with a look of sadness before curtsying and heading out.

"Sorry about that. You probably didn't want to hear all of that about them," Aile would apologize, starting to add some sugar to her tea. "But, that's the opinion of Snagem here. At least among the nobility and most of those that work for them. And not to mention, the bridges I've burned..." She shook her head, almost like she was trying to get rid of the thought.

Aile would look up at Clara with a slightly open mouth, unsure of how to respond. "I..." She shook her head once more, getting her thoughts back on track. "From the top, Ally is fine, just relax. And I wouldn't call Snagem evil, either, I mean, look at what we did in Hoenn. And as for me leaving Snagem, well..." She'd get up from her chair and walk over to one of the desks. She'd pull open one of the drawers and retrieve something from it, then return to the table and put the object on it. "There's no potential of me returning, I'm very well confident, if that's any indication." The object would be Aile's own SNAG, but it was scorched and melted a lot more violently than Clara's was. "It wasn't anyone within Snagem that forced my departure, either." She stared at the destroyed SNAG as her mouth gestured as if about to say something, though no words came out yet. Finally, "This stays between us. Not even my Pokémon know why I left, and that's already bit me in the rear with one of them. None of the servants here know, and do not want any of the Snagems to know, either." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"Most of Kalos by now is under the assumption that my parents and brother are dead. They went out on a boating vacation about.... a month back, I believe, and they haven't been seen since. However... When we came back here to try and find Rhyme, Celosia immediately recognized me and gave me this envelope. Inside had a few pictures and a wonderful letter." The woman drummed her fingers on the table as she struggled to continue. "It... I have to work with Flare, again, to ensure my family's safely. It's a long story... One that I don't really want to talk about right now. But, needless to say, I went along with them. Not immediately then and there, but I did, later on, when we all regrouped. After the Zygarde Core went to Rhyme, I... that's when I acted. Kayvaan and Regirock were sent out. Kayvaan grabbed the Core from Rhyme, while I had Regirock attack Darts first." She rubbed her arm at that point biting her lip. "At that point, while everyone was still blind-sighted, I got onto Regirock and we made our escape. On a side note, Darts will probably beat me to within an inch of my life for that, if his reaction to me was any indication. I don't blame him, but I'm genuinely terrified." She bit her lip once more and looked down, taking deep breaths to keep control of herself.

"I, uh... " Being hugged was the last thing she was expecting, closer to a mix of anger and pity, or at least a scolding that she should have told the other Snagems what was going on, not... Not unrelenting support. It also seemed like crying was contagious, because Aile finally broke into tears after all this. "I-I don't think you can. Not unless you can get m-me Regirock and Arkana back, and f-find out where my parents are so I can end this n-nightmare," she'd finally sob, after probably a god couple of minutes of just crying. "Th-this whole scenario was why I left my family in the first place." she'd explain, trying to recover her calm.

"Last night was a disaster... I didn't foresee any Snagems showing up, I didn't even know Blizz was a duke, I've been away from the nobility and all of their politics for so long, and then when everything went to l'enfer, I just lost it, which was extremely out of character for me... I acted so out of character. Fear makes us do stupid things, and by Arceus, that was the worst. I sent out my Flygon in an area that I swore I wouldn't, because I don't want to start an outbreak here, but I did, and then I sent Regirock out, and then Isaac managed to snag him somehow, I don't even..." Her sobbing would continue now in full force. "W-w-w-worst of all, Ark-kana left me of her own will, Kayvaan told me. Sh-sh-she left b-b-b-because I d-d-didn't tell her wh-what was going on..." The woman would just curl up into a ball in her chair, her head now resting on her knees as she cried loudly.

Aile would continue to bawl her eyes out as Clara held her, the well of tears slowly stopping as Clara spoke. At one point, Amelie would come by, intending to check on them, but upon seeing the scene, she merely smiled and closed the door to the study, allowing them some privacy. It took probably a good five minutes before she had calmed down to a level where she was comfortable speaking again. “I… I don’t think they’ll accept me back, though, Clara. As much as I may want to. And you’re fine, though..” She’d rub her eyes, the stinging from the tears getting to her finally. “...How old are you, though? And already a doctor and professor? Pardon, but that’s a slight oddity, considering how young you look.” The woman would now blink rapidly, eyes still in a bit of pain.