It wasn't such a surprise that even at this hour people flocked to the newly built cemetery. The rows of recently acquired tombstones spoke of a reality Hoenn wouldn't soon forget, especially those that had known the people which now rested beneath cold, uncaring earth.

The clicking of shoes caught her attention, but Skyler didn't move her gaze away from where it rested, lost somewhere in the distant ocean. She didn't move from her current position, leaned against a tombstone with a bottle in hand. Only when the approaching footsteps stopped, alarmingly close to where she was sitting, did the blonde's chin tilted upwards to peer at whoever had decided to grace her with their company. Or bother her, more like.

It was a shock to see a familiar face framed by moonlight pale hair staring back at her.

"Celeste..." The word was breathed out, and for a brief moment Skyler felt as if in a dream. Standing in a cemetery with a ghostly pale woman she'd met in a dilapidated, sunken ship. A woman who'd saved her life when they'd first met, and whose life had been saved in turn, months later, in the wake of a bloody, watery battlefield.

Silence settled between the two of them, as if too heavy with the weight of memories; most of them rubbing Skyler's wounds raw. And yet. It'd been Celeste who had seen her through the battle, fighting abominations and facing the ire of something Celeste regarded as a goddess and Skyler as... She didn't truly know. Legendaries had always belonged in myths and legends, removed from the waking world. The sailor wasn't too enthused about having another encounter with one of those legendary beasts.

As far as Skyler was concerned, legendaries could keep their distance from her.

It was only at that moment that Skyler noticed the strange attire Celeste was wearing. Even though they'd only seen each other a number of times, Skyler had grown accustomed to the smaller woman's formal way of dress. When silvery eyes peered up at the young woman, however, the casualness of the outfit surprised her and- so did the lack of fabric around Celeste's midriff, exposing the splotches of purple that spread from her sides. A memory of car-sized tentacles wrapping themselves around Celeste came to mind. Ah...

"Don't have much to say, Celeste." The smile Skyler greeted Celeste with was a far fainter version of the one she usually sported, its vibrancy lowered to the faint shadow of something that could've been amusement. "I doubt the dead will hear me even if I scream myself hoarse." There was - something like bitterness spilling from her lips, tainting her words. Skyler had never been the best at hiding her emotions. The sailor didn't mean to sound ungrateful, but at a time like this most people weren't themselves. It didn't help that Skyler had been the one to find and identify the body, half-chewed through it'd been.

"Make yourself comfortable." Skyler patted the bit of earth by her side, moving the bottle of liquor to the other hand. "If you're going to give me some company, might as well rest for a little while. Might take some time for me to finish this." The glint of glass caught on the sun's dying rays, exposing the clear liquid within. "You're also welcome to join in. Plenty of alcohol for both of us and Anders." That would be more to his taste than those silly flowers, at least.

Curiosity, however, made Skyler reach out to Celeste before the other sat down. Calloused digits hovered over the pale woman's exposed skin, silver eyes looking up at amethyst ones in a silent request before Skyler traced the edges of Celeste's bruises with a wandering fingertip. "I'm... glad we both survived."

Celeste Abbiati