[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

It started innocently enough.[break][break]

He'd been a face in the campus library, one made familiar after many rendezvouses in companionable silence. Increasingly, it had become difficult to focus on her own studies of botany and plant physiology; she found herself far more intrigued by the books he'd chosen, filing away note of his likes and dislikes the way a Murkrow thieved sparkling baubles to marvel at later.[break][break]

In this world, she'd not been bold enough to assume anything. She presumed his studies consumed him too wholly for him to notice her in kind.[break][break]

"You know something of flowers, don't you?" he asked her suddenly one day, interrupting this silence that had been a sacred spell between them. He indicated the flower twined into her braid, its pink rose in fresh bloom. "You're the new Kalosian researcher in the Botany department. I've heard about you."[break][break]

His smile was kind, his own expression as unsure as her own. She flushed with surprise at being observed the way she'd observed him; a hand tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, unable to suppress her own smile as a nod affirmed him.[break][break]

"I thought you might be familiar with these," he continued, bringing out a tiny pouch of seeds for her to examine. "Gracidea seeds, they're called. I wondered if you might help with mine?"[break][break]

Some rosebuds unfurled quietly. Their gratitude blossomed in their own time and their own season.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

"It's like a dream, isn't it?," she'd breathed out in awe, pulling GIDEON GRAVES by the arm deeper into the Petalburg Woods. An excited thrill had entered her voice, pulled by the irresistible allure of curiosity and childlike curiosity. "I can scarcely believe so many flowers could suddenly appear overnight."[break][break]

Crystablooms sparkled in every conceivable color all around them, illuminating the glade like twinkling stars that had deigned to descend back to the earth for a little while.[break][break]

This had been what had brought her to Hoenn: the rare flora that had emerged here, inviting unique expertise in her field that the League sorely desired. She'd been humbled to work beside such legends as Eva Morales and illeana reyes, offering her own thoughts as they discussed the subject of infinity energy and the distortions that had arrived at the same time as these mysterious, beautiful flowers.[break][break]

Hoenn held so much more possibility for her than Kalos ever had.[break][break]

"Did you bring me here for my professional opinion?" he asked her patiently, waiting until she paused for a breath between her rambling thoughts on what portent this held. Her hand had not left his own, he noticed; he squeezed it gently to remind her of his presence, distracted by her warmth. "Or for something else?"[break][break]

The flash of surprise on her face suggested she'd not thought this far. Her own lack of self-awareness made her mistake his gentle inquiry as criticism, and it showed in the sudden shift of her reaction.[break][break]

"You don't think they bode ill, do you?" she blurted out suddenly, turning around to look at him. Uncertainty sat in her emerald gaze, embarrassment at her own enthusiasm bleeding into her voice. "Of course it's a possibility, and one that I do know is very likely, although I..."[break][break]

"Elisa," he interrupted, exasperated laughter finding him. "That isn't what I am asking you."[break][break]

In another world, she'd entered the realm of romance far too young to understand what she wanted; in this one, she'd neglected her heart for a decade in favor of pursuits of the mind. A fluttering in her chest like the beat of a Beautifly's wings drowned out the sounds around her as he stepped closer, his thumb smoothing out her palm as umber eyes met hers meaningfully.[break][break]

"Ask me, then," she dared him, the nerves that had characterized her before strangely vanishing the longer her gaze held his. A newfound boldness entered her tone as she breached the remaining distance between them, a quickening excitement taking hold of her as her eyes flitted from his lips to his eyes once more. She brought his hand to feel her heartbeat, erratic and wild with anticipation. "Before either of us changes our mind."[break][break]

He kissed her under the cloak of darkness, witnessed only by the glow of the crystablooms in the night.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

The double-date with Gunner Graves and mila alexopoulos at Moonblast Microbrewery had been illuminating. "I don't think they're good for one another," GIDEON GRAVES had confided to Elisabeth prior to their introduction, but the banter between the two suggested an intimacy that Elisabeth figured she'd have to be blind to miss.[break][break]

"It's sweet that you worry about him," she replied, genuinely, as they departed the bar. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to have siblings. You two make me think I've missed out on something."[break][break]

Behind them both, Gunner and Mila could be seen quarreling loudly with one another, and despite the obvious exasperation in Gideon's face, it brought an amused smile to her own.[break][break]

"He likes you, you know," Gideon said, unprompted. "Gunner. He says he hasn't seen me like this in a long time."[break][break]

Unexpected delight at this confession rendered her briefly speechless, and she tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear, her smile widening despite herself.[break][break]

"I'm glad," she murmured, before she looked for another subject to distract from this one. "Didn't you say you taught the woman who owns the brewery? Naomi Sato, wasn't it?"[break][break]

It felt nice, to belong to a family again.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

"Do you plan to go to the Palentine's Day Speed Dating event?!"[break][break]

Elisabeth raised an eyebrow at her colleague's question, attempting to focus on the paperwork in front of her. "Decidedly not," she answered, to the dismay of her bored peer in the campus lounge.[break][break]

"Why not?" the other woman prodded, seeming annoyed as she pouted. "It was great fun last year!"[break][break]

"Was it?" Elisabeth retorted flatly, uninterested in pursuing the topic further.[break][break]

She'd met a star-studded cast a year ago, certainly. Though right out the gate they had paired her with FERNANDO SILPH -- an unmitigated disaster, by her own estimation. She wasn't familiar with interacting with people in power, and sensed she hadn't handled herself well. He seemed interested in her line of work at least, but beyond that, any connection felt doubtful.[break][break]

HNN's BARNABY FINCH had assuredly been charming, but mostly amused at the flustered mess she'd become on the heels of her first round, she thought. Definitely not someone she felt like facing again in any capacity; she'd much prefer to crawl under a rock.[break][break]

And frankly, MATIAS SILPH had simply been rude.[break][break]

If she were to be brutally honest, the only person she'd felt any chemistry with that day had been kyle lopez, and the man was married.[break][break]

"I'm involved with someone now," Elisabeth said instead, grabbing her supplies as she moved to depart. "So there's no need."[break][break]

He'd been too busy in his studies to join in that silly little event that day, she'd learn when she confronted GIDEON GRAVES about it later.[break][break]

"We were meant to meet when we did," he said, and she decided she liked to believe in the serendipity of it all.[break][break]

That they were fated to meet, one way or another, and become the happiness the other needed.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

"I've been told I could find Lady Fiorelli here."[break][break]

Elisabeth startled slightly at the sound of the low masculine voice, having knelt at her parents' grave with a pot of radiant peace lilies for planting. A shovel had begun to till the soil anew, preparing for her annual ritual to keep these flowers in Kalos forever abloom on the anniversary of her mother's death.[break][break]

The strange man behind her loomed tall and ominously, and despite lacking his name, she wondered why he seemed so familiar to her.[break][break]

"You mean Georgiana Fiorelli?" Elisabeth said, dusting the dirt off her skirt as she arose to her feet. "That would be my mother." She gestured to the grave, with letters denoting that woman's passing, and offered a rueful smile. "I'm her only daughter. Were you here to pay your respects?"[break][break]

"My condolences, then." A tense pause hung in the air, before the man proceeded onwards, deciding to move past the awkwardness of the moment. "I was here for the last living Fiorelli. Yourself, I presume." He clicked his tongue, coal-black eyes narrowing in on her. "Elisabeth?"[break][break]

There was something so discomfiting in the way he spoke her name aloud. It sent shivers crawling involuntarily up and down her spine.[break][break]

"You've found me, then," she replied, attempting a weak smile. "I'm afraid you have me on the backfoot. You know my name, and I have yet to learn yours."[break][break]

A somewhat amused smile creased his lips, shown in a flicker of condescension that colored his voice.[break][break]

"Bortiforte. Édouard Bortiforte."[break][break]

Oh. A dizziness overtook Elisabeth for a moment as she placed that name to memory. She should have recognized this man, certainly, after seeing his name plastered all over Kalos's newspapers. His company had become enormously successful, and his being jilted at the altar by another high society blue blood had been quite the scandal when it occurred, resulting in his famous bachelorhood. Hadn't he recently been elected to political office, even?[break][break]

She'd fallen so woefully behind in current affairs since moving to Hoenn. What did such an illustrious person want with her?
[break][break]

"An honor to meet you, then," she said, extending a dirt-caked glove to shake his hand. He stared at it questioningly before she blinked, mortified, and removed it. "I'm not sure what I can do for you, however. I haven't been in Kalos much the past year."[break][break]

There was a strength in his grip that surprised her and frightened her alike, though she couldn't explain why her heart jumped in her throat the way it did.[break][break]

"You are a difficult woman to find. This is not the way I had hoped to discuss the matter with you," he began, nodding towards the graves she'd been tending, "but I was interested in the matter of your family plots in Camphrier Town."[break][break]

She stared at him, astonished at his sheer audacity to state such a blatant ask in front of the dead.[break][break]

He didn't release her hand.[break][break]

"In what capacity?" Elisabeth asked, her voice becoming tart. "The vineyard is open for touring, should you wish to explore it."[break][break]

"You said yourself you spend little time in Kalos. The market for luxury exports is increasingly competitive. Your name is on deed only, no? You hold no interest in the day-to-day affairs of the Fiorelli Winery." Her offense at his suggestion was noted but brusquely brushed aside. "You are a woman of science, I am told. Surely you see little logic in holding onto such valuable land that does not profit you?"[break][break]

"This has belonged to my family for generations," Elisabeth said, unable to suppress the indignation that heated her response. "You think my interest lies in its financial affairs?"[break][break]

"I see." Judgment sat in his tone, heavy as the fall of a guillotine, as he mocked her with a laugh that rumbled low as thunder. "You have your father's business sense, and your mother's sentimentality. I'll admit, I am disappointed. I had expected more of a woman with your reputation abroad."[break][break]

He might as well have slapped her, from the stricken expression that suddenly overtook her.[break][break]

"Ne me parle pas comme ça," she hissed. "Je te l’interdis!"[break][break]

"Elisa!" a soft, sing-song voice called distantly, and Elisabeth turned to see Georgette Bluebottle ascending the hill, treats from the Rivière gathered in her arms. Among them, stalks of beautiful white flowers could be seen peeking through. "Je suis désolé! I am late, I am late." She huffed slightly as she brought herself beside her blonde friend, staring up questioningly at the dark-haired stranger who'd accosted her. "Who is this?" Gigi accused.[break][break]

The surprise arrival of the ivory-haired woman was enough for the man to relinquish his grip on Elisabeth, and he let out another laugh, this one tinged with irritation.[break][break]

"I see I am not welcome here. Very well. I can understand when I am not wanted."[break][break]

He dipped his head in courteous farewell, and only when his shadow vanished over the hillside did Elisabeth fall to her knees, unable to stop herself from shaking. Georgette looked at her quizzically, rubbing her shoulders with a gentle hand, murmuring reassurance and kindness as her friend trembled for reasons she herself didn't understand.[break][break]

It felt like she'd met a ghost here, and narrowly escaped dying herself. How strange.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

"Hold still," she whispered to GIDEON GRAVES, tenderly wrapping fresh bandages about his wounds. Her heart broke at the pitiful state of his body in the wake of the terrible events of the Ultra Deep Sea -- something she had missed during her rendezvous in Kalos, only to return and see what a mess Rocket had made of Hoenn and those she loved.[break][break]

He winced visibly, and she brushed an apologetic kiss against his knuckle, her eyes filled with pity.[break][break]

"What monsters would do this to you?" she wondered aloud, unmistakable anger flaring up in her soft-spoken words. Cillian Quinn? THEO BECKETT? All heinous criminals she'd known to fear, but she'd never hated them so much as in this moment. "You're a civilian. You wouldn't hurt anyone."[break][break]

His answer was some sort of nonsense about wrong place, wrong time, but it didn't do anything to silence the fear that pounded in her heartbeat: I almost lost you. I can't lose anyone else again.[break][break]

"I'm glad you're here," he said then, and she blinked back tears she didn't realize had sprung to the fore. Somehow, despite everything, he was comforting her. Despite the fact he needed comfort most of all.[break][break]

"I'm staying with you," she agreed, determined and undeterred as she made her impulsive decision aloud. "You shouldn't be alone in this state, it's not..." Her voice trailed off, breaking half-way through her thought into something small and afraid. "I will worry, if I don't know that you're cared for," she said at last, wiping her eyes.[break][break]

"I love you, too," he said, and although it wasn't the way either of them had thought to confess their mutual feelings aloud, it didn't change the truth of things.[break][break]

Calamity had a way of dragging out the truth, whether one wanted it to or not.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

Soft, dewy light beamed in through her bedroom window as Elisabeth stirred from her slumber, the man next to her still soundly lost to the land of the dreaming. She let herself linger like this awhile, tenderly running her fingers through his dark hair as she smiled, before the light outside brightened to a sparkling radiance.[break][break]

[break]

This voice! It seemed so familiar, but so distant and unknowable all at the same time. Hesitation gripped her before she'd heed its beckoning call, and she leaned towards GIDEON GRAVES, overcome by a sudden fear that she might not see him again if she answered this strange summons.[break][break]

"I'm going out for some air, my love," she whispered, and he murmured his sleepy acknowledgment of her greeting. He remained blissfully unaware of the being hovering outside, patiently awaiting her presence. "Stay here and rest. I'll be back soon."[break][break]

A gentle kiss to his forehead served as her farewell.[break][break]

On careful tiptoe so as not to awaken him further, she slipped outside, cautiously making her way through her gardens in search of the peculiar creature that had flitted to her bedroom. "Hello?" she called out quietly, hoping not to disturb the Sunflora that had fallen asleep awaiting the dawn. "Is someone here?"[break][break]

When CELEBI appeared, Elisabeth froze in place, utterly mute at the sight of the mythical being's arrival. All the flowers around her seemed to bloom in thousands of new colors, fragrant with the aroma of spring itself, obeying the silent order of the fae-like being that watched over the cycle of time and season.[break][break]

[break]

Its large blue eyes were sad and kind.[break][break]

[break]

"You were looking for me?" Elisabeth asked, wrapping her shawl tighter around herself. "I don't know that there is anything I can do for you. I'm just a botanist, really. Not much of a trainer or anyone important." A strand of hair was tucked behind her ear. "Just... ordinary."[break][break]

[break]

"Perhaps not," she conceded, still astonished at the conversation being had at all. "Even so, I fear I don't understand your reason for seeking me. Is something amiss?" A glance beyond and into the Petalburg Wods caused another concern to spring to mind as fear laced itself into her words. "Is something wrong in the woods? Is... is it dying?"[break][break]

[break]

"That is a relief, then." Then her mind traced over the other things being unsaid, and she paused, landing on an odd realization. "You said 'here.' Are there... other places, and other cycles?"[break][break]

[break]

A chittering laugh echoed in the wilderness as the being smiled.[break][break]

Noticing her discomfort shivering in the night air, Celebi flew in a graceful arc as it beckoned a temporal portal into being.[break][break]

[break]

Mystified, Elisabeth took a step forward towards the shimmering portal. Once more, she dared to look behind her at her tiny home where she knew GIDEON GRAVES remained asleep, healing from his injuries. A sense she should run back to him overtook her for but a moment before she cast it aside as silly.[break][break]

Surely she would be safe in the company of such a deity as this one.[break][break]

"Show me," Elisabeth whispered, and she walked out of this world into the next.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

Death reeked from the air itself of this place, its environs cursed with blighted trees and rotting flora. Elisabeth shuddered, her vision struggling to adjust after the bountiful wonder that CELEBI had graced her with in her gardens mere seconds ago. Fear, painfully aware of its own human mortality, darkened her like a second shadow as she turned to the deity in alarm.[break][break]

"You said the woods were not dying?" she confronted the creature, audibly hurt at this deceit.[break][break]

[break]

Elisabeth marveled at the silence that fell around them, so agonizing in its vastness. "Is everything here dead?" she asked, and the fae shook its head slowly, a sorrowful expression in its eyes.[break][break]

[break]

A terrible sound, like the groaning cry of the dying, ripped and tore through the emptiness, hungering for something in this barren wasteland to sate its miserable need. Elisabeth shrank back, terrified, even as CELEBI remained poised and still.[break][break]

[break]

Suddenly then the nightmare realized itself: a hulking, massive shadow possessed of ochre eyes that glowed with autumnal rot. Swirling leaves, shriveled and blackened, rustled as it slithered throughout the woods in pursuit of some unseen prey. It cried with an unfed fury that struck terror into Elisabeth's heart as sharply as any dagger, begging for her to run and flee this place.[break][break]

[break]

"Find who?" Elisabeth interrupted, only to see another dark-haired figure in the gloom. He cried out a name -- (Her name? No, surely she was mistaken) -- before he moved to outpace the hideous creature in its merciless hunt. "And... who is he? Can he see us, the way we can see him?"[break][break]

He looks so afraid, she wanted to say, but the words died on her tongue. CELEBI said nothing as it beheld the vanishing form of BARNABY FINCH for awhile, before a small sigh answered.[break][break]

[break]

A distant light dwindled into darkness, two silhouettes disappearing inside. She could hear the bellowing rage of that Ruinous Beast's denial, incensed beyond all measure as it stampeded throughout the woods anew. The world suffered all the more for its indignity.[break][break]

[break]

And then, to her horror, CELEBI vanished.[break][break]

She ran, flailing and scrambling through the undergrowth, as human instinct told her not to challenge the might of a god. She threw herself over broken branches and stones, looking for a way back to a cottage that she didn't think would even be her own -- not in this world, at least, not in this tangled thread she'd found herself in. Relentlessly behind her, its breath hot on her neck with predatory want, she could sense the Beast pursuing her into the night.[break][break]

"Why would you abandon me here?" she shouted, her voice broken and tremulous with fear, as she found herself cornered in a snarl of roots and felled trees. Elisabeth turned around, horrified, as the strange creature with those hateful eyes slowed down in its advance, relishing the inevitable victory that would come with its arrival.[break][break]

Elisabeth closed her eyes, trembling with no Pokeball to defend herself and no benevolent god to champion her. Ochre eyes scrutinized her silently, seeking for any flaw it might seize itself upon, as the stench of decay overwhelmed her with nausea.[break][break]

As it loomed close, visions entered her mind, unbidden: mourning her parents' death, the aching loneliness of a decade spent paying off a debt that was not her own, the shyness and intimidation of her arrival alone in Hoenn, and then the free-falling despair of thinking that GIDEON GRAVES might have died in the Ultra Deep Sea, and she'd not have been there to protect him.[break][break]

I still want to protect him, even now. Even as I am about to die.[break][break]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Gideon. I'm sorry I left you alone, after I promised I never would.[break][break]

Sobs overtook her as she covered her face with her hands, falling to her knees in surrender. Whatever this creature wanted, she knew it would kill her. It didn't have the look of kindness, or of mercy. It seemed to only understand itself.[break][break]

What it wanted was a devouring.[break][break]

For awhile, Elisabeth waited for her death to come. She waited for blackened vines to ensnare her, for dark energies to pulse out and slice through her with unforgiving might, for venomous malice to cut her down in the middle of a forest she couldn't stop from dying with her.[break][break]

But several excruciating minutes later, she opened her eyes, and found herself alone.[break][break]

The Ruinous Beast had examined her soul, and found her wanting.[break][break]

[break]

The voice of CELEBI comforted her, and in that moment, Elisabeth realized it was a voice she knew. It was her mother's.[break][break]

[break]

A tiny hand touched her cheek, affectionate and soothing in its touch.[break][break]

[break]

The sobs became a flood, and Elisabeth felt powerless to stop it, shaking on the ground as she tried to fight back this overpowering wave of emotion. Had the Ruinous Beast truly scared her so much, to affect her so deeply? She felt so shamefully weak, and yet, so relieved at the same time.[break][break]

As if she'd been forgiven a great burden she'd been carrying for some time.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

When the portal shimmered once more, Elisabeth found herself with Celebi in another place and time.[break][break]

The familiar sound of a waltz swelled all around her, and when Elisabeth looked down, her clothing had changed from her nightclothes into a simple, cornflower-blue gown. She glanced up at the fae-like deity, bewildered, as it offered a small smile back.[break][break]

[break]

Glancing around the room, Elisabeth caught sight of herself in the mirror and blinked, astonished to see herself over ten years younger. Her gloved hands pressed themselves to her face in wonder, and the fae smirked slightly.[break][break]

[break]

A group of long-necked, haughty Kalosian noblewomen tittered at her from the corner, but Elisabeth didn't react to this. Why would she? They were but shadows of another world, and she held no interest in them. Yet from a distant vantage point, she could feel a pair of coal-black eyes lingering on her, and as she moved to face them--[break][break]

"Bonsoir, mademoiselle."[break][break]

Cobalt blue eyes glimmered towards her with cool curiosity, assessing the make of her clothing and the state of her appearance with a swift, unreadable calculation. The handsome dark-haired man bowed then, eloquent as he continued,[break][break]

"I believe we have yet to meet."[break][break]

She wasn't sure how the dancing began -- did he ask her, did she ask him? -- but in seconds she was floating across the ballroom floor in this stranger's arms, as light as a petal on the wind.[break][break]

"I don’t believe I’ve seen you at one of these events before," he began, tone conversational. "Who do I have the pleasure of dancing with this evening?"[break][break]

It was as if the longer Elisabeth existed in this memory, the more the last one -- and the one before, and the true one before that -- began to unravel.[break][break]

Or blur together.[break][break]

As the conversation flowed with its predictable ebb and flow, she could feel the persistent gaze on her back, instilling a quiet panic in her reminiscent of the Ruinous Beast she'd faced what felt like only seconds before now.[break][break]

Without realizing it, her otherwise flawless dance steps began to waver with a faint tremor. She missed a beat she shouldn't have, only for the man guiding her to swiftly step in where she failed, ensuring that they remained the picture of elegance itself with a calculated dip to catch her fall.[break][break]

"Don't look at him," he murmured into her ear as he pulled her close, and she blinked her large emerald eyes, uncomprehending. "The man behind me. The one who startles you so. You aren't to look at him while we dance."[break][break]

Though his voice was calm and level, the cold severity of a command echoed in his words. His grip on her tightened, whispering of a possession that startled her, but that she found herself strangely comforted by.[break][break]

"You are mine tonight."[break][break]

Two Celebis hovered side-by-side, two sides of the same temporal shadow, as they watched these events unfold like the distant gods they were.[break][break]

[break]

[break]

[break]

[break]

The song ended, only for BARNABY FINCH to hold Elisabeth Fiorelli's hand fast, sweet nothings coaxing her into another round. The two circled one another for what felt like an eternity, until finally the interest of the man in the shadows faded into nothingness, his presence suddenly as absent as Wo-chien's in this world.[break][break]

[break]

Another brief pause fell, before the first Celebi mused to the other again.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]