she stops dreaming.

it's jarring, the first night it happens. there is no peaceful sleep. there is simply the final act of closing her eyes and then the rapid blink into the dawn. she is exhausted that day, but she thinks nothing of it - exhaustion, at this point, is an old friend. 

but the next night, she blinks and again, six hours have passed. she swings her legs out of bed, presses her palm to her chest, feels the babump-babump-babump of her heart. moxie lay curled by her pillow, still slumbering.

the third night, she addresses the hotel staff about it. she asks if any wayward ghost pokemon have found their way in. she runs security sweeps. ana had found her way into her room; what's to say someone else, with more sinister intentions, hasn't?

but her dragons sleep peacefully on and she simply attributes it to stress.

the fourth night, when she blinks and reawakens, dawn has not yet come. shadows stretch, long and imposing, from open blinds - hadn't she closed them? - and when she stands to yank them back down, she hears it. 

that growl. that whisper in the back of her head, reaching down to the lizard part of her brain where her fear lives. her adrenal glands squelch and release cortisol, send clumsy muscles to the far corner of the room where she crouches, quivering like prey, ears straining. 

hearing only the blood in her ears.

hours pass like that. she doesn't remember blinking. she installed a false bottom in the hotel dresser and when fright loses its grasp on her, she darts towards it, fishing for the burner phone. he's always been her weakness. 

but above his name, the only name she's ever kept on the phone - KING WAYLAND - there is an unknown number.

WE ARE WATCHING

her knees give way. she sinks to the ground and runs through a list in her head of those who may know her secrets, and those who may betray them.

she does not respond. instead she crushes the burner phone with her lamp and crawls back into bed. it doesn't matter. KING WAYLAND hadn't been answering her texts anyway. when she blinks, gray light streams through drawn curtains.

it's drizzling in slateport when she lands. her noivern slips back into its ball and she draws her hood up, welcoming the reason to hide her face. no official business brings her here and those three words still eat at her. 

there's a thrift store a few blocks away from nameless. they have an old-timey tv in the window, always off, used mostly as a vintage display for scarves and boas and bowknot hats. 

SPOILER: Click to show

it flickers. despite the power cord wrapped around the vhs compartment at its front, it sputters to life as she passes. and that draconic growling returns. the toe of her boot hovers over the pavement, frozen midstride, gold eyes mesmerized by the static.

it devolves into a frozen maw. blood dribbling from a gash on her neck. horns and mist and entrails and broken porcelain and knives like teeth and - all the objects of her nightmares. 

WE ARE LISTENING

she blinks and the static is gone, resolved into a pixelated scene of a street corner. a thrift shop. a woman with her hood up, standing before it. she cranes her neck back, eyes trained, and the figure mimics her movements. 

the camera pans. zooms. settles on a phone booth - did slateport still have phone booths?

palms sweating, she turns. there is no trick of the light. it has an ash grey exterior, window panes weathered and opaque. when she looks back at the thrift store window, the tv screen is inert. blank as it always was and always has been.

the receiver is in her hands - grasped tightly at its neck, the other cupping its bottom, fingers spread to make room for the cord, booth door shut behind her. her breath curls, but the unseemly cold is not what makes a shiver run down her spine. 

SECRETS ARE SECRETS FOR A REASON

"who are you?" she whispers.

ALLIES, MISS ZINNIA

she abandons the phone. she abandons the booth. she abandons the city, too horrified of the implications. that someone might know her. that someone might find her. that someone might get to him. 

and the bar is broken, crumbling, all ruin, king gone and gone and she has no idea because she has so many secrets.

and yet and yet and yet - 

she no longer sleeps and the things she's kept in their cages have gotten out. they skirt in her periphery, hungry and prowling. they wear the faces of her loved ones. and she thinks, humorously, have i finally gone mad?

lyune begins to see them too.

he snaps at the world-eater, silences the planetary grumbles, but he has no cure for her unraveling anxieties. keeping secrets nearly destroyed her. they killed her love. they saved his life. they are her end. they are her salvation. 

she says, into the broken pieces of her burner, "i must no longer accept being a stranger to you."

she grasps the receiver. fingertips press against ashen glass. there is a drizzle outside and she feels so, so cold, but there is a hearth-fire in her too. 

YOU HAVE BEEN ALONE A VERY LONG TIME

electricity sparks. a tilted, sizzling smile drips from the cord, pooling in the air. a shape fills the space; neon eyes blink vapidly and she exhales. her lashes flutter. 

YOUR EYES ARE YET TO OPEN

WE CANNOT OPEN THEM FOR YOU

DO YOU ACCEPT?

liquid in her hands. a disassembling of shapes. she grasps it in both hands, draws it on either side of her head, and she opens her eyes to the technicolor dawn. gold burns a brilliant blue. 

YOU, THE HERMIT, HAVE BEEN CHOSEN. WELCOME TO SEELE.

location slateport
object of power half-moon pendant
secrets almost ruined her. not knowing what's out there haunts her. she's made her choice.

☉

THEY HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU, CAMELLIA.

THEY SEE ALL. THEY SEE YOUR ACTIONS, YOUR MOVEMENTS, EVERY THOUGHT YOU HAVE. THEY HAVE DEEMED YOU WORTHY. DO YOU ACCEPT THEM?

YOU ARE TO BE USED FOR A GREATER PURPOSE. FAR GREATER THAN KALOS, MOULIN SANG, OR TEAM ROCKET. DO YOU ACCEPT THEM?

an old, embellished box arrived on her doorstep. it was a peculiar occurrence when anything arrived unexpectedly, considering she lived at a secret address hidden deep within the trees on a private island.[break][break]

she’d tentatively brought it inside, only to find it locked. though she could easily force it open, that seemed like a trap. so, she let it sit on a side table, next to a few stacked journals. it sat there for days, quickly forgotten amidst work.[break][break]

one night, she decided to inspect it again, to find a golden peg on the back that could be turned to play a tune. she wound it up and let it go, and the melody that played was entirely unfamiliar. still confused, she abandoned it again to tend to her nightly chores.[break][break]

the flower vase she kept in the front window was refreshed with a dark begonia. as she placed it, she realized the bats were screeching again. they’d been screeching all week in the early evening hours, far more than usual. finally, it had become clear to her that something was disturbing them.[break][break]

through the window, she caught a glimpse of a murkrow swooping past. then another, and another… so many that she realized they were certainly not all hers. [break][break]

”why is this happening?” she murmured, pushing out the front door and stepping down into the cool sand. she went around her house, towards the leaning tin tower in the backyard, where her bats usually slept. it was oddly quiet, and as she reached the entrance and peered inside, she realized with surprise it was empty of her bats. instead, a sea of murkrow stared back at her.[break][break]

she felt a chill across her neck, reminded of a nightmare she’d had not so long ago.[break][break]

”what did you do to my bats?” she asked them coolly.[break][break]

they stared some more.[break][break]

“are any of you mine?”[break][break]

their bright eyes were unblinking, and they made no sound at all. no movement, like they might as well be made of stone instead of meat and feathers.[break][break]

growing frustrated, lulu finally stood up and waved her arms threateningly, ”get out of here!”[break][break]

there was dramatic squawking, and almost all of them flew up at once in thirty different directions. it was utter chaos and flying feathers until they all made it out of the tower and back into the night air – except for one. it lingered behind, still comfortably nestled at the center of the dirt floor.[break][break]

“are you stupid?” lulu asked it. ”did you not hear me when i screamed?”[break][break]

she then noticed something in its beak catching the light of the moon. a key, that looked just as old as the music box that had arrived earlier that week.[break][break]

“give me that.” she leaned down, and the murkrow opened its beak as though offering it to her without protest. she took it carefully, and then held it up to inspect. the bird squawked sharply and took off, messing up her hair with the frantic flaps of its wings before it too disappeared into the night sky.[break][break]

there was an ‘s’ engraved on the key. she wondered if it was for her real name, saoirse.[break][break]

she went inside to try the key in the box, and it clicked and opened easily. within was depicted a night sky, with a moon which spun to show its different phases. soft pink clouds blossomed with sparkling stars, set in a black velvet backdrop. at the center was a dancer with light golden hair, like saoirse’s had once been. as the dancer spun along with the melody, the toe of her slipper lowered to write a message.[break][break]

we are watching.

[break]

startled, lulu began to look around the room. ”dionysus?” she asked. ”i swear to every god if it’s you again…”[break][break]

she looked back, watching as it continued..[break][break]

you are worthy.

[break]

”worthy of what?” she wondered with an exasperated sigh.[break][break]

then, it stopped. the music came to an end, having left a few more words written by the ballerina’s toe.[break][break]

can you decode the lullaby?

[break]

lulu’s brow furrowed, and she turned the peg again, replaying the music box’s melody. she did this a few times, before deciding to analyze it in a different way. with the help of a porygon, she was soon able to decode the solfa cipher.[break][break]

fallen revenant, your brilliance is not forgotten. join us, a collective of the brightest minds of hoenn, to discuss the state of our world and its tomorrow.[break][break]

if you accept, destroy this box.

[break]

”this just keeps going…” she muttered, but she went downstairs to fetch a wrench from the lab and returned to violently smash the music box to pieces. within, she found a handwritten note with a time and the number of a phone booth located in downtown sootopolis.[break][break]

it took a bit of considering, and she almost didn’t go. maybe they’d try to kill her, whoever they were. in the end, she went out in the rain, downtown, and slipped into the phone booth just as it was ringing.

she picked up.[break][break]

”hello?”[break][break]

"do you accept?"

[break]

”i’m here, aren’t i?”[break][break]

"very well. you have been chosen as the moon. welcome to seele."

[break]

click.

[attr="class","ooc"]

seele introduction

[break]

phone booth is located in downtown sootopolis. object of power is a paperclip. lulu is mostly joining out of curiosity and to see what hoenn's 'brightest minds' have to say about the state of things. also thinks maybe this might be dark triad-related.

She'd gotten accustomed to sleeping alone.[break][break]

The hateful weight of her late husband had made her bed into a prison, and as soon as she could find a means, she'd escaped that cell to find peace behind the solitude of a locked door. Other men had filled that place since, but never for too long.[break][break]

Sometimes she fled them, afraid of lingering. Sometimes they were wise enough to leave of their volition. Either way, the coolness of the empty side of the bed had become a reassuring thing.[break][break]

That was what made the breathing so unnerving.[break][break]

The heavy sound had a distinctly masculine cadence to it, unsettlingly intimate in its proximity. It was the kind of sound that shivered through the skin, tickling against her neck like the unseen reminder of a lover's presence.[break][break]

She'd risen up with a jolt in her bed, flickering on the light only to see the same empty studio apartment she'd chosen to sequester herself within inside Sootopolis: minimalist and dull, without a speck of personality to make it into a home.[break][break]

You could mourn homes. They had sentimentality. She'd explicitly chosen to avoid that issue with this place, giving it nothing worth grieving.[break][break]

Here, though, in this narrow space so devoid of objects and excess furniture, it made the lack of explanation for the noise all the more concerning. You must have imagined it, she thought to herself, and turned off the lamp to resume sleep.[break][break]

Again, the breathing swallowed up the silence. No, not quite -- it was almost wheezing, choked up by its own phlegm and struggling to breathe at all.[break][break]

Her eyes widened. She'd known only one man to breathe like that.[break][break]

But only when he was dying.

[break]

The light returned, flooding the area in search of the unseen intruder, and Elisabeth's face darted towards the window, her heart a battering ram in her chest. She almost collapsed with relief. No full moon. No excuse for Tapu Fini, then.[break][break]

Then a far greater unease crept in: If not Fini, then what excuse could there be to hear the dead?[break][break]

Suddenly her own home was too confining. She went outside. She walked back to the coast of Sootopolis, where she'd first met her moonlit patron.[break][break]

The new moon was far more unforgiving.[break][break]

Even in the dark, she felt she knew every bend on the shore, each speck of sand, each rock that might bar her entry moving forward.[break][break]

So when the strange silhouette up ahead came into view, she didn't understand it. Certainly this was just a trick of the moonlight, like whatever that nonsense was that had occurred in the shadows of her bedroom.[break][break]

Then the phone rang, cutting through the quiet of the night air with all the shrillness of a scream.[break][break]

She'd never used a payphone, and it showed in how clumsily she fumbled the receiver, attempting to silence this horrible sound before it awakened all the world.[break][break]

"WE ARE WATCHING."

[break]

The voice was robotic and unfeeling, riddled with static. Strangely, it didn't fill her with terror so much as anger.[break][break]

"I'm used to being watched," she snapped, impatience seeping into her tone. "Are you all passivity, then? Or do your eyes want for something in particular?"[break][break]

"WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY."

[break]

"You are not my ally." It was a fact; it was spoken with so much conviction, she'd have staked her life on it. "Whatever you want with me, it's for your own reasons. Not mine."[break][break]

"WE KNOW THE WORLD HAS WRONGED YOU. AND YET, WE FIND YOU WORTHY OF JOINING US."

[break]

Cackling laughter crawled out of her, dark with disbelief. Wasn't this what had brought the Ruinous Beast to her doorstep? What good would accepting another deal like this do her?[break][break]

"THERE IS MUCH YOU WISH TO UNDERSTAND. ABOUT THE LIVING. THE DEAD. THE SECRETS OF WORLDS IN-BETWEEN. KNOWLEDGE IS NOT GAINED IN ISOLATION."

[break]

Her manic laughter ceased as the words on the other end abruptly cut off. Another sound had replaced it.[break][break]

The breathing had returned, filling her ear with its familiar dying throes. The gasping rattled every fiber of her being.[break][break]

"WHEN YOU DIE THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF ESCAPE. WILL YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME LEFT LIVING, AND ACCEPT OUR OFFER?"

[break]

She let the silence fester, and the moment that monstrous breathing resumed, she interrupted it so quickly she could barely hear herself accept.[break][break]

"WE SENSE YOU ARE HESITANT. THAT WILL CHANGE. NONETHELESS, AN ACCEPTANCE IS AN ACCEPTANCE. WELCOME."

[break]

She'd swear later she imagined the entire affair. The phone booth would vanish by morning, as if it had never existed at all. The breathing disappeared that night, and with it, the terrible dread that it had instilled in her. Sleep came back to her at last.[break][break]

The Rotom that invaded her bedroom, however, was quite real. And much like the breathing from before, it ended whatever reprieve the night had promised her.[break][break]

Elisabeth's unexpected visitor dodged the hand mirror that she threw at it, letting the glass shatter on the floor. Curiously, the Rotom grabbed the jagged object with gentle metallic hands, pondering it thoughtfully. Its bright eyes scanned the mirror tenderly, its care seeming unwarranted for such a broken talisman.[break][break]

When it handed the mirror to her, it did so with a profound sense of satisfaction.[break][break]

CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND WORTHY OF THE DEVIL. WELCOME TO SEELE.

[attr="class","ooc"] SEELE

Object of power: a cracked mirror. Tarot: The Devil. Location: Sootopolis.

[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","header"]HEADER: 🌃🌃🌃

[attr="class","setting"]

[player]https://file.garden/ZeVxgRo9KEiz9cwa/mp3/waterfall%20-%20toby%20fox.mp3[/player]

[break]

Waterfall - Toby Fox

[break][break]

[break][break]

A yawn breaks the silence that blanketed Mint’s room. Zabaglione’s snoring soothed as the anxious racoon curled up next to Gelato. The Alolan Ninetails had attempted in vain to scoot away from the clingy Zigzagoon. But everyone needed to sleep at some point. Even one stubborn, very jealous blue fox. [break][break]

Mint sat up slowly, eyeing the digital clock on his night stand and entranced by the blinking for a moment before reaching over to grab a sip of water. Satisfied, he went back to curling up under his many blankets to sleep. It wasn't that hard but lately he’d had a habit of waking up too early. Far too early for a morning run for him. his was happening too often now, whether or not he needed to pee. [break][break]

It’s not like he needed the bathroom or anything. He lay in bed for a moment before sitting up again excitedly as it occurred to him it could be a sign. Quietly, the beast crept out of bed and peaked down the hall and then stood in his living room. The place was silent. No sign of Dionysus or his Unown D companion. Mint moved about the place, turning on the light and even looking out the window a couple of times. Nothing. He’d have to wait until next winter. He idly rubbed a spot on his neck Winter had bitten a little too hard. The bruise all but faded, unfortunately. His phone pinged in his hand and he checked quickly in case it’s like that weird alternate timeline game they’d played before. [break][break]

“Ughhhhh….” he ran a hand through his hair as he read over the same stupid sponsorship email. Over and over it had popped up every morning, at the very top of his inbox. He deleted it every time, uninterested. Maybe it was set on auto delivery. This was probably the time it populated in his inbox. “Maybe it’s a timezone thing…” he murmured, sitting down on his couch, tucking his legs under him as he read over the task one more time. [break][break]

Though unintentional, the long proposal had lulled him back to sleep, only to be woken up by a lone Murkrow cawing loudly at the crack of dawn. Mint sat up squinting against the faint light before going to his balcony. Sure enough, the little dark type had perched himself next to one of his pothos. “Hey.” he tapped the glass of his door, unwilling to step out into the chill to beef it with a bird. “Leave my plants alone, ok?” he warned the bird who only seemed to stare back. Mint held its gaze back, defiant of the little bird before another one landed next to it. Then a third. And then they began crying at him, cawing and shrieking loudly until he finally closed the blinds against them. Not that it stopped the noise. [break][break]

Mint retreated further into his home, crawling back into bed. The day is gone from him ( kinda ). He gets a response from the email he doesn’t remember accepting. Groggy, and with his own pokemon whining at him ready to go outside, he skimmed his own inbox. “Hold on...I think I have an appointment….uh….shit, it's in about an hour!!” He doesn't have enough time to figure out when he’d agreed to anything or who this vtuber was but he didn’t seem to have time to go back on his word. Even as she thought about it, his phone buzzed with texts from his contact, one from a manager type saying he’d passed along his info and another from someone introducing herself as LUCY RIDDLE. [break][break]

No way they were making a true crime vtuber or something? Whatever the case, the easiest thing to do was talk to the girl, er- the person?? Instead. Gelato whined moving to the door of their home with Zabaglione in tow. They barked, antsy and unsettled. He’d spent too much time unconscious. “I know, I know I’m sorry boys just give me a second!!” he said as he threw on yesterday’s outfit and quickly brushed his hair, teeth, and face. [break][break]

He left with a quick slam of his door, slowing at the elevator before backing away. Gelato whined again, tails puffing up and Zabaglione snarled before Mint clapped to get their attention. “No, no fighting the neighbors!” he chased as he shooed them down the stairs instead. They take the them two at a time without issue, with Mint clapping every so often to keep his party focused on the outside and not barking at other floor doors. [break][break]

They hit the pavement without getting stopped by another resident and Mint quickly finds somewhere to walk the pair. Despite disliking him so much, Gelato keeps a surprisingly good handle on Zaba, barking and yipping at the shadow pokemon to keep him close. Mint would find it cute if he wasn’t busily trying to text Lucy. The sound of Murkrows cawing around him is persistent, and when he looks up, he can see a murder gathering on the light posts near his building and around him. “Migration?” but he can’t think of it too long, putting his focus back on handling his tardiness. [break][break]


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15:34

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66%

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15:34

Wedneday, January 4th

fingerprint

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LUCY R.

Remiel Calcifet  

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Hey thanks so much for agreeing to collab on my debut!

This is really soon but can we meet up at 3:45PM?  

We can get coffee together?

Sorry for the late response! I’m heading over asap to talk things over!!

LUCY R.  is typing...

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He pocketed his phone after that message was sent beginning his fast walk towards the designated location. The park she told him about is pretty public and pretty central to most of the city. He moved quickly, having passed through the alleys and streets of his city for years. It’s easy enough to pull a mental map, eyeing threats and obstacles with ease. Mint muttered to himself as he power walked towards his meeting, Gelato and Zaba close at his heels. [break][break]

At the street crossing, Gelato pulled him back, jumping to tug the back of his jacket back before Zabaglione barks angrily. Mint is yanked back and before he can give Gelato a side eye, an Absol stalks out of the shadows. First it’s the eyes in the darkness and then slowly, the pokemon of omens crawled out of a side alley and faced Mint and his troupe. Mint doesn’t see a trainer, but having stray pokemon wandering the city isn’t anything new. “It's fine, turn over here-” [break][break]

The Absol lets out a cry but something about the way it reverberated on the near empty street is strange. The pokemon seemed to cut in and out, and for a brief second Mint thought he heard static. When he looked back, the Absol is still watching him, beginning to cross the street towards him but not yet running. It’s fur, which looked matter form afar now seemed to be moving and- [break][break]

That's all he gets before Gelato blasted an ICE SHARD angrily to keep the wild pokemon at bay. Zaba meanwhile paws at Mint before getting scooped up as he began to run away. “Gelato! What is wrong with you?!” he asked as the Ninetails turned to follow. Gelato, even after his strange…resurrection, was never known to be violent. Conflict averse unless pushed to the point. For whatever reason, he doesn’t like that Absol at all. [break][break]

Unfortunately, this isn’t the last he sees of the pokemon. Everytime appearing closer and closer. It’s fur seeming to take on strange colors Mint dismissed as a trick of the light. But there’s only so much he'd allowed to see as Gelato herded him away, distressed the closer that pokemon got. Without realizing it, the time from his meeting ticked on, with only the occasional ring of his phone a reminder he was running late. [break][break]

“Lucy?! S-sorry!” he yelled through pants, running through the park towards the main fountain. Gelato lagged behind, wary of the weird Absol, and Zabaglione rushed forward, finally released from Mint’s care. “Ugh, sorry, it's been a really weird day and-” [break][break]

The young woman he was supposed to meet, Lucy Riddle, seemed to be sitting on the edge of the fountain, eyes glued to her screen. His phone pinged again and Mint slowed to a stop, panting loudly as he waved. “Hey! Lucy!!” he shouted, ignoring the cellphone. Zabaglione stopped halfway towards the stranger, sensing something else and poofing up much like Gelato had been all day. “Zaba! Stop that!” he hissed, already having made a bad impression with his tardiness. But Gelato pushed forward, backing up the purple raccoon. “Hold on-!” he snapped at the pair, but even that doesn’t stop them from glaring and baring their teeth at the poor girl. [break][break]

She didn’t even seem that bad, just a goth- hex girl? That’s what they were called right? “Hey, I’m really sorry about that I-I’ll put them away-” he said. But before he can grab his pokeballs, the girl's head snapped upwards unnaturally and Mint let out a yelp not expecting it. She stared without blinking and when Mint finally blinked, he saw a Gengar in her place before a girl again. “Uhh…” he couldn't quite trust his eyes right then, feeling like the girl was glitching in and out of existence. [break][break]

“I- Listen….I didn’t mean to be late- and I- I totally understand if you don’t want to collaborate anymore. I-In fact, I’ll just pull myself out of this so uh- s unprofessional of me-” Mint began, taking advantage of the awkwardness of it all to bail on the project. But she only stared back at him until he jumped as the phone ringing interrupted the tense silence. They all turn to look for the source and when Mint turned back to say something else, Lucy Riddle- Vtuber…Gengar?? Is gone. [break][break]

“Shit…shit this is so weird.” But with a strange Absol chasing him, and a disappearing girl, he decided to keep moving. Incidentally their path just leads them towards the phone ringing. Not that curiosity had done him any good today but it kept ringing. Incessantly. Just barely there, in the background. And not wanting to go backwards lest he run into the Absol again, Mint pressed on. He stared at the phone booth, not remembering the last time he’s needed to use a payphone. [break][break]

Gelato warned him not to, growling the closer he seemed to move over to it. Zaba began to bark before climbing up his trainer and perking on his shoulder. At least at this height he could use Mint as leverage to pounce on anything weird Mint approached. “Chill, I think we’re…good for the moment. This is probably something similar to the stop lights flashing different color combs at like 3 am.” he said, trying to calm down his pokemon. He tentatively picked up the phone and listened. [break][break]

EVERY NEW BEGINNING

[break][break]

Nevermind it was immediately questionable and he should’ve gone home. But when the voice kept talking he was compelled to listen. [break][break]

COMES FROM SOME

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Gelato barked, losing patience with Mint. The temperature began to drop as the fox grew more and more irritated. Frost began to form over the payphone, seen as the main source of the Ninetails’ distress. [break][break]

OTHER BEGINNING'S END

[break][break]

Mint tried to hang up but he could hear the audio coming out of the phone, continuing on despite him trying to end the call. [break][break]

✨✨LIKE, WELCOME CUTIE! 🔮 WE’RE THE GODTOUCHED!! 🌠🌠 AKA THE ENGLITHENED ONES 💖🧡💛 AKA THE SEELE EVER HEARD OF US? 🤩 YAYA YOU MUST’VE RIGHT? ✨✨

[break][break]

Mint slams his other hand on the payphone trying to click away the messages or make a new call. The voice seemed to go through static before swapping once more. [break][break]

DOTH THOU DESIRE TO JOIN OUR CAUSE?? [break][break]
SHALL THOU ACCEPT THE BURDEN OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPAND THY HORIZONS?

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The wind began to whip down the street and snow began to fall as Gelato barked and growled at his trainer, who in turn alarmed Zabaglione and made him begin to bark madly at Mint while on the phone. His pokemon tried to pull him away from the phone booth but Mint is transfixed with the message on the other end of the line. The voices swap between each other before merging into one. [break][break]

DO YOU ACCEPT? [break][break]

✨✨ DO YOU ACCEPT? 🤩✨✨ [break][break]

DOST THOU ACCEPT? [break][break][break]

Ḑ̵̧̺̬̰̦͔̪̻̠̗̝̝̣̳̈́̄̅͗͌̈́́̀̋̒̏̂͘Ő̷̢̨̦͇̟̥̙̣͓̠̘̎͜ͅ ̷̨̢̑̎̓͒Ŷ̴̞̹̘̤̹̭̦̝̖͎͇̝̣̮̣̘͛͆̀̒̅͘͘̚ͅO̷̢̦̫̣̳̣̲͙͇̭̺̍̄̀̍͆̚ͅͅÚ̶̡̢͍̭͉̫̗͓̞̙͕̫̲̘͈̯́̍̏͆̂̀̉́͘ ̷̙̩͖̓̈́̈́͐Ą̴̛̹̯̲̭̺̠͈̘̰͖̖͓͔̬̃̓̾̈́̒̏̚͘C̶̖͉̺̳͗͒͑̈́̍̐̉̈̚͝C̴̖̣̬̱͉͇̩͓̟͒̀̽̒͗͜͝E̷̫͔̗͛̏̓́̿̓́̈́̉̔͋̈̓̽͘͠P̶̢̖̭̟̜̪̝͕̭͚̳͈̬̈̉̋̀̅̍̄̐̅͊͂͑̀̏͘͘̕ͅT̴̢̘͇̣̝̳͕̣̯̺̺̰͆̂̎̌͊̒̉̈́͊͌̚͠͠͝ͅ?̸̡͚̖̞͙̼͎̼͕͕͒̀̍͂͛̍̂͑̅̍̅̎͜ ̷̡̟̞̤̬͔̯͖̖̥̀̓͒̊̂͝

“Yes, can you just stop the creepy-...everything?!” he snapped, not really thinking it through. But maybe this is a lead to the DRK Triad. Maybe this is just a bad prank show. Maybe something more rational than a weird cult sounding organization was afoot. Occam’s razor and all that. The voice stopped, and slowly a strange desaturated looking Rotom pulled itself out of the payphone. [break][break]

[break]

PRESENT YOUR OBJECT OF POWER.

[break][break]

Mint stared before the Rotom began to repeat itself despite Zabaglione snarling right next to his ear. “Zaba, please, calm down.” he hissed as she lifted hand to push the raccoon toward his hood. But the Rotom takes this as an offering, moving to give a sudden scan of his drop earring. A simple black stud with a black pearl on a drop chain and a cuff. “W-Wait!” but it's too late. It takes the scan, and disappeared after a cacophony of [break][break]

WELCOME TO [break][break]
THE SEELE [break][break]
DESIGNATED THE CHARIOT, UPRIGHT

[break][break]

Gelato calmed down just before summoning a blizzard. His hackles dropped and he moved in to nuzzle his snout against Mint, shaking and whining quietly. Zabaglione is much the same, curling up in his hoodie against the warmth of his back, trembling. Whatever that had been, prank or not, his pokemon had probably been the most affected by it all. “Sorry guys.” he murmured as he abandoned the payphone and began to take a path home. He doesn’t notice the Rotom that had welcomed him, following him only a few feet away, grinning excitedly.

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[attr="class","oocnotes"] + im tired

[attr="class","pokeclass"]