[attr="class","test2-wrapper"]

The woods are teeming with activity when the elite four member picks her way down the the overgrown trails. Though the sunlight struggles to filter through the canopy, though not exactly due to foliage. [break][break]

Where there used to be thick leaves, the branches are now laden with heavy snow. The novelty doesn't ever quite wear off - Persephone's experience with colder temperatures has generally been limited to Shoal Cave and the temporary blizzards and gales whipped up by ice type Pokemon. [break][break]

Idly she wonders how the wild Pokemon here are coping with it - not only would they be unaccustomed to these climates, the Petalburg Woods are primarily inhabited by those weaker to ice.

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.

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Honestly, she hadn't expected the walk back to her hotel to be so eventful. Between a swooping Pidgeot and an attempted case of key thievery, Persephone found herself quickening her pace until a glinting in the shadows caught her eye. [break][break]

She slows to a halt and cocks her head sideways to get a better glimpse of the Pokemon as it peered out at her from behind some external piping. With its tattered "ears" and glimmering gemstone eyes, Persephone recognises it as a Sableye, though the Pokemon shrinks away when she tries to move any closer. [break][break]

Her affection for ghost types led her to spend what felt like at least an hour coaxing the Pokemon out into the open until she could cleanly and neatly capture it into an empty pokeball capsule.

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.

[attr="class","test2-wrapper"]

Persephone hears the jingling of keys at her side and whirls around, wide-eyed and expecting to see a stranger that had somehow managed to come up close without her noticing. [break][break]

Instead, she hears a mild squeak (?) as she knocks away a Klefki that had apparently been intent on snatching away her own set of keys (housed safely in one of her jacket pockets). [break][break]

She frowns and shoos the Pokemon away.

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.

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Persephone must have received the same memo Fernando and Kyle did. Something about costumes for this year's Aurorus Winter Ball? She'll admit she didn't read it in much depth beyond the first few sentences (the word costume forced her to groan and close the email entirely). [break][break]

Having said that, she made a token effort: Persephone practically had to hold a Santa mustache in place because it seemed incapable of remaining glued on for longer than a few seconds at a time. Furthermore, the music sounded dulled by the patterned, fluffy earmuffs adorning her head. [break][break]

For the most part, Persephone was content to keep to herself with a glass of spiced mulled wine in hand, watching with amusement as Fernando made the rounds and interacted with various guests. [break][break]

As the music changes due to the performance of the Kricketune and Lopunny, Persephone watches her own Froslass float loftily over the bobbing heads of dancers, swirling to the music as it performs its own series of elegant airborne pirouettes. [break][break]

After some time of solitude, Persephone's gaze settles on the sullen face of fellow Elite Four member, Kyle Lopez himself, wearing the ordained outfit. She begins to make her way across the hall to join him in costumed misery, but slows as she watches a young woman (who she recognises as a member of Mateo's dragon clan by reputation alone) join him as well. [break][break]

At this point it'd be too awkward to turn back to her starting position, so Persephone hovers for a moment uncertainly before actually drawing alongside the duo, half-heartedly chiming in with a few lines from the red-nosed Statler jingle. [break][break]

"She's right," Persephone says weakly, nodding at Kyle's costume. "Very cute."


[break][break][break]



» dressed in what can perhaps be called a costume (santa mustache, earmuffs, altera santa but with more clothes lmao....)[break]
» watches her froslass "dance"[break]
» joins kyle lopez and Noelle Lane to sulk and maybe sing idk yet[break]

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.

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She's always had a tendency to focus too much on a singular thing at the expense of her surroundings, and this time is no different. With Persephone's concern resting solely on the Delibird's tail (or absence thereof), she hadn't seen or heard Kyle's approach, startling at his voice. [break][break]

Her head snaps towards her colleague, expression something between surprise and amusement. [break][break]

"Maybe if Delibird tails were as much of a delicacy as Slowpoke ones," she says with the ghost of a smile. "But no. Look - the scarring is old." [break][break]

Persephone drops her gaze back down to follow the Pokemon as it continues its steady, determined waddle, heavy cotton sack in tow. It's not that the Delibird didn't notice them - she saw its eyes regard the duo - but it didn't seem to actually care that they are here. [break][break]

"I was thinking if I should follow it? I'm a little curious to see where it's going. Want to come?"

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.

[attr="class","test2-wrapper"]

Somewhere overhead, Persephone heard the sound of fluttering winds and a melodic chirping. When she glances up she sees a Pidgeot circle above momentarily before eventually disappearing somewhere between the apartment blocks. The species aren't nocturnal, and this one must have been returning to its nest much like its two-legged counterparts. [break][break]

Persephone pays it no mind, continuing onward to her destination, almost subconsciously mimicking the pose of a foreign region's champion as their visage flickered across one of the billboard screens.

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.

[attr="class","test2-wrapper"]

Persephone has been trailing the Delibird for what feels like hours but has only really been minutes. She's not sure how the Pokemon got to Mt. Chimney's peak and she's even less sure why it's dragging what looks like a sack down towards what she can only assume to be Lavaridge town. [break][break]

After some time observing the Pokemon, she does notice something strange - while Persephone is no specialist in Delibird anatomy, she can clearly tell that the sack it is dragging is a raggedy one made of cotton, and not the tail-like appendage the species is meant to have. In fact, the place where the tail is meant to be is scarred, almost looks as though the tail had been pulled or sliced off. [break][break]

Persephone shakes her head, distraught that someone would mutilate a Pokemon like this, and follows the strange Pokemon down the path.

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.

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Mauville's night lights glitter like jewels against the black velvet sky. [break][break]

Apartment blocks, homes stacked upon one another, pierce the horizon and in spite of herself, Persephone still finds it oppressive. She has been to the city a handful of times in recent times, and she still feels herself a tourist, neck craned up to watch the flickering advertisements and images across the display screens lining the streets. [break][break]

She follows the curvature of the sidewalk leading back to her hotel, eyes fixed on the modern architecture, neglecting to pay attention to the alleyways splitting off to the sides where the wild Pokemon lurk.

[attr="class","test2-lyrics"]
In a thousand prisms, And more hours, To gaze through their cuts.