Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lenore fidgeted quietly as Mephistopheles emerged from the pokeball. Elesh Norn had been returned to her pokeball, and so it was just the girl and the duskull, standing alone outside the confines of the city. Lenore broke the silence. "Do you hate me?"

Mephistopheles watched Lenore. "What brought this upon?"

Lenore continued to fidget as she fought to retain her composure. She'd been trying to prepare for this conversation, and she had thought that she was ready, but now that it was happening, she was filled with fear. Fear that he did hate her, fear that she'd be alone again - fear that she was right. "In the battle... you got hurt. Hurt like in Orre. Shina said that you chose to be with me, and that you'd forgive me, but you didn't choose that. I forced you to be with me. So do you hate me?"

Mephistopheles was silent for a moment. "While it's true that in the beginning I stayed only because the pact required it, I don't really mind the arrangement we have. In a sense, I'd guess what we have now is what the other humans and pokemon have." He placed a spectral hand to his skull. "We just have something to show for it."

Lenore placed a hand to her chest, knowing what he referred to. She hardened her resolve. "Books taught me lots of things." Mephistopheles was confused by the sudden change in topic, but he remained silent. "They taught me what to do during an earthquake. They taught me about things that other kids' parents would have taught them. They taught me things that were useful and things that were pointless. But books can't teach me about humans and pokemon. They're an enigma to me. Why do they do what they do? Why am I so different from them? The books won't tell me."

Lenore gazed at Mephistopheles. "Before you came to me, I was all alone. And it doesn't hurt as much as it did. Every day is more fun. I don't understand it. Why is it that having you around makes me feel so at ease? As if everything in my life until now was just a nightmare that I'm finally waking up from?" Lenore broke off and began looking uncomfortably at the ground.

"I want to find more friends. I want to learn what the books can't teach me. It's selfish of me, but I need to understand."

Hours later, the girl and the duskull continued their trek through the mountains. Mephistopheles lead the way, keeping a few feet in front of Lenore, stopping to wait for her when necessary. Every now and then, the girl smiled softly. He doesn't hate me.

Lenore stopped walking momentarily and gazed out over the landscape below. Motterosa seemed so small from up here. Mephistopheles cast a curious glance at the girl. "Is something wrong?" Lenore smiled once again and shook her head. "Unh-uh."

The girl turned back to the duskull and continued walking forward. At least, that's what she had meant to do. Her vision swam as a sudden dizziness overtook her, and suddenly she was falling. Huh? The girl hit the ground with a slight thud and the last thing she knew was Mephistopheles calling her name as he flew over to her.

The world faded to black.

Mephistopheles shook Lenore gently. "Lenore? What's wrong?"

A voice came from behind him. "She can't hear you, you know."

The duskull turned around to see another Lenore, except older. "....Lenore?"

The older Lenore smiled and gave a small shrug. "In a sense."

Mephistopheles eyed the girl cautiously. "What's wrong with Lenore?"

"Nothing's wrong with her. Yet. She and I are just having a little chat. I figured you and I should talk as well."

The duskull's eye narrowed. "...What about?"

The older Lenore tilted her head. "Why are you still here?"

"What do you mean, 'why am I still here'?"

The older Lenore motioned to the younger one's lifeless form. "You've already got her soul - you could have left any time. And yet you remain by her side, even now. Why is that?"

"...The pact requires it." He lied.

The older Lenore glared at him. "Lies. The pact only requires that you give them what they wish. Nothing compels you to stay. You could have left after that time in Orre, and you didn't. Do not lie to me."

Mephistopheles could feel compelling power behind the last sentence, and despite himself he answered truthfully. "She's my friend."

The older Lenore smiled. "That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" She looked over at Lenore. "She and I are about finished with our conversation, but before I go, I'll let you know; you may come to regret staying with her."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out for yourself, soon enough. Good-bye, Mephistopheles." The girl turned and walked into nothing, leaving Mephistopheles alone with Lenore. As the duskull turned back to the unconscious girl, his skull began to glow a deep violet, and spectral energy began to pour forth, rising into the air around the duo.

Lenore began to writhe on the ground in agony, and Mephistopheles immediately flew to her before the same pain assaulted him. Sinking to the ground, the spectral energy abated before surging forward, becoming a pillar of pure darkness that rose up into the heavens.

And just as soon as it had begun, it was over. Mephistopheles looked down at his hands, and found them larger. A quick glance revealed that his cloak had vanished, his body now covered in bandages. And he had legs, now. That was new.

Mephistopheles looked up from Lenore at the sound of someone approaching. His hand shot out and more tendrils than he had intended to summon shot forward, stabbing into the ground just inches away from the newcomer's feet. He paused. While the number of tendrils and their speed and power surprised him, he was certain the man who stood inches away from death was within range just a moment before.

"Calm down, I'm a doctor." Doctors didn't usually move that quickly.

The man stepped closer, and Mephistopheles watched him carefully. The tendrils retreated back to the dusclops' side.

Entering the cabin, Walpurgis set the girl on the bed near the corner. Behind him, the dusclops watched vigilantly. True to his word, however, Walpurgis began to take a look at the girl. Her breathing was stable, and there were no signs of external damage that he could see as yet. Propping her up, he removed the girl's oversized sweater, followed by the form-fitting undershirt below.

"...What is this...?"

Walpurgis' attention was captured by the symbol carved into the girl's chest, and especially so to the fact that it was glowing a soft violet. He'd never seen anything like that in his life. He placed a tentative finger to it, and the girl gasped in pain. He quickly withdrew his hand. Shaking his head, he decided to go through the routine checks and ask her about it when she woke up.

A number of checks later revealed nothing to be wrong, and that the girl was simply asleep, and he told the dusclops as much. The dusclops seemed to loosen up instantly. "She's welcome to stay here until she wakes up, for now." The dusclops nodded his thanks and went to the girl's side.

Lenore looked up at the man's question. "I was looking for friends."

The doctor continued to smile. "Are they missing?"

Lenore looked down. "Uh, no. Um, I know it sounds really lame, but, uh, I was looking for friends. To make friends." The girl blushed slightly, but the man only continued to smile. Honestly, it was kind of annoying.

"Pokemon?"

"...Yeah..."

"What's your name, young lady?

"Lenore."

Lenore frowned. She really didn't want the man to contact Shina - she'd look like a fool. "I just got dizzy all of a sudden, that's all. I'm fine." Even to her, the words seemed hollow, the mutterings of someone who couldn't take care of herself.

It seemed like the man was unmoved, but decided not to press the issue. "What's with the carving on your chest?"

Lenore froze. He'd seen it? "***** is a crime, you know."

"I'm a doctor. Answer the question."

Lenore looked to Mephistopheles for help, but the dusclops merely shrugged. "There's not much harm in telling him. It is what it is.

The girl looked back to the man, trying to think of how best to put it. "It's the proof of mine and Mef's friendship."