[Video]

[20faces]

That was a really mean prank...

[The admonishment comes from a very pale boy, blanket wrapped around his shoulders and over his head like a cocoon. He looks sick, and most longer term residents will recognise the cause as the Halloween goodie bag of berries still sitting in his lap.]

What if one of my Pokemon got poisoned? I know playing tricks on people is a tradition at Halloween, but that's just going too far.

[He shivers, drawing the blanket around himself a little tighter.]

I think I even started hallucinating. Everyone suddenly had magical powers...

Comments

[video]

[20faces]

She looks like she's really enjoying it.

[Gosh it's adorable. That tiny Pokemon's happy look is infectious!]

So it wasn't a prank at all - it was actually a very thoughtful gift! I should definitely retract my statements and apologize.

[video]

[soggypastry]

[Infectious to some, at least. Lightning just shrugs and gently returns the Cleffa to where she'd been before, so she can finish her snack in peace.]

A few statements like that don't matter. Not if they were from the same cause that put us through all that. [she sighs quietly, then:] You may not have been hallucinating. Where did you see those people with magical powers?

[video]

[20faces]

[They do matter! Especially if these were meant to be apology gifts. He hadn't thought the two events were connected - but now that she mentions it, that does make sense.]

It was an abandoned castle. Do you remember it too?

[video]

[soggypastry]

[An abandoned castle--she sighs. So it wasn't a terrible shared dream. Great. What next?]

Yeah. I do. I think a lot of people do. [she shakes her head] We were there for a few days. Hard to forget something like that.

[video]

[20faces]

Then... You think all of that really happened?

[It might still have been a big shared dream! Somehow. It's not any more unbelievable than everyone suddenly transporting there.]

[video]

[soggypastry]

Stranger things have happened around here. [Very rarely, but still. She still remembers the feel of her blade in her hand.] Yeah. I think it really happened. It felt too real to be a dream.

[video]

[20faces]

[He shivers, now feeling creeped out on top of sick.]

In that case, I hope the next place we get sent is a little nicer...

[video]

[soggypastry]

[A snort. That's one way to put it.]

Or you could hope we just stay here. No more getting sent to places when we can't control it.

[No more sleeping for a week. It sucked the first time, and it sucked this time. Badly.]

[video]

[20faces]

If I can wish for that, I think I'd ask to go home instead.

[video]

[soggypastry]

You could, but it probably wouldn't work. [sigh.] People have been trying to get back for as long as I can remember. Wishing and hoping doesn't seem to do much good.

[video]

[20faces]

I guess it's true that wishing alone won't achieve anything, but I'm not sure what else I can do. I don't think it's wrong to be hopeful.

Have you been away from home for a long time, miss?

[video]

[soggypastry]

[Living without hope is just a way to die. She still remembers saying that, but after all this time...she sighs a bit.]

Three years. That's how long I've been here without ever leaving. [Minus one week of sleep and then this, but still.] Others have been here longer than that. That's how I know being hopeful about going home doesn't work.

[video]

[20faces]

[She's actually the second person to tell him that they'd stayed for three years. It's an alarming trend.]

I'm sorry. I miss all my friends already, I can't even imagine never seeing them again for three years. It must be really hard.

[Not to twist the knife there or anything.]

[video]

[soggypastry]

[Lightning shakes her head. Must really be hard? That's an understatement if there ever was one.]

Stay here long enough and you get used to it. [A short pause, then:] People come and go from this place. Your friends might show up eventually.

[How long they'll stay...well. She doesn't know that.]

[video]

[20faces]

You know, I think they might even like it here. Utako-san has always wanted a pet.

Your friends might show up, too!

[video]

[soggypastry]

[A shrug. If this kids friends show up, they show up. If not...well. Life goes on. Even if it sucks.]

Maybe. [Maybe they already did. Maybe they already left so many times she can't keep count anymore. There's a lot she's leaving unsaid--it's too personal to say now.] There's not much we can do about it but wait to see who this world brings, if it decides to bring anybody else here.