Whispers of Odette and Kimiko

[Shadow Serenity]

As new words began to echo around her, Kimiko put connecting the dots on hold and tried to focus on what was being said instead. Unfortunately, she didn't much like the new things she'd heard from this guy - Dorien - any more than the last time he'd opened his mouth. At least now, Odette's echoed responses sounded appropriately irritated.

"You know people in my world talk, right?"

The rest of that line made her uneasy in a way that reminded her of that mauled corpse. Was this before or after he'd learned about the incident? Either way, it was disturbing, as was everything that followed.

But after sifting through the emotions, something about that very first part stuck out. 'His world'? Somehow, Kimiko doubted that Odette's world was frequently visited by off-worlders the way Forlas was, so... he had to mean something different. What did most people mean when they referred to 'their world'? A significant other... or his social standing, perhaps, given his attire...

As if dancing with him hadn't been sickening enough, the unease only grew the more she heard. He was trying to force her into his car? Odette had far more self-control than she knew.

Kimiko hadn't noticed the world around her changing until she felt the heat. She turned her head, Dorien all but forgotten, only for her breath to hitch in her throat, constricted by the string there. Her fingers failed to even slip underneath in her attempts to pry it away, and soon enough she began to cough both from the tightness and the sudden thickness of smoke in the air.

And then she screamed, a burning flare in her arm that came from nowhere. She stared, watching the blemish form on her skin, unable to do anything about it and unsure what would help if she could. Then she saw the fang marks, and two plus two added up instantly. There was a reason professor Spruce had raised a houndoom as part of the lab's security back home.

"It's time that you got the picture, Doll. You're stolen goods. You're cursed. Your body was never yours to begin with, so why fuss about it? Embrace it."

Her head snapped back in his direction only to find... two men staring back at her. And yet, as creepy as he had been originally, this new one was on another level. Kimiko took a step back, only for her ankle to catch on the string there and stumble. When he spoke, the clone spoke too. The exact same words, at the exact same time. If that didn't spell possession, what did? And yet, Kimiko recalled Odette saying something about how ghosts didn't operate that way in her world...?

"What... what does that mean?" she choked out. The string around her neck had stopped tightening at least, but the smoke remained. It was difficult to think with everything on fire around her and this... unnerving freak show and his black-eyed duplicate staring her down. If Odette felt dragged around through life, that would explain the strings and that last comment, but the rest...? "Cursed? Have you looked in a mirror? Or to your left?"

She raised the gun in her hand before she even realized she'd been holding it, the sight of it momentarily distracting. But, unlike that time she'd swiped Biff's gun, she knew - Odette knew - how to use it. The question was, which one did she aim for? (And would it do anything here in this dungeon-manifested nightm- no, stop, don't think like that, it will, why else did it appear in my hand?)

On the left, Dorien; the disturbingly tactless creeper. Everything about him said he needed to be locked up in some padded room somewhere away from another living soul, and it was a miracle he hadn't gotten his teeth bashed in yet, but would Odette have shot him? She had no trouble bashing that professor's face with a pipe... but that was self-defense. Was this?

On the right, the clone; clearly some kind of majorly fucked up entity, and had it been a ghost from her world, this would be a non-issue. Not that a bullet would do much to a ghost, anyway. But this... she couldn't even be sure this was actual possession. It sure sounded like it, but she'd been chewed out for mistaking the two once already. So, was this entity really the source of the problem?

Another echo of a voice rang through her mind, one she was almost sure was one of her own this time...

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You’re too soft. You couldn’t shoot my pokémon. You can’t even shoot me, and I’m the one who stole from you. Go ahead. Try it. You don’t even have to kill me. Shoot us in the legs, immobilize us. I’m not a gambling man, but I bet you can’t even do that."

She hadn't. She hadn't, and it almost cost her her team.

Finger on the trigger, Kimiko aimed left...

 

[Sinderella]

The bullet shot forward and struck the doppelganger between the eyes. It barely made contact before both forms abruptly melted out of existence, along with what was left of the stage and the auditorium. Once more, Kimiko found herself in a void, though no sounds were present to haunt her this time around. All she would feel was the lasting pressure from the strings despite them no longer being visible. Again, she floated there for ages, and when no scene change occurred, or no sense of a tangible world came back to her, she might have gotten a little nervous.

Then, footsteps. One set, two sets, three sets, four. Getting closer and closer, coming from all directions.

Light soon followed. Not from a spotlight; not from anywhere, really. Just, illumination of a dark space, revealing the horrible faces she'd come across in this nightmarish show she'd been forced into.

The oppressive man. Odette's father.

A doctor and a nurse; both masked.

Odette's assaulter. The spot where his head might have been was replaced by a puff of black smoke.

And Dorien. Back with no doppelganger this time.

None of them beheld her any particular way. What was most jarring about all of them were the strings each one of them held in their hands. They all led to the strings tied around Kimiko's limbs.

Whether she spoke or not, or struggled with the strings yet again or not, she would soon feel a set of arms snake around her shoulders. They weren't threatening; in fact, Kimiko might find them comforting, save for the fact that she couldn't see who the arms were attached to.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

This voice would be familiar. The same voice that came out of Odette's maw whenever she had it unchained.

"I know that's a downside of possession. This blood of yours. There's times where it feels like your body's not yours."

"My body was never mine to begin with, Odile, so what difference does it make?"

Odette sounded tired. Unsurprised. Yet there was still a weight in her voice that would put a knot in Kimiko's stomach.

Next thing she knew, she was weightless again.

With the second loss of her corporeal form, she'd find she'd have more room to roam the endless area. The former threats standing before her lost body wouldn't move, nor would they notice her. They'd still be locked in on Odette--or rather, what Odette was turning into.

Kimiko would turn in time to watch that black dress stretch over her friend's former human shape, covering her in entirety as she grew, and grew, and twisted, and expanded. No sound came out of her, which either meant the process was painless, or she'd grown too tired to stress her pain any longer. When all movement settled, no longer was she a human.

What stood in Odette's place was a dragon of bramble. A horrifying, toothy head helmed a gargantuan body of smoldering wood and wings made from splintered trees and thorns. Yet, despite this thing's monstrous form, it hung its head shamefully, still under the reins of the strings that had lassoed the human girl from before.

Yet again, Kimiko could hear Odette's voice, evidently coming from this creature.

"Not that a monster ever deserve that kind of autonomy. In the end, this was all deserved, wasn't it?"​

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Nearly the moment she took the shot, everything faded around her, and Kimiko immediately wondered if she'd aimed for the wrong one (or maybe I wasn't supposed to fire at all, but then why would the dream have put the gun in my hands, it had to expect me to...). Time, however long it was, continued to pass with nothing happening around her, and she began to wonder if maybe choosing wrong had broken the dungeon somehow. She found herself wishing something, anything would happen, just to know she didn't have to look forward to an eternity of drifting aimlessly in the dark. The void was eerie and silent, and though she still had no sense of time, it sure felt like she'd been stranded for a long while...

When something finally happened, she wished it hadn't. Floating aimlessly in the void for eternity wasn't exactly appealing, but in this moment, it beat confronting all the echoes of the horrors of Odette's past (for a second time, all at once). She braced herself for a fight, keenly aware of her bonds, each one leading to one of these shades...

Kimiko jumped at the arms around her shoulders. It was an involuntary reaction to sudden surprise; the arms themselves - and the voice that came with them, for she just knew they belonged to the speaker - felt more like a protector than anything threatening.

"I know that's a downside of possession. This blood of yours."

This time, Kimiko struggled to remember, but that day in the scrapyard came back to her again... had Odette said something about being possessed? Or maybe it was when she questioned the second mouth back in Sun Stone...

For a place devoid of time, the dungeon sure gave Kimiko precious few moments to ponder this before her perspective was once again forcibly shifted. She watched with building horror as her Odette's body morphed into something else entirely. Some kind of giant bramble dragon, a terrifying creature that Kimiko swore she recognized from some nightmare long since forgotten. (And who was to say the familiarity wasn't just a lingering sensation from being inside Odette's head?)

"Not that a monster ever deserve that kind of autonomy. In the end, this was all deserved, wasn't it?"

At that moment, Kimiko recognized the strings still bound to the dragon-thing, and suddenly it all clicked. Did Odette consider herself the monster? That, for all that things that she'd been through, somehow she deserved it all?

"Odette, girl, when I wake up, I am going to smack you."

<><><><><>​

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Meanwhile...​

Odette would find herself scrambling into a seated position in a cold sweat, her breathing sharp and erratic. The hooting of a noctowl would draw her attention to the window on her right, where surprisingly bright silver moonlight streamed in through a window, painting the room in a silvery-blue hue. She appeared to be in a very small hotel room - she might recognize it as a trainer's lodge inside a pokémon center if she'd ever been to one. Decoration was sparse; a desk with a small television off to the left next to a closed door, an open door leading to a bathroom on the opposite bare wall, a chair in the corner. A meganium lay curled up on the floor beside the open door, her antennae raised.

Odette sat in the bed, shielding herself with the covers. She would only have a moment to take in her surroundings before a familiar, comforting pressure landed on her back. She'd look over to see a man laying down beside her, rubbing his eye as though he'd just been rudely awakened; Odette couldn't tell much about him in this lighting other than his hair was short and messy, and the color appeared to be rather light, but the sight of him brought a wave of relief. His closer hand was outstretched behind her. It calmly and slowly rubbed her back, and Odette would instinctively synchronize her breathing with it: Up, breath in. Down, breath out.

Moments later, another pressure would appear in her lap. Should Odette look down, she'd find an espeon had appeared there, curled up onto a ball, her head against Odette's stomach. She purred, sending comforting vibrations though Odette's body, further helping her relax.

And yet, despite these things bringing her comfort and reminding her she was safe, Odette would feel more below the surface. Frustration, and... embarrassment? Shame? Not directed at her company nor their actions, but at herself.

Beside her, a very groggy-sounding voice would ask, "Which one?"

 

[Sinderella]

A night terror. It was just another night terror.

She'd had plenty of those over the years. This was nothing new. Focus on the hooting. The room. The bed she was in.

Wait...

No. This was wrong. She was in the cave. With Kimiko. Why the fuck was she now laying in a bed, on the verge of hyperventilation? What the fuck was going on?

It wasn't a room she recognized. She gleaned that it was a hotel room from the layout of the space. Familiar pokeball logos branded everything, so, perhaps a Poke Center? Not a capsule room, but the nicer lodgings some of them tended to have. She'd never stayed in one before. She'd also never shared a room with a fucking meganium, and yet, here she was.

"What the fuck," she managed between breaths.

Then, a pressure on her back, and the tightness in her chest started to loosen. The steady cadence of the strokes caused a breath to hitch in her throat, while dopamine ran relays up and down her spine. Someone was in the bed with her, and she turned, hoping to find Val Guzma Steven someone who she'd be happy to share a fucking bed with. Whoever it was, their presence was doing wonders for her nerves, and she appreciated it nonetheless.

But, she didn't recognize him. Not in the dark, at least. However, despite this, she felt the tension leave her body. Whoever he was, she trusted him deeply. That helped ease both her uncategorized panic and confusion over what the fuck was happening.

She wasn't expecting more people to be in the room with her, but when she felt something scurry into her lap, she flinched. Of course, her jumpiness didn't feel that warranted, as it was just an espeon. She didn't really recognize the espeon either, but she didn't care. All Eons were friends. She set her hand on the 'mon's back, sighing through the last of her unease.

But that wasn't enough to shake off the emotions that started to dam up within her. Whatever had spooked her awake had faded, but she was left with a lasting sense of shame. She didn't know what she did to warrant it, but it was overpowering.

What the fuck was going on? Was this the cave's doing? Was she seeing things from Kimiko's past...as Kimiko?

The human hands. So she wasn't a mawile anymore. But with the lack of excess fat on her fucking stomach, and her stark blonde hair...there was no way she was her own human self. She had to be Kimiko, if Kimiko actually was a slender, blonde babe as a human. Good for her.

Then, the man spoke, and she slanted a wide-eyed glance back at him. If she was Kimiko, and she was in bed with a random guy, then this had to be her significant other. Come to think of it, had Kimiko ever mentioned dating anyone? Was that something they'd talked about? She suddenly felt bad for not remembering...

Which one, he asked. Which one, what? Odette didn't even know what's happening.

Her tongue felt swollen in her mouth. "I..." she stammered, in all her brilliance. "I don't..." Gods even her voice sounded different. "Huh?"

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Unlike Kimiko, Odette quickly picked up on the memory of the dungeon and its workings. As she began to calm down, and with that lingering in the back of her mind, little details - rather, a lack of details - began to stand out; The television on the desk had no visible cables or wiring or antennae. Aside from the silver moonlight, there was no other light source at all; no desk lamp, no overhead fan, no nightlights. Did that window not have any glass?

Beside her, the man shifted. As Odette settled down, the back rubbing stopped, and instead he propped himself up on his elbow, watching her with a quizzical-but-still-groggy expression. "Which dream, of course. Must have been a bad one to jolt you awake like that. I guess we can rule out the 'forgot to get dressed and show up to your gym battle in your underwear' one." He gave a small, humorless chuckle - one Odette would get the feeling was out of the ordinary. "You know I can't help you if you don't talk to me. So, which one? The cell?"

As he guessed, the wall on the opposite side would change, destroying any illusion of normalcy that remained. The entire wall was gone, bathroom door and all. Instead, it was as though the bedroom stretched out and morphed into another room entirely; in this case, a stony-looking prison cell, complete with chains on the walls and metal bars that could not be seen beyond. Odette would immediately feel a spike in anxiety, and the espeon's purring was no longer easing it. The meganium that had been curled up in front of the wall raised her head, inspecting the new setting with mild interest.

"The forest?" Alex continued guessing. Odette might pick up on a change in the tone of his voice, if she could spare a moment of attention away from the morphing wall, which had again shifted in a hazy puff of smoke. It had become a dark forest, the sky not visible through the treetops. She'd see shapeless forms drifting around, slowly as if watching her. She wouldn't be able to make out what they were, but she didn't need her eyes this time; in her mind, she'd know they were ghosts. The fear that bubbled to the surface was lesser than before, building on the well that had already formed.

"The cliff?" Again, a subtle shift in the voice, as though the speaker struggled to supress their enthusiasm. The forest melted away, revealing a clear, starry night sky. Trees off to the right where the scene met the bedroom wall hinted at the previous forest scene, but the carpet melded with the edge of a stony cliff. At the edge, facing inwards, was a young girl, no more than eleven or twelve. Her red hair was easy to make out even in the awkward lighting, tied up in two large pigtails, blowing in a nonexistant wind. Her face was dark, but her eyes, glowing as red as her hair, said all that was needed. The terror Odette would feel this time was different than the obvious fear of ghosts that the previous scene established, but no less drastic.

"The botched recovery is fresh, isn't it?" Once again, the cliff evaporated into mist, replaced with the sight of a city street. Buildings lined the road left and right, but the scene was dominated by the sight of pokemon battling each other throughout, darting in and out of side streets or buildings. Odette would recognize many of them this time, a large number of them being ghosts. But this would open up a pit in her stomach, less fear and more despair.

"So, which one?" The voice sounded unable to contain their excitement now; should Odette look back at him, she'd be greeted with a toothy smile that was just a bit too wide to be natural. He made a gesture towards the wall, which had returned to the mostly-normal-looking blankness. With the show seemingly over, the meganium returned to her nap. The espeon in her lap, meanwhile, looked up at her with concerned eyes; at least she looked normal.

Odette would realize that the man wasn't simply asking her what she'd dreamt - it was prompting her. Waiting for an answer. Should she try to simply make something up, she'd find that no ideas stuck; half formed thoughts would die on the tip of her tongue, evaporating before she could snare them.

With no memory of what had actually awakened Kimiko and no clues to figure it out, she'd have to guess.

 

[Sinderella]

The dream. Of course. Whatever the hell she'd just "woken up" from, as the cave wanted her to believe she had.

Unfortunately, she had no prior understanding of events that led up to this moment, so her mind felt just as empty of an answer as it was prior to his clarification. But, this guy wasn't going to take her silence to an answer.

It wasn't enough that he wanted to drill her about it, but the far wall of the room decided to give her a live show of her options. She gulped down a startled breath as the painted wall and crown molding began to shift around the scene of a cell, one that sent her heartbeat into an involuntary gallop. Then a forest, full of silhouettes she immediately recognized. What should have brought her some ease only continued to churn that discontent.

Kimiko had explained that the ghosts in her world were different. Far different than the ones in hers. Perhaps that foreign fear wasn't unfounded.

Still, she swallowed it down as she watched the scene change yet again. A cliff, being faced down with the glowing face of a child. The part of herself that was still in touch with her own feelings was aware that the sight of an eerie child standing on a dark cliff was pure horror movie material. But, the terror that filtered through Kimiko's eyes was enough to startle her. Did Kimiko know that girl? Now that she was being forced to think about it again, hadn't Kimiko said something about a cliff...

"I've seen people I know and care about turn and leap off a cliff...

Was this...one of those moments? Was Odette about to watch this eerie child throw herself off the rocks? And why did her unnamed bed partner sound like he was giddy about such a scene? The desire to pin him with a venomous glare ran deep, but she found herself locked in a stare with the child's glowing eyes.

Luckily, the girl didn't move before the scene shifted once more.

Odette wasn't sure what a botched recovery had to do with ghost types fighting in the street, but she couldn't dwell on that too much over the building dread. So much dread. Was this what Kimiko was carrying around in her chest all the time in regard to ghosts? Or even just in general? Not that she had any room to pity; she wasn't much better. But for fuck's sake...

With all of her options available to her, she finally felt like she could move her neck again. The sound of her sleeping partner's sheer giddiness prompted her to snap her gaze in his direction, finding, to her own annoyance, that he was grinning just a little too wide now. The absolute ghoulishness of it sent a shiver down her back, but she recovered in time to slit her eyes at him. She lived with an eldritch doppelganger, for fuck's sake. If this asshole--who she had a sinking suspicion was not actually Kimiko's significant other (unless he just happened to be this freaky and nosy; Odette didn't really know the girl's type)--wanted to get under her skin, he was going to have to do better than that. At least the espeon's face hadn't changed much.

Emboldened by the shift in the atmosphere, both from the odd show she'd just gotten and the unsettling change in the man's demeanor, she leaned down toward him, angling her head to ensure her nose was parallel with his.

"You should try not to smile like that; that's how you get premature wrinkles," she jeered.

Upon sitting back up, she gave herself some time to really look around. She managed to make mental notes of the visual fallacies in the apparent illusion, which had come back together after the one-wall scenery change--no plugs on the electronics, no lights on the nightstands, no glass on the window. She wasn't sure if that reassured her or just put her more on edge. But, at least dream logic seemed to be at play here. Which meant, no matter what she was in for, nothing bad could really happen to her.

At least, she hoped.

Odette picked the espeon up, tucking her under her arm the same way she used to when Enora was an eevee, and kicked off the comforter to stand up. Adjusting her sleepwear, she gestured back to the wall. No use in playing coy--it was obvious he wanted her to pick. She didn't have a choice.

With a breath, one that was shakier than she wanted it to be, she spoke the first option that came to mind.

"The forest. It was the forest."

 

[Shadow Serenity]

The man did not flinch away as Odette leveled her face with his; if anything, his grin only widened. But he offered no other response, merely continuing to casually lay there, watching and waiting.

The espeon squirmed in her grasp as she stood up and tucked the psychic under her arm, mewling in mild surprise, but to her credit, did not really resist otherwise. Her soothing purring continued, despite the shift in her own position.

When Odette finally made her choice, the man, still in the bed, nodded slowly, flashing her a toothy grin, and an unsettling one at that; they were razor sharp and pointed, more resembling sharpedo fangs than a human's teeth. "Excellent choice."

Moments later, he burst into a puff of whispy purple smoke. The rest of the scene followed suit, piece by piece; the bed, the desk, the meganium, the walls... even the espeon vanished right from Odette's arms. The smoke lingered briefly, then began to shift and take new shapes. Many trees formed around her, as well as several ghost pokemon that she could now make out clearly; shuppet, drifblim, duskull, a gengar. As the scene solidified into existence, the ghosts fled; either diving into the thick, dark treetops above or simply fading away. Odette would know they were still there, however; the feeling of being watched was overwhelming. Still, despite knowing what they were capable of and what to expect from them, that familiarity would be drowned out by her urge to flee, every fiber of her being telling her she needed to find a way out.

Should Odette manage to hold her composure, she'd notice that this scene, for as bland as it looked with trees in the distance in every direction stretching on beyond her sight, looked far more normal than the bedroom had. Leaves crunched as she walked, bushes rustled with sounds as wild 'mon (birds? rodents? ghosts?) shuffled behind them. The bark on the trees looked detailed enough to be normal, unlike the paint back in the bedroom. But the atmosphere was oppressive, almost physically so, the air thick with energy. No matter which direction she looked, she'd swear a ghost had just been watching her from behind that tree, or a pair of eyes had just ducked into that bush. So then, was this an actual memory she was experiencing? Or a distorted memory of the dream she'd been awoken by, and nothing yet had happened to give it away?

Odette stood at the side of a dirt path between the trees. She could move left, she could move right; there didn't appear to be any visual indication of which way was closer to the exit, and neither one triggered any internal hint of feeling like the path that had been chosen by Odette's current vessel.

She could, of course, abandon the path altogether and head off into the trees. This thought, too, brought no hint of correctness, but it would trigger a spike of horror.

Regardless of what she chose, the most prominent nagging thought in the back of her mind would be a simple wish that she wasn't here alone.

 

[Sinderella]

"Assface," she spat, tightening her hold on the espeon. When she got out of this dreamscape, she was going to drill the fuck out of Kimiko about her taste in men, because what on fucking earth?

Though, it was evident she cursed too soon. Suddenly, that espeon--her comfort partner--had vanished, all while the world around her shifted into the forest she had so loudly requested. "Gods damm--" she started to say. The word didn't fully leave her mouth before an oppressive feeling fell over her. Subconscious fear forced her heartrate into a sprint all while she took in her surroundings. So many silhouettes she recognized; ones she should have felt comfortable around. But every which way, it felt like eyes were digging holes into her skin, making her feel like she was standing there naked in the middle of that dense forest. Why? Why was she on edge? A dark forest, presumably at Witching Hour, surrounded by wild ghosts? This was her element.

And yet, Kimiko's warnings rang in her head. The ghosts of her world aren't like mine. They're different. They've killed people she loved...

Rolling her shoulders, she took a breath to compose herself. What she was feeling was Kimiko's fear, but she could feel her own starting to rise to meet it. The idea of facing down a ghost that had intent to harm her...she couldn't fathom it. She didn't want to fathom it. But what choice did she have? This was how things were where Kimiko was from. Which meant she had to be careful. Had to let that fear guide her. Though what she wouldn't have fucking given to keep that espeon with her.

"Anyone want to pop out at me now before I get going?" she called. She didn't like the involuntary waver in her voice, but she supposed it just could not be helped. She waited. When nothing happened, she yelled out again. "Weird not-boyfriend bed invader with the fucking teeth? No comment here?"

She waited again, and again, nothing happened. With another deep breath, she let out a stream of Kalosian curses before starting off down the leftmost path.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Dirt crunched underneath Odette's boots as she walked, leaving noticeable footprints behind in the path (how she could see with no light from above was another mystery). That sound was the only response given to her snark. Sharpened by the chill in the air (and now dressed in a red top and black skirt, not that her sleepwear would have kept her much warmer), Kimiko's senses were on heightened alert, and whether because of the shared experience or her own concerns, so were Odette's. Mercifully (?), the ghosts continued to avoid direct confrontation, vanishing from sight as she crept onward, but there was no question that they were observing her. It was of little comfort to Kimiko's mind though, and Odette would have to deal with the constant fears of her host bombarding her with imaginary scenarios of various ghosts sneaking up and sucking out her soul. Two in particular were more visually crisp and clear; a dusknoir opening its mouth and pulling her inside, and a mimikyu shoving a ghostly nail through her chest.

A distinctly mimikyu-shaped silhouette ducked behind a tree, and she would realize that there were no other signs of life in the forest to distract her, either. No noisy birds or hooting noctowl. No chirping bugs in the treetops or the bushes. No scurrying rodents or living mushrooms or other species of 'mon one might expect to see. Intensifying dread and intrusive thoughts of torture aside, the one thing Odette might otherwise notice was a growing exhaustion. Each step felt harder to take as her legs felt heavier, as though the very atmosphere was draining the energy from her.

Then, just as she would consider pausing for a rest (and a sixth sense somewhere in her subconscious screamig 'NO' very loudly) the black star that hung from her neck would begin to feel warm, as though trying to combat that chill in the air. Instinctively, she'd reach up to touch it. The moment she did, a memory of the man from the bedroom would surface, appearing semi-transparently on the path before her as though he too were a ghost, yet still looking far more human than he had previously, dressed in his torn black shirt and light brown jeans. He offered her a light smile. Suddenly, she'd feel warm again as though he just reached out and hugged her and, more importantly, her steps would feel lighter, a small flickering spark of hope that pushed her forwards. Perhaps more importantly still, focusing on him would also halt the assault of tormenting images. Definitely not the same guy from earlier, then; he more resembled the comforting presence that the imposter had begun with immediately after she'd awoken.

But just as quickly as it had come, that familiar, comforting sight and the warmth he'd brought with him would fade as Odette's eye caught something else of note: footprints.

Her footprints. She didn't need to line up her boot with the shape in the dirt to recognize them. Frustration and despair would hit her like a truck along with the realization she'd just been toyed with.

The moment this realization hit, a chorus of eerie, haunting cackles would erupt all around her as the ghosts of the forest continued to observe - with amusement and glee, it seemed.

Sudden motion would keep her attention on the ground, where the footprints began. A shadow rose up from them, taking the shape of a gengar... with a familiar set of pointed teeth. It snickered as it rose, looking her square in the eye. "What need have we for comments? I'm simply the host, but this is your show. A+ performance, by the way." The gengar would wink at her and retreat once again into the footprint. That certainly hadn't been a direct part of the memory...

So, she was back where she started, with one key difference; Odette's path forward was clear. Going left had taken her back where she started. It was unlikely that retracing her steps would lead anywhere new. The path had been straight. It wasn't like she'd walked in a circle, so either the ghosts here could distort her perception of her surroundinds, or there was more Dream Dungeon bullshit at play. Regardless of the reason, the path no longer appeared a valid option. So into the void it was...

The question, then, was which direction? She wouldn't have to wait long for an answer; a faint pink light appeared in her vision. It was wispy, not unlike the purple flames of a chandelure - and by way of Kimiko's memory, Odette would be familiar with why following that was a bad idea - except it was bubblegum pink. Instinct told her this was what she was looking for without really understanding why. With a deep breath and renewed purpose drowning out the resurgence of fear, she'd press on...

 

[Sinderella]

"For fuck's sake," she muttered to herself. Her eyes lingered on every form that floated in and out of sight, none of them getting close enough for her to make any attempt to speak with them, but lingering in her blind spots enough that she was getting aggravated. If they had something to say (or do), she wished they just would, against the sheer unease coming from Kimiko's thoughts. Now that she was actually in the girl's shoes, Odette was starting to understand. This was a lot. Not only were there far too many leering forms around her, there was a startling lack of other life forms too. No skwovet, no murkrow, no cascoon, no nothing. Scared off, or just more dream logic? She decided to not think too hard about it.

The image of a mimikyu driving a spectral nail into her heart caused her to stop dead in her tracks to recompose herself. God, Loic would never...but in this world, he very well might have. She didn't like that thought one fucking bit.

As that thought occurred to her, she saw the silhouette of one scamper behind a tree, and she took a step backward. If that's what this "dream" was going to be, she decided she'd take her chances with the cell. Or the girl on the cliff. Something else. Maybe she'd picked too fast.

She made a move to take seat on a nearby log, just to try to get her head together, but Kimiko's body wholly protested against the thought. Frankly, she didn't blame her. Just as she realized how cold her blood had run, the necklace around her neck (gods, when had that gotten there?) started to warm up. She reached up to grab it, feeling a sense of comfort in it. As if the dream sensed her comfort, the image of a man--that same man who'd been in bed with her before her morphed into that sharpedo-toothed freak--shimmered into view right on the path. He looked normal in the image; like he had when she first awoken, and for the briefest moment, she felt safe again. Where the fuck had this version of him gone? Was he fucking possessed? Kimiko dating somebody who was possessed would have been some sick irony, but that was yet another thing she decided not to think too hard about. Instead, she leaned into the comforting warmth he brought and continued forward, up until she was stopped by the sight of her fucking footprints again.

"Oh my gods," she hissed aloud, feeling a surge of anger explode up her back.

Had she somehow just gone in a fucking circle? The left was always her lucky side, and yet all it did was take her in a complete fucking circle? When the path itself was straight?

Then cackles. They made her jump, her eyes snapping in every available direction trying to find the source. It had to be one of the pussy ghosts here fucking with her. They could do that in any world. Maybe it was a scare tactic. That's all.

Her eye then caught back on her footprints, and she watched with rising discontent and a matching sense of fury as a gengar with a very shitty veneer job rose up to greet her.

"Thanks," she spat. "I was trained in musical theater. I was also trained in the art of beating the shit out of cryptic, creepy assholes."

He had nothing else to say, though. Not before he sunk back into her foot print. She gave it rage-fueled kick when she was certain he was out of sight.

Then it was certain. Going right would likely prove the same outcome, and couldn't imagine retracing her steps would lead her anywhere else except right back where she was standing. Chancing a glance toward the dark void of the tree line, her lips curled over her teeth. Yeah, or course the creepy fucking dreamscape wanted her to run off the paved path into certain darkness.

"Bullshit," she said, trying to forget the carnal fear rising in her chest. Undoubtedly, something bad was waiting for Kimiko--her--in there. But, there was nowhere else to go.

With the deepest, shakiest breath she could muster, she marched off the path.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

As Odette left the path and made her way through the trees, any sense of direction was quickly lost. The dark forest was nothing but trees and ghost silhouettes in every direction. Even as she followed the hazy pink flame, staying just within sight but never drifting far enough away to lose, the winding path it took her though would feel aimless.

Those ghosts continued to observe from a distance as she traveled, but close enough to ensure that their presence was known. Occasionally, one would suddenly whoosh right by her head, or behind her back, just long enough to send her hair flowing in the resulting wind. Nothing that would harm her, but enough to make her concerned; they could, should they decide to, at any moment. The longer she wandered, the more frequent these disturbances became.

All the while, a heavy weight bore down on her. Not physically, and not just from the atmosphere, but from the thoughts that would surface in the silence in between ghost taunts. A feeling of helplessness, of despair, of desperation. Of loneliness. Whatever Kimiko - and by extension, Odette - was looking for, it hadn't been her first choice.

Eventually, the floating pink flame seemed close, and Odette would realize it had stopped. Closer inspection would reveal a slight distortion in the air, just below. What it was was unclear, but Odette would get the sense that she'd found what she'd been in the forest searching for. Whatever her thoughts, Kimiko's will would walk her into the distortion.

She'd find a small flurry of sudden activity on the other side of what seemed, from the inside, to be some kind of barrier. The distortion behind her would solidify, as though it has been partially opened for her.

More importantly, however, was the scene that lay in front of her; most prominently, the massive blue deer-like creature with impressive rainbow antlers that Odette may or may not immediately recognize on her own. Kimiko, however, would regardless have a vague familiarity with the creature. Its body was on the ground, covered in bruises and bleeding gashes, its large head calmly observing the goings on around it. The deer was enveloped in a faint pink glow, the fairy aura radiating from it almost tangible.

The deer-like creature was not the only thing in the center of the clearing, however; several non-ghost pokemon and, more surprisingly, people, scattered about. Many 'mon stood around the perimeter, maintaining the barrier, some sort of joint protect shield. Indeed, Odette would be able to make out the familiar ghost silhouettes just outside the barrier, as if looking for a way through. Several others, human and 'mon alike, were in close proximity to the legendary, sporting that same pink glow, in varying states of consciousness. Closest to Odette, an elderly man with a long white beard seated with his back against the legendary, possibly asleep. Beside him, an oranguru, looking just as ancient, sat cross-legged and unmoving, eyes shut peacefully.

Several other bodies dotted the area beside the deer, in a similar manner, some with the pink glow but most without. The dozen or so healthy-looking 'mon and people scurried about, picking up these lifeless forms and carrying them out of sight. A famliar red-haired woman in a long, red and gold cape, caught her gaze. She frowned sadly, but said nothing, and continued on her way.

The deer pokemon, casually gazing around, would finally notice Odette, and its head would drop; slight, but noticeable.

"There are not enough," echoed a voice inside her head. The deer was speaking to her. It sounded as calmed as it looked, as though it were discussing the weather. "One additional source will not make up the difference. Are you sure this is what you want?"

No. "Yes. It's all I have left to give."

Although Odette had not spoken, it was obvious the voice came from the body she currently occupied. It sounded... resigned. She'd also get the sense that there was a larger conversation here that, for one reason or another, did not come across. A simplified version for the Comb, perhaps?

There was little time to ponder it. A strand of pink aura extended out from the legendary. It contacted Odette and surrounded her the same as those nearby. If she'd felt weary from all the walking, it was nothing compared to the sudden wave of exhaustion that was coming over her now. As her energy drained away, she'd want nothing more than to sit down and let it...

 

[Sinderella]

"If you want to fuck around, come fuck around!"

Despite the growing panic accumulating in her chest, and across her shoulders, and blanketing her whole being, she felt a rising irritation at every ghost that swooped by, tousled her hair, and made their presence known without actually doing anything. She knew they could do something to her if they wanted to, and she wished they just would if they were so dead set on bothering her like this. It might alleviate the nausea churning in the pit of her stomach.

At least she knew what she was walking toward. That pink flame out in the distance. It was the only thing giving her a sense of direction, and she was drawn to it like a mothim to a street light. She wondered if walking toward it would garner the same response as taking the path had--just walking in an endless circle--but upon arriving to a distorted space in the air, she knew she'd found what she was looking for even without the help of Kimiko's thoughts. Her better sense told her it probably wasn't a good idea to walk through, but considering her options were press on and find what awaited, or risk being taken down by a band of leering mismagius and gengar and mimikyu, she was okay to roll with the former.

What she wasn't expecting to see was Xerneas, battered and bruised, and sitting in a clearing surrounded by the limp bodies of other people and Pokemon. More lively individuals were at work picking them up and moving them out of the way--gods, she hoped they were just sleeping and not dead--and she stood still, watching them with wide-eyed confusion as she tried to process what she was seeing. Odette had never seen that red-haired girl before, but Kimiko clearly had. She wanted to ask what the fuck was going on, but the words wouldn't come.

When Xerneas spoke to her, she wanted to respond. Whatever the unconscious ones were doing, she wanted no part in it. "No," she wanted to say. But Kimiko, resigned to the sight before her, agreed with very little protest. No, why the fuck would you do that? Odette wanted to yell. She knew she'd caught the back half of an important, context-providing conversation, but without anything else to go off except a clearing of limp bodies all leading back to Xerneas, the situation felt as cut and dry as it could be for now. Yet again, her words would not come out. Soon, she was under the spell of that pink aura, watching helplessly as the corners of her vision blurred, and the area around her melted into a mess of inky grays and purples.

Only then, as she was sinking to her knees, did she find her voice. "Wait...no..." she breathed. "I don't...what the fuck are we doing here? Why...are you doing this?"

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Xerneas' eyes narrowed in visible confusion, evidently hearing Odette's protest. The legend's pink aura wavered, but did not slow, continuing to draw in her life energy.

"This is why you had come, is it not?" It was a statement rather than a question. "I revealed to you where I could be found should you wish to devote yourself. What other purpose could there be?"

It was there that the connection was abruptly severed, Xerneas itself flinching back in discomfort. The pink aura faded from Odette alone; Xerneas continued to drain the rest of the surrounding volunteers. Down on her knees, Odette would feel significantly weakened and exhausted, breaths coming heavily and with some difficulty.

When she looked up, she'd find Xerneas again gazing at her, and upon meeting its eyes, she'd get a taste of the discomfort in its mental voice. "Gracious though your contribution is, I... I cannot help you, human. You are not elderly nor unwell, yet your life force is... tainted somehow. I can not explain why, but... I can not use it. It would only weaken me further."

"Great. I can't even die correctly." Kimiko's voice was low, enough that had she not known better, Odette might think it was only meant for her to hear.

"It is no matter," Xerneas continued. "As I said before, there is not enough here to significantly empower me. Not in time for the impending confrontation. I fear, were I to engage Yveltal in this condition, the best possible outcome we could hope for would be to meet with this same inevitable result. Without drastically larger numbers to volunteer, I am in no condition to assist you further."

"There are still ways you can help." The red-haired woman had appeared by Odette's side, offering a hand to help her back to her feet.

"Yeah, like I helped the rescue mission?" Kimiko's voice again. "I can't be trusted in any position where I'm a risk to others. You said it yourself. Remember that? So I can't fight, and I can't hide. I can't even die, apparently. What do you want me to do, make popcorn and watch while everyone else becomes puppets?"

Neither the woman nor Xerneas answered her.

 

[Sinderella]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

This was so much to take in.

The legend, Xerneas, was taking the life force of the people around her as...a power up? To fight Yveltal? Was Yveltal behind the bullshit ghost nonsense happening in Kimiko's world? But that wasn't even the most pressing question at hand.

Kimiko had wanted to die? She was prepared to offer her entire life force to a legendary even after being told it wasn't going to be enough to help whatever cause there was? As Odette kneeled there, trying to regain the full spectrum of her working vision, the revelation hit her like an extra gut punch. As if she wasn't already feeling discomfort from nearly having her soul sucked out of her.

Before she could dwell too much on it, that red-head came back and helped her up. Odette was still in too much of a daze to really pay attention to her appearance, but she still managed to follow along with the spectral argument running through her head.

How was she a risk to others? What had she done? Is that why Xerneas had said her soul was tainted? But why?

"Do you just..." she muttered mindlessly, eyes locked on the grass at her feet. "Do you just think you're not good enough to be of use? That no matter what you do, you're doomed to be a liability? Is that why you wanted to die?"