Chapter 32: Anticipation

Who knew there was so much to discuss with such a vague plan?

Anne's thirst might've only lasted two cups of Vivian's tea, but the adults' desire to discuss everything they could in advance lasted way longer. Despite being kept in the loop about what they were talking about, Anne paid less and less attention over time, except for the few occasions where one of the three sent a concrete question her way.

She barely knew anything more than them about Lillywood specifically, but the much more ineffable experience of just being human sure came in handy, too. Mostly through the simple, vague advice—as long as you look like you know where you're going, most people won't bother you too much. Wear Mrs. Graham's coat to cover yourself with, and maybe a hat to either obscure the crest or disguise it as an accessory.

The few articles of clothing or accessories she'd seen that were based on the Ralts line were mostly fake Gardevoir masks or wigs, but wearing a fake Gallade crest wasn't inconceivable, either.

Stick to the sides of the sidewalks, and only use sidewalks. The easiest way to get singled out as a weirdo or someone who doesn't belong is to walk on the asphalt—that was just for cars. The associated question of 'could a Gallade survive a car collision with their strength' remained unspoken, and—hopefully—undetected. Further tips: street crossings, red and green lights, keeping Sage and Yaksha close to Marco to sell the idea of them being 'his' mons.

The combined advice ought to be enough to get Marco through this without causing a scene. Sure, people would stare at him and the ghosts beside him, but ultimately he'd just come off as a weirdo trainer—a cross-section of the two groups that accounted for at least a third of the latter—but nothing more sinister than that.

And if need be, Sage could probably advise something on the fly, too.

With the trio further into the tea corner getting all the advice Anne could think of, the girl withdrew further into her thoughts as her friend chatted with the gooey dragon. As much as she appreciated the idea of the mission to try reuniting the ghost girl with her family, the refusal to consider the most likely outcome of a worst-case scenario kept digging into her conscience.

She tried hinting at the topic a few times as the adults chatted amongst themselves, her whispers towards the lil' Phantump accomplishing exactly jack. Sure, she never stated it overtly, but she hoped that her questions about whether her mom would be happy to see her would've made something click in Sage's head. Alas, nothing.

Nothing but an unerring faith in her parents, the kind that life just cannot resist shattering with all the violence imaginable.

Anne wished she didn't have to be the one trying to pick at the younger girl's hopes, that one of the adults around her acted the part and confronted her about this, but... nobody did. Suppose if the worst comes to pass she'll hurt a lot, yes, but then she'll have them all back at the village to recover after that. It was a hope that was equal parts comforting and infuriating; the latter forcing the human to forcibly switch tracks of her train of thought lest it'd explode into the world's most impotent desk slam.

She had to go through that; Ember had to go through that—why Sage? She didn't deserve this; Ember didn't deserve this. Anne had only managed to extend that thought to herself very few times, but with the anger providing her all the distraction she'd need, today was exactly one such occasion.

None of them deserved this! 

It was much too late for her and Ember, but it wasn't for Sage; the girl still had time to be spared from it, but nobody would help her! Maybe nobody could. Maybe nobody was strong enough to plunge that scarring blade deep into the girl's psyche with the knowledge of how much pain they'd be inflicting. Less than Sage finding out the hard way—much less—but still an immense amount.

Maybe Yaksha was right.

Maybe it couldn't be helped.

Anne didn't want to think about this.

Especially not now, with the several cups of tea only leaving her sleepier than she'd been before. She stretched with her one good arm as she tried to shake off the murky, freezing topic and replace it with something nicer and warmer—such as the firefox beside her. Was that selfish, too?

 Shut the hell up, brain. 

Fortunately for her, the fleshy sponge between her ears was keen to try doing exactly that—if at the price of her dozing off into a full-blown nap. It's been so many years since she'd had one of those. Way back at her grandma's place at least, and she grew out of them rather quickly even then. It'd be quite childish, yeah, but she doubted anyone else would mind—

The heavy, gruff voice came from much closer than she'd expected, flipping over the table all her tired thoughts were being laid out on.

After Anne's heart was done calming down from its palpitations, the girl turned to see the source of the intimidating sound for herself, together with her friends. Or, at least, with Ember, Sage having dipped to hide behind her the moment she heard the stranger.

They had no business walking in as stealthily as they had with their sheer size.

The Electrivire towered above everything and everyone inside, except for the Goodra behind the counter. And even then, it was a much closer matchup than Anne had expected.

"Hello, M-Mr. Geiger!" Ember greeted the newcomer, pushing past any residual startle. It calmed her friend by proxy even if it did little to explain who the massive Electric-type was. Before the firefox could answer, though, someone else had decided to greet them first.

With a blink, Anne found herself staring four eyes to one with a Magnemite from just a few inches away. If not for Sage behind her, she would've reeled so hard she fell off the chair, instead limiting herself to 'just' gawking at the floating magnet.

Had they flown any closer to her, they would've likely snagged her glasses off her face with their passive magnetism alone.

As Anne grabbed her bearings, she saw the Electivire go from curiously watching to laughing with his entire body, the sound so much more imposing than she'd have ever expected. Not threatening, not this time, just... loud and clear, the interspersed old man coughs in it included. As he recovered, he tried to speak up again; the almost-human-but-not-quite sounds tingling her brain.

She'd heard of—and had fallen face-first into a few times—the uncanny valley effect with drawings, but wouldn't have expected it to also happen with sounds.

Thankfully, her confusion wouldn't last for much longer.

"^There ya go, Anne! My bad Geiger, didn't spot you stepping in,^" Autumn beamed at the Electivire, Despite the tension in the air, it was hard to not notice the relaxation in her mental voice compared to just a couple hours ago, though Anne had no idea what might've caused it. "^How has your morning been~?^"

The Electric-type nodded deeply at the Indeedee's words, letting Anne spot the... cap on his head. There was no way it wasn't human-made, only sparking further questions. Before she could put words to them, though, the freshly introduced Geiger spoke first, "No worries, Autumn~. But—I've heard the rumors around the place about Anne being out on a walk and thought I'd check in after yesterday's... let's be generous and call it 'proceedings'." 

If there had been any more contempt in his voice, it would've been oozing down his body.

"^Hard to deny them being a waste of time, but what's done is done,^" Autumn concurred, her posture deflating before she straightened herself back up. Sure, it had been a traumatizing nightmare for most involved, but it was over now. Dwelling on the past wouldn't help anyone right now.

"At least there's that. Anyway, hello there, Anne. I've heard a fair bit about you, and have been wanting to chat with you for a while now—you alright?" Geiger added the last part after seeing the human's wide-eyed stare at him and the Magnemite beside him. He didn't want to presume it was anything more than shock, and thankfully, it turned out to be just that—at least if the girl then slowly calming down was any indication.

"~G-good morning, Mr.—Mr. Geiger.~" Some of the shock in Anne's voice was still there, despite her best effort to calm down.

Must've been quite a nervous kid, not that the Electivire could blame her. 

"No need to worry, Anne, I don't bite. Much."

Geiger let out the tiniest sigh of relief as his joke had the desired effect, sending waves of giggles through the two girls and most other patrons. It was enough for the Phantump he'd spotted hiding behind Anne to poke their head out a bit, though he still had no idea who that was or why they were hiding there.

Even the Magnemite appreciated it with Autumn's translation, though 'laughter' in their case manifested as high-frequency beeping. Not the most noticeable sound in the world, but unique enough to snag the attention of most gathered, sending the little Steel-type hovering back to their safe spot—attached to Geiger's arm.

"^Oh, that's just a little one Aria ran into a while back, Geiger is looking after them. I don't think they have a name yet, but—^"

"I'm happy to say that they do now!" Geiger's smile inched that bit wider as he cut Autumn off and brought them the good news, the Indeedee especially curious about the little magnet. Seeing her interest, the Electivire followed up immediately, "Say hello to Sievert, everyone."

The name was almost as nonsensical for Anne as it was for everyone else, barring the one time she maybe overheard that word in class. As she tilted her head and tried to figure out what it meant, though, others just shrugged and nodded along. Geiger's name already made no sense to anyone, they figured he'd only want to give the little one something just as... unique.

"H-hello Si-Sye-Seevert?" Despite Ember not quite getting the name right, she refused to let that get to her, waving eagerly at the shy magnet. 

Geiger chuckled at the mispronunciation but didn't comment on it—should've seen it coming. Anne and him aside, it's not like anyone else here knew the human pronunciation of that, anyway.

As her friend tried to wrangle her maw to get the human sounds just right, Anne was taken aback more and more as she squinted at Geiger's headgear.

Her eyes hadn't deceived her; it was a human cap, one with writing on it no less. The exact shade of white fabric and blue text made it tricky to read from a distance, but it only took one moment of Geiger standing still for her to be confident that she'd read the text right.

And a lot longer than that for her to gather the courage to speak up afterward.

"~I-is that a cap from the Amity Cove Power Plant?~"

It was as if a switch had flipped inside Geiger the very instant she said these words.

The Electric-type giant went quiet and stared at her with a mix of surprise, admiration, and excitement as he reached up to grab the headgear. It's been decades since he'd last heard that name, and someone other than his aging mind evoking it sprung a veritable wellspring of memories. Phone calls, briefings, the unending schematics and memos on the wall—but nothing in the past twenty-something years.

Until now.

"Indeed, Anne. Do you... do you recognize that place?" Geiger shuddered as he held out the hat for the girl to inspect, a foul idea chilling his mind. The facility had been closed for years now, and both this village and the nearby human towns were miles upon miles away from it...

Could it have been that she was a child of one of his former coworkers? A grandchild, perhaps—

"~Yeah! There's—there's an urban legend I've h-heard about an Electivire having escaped f-from there after breaking in and absorbing all the radiation to g-grow stronger, and I had no idea that it was actually true...~"

Anne found it difficult to keep on talking once Geiger was laughing loud enough for her to have a hard time hearing anyone else in the tea corner.

She leaned back at the explosion of sound and amusement, startling her with how sudden it was. With each passing moment, though, more and more of the confusion filling the tent turned into laughter to accompany Geiger's, though mostly one caused by how unexpected it was to hear him laughing this much. First Autumn, then Vivian, then even Marco and other patrons—and then, finally, Anne too.

Now that she'd said these rumors out loud, they did sound quite dumb, yeah...

For a split second, the murky self-consciousness threatened to deceive her into thinking that the Electric-type wasn't laughing at what she said but at her directly—but it was too slow.

 "Ahahaha, oh the deities, I wasn't expecting any of that! Thought I'd just get forgotten, hahaha!" Geiger said, resuming his laughter the moment he'd forced the last word out.

"^Why so? I'd say you're quite unforgettable, Geiger,^" Autumn smirked. Her tone wasn't missed on Geiger, forcing the absolute slightest blush possible on his yellow-furred cheeks. It wasn't missed on anyone else around with working ears or mind either, leaving Anne second-guessing herself on if she'd really just heard the elderly Indeedee flirt in the open like that or not.

"Well, I'm awfully glad you think so, Autumn. But, let me—ahaha—let me explain myself a bit for Anne," Geiger chuckled and took a deep breath, trying his hardest to keep himself professional before the girl. For better or worse, she wasn't even paying much attention until he'd said her name, making her gaze instantly snap from the label stitched in blue thread to the mountain of an Electric-type just a few feet away from her.

He had her attention; now for a brief rundown.

"I never broke into there, nor did I ever—pfft—nor did I ever try basking in the reactor's glow, but I did work there for many years. When they closed the facility down, I was meant to be sent to another power plant on the other side of Unova," Geiger explained, his voice growing calmer and calmer despite the lingering joviality as the bittersweet memories sedated him. "But, thanks to my boss' intervention, I wasn't. He helped me get away and reported my ball as missing."

Anne gasped quietly at the explanation as she nodded, entranced. Hardly as bombastic as the playground myths and scary stories would have her believe, but even more awe-inspiring because of their truthfulness. "~That's... I-I didn't know that was possible.~"

"Oh, it wasn't—not according to their rules, at least. I'm sure he got into a bunch of trouble because of that, but... he's smart. Was smart, I suppose; he's almost certainly dead by now. Either way, he very much knew what he was getting into. I wish he didn't have to, but I'll be thankful to him for the rest of my life." Geiger grew calmer still, up until the realization of the passage of time. It took him more focus than he thought he still had left in him to just clench his eyes shut and push through the harrowing conclusion without letting the sadness show, but he managed.

Barely.

"~That's—that's really nice of him.~"

Anne's innocence distracted the Electivire from any further sogginess about this topic. That's right, it really was nice of him, and it was for the best for Geiger to focus on that instead of moping about never getting to see his boss again.

In the public, at least.

As hard as he tried to hide his downturn in mood, it was still noticeable for the psychics in the room, and that included even Ember. It wasn't strong enough for her to diagnose what sparked it, but the fox still felt it, pulling her friend into a tight hug. She also felt the constant unease coming from behind Anne, with the Phantump still too skittish to even try anything but peeking out from time to time.

Was Sage afraid of Geiger? Regardless of if that was the case, Autumn already seemed to be helping her out—at least if the dim greenish glow holding one of the ghostly girl's hands was any sign.

Perfect opportunity for him to bring up a new, lighter topic. "Anyhow! I've been curious about a couple of things going on back in the human world for a while, and was wondering if you could help me answer them, Anne."

The human girl blinked at the swerve, finding herself listening intently. She didn't know much, but 'goings on with humanity at large' should be something she could at least give a partial answer. "~O-of course! What d-do you want to know, Mr. Geiger?~"

"First things first—has the Internet become this massive, important invention in the meantime?" 

The entire tea corner was plunged into dumbfounded silence in response, the utterly unknown word sounding like gibberish to all the natives. Even translating it proved tricky for Autumn. It at least seemed to refer to a concept that was present in Anne's head, even if the Indeedee had no idea where to even begin with understanding it.

Anne was almost as surprised as everyone else, but for an entirely opposite reason.

It took her a moment to remember that the Internet wasn't just a force of nature and that it had been created by humans. She might've never had the opportunity to use it personally outside of computer classes, but its spread and influence were impossible to downplay. "~Yes, yes it has!~"

She considered asking how he knew about it, but she didn't even have to.

"A-HA! Knew it; wonder if Jones ever ended up cashing that bet. Oh, suppose an explanation wouldn't hurt—we had Internet long before civilians ever got their hands on it, and there were always a couple of dopes who swore that it would never amount to anything beyond yet another piece of military tech to be classified and forgotten about." Thinking back to that time and to the many arguments between his coworkers had Geiger grinning, glad that some of their hunches turned out to be correct.

"^What's that 'Internet' thing you're talking about, Geiger?^" Autumn spoke for everyone gathered, their shared confusion downright palpable.

Geiger turned towards Anne with the most dumbfounded tone most had ever heard him use, the sound unlike him it gave them whiplash. "Oh, it's... hmm. Good gods, that's a pickle to explain in simple terms. You got any ideas on how to word it, Anne?"

"~Uhh... no, I-I don't think so. I-I guess it's like a—like a web for exchanging information?~" Anne was only slightly less at a loss for words, and the follow-up question didn't help any, either.

"Ohh, is it like telepathy? Or like an actual big spider web?" Ember leaned into her friend as she sought clarification, receiving nothing but meandering 'uhhh's in return.

Not a concept he could ever begin to explain in any comprehensive way at such short notice, but... that didn't mean he couldn't do it given enough time. The Electric-type smirked as he glanced over at Autumn, "I mentioned something similar to it with human long-distance communication a couple of days back, but it's not exactly that. Would need to gather my words first, but... I suppose I'd be willing to go in-depth over something warm together some other day~."

It was Autumn's turn to blush this time, the redness on her cheeks clear to see despite her best efforts. As much as she appreciated that answer—and she appreciated it a lot—there was still one part about it she wanted to change, "^O-oh, I'd love to! Why not today, though? We'll be heading towards our burrow now; we'd love for you both to come along!^"

The excitement in her voice had Geiger chuckle as the Magnemite beside him tried withdrawing further away from the crowd. "Thank you for the offer dear, but I think it's best we keep it until some other day. Last thing I want Anne to deal with after yesterday's torture session is me looming over her all day long. And Sievert here has had enough crowds for today too, I think."

Autumn's hype palpably faded by the word, but it didn't take long for Geiger to reignite it all back.

"I wouldn't mind trying something tomorrow if you'd be up for it, though~."

Immediately, the fastest nodding the Indeedee had ever done in her life, accompanied by a wide smile, shining bright despite how weathered by age her face was. "^Yes, I'd love to!^"

"That's settled then! Alright, now just the other question I had on my mind before I let you all go—the sky's getting ugly outside and I'd hate to keep you all waiting. Anne, would you happen to know what my name means?"

Ember might have spent the last couple of minutes rolling her eye at how sappy Geiger and Autumn were, but her friend found it nothing but charming. Charming, and surprising—wouldn't have expected old people to still be interested in... well, that probably counted as dating. She'd only ever associated them with books, cookies, and dead spouses.

Anne didn't need Geiger to repeat himself, but wasn't sure how to answer right away. It was a word she recognized well, but trying to fetch the exact definition out of the half-forgotten depths of her mind proved more challenging than she had thought. She knew he wasn't expecting the dictionary definition from her, but felt bad about responding with anything less than that.

Seemed she'd have to, though.

"~I-I think it has to do with measuring radioactivity. Like there are these Geiger counters that measure it and make cracking noises when they detect it—~"

"Aaaah, so a dosimeter?" Geiger leaned in as Anne answered his lifelong mystery, his obvious excitement not helping much with keeping her cool.

Especially since that wasn't a word she'd recognized at all, and could only hope was the correct answer.

"~I-I think so, yes,~" Anne answered. To her immediate relief, the Electivire took that response at face value, gaze scanning across the ceiling as he chewed through the revelation.

Then, he stopped, slowly looked over at the freshly named Sievert attached to his arm,

And laughed once more, continuing to do so even after he'd given everyone their 'goodbye's' and 'take care's' and left.

With Geiger taking his leave, Anne's impromptu group didn't stick around for much longer, either. Everything the adults had to chat about they already long since had, and the rest would have to be found out on the fly. It wasn't enough to calm anyone down, especially not Marco—Anne wasn't familiar enough with Gallade anatomy to know that with absolute certainty, but she could've sworn he was much less tense than this when they had arrived—but it was the best they could all hope for.

And whether it would prove enough, it remained to be seen.

Much the same was true of the ever-uncertain skies above their heads, to the group's chagrin.

The typical wintry off-whites above them were replaced with darker and darker grays, creeping in from all around. It wasn't raining, not yet, but all the clouds above looked like they were a single whim away from unleashing an absolute downpour over them all. Of liquid water at that, if the warmth in the air was any sign.

Just about the only time in Anne's life where she actively wished for the weather to be even colder than it already was.

Nothing they could do about it—at least without being noticed by nearby human towns—which left them redoubling their pace towards the 'burrow' Autumn had mentioned earlier. The choice of words left Anne a bit... uncertain. She doubted she was an all-out claustrophobe or anything, but the idea of sleeping in a narrow cave was profoundly uncomfortable all the same.

And no, of course, it had nothing to do with her staying up way too late at her grandma's house one time and watching a documentary about cavers getting trapped underground, of course not!

In an attempt to distract herself from memories that had stolen somewhere in the mid two-digit number of nights of sleep, Anne diverted her attention to the ghostly girl floating beside her. Sage hadn't said anything since they left the tea corner, and felt much tenser than before—already a worrisome sight, but her earlier fear didn't help either.

Hell, if she could tell the younger girl was afraid of Geiger, then any semblance of subtlety was long since out the window.

"~Sage?~"

Ahead of them, Yaksha spared only a briefest glance over his shoulder, but only that. Her half-whisper perked the ghostly girl out of her idle hovering, wooden body shaking as she hovered into the human, holding her hand tight. "~M-mhm? What's up, Anne?~"

A fair bit of exhaustion in her voice, but also some anxiety. Suppose she was still young enough to need naps—when she died, at least. Anne had no idea whether needs like that persisted into the afterlife, but Sage offered one argument for that hypothesis.

"~J-just wanted to ask—did you get scared earlier when Mr. Geiger started talking?~" Anne kept her voice down, anticipating Sage freaking out about her fears having been noticed. 

Instead, the younger girl just nodded idly and explained herself, "~His voice is scary.~"

It was an answer that explained precious little—but at the same time, just enough for Anne's mind to get to thinking. Scary voice? Sure, Geiger was imposing like that, but that should've faded soon after, it's not like he was outright shouting at them all the time or something. Something about his voice, then?

That would explain 'what', but not 'why', and there Anne was still uncertain—at least until she thought back to Sage's scared reaction when she heard Marco speak. Not as prominent, but still present before Ember distracted her away. Another piece of the puzzle, but an awkward one. Marco's and Geiger's voices were almost nothing alike except for sounding masculine when translated, a mild baritone and a deep bass, respectively.

Could it have been that?

No way; Yaksha was with them all the time and he was... hmm. His voice was... not like these two—dryer, more ghostly and distorted, higher pitched, almost like a falsetto. Not enough to trigger that fear, it seemed. Anne hadn't seen Sage have that fearful reaction to any other voice except for these two, and aside from them being masculine, she couldn't think of anything they had in common.

If her hunch was true, then Sage would turn out afraid of Garret, too...

It was a sad thought, especially with how kind the Grimmsnarl had been towards her. Anne hoped she'd get to see him again in not too long—and Aria too once she felt better, of course.

Any thoughts about the Dark-type aside, though, her revelation also made the choice of Marco as the two ghosts' guide into Lillywood... less than advisable. Then again, he was never the first choice and was rather the best option they had on hand, so couldn't really afford to be picky. Hopefully, Yaksha being there would help her out, too.

Either way, Sage was getting a big hug here and now, as big as Anne could manage with one arm.

"~Hehe, that tickles!~" The Phantump giggled, breaking through the group's silence, adorning it with smiles at her happy, squirmy reaction.

With the quiet already gone, Autumn took the initiative and walked up to the girls, eying them out with a wide, tired smile. "^How are you doing, girls?^"

"~I'm okay, Mrs. Autumn!~" Despite her earlier gloom, Sage had no difficulties getting back to her usual excited self. Sure, the Electrivire had scared her a bit, but she'd still be going home in just a few hours!

The Indeedee's smile strained, but just barely held at feeling that thought.

"^Yup! Really hope the weather won't get any worse until then, already looking quite dreadful. Ugh, snow's gonna start melting overnight, won't it...?^"

As Autumn shuddered at the idea of having to wade in freezing slush for the next few days, Marco's thoughts about skies turning dark went the other way. Sure, it'd be ugly, but maybe it'd be for the best?

The Gallade took a large breath as he tried to relax his posture, looking down at the older girl and speaking up, "^Anne. Do you think it would help us avoid attention if it snowed or rained today?^"

Anne blinked at a question this... obvious, but didn't mind answering it. She supposed it made some sense, after all.

"~Well, it'd be cold and nasty for you all, b-but yeah. Nobody's gonna be leaving their houses if it's this cold and raining, even with an umbrella. And...~" she paused and counted the past few days with the information the Blissey at the clinic gave her, the best possible conclusion perking her up a bit. "~And it's Sunday today too, so even fewer people are gonna be out after dark!~"

"~It's Sunday today?~" Sage tilted her head at her friend's words, staring in unexpectedly genuine confusion.

Anne double-checked her count just to be sure—and sure enough, she got it right the first time. "~Yeah, it's Sunday, Sage.~"

"~I thought it was Friday.~"

Sage's perfectly deadpan delivery left Anne waiting for a follow-up, either the punchline of a joke or reasoning for it not being Sunday. Instead, the two just stared at each other for a while, the silence growing oppressively awkward in a matter of seconds. Soon enough, the older girl couldn't bear it anymore, speaking up just to clear the air, "~Why?~"

"~I don't know.~"

...

Oh.

"^What's a 'Sunday'?^" Autumn butted in, trying to help with the uneasy tension in the air. Satisfying her curiosity about some more human terms was a welcome bonus.

"~It's a day of the week, M-Mrs. Autumn!" Sage chimed in to explain, entirely undeterred by the previous awkwardness. She clarified exactly nothing.

Anne was about to try giving her own, much more comprehensive answer before something caught her attention from the nearby rooftop. Or rather, someone, the familiar cooing making her gaze jump up to meet Blossom's, smiles filling both their faces. Before the human could greet the lil' owl, the latter took off from her post and flew down. To her immediate regret, there didn't seem to be anywhere to perch on that was anywhere close to Anne's eye level; the awful freezing snow aside.

Which left option B.

"Hi, Anne! Oh my gosh, are you gonna be staying here for good!?" Blossom delivered her chirps with all the excitement she could produce, amplified further by perching on Marco's silvery crest to his unamused stare.

Marco persevered—anything to keep the little ones happy, especially with him sensing the Dartrix's internal conflict about where to land—but only barely. Anne was unsure how to respond without breaking into a rude laughter at his expense.

Thankfully, Autumn had her covered, "^Yes sweetie, Anne is staying with us! Elders decided on that yesterday.^"

Blossom nodded with all the excitement of a child finally being in on the big events going on in the world around her for the first time in her life. "Yes, I saw! I even tried to listen in, but couldn't hear anything!"

Marco kept himself from speaking up, but that didn't extend to not facepalming out of Blossom's field of view.

"^Sweetie, you're not supposed to eavesdrop, these are meant to be confidential,^" Autumn explained, biting her tongue to not laugh out at her son-in-law's reaction. To some extent, she felt much the same, but was much more keen on helping the girl's confusion—even if it was about matters she thought self-explanatory.

And then, Anne looked over her shoulder to check the loud buzzing coming from nearby and gasped, drawing the others' attention immediately.

As scary as it was for Anne to suddenly see a Vespiquen behind her from less than a foot away, the rest of the group felt a gradient of emotions spanning from uncertainty to unamusement. Autumn took it upon herself to present the latter, glaring at the Bug-type. "^Hello, Liz.^"

The words were enough to interrupt the Vespiquen's current routine—namely, measuring Anne from all around using a string with a bunch of knots on it, calculating values unknown and unknowable. With her focus broken, it was Liz's turn to stare with disapproval at Autumn, only adding to the latter's annoyance.

The Indeedee didn't want to be the one to renege first, but she knew that if not for that, this staring contest would last forever.

"^Liz, maybe you could introduce yourself to Anne instead of sneaking up on her,^" Autumn forced out. The deadpan flatness in her voice wasn't any more difficult to make out for Anne than for its intended recipient, eliciting the most monotone buzz the human girl had ever heard.

It didn't help any with her confusion, but the introduction that followed did, at least. "Liz. Quartermaster. I keep track of our resource utilization and production. Need to take count of your size and how much food you're going to eat. May I continue now?" The Vespiquen strained her words, aiming them squarely at Autumn. It almost made the Indeedee snap back with something, but she kept her snark contained.

This time.

"^Yes you may, Liz. Just please explain with words if you need Anne to do something for you—^"

"Stand still. Back straight. Limbs straight along your body," Liz ordered, wasting no time for courtesy as she continued with her measuring string and grooves on her horns. At least; before she noticed Autumn's brown eyes drilling into her once more. "...Please."

About the most Autumn—or anyone else—could expect from the Vespiquen, she supposed.

The Indeedee sighed as she reached a paw to rub along the bridge of her short snout. If nothing else, Liz was good with doing all the number crunching she had to do once and not bothering people about that afterward until strictly needed. 

Anne seemed to be taking it well, too—past the initial shock, at least. It was amusing to keep track of her thoughts at being scanned so closely, bringing forth mental images of various measuring devices, many of them transparent, somehow, and... other humans with the same eye coverings as she had, but much larger, combined with buck teeth.

Taken together, human weirdness probably outdid Liz's quirks—

 *RUMBLE...* 

The distant thunder startled everyone but the diligent quartermaster, sending shivers down Anne's body. Autumn just sighed. Sure enough, the weather looked like it would be unpleasant later today. Hopefully, the human clothes Anne had in mind for Marco would help with that a bit.

Oh, speaking of.

"^Oh, Marco, before we forget and the rain comes down on us! Could you take the rest of Anne's items from the clinic and move them to our burrow?^" Autumn turned on a heel towards her son-in-law, finding him comfortably Blossom-less and looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"^All of them, or specific—^"

Before he could even finish, Autumn cut him off by shaking her head. She explained soon after, aiming her words at him and Anne in equal measure, "^Everything. She's gonna be staying with us there, after all.^"

Marco nodded, Sage tilted her head, Ember gasped in joy, Yaksha didn't react, Liz jotted the piece of data down deep inside her insect brain, and Anne... looked at Autumn with uncertainty. The bespoke 'burrow' was more than just today's destination then, leaving her unnerved. 

With how neat the rest of the village was, she really hoped the family dwelling would follow suit. Both because of how uncomfortable narrow spaces made her, and because she'd hate to be an even bigger burden than she already had been from the get-go in forcing them to change the burrow to accommodate her...

The Fighting-type caught himself right before he was about to head out, an important thought sparking under his skullcap. "^What if she'll need the medics to take another look at her later today?^"

"^Ah, good call! Ask about that too while you're there, fingers crossed you'll be good for the day Anne—last thing we want is for you to have to trudge through the slush that's coming just to get another bandage check,^" Autumn chuckled at the mental image as the human girl shuddered. Ember wasted no time helping her friend with any shaking, be it fear or cold-induced, while Marco finally headed out, leaving the group one member lighter for the time being.

A part of Anne wondered what in the world was the Vespiquen still doing with her. Surely she would've already gotten everything—

"Is this your final shape, human?" Liz buzzed the question out, not pausing her measuring even for a second.

"^Anne,^" Autumn corrected.

"Akhne."

The human cared about her name being butchered much less than she did about the confusing question she had been asked moments prior. "~Umm... w-what do you mean by that?~"

"Will you change in shape or size, be it by evolution or some other process, over the next five years?" The Vespiquen enunciated; the gesture both noticed and appreciated by Anne.

Guess this 'quartermaster' could explain herself if she really wanted to.

"~I-I will grow by a few inches—~"

"Show," Liz instructed, paying close attention to what the girl did afterwards. It felt weird to have so much focus be on her shaking hand of all things, but Anne pushed on regardless, raising it until it lay flat at what she hoped was 5'1". As close an estimate as she could make with her only reference point being her mother's and grandma's heights—hopefully the exact value wouldn't matter since she was just predicting the future, anyway.

And with her growth spurt coming any day now, Liz would be able to see it for herself.

"^Oh? With how tall you already are, I didn't think you got any more height left in you, Anne,^" Autumn said with mild, but genuine surprise. It made her wonder how big would the tallest humans be if even the girl beside her towered over almost all of them. Even if much of their size was not as impressive as it would've otherwise been with them being so thin, it still left quite an impact—

...

The Indeedee shuddered with her entire body at sensing the nearby aura move so suddenly and intensely, mind and eyes alike turning to look at what had happened. Ember followed soon after, gasping once she'd connected all the pieces together in her head and clinging closer to her friend.

Anne wasn't far behind either—but she was much more confused than the other two.

Cinder showing herself again was appreciated just for the sake of Anne knowing where the vixen she still had a hard time trusting was, but the rest of the scene raised more questions than it answered. In front of the Fire-type stood an Espurr, barely visible from the other end of the street in the for-them-waist-high snow. They were facing her, surrounded by Cinder's psychic glow. Nothing was happening, but with how tense Autumn and Ember had gotten at the sight, Anne wasn't sure if she wanted to think about what 'should' have happened instead...

Her head was confused, but her legs screamed for her to run.

Before the situation could grow any more anxious, someone else showed up, diffusing much of the built-up tension. Anne couldn't quite recognize them right away—the body was quite like the blue Meowstic, which gender that corresponded to lost in the recesses of her mind, but ears weren't. They looked brown, as if they were—

...

Oh shit, they were wooden.

Were these prosthetics? Had they lost their ears at some point because of some scrap with wild mons? Did—oh gods, did a human do that to them? Anne remembered hearing in one newspaper or another about dumb people still occasionally doing that nowadays despite it being pretty blatant cruelty.

Regardless of what had happened for them to end up this way, they were scolding the absolute ears off of what was presumably their child. The latter was no slouch though, the two of them first talking, and then shouting at each other in what felt like a downpour of ever more emotional meows.

And then; the Meowstic stopped and turned to face her.

As unnerving as seeing the Espurr facing her was earlier, their parent came off very differently. Ears down, much more relaxed posture, willingness to take a couple of steps closer in a way that felt hesitant, but not angry or hateful.

Anne still had no idea what was going on, but figured she could at least greet them.

Her eyes jumped back and forth between the Meowstic and the Espurr as she waved at the former. They shuddered at her gesture, taking her briefly aback, before… returning it themselves with a shaky paw.

Hopefully, a good sign.

Either way, once they were satisfied greeting her, they turned around to Cinder and their child and meowed a couple more words. Anne had no idea what she expected to happen next, but the psychic kitten being lifted into the air, still fully enveloped with the firefox's reddish aura, and hovered around the corner before the other two followed wasn't it.

Unnerving, but ultimately just—Autumn?

Even once the cats and the fox were done, the Indeedee kept staring daggers into the spot they had just departed from. Her expression was angrier than Anne had ever seen it, much angrier. On her other side, Ember looked unnerved, her embrace having grown so tight in the meantime Anne wondered how in the world did she not feel it earlier.

The Vespiquen had left at some point, presumably to get away from the growing tension and to drown her annoyances in Vivian's brandy.

"~What happened?~" Anne asked nervously, her mind suggesting more and more harrowing possibilities. Was it just a family argument, or—or did that Espurr despise her, and she was almost attacked in broad daylight with company around her? The latter sounded both too scary and too silly to be true; there's no way that someone would've tried that, but if not that then—

"Oh deeeear. Baaaaad moooment?"

Anne had no idea it was possible for a voice this soft and old to startle so many people all at once.

Once she and the two psychics beside her had finished getting over their startles, they turned around to face the Grass-type. Anne's eyes went wide at seeing a Lilligant just hanging out here, head full of memories of watching beauty pageants on TV with her grandma featuring their kin—among others. And her flower was in full bloom too, something even professionals fumbled from time to time.

...

Guess actually being free and among friends helped a lot in minimizing stress, huh? And the cloak over her body helped with the cold as well, held tightly shut with one leafy hand.

"^Oh Lavender, hello there. No, it's—it's not a bad moment, don't worry. Did something happen?^" Autumn asked, tension and active attempts to get rid of it oozing through her mental voice.

"I wrapped up the shaaaawl you asked fooor, aaaand wanted to deliver it to the giiiirl herself!" The Grass-type turned to face Anne, her almost-invisible smile growing wide. Her free hand unwrapped what the human thought to be a part of her cape.

It wasn't exactly the same, not with being so leafy and dry, but... her voice was quite similar to grandma Lisa's. Anne didn't know why that realization struck her; it wasn't relevant, but... it still made her feel just that bit warmer.

And if the sheer amount of knitted cloth being unwrapped from around Lavender was any sign, she'd end up much more than just a bit warmer, soon. By the time the Grass-type was done grabbing it all, it looked the size of a blanket; the all-natural fabric stained with a gradient from bright greens to dark oranges. For a few moments, Anne could only stare at it, uncertain what all this was about—

Only for Ember's giggle to clarify it all, "Hehehe, she made it for you, Anne!"

"Indeeeeed!" Lavender stressed her follow-up, holding the bundled fabric up even higher and giving it a little wave.

Anne stared wide-eyed at the gift as her mind spun in a circle, left dumbfounded about how to respond. It was one thing to be told that this presumed article of clothing, this product of so much labor, was for her—and another still for that fact to really sink in. She'd only been here for a few days; there was no way anyone would just decide to gift her stuff on a whim, not something this special!

"^But that's exactly what she did, Anne!^" The Braixen whispered, holding her friend even closer.

Ember's mental whisper only added further fuel for the fire of emotions thrashing in Anne's mind. It also emboldened her enough to finally reach out and grab the knitted bundle, Autumn's psychic intervention helping her spread it wide and get a better look at what it was.

A large, colorful shawl, sized for her. Made for her. The first article of clothing made with any amount of care for her in almost three years.

With her left arm immobile and folded under her sweater, Anne had to be helped with putting it on, something both psychics were more than glad to assist with as much as they could. Soft, and comfortably weighed, and pleasant to the touch, and warm, and...

A-and...

Anne's sniffles took the rest of the group aback as they all awaited a reaction, Lavender most of all. The Grass-type was about to speak up, immediately fretting that she'd unknowingly made a mistake with the sizing—

Only to be pulled into a one-armed hug before she could respond.

Her legs might've screamed at her for crouching and half her body still ached. But none of that mattered, none of it could. Anne had to thank this villager, this—this total stranger for her generosity, and this was the only way she could do it beyond just idle words.

"~Th-th—*sniff*—thank you...~"

Thankfully, Lavender took it well.

"Awwwwwww, sweeeeeetie! You're veeeery welcome! Do you liiiike it?" Lavender beamed as she returned the hug with all the strength her aged body could provide, appreciating Anne's body warmth immensely.

"~I-it's p-perfect, I can't thank you enough—~"

Immediately, the Lilligant shook her head, the petals of her flower flapping against Anne's face. "Allll is goooood! I'm glaaaaaad you liiiike it, and that youuuuuu're here!"

To Anne's surprise, she believed Lavender's words.

As the human girl let go of the seamstress before being helped back to her feet by her friend, the Indeedee chimed in, realizing one part that didn't quite add up. "^How'd you find us here, Lavender?^"

The Lilligant perked up at her before softly laughing, orange eyes scanning the roofs of the nearby buildings. "Ohhhh, Sol had tipped meeee off! Heeeee's beeeeeen watching oveeeeeer youuuu for a whiiiile nooow! Sooooool! Where aaaaare youuuu!?"

As Autumn narrowed her eyes and looked around, she caught a white and brown blur in her peripheral vision, psychics focusing in an instant. The Whimsicott was much too fast for her to grab directly, but nothing an artificial gust of wind couldn't help with. With an instantaneous green flare, the wind-veiled Fairy-type was tossed against the wall he was flying next to, before harmlessly bouncing off it and falling into the snow.

 That's what you get for following us. 

"Sol? Soooooool, quit foooooling around, silly!" Lavender chided with a disapproving shake. As she headed off to check up on the snow-diving Whimsicott in the distance, the group got going again.

Much to the gratitude of Anne's strained legs, they were already on the final stretch, their destination only a couple turns away.

And once they'd made the last one, a clearing in front of a hill awaited them.

Its sheer size alone was enough to make it stick out of its barren surroundings. The towering oak growing from its tip towered over all other nearby trees, downright radiant in the orange light of the looming sunset, even without any leaves to grace it. For a while, Anne thought it was just a local landmark, denoting the edge of the village.

And then; she spotted the doorway embedded into the side of the hill; and realized Autumn was leading them there.

"~I-is that the burrow you had mentioned?~" Anne whispered, excitement seeping into her voice despite her earlier worries. The fantasy she'd been imagining on and off for the last few days suddenly became terrifyingly real. It was one thing to be abstractly told that she would stay in this magical wonderland village while she lay waking up in her bed,

"^Yes Anne, yes it is!^"

It was another to be at Aria's doorstep.

Her pace slowed with every step as she approached the front door in a mix of exhaustion and emotion. Ember was doing her best to support her through both, snuggling by her side throughout the ordeal. As barren and downright miserly as the burrow's entrance was, the warm, orange light pouring in through the gaps between the door and the frame it sat in betrayed its homeliness, growing clearer and clearer to see as the sun set around them.

And then, before she knew it, Anne stood right before it.

Sage and Yaksha watched, confused, as the human girl just stood there for a while, quivering in place. The Phantump wanted to ask what was wrong, and the Banette was of half a mind to push past the dumb child and just walk in there himself, but neither of them acted.

 *knock knock, knock* 

They didn't need to.

 *crooaaaaaaaak* 

Anne was home.