#lostprogenitor

A day or so after Giaselle had revealed he wasn’t just a pun-loving heathen but a cold fanatic who took near psychotic delight in burying the entirety of the Castle AND Alimer Town in snow, Rhapsody was finally able to get some of the brood out into the halls for exploring as the Festival got underway.

Though he was disheartened that not everyone was up to wandering, he had most of the brood who were curious, and curiosity was a good thing.

Except for when a gray being suddenly showed up and spooked all of them, Rhapsody freezing up in bewilderment as something like a wave of mud seemed to wash over him and numb his limbs briefly-

Fluffy. Fluffy and furry and fur that's FUR everywhere- Is that a tail?! Oh god, that's a tail that's a long tail that's definitely real- 

"Oh my Ancients..." 

A quiet squeak, though, is all Rhapsody could get out while in a panic over finding himself about a foot tall and in the shape of a ferret.  At least he still had digits...vaguely. And his braid, though shortened, remained bound with the ever-familiar crystal his teacher had given him. 

Time was an illusionary construct to the dead. Things will happen, happening and have happened forever with no drop-off in sight. At the end of the day, none of it made the slightest bit of sense to a bemused, trapped creature banging at it’s cage’s bars for the millionth time and hoping in vain that someone would free them. The time didn’t matter. He could have been here for a day or three weeks-- his internal clock was busted. The only thing that mattered was the growing fear that crept in Gage’s mind that perhaps something bad would befall his master due to him being held captive like some dumbass in distress.

The only distress was his irrational fears.

Forcing himself awake once again, Virus rolled over and glared upwards towards the camera he’d discovered a while back. Baseless threats being the basis of his communication probably wasn’t aiding him in his escape earlier in the week. Anytime his kidnappers used to come around to ‘talk’ or ‘help’ because they ‘cared’ always ended in attempted physical violence or him pitching a tantrum that emulated seizure levels of unpredictability.

However, something had shifted in the last couple of days. By now, Gage had all but been suppressed successfully. Mentally sedated and chained down to the point the virus had complete control of every reaction, every movement and spoken word the elf would produce- It was as though this Gage were a totally different person than the one that’d been dragged in kicking and screaming.

This Gage was too silent, only reserving his words for sly insults and bitter retorts. His eyes remained narrowed, constantly pinging for the smallest weakness in his captors baring and prison to chip away relentlessly at it. Armed with a voice that sounded similar to Gage’s, but lacked his wonder and childlike expressiveness, this elf made use of every manipulation tactic in the book. 

This person was cold, calculating and obviously only focused on one thing:

“Well...That would make sense.”

//Maru uttered after reading the last text X had sent. He glanced over to the dog and Pokemon lounging on his couch.//

“C’mon you two, we need to make a good amount of space.”

//Lychee yipped softly, tail wagging, and Lin immediately ‘kyuu’d and lifted the table to push it to the side.//

“Hmm...Should I put the blankets down for them? Or maybe just the pillows?”

“Okay! Kits are with their uncles-” Aliblu was counting off a checklist with a feathery pen while pacing the living room. “-And Lody’s taking a nap. The plants have gotten fed. The pastries, hot chocolate and cider kegs, all ready. Hmm, seems everything’s in its place.”

She glanced at her watch and hummed thoughtfully. “I wonder if they’d like a demonstration...They’re such a skittish bunch after all. Maybe I should hook up their door to the castle and let them explore it on their own...”

“Rrf?”

Aliblu glanced over as Almaz came trotting up to her, the pitbull nosing her leg and nibbling on her dress edge. “I JUST fed you, Missy Almond-butterball.” She teased, stooping to scoop her pup into her arm. “Say, Heath’s a pup-boy who I bet would love to meet you. You can come along and play with the kids while I show X how to set things up for the Festival.”

“Boof!” 

Twelve hours...

Sacha sat in pure suspense, perched somewhere dark and quiet. Maybe she was behind a trashcan? She didn’t know, honestly. How long had it been?

She vibrated, checking her internal timer for the literal millionth time to see she’d made it to 5 hours and 50 minutes of hiding. Almost halfway through before...

Oh god, oh god. She keened quietly, drooping at the thought of ‘moving on’ rattling her fragile little heart. He couldn’t die. She didn’t... He promised he wouldn’t. Didn’t he? Perhaps he didn’t promise that exactly, but she interpreted it all the same.

Gage darted away from the angry shop owner, clutching Sacha safely against his chest.

Oh, that’s right. Sacha stole something. Again. Their kleptomania was nigh impossible to combat. It didn’t help that Gage accidentally smacked the living hell out of the man because he couldn’t see how close the guy was getting to him. The handshake turned assault was kinda funny..

Now, Gage had ruined whatever silent walk he could have had, cussing at the child elf in French as he dashed away from death as fast as he could.

“I just wanted one nice visit! You couldn’t play along- Noooooo, you had to steal something! You simply had to and now I’ve punched a man and we’re pretty much on everyone’s shitlist now!”

‘You slapped him.’

The Elf vaulted over a waste can, ducking down with a soft hiss, his energy crackling wildly. “I don’t need sass from you!”

//Maru answered the door and perked up immediately.//

“Lost-Hyung! And all my Dongaengs! It’s been a while, how have you been?”