Absol-lutely!

The Eevee's description was very vague, at best, but easy to follow. Past the houses that led southwest, those shaped like Diglett and Smeargle, right? Then past the boneyard... Alastair shivered, looking towards the evergrowing field of rot and decay. He drew in a breath, it's fine, all he's gotta do is meet up at the checkpoint, right? He shook his head. It was his first assignment in this new village; he was trempling with some kind of mix of excitement, anticipation, and worry. Let's just start walking, he decided, the sooner he gets there the better. That little fox DID say that he'd be there in about an hour, so maybe a little walk would be a nice way to get some fresh air and let his mind roam free...

He crossed the bridge that hovered over the moat that surrounded the village. What a cozy little design, he thought, peeking over his shoulder. Even though there's so many buildings, the village was still really small. At least, compared to Caelum it was. Excluding the tenement buildings that were sprinkled along the borders, along with the Rescuer's HQ and that weird rock-looking house, all of the buildings were designed after some Pokemon's head. The enormous purple Kecleon building stole the spotlight, but there were plenty of other little interesting buildings here and there, like the little Patrat shaped building, and the spotted rabbit building. What was that Pokemon's name again? Hell, if he could remember. He smiled to himself, then looked forward again.

To his upcoming right was the field of remains and ruin, his smile fell at the sight of the Boneyard. Past that, go south, right? He headed down the little cobblestone path that was paved out in that direction, but it began to dwindle as he drew closer and closer to the uprooted cemetary. He felt uncomfortable, gross, ashamed. Remembering all the lives he took back then, their bones may very well be in that dead meadow... He shook his head. What? How on earth could bones from another continent wind up here? Silly. He was supposed to be starting over, forgetting about his past. How hard was that to do? He stretched his scythes upward, popping his shoulder joints and subsequently letting out a relaxed sigh. He dodged his head back and forth, cracking his neck as well, before concluding it with a little full-body shiver. He looked at the Boneyard one more time... Were there people out there? Odd... but he guessed that perhaps some scavengers would hang out there. Or emo kids. He shrugged.

The Boneyard was rather large, but it didn't go on forever. He looked ahead; there was some grassland, then the wall of woods at the horizon. Head south... He went ahead and averted his path here; best to be away from that creepy graveyard as fast as possible. He looked to the sky, and let his mind wander. What did Chryss think of him...? Was she okay with him popping up out of the blue, requesting to join her team? Well, obviously, else she wouldn't have been so psyched about the idea. But, why? They hardly knew each other, so wouldn't she at least try to be friends... No, that wouldn't have been possible, because the Minncino ran up with that sudden Rescuers request. He sighed again.

His mind went to another topic: how were his friends back in Caelum doing? Did Brass and them get home safely? How would his father react to him suddenly up and going? Were his other brothers getting a tongue-lashing in his place...? How was Cannabyss? Did Thanatos ever... find him? Would Thanatos torture his family...? He shook his head, violently. No. He can't think about that rotten scumbag of a Blaziken. He was the reason Alastair decided to run away! He came here to escape his troubles, not to be reminded of them.

His shoulders fell. Truth is, despite the amount of hatred that bird brings him, deep down inside, he actually missed him. A lot. Thanatos was his only friend for the half of his life, and even though he hated to admit it, he wished they could go back to being comrades again. But that would also mean he would start killing again... He remembered the first time they met. It pained him to remember... but it was bittersweet. The whole reason Thanatos had picked him up was because he had accidentally killed that goat creature... Why had he killed it, though...? That whole memory is a huge blur. The Kadabra certainly didn't anger him... he was just blinded by Rage. No, not Rage... It was something else. Someone else. A Ghost, maybe? Whoever it was, they only appeared as a face... Yes, now he remembers. This stupid grinning face that kept taunting him, playing with him. Ironic, the whole reason he became friendly with Ghosts was because of a Ghost. Without that, he wouldn't have volunteered himself for this mission.

This mission... What a strange circumstance. Some kid... no, some kid's Ghost, but trapped in a dream? And he wishes to be entertained, by a game of hide and seek? He must have died at such a young age... But Ghosts don't typically emerge from natural deaths. No, they only arise from murder. Who in their right mind would murder a child? No wonder he wants to play, then. He never got that chance when he was alive. What's it like..? Only existing in a nightmare? He's only able to contact a person so long as they're asleep. Why hide and seek, of all games? A nightmare seems a bit unfitting... Or maybe, because of the surreal nature of dreams, it'll give him that advantage. But, then, why is playing with this kid so crucial? Why exactly are lives at stake...?

He stopped. He hadn't even noticed him approaching the woods so quickly. Was he far enough south? Was he too far? Well, either way he'd see the fox kid and whatever other Pokemon he was bringing with him from here. He could still actually see the village along the horizon there, as well as that lanky tower, scraping against the clouds... There were plenty of trees, of course, and he thought he could even see a little cave by that tower. Looking around was too much work, though, he'd rather just sit and wait for his employer. He leaned against one of the trees, sliding down to a comfortable plop, and let his head hang a bit. No one would care if he dozed off for a second... right?

"Hey." A voice was heard. His eyes were shut, but he could very easily visualize the owner to that voice. "Hey, get up. This isn't where you're supposed to fall asleep." Yes, a small, rather snarky little brown fox. He recognized the figure, but he couldn't quite remember where... "HEY! Get your lazy butt up, or else you won't be tired enough to fall asleep where you NEED to!"

His eyes shot open, before he rubbed them with his thumbs. "Wha...?" He voiced, looking around groggily.

"Dude! Get up! You're drooling all over yourself!" The Eevee punched his shoulder.

The Scyther's mouth closed, before being molested by his own claws. "Was I really drooling!?" He flustered.

The little fox let out a short, hardy laugh. "Nah, but it sure woke you up!" He would offer a hand, but he'd rather not attempt to grab the scythes, for fear that his whole arm might get taken off.

Alastair stood up quickly, embarassed that the Eevee caught him snoozing. "Sorry about that, I guess I just kinda dozed off..."

"Oh, nah, you're fine. S'long as you're sleepy enough to do it again." He laughed.

The mantis looked at the Eevee, smiled, then looked behind him. A taller mammal was standing their, covered in snow white fur. It had some kind of huge, dark growth off the side of it's face... Why did that face seem so familiar to him?

"Hey!" The white cougar chimed. "It's rude to stare." She sang, flirtatiously. A little toothy grin began to widen.

"Oh, right. This here is Trixie, I picked her up a few minutes ago; says she's new to the village too, and y'alls accents are kinda similar, so I figured..." He shrugged. "Trixie, this will be your partner... Uh..." He turned to the mantis. "I never did get your name, actually. Did I ever say mine? I can't quite remember!" He laughed. "I'm Lexy, though."

"Alastair." The Scyther nodded, then turned back to the Absol. Something seemed so familiar about that face, but what? She had a little black gem on her forehead, and the way her fur cascaded down her face... She almost looked like an inverted quadrapedal Chrysstal. Maybe that's what was bothering him.

Trixie nodded. "Nice to meet you, Ally! You ready to get your game on?" She winked, giggling.

Alastair chuckled a bit. It'd be nice to have a girl friend... Well, a friend who was a girl, other than Chryss, to help get his mind off of her. He didn't even care that she had called him by his hated nickname. "I don't know, are you sure you're up for this? The kid is a Ghost after all..."

"Ghost, shmost. I'm a Dark Type, I got nothing to worry about." She smiled, jumping towards the bushes.

"You seem so confident in yourself...! You sure you got this?" He dug his foot into the undergrowth.

"Absol-lutely!" He heard the call from deeper in. 

"Hey!" Lexy shouted. "She shouldn't be going too far ahead. This forest is riddled with stupid illusions and stuff, you could get lost if you don't pay attention." He frowned, diving into the forest.

"Sounds like a challenge." Alastair stated, slicing away some of the taller plants that stood in the Eevee's way.

"Thanks. And yeah, if you don't know what you're looking for you can pass right by it. Just follow me, I got this." He caught up with the white feline, and motioned for Alastair to follow.

Silence prolonged the crew for some time. Alastair looked around, expecting to see some kind of illusion... What exactly was he supposed to expect, anyway? He shook his head, this is the same feeling he got when he first got high. When you're expecting something to happen, it usually doesn't. He decided to go ahead and ask, "So what kind of illusions do you think we'll be seeing?"

"Oh, just general stuff, like different pathways and all. You wouldn't even think it an illusion if you were looking it dead in the face. Nothing like dead loved ones returning and messing with your psyche, or like legendary beasts coming to scare you away... The main illusionists aren't here, but even if they were, they wouldn't waste their energy making Pokemon-specific illusions like that. Takes too much time; they'd rather set up a system of fake forests to lead you away from their lair." Lexy explained.

"I see. So why do they want to keep themselves a secret?" Alastair questioned.

"They just don't like visitors," Trixie answered. "They're not really Pokemon-Pokemon, you know?" She peered at Alastair, that strangely wide grin returning...

"Well, then, how will you know when we're there?" Alastair queired, trying to take his mind off of the Absol.

"I've been here before, so I know what I'm looking for. These illusions?" he swiped at a plant, which then dissipated in return. "They can be cut with the simplest of attacks. But, the place we're looking for is completely covered up by illusions; you can't even peek through. They were pretty thurough. It's like there's just this huge chuck of space missing completely."

"That's... pretty strange." Alastair put a scythe to his chin, trying to understand it. He shook his head when he accepted that it was just too complicated for him.

"Yeah, and... I think we're here." Lexy's face perked up a bit, dashing towards some thick group of trees. He looked back, the first time Alastair actually caught him smiling. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah." Alastair nodded.

"Always." Trixie snickered.

~

Wow okay this took quite a while. Not necessarily the painting but the animating, mostly because my animation program freaked the fuck out over the size..! But yeah, I plan on doing all the pages as animations. Hopefully. Wish me luck

First page of Lucid! Finally gettin this shit goin. You get to see an nice amount of Trixie here, and another dig into Ally's personality wheeeee

Long page is long

Mission 8: "Lucid" Part 1 of like 5 or so
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Team Epsilon