literature

[PMDU]Intermission: Faith (page 1)

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The dream was the same, but not like before. More frantic, like a fever dream. Curie found herself immersed, panicking like the first time she had it. Branches swept across her face at breakneck speed. Trees blurred together, sounds were distorted into a garbled mess- and then it started from the beginning again. Over and over, she ran for her life. She still didn't know what she was running from, but it didn't matter.

"You must find her. Find her. Find her!"

Thomas' voice had grown more insistent, as well. It droned into her ears with every step, telling Curie to find someone- But of course, he never told her names. Only riddles, vague hints. Not that it mattered. Right now, she needed to escape this hellish scenario. Again and again. There was no end to it, was there? Every time, at the exact same point, it started over. Just a little more twisted, even faster. If this kept on-

"Hey."

That wasn't the right voice. This one was feminine, alive, unlike Thomas' dry whispers. This voice was real, she realized. Someone was trying to wake her up.

"Are you alright?" the voice called again.
"Yes!" Curie lied the instant her eyes flew open.
Something wasn't right. These weren't her archives. The setup was similar, but the room was smaller. The walls and ceiling were the wrong colour, the scent was unfamiliar. She heard hastily taken breaths, resumably her own, but they didn't have the right echo. And the face in front of her... Then the pieces came back together. Her breathing slowed to a more reasonable level.
"Zia," she identified the other. "What- Why are you in Geoda?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Everyone was going here, I might as well join in," the braixen explained. "Were you having a nightmare or something? You look, well, even more like a ghost."
"Nah, just a really exciting dream," Curie lied in a vain attempt to upkeep her reputation. “That's... um, what I get for reading all these books.”

Zia didn't look convinced, but dropped the subject. “I didn't know you were the bookish type, honestly. Despite the fact you apparently only sleep in libraries.” Her eyes glanced across the bookcases around them as she started wandering around. “Good thing though. Not many girls your age have an eye for science.”
“Are you kidding me? I've been reading ever since I can remember. Well, I had to teach myself to read first, but you get the idea.” The ghost followed the fox around, seeking a pattern in her movements. “Looking for something?”
Zia nodded, slightly distracted. Her paw traced a long row of books, files and reports, occasionally stopping for a split-second. Then she moved on again.
“Just... checking for new things.” Her voice was almost completely absent. “I combed the entire place out a long time ago, but ever since... ah!”
She pulled a thin folder out from between the masses, seemingly one not much different from the others. The braixens paws flipped through the contents rapidly, until she stopped at the very last sheet of paper.
“Anything good?” Curie informed. She peeked over her shoulder, read along with her. Something about sightings of a large flying pokémon.
“Honestly? Not really,” Zia sighed. “It's... something though.”

The braixen stuck a paw in her tail, rummaged around between the many thick layers of fur. She carried no stick or staff, Curie had noticed earlier, but that apparently left room for other things. When it came back out, Zia was holding a book. It was bound in leather, thick and heavy, with metal guards on the corners. Metal decorated the front, in a very familiar symbol. The book opened itself, scrolled through its own pages, revealing what was written within. Red ink, jotted down in an unknown alphabet. Zia absently added a few more lines to the walls of text, effortlessly replicating the symbols with her claw, before she shut the book and stashed it away.

It was almost exactly like Curie's own book. This one was smaller, and bound in more reddish leather, but the similarities were unmistakable. The symbol on the front was the same one Thomas had. The writing was the same, and Zia- apparently she could read it.

“NO! Don't trust her, not her!”

The voice cut through her mind, crystal clear now. Nothing like Thomas' usual whispering. Curie flinched.

“Don't show her, she cannot know, Dextera may never find us... Never. Never.”

“There, that should do.” Zia turned around to see Curie's petrified face. “Whoa. You alright?”
“Y-yeah,” came the quivering response. “Just peachy. I- um, that dream- I just realized something about it. Erm, yeah... Zia?”
Curie wasn't sure what just happened. Zia had closed her eyes, and at first she thought the fox was just listening. But now she could hear her snoring softly. The braixen had fallen asleep, still standing straight, halfway through a conversation.

“Run, run!” Curie's book urged. “It was her and she'll make it worse, even worse...”

It took all her willpower to ignore him. “Zia? Are you still there?”
The braixen's breathing staggered, and her eyes shot open. “Yes! Yes? Oh, right. I'm sorry, did I interrupt you?”
“No, not... really,” Curie lied. “What was that though?”
“I fell asleep again, huh?” Zia shuffled around on her feet, apparently not very comfortable about it. “Happens all the time with me, don't think much of it. I didn't mean... mean to be rude or anything. I just can't help it. Anyway, I kind of have an appointment. Soon. Probably right now. So if you don't mind...”
She went for the exit without waiting for an answer. Before closing the door, she looked over her shoulder.
“Oh, and try reading Grantz's work. It's really insightful.”

The door slammed shut. Silence returned to the dry, hot air. Curie tried to collect her thoughts, step by step, but she wasn't completely sure what just happened. She knew what was important though.

Zia had a book like hers. And she could read it.

“But why can't she?” she asked her own tome. “You better have a good reason to be afraid of her. I'd be very cross with you  if you just cost me the golden tip to my memory.”
It didn't reply. Of course.
“I'm serious, Thomas. If you don't want to be read, then that's a problem that very much is not mine. I've been trying to decode you for all my life, and when someone shows up with the key- you tell me not to trust her. Why?”
Deafening silence.
“I swear, if that mind cloud's been messing with you- Commander Furson will hear about it. Do you have any idea how important this is?”

“Yes.”
:iconpmdunity:
[Intermission after Basalt Halls]
[1|2|3]
[<-Previous arc]
[Table of contents]
[Chroniclers' app]

In which allegiances are questioned, liars believe themselves, and Curie has another bloody dream. The plot thickens, as they say.

Sometimes I wonder if there's even a single person with me from the beginning who actually understands what's going on. Or remembers most of the corners this story has, to be more accurate.
© 2015 - 2024 Deluxeloy
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