[ti]solo[/ti]FORBIDDEN CRYPT: Order Lives And Dies

Lucy… had been inconsolable during the brief wait. The brunette was tapping her foot against the ground over and over. And when she wasn’t doing that she was pacing like a caged Pyroar. Alicia’s Rival was a massive bundle of nerves and the pinkette couldn’t blame her one second.

That didn’t make it, or the consistent asking of if they could go in yet, any less annoying to be on the receiving end of. But she wouldn’t chastise Lucy for it. She was much the same when she woke up from her first major White Out. It was… nice in a way. To see UNOVR having AI advanced enough to accurately mimic emotion.

She would’ve believed she was isekai’d if she didn’t know better. Subclasses granted minor cheat powers galore to really sell the feel. Considering how vibrant her own Pokemon were, though, it only made sense that the human characters were similarly advanced.

Fortunately, while she was musing, the Crypt’s timer pinged softly. Perking up, Alicia unfolded her arms and stepped forward, pushing on the entrance again. Lucy gasped behind her as it slid open, allowing them into its depths at last. Alicia looked back and nodded to her Rival. ”Let’s go. I don’t know what we’ll find down there. Or if it will help. But this is the only lead I have to try something with.”

”Right…” Lucy agreed, sticking close to Alicia. ”… I’m… sorry to trouble you like this.”

”No apology needed.” the pinkette assured her Rival. ”I want to believe that if the roles were reversed you’d help me too. So I’m just paying the favor back. Or forward. Take your pick.”

Despite herself, Lucy giggled softly even as she wiped a tear from her eye. ”You… don’t really think like normal people, do you?”

”Normal is boring. Normal is easy to forget. Normal doesn’t stand out.” the trainer noted with a smile. ”And my thought is this: we’re all some degree of crazy. It’s just a matter of how much, and how functional in society we remain as.”

”Ehehe… anyways, what are we doing down here…?” Lucy asked, curiously.

”The idea is that, since we want to go to basically the afterlife, there might be some kind of portal down in this kind of a place. It’s a lost burial site as you can see. Alternately, we might find some kind of artifact for you to use. Regardless of what we can come across… we’re looking for any ghosts that are haunting the Crypt.” Alicia answered. As an NPC, Lucy couldn’t just pull up a window and hit ‘Go To Everworld’… she needed something that could send her there within the confines of the lore of the world.

”We’re actually looking for ghosts…? Wouldn’t they be upset if we disturb them?” Her rival was not fully on board with the idea it seemed.

”Realistically, if we find any, they’ve already been disturbed or are otherwise naturally restless and keen on interacting with the living. Hopefully in a non-aggressive fashion that’s open to talking. But if not…” Alicia trailed off at that.

Lucy gulped audibly. And fright visibly gripped her body. But she marched onward right behind Alicia. Thus did a ghost hunt for a means to answer the conundrum that Alicia had been presented with begin. What would they find down in the depths here…? And what would Alicia have to discover about the order of the cycles of life and death…

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