The Eevee House

Chapter 6 - Flowers for a Grave

Once again, it was a long day spent gardening for Lily. A large family of flowers grown in the huge backyard, the countless pots inside, and even the few flower beds along the front and sides of the house were all routinely tended to and cared for.

She, after all, wanted to ensure The Eevee House was as beautiful as it can be and needed to make sure that her floral children were never lonely and neglected. Of course, Sunny and Destiny's help here and there was much appreciated.

Though, even after all of that, Lily still had given herself one more job to do.

She gradually opens her eyes, perking up her ears to confirm the silence of a sleeping household–perhaps everyone had been asleep for an hour or two. She quietly yawns, gently lifting the blanket off her body and making her way to a small collection of bloomed white lilies potted on a table.

With a pruner, she tenderly snips off a flower with its stem attached, holding it in her paw as she opens the bedroom door to the dark hallway. After a good amount of silent sneaking, she finds herself outside in the front yard.

She sighs in relief—fortunately, nobody seemed to have woken up. She begins following the path out front towards town.

While the night was indeed dark, the moon and stars above emitted a helpful glow that aided Lily in her mission.

The night sky is so beautiful. If only I could show—

Lily's thoughts are quickly interrupted by a yellow glow coming from the bushes. When she turned to look, the light had mysteriously disappeared.

"What...?" The Leafeon tilts her head around in confusion. She stops and yawns again.

I must just be tired. Even so, I need to do this.

She continues her late hour walk and finally arrives at her destination: a quiet graveyard settled along the edge of the Wild Woods and Veesville Park.

Entering through the metal gate, she sees the moon casting a sacred blanket of light among the several clusters of solemn tombstones. All the graves were decorated with gifts of remembrance: toys, coins, flags, and especially flowers.

Lily walks over to a short hilltop where a few, large headstones stood. Instinctively, she locates one in particular, adding her lily onto the pile of many others scattered before the tablet.

She takes a step back and stares wistfully at it–her father's grave.

"Mayor Frost, huh?" A voice behind her suddenly reads the tablet aloud, causing Lily to gasp and immediately turn back.

She recognizes the glow she had seen earlier, coming from shining yellow rings now obviously coupled with a black body and messy fur, though there were hints of smooth muscles peeking out from underneath. There's only one Umbreon this could possibly be.

"Buster? What are you doing here?"

"Howdy, Lily." Buster greets her in an annoyingly carefree manner. "I was just roaming around during the night like usual, and I caught you leaving"–He regards the pile of flowers, noticing some already decaying–"not for the first time I might add."

"I see, but why would you follow me now?" Lily slightly frowns, upset at him for disturbing her quiet mourning.

"Oh, sorry for startling you, ha! I was just curious why you were always creeping around so late at night–you're not an Umbreon, after all." He almost laughs, but instead lowers his voice, looking back at the grave. "Your father, I told you he was a good friend of mine, right?"

"Yes, you have." Lily says coolly.

"Yeah, though I couldn't talk to him as much as I wanted to. Most I've seen him in person was when he dropped you guys at home for playtime every week, ha!"