The Aura is With Us

Chapter 12: Back to Kalos!

Sir Aaron picked through the fruit bowl he had served himself for breakfast. The morning was slow, everyone seemingly still half asleep. Exhaustion from the previous night's events still clinging on to the lab residents with a crooked warm hand.

Ash and Goh sat at the dining table, the former eating with one eye closed, and Goh barely touching his food. The Pokémon seemed energetic enough. Even the new arrivals, Pichu and Pikachu had been chatting with their mouths full almost throughout the meal, with Raboot looking on them in mellow disgust. Riolu had tried to sit as close to the Lucario as possible when eating, and Sir Aaron knew that he'd have to remind his future self not to tease his partner about. Umbreon had followed Amanda up the stairs when the young woman left to take the shower, she had forgotten to do last night.

"Well, aren't we a lively group this morning," Sir Aaron said.

"I think my spirit still in bed," Goh said.

"It's not," Ash said.

"And how would you know...Oh, never mind," Goh groaned and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

Ash had a mischievous smile on his tired face.

Sir Aaron told himself not the laugh.

Footsteps came down the stair case, drawing the knight attention, and at the sight of his niece the knight nearly spat out his tea.

Amanda, was dressed in a black long-sleeve leather jacket with a navy-blue shirt underneath, tight dark blue jeans, with short black leather boots, that only came up past her ankles. Her hair was in the same style as last night, short and spikey, black with blue streaks, and still keeping her ears hidden from view. A pair of blue rimmed spectacles sitting on her nose. However, those weren't the fashion choice that made the knight freeze.

It was the black ink that painted her eyes, and lips. The black made her look paler, more corpse like. The ink surrounding her eyes and placed on their lids, made the white of them pop out, drawing attention towards them and their odd emptiness. While the black of her lips drew attention to the ring in her nose, and caller ribbon tightly bound around her neck.

By Arceus, please let this be a fashion choice, and his niece actually wasn't part of a thrall.

"Well, I take you all aren't morning people," Amanda said.

"Nope," Ash said.

"I hope you'll be awake when we need to get on our flight," Amanda said.

"Are you hungry?" Sir Aaron said, "I could try to make you something. Just nothing to complex, I'm still learning the new appliances."

"That won't be a problem, I can cook for myself," Amanda said, walking into the kitchen and one of her black clawed hands (how in Arceus's name did her get her nails to look like that?) pulled a knife from the magikarp shaped holder.

Umbreon growled, red eyes fixed on to the blade.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt myself," Amanda said to her partner.

"So, I'm related to a goth, tech-head, ninja girl, who can cook?" Ash mumbled.

"Did not see that coming," Goh said.

Lumiose City had seen better days. The city of light, was still just as stunning as it always had been, but Ash could still pick out small cracks and breaks in the buildings. Scars made into the structures from the wounds that Team Flare left behind. A year may have passed since the destruction, but everything still felt fresh.