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Description

A soft tapping came to the large dutch double doors, making the sturdy frame rattle under the weight of both doors. To others, it must have seemed impossibly heavy, but for ghosts and psychic types, the doors were very rarely used in the first place. This is what had prompted the grey skuntank to create a shield by use of her protect in order to stop unwanted...well, one could call them "visitors", but that implied requesting the company of others on some level, and the entity beyond these doors certainly did not seem the type. Uotani's paw froze for a moment, blunt ears perked forward, expression as unreadable as ever. She knew who was behind the doors and had already made up her mind to ignore it when another tap came. Then another, slightly heavier one. She placed her old style ink pen down, expressionless eyes reflecting a small amount of animosity. Toward what, it was hard to tell, but it was probably not with the person beyond the door. Before she had the opportunity to say anything, a soft cough came from the other side of the door as the espeon on the other side cleared her throat.

"Madame?" she called through the door. Uotani's ears flattened back a little, more from having her concentration broken than actually being annoyed. She snorted, the pale white fur of her hands glowing softly in the mostly sepia coloured room. With a simple wave of her large, bushy tail, the protect around the door was lowered. The doorknob gave a shake and slowly turned, the purple of Paradise's psychic pushing the large doors open. A large tray of tea was floating behind the espeon, a very flustered-looking sylveon following closely behind her, helping Paradise keep the tray aloft with her ribbon-like feelers. Uotani was very notorious from all corners of the ranch not just because of her position of power, but the way she so obviously weilded it. Indeed, unlike the legendaries she presumably worked for, she seemed to carry an air of dignity that, in a lot of ways, outmatched some of the legendaries themselves.

The fine china teacups the sylveon had been trying to hold steady gave a rather audible rattle and a moment of panic crossed Cressida's face. She froze up a bit, about to squeak an "oh no!" when the cup that looked as if it was going to tip over was suddenly enveloped in a bright green light. The skuntank herself had caught it, bringing it to her desk and setting down on a coster that had likely been there since early that morning, eyes still firmly planted on the paperwork she had been working on. Cressida sweatdropped, falling in line behind Paradise. The espeon tried to give the sylveon a reassuring smile, but it was mostly met with a shaky, awkward "thanks for covering me" look that lasted only a split second as an empty cup floated to Paradise's tray; this had been for morning tea, likely the last time the older poison type had ingested anything. Tea was more of a pleasantry than an actual need. After all, ghost types had no real need for food. Still, Paradise and Mionette had always insisted on bringing her something and she had long since grown tired of telling them not to.

Still without looking up, Uotani cleared her throat, causing both eeveelutions to straighten up, Cressida far more so than Paradise, whose long ears simply pointed forward with interest.

"I told you more than an hour ago, the library is closed." the skuntank said in a very blunt tone. Cressida's ears flattened down, seemingly shrinking behind Paradise. The skuntank's interest in the fairy type was fleeting; it wasn't like Paradise to bring a guest during work hours, but the younger female appeared to be rattled enough without being directly spoken to. Cressida could feel the sharp green eyes of her distant cousin's mentor, backing down even further. A soothing light escaped from the ruby jewel on Paradise's forehead, attempting to calm the fairy type down. Admittedly, Paradise was not nearly as good as putting out positive feelings as a fairy type would be, but since it WAS Cressida...

"Hadn't you a job to do? Working with the xerneas, yes?" Uotani kept her cold gaze on Paradise; somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt a little sorry for the sylveon and had no desire to make her feel even more self conscious than she had to.

"Oui, madame." responded the espeon, her forked tail waving back and forth behind her. "We were about to leave, uh...but..." the skuntank gave the eeveelutions a fleeting glance, the green of her extrasensory picking up the cream and sugar for the tea, not really all that invested in what the younger assistant was going to say. She went to add the milk before floating the tea pot over when a very familiar feeling washed over her. Her expression sharpened, the teapot dropping onto her desk with a loud clunk!, somehow miraculously avoiding spillage or breaking. She reached out with her clawed paw, sending the double doors flying open. Cressida made a quiet yipping sound, backing into Paradise and managing to knock the rest of the tray right out of Paradise's psychic, sending bits of glass and tea cakes everywhere.

"P-Paradise, forgive me!" she managed to mutter softly. Paradise gave Cressida a small smile, about to attempt comforting her when the shadow that had cast itself beyond the now thrown open double doors began to accumulate and grow larger, bits and pieces coming together like some kind of antiquated sludge compiled not of actual matter, but of the darkness itself. As it broke open, the floating form of a sylveon/giratina sprouted forth from it, rising and maintaining his levitating form just over the bubbling darkness below him. His eyes were blank and lifeless, expression soft and mild, a gentleman's smile across his face. Cressida squeaked, falling back behind Paradise. The espeon blinked, she knew who it was but for the life of her, had no idea what he could possibly want with...

"Uotani-san," said the mixed breed, the shadow-like wings on his back giving no sign of flapping as he remained floating just above the darkness below him. It moved like tendrils of dark matter, sticking to things like the ground below him and even the walls behind him, moving like some kind of sickening octopus tentacles. Both Cressida and Paradise backed away, the espeon putting a protect up before the darkness could reach for them. Even as a psychic type paired with a fairy, she had to admit the older mixed breed made her feel extremely uneasy. He didn't at all seem interested in them; where his darkness reached and what it swallowed up was obviously of no consequence to him. If they allowed themselves to be pulled in by it, that was their problem, not his. He tipped his head a bit in what could only be interpretted as a friendly way, paws finally reaching the floor as soon as he had reached the ghostly skuntank's desk. She gave him a blank stare, about to reach over and pick up her pen to continue writing when she noticed the trailing shadow he was callously leaving behind him.

"You are making a mess." she stated more than said, the green of her own psychic powers lifting the shadow from the doorway, giving the girls a much needed (and much appreciated) exit. They both gave the skuntank an appreciative look, the shadow having devoured everything in its path with the exception of the floor and a few of the effects around it; the glass and teacakes along with a book or two had vanished into it, torn from existence like some ghostly blackhole. "And I am expecting you to return those books. You have absorbed four of them. I do not want the originals back. I know what your sticky shadow does to them." it was probably as close to a joke as the older woman was capable of, and was obviously quite a brash tone to take with a psuedo-legendary. The sylveon's face broke into a very friendly and even gentle-looking smile.

"Not at all, I'm certain." he said dismissively. The two eeveelution girls exchanged worried glances, but both beat a hasty retreat, Cressida being the only one to stop and watch the older pair for a few seconds longer before having her feelers tugged at gently by Paradise. As if coming back to her senses like a deer in the headlights, she nodded, following quickly after the espeon. Uotani's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the girls leave; she knew Koe wasn't capable of seeing, the large gash-like scars covering his eyes were proof of that. But with giratina in his blood, he didn't have to. He had probably cased the entire building and all of its occupants long before even leaving the distortion world to seek her out, and she wasn't stupid enough not to know that.

"What is your business, Koe?" the skuntank said in her usual short tone.
~~~
Mission three, part one
Cressida, Paradise, Uotani gain +6 for art
1126 words gives +4 to Cressida, Paradise, Uotani and Koe

Description

A soft tapping came to the large dutch double doors, making the sturdy frame rattle under the weight of both doors. To others, it must have seemed impossibly heavy, but for ghosts and psychic types, the doors were very rarely used in the first place. This is what had prompted the grey skuntank to create a shield by use of her protect in order to stop unwanted...well, one could call them "visitors", but that implied requesting the company of others on some level, and the entity beyond these doors certainly did not seem the type. Uotani's paw froze for a moment, blunt ears perked forward, expression as unreadable as ever. She knew who was behind the doors and had already made up her mind to ignore it when another tap came. Then another, slightly heavier one. She placed her old style ink pen down, expressionless eyes reflecting a small amount of animosity. Toward what, it was hard to tell, but it was probably not with the person beyond the door. Before she had the opportunity to say anything, a soft cough came from the other side of the door as the espeon on the other side cleared her throat.

"Madame?" she called through the door. Uotani's ears flattened back a little, more from having her concentration broken than actually being annoyed. She snorted, the pale white fur of her hands glowing softly in the mostly sepia coloured room. With a simple wave of her large, bushy tail, the protect around the door was lowered. The doorknob gave a shake and slowly turned, the purple of Paradise's psychic pushing the large doors open. A large tray of tea was floating behind the espeon, a very flustered-looking sylveon following closely behind her, helping Paradise keep the tray aloft with her ribbon-like feelers. Uotani was very notorious from all corners of the ranch not just because of her position of power, but the way she so obviously weilded it. Indeed, unlike the legendaries she presumably worked for, she seemed to carry an air of dignity that, in a lot of ways, outmatched some of the legendaries themselves.

The fine china teacups the sylveon had been trying to hold steady gave a rather audible rattle and a moment of panic crossed Cressida's face. She froze up a bit, about to squeak an "oh no!" when the cup that looked as if it was going to tip over was suddenly enveloped in a bright green light. The skuntank herself had caught it, bringing it to her desk and setting down on a coster that had likely been there since early that morning, eyes still firmly planted on the paperwork she had been working on. Cressida sweatdropped, falling in line behind Paradise. The espeon tried to give the sylveon a reassuring smile, but it was mostly met with a shaky, awkward "thanks for covering me" look that lasted only a split second as an empty cup floated to Paradise's tray; this had been for morning tea, likely the last time the older poison type had ingested anything. Tea was more of a pleasantry than an actual need. After all, ghost types had no real need for food. Still, Paradise and Mionette had always insisted on bringing her something and she had long since grown tired of telling them not to.

Still without looking up, Uotani cleared her throat, causing both eeveelutions to straighten up, Cressida far more so than Paradise, whose long ears simply pointed forward with interest.

"I told you more than an hour ago, the library is closed." the skuntank said in a very blunt tone. Cressida's ears flattened down, seemingly shrinking behind Paradise. The skuntank's interest in the fairy type was fleeting; it wasn't like Paradise to bring a guest during work hours, but the younger female appeared to be rattled enough without being directly spoken to. Cressida could feel the sharp green eyes of her distant cousin's mentor, backing down even further. A soothing light escaped from the ruby jewel on Paradise's forehead, attempting to calm the fairy type down. Admittedly, Paradise was not nearly as good as putting out positive feelings as a fairy type would be, but since it WAS Cressida...

"Hadn't you a job to do? Working with the xerneas, yes?" Uotani kept her cold gaze on Paradise; somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt a little sorry for the sylveon and had no desire to make her feel even more self conscious than she had to.

"Oui, madame." responded the espeon, her forked tail waving back and forth behind her. "We were about to leave, uh...but..." the skuntank gave the eeveelutions a fleeting glance, the green of her extrasensory picking up the cream and sugar for the tea, not really all that invested in what the younger assistant was going to say. She went to add the milk before floating the tea pot over when a very familiar feeling washed over her. Her expression sharpened, the teapot dropping onto her desk with a loud clunk!, somehow miraculously avoiding spillage or breaking. She reached out with her clawed paw, sending the double doors flying open. Cressida made a quiet yipping sound, backing into Paradise and managing to knock the rest of the tray right out of Paradise's psychic, sending bits of glass and tea cakes everywhere.

"P-Paradise, forgive me!" she managed to mutter softly. Paradise gave Cressida a small smile, about to attempt comforting her when the shadow that had cast itself beyond the now thrown open double doors began to accumulate and grow larger, bits and pieces coming together like some kind of antiquated sludge compiled not of actual matter, but of the darkness itself. As it broke open, the floating form of a sylveon/giratina sprouted forth from it, rising and maintaining his levitating form just over the bubbling darkness below him. His eyes were blank and lifeless, expression soft and mild, a gentleman's smile across his face. Cressida squeaked, falling back behind Paradise. The espeon blinked, she knew who it was but for the life of her, had no idea what he could possibly want with...

"Uotani-san," said the mixed breed, the shadow-like wings on his back giving no sign of flapping as he remained floating just above the darkness below him. It moved like tendrils of dark matter, sticking to things like the ground below him and even the walls behind him, moving like some kind of sickening octopus tentacles. Both Cressida and Paradise backed away, the espeon putting a protect up before the darkness could reach for them. Even as a psychic type paired with a fairy, she had to admit the older mixed breed made her feel extremely uneasy. He didn't at all seem interested in them; where his darkness reached and what it swallowed up was obviously of no consequence to him. If they allowed themselves to be pulled in by it, that was their problem, not his. He tipped his head a bit in what could only be interpretted as a friendly way, paws finally reaching the floor as soon as he had reached the ghostly skuntank's desk. She gave him a blank stare, about to reach over and pick up her pen to continue writing when she noticed the trailing shadow he was callously leaving behind him.

"You are making a mess." she stated more than said, the green of her own psychic powers lifting the shadow from the doorway, giving the girls a much needed (and much appreciated) exit. They both gave the skuntank an appreciative look, the shadow having devoured everything in its path with the exception of the floor and a few of the effects around it; the glass and teacakes along with a book or two had vanished into it, torn from existence like some ghostly blackhole. "And I am expecting you to return those books. You have absorbed four of them. I do not want the originals back. I know what your sticky shadow does to them." it was probably as close to a joke as the older woman was capable of, and was obviously quite a brash tone to take with a psuedo-legendary. The sylveon's face broke into a very friendly and even gentle-looking smile.

"Not at all, I'm certain." he said dismissively. The two eeveelution girls exchanged worried glances, but both beat a hasty retreat, Cressida being the only one to stop and watch the older pair for a few seconds longer before having her feelers tugged at gently by Paradise. As if coming back to her senses like a deer in the headlights, she nodded, following quickly after the espeon. Uotani's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the girls leave; she knew Koe wasn't capable of seeing, the large gash-like scars covering his eyes were proof of that. But with giratina in his blood, he didn't have to. He had probably cased the entire building and all of its occupants long before even leaving the distortion world to seek her out, and she wasn't stupid enough not to know that.

"What is your business, Koe?" the skuntank said in her usual short tone.
~~~
Mission three, part one
Cressida, Paradise, Uotani gain +6 for art
1126 words gives +4 to Cressida, Paradise, Uotani and Koe