Cassius stared down at the ground directly below, watching the workers below. That was weird, one of had an absol with them, and black hair like Sidneys, and a haunter with a brown blob on its head… he turned away from the view and walked a few steps towards the center of the floor, also unready for a confrontation.

"Eh, that's probably not a good sign" muttered Pandora. "Maybe that 'alone time' concept he's always going on about isn't such a bad idea after all…"

"I think he's very busy, Mom and Dad. Maybe we should come back later." Sidney took a few steps in the opposite direction, then wandered off, disappearing to who knows where.

"Bah! This is hopeless." The Absol growled, sulking a bit. "They're never going make up, are they? We might as well just--" She paused, looking around. "Where'd Sidney go?" Her trainer was missing.

"Bob! I mean, Pan!" she shouted. "We have to find her. It's time for plan B. But you'll have to lull her to sleep. Think you can do it?"

"I need to half-possess her first, so a hypnosis attack will work- it's a pretty complicated technique. Cassius could've done it, but wandering down that road's just going to get me going in circles, and I don't want to make Taro dizzy" he mused. "I'll give it a shot, anyways."

"I think I can sniff her out. I'll take care of Taro for you too." The Absol sniffed the ground, picking up a faint whiff of her trainer's scent. "I think she went...this way." She followed the trail, amazed by her own tracking skills. "Geez! I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. I thought I wouldn't let it happen in a million years..."

"Don't worry too much about it, it's really just a primary level of possession- I don't think I'll actually be able to control her against her will or anything" replied Pandora, following Ginger. "Heck, I can barely do that when I'm dealing with an unconscious human."

"There. Up ahead." Sidney hadn't strayed far. She had wandered over to a solitary tree, not yet part of the Fortree network, and taken a seat at it's base. She was currently staring off into the forest, looking like she had a lot on her mind. "It's all you now," the Absol said. "Don't forget to give me Taro. And good luck."

Pandora placed Taro carefully on the ground, then zipped over to Sidney. He was just about to stick a hand through her head, hypnotize her, then try and psychically convince her to stop hating his friend and trainer, but then he paused for a moment. It looked like she was trying to think. "Y'know, Cassius isn't really a bad guy" he said, knowing that she wouldn't be able to understand his words exactly. "He didn't really lie, either, just… kept away the truth. He didn't want to scare you until you had an opportunity to part ways."

The trainer looked over at the ghost, surprised to see him. "Huh?" She blinked at Pandora. "You followed me?" Then she listened to what Pandora had to say, not really understanding a word, but having a good idea. "Are you talking about Cassius?" she asked, her head drooping a little. "I was really mean to him, wasn't I? He didn't deserve to be treated that way. I'm such a bad person..."

"The ironic thing is he's probably thinking the same thing about you right now" replied Pandora, smiling sympathetically (which was really difficult with fangs.) "He gets all dark and stuff, but on the inside I think he's just trying to please everyone, and upset that he can't do everything at once. One person like that is plenty, and 'to err is human' anyways- just go talk to him and everything should be fine, or at least more coherent than this conversation."

Ginger watched the two from a distance. "What's going on? Why hasn't he put her to sleep yet?"

"Cubo, cubo!"

Sidney looked away. "I can't go talk to him. He's probably angry with me for being so immature about it." She frowned slightly. "But the longer I wait, the more he'll probably believe I'll never forgive him. But what if he hasn't forgiven me yet?"

"Trust me, he's been far too busy blaming himself to put any blame on you" replied Pan, a little surprised by how much of his speech she seemed to get. "You're right on the ball there, though- I think right now he assumes you hate him, he gets that sometimes when people find out what he is."

((Edit: woohoo! I reclaim the short post award!))

"Alright. I'll apologize," she told Pandora, standing up. "Can you show me where he is, please?"

Ginger wandered up to the Haunter, Taro now riding on top her head. "Wow. You did that without possessing her. You really are amazing," she said. "I can barely get her to give me the berries I want."

((Noooo! That was miiine! -curls up and dies-))

"I know- I'm brilliant" replied Pandora cheerily, waving for Sidney to follow him. "We saw him earlier- he's at the top of the tower, and even if he's trying to get away he won't have had time to get down the stairs."

"Just try to avoid my parents. They're embarrassing enough as it is, and they don't know that I've been travelling with Cassius all this time." She followed the Haunter, Ginger looking very pleased as she tagged along. "Besides, they think your name is Bob. Sorry, but I couldn't come up with a prettier name."

"Well, I guess it could have been worse- after all, I found out a few years back that 'Pandora' is actually a girl's name" he replied, shrugging and detouring around where they'd left her parents.

"She opened a box, right? Released sin and suffering into the world." The Absol blew a raspberry. "What an idiot!"

Sidney started to have a strange sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she should have waited.

((I win again! -reclaims award-))

((Edit: Bah. I made it longer.))

"Yea, but she also released hope, so that even in the darkest, most despairing corners of the world, change and growth and happiness can still thrive" replied Pandora. "Geh, I'm starting to sound like Cass with all his metaphysical junk."

"I think we could use a little of that hope now if we really want this to sort itself out." The Absol looked up at the sky, which had drastically changed colors at the evening wore on. "Looks like it's getting late. What will Cass be doing anyway?"

The young girl realized something. Something that might help her. She had forgotten all about it after Cassius confessed to being a ghost, but now that she remembered she felt more confident than before.

"He's been asked to purify the temple with a few charms and stuff he can make, and then formally invite the nature sprits to the tower" replied Pandora, reaching the base of the tower and starting up the stairs. "A lot of it's just ceremony and stuff, but some of the charms are pretty potent."

"Sounds like fun," Ginger muttered, being sarcastic. "I'm glad I'm not a gym leader. Heck, I happy not being a trainer!" She could smell Cassius now. "Hmm. He must be close," she told Pandora. "Let's hope he hasn't hung himself yet." She knew that was highly improbably, but it was fun to fantasize.

Sidney pulled out an item which she had kept hidden in her scarf. She clutched it tightly in her hands, not wanting anyone to see.

It wouldn't help him, anyways- he's already dead, 'member?" replied Pandora, bumping into something as he spoke. "Oh, hi, we were just talking about you" he said to his trainer, grinning innocently.

"What are you-" started Cassius in pokemon-speak, but cut himself off when he saw Ginger and her trainer. His eyes were still glowing red, an effect that was far more visible in the dark of the temple.

Sidney stepped up to Cassius, her teeth tightly clenched. Everything she had been planning to say floated from her mind, and she was left standing there, wondering what to say. 'Hey, sorry I was freaked out by your freakiness.' Yeah, that would work.

"I--" she began. She then took off, speaking almost as fast as Gonzo. "I didn't mean to get angry. I was just surprized, is all. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I wanted you to know that even though you're not like me, you're still a wonderful friend. And no matter how much I wanted to be mad, I couldn't...because I kept remembering how nice and polite you were to me."

She held out the item she was keeping, blushing slightly. It was a Haunter keychain, similar to the one Cassius had snuck into his basket back at Melville Town. "I know it's not much, but when I saw it it reminded me of you...so I bought it. I was going to give it to you during the festival, but I decided to use it to show you how sorry I am. Sorry for being an immature child."

"I… I was just coming to try and apologize to you" replied Cassius, "I should have told you sooner- I wasn't fair of me to travel under false pretences like that." He paused, for a moment, then added. "You should keep it, though, and thank you. Not many humans are willing to accept… well, what I am."

"If you don't want it, Cass, could I have it?" asked Pandora, eyeing the keychain. "Wow, it really does look like you, y'know."

She smiled faintly, closing her hands over the keychain once more and holding it up to her chest. "Don't worry. I think I paid you back already by using that move on you back in the haunted woods."

Ginger finally spoke, moving up beside her trainer. "Since you're both not mad at each other anymore, does that mean I can go back to poking fun at you again? I really do miss it."

Taro had fallen asleep due to all the excitement, curled up on top of the Absol's head.

"Permission to annoy granted" he said to Ginger, smiling."Although not necessarily advisable" his hair rose up for a moment, looking just like a haunter's head, then flopped back down into its usual spiky form. "I think Winona's still upstairs, if you