ToT - Ashes From A Family Tree

In which Silas tells Penelope the truth of her lost lineage. 


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*Wall of text below. Read at your own discretion.*
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Penelope, Lin Lin, Birch and Silas moved to a quiet corner of the Karuka upper caverns to speak with each other in private. Silas was unusually shaken, his flirtatious demeanor from before almost completely diminished. Penelope, swiftly eating a Pecha berry to expel the poison she accidentally inhaled from the caves, sat beside her team and across the stone table from Silas, waiting for him to speak his mind.

"Well," he started. "This is slightly awkward to admit, but..." The Lycanroc inhaled, readying himself to reveal the truth. "Penelope... you are my niece."

The Pokemon sitting across from him had their eyes widen like lollipops... except for the Pangoro, Lin Lin. Her eyes remained shut, but her jaw was so agape that the twig in her mouth almost fell to the floor.

"What!?" they all said in unison.

"It's the truth, I assure you!" he told them. "Penelope, surely you must have felt it. A familial bond between us, though faded, still ties us together. Without a doubt, you are the daughter of my dear sister, Persephone!"

Penelope looked down away from him, stunned. She wasn't sure what to say, and yet... she knew he couldn't be lying about something like this. The moment she saw the face of Persephone worn by Madeline, something in her mind rushed to her like an erupting volcano. She felt something... she knew this other Houndoom. The problem was, she just couldn't place where she met her...

Lin Lin looked troubled at her best friend's pained expression. "Penny, are you okay?"

Penelope sighed before looking up at her. "...I'm fine, Lin. It's just..." She turned to Silas. "There are just... so many questions. So... if you would, could you please tell me more about my... about Persephone?"

"O-of course!" he replied. "What would you like to know?"

"Start from the beginning," Penelope said. "I want to know everything."

"Very well." Silas clears his throat before he tells his sister's story.

"Decades ago in the early days of Tabira, a Houndoom and a Lycanroc fell in love and had two beautiful children. Those children were myself and my sister. Persephone, in particular, was a gifted young Houndour with equal parts beauty, intelligence and burning passion. We grew up together as loving siblings, and we were, at the time, inseperable. One could not ask for a better sister.

"One day though, as we evolved and became old enough to leave home to fend for ourselves, Persephone soon met another; a dashing young Furfrou by the name of Lambert. She did not, at first, have any interest in him, but Lambert was stupidly persistent. After many hardships between her disinterest and my protection, he eventually managed to earn her trust and later, the two of them fell in love and married, for better or worse.

"All was well. As much as I still felt unconvinced by Lambert's convictions, even I had to eventually admit the two of them were perfect for each other. They even had a child: a daughter they named after the mother... Penelope."

The mention of her name made Penelope turn away again. She wasn't really sure what to think anymore.

Lin Lin spoke up for her. "It seemed like things were going well for them. But what happened after?"

Silas looked down with a grimace. "...The Glennish War."

They exchanged worried looks. Silas continued to explain.

"Persephone and I are Tabiran, but Lambert was Glennish born. Their love for each other couldn't be any more taboo in Glenmark, and if Lambert were to be caught with Persephone and their daughter, it would mean a death sentence for all three of them.

"Once the drafting notice came to Lambert, he told his spouse to take their daughter and flee the city before he left to fight for the Glennish forces against his will. Persephone did as she was told and fled to the mountains of Glory's Peak... and she was never seen or heard from again."

The room was filled with tension and silence. Penelope was still looking away from him, but managed to ask, "...Where were you when this happened?"

"I was off on a job in Rubias right before the war was announced," he said. "Lambert sadly passed away during the war, but he left his final will behind for Persephone's family to read, which explains what I just told you." He sighed. "That's as much as I know... I have been searching for my sister and her daughter ever since."

"And you think I'm her daughter, huh..." Penelope gazed down at the moss-covered floor. She was deep in thought, quiet. Lin simply looked at her, and for once she was unsure of how to comfort her friend. Birch sat listening intently, but was still too hesitant to speak his own mind over this confusing situation.

After a moment, Silas finally spoke up again. "Do you... remember anything about your mother?" he asked. "What is your earliest memory?"

She let out an audible sigh before she looked to him to answer. "My earliest memory... was me being lost in a blizzard when I was young. I was alone, cold and lost, before an Abomasnow came and took me in as his own."

"A blizzard..." Silas breathed out.

"I was raised by that Abomasnow on Glory's Peak ever since," she told him. "I don't remember my real parents... but..." She paused, looking away again. "When I saw Persephone's face... I could've sworn I knew her from somewhere... But that memory is foggy, at best."

The Lycanroc placed a claw below his chin. "I see... I understand. You were scarcely a pup at the time, so it makes sense that you wouldn't remember anything that far back. Though..." He looked up with clear conviction in his eyes. "If I remember right, Persephone gave her daughter a collar. Did you have anything like that?"

The Houndoom took a moment to think before she blinked in remembrance. "...Actually, yes. A collar was found on me when Grandpa - that is, the Abomasnow - took me in. It had my name on it."

Silas slams his large paws on the table. This sudden action made the whole party jump in surprise. "That's it! That proves it! You ARE Persephone's daughter, no doubt about it!"

The shock left Penelope speechless for a few seconds before realizing that Silas was actually tearing up a little. "I'm... I'm so glad," he stuttered, rubbing the tears away. "I'm so glad my niece made it out in one piece... Thank goodness..."

Penelope, her mind still swimming over all of this information, remained silent and turned away. Lin Lin decided to shuffle through the bag under her shawl and pulled out a tissue for Silas to use, which he gladly took with a soft "thank you".

After a few more moments, Silas calmed down enough for Penelope decided to muster up the courage to ask him an important question. "So... what do you plan on doing now?"

"Ah, well," he said. "I still need to look for your mother. If you're safe, it stands to reason she might still be out there somewhere too." He decided to ask his own question in return. "And what of you my dear? What will you do?"

Penelope looked over to Lin, who gave her a reassuring smile. She turned back with her answer. "I'm... staying with my team. And I'm going to help fight Gilgamarsh."

This news immediately changed Silas expression from shear joy to utter horror. "You... what?"

"I understand if you don't want me to," she told him. "I mean... it's a dangerous mission, and we've only just been introduced as long lost family members, but if I just leave this alone, my home in Tabira will suffer from it. I can't just let that go so easily."

Once the shock dissipated, Silas sighed. "...You sound just like her."

She turns away. If a dog could blush, she would be beet red right now.

"I understand," he told her. "Tabira is my home as well. So... allow me to help you."

They blinked. "Really?"

"But just so you know," he exclaimed. "I am not affiliated with the guilds. Once the battle is done, I will move on to continue my search for Persephone. Is that understood?"

"S-SHI, of course!" Lin says. "For now, we can call you... an honorary member of our team! How does that sound?"

"Wonderful!" Silas says.

Lin turns to her friend. "How about it Penny?"

"I... see no objections with this," she admits. "The more the merrier, as you always say, right?"

Birch nods in agreement.

"Then it's decided," Silas concludes.

"I just have one last question," Penelope interjects. "How do you and Madeline know each other?"

"My sister and I used to study at the Scholars Guild with her when we were all still quite young," he explains. "We were friends then... but as we grew older and our studies close to finishing, we started seeing Madeline less and less. Eventually, she just... stopped talking to us altogether. I honestly don't know what happened that made her change so much..."

"Oh." Penelope dropped the subject. Madeline wasn't exactly her business; that was the Scholars Guild's issue to deal with.

"Now with that out of the way..." He then turns to Lin Lin with a sly glint in his eyes. "How about we grab some dinner together? You all must be famished after today's excitement. It'll be my treat tonight."

Lin Lin, oblivious to his advances, nods in approval. If there's food involved, Lin is all for it. Penelope groans, almost forgetting that her newly-found uncle is just as big of a flirt as some other Pokemon she knows of in the guild.

"...I can tell this is going to get very awkward."

*

Meanwhile, near the Shining Strand just north of the jungle, a lone Absol carries a conversation with the clouded image of a conniving Vulpix witch. Once their talk ended and the image dissipated with an unearthly noise, the Absol picks out a selection of bottles containing colorful liquids from the loam of sand he had buried them in.

A sense of agency washed over him... but at the same time, he began to remember something else from long ago. He did not feel hesitant however. Instead, he let out a sigh.

"...Sorry, Penelope. But I'm going to have to break our promise."

He paced himself, drinking each potion and savoring the complex flavors.

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Story (c)Tales of Tabira
Pokemon (c)Nintendo
Comic (c)Me