Interlude 1
Zayn and Simon
Lokfore Temple Exterior

~~(Recommended Listening: Escape Through the Snow(Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team))~~

Light.

As they shove the door open, the temperature plummets. Snowflakes are swept inside, already dusting Lemura’s front half. They try to snatch one in wonder, gazing as the white powder melts into liquid in their metallic hand.

Their ear-like sensors perk up as they think they detect something.

Noise.

Other… other Pokemon?

Are they feral, like the amaura?

No, no there’s… words? Words!

There are intelligent Pokemon!

Could…

Could they speak with them?

Lemura stepped out into the snow, shuddering as their leg sank in. Their sensors twitched as they picked up more words.

“I’m just saying, we’re literally the only ones this far north! We barely even see ferals! Why do we have to patrol? It’s freezing!”

“It doesn’t matter if we’re the only ones, Captain Aquillon told us to do it!”

They understood!

Lemura eagerly waded through the snow, thoughts racing. What would these strangers be like? What do they look like? Were they really smart? Were they friendly? Lemura couldn’t see them through the blinding white of the snow, but they were getting closer! There was a flicker of something in the distance-- fire? Green fire?

“Well, Artemis can be paran-- ...oh.”

And then they came into view.

A Pokemon, with a skull as a helmet or hat(like Lemura!) and a shortish but fluffy red-colored sort of cloak, and it was holding a bone that had that weird green fire it was um-- Cubone! With… What kind of looked like Alolan Marowak’s bone? Huh.

And the other--Lemura didn’t quite realize they were there at first, they blended in with the snow so well! They were quadruped with fluffy white fur, and they had an orange bandanna and little boots fitted over their paws and they were-- they were Alolan Vulpix!


About the time that Lemura saw these Pokemon, they saw her too, prompting the one speaking to trail off.

They stared at each other.

Lemura gave a little wave.

The silence was broken when the vulpix turned to grin smugly at the cubone. “See!? This is why we have patrols! We discover things, they’re just as important as your archaeology outings with Ms. Prencea!”

The cubone held up his paws. “Hey! Okay! You were right, I was wrong!”

The vulpix glared at Lemura again, tails fluffing up in an attempt to make himself look larger and teeth bared. “Now who are you? I’ve never seen a Pokemon like you before! Identify yourself, intruder!”

Lemura raised their single arm in surrender. They were tired from their previous fight, and didn’t want to fight again. Especially not these two, for some reason.

The cubone frowned at Lemura, before his eyes widened in realization. “Simon, wait a second!” He shoved his bone out, making the vulpix back up.

The cubone approached Lemura. Lemura stepped towards him.

“...Hi.”

Lemura waved again.

The cubone used his bone to point in the direction Lemura had came. “...Did you come out of Lokfore Temple? The building thataway?”

Lemura thought for a moment, then nodded.

“A-are you…” The cubone gulped. “Are you Lemura Angelus?”

Lemura blinked. Someone knew them? Were they… famous?

They nodded again.

The cubone gasped, before grabbing Lemura’s arm and enthusiastically pumping it up and down. “You ARE! That’s incredible! You finally came! I didn’t think you’d come while I was alive! I always loved your legend and I’m so happy to be able to meet you!”

The vulpix approached. “Wh-- Lemura Angelus? The Savior of Stina?”

The cubone whirled to face him, a massive grin on his face. “Yes! It’s got to be! They have a mechanical chassis, remember? Just like her!” He patted Lemura’s mettalic body pointedly. The cubone blinked, then turned back to Lemura. “Oh right! You’re probably confused! Hi there, it’s really nice to meet you! My name’s Zayn Prencea, and that’s my friend Simon! We live with a bunch of others over in the Armageddon Bunker nearby. We’re archaeologists!”

“He’s an apprentice archaeologist,” Simon corrected. “I’m apprenticed under Captain Aquillon, so I can get stronger.”

“We’re researching ancient myths of Halae, to see if anything from the past can help us out now!” Zayn continued “My mentor Skye, she’s really smart, she-- uh…” Zayn trailed off, backing up slightly, his smile turning sheepish. “Right… You’ve probably got stuff to do and places to be, right?”

~~(Recommended Listening: Partner’s Theme (Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon))~~

Lemura stared at him, blankly.

They…

...They had unfinished business. That they knew.

There was something that they absolutely needed to do.

But…

Lemura wasn’t sure exactly what that business was.

They were at a loss as to where they were, what was happening in the world, where to go.

...But Zayn and Simon…

Lemura had only just met them. But Zayn seemed to nice! Even if it was only because they were apparently famous, someone acting so happy to see Lemura made them feel happy!

...They didn’t know where to go next, so they wanted to go with Simon and Zayn instead.

They approached Zayn, gripping at his arm.

They felt themself opening up to Zayn, a connection forming.

I want to go with you.

Zayn’s mouth fell open. “I-- I whuh-- you have telepathy?”

Lemura blinked. I do?

Simon frowned. “What did they say?”

“She said she wants to come with us!” Zayn gleefully announced.

Lemura nodded, smiling.

“That’s probably for the best-- they look pretty beat up, Papina could heal them before they leave for their business,” Simon commented.

I want to stay with you!

Zayn stared at Lemura in surprise again. “R-really!?”

“What did they say!?” Simon demanded.

“She wants to stay with us!”

I… I don’t know what to do now… I want to stay with you because I don’t know where else to go…

Zayn smiled at Lemura, excitement evident in his sparkling eyes. “That’s okay-- Skye’s really smart, I’m sure she can help you out. But hey, feel free to stay however long you want!”

Lemura’s face lit up. Really?

Simon looked conflicted. “Uh… Hate to break up the moment. But we should really get back to the Bunker.”

“Right!” Zayn nodded, gripping Lemura’s hand tightly.

The odd trio began making their way across the frozen wasteland once more.

Lemura felt excitement and satisfaction fluttering within them. And they could feel something else-- with a start, they realized they could feel the emotions within Zayn as well. The excitement of a child meeting their idol, his admiration for his mentor…

His joy at making a friend…

...Friend.

Lemura decided they felt joy at that, too.

Zayn, their first friend.

~~~

And we’re finally out of Chapter 1!
Thank you for bearing with me. I know that this was a pretty slow chapter… Honestly it was more of a prologue than a fully fledged chapter. But I PROMISE, things are going to get more exciting next chapter. No battles, but more characters, and we start digging into the actual plot of Rent Spirits!
Thank you Noblejanobii for pretty much driving Lemura for basically the whole first chapter.
I hope everyone reading this note at any point enjoys what I have planned for the future~

Also, a little note.
At the end of every chapter, there will be an Interlude. They’re sort of like cutscenes in the PMD games. So no suggestions during one. Also, most will focus on characters who are not Lemura. Interludes are mostly to give me a bit of breathing room before the next chapter begins.
Chapter 2 I have pretty much all planned out, though. So once I get the first round typed up, we can start it right away.