49. Exorcism

[] Exorcism ritual. Force the Ghost out of Ana's body immediately. It will place a lot of stress on your pokegirl's body, possibly even killing her.

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"... and you're sure that this is safe?" you can't help asking, staring at the intricate design that the pokewoman was sketching onto the floor, dipping her bandages into a pot of strangely pungent paint and using them as makeshift paint brushes. 

The Bandame scowled at you. "Look, just relax already, would you? David knows what he's doing."

The priest beside you sighed, shuffling through the papers in his arms. "Brianna, be polite. She has a right to be worried about her pokegirl."

"If you say so," the Ground/Ghost type shrugged, turning back to her work. "Alright, I've got the Heavenly Binding Sigil set up. Should we stick to the usual Spirit Ward or do you have something else in mind?"

"Hmm... maybe we need to adjust the runes a bit more..." the priest mused, frowning thoughtfully as he glanced towards the (thankfully unconscious) form of your Woodmouse. "I'm not sure if a normal ritual would cut it." 

As the pair conferred over a thick sheaf of notes, you took the time to look over your poor possessed pokegirl. She looked almost peaceful now, asleep in the middle of a circle of runes. You really hoped that this thing worked. 

"Alright, I think we're ready to begin," Father Uriah announced. "Miss Blue, if you would step outside the room for a moment..."

You nodded, already making your way towards the door. The priest had explained that it was better if there were as few people around as possible, since the ghost might decide to jump to another person's body if it realized what they were trying to do. 

Pacing outside the door was pointless, but you felt... twitchy. A part of you couldn't help going back over the last few days, wondering how much of the current situation was your own fault. If you had signed up to travel in a group, if you had simply taken the main road, if you had turned back at the river... if, if, if. 

You shook your head. No point getting stuck in past regrets. It wouldn't change anything in the here and now. Instead, you pulled out your pokedex. Might as well keep Red updated, after all. It took a minute or two to get a signal, and even after she picked up the call you had to strain to hear her voice behind the static interference. 

"-llo? Can you hear me? Blue, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. You alright there? There's a lot of static on the line."

"Oh, sor... I'm in... here... it's so cool. They got..."

"Red. Red? I can't hear you. Red!" Dammit, the line got cut. 

A moment later, you received a text message. 

Sorry Blue. I'm exploring some caves now! The signals really bad. cbl?

What the heck was she doing underground? You sent her a quick reply, promising to talk to her properly later before sighing and putting away your pokedex. Not much you could do at the moment. Your other girls were tucked away safely in their pokeballs. After the events of the last few days, you don't know if you're really ready to talk to them just yet. 

Suddenly, a loud, piercing scream filled the air, emanating from behind the door where the exorcism was taking place. You shuddered, wrapping your hands around yourself as you tried not to think about what was going on back there. 

You hoped that Ana was alright... 

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"I'm sorry Miss Blue," the priest said gravely, wiping off the blood dribbling down his nose. "We tried our best, but it seems like the two of us alone didn't have enough power."

"Damned thing's sticking to the mousegirl like a limpet," Brainna grunted, keeping the possessed pokegirl wrapped up tight in her bandages. "Mind trying her pokeball?"

Fumbling slightly, you pulled out the correct pokeball from your belt and pointed it towards the still thrashing pokegirl. A flash of light later, and she was gone. The Bandame slumped in relief. "Sheesh. What a mess."

"Indeed." Father Uriah sighed, wincing slightly as he rolled his shoulder. "It seems that removing the ghost will require more... drastic measures. You should take her to a church or shrine with an expert exorcist, preferably one with some strong ghost or divine pokegirls to back him up."

"Do you know any places like that?" you asked, trying not to cry as you stared at the pokeball in your hand. To think that Ana was stuck as a... a prisoner in her own body. It made you feel... well, really freaked out, to be honest. 

Some tamer you turned out to be. Your very first trip into the wilderness, and this is what happens.  

"None anywhere nearby, I'm afraid." the priest answered. "The Church's presence is rather weak in this region. I know that there are shrines and such that you can visit, but I've never gone to any myself. I'll pass you a letter containing some of the details of this case. If you find someone who can deal with this, I'm sure they'd appreciate the extra information." 

"Thank you... for everything. I... do you need payment, or..."

"No need for that," Father Uriah said, waving off your concerns. "As a man of god, how could I possibly turn away someone in need?"

"We won't say no to donations, though," the Bandame snorted. "So what are your plans now, girl? You heading off straight away or do you want to stay here a little longer? I don't recommend travelling the roads at night. Even if you try sticking to the main road, it's all too easy to get lost."

You...

[] Head out immediately

- [] Fast, Moderate or Slow Pace?
- [] Choose two pokegirls to be out with you.

[] Stay here for the night

- [] Speak to someone (Who?)

- [] Try to repay Father Uriah somehow

48: Possession

[] "I think I'll wait till my girls are done. I'd like to talk to them first."

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The pokewoman shrugs. "Suit yourself, then." 

She stays for a little longer to give you a quick checkup. After confirming that your body is fine and as healthy as expected, she gives a satisfied nod and leaves the room to fetch your girls. 

Alone once again, you slump back into the bed. While you're grateful for the help, you're honestly not sure what exactly happened in those woods. Your mind buzzed, head throbbing painfully as you tried to recall your memories. Everything seems so blurry now...

"Bl- Mistress! You're awake!" Isabella called as she entered the room, looking rather relieved to see you sitting up. 

"Bout time," Lamina grumbled, slinking in behind the Witch. "Thought you were gonna sleep for ages. I didn't hit you that hard."

"Mistress." Thana nodded as she stepped in, ducking slightly so that she wouldn't bang her head on the door frame. 

"It's good to see you all," you smiled. "But can someone please tell me what the hell happened in those woods?"

Isabella looked away, seemingly unable to meet your gaze as she shuffled awkwardly from one foot to another. 

Lamina scoffed, rolling her eyes as she leaned against the wall. "Well, everything kinda went to shit." she began. "I hadta knock you out, then we went chasing after the mouse. There was this crazy big fight, then somehow we managed to stuff two pokegirls into one pokeball. Then we wandered around for a bit before I led everyone to this place. Knocked on a door, got directions to the nearest healer, and here we are."

"Ok. Stop. Hold up a minute." you frowned, pinching the bridge of your nose as you felt your headache worsen. "Back up a bit. You did what with a pokeball? And where is Ana, anyway? Is she still hurt?"

"Status unknown." Thana said flatly, the Dragonqueen standing straight and rigid, hands at her sides as if she were on parade. "As for the pokeball, I am unsure how it actually managed to contain both Ana and the Ghost possessing her. By all rights, the ball should have broken, expelling both of them and allowing us to subdue the feral while it was stunned."

"So what happened to the feral?" you asked, already dreading the answer. 

Isabella flinched. "Well, they're... still kinda stuck together. We can't figure out how to get the Ghost out."

"The mouse is acting all feral-like now," the Armsmistress said, raising an arm to show you a line of pale, barely healed scars. "Nasty business. She kept trying to attack anyone who gets close, so the priest dude had to stick her back into her pokeball. He's drawing some kinda magic circle thingy in the basement."

"Wait, what?" you gasped, forcing yourself out of the bed. Isabella and Thana rushed to your side, looking concerned as you tried to walk forwards on too wobbly legs. Luckily, Thana was fast enough to grab your shoulder before you could fall flat on your face. "Thanks, Thana. But we need to get down there now!"

"Huh?" Lamina frowned, "What's with the rush?"

"I don't know who this priest guy is, but I'm not letting anyone do some weird magic on one of my girls when I'm not there." you said, glaring at the unimpressed looking Armsmistress.

"I suppose it's a good thing I decided to get your permission first then." a soft voice declared. Standing at the doorway was a tall, pale looking man wearing what seems to be an elaborate version of a priest's uniform. A pair of white, Bunnygirl like ears peeked out over his head, twitching slightly as he spoke. "You're Blue, right? It's good to see you're awake again, though I'm afraid that I have some bad news for you."

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Ana sat in the middle of the room, hunched over in a circle of glowing runes. The normally quiet and meek Woodmouse you knew had changed drastically. She hissed and spitted menacingly as you approached, red eyes gleaming with violence as she lunged forwards, only to squeal in pain as the markings painted onto the floor flared and forced her back. 

"Yep. Pretty sure that's a Banshee." the bandaged pokegirl spoke up from her position at the doorway. If Ana managed to escape the circle, she would move to subdue to Woodmouse as quickly as possible. Until then, she stayed as far away from your possessed pokegirl as possible, glaring at her every time she tried to break out of the magical prison. "Not many Ghosts have their particular brand of nastiness."

"Most unfortunate," the priest sighed. He'd introduced himself earlier as Father Uriah, though he mentioned that you were free to call him David if you wanted. "Normally the Ghost would have fled by now, but this specimen seems particularly stubborn. Or perhaps the pokeball interfered with its morphic field somehow? Most unusual..."

"So can you... can you change her back?" you asked, unable to tear your eyes from the... the thing wearing Ana's body. It paced its prison restlessly, occasionally stopping to hiss and glare at one of the other people in the room. 

"I'm sure I can. But with a situation like this..." Father Uriah shook his head. "There are a number of options available. My reagents are limited, but I think we should have enough to give it a try. As the pokegirl's tamer, you of course have the final say."

[] Just... just get rid of her. That's not your Ana anymore.

[] Give her to Father Uriah. You can't afford to stay here for too long and he should be able to deal with the ghost problem by himself eventually, right?

[] Appeasement ritual. Try to calm down the Banshee and convince it to move on and leave Ana's body. Unfortunately, this Banshee seems particularly stubborn, so the chances of success aren't as high as you'd really like.

[] Exorcism ritual. Force the Ghost out of Ana's body immediately. It will place a lot of stress on your pokegirl's body, possibly even killing her. 

[] Mass Exorcism. Father Uriah calls in a few friends to help. While they'd definitely be able to solve the problem, he warns you that it will take a few days for them to arrive and that they'd be expecting payment of some kind before conducting the ritual. 

47. Lost and Found

Head towards a main road while looking for shelter. Whichever we find first we take.

Avoid contact with other humans unless absolutely necessary, last thing we need is some opportunistic prick wanting to steal someone while Blue's out of it.

Priority should be avoiding ferals though.

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Unfortunately, without a guide to lead their way, the three pokegirls soon found themselves hopelessly lost. 

"Ah, dammit. It's that stupid log again," Lamina groaned, pointing at a familiar looking sight. The large, rotting log in front of them looked wholly unremarkable apart from three lines cut into its base - the same lines that the Armsmistress had left the last time they'd passed this place. "I told you we were going in circles."

Beside her, Isadora pursed her lips, glancing worriedly up towards the sky. The sun was still up, but none of them knew how much longer they'd have daylight. Already, the shadows were lengthening, making it harder to find their way around. 

"We need to keep moving," Thana insisted, their tamer still carried gently in her arms.  

"Alright, alright," the former gladiator rolled her eyes. "This time we'll go... this way!" she declared, pointing at a random direction.

Isadora blinked. "We just came from there," the Witch pointed out. 

"Okay, so we'll go this way instead," Lamina said, marching off in the opposite direction. The two remaining pokegirls shared a look before sighing and chasing after their... overenthusiastic companion. 

A few moments later, they heard Lamina shout something from somewhere ahead of them. Picking up the pace, the two pokegirls sprinted forwards, already prepared for the worst - and paused, mouths gaping as they realized what the Armsmistress had found. 

"Told ya I'd find the way out," Lamina smirked, visibly enjoying the looks on their faces. 

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Blue awoke slowly, groaning at the throbbing in her head. Slowly, carefully, she forced herself up, blinking in confusion at the unfamiliar surroundings. Before she could do anything, she herself face to face with a tall pokewoman of some kind, dressed in a nurses uniform with bandages wrapped around most of her face. 

"Here, drink this," the pokewoman ordered, shoving a glass of something dark and unpleasant looking into her hands. "Well? What are you waiting for?" she arched a brow, all but daring the young tamer to resist. 

Blue took a tentative sip, then blanched at the taste. "What is this stuff?" she croaked, trying to hold it at arms reach. 

The nurse rolled her eyes. "Medicine. Finish it. Now." she growled, her hoarse voice making it clear that it was not a request.

Making a face, Blue swallowed the entire glass in a single gulp. Before she could do more then gasp at the now burning sensation in her throat and stomach, another glass was pressed into her hands, this time filled with cold water instead. 

"Feeling better now?" the healer asked, watching as she gratefully gulped down the refreshingly cool water. "Good. You're lucky your girls are smart."

"What... where are my pokegirls?" Blue frowned. "Where am I, for that matter?"

"Meadowood Village," the pokegirl sniffed. "We don't get many visitors here. My master and I are the closest thing this place has to a pokecenter. Your girls are downstairs getting healed."

"How are-"

"They're fine. Probably better then you, to be honest." the nurse interrupted. "Honestly, tamers these days... why the hell were you wandering off the main path?"

"It... seemed like a good idea at the time?" Blue offered. The nurse snorted. "A good idea, she says. Why I oughta..."

"Marie! Is our guest awake yet?" a man's voice called from somewhere outside the room. The nurse paused, poking her head out the door. "YEAH! SHE'S UP!"

"Good! Let her know that her pokegirls are going to be done soon."

"SURE!" the pokewoman turned, eyeing Blue carefully. "Well, you heard the man. You feel ready to head down now, or do you wanna wait till your girls are done first?"

[] "I'll go down now and talk to your master immediately."

[] "I think I'll wait till my girls are done. I'd like to talk to them first."

46. Anticlimactic Battle

[X] Attempt to ball her. If that doesn't work, try to knock her out.

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Suddenly, Lamina felt a flash of inspiration. 

"The ball!" she cried out, trying to get some distance between herself and her possessed opponent. Is she drooling? Urgh, gross! "Get her ball now, you idiots!"

Realizing what she was planning, Thana put down their tamer and began checking the pokeballs on her belt. "Not this one... this is mine..."

"Hurry up already!" the Armsmistress growled, hissing as the Woodmouse drew another nasty gash along her arm. The Witch began chanting once again, sending a fizzling bolt of darkness flying towards the mouse. The possessed pokegirl jumped back to avoid the spell before turning and glaring at the magic user with eerily glowing red eyes. 

"Here!" the Dragonqueen shouted, tossing the pokeball at the mouse's direction. The possessed girl's eyes widened in recognition, her body already turning to run. But it was too late. 

The Woodmouse yowled in rage as she disappeared into a beam of red light, ghost and all. The ball twitched violently, shaking uncontrollably as its prisoners tried to escape. It shook once, twice, three times before stilling. 

The quiet beep of a successful recall echoed throughout the clearing, causing all three tame pokegirls to sigh in relief. 

"W-Well, I'm glad that it worked," Isadora panted, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. 

The Armsmistress glared at the ball, resisting the urge to poke it suspiciously. "What the fuck kinda bullshit was that?! When did the mouse get strong enough to fight me head on?"

"She was possessed," Thana noted blandly as she stood protectively over their tamer. "The Ghost might have been making her body stronger then usual."

Lamina sighed, sheathing her sword once more. "Makes sense, I guess," the former gladiator acknowledged, rubbing her arm uncomfortably and wincing as blood began to ooze out of her cuts. "Damn, that's probably gonna leave a scar. Hey, pass me a potion or something, would ya?"

"So... what do we do now?" Isadora asked, glancing over at their tamer uncomfortably as Thana tossed a P-Med towards the winged pokegirl. "Will Blue... will she..."

"She'll be fine," Lamina rolled her eyes, injecting the medicine into herself with a hiss of pain. "I didn't hit her that hard, ya know."  

"She's a human," the magic type pointed out. "Your idea of 'hitting hard' may not exactly match what she's capable of handling."

The Armsmistress scoffed. "Oh please. You think this is the first time I've had to fight a human? We used to get exhibition matches every week! Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"She's right," Thana grudgingly noted. "No blood, no cracked skull. Just a bit of bruising and a nasty headache when she wakes up."

"Well, that's all well and good, but what're we supposed to do now?" the Witch huffed, glancing at the sky warily. "I'm not sure what time it is, but I don't like the idea of wandering around the woods in the dark. 

"Well, right now we should...

[] Stay here and wait for Blue to wake up. 

[] Make our way to the main road immediately. 

[] Look for some kind of shelter. 

45. A Ghostly Encounter

[] Lamina is right. We need to find this feral and rescue Ana.

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Having decided to hunt down this enemy, the trio carefully made their way through the woods. Lamina took point, the Armsmistress eagerly charging ahead in search of her foe. Thana was in the middle, their still unconscious Tamer slung unceremoniously over her shoulder. The Dragonqueen had clearly not been happy to get outvoted, but nevertheless understood that they needed to stick together in order to survive. 

Isadora took up the rear, the worried looking Witch glancing around frequently, as though afraid that something might jump out of the shadows at any moment. 

Though they tried their best to track down their opponent, it was clear that none of the three pokegirls were suited to the task. Lamina and Isadora were both self confessed city girls with no idea how to survive in the wilderness, while the grim looking Thana was too busy worrying about their injured tamer to offer much support. 

Fortunately for them, they didn't need to look so hard. 

"Gah! It's nearby." Lamina grunted, feeling that oppressive presence bearing down on her again. Her mind was filled with whispers, old voices and half forgotten regrets creeping back into her thoughts to distract and demoralize her. 

Shaking her head, the Armsmistress did her best to ignore the visions. It was a lot harder this time, though - she had a feeling that her previous success in shaking it off had been more of a fluke then anything else. 

Behind her, Thana's eyes narrowed. The Dragonqueen glanced around suspiciously, eyes peeled for any sign of danger as she easily shrugged off the mental attack. "Ghost type." she hissed. "I've felt this before. It's a Fear Aura."

"Y-You don't say?" Isadora muttered through chattering teeth. The Witch was swaying slightly, obviously affected by their unseen enemy. "But why is it so cold?"

Suddenly, Thana's head snapped to the side, eyes widening as she spotted something moving towards them. "Ambush! Two o'clock!"

"What? Where?" Lamina barely managed to get her blade up in time to block the attack, causing her attacker to jerk to the side and hiss menacingly. "What the shit?!"

Snarling like a madwoman, Ana lunged towards the Armsmistress once again, the Woodmouse managing to draw blood due to the swordwoman's shock. Before she could press her advantage, she was forced to jump back to avoid a Mystic Bolt from an enraged looking Isadora. 

"She's being possessed!" the Witch cried. 

"Careful, this ghost is strong." Thana warned, shifting her mistress' weight so that the Dragonqueen would be able to use her own body to block any attacks aimed at Blue. 

"Can we get it out of the mouse?" Lamina asked, circling the red-eyed Woodmouse warily. "Cause if we can't I'm probably gonna have to kill her."

"Maybe." Isadora said, charging up another Mystic Bolt. "If we knock her out, the ghost will be forced to leave her body."

Suddenly, the possessed pokegirl charged forward once again, all too sharp claws just barely glancing off the Armsmistress' armor. "Hrk!" 

"Too risky." Thana declared, watching the winged pokegirl fend off the rabid Woodmouse. "Better to kill her now. Her death will also damage the ghost." 

[] Hold back. Try to knock Ana unconscious so that the Ghost will be forced out of her body. 

[] Go all out. If you kill Ana, the Ghost will definitely be damaged in the process.