Chapter Text
Bird Pokémon chirped softly overhead as sunlight streamed brightly through great bedroom windows, illuminating the still sleeping Lilith of Asphodel in golden morning light. She sprawled peacefully atop her bed, hair honeyed by sunlight fanning out around her head like a halo, her chest gently rising and falling with each breath. The scene would be idyllic if not for the Persian impatiently tugging at her blanket and hair. After several moments of unsuccessful wake up attempts by the large cat, it resorted to its usual method of awakening a sleepy Lilith- by stepping all over her face and chest, rudely forcing her awake.
“Alright, alright, mon cherie, I’m awake now”, Lilith scolded gently as she rolled onto her side and scratched behind Persian’s lavender ears. The regal cat gave a soft purr and stretched out on Lilith’s silken bedspread, clearly very happy to be receiving attention. This continued into the bright quiet of the morning until the pair were interrupted by the soft coo of an Altaria coming to rest its head upon the bedspread, still clearly half asleep.
“Ah, good morning, dear!” she said to the sleepy Altaria, petting its head and neck lovingly. “Time to get up, I suppose?” Altaria gave a nod and fluttered to the left side of Lilith’s bed to retrieve a pair of wooden forearm crutches, paintakingly hand-painted with various colors of Floette, which she slipped her arms into as she rose from her bed. With Altaria by her side, Lilith sat down at her vanity to brush the tangles of sleep from her hair, absent-mindedly petting Altaria with the hand not occupied with styling her hair. As she looked into the mirror and saw her own reflection, her mind began to wander to her parents, whom everyone from the servants in Asphodel Manor to the villagers outside claimed she resembled. She ran her fingers through hair that was supposedly golden like her mother’s, and looked into eyes that were green like her father’s, though she’d never known her parents well enough to see traits of them within herself. Lord and Lady Asphodel had perished in the same malady that had miraculously left Lilith alive, save for the muscular weakness in her legs, which made it difficult for her to walk without aid. While the servants all told Lilith stories of her parents’ generosity and kindness, she felt extremely guilty, as she could barely remember her parents at all, being that she was just a toddler when they had passed. Besides, after her parents died, Lilith had been raised by her godmother, the castle’s lead cook, who loved her just as if Lilith was her own. She had instilled within her a love for the arts and respect for all people, as well as how to act as a princess, being that Lilith was still her noble family’s heir.
She would have been caught up in her reverie for a long time had it not been for Persian meowing loudly and jumping off of Lilith’s bed with a muffled thump, bringing Lilith to the present with a slight jolt.
“Oh! I can’t believe I got so caught up in memories that I haven’t fed you or Altaria breakfast yet- I’m sorry, dears!” she exclaimed, getting up from her vanity stool, and with Altaria bracing her, slipped on a blue chiffon dress with cap sleeves over the white shift she wore to sleep, hair falling in soft waves down to her collarbone. For a final touch, she added on a subtle gold necklace, crafted expertly to look like a vine with small gemstone flowers hanging from it. Happy with her appearance, Lilith began to walk to her bedroom door as Persian padded ahead and nosed it open, impatiently leading Lilith (and a trailing Altaria) down the route through bright, high ceilinged castle corridors and into the kitchens.
Lilith barely had time to step through the kitchen doors before Persian sprinted forward, nearly bowling over the poor maid that was about to leave, almost causing her to drop her tray laden with scones and a very delicate looking teapot.
“Och, you!!” came an irritated (if not slightly amused) voice from behind the teetering tray of breakfast items. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to kill me, you mischievous cat!” With that, the maid leaned down and scratched Persian’s head affectionately, which was not an easy feat given the laden tea tray she was now balancing in her left hand.
“Good morning, Violie!” Lilith said through giggles, “I hope Persian didn’t cause you to spill anything? He’s been known to get up to mischief, after all.”
Violie smiled, pale brown hair falling out of her haphazard bun already. “Too right, miss. Remember that day in the gardens a few weeks ago where he was trying to catch bird Pokémon by sneaking up on them, but they kept flying away, so he sulked with his head in your lap as you were trying to paint? If he weren’t a service Pokémon, I think he’d be labelled a right menace by now.”
“Maybe he already is a menace, and we’ve been too blinded by his cuteness to notice it”, laughed Lilith, as Persian purred and tried (unsuccessfully) to look innocent. Then, noticing Violie was still holding her tea tray, she added, “Do you need to put that down? It looks quite heavy, and the scones on it smell simply divine, I’d feel awful if you dropped it because of me.”
“Oh, thank you, My Lady, but I’ve got a good grip on it,” said Violie, re-opening the kitchen doors behind her with her foot. “I figured you’d like tea and scones out in the garden this morning? The weather’s lovely today.”
Lilith followed Violie through the bustling kitchens with her Pokémon trailing behind her, greeting the cooks and maids as they passed- while the castle employed a very small staff, it seemed that they enjoyed keeping busy. Once the pair passed into the gardens outside the kitchen, and reached a small metal bench, Lilith turned to Violie and asked “Would you like to have breakfast with me? I’d hate to have scones this good and not share them with anyone.”
The maid acquiesced and sat down about a foot from Lilith on the bench, setting her tea tray in between the two of them, always showing respect, as Lilith was technically the lady of the house, and while Violie had been Liith’s maid for years- they’d even grown up in the castle together- she still displayed a reverence for Lilith. Even though she was to be a “proper lady”, though, Lilith still secretly wished that she and all of the castle staff could be equals, but nobody would ever agree with her on that even when she brought it up- they respected her parent’s legacy and by extension, her, too much for that.
Violie poured the tea and the pair began to eat their scones, talking about idle town gossip for a bit as the Pokémon ate their breakfasts a few feet away.
“Violie, these scones are divine! What’s in them?” Lilith exclaimed. Violie was a proficient baker and her cakes and pastries were always inventive and delicious.
“Thank you, Lady! They’re a new recipe, made with imported Paldean spices,” Violie said, “And I’m glad you like ‘em-I was worried the spice mix wouldn’t translate well into baked form,,” She added sheepishly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Oh, that reminds me,” she continued, “It was your friend Miss Adaline who dropped off the spices for the scones early this morning, she was in quite a hurry to be on her way, but she also gave me this to deliver to you.”
Violie pulled a letter from within her front apron pocket, leaving Lilith giddy with excitement. Adaline Sycamore was Lilith’s best friend and the daughter of renowned artist and cartographer Elliott Sycamore. She travelled around the land of Kalos and sometimes to other, farther reaches of the world with her father, often for months at a time, bringing back stories, artifacts, and drawings for Lilith- who could only ever dream of such far away places.
Ada’s letter was simple and short, scribbled on spring-green parchment in what could only be described as Adaline’s signature Torchic-scratch cursive:
Dearest Lily, I’ve returned from Paldea, if the scones Violie made were any indication :) I’ve got so much to tell you about the trip and the Pokémon I saw and documented along the way- meet me in our usual spot, and bring your drawing book- XOXO Ada (and Fennieken)
The letter was accompanied by a doodle of Fenniken and Altaria dozing in the bottom right corner.
Lilith smiled, already standing and making her way to her room to gather her paints.