With her full attention previously turned towards Wells, Seras flinched anxiously as an exasperated voice interjected their stand-off. [i]Too many surprises. Far too many surprises.[/i] She turned towards the attendant, noting the woman’s raised eyebrow and offering a feeble smile in return. “Sorry about that,” she apologized. “I’ll get on it right away.”

While the hooligan headed immediately for the welcome booth, Seras closed her eyes briefly to gather her wits. Joyful voices rippled around the surrounding crowd, ranging from the playful and excited chatter of young children to the amused murmur of their families. Nobody was shouting. Everyone was happy. Everything was perfectly fine. As the adrenaline gradually ebbed from her system, she reflected on the situation and felt a warm flush bloom across her cheeks.

[i]That really got out of hand fast, didn’t it?[/i]

Scooping up the diamond feathers, Seras bashfully weaved her way through the crowd to the welcoming desk, where a somewhat flustered Marcus was tapping his papers into an orderly pile.

“Sorry about all the commotion, Marcus.”

Marcus glanced up at her and chuckled ruefully. “No need to worry, missy. There’ll be plenty more of that before the day’s out.” He pushed a registration form across the table and assembled a thick packet while she filled out the form. “Just mind the change in the schedule - the parade’s been shuffled to the start of the morning, with the Tournament of Legends after that. You’ll be wanting to show up for noon to join any preliminary rounds.”

Seras nodded thankfully, depositing the mound of cherry-pink feathers onto the desk and picking up the packet. “Could you pass some of these feathers around the welcoming committee?" she asked. "There’ll be plenty more of them tomorrow and you all deserve something for putting up with us lot.”

Marcus eyed the feathers for a moment, then nodded. “Aye, I’ll make sure they all get their share,” he grinned. “You’ll make us work for them, sure enough.”

Bidding farewell, she wandered idly into the audience craning to watch the welcome desk and began flicking through the schedule. [i]Nothing special planned for a little while - they must be leaving time for everyone to arrive and check in.[/i] Glancing up from the sheet, she caught the eye of a young girl on the other side of the crowd sitting next to a Poochyena, eyes gleaming as she followed the rotation of her gemstones. Seras smiled fondly. [i]This is an avatar festival, after all.[/i]

Reaching for her powers, she began sculpting her gemstones into hand-sized replicas of the Pokemon she could see from her current vantage point, either standing in the admissions queue or perched on the shoulders of surrounding trainers. Skitty. Marill. Chingling. All met with awed, wonder-filled beaming. As she molded her fourth gemstone into a Porygon-Z (one arm stretched out wildly), the young girl giggled and darted out across the crowd, dragging her rather bemused mother by the hand and trailing a merrily-yipping Poochyena behind them.

“Can you make one of Poochy for me please, Miss Avatar?” she implored pleadingly. The Poochy in question yipped merrily again, prancing around the young girl’s legs.

[i]Too damn adorable.[/i]

While the mother spluttered feebly, Seras knelt down to the child's height and smiled fondly. “No problem, sweetheart - can you hold up Poochy for me?”

With an excited squeal, the girl wrapped her arms around the Poochyena and whipped it into the air for Seras to see - the Poochyena continued to bark happily despite being yanked off the ground. [i]Aww.[/i]  Laughing quietly to herself, Seras closed her eyes and fixed the moment in her mind - all of the child’s youthful energy and the Pokemon’s unquestioning love. Bringing together two of her remaining gemstones, she felt their surfaces rippling fluidly as she melded them into a single stone.

After shaping them into the approximate shape that she wanted, she begun picking out details - the texture of the Poochyena’s pelt, the frizz of hair sticking up stubbornly along its back and the all-important detail in the eyes. Opening her own eyes, she admired her handiwork - a miniature child cast in diamonds, holding up an excitable Poochyena with pride and happiness etched across her face.

With an open mouth and eyes like dinner plates, the young girl silently laid her Poochyena on the ground and held out her hands. As soon as Seras put the sculpture in her hands, the spell broke and she began bouncing madly on the spot. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” she squealed. “Look at this, Poochy! Look at-”

As the girl froze, Seras watched in confusion as the Poochyena suddenly begun snarling ferociously at the ground, leaning down as though about to pounce.

“Huh? What’s up, Poochy?”

Out of nowhere, an oval of pitch-black nothingness bloomed in front of the welcome committee - Seras froze like a rabbit, her eyes fixed on the hole. [i]Oh crap.[/i] As an unnatural scream rang out from the portal, the young girl began whimpering in terror - emerging slightly from her own panic, Seras leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around the child, gazing in horror at the crimson eyes staring through the portal. [i]What the hell?![/i]

After an eternity, a white-haired man stepped through the portal, sealing it behind him as he bowed. [i]Oh great - another avatar. At least I feel slightly less self-conscious about[/i] my [i]entrance now.[/i] Tearing her eyes from the figure, she began rocking the whimpering child in her arms, whispering comfort into her ears while her mother stood frozen in horror.