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Pokemon MysteryDungeon: The Seventeen Plates of Arceus



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Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:21 am
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Robusto says...



Tempest Part 2
Day A6

Tempest was out and about that morning, bright and early. He wanted some time out of the house to clear his thoughts. And what better way to do that than his favorite pastime?
Wooden sword in one hand, a scroll with combat stances for bipedal Pokemon imprinted on it in his other hand, Tempest set out for his usual favorite practice spot just outside the forest.
But there was a third item that was new to his usual ensemble. A necklace lined with blue stone rectangles around his neck.
Dusknoit had certainly delivered on his promise. By breaking the stone into pieces rather than having one solid chunk on a necklace, Dusknoir had managed to create a sort of reserve bank for the weird whatever energy to go into. All the individual pieces fought to amplify his ability, and ended taking in enough snippets of energy so that nothing happened. At least that was how Dusknoir had explained it. Tempest had tried his best to appear happy for his uncle, but he was sure Dusknoir had caught on to him. And so, he’d hightailed it out of there.

“No way Dusknoir did all those things.” Tempest muttered to himself.
“And no way my mom is a legendary.”

But he’d thought it over. He was definitely not a human, and the same could be said for Celebi. Without a human gene in his bloodline, there was no way he could have gotten an ability related to time unless his mom WAS the goddess of time and nature.
Still, he was in denial. And he’d stay that way for as long as he could.

Tempest stuck the scroll on a nearby tree that was nicked and scratched by months of him whacking at it with his wooden sword. Dusknoir still didn’t like him coming out here, but the old ghost knew Tempest would still do it anyway.

Tempest took a few steps back from the tree, looking at the first pose. It showed an Infernape silhouette holding a sword with both hands, the blade pointed at an angle away from him with his legs spread slightly to allow a more stable stance. Tempest imitated it without needing to observe it too much. After all, he’d looked at these scrolls at least twice a week. The point of them was to provide a stance to always return to after striking. It increased speed, as well as provided a challenge to string as many hits together as quick as possible before returning to the said stance. Tempest’s record of hits per second was three. He was looking to beat that.

As he began to swipe, strike, and jab at the tree, his mind drifted off to his own thoughts.

“Dusknoir knows the people in my vision. I guess I must’ve been mumbling what I was hearing or something… but still. Why am I seeing them? If I just saw visions of random people, then I’d see a different person every time. But always them…”

Tempest, without realizing it, had actually landed a flurry of five blows in one second.

“But is all this the future? Or has it already happened? Or… did it happen at the same time I saw the visions?”

“A little bit of both.”

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Tempest cried out, spinning around to see… nothing there.
Had that been Grace? He knew what a telepathic voice sounded like, since Grace spoke to Tempest like that on occasion. But that hadn’t sounded anything like her mental voice…

“Sorry to alarm you.”

“We had hoped to be able to approach you in a less… alarming fashion.”

“But our time is brief.”


Tempest half wondered if he was getting another vision, but discounted that thought. These three voices were telepaths.

“Who are you? WHERE are you?” Tempest asked, spinning around.

“Well… where is a relative term.”

“By all means, we’re all around.”

“Our physical bodies though… they’re somewhere safe. Safe for now at least.”

“And as to who we are… my name is Mesprit.”

“I’m Uxie.”

“And I’m Azelf.”


Tempest blinked. The trio of the heart. Emotion, Knowledge, Willpower. He was meeting not just one, but THREE Legendarys for the first time! Well… not meeting. More like hearing.

“You certainly take after your father in your affinity for combat.” Uxie sent.

“Uh… thanks?” Tempest responded uncertainly.
“My dad was some hero… right?”

“Yes. The hero of time.” Mesprit affirmed.

“Careful Mesprit. I hear there’s a hero a few worlds over that already has that title.” Uxie said.

“Oh come now. Our hero of time and that world’s hero are completely different. Ours travelled through dungeons…”

“So did theirs.”

“… travelled with a fairy…”

“Check.”

“… travelled through time…”

“Check.”

“…gathered items that would ultimately help him realize his goal…”

“Check.”

“… and was severely misunderstood by the people during his quest.”

“… touche.”


“Enough you two. Our time is brief. He’ll be coming for us again soon. And this time, we won’t be able to escape.” Azelf said, bringing the topic back to focus.

“Yes, of course.” Mesprit said.

“Who’s coming? Are you all in danger?” Tempest asked worriedly.

“I’m afraid so. While our bodies have remained immobile, our spirits have been searching for an answer. And we found it. Now… that answer is hunting us.” Mesprit said sadly.

“We took a great risk projecting our spirits out of the etherium to speak with you. A risk that will cost us dearly.” Uxie added.

“The Dark Link will be here soon. He will kill us. And with our spirits gone, our bodies will die as well. We’ll return someday again, but with no memory of our time here. Only our names and our focus.” Azelf finished.

“The Dark Link? Who is he? I can get my uncle to help you if I need to.”

“I’m afraid we’re beyond help at this point, brave hero. He’s already on his way to fulfill his master’s bidding.” Mesprit said.

“And as to who he is…” Uxie began.
“He’s a warrior, twisted by loss. Loss of his family. His wife… his only son.”

“The greatest heroes make the greatest evils, Tempest. Never forget that.”


“But if you’re all in spirit… how can he hurt you?” Tempest asked, his heart pounding. Here he was, meeting Legendarys. And they were basically just here to tell him they were about to die.

“He exists on several plains. Physical and spiritual. And can only be defeated if fought on both.” Azelf explained.
“He is a malicious aura spirit encased in Gratian Black Iron. As we are… we can’t win.”

“Why are you telling me all this? What am I supposed to do?” Tempest asked, sounding frustrated.

“Tempest… you’re abilities have begun to awaken. From your father to his parents… you are the result of several lifetimes of hope.” Mesprit said.

“Would you stop being cryptic and tell me what the hell all this is about!!!” Tempest screeched.

“We don’t even have time to explain why we don’t have time to explain.” Azelf said.
“We came to deliver a message for you, Tempest.”

“It is time.” Uxie began.
“Time for you to awaken as the Storm of Time.”

“I don’t remember there being anything in the message about him being the Storm of Time?” Mesprit chided.

“His name is Tempest, his father was the hero of time. It seemed fitting, as well as a little epic.” Uxie shrugged.

“Anyways…” Azelf said.
“Your journey will begin. Soon. You must prepare yourself for the day it does. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. All those will be tested in the years to come.”

“But we all have faith in you. You, and the heroes meant to fight alongside you. You’ve seen them already, I’m sure.” Mesprit finished.

“Y-yeah. There was a… Flurry. I think. And Jewel…”

Tempest didn’t get to finish. There was suddenly a tremendous crack that resounded throughout the sky.

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“He is here!” Uxie cried out.

“Don’t worry Tempest, he can only attack you if he can see you! And he can only see you if he knows what he’s looking for! To him, you don’t even exist right now!” Azelf instructed Tempest.

“Wait! I still have…!”

“There’s no time! We leave you now with one final gift. We will unlock the powers you’ve inherited from your mother, as well as share with you some of our own power! We won’t be needing it for much longer…”

Three beams seemingly lanced out of open air, hitting Tempest. He gave out a shout of alarm, but the beams didn’t hurt him. In fact, he didn’t feel anything. He’d expected to feel super empowered, but he felt nothing. Had whatever these Legendarys done to him even worked?
But before Tempest could voice his concerns, his time to do so was cut short.
The very air seemed to split apart in front of the Grovyle, revealing a rainbow spectrum of colors. But it was blocked by something stepping through. A figure, black as night…

“Run! It’s us he’s after!”

“For Arceus!” Azelf cried.

The black figure drew two weapons from his back. Two long javelins just as black as his… skin? Armor? Tempest wasn’t sure. Already, he was turning to run as the battle unfolded both behind him, and in the very folds of the world…

~~~~~

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Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf looked on at the black creature standing before them. The hazy rainbow sky of Etherium shone around them, the seemless nuance broken only by the labrynthian mystery dungeons floating off in the distance. Only a very select few were motionless though, as they were tethered to the physical world. The rest had separated from that plain long ago, and were now destined to roam the spirit world for eternity.

“For Arceus!” Azelf cried, already firing off psychic blasts. But the Willpower Pokemon knew they would do nothing to him. They were only trying to buy time for Tempest to hide from his sight.

Just as suspected, the blast slammed into the figure, staggering him, but not even leaving a mark on the suit.

The figure muttered something in Unown before standing again, hefting one of his javelins.

Mesprit knew what he was about to do.
“Be wary! His aim is impeccabl…”
Mesprit suddenly let out a gasp, her eyes slowly drifting downwards. The javelin’s shaft was protruding from her small stomach.
“But… it’s a physical object. It shouldn’t be able to…”
No more words would be spoken from Mesprit, as she began to dematerialize.

Despite Mesprit and Uxie knowing they were going to die, seeing their sister felled so brutally and mercilessly stirred a deep anger in them.

“NO!” Azelf cried out in disbelief. He hadn’t wanted Mesprit to go so soon. He’d hoped they would have lasted a bit longer as a family…

The figure didn’t even react to his kill. The javelin returned to his grip.

“Disarm him! He’s nothing without his weapons!” Uxie shouted.

The two aimed their psychic blasts for the weapons clutched in the figure’s hands. He seemed genuinely surprised at this shift in tactic, as he was unable to grip his weapons well enough to prevent them from flying out of his hand.

Uxie caught them both in his psychic grip, levitating them over to himself. He wondered if the figure could be pierced by his weapons of the same make as his armor…
But the javelins went from harmless weapons to objects of nightmares in seconds. Splitting at their thick shafts, the javelins split into sickly thin, skeletal like monsters with the javelin’s head as their own head. Uxie only managed a cry of alarm before the creatures jabbed their heads into him repeatedly, their claws scrabbling to find purchase on the small legendary to prevent him from tossing them away.

Azelf was momentarily distracted from the true threat at Uxie’s cry, turning to see his brother being mauled to death by the javelin creatures.

“Uxie!” Azelf cried in despair. But before he could even fly to the aid of the Knowledge Pokemon, something else gripped him. A psychic like force, except more dark in nature, pulled Azelf through the air towards the black figure, who’s hand was extended in a gesture that looked almost as if the figure was offering a hand out to Azelf.

“You vile, cruel, heartless bastard! Your end will come! And it will be far worse than the torture and tragedy you’ve already been through!” Azelf screeched, tears running down his face.
The figure didn’t seem the slightest swayed by Azelf’s emotion though. Instead, the figure used his dark telekinesis to slam Azelf against the long spike protruding from his chest.

All three of the Legendarys, now nothing but atoms of light, were dead. And back in the physical world at the Shrine of Safety, the Legendarys and others there were weeping over the now lifeless and dissolving bodies of the Lake Trio, not sure what had happened. New Order trickery perhaps?
But the trio had done as they had set out to do. Tempest had been set on his path. But there were some who would seek to lead him astray at all costs.

~~~~~

Day A7

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Tempest hadn’t slept a wink last night. Dusknoir accredited his sleepless status to a residual effect of the charm he’d made, but Tempest knew that wasn’t true.
What he’d seen yesterday… that figure stepping through a crack in the universe… it would haunt him forever.

Tempest was quite content to stay in the village today. He didn’t want to go back to that spot for a while. Not even to retrieve his training scroll. He’d at least brought his sword with him when he ran.
The past few days were taking their toll on Tempest. He’d all but lost his appetite at this point, and he was jumping at shadows.

“Hey Tempest…”

Even at the unexcited tone, Tempest jumped a little.
Jet the Buizel was standing behind him, looking glum.

“Jet. Don’t sneak up on me like that.” Tempest said, trying to calm his heart.

“But… I was right here… never mind.” The Buizel sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Tempest asked.

“One of the grownups tripped on our mystery dungeon yesterday when they went out to harvest firewood. Now me, Grace, and Femur have to go and make it smaller. We have to keep it to just the clearing.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Tempest said, still too freaked out to give genuine concern.

“Do you think you could come and help us? It took us a long time to get it built in the first place, and now we have to take it all apart. It would go a lot faster with your help.” Jet smiled innocently at the Grovyle.

“Look… I’m really tired. I… just need some rest.” Tempest said, rubbing his eyes. He felt like absolute death right now.

“Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with an apple on…”

“I said, no!” Tempest snapped.

Jet shrank away, looking more freaked out than Tempest had earlier.

“…I’m sorry. I’ve just been going through a lot of stuff lately…” Tempest apologized.
“I’ll help… but only a few minutes. And don’t argue with me.”

“Ok.” Jet nodded happily, just glad that Tempest was coming along.
“Come on then. Let’s go.”

Tempest followed behind the Buizel back towards where the Mystery Dungeon had been set up. Grace and Femur were already going glumly about their task of disassembling all their hard work. Tempest felt a tad bit sorry for them.

“Hello Grace, Femur.” Tempest greeted.

The sight of the Grovyle come to help brought a small smile to their faces.

“Hey Tempest.” Femur said.
“Can you help us out with this? One of the grownups said we had…”

“Don’t worry, Jet already filled me in on everything. And yes, I’d be happy to help. But not for too long. I’ve got… well, just not for too long.” Tempest said, not really thinking of anything that he needed to do that day. Really, he just didn’t want to commit to cleaning this up with them all day.

Jet got right to instructing Tempest what to do.
“Alright. You can start carrying those logs back to the Withered Woods, while Grace and I…”

“Whoa, whoa. All the way back to the Withered Woods? I am not carrying these things all the way back there.” Tempest said.

“But my dad said we had to. Something about them being important to an echo system.” Femur said with a shrug.

“Ecosystem.” Tempest corrected.
“And since I’m not helping out for too long, fine. But you guys grab some too.”

“But we aren’t allowed to go into the Withered Woods.” Grace said with a triumphant smirk.

“Is that so? Femur’s dad might already know where the logs came from, but I wonder if the rest of your parents know about your trips there to get these…” Tempest wondered aloud.

“Alright, fine! We’ll help! Just don’t tell my mom!” Grace begged.

“Good. Now, grab… whatever wood needs to go back there, and let’s move.”

The three children obliged, each gathering up some of the larger pieces. Grace actually had five sizeable logs in her psychic grip, something Tempest was pretty impressed by for someone with her level of psychic training.

Ecologically important wood in hand, the four set off towards the Withered Woods.

~~~~~

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Tempest had always questioned where the Withered Woods had got its name from. It was by no means withered. In fact, Tempest was certain there were more trees in this part of the forest than the one where his village was. Of course, maybe it had to do with the fact most of the shrubs and shorter trees got little to no sunlight, and very little rain due to the thick canopy of trees, resulting in most of them dying. This was not a place to try and grow berries.

“Not so scary, is it?” Tempest mused to himself.

“Maybe not to you. You have a sword.” Femur said.

Tempest had almost forgotten about the wooden weapon slung across his back by a leather strap.

“You have a bone club though.”

“It’s not the same…” Femur grumbled.

“What was that!” Grace squealed suddenly.

“Oh, sorry. That was one of my tails.” Jet chuckled sheepishly, earning him a light punch from Grace.
“Hey, Tempest? I forgot to ask you, where’d you get that necklace?”

Tempest’s free claw strayed to it fondly.
“Dusknoir made it for me.” He answered simply. He was surprised they hadn’t asked him about his passing out two days ago, but maybe Dusknoir had already made up an alibi for him.

“It looks pretty cool. Mind if I try it on?” Femur asked.

“I don’t think it would fit you.” Tempest said, his grip tightening on it. He did NOT want any more visions. This thing was staying on him forever.

“Well what about me? My neck is smaller than yours.” Grace asked hopefully.

“Seriously, no. It’s HEY!”

While he’d been distracted, Jet had yanked it off his neck.

“I’ve got it!” Jet shouted, already trying to distance himself from the Buizel.

“I swear Jet, give that back right now!” Tempest snarled.

But Jet clearly didn’t pick up on the anger and fear in Tempest’s voice, because he tossed it over to Femur, who then tossed it to Grace… who then held it out for Tempest who snatched it back up.

“Sorry about them.” Grace said as Tempest secured it back around his neck. The Grovyle’s usual cyan coloration was now a blueish red around his face, his anger still not having subsided.
“Jet, Femur, apologize to Tempest.”

“Why? The necklace is fine.” Jet said with a shrug.

“It’s… it’s fine.” Tempest said, taking a deep breath. No vision. Wonderful.
“Look, this necklace is really important. Let’s just say I need to keep it on, or bad stuff happens.”

The three looked shocked at this revelation, Femur and Jet now looking very guilty.

“You mean… like what happened when you were in the maze?” Jet asked.

Tempest nodded.
“Yeah. Like that. So don’t ever do that again.”

Jet and Femur lowered their heads.

“We’re sorry.” The Cubone apologized.

Tempest smiled at them, trying to break the tension.
“Hey, I’m all good. I guess I have to have it off a long time for anything bad to happen. But now you know not to just go taking stuff from me. And to listen to me when I tell you to do something.”

Grace suddenly let out another small squeal.

“Sorry. Tails again.” Jet said.

“No, nothing touched me! I heard something!” Grace hissed worriedly in alarm.
“It sounded like something growling!”

The four froze, listening intently.

“I don’t hear anything.” Jet said after a few seconds.

“Mybe because you’re talking so loud.” Grace ridiculed.
“Seriously… I heard it.”

“Maybe it was a wild Pokemon?” Jet said worriedly.

“Jet. Wild Pokemon haven’t been around for almost a hundred years.” Tempest said.
“And I still don’t…”

Tempest’s blood ran cold at the sound of a low guttural growl. It sounded not too far off…

“… we need to go.” Tempest said.
“Just leave the wood here. We’ve brought it in far enough.”

The group, having dropped the wood during the ruckus with the necklace, began to hurriedly walk back in the direction they’d come. They were making good progress until the almost deafening growl sounded again. Tempest had to clamp a claw over Grace’s mouth to stop her from crying out. Whatever was making that noise was incredibly close by now.

“Hide!” Tempest hissed quietly, waving them towards some sizeable trees. The group made for cover, with Tempest climbing up high into one of the trees. He hated leaving the other three on the ground, but at least this way he could from above if he needed to cause a distraction. That growl had certainly sounded like some wild beast. And he wasn’t sure he’d be able to take it on…

“Seriously, how long have you gone without any rations?” A voice asked, causing Tempest to flinch. It looked like he and the others had taken cover just in time.

“Too long. I’m feeding off my internal flame at this point.” Another voice said.
“Don’t see why I even have to come. I’m not going to be much help with a tidal wave.”

Tempest looked down from his perch as he gripped the branch. At first he didn’t see anything but the trees and dead shrubbery on the forest floor. But after several seconds, Tempest saw a flash of green. And some red. Purple, dark blue, tan…
An entire procession of nearly thirty Pokemon soon came into view as they marched along the path.
Tempest’s jaw gaped a little in awe. Every single one of them were a final evolution stage, most of them wearing silver and gold battle helmets along with a scarf of the same coloration, though the silver was slightly whiter on the scarfs. Some even had impressive weapons, such as a Warhammer slung across the back of an Aggron.

“Don’t worry. We’ll reach Greatwood soon enough. That place is like berry central.” An Emboar said.

“Tis going to be quite difficult to feast on the fuits of victory when said fruits will be floating in the bog Greatwood will soon be.” An Alakazam commented.

“Then fish them out when we’re taking prisoners.” An Empoleon said. This Pokemon was garbed the most extravagantly, wearing a helmet and breast plate as well as wielding a trident.
“Half will go to Providence, the other half to NO Operative Darius.”

“Why does he get a whole bunch of them?” A Serperior complained.
“Maybe I want a couple to myself?”

“Don’t you have family there, Krosis?” The Emboar asked the Serperior.

“Yes, but they chose their side. They’re traitors now. Glory to the New Order.” The Serperior said casually, as if it was no big deal he was losing family, which is what Tempest assumed was being discussed. As far as the Grovyle knew, there was no conflict in Terraria. Then why were there heavily armed soldiers marching through these woods? Who did they even belong to? Something called the New Order…

“Such devotion…”

As if a switch had been thrown, the casual nature of the lead group of Pokemon went away.
A Houndoom trotted out from one of the side paths, looking at the Serperior with a cold interest.
“But I can tell you’re lying. When you lie, Krosis, your tail twitches three to four times, as it did then. I can also see that you just lowered your tail to try and hide it from my sight, which proves I’m right. So, I’m going to conclude that you volunteered for this mission to try and save them.”

“… so what if I did? We are supposed to take prisoners. What if I want some of the prisoners to be the family I have there?” The Serperior argued.

“Well, let’s just hope they can swim.” The Houndoom said with a smirk.

“The hell are you doing back here, Zizel? You’re supposed to be scouting ahead.” The Empoleon asked.

Tempest froze. He’d heard that name before…

“Oh, I was. That is until a little something caught my eye. So I flew down through the canopy to investigate, sir.”

Flew? But he was a Houndoom!

“And what, pray tell, caught your attention?” The Alakazam asked.

“Wait right here, I’ll got get it.” The Houndoom said before trotting again out of view.

The Emboar just shook his head.
“Damn stealth specialists. Always acting so mysterious…”

“He’s not a stealth specialist. He’s an overseer from Radiance.” The Empoleon corrected.

While the group was having their discussion, Tempest looked around for the others. He saw one of Jet’s orang tails sticking out a little behind a tree, but that was it. He couldn’t see Femur or Grace at all though.

“Come on you guys… just run for it. They’re too big to catch you…” Tempest thought to himself.

“Easy for you to say. You’re faster than all of us.” The telepathic presence of Grace said.
“Who are these guys anyway?”

“They said something about a new order. Not sure what that means though. But seriously, you tell Jet and Femur to run for it. I’ll keep them distracted if I have to while you all get back home.”


“But what if you get caught?” Grace asked.

“That’s not going to happen.” Tempest promised.

“I hope you don’t mind if I weigh in on this topic.”

Tempest swung his Leaf Blade behind him, only to miss and get knocked from his perch by a Psychic blast. With a cry followed by a shout of pain as he hit the ground, Tempest now found himself right in front of the group of Pokemon who’d been marching through the forest.

“The hell!?” The Emboar shouted, him and his companions readying attacks.

“There. I take it that’s interesting enough for you all?”
A Noctowl fluttered down from above. If its beak could actually indicate facial expression, it probably would have had a smirk.

“Who is this?” The Alakazam asked.
“He hardly looks old enough to fight.”

“Don’t forget who we’re fighting. The Resistance holds true to old customs, such as using children for combat. Though this one, I don’t believe, is affiliated with them.” The Noctowl said. His voice sounded exactly like the Houndoom’s…

Tempest struggled up to his feet, dual crimson Leaf Blades flaring out from the red leaves on his arms.

“Stand down kid. We aren’t here to hurt you.” The Empoleon said, raising his flippers.

“Then why… did you have that guy attack me!” Tempest snarled, still on the offensive.

“Don’t try and pin your transgression on me. You very well could have revealed yourself, but you instead chose to remain hidden and listen in on information not meant for your ears. And now that you know it…”

Before Tempest’s very eyes, the Noctowl literally melted into a puddle of purple goo, bubbling as it reformed into a Toxicroak.
“I’m quite afraid what you know must die with you.”

The other gathered Pokemon reacted instantaneously.

“Overseer Zizel, stand down!” The Empoleon ordered.
“We are NOT killing children!”

“He’s just a kid! Who’d believe him?” The Emboar bellowed.

“I’ll wipe his mind! He need not die!” The Alakazam shouted.

But Zizel would not be swayed.
“I’m above your jurisdiction in this matter.” He said, getting into a battle stance.
“Come now, young Grovyle. Let us fight.”

Tempest removed his wooden sword from his back, tossing it aside. It’d only slow him down now. Tempest got into a battle stance of his own. But despite his confident demeanor, his heart felt like it was either about to burst out of his chest or stop altogether. He wasn't sure which. The rest of them had just assured him that they wouldn't harm Tempest, and now this Zizel guy wanted to kill him? And the others weren't going to do anything about it!?

“Is that…” The Alakazam muttered to the Serperior, Krosis, as he observed Tempest's stance.

“Yeah. The stance of warlord Weccos.” Krosis affirmed.
“How’d a kid even know that? Not even the apprentice program at Providence teaches that since it's so hard to master...”

Zizel gave no impression of what he thought about the Grovyle. Instead, once they’d both taken their stances, he lunged forward with a Poison Jab. Tempest, never having sparred with a live opponent before, didn’t even register Zizel had moved before he felt the Toxicroak’s jab dig into his side.

“Tempest!” Grace’s telepathic voice cried out. She and the others were watching from… somewhere. Somewhere Tempest didn’t have time to locate.
He’d neve gotten hit by an attack before in his life. Needless to say, it hurt very badly.

“You stand like a warrior, but you’re as soft as a child.” Zizel taunted, looking at the doubled over Tempest.

“Don’t… don’t let him kill me…” Tempest gasped, his plea addressed towards the other gathered Pokemon. He could feel it in his blood after all. He’d been poisoned.

“If you want to see the sun rise again, you all stay away.” Zizel said to them, extinguishing any thoughts they might have had of disobeying his orders.

Tempest already saw some of his veins had turned purple. So Poison status effect really did work that fast. And it would only get worse as time went on.

“Is… is this what was supposed to happen!” Tempest screeched to open air.
“You said I’d begin my journey soon! But I’m going to die today!”

This time, even Zizel was taken back.

“He’s delirious. Zizel, just put him out of his misery.” The Alakazam said.

Zizel strode towards Tempest, seemingly intent on doing what the Alakazam had suggested.

Tempest’s Natural Cure Λ Cured Tempest of his status effect

Without any warning, a rejuvenated Tempest slashed forward, his Leaf Blade slicing across Zizel’s face, all but destroying his left eye.
He groaned in pain, clutching that side of his face. But when he pulled his hand away, the damage had been healed, the skin still looking like the purple goo he was made up of for a few seconds.

“He’s a Ditto.” Tempest realized. He couldn’t remember earlier what the Pokemon was named, but now it came back to him. And he mentally chastised himself for allowing the certain area of Dusknoir’s Pidgeys and Combees discussion about Dittos to come to mind at a time like this.

“You were poisoned. And yet… you’re now healed. How is this possible?”

Tempest didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to stand around and talk about it with the mon trying to kill him. He instead took the same stance as earlier, prepared now to fight.

“So you won’t go quietly into the void? Good.”
Zizel raised both his fists.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

~~~~~

Spoiler! :
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Zizel was impressed, to say the least. Rather than displaying the inept fighting experience he had earlier, Tempest was proving a difficult opponent to land a hit on. In fact, Zizel hadn’t landed a hit on him yet since round 2 of their battle had begun. Though the same could be said for Tempest. They were equally matched in terms of agility, but Zizel was the better fighter.

Zizel jabbed forward, but Tempest’s arm redirected the jab before he swung a Leaf Blade at Zizel. Zizel in turn kicked his own leg out, sending Tempest’s swing up so it grazed the top of Zizel’s head.
“Grace, if you’re listening to me, get Dusknoir!” Tempest shouted in his head.

No reply.

“Your peaceful lifestyle has made you soft and weak.” Zizel taunted.
“I was born in the flames of war.”

“What war!? There are no wars going on!” Tempest shouted as he disengaged from his lock with Zizel.

“Clearly, wherever you live extremely sheltered from conflict.” Zizel observed.
“You don’t know what fear is. But now that you’ve met me, you do.”
The red bulb on the underside of Zizel’s throat began to puff up before he fired a Sludge Bomb at Tempest. He rolled to the side, only getting a small amount of the sludge on him. Not enough to cause damage, let alone poison him.

“Not so stylish now, are you?” Zizel taunted.

Tempest ignored him, instead opening his mouth and unleashing a hail of Bullet Seeds. He’d only ever used that move once, and he was surprised he still remembered how to do it.
Of course, with Zizel being a poison type, the move didn’t have much effect. But Tempest saw any damage delivered to the toxic frog a small victory.
The two dodged around, exchanging Bullet Seeds and Gunk Shots at ranged combat. And the best part was that Tempest was the better fighter at ranged combat, jumping from tree to tree, avoiding the poisonous projectiles while also landing his own hits on Zizel.

Having realized this, Zizel made to close the gap between them to get back to melee combat.

The other Pokemon were still watching the fight, now mildly impressed by Tempest. And Zizel didn’t seem to care all that much about his possibly losing face with them due to his difficulty at killing the child.

Tempest leapt backwards as Zizel jabbed at him with a Poison jab, again putting some distance from his opponent. Not even he had expected himself to last this long. Maybe his luck would hold out, and he’d get out of this in one…
Tempest suddenly staggered a little, his vision getting spotty.

“NO!” He mentally shouted in alarm, his hand snapping up to his neck. Sure enough, his necklace was gone. Now Zizel’s comment about Tempest not looking so stylish made sense. His necklace must have fallen off.

“Not now! Oh please, not now!” Tempest begged, trying to stop the vision from happening. But it was like opening a floodgate. The visions had been held back for too long, and now they wanted out.

Zizel ran towards Tempest, fist raised. Tempest fired Bullet Seeds in panic, trying to keep him away, but the Toxicroak just brushed them off, throwing his fist forward. Zizel’s jab pierced Tempest’s neck, injecting its poison into it. At that spot, it would no doubt be fatal to Tempest.

“Such a waste.” Zizel sighed, pulling his fist away, Tempest collapsing onto the ground as he gasped for air.


The vision ended. What had Tempest just…
With a war cry, Zizel ran towards Tempest, fist raised. Tempest opened his mouth and fired Bullet Seeds in panic, trying to keep him away, but the Toxicroak just brushed them off, throwing his fist forward. Zizel’s jab missed the Grovyle though, as he leaned to the side at the last second, uppercutting Zizel with his Leaf Blade right in the red bulb on his throat. The said bulb burst open, poisonous liquid splashing everywhere.
Zizel cried out in pain, falling backwards onto the ground, his form already starting to liquefy as his hold on his Toxicroak form began to lessen.

Tempest watched, dumbfounded. That vision had saved him.

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“Overseer!” The Alakazam cried in alarm, rushing to aid his… ally?

“I’m fine… get off me…” Zizel groaned, his form changing to an Ariados as he flipped over off his back, his eyes setting on Tempest.
“You aren’t bad at all.” He smirked.

“I have nothing to say to you.” Tempest said, turning his back on the Ariados as he began to walk away… only to be pulled back by a Stringshot.

“That’s no way to treat an opponent, Grovyle.” Zizel said disapprovingly.

“You tried to kill me!” Tempest shouted, slicing through the web strand.
“You would have if you’d had the chance! That last jab was going to kill me!”

“But it didn’t. And you survived, a stronger Mon.” Zizel said. Was that… praise?
“Tell me, where are your parents?”

Tempest’s expression at that question gave the answer.

“So, an orphan.” Zizel smirked.
“We have a place for orphans, especially ones of your skill level. And I must say, you exceeded my expectations.”

“So that was some sort of test?” Tempest asked, his teeth gritted in anger.

“Yes. I thought it was obvious. Nothing like a trial by fire to bring out the best in someone.”

“I could have died!”

“And as I pointed out, you didn’t. Which is why I’m making this offer to you.”

“You haven’t even told me what this offer is yet!”

“To join us.” Zizel finished, one of his legs sweeping across the intimidating group of Pokemon.
“To be trained in the art of combat like you’ve never experienced. To be better than even you think possible. To be a hero to this continent.”

Tempest’s mind was racing. He remembered what the Lake Trio had said to him, about his journey beginning soon. He was supposed to be a hero, to save people. And here was his chance, right in front of him. What if he let it slip by? Would some other hero just take his place? Or would whatever he’s supposed to save the world from end up destroying it, all because of his not deciding to join them.

Before Tempest could make his decision though, there was a sound like the air being sucked out of the forest and then a bang like a canon shot.

“Incoming!” The Alakazam shouted, raising up a barrier just in time to intercept a massive and very volatile Shadow Ball.

“Tempest!”

Tempest recognized that voice.
“Dusknoir!?” He called out.

The said ghost Pokémon floated out from between the trees. And he wasn’t alone. Several other Pokemon from the village were with him. A Gardevoir, a Marrowack, a Floatzel, a Scizor, a Clefable…

“Tempest, get away from them now!” Dusknoir ordered, the mouth on his stomach still open, shadowy wisps of darkness still floating out of it from his Shadow Ball attack.

“No, no! It’s ok now! Everything’s ok!” Tempest said, trying to calm the others down.
“They were just fighting me to test me! I wasn’t in any danger!.”
Tempest knew that last part was a lie.

“Tempest. Do you have any idea who those mon are? WHAT they are?” Dusknoir asked, the others still in combat ready stances. This whole confrontation was seconds away from ending badly.

“Yes. They’re called the New Order.” Tempest repeated.
“They told me there’s a war going on…”

“Yes! And they are the villains in the conflict!” Dusknoir accused.

“As an overseer, it’s my job to have you tortured and executed for that statement. But as we’re on our way to a very critical operation, I will forget this transgression.” Zizel said coyly to Dusknoir.

“How are they the villains in all this?” Tempest asked.

“We aren’t.” Zizel cut in.
“Think, Grovyle. Who are the true villains? Those who burn villages, make surprise attacks and disappear into the night, and threaten to topple an order that only wishes to be more active in helping its citizens? Or those that would build villages, fight honorably on the field of battle, and build such an order as the one I just described?”

“Those villages were burned by you!” The Clefable near Dusknoir shouted.

“Why would we burn a village? This whole continent is our territory. It seems a waste of valuable resources, as well as life.” Zizel asked.

“Tempest… come home.” Dusknoir pleaded.
“You don’t want any part of them.”

“See how the question I posed goes unanswered?” Zizel said.
“Come with us… Tempest? A fitting name for one as gifted as you in combat.”

Tempest looked between the two groups. If it weren’t for what Mesprit and the others had told him, he’d surely stay with Dusknoir. But…

“…why should I believe you?” Tempest suddenly asked Dusknoir.

The question seemed to catch the ghost off-guard. Even Tempest couldn't believe he'd just said it. But the resentment that had been laying dormant within him was now coming out.

“You never told me anything about my parents. And that YOU tried to kill my father.”

This news seemed to send a shockwave through both groups. And one of the groups didn’t even know Dusknoir.

“Tempest… that was a long, long time ago. I’ve made amends for what I’ve done though. I never want to have to kill again in my life. Not even in self-defense.” Dusknoir said, clearly understanding that Tempest had read his journal.
“And if I had told you about your parents, would you have believed me?”

“Yes!” Tempest shouted, not certain that was the truth.
“You never wanted me to leave! You never told me anything! Did you know there was a war going on, and kept that a secret too?”

“Yes, because I swore to protect you. Swore to your father.”

“Where is he then? You told me he just left. But I read that journal. How do I know you didn’t kill him?”

Dusknoir seemed at a loss for words for the first time in his life.

“It would appear that this verbal joust is over.” Zizel said.
“Guam, take Tempest to Providence. Tell Cobalion that he has a recommendation from Overseer Zizel for the apprentice program. And tell him this as well…”

Zizel moved over to the Alakazam, whispering something in his ear. The Alakazam’s eyes widened, staring at Tempest for a while before he nodded, walking forward… only to stop as the ground exploded at his feet.

Dusknoir turned to see that the Gardevoir, Grace’s mother, had fired a Confusion.

“You aren’t taking Tempest. He hasn’t said what he wants yet. And since this is about him, I think we should hear in his own words what he wants.” She said.

All eyes were now on Tempest.

The shiny Grovyle wasn’t sure now. He wished that they would have just taken him to this Providence immediately so he wouldn’t have had to choose…

“I…” He started, but still couldn’t muster an answer.
Dusknoir had once been a liar and murderer, and he had kept so many secrets from Tempest, but what if he was telling the truth about this New Order? Why couldn’t Azelf or someone have told him more about this journey of his…
“…I’ll…"
Last chance. Whatever was going to be said, there would be no taking it back. Racing heart, troubled mind, the eyes of so many on him...
"...go with them. I'll go with the New Order.” Tempest finally finished said.

He turned his back to the others from his village, not wanting to have to bear the looks of hurt and betrayal they were giving him. If only he could have explained why he was doing this to them. But would any have them really believed that he’d been visited by the Lake Trio and given this task? To go on this journey to fight evil? He doubted it a lot…

“Tempest, you know nothing of them. I do. They’re evil masked as good.”

“Or perhaps we’re just good willing to do what’s necessary. Something the world is in short supply of.” Zizel countered.
“You’ve chosen wisely, Tempest. You’ll be welcomed into our ranks with open arms.”

“Tempest, please, I beg of you! Don’t go with them!” Dusknoir pleaded. He knew that at this point in the Resistances plans, Tempest's siding with the New Order was a death sentence for the Grovyle. And why would Tempest be so determined to join them. Dusknoir’s word should have been enough to sway him…
“Tempest… who have you been talking to? Who’s put these thoughts in your head?”

Tempest didn’t answer at first, turning to Zizel.
“Can I… can I say goodbye first?” He asked.

Zizel looked at Tempest with an expression one might use when looking at a piece of food that had started to move on its own. His gaze shifted to his own soldiers, who were still not at ease, then to the gathered villagers, who were equally combat ready.

“… make it quick.” Zizel eventually said.

Tempest nodded, turning and striding over to the villagers. Their expressions were a mix of betrayal and sadness.

“Uncle Dusknoir… you probably won’t believe this.” Tempest started.
“But I’m supposed to do this. Some Legendarys told me so.”

“I wouldn’t care if Arceus himself told you to join them. I know the New order, and they’ll turn you down a path you won’t be able to come back from.”

“That’s the point. I’m supposed to help them bring peace to the…”

“You’re just a kid, Tempest! Shut up about all this destiny stuff!” Femur’s dad said gruffly.

Dusknoir cast a warning glance back at him.

“See? You don’t take me seriously. No one does.” Tempest said, sounding a little depressed at the truth of the statement.
“But they do. They know that I’m serious about joining, and that I can fight.”

“But you can’t! You’ve never done battle with a real opponent before.”

“I just did, and you know it! Grace and the others ran back and told you I was fighting, didn’t they? See, you’re trying to pretend like you don’t know anything again.” Tempest accused scornfully. He was done talking with these mon now.

“Tempest, I only…”

“Wanted to protect me? Gods… you sound just like those overprotective family members that try to hold a hero back in the stories I’ve read.” Tempest waved off, turning back towards the assembly of New Order Elite troops.

“Guam, head for Providence now, before we suffer any more delays. Then we’ll continue on our patrol.” Zizel said.

“Patrol? I don’t believe New Order Patrols consist of so many mon. Attack forces maybe… and did you not earlier say you were headed for an important operation?” Dusknoir spat.

The Alakazam placed his hand on Tempest’s shoulder, the two blinking away in a Teleport shortly afterward.

Zizel turned to Dusknoir now, a smirk on his face.
“You’re certainly knowledgeable. But I can sense you and your fellow villagers all hold a sense of hostility towards us. That’s grounds for the scheduling of an… inspection, wouldn’t you think?”

All the villagers, even Dusknoir, froze at that.

“Now, perhaps if this group were to disperse in, say, the next minute, I might forget all about scheduling such an event. Oh, and that minute starts now.”

The villagers wasted no time, hurrying back to their homes at the edge of the woods.
But Dusknoir wasn’t one to leave without getting the last word, and old habits died hard.

“I can only wonder though. If you all were to encounter one of the hostile Legendarys, do you truly think even together you’d be able to defeat them? After all, only the humans of legend have ever been able to defeat a Legendary. The rest of us, to their might, are but dust.”

And with that, Dusknoir departed. There was no one to hear his heartbroken sniffling though. After all, he’d failed his best friend’s request. Tempest was now in harms way of the Resistance, and no amount of pleading with them would sway them to spare him. To the Legendarys of the Resistance, Tempest was now an enemy. But what no one knew was just how dangerous an enemy he was…

~~~~~

Spoiler! :
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“Good. Good. Your power is most certainly increasing. Soon, you’ll again be able to see the flow of battle.”

“The heck is that supposed to mean?”

Giratina’s presence watched his newest wife train her powers. She’d come a long way from the shriveled, black creature she’d started out as. Though still black as night, her body was beginning to take on a more draconian shape.

“You once possessed the ability to see the flow of battle. To predict with ease the next move of an opponent.”

“That… is… AWESOME!” She yelled happily.
“Wait. If I could do that, then how did I even die?”

“You were betrayed, remember?”

“Ooooooh. Yeah… that’d probably do it.” The creature nodded.
“So, when’s my wedding?”

“… I beg your pardon?”

“Wedding? You know, white gown. Huge cake. At least one person fainting.” The creature listed off.
“Don’t tell me you expect me to marry you without a wedding.”

“But we’ve already wed. You’re now my wife, in this world and the next.” Giratina argued.

“Since when?”

“Since I decreed it!”

“Well I decree that there is nothing happening until you at least take me out to an Olive Garden or something.” The creature argued.

“What… is an Olive, and what significance does it have to have an entire garden devoted to it?”

“You’re the lord of darkness, and you don’t know what the most evil vegetable is? That thing has ruined entire pizzas, let me tell you…”

“Enough! Cease this rabble! Honestly, I should have left your lungs damaged.”

“You’ve changed since we got married.” The creature sighed.
“Where’d the magic go?”

Regardless, she got back to firing blue beams from her mouth and shaking the very earth around her.
“But I’ve got to ask.” She eventually said, breaking the silence.
“Why choose me? I mean, I know you did rescue me and by Disney logic that means we’ve gotta get hitched pronto, but I bet there are tons of other girls out there you’d like to marry.”

“Those who I wish to marry, I already have.”

“… you two timing bastard. You’re already married!” The creature shouted.
“That’s it! I want a divorce! But only after the Olive Garden.”

“A Legendary is entitled to take as many partners as he or she wishes.” Giratina explained.
“The others would tell you differently of course. They believe they are not meant to mingle with mortals as I have. And those that do confine themselves to only one partner. They reject the ancient customs of the dragons that are still held today.”

“I’m guessing you’ve got a lot of kids then, huh?” The creature asked, arms crossed.

“…I once did. But now, only two of my children remain. And they are a disappointment to me. But they are loyal, and that is all I can really ask for. They will fill the roles of the opposers well.”

“The who?”

Giratina’s presence seemed to broaden in delight, seemingly glad to share what it was about to.

“Last time, I underestimated the humans. They tore my orb from my body, and left me trapped where I am today. The opposers will… even the playing field. They are warriors, each chosen to oppose a human. The ones who are still alive from the last summoning, and now, the ones who have recently been brought here. You are one of them, and here is the face of the one you are meant to oppose.”

A ghostly image of a Riolu appeared in front of the creature.

“Aw, he’s kinda cute.” She cooed.
“Can’t we just, I don’t know, turn him to our side? I don’t want to kill him.”

“You will do as I command, lest you face eternal punishment. And this one, I have sensed, will not be so easily swayed to our side as this one.”

A second Riolu appeared next to the first.
“This one is more suiting for the role of an opposer. But if I convert him to our cause, then you will instead do battle with this mon.”

A tiny purple bat appeared next to the two Riolu.

“Not as cute as the others, that’s for sure.”

“It’s my intention to kill or take all the humans.” Giratina continued.
“And I believe that nearly every one of them can be converted, given enough time. Except… for one.”

An image of a Weavile, adorned in golden armor, dominated the center of the room. The creature gave a startled cry of fear.

“You recognize this one?” Giratina asked, though he didn’t seem surprised.

“I… I don’t know.” The creature stuttered.
“I guess so? She doesn’t really look all that scary, so I guess I’m scared of her because she did something to me at some point.”

“Precisely. This is the one who betrayed you. The one who killed you.”

“Killed me? But… I’m alive. Right?”

“In a sense. I preserved the last spark of life you had, nourishing it over many years. But you were brain dead for much of that time, hence the loss of memory.”

“Why did she do it? What did I ever do to her?”

Giratina hesitated for a while at that question.

“…she didn’t like you. Was there any other reason for her to turn against you?”

“Oh. Well dang. I don’t like some people, but I’d never kill them. Maybe an elaborate attempt at humiliating them, but killing?”

“She was a dark, evil mon. She was a warrior in her human life, and her transformation to Weavile made her even more lethal. And ruthless. She's rather creative in her methods of killing with her control of ice.”

“Well… what happened to her?”

“She vanished. But you needn’t worry about her.” Giratina assured.

There was silence now, the creature seeming to have lost her usual energetic nature.

“Continue to train, my lovely. I’ll have you deployed soon enough to fight the humans. Your objective is to convert or kill them. One is already converted to my cause, and two more have the seeds of darkness sown within them. And another still has anchored himself to a mortal in this world. And as a Legendary, I have power over mortals of this world. No doubt I can use her to sway him to give up the false path he’s chosen. So for now, train. And when the time comes, you’ll take your place at my side.”





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Robusto says...



The First Final Battle 2/2

Day Negative X

Spoiler! :
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Mewtwo and Mew fired Shadow Balls while Genesect released a damaging high pitched frequency, the move known as Bug Buzz. Deoxys managed to shield himself from all three attacks with his increased defensive capabilities, shifting into attack form afterward and lunging towards the trio. Mewtwo telekinetically threw Mew and Genesect to the side, bringing his hand together just in time to form a shield that blocked the thrust from Deoxys’s razor sharp and glowing tentacle.
But Deoxys couldn’t hold that position for long as a Techno Blast collided with his back, a cry of pain echoing around the chamber.

“He can’t hold a high defense if he puts his energy into attacking!” Mewtwo realized, informing the other two. But no sooner had he said that, Deoxys simply lashed a tentacle around behind Mewtwo’s shield, stabbing his arm. As unexpected as the attack had been, Mewtwo flinched back and dropped his barrier. Deoxys took quick advantage of his lack of guard and blasted a Hyper Beam from the crystal on his chest. Mewtwo couldn’t defend himself in time and took the full force of the blast.

“Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! I got the purple kitty!” Deoxys laughed in that insane voice of his before shifting back to defense form, turning on Mew and Genesect.
“Now it’s your turn! Succumb to…!”

Deoxys was sent flying by a concussive psychic collision sent by Mewtwo, who while badly weakened, was far from out of the fight.

“Deoxys, Stop this! You’re outnumbered with no chance of escape!” Mew pleaded, still believing that somewhere in there was her Guardian.

Sure enough, he shifted to his default form. But he was in no mood to listen to Mew.
“You’re as bad as the rest of them, Mew. I can see that now. Your compassion was just a petty veil to hide the fact that you wanted me under your control.”

“What? No! That’s not it at all! I loved you! You had… have a good heart. You want to help people and I love that about…”

“Lies!” He shouted, shifting back to defense form.
“If you loved the fact I helped others so much, why did you allow the others to suppress my power? Perhaps you did love me, but not my power! You wanted a perfect servant to wrap around your finger, but that wasn’t me! That will never be me!”

He zoomed towards Mew, shoulder charging into her and sending the small pink cat flying into the cavern wall.

“Chill Drive active.” Genesect stated blandly before firing off a barrage of Techno Blasts. But rather than the energy blasts from before, these were sticking to Deoxys and forming ice growths on him that were severely limiting his speed.

“Nnngh… enough!”
He shifted into speed form to compensate for his now ice covered body.
“Anzana… you should rest. I can tell you’re very tired…” Deoxys said sympathetically with an air of sadness.
“You wanted to die a glorious death on the battlefield. But now… you’re just a robot programmed to serve the Legendarys. Just let me end you. I can make it all…”

In the blink of an eye, Deoxys was in front of Genesect, one of his laser tentacles piercing right through his chest.
“Better.”

Genesect’s head looked slowly downward at the tentacle… and then his cannon fired a point blank Hyper Beam into him. The force of the blast removed Deoxys from Genesect, leaving only a smoking hole.

“What? But… how! You should be dead!” A now normal form Deoxys gasped, rising up from the ground..

“This Platform’s vital systems are not contained in the chest.” Genesect stated calmly.

While Genesect had distracted Deoxys, Mew and Mewtwo had moved on either side of him and unleashed more Shadow Balls.

But somehow Deoxys had managed to react quick enough so that only a few hit him. He shifted into attack form, his four tentacles flailing around to smack at the projectiles, which were batted harmlessly away.

But unlike the Shadow balls, Deoxys couldn’t simply bat away a sound based attack. And so, he recoiled as Genesect bombarded him with Bug Buzz. And while he coped with that, Mew and Mewtwo resumed a Shadow Ball bombardment. But their energy reserves were quickly falling, and Deoxys still didn’t have a scratch on his orange and blue skin. It was as if the attacks were only annoying him.

Deoxys turned his focus on who he thought was the current biggest threat in the room.

“This room is pretty boring, don’t you say?” Deoxys laughed.
“Sure, it has plenty of bodies lying about. Half dead ones at that. But I need something more… scenic.”

Deoxys stretched his four tentacles in all different directions before releasing a flash of light that blinded everyone.

“Mew! Are you ok!” Mewtwo called.

“Yes! I’m fine. What happened?” Mew responded.

“Welcome,” Deoxys’s voice said.
“To my world.”

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As their vision cleared, Mew let out a gasp. They weren’t in the stone chamber anymore.
“What is…”

They were high in the sky, over a massive, night lit city. Far off on an island off the coast of the city was a massive green statue of a female human. Despite their clearly being in the sky, Genesect seemed to be standing on something solid. Like a glass floor.

“We’re in the human world?” Mew exclaimed.

“Negative. This is an observational dimension.” Genesect clarified.

Deoxys, in his normal form now, nodded.
“Correct. From this dimension of my own creation, I can look upon the home I’ve left behind. The home you took me from.”

“But we didn’t take you from your world!” Mew defended.
“No one knows where you came from!”

“I CAME FROM HERE!” Deoxys shouted. But he didn’t change forms this time.
“This is my home! Look at its magnificence… I’ll never be able to live here again.”
He turned to Mew.
“Because you have cursed me with immortality. If I die… I’ll simply regenerate with no memory of my human self. But that doesn’t matter anymore. I can save this world and all the others. All that’s standing in my way now… is you three.”

“Deoxys… we can get Palkia. He might be able to help…”

“Do you not think I’ve already tried that? He tried to send me back to my home decades ago. But when you dragged me here, you made it so that I can’t leave.”

“But we…!”

“Enough talk!” Deoxys said, raising up his hands.
“I’ll see to it that there’s not enough left of you to regenerate. You’ve proved to me, Mew, that you aren’t deserving of my affection.”

The ground seemed to shift under the feet of the three fighters, sending them further away from Deoxys.

“What’s he doing?” Mew asked.

“It doesn’t matter. Attack!” Mewtwo shouted, making to zoom after Deoxys. But still, he found himself getting farther away from the alien pokemon until finally, it stopped, leaving the party a good two hundred yards away from him. But Deoxys wasn’t done yet. He began to draw upon all the energy in the purple crystal in his chest, preparing to launch several attacks. In fact… all the attacks he knew.

“Massive power charge detected.” Genesect informed.

“He’s charging something! We have to stop him!” Mew shouted, already flying off towards Deoxys. But her flight wasn’t near as fast as it should have been.

“He’s put us in a Trick Room!” Mewtwo deduced as he flew after her, Genesect right behind them in flight mode.

Deoxys wasn’t going to give them even the slightest chance of a fair fight. Today, he’d win.
“Despair now you fools! You’ve lost!” Deoxys managed to shout out, the Trick Room vanishing just before he let his hellfire barrage fly. Hyper Beams, Shadow Balls, Psychic Waves, Ice Beams, Charge Beams, Focus Blasts, Energy Balls, Flash Cannons, and Dark Pulses. A veritable wall of attacks all fired at once… heading right for Mew, Mewtwo, and Genesect.

“Chances of successfully evading all attacks at seven percent.” Genesect calculated, staying in flight mode.

“It’s something.” Mewtwo grimaced.
“I’ll try and defend you two as best I can.”

“And I’ll do the same for you.” Mew said.

The three waited for the attacks, some moving faster than others, to space out from each other before throwing themselves forward at the barrage. Mew was small and somewhat agile, giving her an advantage over Genesect and Mewtwo. Genesect had deduced the best flight path for himself, though he had to take a few hits from attacks that wouldn’t do much damage to his metal body, as well as a few attacks that left it scorched.

Mewtwo wasn’t having much luck either, taking several hits as he tried to fly through the wall unscathed. But regardless of the cost, the three made it through to continue the fight against…

“Where did he go?” Mew asked, looking around.

“I can still sense…” Mewtwo started. But his words were quite literally cut off as a blade of energy knocked him aside as it sliced into his arm. Genesect was already turning, managing to shoot off a Shock Drive Techno Blast before Deoxys sliced the cannon from his back, driving both blades into Genesect’s head before kicking him away, the metal bug shutting down to preserve the damaged systems.
But as he turned towards Mew, he found himself thrown backwards as a Shadow Ball collided with his crystal at point blank range.

Deoxys, howling in rage and pain, rose back up only to be felled once again by a Shadow Ball. Followed by another, and another, and another…

Mew, terrified of what Deoxys might do if allowed to rise again, was firing off her most effective attack against Deoxys, each one making him more susceptible to the next.
The dimension the trio had found themselves in began to shimmer and wave before fading back into the cave they had been fighting in earlier.

Spoiler! :
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“D-Deoxys?” Mew said nervously. She half hoped that she’d defeated whatever was afflicting Deoxys, returning him to normal. Any second now, he’d rise up and shake his head, asking the ever popular “where am I?” for victims of mind control.
But that didn’t happen. Mew could see his body was beginning to fade, the common fate of a Legendary that had died or was close to death.

“No, no… Deoxys…” Mew wept, floating down and holding Deoxys’s head in her small hands.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please… forgive me…”

Deoxys groaned a little, his head turning to look at Mew.

“…no…” Was all he said before his body burst into light, the particles disappearing shortly afterward. Soon all that remained was the purple crystal of Deoxys, its purple glow fading a little but not entirely.

“Mew?” Mewtwo’s voice moaned.
“What… did you defeat him? Is Deoxys dead?”

Mew sniffled a little, turning to her counterpart.
“Yes… I killed him. He’s gone.”

“That crystal… it must be how Deoxys gained the power he did. It’s a second Legendary Artifact.” Mewtwo realized.
“That’s how he still retained so much power, even without his meteor shard.”

Mew said nothing, now just feeling empty inside.
“I killed him… I never killed anyone before… ever…”

“It was self-defense, Mew. You have nothing to be ashamed of.” Mewtwo consoled.
He stretched out with his telepathic link.
“Darkrai my friend, we need you. We have hundreds of wounded mortals, and Genesect is damaged. We also have an artifact in need of securing…”

Mew wasn’t listening anymore. She only stared at the purple crystal. How had Deoxys gotten like he had?
Mew picked up the crystal, hugging it close. She felt somewhat responsible for him. She had been his Legendary guardian in a way, just like how the humons had Legendary guardians when in Vallus.
And she’d failed him.

“Deoxys… I swear. I’ll make this right someday for you…”

~~~~~
Present day…
~~~~~


“But she never did.” Deoxys said, having finished his tale.
“She did nothing. I don’t hate HER for it though. I hate the Legendarys.”

The armor encased Bloodmoon was as emotionless as ever. The shell of Genesect lay in a corner, deactivated for now. And it would stay that way until Deoxys decided just what to do with it.

“They’re like politicians. They do everything to gain power, and hate anyone that may make them appear less than almighty.”

The phantom shade of Deoxys returned to his alcove in the wall of the temple.
“The humans will be coming now. I can feel it. They’ll be coming for this plate soon enough. And you will release their souls from the wretched shells the Legendarys “gifted” them. And I will care for them. All of them.”

Though Bloodmoon was in no control of his body, he could still think. And he thought one thing.

“In your dreams, bitch.”





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BrumalHunter says...



Gabriel | Disorder in Frostpoint | Day A7, 8:40 AM


“Absol, you’ve been with the Resistance since it was founded, so you can do as you please,” Xerneas said once the group had stepped into the Snow Fort’s vestibule. “Just be sure to keep an eye on these two–” both he and Absol turned to look at Ren and Aegeas, “–since they have never been here before. Gabriel and Fleur, you are obviously coming with me.”

“When do we meet for the briefing?” Absol asked.

Xerneas paused for a moment’s thought. “Will twenty minutes be enough for you to show them around?”

“Perfect. Where are their rooms?”

“The humons are all sleeping in the guest quarters.”

“Which wing?”

“I can’t remember. Gabriel, where was your room again?”

The Riolu gazed at the door behind them. “That way is east, and I reached my room via the staircase on the left, so the south wing.”

“All right, then. We’ll have five minutes per floor, so let’s go.”

The Disaster Pokémon set off at a brisk trot. As Ren and Aegeas followed, Gabriel heard the former ask the latter, “He knows this place has four storeys, right?”

“Has he always been so martial?” Gabriel enquired after they swerved off to the staircase on the right, away from the other trio.

“He has never been soft, if that’s what you mean,” Xerneas responded, “but his time in Vallus definitely hardened him. I doubt anyone could witness the atrocities committed during the Acolyte War without emerging different than they were before. Then again, he had already seen more than his fair share of conflict by then, so… perhaps.”

Gabriel frowned. He wanted to ask what the “Acolyte War” and “Vallus” was, but Xerneas was at least four times his height, so the stag ascended the stairs with only a few steps, whereas he had to skip steps to keep up.

“I know most buildings have to be large to accommodate you Legendaries,” he said, skidding to a stop once he reached the top, “but I’m less than a metre off the ground, while you’re about three. Even by human standards, you’re huge.”

Xerneas seemed to find it amusing. “And how huge is that, exactly?”

The Legendary resumed walking, prompting Gabriel to grab Fleur’s hand and run after him. “You’re about as large as a house. A one storey house, sure, but the roof is included. You are run-away-screaming-in-the-opposite-direction large.”

That, on the other hand, startled the stag. “Why? I never attack without provocation.”

“Humans aren’t exactly sympathetic when it comes to other creatures, especially if said creatures are larger and more dangerous than they are. Even if you stayed peacefully in a forest, humans would eventually find you, and when they do, they’d either try to capture you for study or public display, or they’d want to hunt you.”

Xerneas was appalled. Stopping and looking down at Gabriel, he asked, “Why would anyone want to do something so horrific?”

Gabriel shrugged. “They don’t care what you think. To them, you’d simply be another fascinating animal to study. If you spoke with them, that would make them proceed with caution, of course. In the end, no matter what you do, they’d try to dominate you. That is the tendency of mankind as a species.”

Shaking his head, the Life Pokémon continued down the hall and up another staircase. “I dare not say this world is better than the one whence you came – after all, if we brought you here because humons exceed Pokémon in potential – and we have our own problems, but I can understand why you agreed to come in the first place. Origin, as we call it, sounds like a very hostile planet with vindictive inhabitants.”

“Though all humans aren’t like that, you’re not wrong. The public can easily be swept up into a riot mob when it comes to things like politics, religion, race, and so on, but even more so against “monsters” or extra-terrestrials.” When Xerneas remained silent, probably in thought, Gabriel coughed to regain his attention. “So, where are heading? Cassandra’s office?”

“Naturally. I have to inform her personally that I have returned, or she will be most offended. The same goes for you and Fleur.”

“Me?” the flower piped.

“Oh yes. You may be silent whenever Gabriel is in someone else’s company, but nobody overlooks you. Her office is just around the corner, so you’ll see what I mean in a moment.”

Once they turned the corner, they were indeed in that familiar hallway. Gabriel dashed ahead and opened the door for his mentor, who bowed his head in thanks. (Or did he bow so that he could enter the office without hitting his head?)

“Close de door behind you, darlin’. I meh be an Ice type, bot dat draft is chilly.”

Gabriel did so, after which Xerneas good-naturedly said, “Yes, my ward blames me for the cavernous size of every room.”

The Jynx, who had been busy with some kind of administration, practically launched herself from her chair and ran over to them. “Mah sweethearts have come back!”

Gabriel’s eyes widened when he saw she was making a beeline towards him. He dropped his many bags, but before he could protest, she grabbed him in a bear hug, lifted him off his feet, and swung him around, afterwards putting him down and planting a kiss on his forehead.

“Ah, one of dese dehs, you’re gonna have a spike pointin’ out of your chest, and den I can only do dat to mah baby. Of course, den you’ll officially be a young adolt, so den it wouldn’t be appropriate anyweh.” She beamed at him, and Gabriel found himself beaming back. “As long as your for stehs as soft as it is now; I swear, you could be a Wigglytoff in disguise.” She then gingerly kissed Fleur on the cheek (if Gabriel hadn’t looked up, he’d have missed Xerneas’ wink) before calling to the great stag himself, “Oi! Lower your stehtely head so I can kiss it!” The Legendary chuckled, but obliged also receiving a kiss on the cheek.

“It would appear you missed us,” he commented.

“Of course! Witout you here, I only end op fillin’ out reports from dosk to dawn. Please tell me I have to go deliver de briefin’ now.”

“You do indeed.”

“Great!” She made for her desk, but stopped halfway, muttered, “Nah, I memorised it already,” and exited the room, gesturing for them to follow.

Out of respect, Xerneas walked very slowly so that she could remain in the front. As a result, Gabriel and Fleur could remain behind without having to jog to keep up. The conference chamber was on the second floor, so they descended only one flight of stairs. Apparently, the second floor was dedicated entirely to research, since Gabriel saw many Pokémon along the way that looked less dangerous than the ones on the ground floor.

Obviously, the conference chamber was even larger than most of the other rooms in the Snow Fort, since multiple Legendaries could be accommodated inside. Xerneas lay down in the right corner at the back (an action that basically consisted of bending the knees and sitting on the floor while still remaining upright), since he could see and hear just fine from back there. Gabriel and Fleur took a seat on the right-hand side of the massive table. Absol, Ren and Aegeas appeared soon thereafter.

“Absol, mah sweetheart! It’s been too long since I last saw you.” She approached the wolf and kissed him on the cheek too. Gabriel supposed she avoided the forehead due to the blue dot there. She turned to the other two. “And who are you two darlin’s?”

They both looked worried that they would also be kissed, but, picking up their reservations, she laughed and shook her head. “Oh no, “darlin’” is a greetin’ I use for almost anyone, and “sweetheart” is what I use to address mah friends. I call mah lovers “sugar”. So, who are you?”

Aegeas recovered first and introduced himself accordingly. An enthusiastic Cassandra shook his hand.

“It’s an honour to meet an Immortal. Dank you for joining de Resistance, sir.”

Ren mumbled his name and put out his hand, which Cassandra also shook, but more calmly.

“Boy, you’re hot, and I’ve had an Infernape as a sugar once, so I should know.” She blew ice on her hands. When she looked up, Ren had gone a darker shade of red in the face. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like dat!” she laughed. “As in Fire-type dat burns Ice-types hot.”

Ren blushed, becoming an even deeper crimson. “I knew that.”

Cassandra nodded, still smiling. “Okeh, but now, I really must start your briefin’. Zirius!”

A Rotom flashed out of the air vent above them, startling everyone but Cassandra. “Yesss, madam Commander?” he asked, the electricity crackling around him as he spoke.

“De presentation, please.”

“Of course.”

There was an electric panel of sorts at the front of the conference chamber. Gabriel thought it looked like a screen, and it was, but not in the way he had expected. The Rotom possessed the screen, causing static to appear before a moving image of Mt. Icewind during light snowfall was displayed.

“Oh, hey, you have television!” Ren exclaimed. When everybody looked at him, he returned to his previous isolated state, lowering his head and not making eye-contact.

“Dat’s some clever wordpleh, but nah, we can only do dat with scryin’ orbs. Dis is Zirius’ memory dat he displehs on de screen for os. He’s one of our best scouts.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Commander.”

“You’re welcome. Now, you four,” she pointed at Ren, Aegeas, Absol, and Gabriel, “already know dat you have to retrieve de Glehcial Plehte. We sospect it to be on de top of de mountain, in de Glehcial Museum.” The image moved closer to the mountain, displaying the Glacial Museum during heavier snowfall. “However, de New Order has already sent in one of its best operatives in de nort to investigeht de museum; he has yet to retorn.”

Aegeas raised his index and middle fingers to indicate he had a question. After Cassandra acknowledged him, he asked, “If one of the New Order’s best operatives failed to come out alive, how are we supposed to do that?”

“Ehgeas, you’re one of de humons who helped defeat Giratina, and you’re not even fully evolved yet. How can you ask soch a question? You two are humons too. Dat means tree humons and an Immortal will enter de museum in five dehs’ time. Wit some training, noting in dat Mystery Dongeon can stop you.”

“Wait, did you say we’re entering it in five days?” Ren asked, a little panicked.

“Yes, we are,” Absol answered, “though I don’t see why you are worried. We’ve faced Groudon and Heatran in a simultaneous battle and not only survived, we emerged victorious.”

Cassandra audibly gasped. “See? You have accomplished greht deeds already.”

“It wasn’t just the two of us. Zulu, Frost, Moltres, Cresselia, and Lugia helped too. The point is we had help. This time, we won’t.”

“Xerneas will be goin’ alon’ wit you.”

“Yes, but I shan’t actually enter the Mystery Dungeon with them. I’m merely going along to ensure they aren’t trapped inside by the New Order. And Gabriel probably won’t leave Fleur here, so I have to guard her.”

The Jynx frowned. “Hmm, dat means she has to ondergo the trainin’ too.”

“But we have been receiving training,” Ren insisted. “Absol has taught me and Aegeas.”

“Dat’s all good and well, but dere are tings dat he cannot teach you. When I seh trainin’, I mean you have to be evaluated accordin’ to de official Resistance Battle Preparation Test. Don’t worry, it isn’t a test you have to write, and it’s not sometin’ you have to do on just one deh. It will start lehter todeh and continue over de next tree dehs. De deh after dat, you will enter de Mystery Dongeon, and if de Glehcial Plehte is still dere, bring it back. Dat is, if you passed de evaluation, of course, oterwise you will not be as prepared as I had tought.”

“What will this evaluation entail?” Aegeas asked.

Gabriel was glad Aegeas had finally spoken; the more Ren said, the more Gabriel was reminded of the topic he had wanted to bring to Xerneas’ attention, but for which he hadn’t yet found the opportunity or about which he had forgotten when there was an opportunity. He made a mental note to mention it after the briefing.

“Tings dat will benefit you for de rest of your lives; tings like how to deal wit being paralysed, poisoned, frozen, etc., as well as fightin’ in different types of weader. Ehgeas, you’ve passed already, bot I am told you are rosty, so you will have to pass it again. You will all be evaluated at the same time, so as to spare time. It is now 9:10 AM, so you will report back here at 11:00 AM. Briefin’ adjorned.”

Xerneas waited before everyone but his two wards had left before getting up and exiting the conference chamber himself. “Your previous trainer is waiting for you downstairs.”

“Shouldn’t I take my bags to my room first?” Gabriel asked. He had been carrying one on his back, one over his shoulder, and the other in his right hand, while Fleur held the last one in her left hand. The various books and alchemical ingredients were becoming heavy.

“I’ll take them to your room once you begin your training,” he reassured.

“Oh, okay.” They walked a while longer in silence before Gabriel remembered his mental note. “Err, Xerneas? There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but I needed to do it in private.”

“Does it concern one of your comrades?” Xerneas asked, stopping to look down at the little canine.

“Yes. Cassandra said that all of us have to undergo the evaluation before she’ll let us go up to the museum. But she specifically called it the “official Resistance Battle Preparation Test”. Does that mean Ren is a hundred per cent with us now?”

“Gabriel, what happened with Frost was unfortunate, but I doubt–”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Gabriel interrupted, not wanting to be misunderstood. “I heard that he ran away from the rest of his party after they secured the Verdant Plate and that he didn’t return until several days later.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Moltres told Diancie who told Fleur who told me.” He shook his head, grinning. “Girls.”

Xerneas reflected on the news. “Have you spoken to him?”

“I can’t remember. No more than once or twice, but definitely not about that.”

“Don’t. He’s a member of the Resistance, and that’s all that matters.”

Gabriel raised his hands in surrender. “All right, fine. I’m just worried. He doesn’t seem… stable.”

Xerneas gave the Riolu a stern look.

“But it’s the truth! You saw the way he acted on the way here. I mean waking up in a puddle because he melted the ice around him? That has to be strange, even for a Fire-type Pokémon.”

“Ren’s affairs are nobody’s but his own.”

“Okay, look,” Gabriel said, changing his tone from sceptical to serious, “I can tell that you think I’m judging him, but I’m not. I’m concerned. Are you familiar with the illness known as depression?”

“I am, and you are not to interfere.”

“But isn’t there anything we can do for him? I know there’s something we had for it back on earth, so if you won’t say anything, I can just follow that thread–”

“Gabriel, leave the Blaziken be. Promise me you won’t bother him.”

“I promise I won’t bring up the topic,” he replied. But when Xerneas looked away to respond to a passing guard’s salutation, Gabriel winked at Fleur.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that,” Xerneas said, starting down the hallway again.

Gabriel started and ran ahead. “How–?”

“I’m serious, Gabriel. Don’t pry into the affairs of others. It never ends well.”

Gabriel stopped some distance in front of the immense Legendary. “We’re both humons, so we shall talk sooner or later.”

“Have you told anyone other than me about the… the incident?”

He stiffened. “Only Fleur.”

“Why?”

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“Because it’s nobody else’s business!”

“Precisely,” Xerneas said, walking past Gabriel and causing the Riolu to run again. “I say this with the utmost respect, but you aren’t the only broken one here. In fact, the majority of your fellow humons have tragic backgrounds. Though Palkia was the only one who more or less knew to what extent, he shared your basic histories with the rest us – “us” being the leaders of the Resistance.”

Gabriel stopped in his tracks, surprising Fleur, who had not expected the sudden halt. He was livid. “So when I confided in you after your release, you already knew? You simply pretended that it was the first time you had heard my story?”

Xerneas’ halted too and turned around, his eyes wide. “No! Palkia kept the appalling details of your histories to himself! When you told me about what your uncle did to you, I was genuinely horrified. As I’ve said already, I knew something tragic had happened in your past, but the day you told me was truly the first time I discovered exactly what. When I first found you, I could tell you didn’t know. After I returned from Mt. Providence, however, I could tell you did. Your obvious alteration in behaviour notwithstanding, I’m the Life Pokémon; I can sense the condition of any living being.”

“Did you–?”

“Read your mind? No, since I’m not a Psychic. And if you’re wondering how I knew you’d ask that, well, it was a predictable question. You should also know that I’ve only died once, and that was a very long time ago, during one of this world’s darkest ages. Since then, I’ve had experience with every kind of Pokémon imaginable, so I can tell how almost anyone is feeling or how they’re about to react. But none of this is relevant right now; the topic was not you, but Ren. Do not pry into his affairs.”

“If I want to help, I’m going to help – whether you approve or not.”

“Would you stop being so obtuse?” Xerneas ordered more than asked, his voice laced with impatience. “The Golden Rule is to do unto others as you would have others do unto you. If – if – Ren has depression, you would be forcing him to divulge information that is personal and that you have no right to know. You wouldn’t want him to bother you about your past, would you?”

“He doesn’t have to tell me what happened to him!” Gabriel said exasperatedly. “Depression is an illness. It can be treated.”

No, Gabriel.” Xerneas began approaching the staircase. Looking back, he said, “If you really want to treat somebody, start with yourself.” He looked forward again.

Gabriel sprinted to reach the staircase before the Legendary. “Are you implying I am depressed?” he asked hotly once he had stopped.

“No, you are not ill. “Disturbed” would be a more apt adjective, which is why I told you to drop the matter.”

If Gabriel wasn’t furious before, he was after hearing that. “So you’re saying I have a psychiatric disorder?”

“Yes, and if you were as knowledgeable in abnormalities of the mind as you claim to be, you’d have self-diagnosed yourself already.” He stepped over Gabriel.

“Oh no, you don’t get to walk away after saying something like that. Come on, what do I have, then?”

“You can go from cheerful to enraged without a moment’s notice, all because of the slightest provocation, and you’re not even a Primeape,” Xerneas said, keeping his composure, but making his words as sharp as a Haxorus’ tusks. “Does that remind you of anything?”

“You pretend to know it all, so you can say it.”

Xerneas realised they were descending into the vestibule, so he looked back and hissed, “Not now.”

Fleur, having realised the same danger, tapped on Gabriel’s shoulder, but he brushed her hand away and clenched the staircase’s railing. “No, say it. You brought it up, so say it.”

“Gabriel, not now.”

Xerneas took larger steps, hoping to force Gabriel to go down, but the Riolu stayed put, making the plan backfire. “Say it!” he called.

Xerneas stopped and said warningly, “Gabriel…”

“SPIT IT OUT!”

“You have bipolar disorder!” Seeing all the other Pokémon had stopped, he cursed under his breath. “Are you satisfied? Now everybody knows.”

Gabriel’s usual bright blue complexion became an ashen slate. “Yes, Xerneas, I’m satisfied.” The words weren’t spoken loudly, but everyone in the vestibule had heard it. “Thanks a lot.” He turned on his heel and grabbed Fleur’s hand a little too hard, as her frightened expression and small cry indicated, and hoisted her onto his shoulders, over the backpack.

“Gabriel!”

“I’ll see you at the evaluation,” he called, leaving behind a blue blur a second later.
But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
— Paul the Apostle

Winter is inevitable. Spring will return eventually, and AstralHunter with it.





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TheSilverFox says...



One For the Ages



Day A7, 8:40 A.M.

It was most relieving to find, after all the time he’d spent traveling across mountains and deserts, the many times he had risked his life in some manner, and the epic adventure he was tasked with, to come back to the exact same place that he’d left.

Of course, Aegeas didn’t say that out loud; he didn’t want to invoke the snappy commentary of the harsh figure walking in front of him, or seem in any way undignified and strange. Besides, he was simply happy to have a purpose in his life for a change, and he did not want this fact to be tarnished by the words of anyone else. He felt it best that way.

Regardless, he couldn’t help but feel, as he stepped into the structure, impressed by the expansive size of the Snow Fort. It seemed well-defended, expansive, and an effective Resistance base. Obviously, the Resistance was more capable than he’d previously imagined – though he did not deny the fact that the New Order was just as competent, if not more, and undoubtedly had some sort of influence in this town to counter the Resistance’s -, and this left him curious as to see the leader of this entire place. Who could control such a massive and magnificent operation as this?

However, he felt he was going to learn soon enough, and so he abandoned the matter. Aegeas eavesdropped on the conversation between Absol and Xerneas as they continued into the massive space. He was intrigued, though unsurprised, given what he remembered of the meeting a few days ago that had begun his adventure, to hear that only he and Ren were the only ones who had not been in this fort before. Perhaps, he wondered, he might want to ask one of the others about their experiences here, for the sake of curiosity. After all, if he was going to be staying here for some time, which he highly suspected, it’d be well to learn the background of a place like this.

“All right, then. We’ll have five minutes per floor, so let’s go.”

Aegeas separated from Gabriel and Xerneas as Absol, walking briskly, led him and Ren to see the vast complex that was the Snow Fort.

“He knows this place has four stories, right?” whispered Ren, who’d obviously been paying attention to the conversation as well.

“Of course he does,” Aegeas replied with bitterness, falling a short way behind Absol so as to make his comment all the harder to hear, while Absol provided a description of the various rooms and purposes of the said rooms, “If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have bothered to give us a tour.”

Absol’s ears perked up, and Aegeas quietened. As much as he would’ve liked to continue the conversation, he once again was wise enough to understand to keep quiet. Regardless, he couldn’t help but notice that he was beginning to feel more at ease when he was talking to Ren. Sure, he was usually the stoic, calm presence in most any conversation, and it wasn’t as though he wasn’t willing to talk, but he couldn’t help but feel distant in most all of them. When he didn’t have much of a form of connection with anybody else speaking, he didn’t feel as great an urge to either start nor continue any kind of a conversation. However, he was beginning to understand that he and Ren were similar, and so he felt more willing to converse. Absol was messing with the both of them, that much Aegeas was aware of. Too, the both of them had…past issues, so to speak. Demons, old torments, pestilences that came and then never went. Of course, Aegeas was sure most all of the humons had them, whether they knew it or not. But Ren was slightly more open about them, and that, for whatever reason, made Aegeas trust him all the more.

And what of Gabriel? Aegeas. Gabriel was definitely temperamental, that was for sure. However, definitely more secretive. But Aegeas had been around too many people, seen too many behaviors and mannerisms of all kinds, to not see that he was troubled. Deeply troubled. With what, he was not sure. However, while he wasn’t about to pry into a matter that wasn’t his own, as it was not his way of acting in this kind of a situation, he had the feeling that the can of worms would eventually be opened. The situation would eventually unravel.

They all did.

Even, though he feared this, he knew it was inevitable, his.


Day A7, 9:25 AM

Aegeas’s head was an absolute whirlwind of thoughts, and it was impossible for him to think straight. Groaning, sitting upon the side of the bed in the room that Absol had directed him towards after the briefing, he worked to clear his mind of all his present thoughts. He did this by meditating for the first time in a few days. Aegeas was unsurprised that it had been that long; after too many changes in his life, meeting so many people, and falling into so many situations, he hadn’t had the time to even think of doing it. Mostly, however, he was disappointed he hadn’t done it sooner; it was effective in calming his nerves and wiping his mind. He could’ve used this countless times previously. But he had more important things to wonder about.

Now that his thoughts had been separated from each other and organized, he chose one of the thoughts that had been most prominent among the others, and pondered about it.

Immortal, he breathed. He’d never liked the word, not even the day he first received his immortality. It reminded him too much of death – a subject, he felt, he could write several books about. But, as much as he disliked the label, he had to admit that it was, of course, accurate, though he felt it made him sound less modest than he was attempting to be. Aegeas didn’t think of himself as a hero. He didn’t consider himself brave. He’d been thrust into a situation in which he was not prepared for nor which he could fully comprehend. Aegeas still couldn’t. Did he have any bravery, any courage, any daring within him? The Dewott doubted it. Furthermore, he wasn’t satisfied by the way it lumped him together with his old companions. Yes, they were his friends, but was it so appropriate to pin them all under one single label? One single label lacking the fact that the identities of its members were completely different? It did not satisfy him, that was for sure; he preferred to be called Aegeas, and Aegeas alone. That was the only name, the only label, he was most comfortable with, mainly because it was the only one that he himself had created.

…and you’re not even fully evolved yet. Though she had meant it as a compliment, Aegeas was reminded of the sour words that he’d received in the time of the Acolyte War. Someone – he’d long ago forgotten who, though he suspected it was Absol – had lectured him upon a similar manner. Something about his not having reached his full potential, his having been blocked by his emotional matters preventing him from truly evolving into his final form. The Dewott highly doubted the legitimacy of the claim, and he had said so during that past time, but that hadn’t staved, and still didn’t, off the impression that those words had left in his mind. And this comment had reawakened that old memory. Aegeas sighed, and pushed the thought aside; it was too deep for him to wonder about for the time being, especially when he had so many others happenings to focus upon, future events to prepare for. Too, it reminded him too much of…well…himself. He did not prefer that.

Five days. Never returned. Glacial Museum. Training. Rusty. Aegeas batted aside these last thoughts; he’d had memories of this so-called “preparation test,” awakened by those words, but they were too uncomfortable for him to deal with, so he abstained from doing so. Besides, he was already feeling slightly tired from having traveled up and down four stories within the space of 20 minutes; he didn’t want to think about having to deal with the harshness and ferocity that was the test, as well as the exhaustion and pain he associated with it. Nor, in any way, did he want to deal with his tension pertaining to the seriousness of the exploration ahead of him. The fact that one of the New Order’s best operatives had never returned from the museum, needless to say, deeply unnerved him. And five days, to him, was too little time to train and gain any form of understanding about the complexity of his mission or his companions. He eventually surmised that he would simply wait until he had to deal with the problems head-on before dealing with these thoughts again, and they settled into the back of his mind.

Finally, having resolved the turmoil within his mind, he stood up, looking around him at the meticulously kempt room. Yet another reason he was impressed by the Resistance and their capabilities; they knew how to construct a decent guest room. In contrast, Aegeas dourly stared at the bags that he’d piled up at the corner of the room. The Dewott supposed that it would not be appropriate if he didn’t organize his supplies, and so he walked over to do so. Heaving up a few of the bags, he was planning to lay them out in an orderly fashion.

And that’s when the piece of a necklace fell to the floor.

He peered at it with curiosity, only to see the knapsack flop beside it shortly afterwards. The Dewott stood there and smiled. It was one of his few personal items, one of his few keepsakes from his time in the old war. An ancient possession of his, rather than a Resistance-given supply item. Dropping his bags to the floor, struck by a wave of admiration and pride whose origin he was not sure of, he stooped down to pick up the necklace. Or, the half of a necklace.

Aegeas walked over to the window in the room and held the necklace out to the light, admiring the way that the sun shone off the polished surface of the metal, geometrically and intricately carved pieces on the necklace. He’d been sure to meticulously polish this artifact for the years that he’d had it, although he had not done so in the past few days, once again due to all that had happened. However, he had, for some reason he couldn’t imagine, forgotten a long time ago as to why he cleaned it. All he knew is that it meant something very dear to him. Very personal. Or, rather, it had. Once again, he’d forgotten why he kept it. This perplexed him. He’d never felt this way about it before, which was even stranger. Aegeas had cleaned it for years beforehand, but the action had made it a habit that he hadn’t even registered consciously. However, in this instance, he’d abandoned the habit, and now he came to the conclusion that he had no conscious reason as to why he had done it, or even what was so special about this artifact. He gazed up at his outstretched arm and the piece of the necklace it held.

How could I have forgotten? thought Aegeas, now confused. My memory is impeccable, and it’s always been. Perhaps…perhaps it has to do with the fact that this is only half of a necklace. It’s not complete. It’s almost as though it had been broken into the two somehow. Somebody else must’ve had the other half, I suppose. Hmm…my senses certainly recognize this object, and the emotions I must’ve associated with it, but my mind can’t seem to imagine what this could possibly be. That…that can’t be normal. Wh…

“Keeping well?” said an only mildly curious voice behind him. Aegeas, his focus shattered by this unwelcome surprise, paled upon hearing the voice, quickly hiding the piece of the necklace behind his back as he turned to face Absol. Aegeas knew he looked awfully pale, and he was beginning to sweat. Too, he felt Absol was probably already aware he was nervous about something, and Absol could quite clearly see that Aegeas was trying to hide something from him, but he tried to regain his composure. Whatever happened next, he couldn’t allow Absol to see the necklace. He wasn’t sure why, but he had the feeling that Absol would use his lack of knowledge of the necklace against him, to taunt him and torment him and bring him ever closer to Absol’s goal. And Aegeas didn’t want that.

“Ye…yes…I…I’m…fine,” stammered Aegeas after a short time. He cursed to himself when he saw Absol gaze upon the knapsack lying lonely upon the ground in the middle of the room. The Dewott surmised that if Absol were to see what was in there, that would make this situation all the worse. Unlike the necklace, Aegeas was well aware of the other personal items in that knapsack, and was also full aware Absol could use each and every one of them against him. Aegeas began to step forward, but stopped when he heard Absol speak.

“Is something bothering you?” asked the figure, who tilted his head while smiling in an eerie fashion. It completely unnerved Aegeas, especially as it validated his worry that Absol suspected he was trying to hide something deeply important. The Dewott was surprised at how quickly Absol was able to connect the dots, but, at the same time, Aegeas cursed to himself at how clear he had made the present situation. He’d left everything in plain view, and all it had taken was one observant ‘mon to come in and see what was happening. Absol took a few steps forward, and Aegeas could feel his own heartrate double.

“No…no…,” said Aegeas, as he and Absol slowly edged towards the center of the room. They continued to lock eyes with each other as they did so, Absol registering the fear in Aegeas’s eyes as the latter saw the determination in Absol’s. It was this gaze, one that reminded Aegeas of the countless battles he had fought in the past, that all but murdered any form of conversation between the two. At least, not until Aegeas ended this small conflict by leaping forward quickly, planting one foot upon the knapsack before Absol had the time to snatch it first.

Absol snarled at Aegeas, who bent over, one hand still behind his back, and slung the knapsack onto his shoulder. The latter smiled wickedly at the frustrated canine-like creature, a look that suggested I’ve won this time. You might’ve pieced together the puzzle, but you weren’t able to get the prize.

The canine seemed to understand what Aegeas was implying, and became resigned to the fact of his loss, because he ceased snarling, returned to his normal bored expression, huffed and commented, “Well, regardless, although the examination is an hour and a half away, it would be lazy of you to remain in your room until that time, although it’s clear you’ve made yourself…um…comfy. Come with me; we may as well do another tour of the Snow Fort, especially as it seems you weren’t paying enough attention the first time.”

Aegeas quickly slipped the necklace in his knapsack when Absol turned and faced the door, prepared to exit and return to the labyrinth of corridors in the building. While Aegeas understood that Absol was simply doing this to spite him, it made the small victory he’d won all the sweeter.

“And you needn’t worry about carrying your bags with you,” said Absol matter-of-factly as the duo left the room, “You can leave them in the room as you please.”

“No thanks,” replied Aegeas in a voice that was dripping with coldness. “I’m keeping this” – he gestured to his knapsack – “with me for the time being. You, of all people, know exactly why.”

“Oh, I do, believe me” grumbled Absol as they quickly proceeded down the hallway.

******

Throughout this second tour, Aegeas, who was pondering the events that had just taken place, given that he already understood the layout of the building and knew Absol’s real reason behind conducting this visit, had only one deeply troublesome thought in mind.

I can’t keep making such careless risks as these. I may have won this battle, but I’d started it, which doesn’t exactly make this a victory. Can I keep hoping to win these battles, especially if I continue to make the mistakes that I do? I have the feeling that, despite what I do, in spite of how long I resist, I will fall eventually. Though I hope it won’t happen, I fear Absol will eventually break me apart. The truth will eventually reveal itself.

It always has. I’ve seen it happen too many times to know otherwise.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.





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Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:26 pm
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TinkerTwaggy says...



Twinkiel – Darkness arise, madness unleashed


Day A8, 8:45 AM

Spoiler! :
Twinkle Time, Twinkiel's main theme
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"...Then I used my Cybernetic Magician's effect to discard one card from my hand and increase Injection Fairy Lily's Attack points by 2000!"

Twinkiel used Charge Beam! Special Attack raised by 1! The Voltek Fleece was activated!

Twinkiel briefly glanced at the hole in front of him as a Bidoof was violently pulled into it, right after being struck by the move. Twinkiel focused his attention back to Ariala, who was sitting on a rock next to him, smiling as usual. "Two thousand..." she repeated thoughtfully. "Oh! And since her effect is to increase her own attack points by three thousand, she can attack at 5500. Wow, that's a lot!"

"I know, right?" Twinkiel exclaimed with excitement. "I mean, I still have to pay 2000 Life Points just to activate the darn effect, but I have ways around that. 'Sides, my opponent pretty much took the attack and died, so it was worth it."

"I'M NOT DONE YET YE FREAK!!"

Thanks to the Electric Terrain he had previously placed, Twinkiel noticed that the Bidoof was coming back to him at full speed.

Bidoof used Super Fang!

"You MIGHT want to watch out for that one."

"What, 'cause it instantly reduces my health and stamina by half? Heh. Sit back and watch." Helped by his Voltek Fleece, Twinkiel jumped back, took some momentum and performed a flawless front flip, landing right behind the Bidoof.

Twinkiel used Power Gem!

Twinkiel fell on his four paws as his tail began to glitter. It unleashed several gem-shaped projectiles, once again pushing the Bidoof away. Ariala let the poor Pokemon pass by before calmly rising up and pointing an arm in the Bidoof's direction.

Ariala used Psychic!

Ariala swiftly moved her arm in the other direction, with the Bidoof following the motion against his will. He found himself brought back to Twinkiel's feet, unable to fight. Twinkiel smashed his foot on the Bidoof's back. "All things considered," he said, "I think you're easily the best Bidoof I've ever seen in a while. Really sorry to take your hideout and all the items inside."

"Don't ye dare...!"

A small bolt of electricity appeared, creating a hole on the ground right next to the Bidoof's face. He immediately stopped talking.

"I just defeated you fair and square." Twinkiel said, all traces of sympathy gone. "If you're too stupid to accept a defeat and threaten the guy who beat you, then I have all the reasons to take your belongings. Now listen up. If you accept to work for The Last Exile for a while, I'll only take some of your stuff, will not fry your brain like I really want to, and you might walk away with even more possessions than before. Deal?"

The Bidoof immediately nodded and gazed back to get a clser look at his opponent. Fear immediately appeared in his eyes as he recognized the Flaaffy that was talking to him. "Y-Ye... Yer the freak who beat the Mumbler!" he exclaimed. "I-I-I don't want any problems, p-please lemme go!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Twinkiel replied, grinning. "Next time we meet, I'll have work for you. Let's go, Lily." he added, gazing at Ariala.

The duo left the Bidoof in front of his cave, directing themselves back ot the busier streets of Cutthroat Pass' market place.

"So." Ariala began after a few minutes of silence. "About that 'Lily' thing."

"Yeah, sorry, I couldn't resist!" Twinkiel admitted, chuckling. "I had to change your original nickname with this one, 'cause now I really can't stop comparing you to her."

"But... she sticks an oversized needle on people!" Ariala protested, chuckling along. "How am I in any way similar to that?"

"Yeah, I guess she's much less shy than you are." Twinkiel conceded. "But I assure you, you should look at yourself whenever you're fighting. You're definitely passionate about it!"

"If you say so..." Ariala whispered, shrugging with modesty."So then, Master Kamienel, what's our next destination? It's already our 4th win, so I think we have enough place to... Um...Twinkiel?"

Spoiler! :
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Twinkiel had stopped walking, staring into the distance. Ariala followed his gaze and noticed a small barn on which a Maractus was being attacked by a black bird.

"N°198: Murkrow. Flying/Dark type. Evolves into Honchkrow with a Dark Stone. Murkrow were feared as the alleged bearers of ill fortune. It shows strong interest in anything that sparkles. It will even try to steal rings from women."

Twinkiel used Charge Beam! The Voltek Fleece was activated!

A beam of light flew to the Murkrow's encounter. Seeing the attack from the corner of its eye, the Murkrow flew away, searching for the author of the assault. Great was its surprise when it realized that a flying Flaaffy was soaring over the ground, a fierce expression on his face.

Enemy Murkrow used Night Shade!

Panicked, the Murkrow sent a black, shadowy figure to Twinkiel's encounter, hitting him directly.

"Night Shade. An attack with a mirage that inflicts damage matching the user's level."

"I barely feel anything. So I'm way stronger than this stupid bird. Time to finish this with my first new move!"

Twinkiel let himself fall on the ground and raised a paw in the air, aiming at the Murkrow.

Twinkiel used ElectroWeb! The Voltek Fleece was activated!

As Twinkiel landed on his two feet, an electric net appeared in his paw and flew towards the Murkrow. It let out a surprised cry, trapped inside the shocking attack.

"GET OVER HERE!" Twinkiel shouted as he violently pulled the net, smashing the Pokemon stuck inside on the ground. "And now you"ll answer a few questions for me." "Not to self." Twinkiel thought to himself. "Gotta feed Moskito and thank him again for teaching me that move and the second."

"Twinkiel, wait!" Ariala shouted in the distance.

The Murkrow lifted its head and grinned.

Enemy Murkrow used Attract!

Ariala used Moonblast! It's Super effective!

Before the Murkrow could finish its move, a speeding pink orb flew towards it and struck it directly, knocking it out. Ariala appeared next to Twinkiel, panting.

"I talked to Alek while you were out." she explained. "He met a Murkrow that used Attract to steal from people. And since you're a male, it would be best if I did the interrogation. And... you know that Maractus, right?"

Twinkiel glanced at the destroyed barn. The Maractus he had met in his battle against Sully rose up shakily, heavily damaged. She tried to smile as Twinkiel arrived by her side.

"Hey there, Mister..." the Maractus said, exhausted. "Thanks... Thanks for helping me, but... I think you'll have to wait a bit for your discount..."

"It's okay, Miss." Twinkiel replied, smiling. "I can wait."

"Miss...?" the Maractus repeated. "Heheh... I get that one a lot. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a guy. A guy called Timmy. Nice to meet you..." With that, TImmy collapsed on the ground, knocked out. Twinkiel took him in his arms and walked back to Ariala's side, gazing at the unconscious Murkrow. The crowd of Cutthroat Pass was still walking around them, with most of the Pokemons ignoring the event. They were used to these things.

"To answer your previous question, Ariala," Twinkiel said, "we were supposed to meet the Mara... To meet Timmy and ask him a few things. But it looks like you'll have yet another person to heal."

"That's alright, I'm getting used to it. Let your Injection Fairy Lily deal with this!" she added with a malicious smile, winking at Twinkiel. He smiled back, relieved.

"Tw...! Kamienel!"

Twinkiel frowed and gazed up, surprised to witness Fleedjio fly in his direction.

"There's something wrong with... With Goth." Fleedjio declared, visibly concerned. He proceeded to explain to Twinkiel how Zulu had attacked him while they were training, and how he had be possessed by a dark side of his mind. Twinkiel though about it, just as concerned as his dragon friend.

"Hmm. This is bad." Twinkiel said. "Knowing him, either he's still training, either he ran off somewhere. Probably the latter. Which means that the crazy side of his mind might've taken over again. These things usually tend to stay near you at all times, y'know. Always bickering and all."

"Lol."

"Shut up." Twinkiel walked back to Ariala's side, staring down at the Murkrow below. It had regained consciousness a while ago, but Ariala had had the wise idea to keep it trapped inside of Twinkiel's Electro Web.

"So, Lily! What can you tell me about this lil' birdie?" Twinkiel asked.

When Ariala turned back, a huge, deranged smile that did not belong to her face appeared. It vanished the very second she saw Fleedjio. Although the dragon didn't have time to notice the swift switch, Twinkiel kept it in mind.
Ariala could rely on Plasmya at will. Her duality was getting more and more interesting.

"Her name is Abby." Ariala began. "She works for the New Order and has to go in the Hive to secure the Plate that's in it. She's especially scared of you, Kamienel, because you remind her of her boss' electricity. And he's a bird."

"...Oh snap, Zapdos is around." Twinkiel realized. "...Darn i. Darn it, darn it. Well at least it's not Thundurus. One more thing though. Uh, Abby was it? Have you seen a Noibat around at some point? Since you can fly and all."

Abby gazed at him, obviously uneasy. "I... I'm not sure."

A gentle smile grew on Twinkiel's face. "D'aaw. That's adorable. Look, kiddo. They don't call me the 'Devil's Lamb' for no reason. The pink skin and white fur are only there to deceive people. So before I switch from Lamb to Devil, I suggest you answer my question properly. Unlike Zapdos, I have no need to keep you around if you don't give me one right now. And something tells me that you want to keep on living, preferably with both of your wings attached to your body, am I right?"

"What different would it make, huh?!" Abby shouted in a sudden, desperate fit of anger. "I can never reach the stupid thing in the Hive, so I'm gonna die at the end of the week anyway! So really, what difference would it make if you killed me now or cut off my wings?!" A stream of unstopabble, frustrated tears rained down from Abby's face as she continued. "Either you kill me here, either the bugs kill me there, either my master kills me too! I don't care anymore, you hear me?! I don't care anymore! I'm never going to get what I want, I'm never going to survive, I'm never going to see my troupe again, I'm never going to-"

Twinkiel used his tail to grab the Murkrow's beak, violently silencing her tantrum.

Spoiler! :
Resistance Theme: Plotting the Horizon
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"Listen to me." Twinkiel began. "I couldn't care less about your rotten life. But if you're being desperate, then you won't be as efficient as I want you to be right now. So let's make a deal." Twinkiel locked his gaze into the crying Murkrow's. "When I free your beak, you're going to speak again. You're going to tell me one thing that you need right now, because I have ways to get it for you. But if you want me to do that, then you also need to tell me if you have seen a Noibat around. And if you have, tell me where he went, and guide us there if you must. Do that, and you live, with the possibility of getting whatever you want. You know what happens if you don't. The Shadow Ball's in your court, kiddo. Don't waste the shot."

"I, uh... I kinda wanted to see what a wingless Murkrow looked like, though."

"To be fair, me too. But she's getting desperate, and we need any lead we can if we wanna find Zulu. So it's better to give her hope and have her cooperate willingly."

Abby was shaking uncontrollably, utterly paralyzed by fear and anxiety. Twinkiel moved his paw and she closed her eyes, thinking that he was going to zap her anyway. Feeling a gentle pressure around her eyes, Abby opened them again, only to witness the Flaaffy wipe out the tears she had shed.

"Dude, you're going too far."

"Shh! Don't ruin this." Twinkiel kept on staring at Abby. Slowly, he freed her beak from his tail and waited for her to speak up. After long seconds, Abby opened her beak again.

"I...I want to evolve." Abby declared shakily. "I want to evolve, get out of this place and find my troupe. I lost sight of them and-"

"Stop." Twinkiel interrupted. "You want to evolve. In other words, you need a Dark Stone. Drattak!" Twinkiel called, looking at Fleedjio, "Take Timmy back to the cave. When he wakes up, ask him anything about the markets around, and if Dark Stones are to be expected at some point. Let Annabelle do the healing - that'll be a perfect first trial for her." Twinkiel gazed back at Abby. "Now. Have you seen a Noibat around, or not?"

"Just wanted to point out that if no Noibat's been seen around, this whole thing becomes pointless."

"Oh really? Even when we've got a Murkrow who can use Attract to ask other people if THEY saw Zulu?"

"...I'll see myself out."

"I didn't see one myself." Abby finally said. "But I heard some people talking about some fight happening near the Dump. Apparently they saw a vampire chase down three Sandiles, and-"

"OH MY GOD, NO!" Twinkiel shouted. "Which way's the Dump?!"

"I... I can guide you there." Abby assured. Twinkiel immediately removed the Electro Web from around Abby's body. "Welcome to the team, Abby. We're going to the Dump right now, and once we're done with our little errand, I'll take care of your Dark Stone. Drattak, get Timmy and follow the plan. Lily, you're coming with me. Let's go, people!"

"And if we meet trouble as we pass?"

Twinkiel giggled as he began his rush. "We'll shove our fists right up their ass! Oh gosh, remind me to create a Ginyu Force at some point in my life."

"Noted."

******


Twinkiel, Ariala and Abby found themselves running - or flying, in Abby's case - through the irregular streets of Cutthroat Pass, dodging merchants and disposing of battle-hungry troublemakers as they kept on moving. Fortunately for the trio, Abby had been lurking around every corner of the place whenever she needed to steal items from people, so they could rely on her for precise directions to take in order to reach their goal as quickly as possible.

"There!" Abby suddenly exclaimed. "It's there."

The group had exited the town square a while ago, and were directing themselves towards a humongous junkyard, mostly composed of burnt berries, broken toys of all shapes and sizes, and to their utmost disgust, skulls. A lot of them were hidden among the other items that formed mountains of junk that almost reached building-like proportions.

"Yeah, that definitely looks like a dump." Twinkiel commented, trying his best to ignore the awful smell reaking from the place. "So, where do we..."

A loud, agonizing shriek suddenly resounded in the air.

Spoiler! :
Metal-Made Executioner, a suggested theme for Dark Zulu.
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A group of three Sandiles burst out of one of the piles of junk, one of which having several bite marks on the face and body. Visibly tired, he was unable to keep up with his comrades' pace, who were running for their lives.

"No escape for you bitches!!"

Twinkiel, Ariala and Abby gazed up as Zulu suddenly appeared in the sky with a horrifying sadistic smile that would make Twinkiel proud in other circumstances. Zulu lunged forward and opened his mouth.

Zulu used Bite! Critical Hit! It's not very effective...

His fangs sank in the wounded Sandile's face, so hard that the poor enemy hit the ground under Zulu's amazing pressure. The Noibat let go of his defeated foe, satisfied. "Pff! Bad taste, every single one of them." he muttered.

Zulu used Air Cutter! Critical Hit!

The two other Sandiles' legs were viciously struck by the Air Cutters, unable to flee anymore.

"Yeah, yeeaaaaah...!" Zulu whispered quietly, diving in their direction.

Twinkiel used Charge Beam! The Voltek Fleece was activated!

A ray of light rushed to Zulu's side, but the Noibat easily dodged the hit. He looked down and met the gaze of Twinkiel, who's paw was pointing in his direction.

"I don't actually want to save these guys, since they tried to rape someone and all." Twinkiel declared. "But I don't want you to become a sadistic murderer just because you can't handle your insanity. Now, Goth! Be a good boy and stop chompin' on Pokemon meat, will ya? You'll end up with your teeth all gray!"

"...As usual, you don't make any sense at all." Zulu said as he landed on the ground. With his wings folded against his body like a cape, he truly looked like a vampire.

"I'd make a lot more sense to you if you watched Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, but that's an issue we'll fix later." Twinkiel replied. He then frowned, realizing something. "Wait a sec. Did you just talked back to me... In a confident manner? Wow, so I'm speaking to psycho Goth right now, aren't I?"

"Nah. You're speaking to the real deal."

Twinkiel stared at his friend, remembering what Fleedjio had told him about Zulu's dark side. "Self-doubt means that we need to trigger some sort of emotional reaction to get Zulu back." Twinkiel thought to himself. "And obviously, there's only one way I know how to do that..."

"Ooooh boy. We're gonna scare him shitless, aren't we."

"Yeeeeah, Metal Sonic said that, too." Twinkiel finally answered, grinning. "Until he was asked to look at his hands, that is. Then he realized he was a faker, and Shadow stepped in to hug the poor thing, 'cause y'know, he can relate. So, um..." Twinkiel opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, an ironic smile on the face. "...Hug? Wait wait, no, you didn't realize you were a faker yet, so nevermind. NO hugs for you!"

Though everyone else stared at the Flaaffy with utter confusion, Ariala was the only one to laugh at the reply, for she was the only one who knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I didn't get half of what you just said." Zulu spat. "But it doesn't matter anyway. I'm Zulu, and you know that. Which is exactly why you're not going to do anything to me."

"Unlike you, Metal - 'cause I'm definitely callin' you that from now on - I'm allied with every part of my being, even the bad ones. So please, do tell me what makes you so sure that I'm not going to shoot you right now?"

"Because." Metal said with a devious smile. "You don't hurt your allies."

"Can we both agree that this son of a gun isn't an ally and is going to hurt everyone else if I don't beat him down first?"

"Only if we can both agree that we can shoot his face until there's nothing left. Deal?"

"Deal." Twinkiel raised a paw, aiming for Metal's head. The latter kept on smiling, but he was slighty dancing from one foot to another. "Pff! Really?" he taunted. "Is that the best bluff you've got? Don't you-"

Twinkiel used Charge Beam! The Voltek Fleece was activated!

Metal immediately stretched out his wings and flew away, barely dodging the blast.

"What's the matter?" Twinkiel taunted back. "You were so sure I wasn't going to hurt you!"

Metal gazed down at him, an anxious light glittering in his eye. For several seconds, it felt like the real Zulu was looking at Twinkiel. "You're nuts." he said, as if just realizing the fact. "Screw the blackmail, I'm gonna bite you to the bone."

Electricity appeared all around Twinkiel's body. He walked towards Metal, a sadistic smile slowly growing on his face.

Spoiler! :
"My Foot On Your Belly", Twinkiel's second battle theme.
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"I am nuts." he declared. "And you don't threaten nutjobs, 'cause they can threaten you back and actually pull off what they say. You share Goth's memory, right Metal? Then you know how this is going to end." Twinkiel locked his demented gaze on the Noibat, who couldn't help but shiver as the Flaaffy continued. "Just like our first encounter. With my foot stomping on your defensless belly."

Twinkiel used Charge Beam! The Voltek Fleece was activated!

Focusing the energy beam on his feet, Twinkiel took off the ground and rushed to Metal's encounter, who was showing more and more signs of panic.

Metal used Dragon Pulse!

Twinkiel used Cotton Guard!

Twinkiel put his arms in front of his face as a thick layer of wool grew on them and the rest of his body. It then disappeared, just as Twinkiel grabbed Metal's wings with his paws.

"What the...?!"

"Enel Stinger!"

Twinkiel used Thunderwave! Metal was paralyzed!

The Noibat fell back on the ground, unable to move his wings anymore. A few seconds later, Metal unleashed a painful shout as Twinkiel fell after him, brutally smashing his foot on Metal's belly. "Called it." Twinkiel whispered as he stared down at him, still smiling. "You know, I think you should've used Tailwind right after dodging my first attack."

Metal used Bite!

Twinkiel used Cotton Guard!

"...It would've helped you outspeed me, since you're a better air fighter than I'll ever be." Twinkiel continued nonchalantly, blatantly igorning Metal's vicious efforts to hurt his neck.

"Let me go you freak! Let... me... GO!!"

"I have a better idea!" Twinkiel replied, unleashing his signature maniacal laugh. "You know why I haven't been using Thunderbolt anymore, Metal? That's 'cause I officially replaced it a few hours ago! So what we're gonna do now..." Twinkiel's electricity surrounded him again. It took the shape of a tiny sphere at the tip of his paw. "...is I'm gonna learn you how to play buttball."

Twinkiel used Electro Ball! The Voltek Fleece was activated!

"Congratulations. You actually made Game Grumps sound threatening."

"Anything can be threatening with the right tone, y'know."

"STEP ONE!" Twinkiel shouted. "NEVER TELL YOUR PARENTS!" he proceeded to removed his foot from Metal's chest and slap him with the Eletro Ball, sending him flying as a thunderous burst of energy unfolded. Metal slowly rose up and raised his wings in a last attempt to fly away.

Metal used Tailwind!

Twinkiel used Electroweb!

A crackling net surged out from Twinkiel's paw and entrapped Metal before he had the chance to escape.

"STEP TWO!" Twinkiel exclaimed as he pulled the net, bringing Metal back on the ground again. "NEVER TELL YOUR PARENTS!!" Twinkiel quickly reached for him and once again stomped on him with his foot. "You don't wanna bring Zulu back?! Fine then! I'll just have to blow you up so badly you'd WISH you had never come out of him! Pulsing Enel Impact!

Twinkiel used Electro Ball! It turned into Pulsing Enel Impact!

A new ball of electricity began pulsing at the tip of Twinkiel's paw. He raised it above his head as he unleashed a terrifying sadistic laugh.

"STOP! STOP IT TWINKIEL, IT'S ME! IT'S Z-"

A mighty blast struck the ground as Twinkiel and Metal disappeared in a giant cloud of dust and smoke.

"Oh Arceus...!" Abby whispered. "Did... Did he...?"

"No."

Abby looked at Ariala. She was standing next to her, arms crossed, with a confident smile on the face. "Just wait and see. I know he wouldn't dare go that far against the little guy."

Slowly but surely, the smoke began to fade away, revealing the shocking scene: Twinkiel, grinning down at a terrified Noibat. His fist had collided with the ground, right next to Zulu's face. For he was the one who had spoken instead of Metal, of that Twinkiel was sure. "Took you long enough." Twinkiel whispered, releasing Zulu from under his foot. "Hey, Ariala? "Heal him, please. I've done enough damage for the day."

Ariala immediately obliged, approaching Zulu as she was about to cast a Wish. Twinkiel approached Abby, who was staring at him with a new light animating her gaze. A light that Twinkiel had grown accustomed to recognize. "Yeah, I know." was the first thing he said, lassitude dripping from his tone. "I'm batshit insane, and that's always scary to watch. I wish there was a word I could use to comfort you right now, but there really isn't any. C'mon, let's go." With that said, Twinkiel took the small Murkrow in his arms and delicately placed her above his head. "Comfy?" he asked with a gentle smile.

"I... Uh... Yeah." Abby said. "I'm good."

Twinkiel nodded and gazed at the three Sandiles that had been left on the sides. They were all staring at him, visibly awestruck.

"You can go now." Twinkiel told them. "I don't blame my underling for trying to get revenge on you, especially considering what you almost did to his girlfriend."

"Wait, wh-"

Ariala put her paws on Zulu's mouth, silencing him before he could ruin Twinkiel's act.

"However," Twinkiel continued, staring hard on them, "he did deserve his punishment when trying to defy me, and you should consider it a warning. Don't mess with the Devil's Lamb or anyone related to him. Got that?"

The Sandiles nodded furiously and took several steps back.

"Good." Twinkiel concluded. "Send my respectful regards to your boss. And tell him I'm sorry about this whole situation. I'll try to keep my people in line more carefully. Let's go, everyone." With that, Twinkiel turned back and walkd away from the Dump, soon joined by Ariala and Zulu, who was resting on her head.

"Um..." Zulu started.

"If it's about the girlfriend business," Twinkiel interrupted, "only time will tell if it's true or not - Annabelle is both cute and grateful to you, after all. But mostly, I had to try and make your... behavior... look believable. If, however, you're going to apologize about what happened, then don't. It's Metal's fault. As for you..."

Spoiler! :
phpBB [media]


Twinkiel suddenly jerked on the side and took Zulu in his arms, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm... I'm sorry I had to hurt you, bro." he whispered. "Welcome back. And don't you dare fly off like that ever again, okay? You're gonna explain whatever happened, I'll come up with a crazy plan, and we'll fix everything. We always do!" Twinkiel nodded to himself and placed Zulu back on Ariala's head before resuming his confident march.

"...Actually, we're not sorry at all. That was really satisfying."

"The guilt I'm feeling right now begs to differ."

"Dude. You know you love it."

"I won't deny that torturing's fun. But... Not him. Not like this. It's fighting that we enjoy the most. Let's not try to forget that. Don't worry though, I won't forget about your impusles as well. I wouldn't want YOU taking over."

"Heh. Much appreciated."

Twinkiel raised his head, feeling a tingle at the tip of his paw. Surprised, he gazed at a red-faced Ariala. She was holding his paw.

"You're chatting with him, aren't you?" Ariala inquired, though it sounded more like an affirmation than a question. Twinkiel titled his head. "How'd you know?"

Ariala took a deep breath. "I know I'm not your anchor." she whispered bitterly. "Someone else took that role. Right now, I'm just Lily, one of Devil's Lamb's many underlings. But I know you a little bit. So I just... I just want to help fight your demons once in a while." she finally looked up at him, a mischievous smile on her face. "I am a Fairy, after all. So I guess I'll just have to inject some moral support into you, 'kay?"

Twinkiel smiled back to her as they enjoyed the morning walk, the sun shyly enlighting their path.

"Let's summarize. You're currently holding hands with a cutie pie, she's totally into you, her personality's just as cute as the rest of her assets and her room's next to yours in the cave you're both living in. She can also turn into a Pokemon you adore above many others. Seriously, can we PLEASE inject something into her too? Preferably not moral support."

Twinkiel frowned. "Dude, that's gross. Like, REALLY gross. You're starting to sound like what my hormones would tell me if they had a voice. Can't you do that when Spadassya's around, too?"

"...Don't wanna."

"Then shut the hell up and lemme enjoy the moment!" Twinkiel let out a sigh while Ariala tightened her slight grip around his hand.



Seriously, partial insanity was so annoying sometimes.
"Is there a limit to how much living I can live with my life? How will I know if I've gone too far?
And why did I spend my life savings on sunglasses for a whale?
I shall find the answers... to these questions."





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Thu Mar 03, 2016 6:24 am
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StupidSoup says...



Ren Day A7 9:30 am

Ren sighed, sitting on the bed, or rather the ice cube they called a bed, in his room.

He had a hard time melting the entire room down.

Aegeas and Absol had left, to bicker about something no doubt. They didn't seem to like each other very much and Ren could see why. Now he was all alone with nothing but his thoughts.

Well that just wont do

Ren stood, searching around for something to do. There wasn't much room for activities in the room, so Ren walked outside, coming down the way he came.

"Where do you think you're going?"

A beartic sidled up beside him, clamping a hand down on the Blaziken's shoulder and turning him around.

"Cassandra said you guys aren't allowed outside the premises until further notice."

Ren glowered angrily at the Beartic before wandering down the hallway once again.

What are you trying to escape?

Ren ignored the voice in the back of his head. He had promised he was going to be himself for just one day.

He strolled up the icy stairs, arriving at the second floor of the building that looked much like the first.

Still nothing of interest.

Ren continued up the stairs, passing a third floor identical to the last two before finally arriving at the roof. He squinted into the sun as it shone palely through the cloud cover, bouncing off the miles and miles of white all around them.

Them, including the Riolu, sitting at the top of the roof.

Ren's first reaction was to go directly back downstairs. However, he was far to late.

"Hi Ren."

The Blaziken couldn't help but flinch.

"Is there something you came here for? Or are you just bored?"

Ren slowly walked up to the Riolu and sat beside him.

"I guess I'm just bored."

They sat for a while. The sun slowly rose through the morning clouds.

"Ren. I have an important question to ask you."

Ren glanced over at Gabriel.

"Is there anything you feel when enter a Mystery Dungeon?"

Ren sighed, thinking.

"Not especially. Maybe nervousness. Why do you ask?"

Gabriel looked over at Ren.

"Over the course of our journey through the mountains you've seemed a bit unstable to say the least. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the dungeons or not."

Ren just looked at the floor.

"Look. Ren. What I'm trying to say is that as your teammate for however long we're here for I just.....just....gaaah!"

Gabriel shook his head, grumbling to himself. Ren lifted his head to stare at the Riolu questioningly.

"What?"

The Riolu turned away from him, choosing to stare up into the cloudy sky.

"Its Xerneas. He told me not to ask you about your emotional matters."

Ren shuddered a bit, then returned his gaze to the floor muttering a quiet "oh."

The two were silent for a while. Ren turned inwards as the sun slowly floated upwards.

"Gabriel..."

The Riolu's ears perked up but he did not turn to face the Blaziken.

"Is that....who do you see me as?"

Gabriel glanced over at Ren.

"I what?"

Ren glanced up at the Riolu.

"Am I just the unstable one? Is that what I seem like to everyone?"

Gabriel sighed.

"I cannot speak for everyone else but personally I think as of late that your meltdown, quite literally a melt-down, has been on the forefront of my mind."

Ren stood suddenly.

"I think I have to leave Gabriel."

The Riolu looked up at Ren, his face blank.

"Look. I'm sorry if I'm a bit to blunt. I've been having some...trouble, as well."

Ren nodded.

"Look. I'm here for you. I know we don't know each other very well but I have no animosity towards you. If you ever need to talk to someone I speak for all of us when I say we're all for you."

Ren nodded again.

Gabriel looked back up into the sky and the Blaziken slowly descended back into the Fort.
Last edited by StupidSoup on Sun Mar 06, 2016 6:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Here Comes the Birdyyyy ~Poopsie


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Fri Mar 04, 2016 2:53 am
Poopsie says...



DAY A7

Vex perched on the nine hundred and ninety ninth tile of the thirty second corridor at the halfway point to the center of Mt Icewind.

HEY HEY HEY MAYBE WE SHOULD COUNT ALL THE ICICLES ON THE CIELING! LETS COUNT ALL THE ICICLES ON THE CIELING! ICICLES! NOW!

Shut the f*** up

uh...g-guys please calm d-down

BUT I'M SO BOOOORRRRREEEEDDDDD

What did I JUST f****** say!

sorryyyyyy

How about we play a game. I'll start off a story and each of us take turns saying one sentence of whatever we like until either the story ends or we run out of ideas.

That sounds GREAT!

Whatever.

Ok. Once upon a time...

A FAT GUY WALKED INTO A BAR. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

and then everyone died. The end.

You guys are impossible

I WANNA GO FOR A RUN. LETS GO FOR A RUN!!

COME HERE YOU BITCH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!

-------------------------------------------

Vex fell like a stone, burying his face into the cold hard ground. As quick as a whip, he was back on his feet, staff in hand and cape draped neatly across his.....head.

''Wait a minute, that isn't right.''

What Vex had thought were his feet on the ground was actually someone else's feet. Vex was standing on his head.

''Uh...''

Vex slowly looked up. Well down for him, but up for whoever it was that stood above him. With an effort, Vex spoke.

'' may I help you?''



The figure staring down at him looked like the grim reaper.

BAH, we met mister grim, he looks way cooler than this small fry.

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.

''Who are you and why are you here? ''

Speaking was hard for Vex, but with effort, he spoke again.

'' I am Vex, The Master Tinkerer. How may I Help you. '' and then very quickly. ''As for the rest of your question i really can't answer that. Call it a hunch.''

The figure in front of him looked slightly confused. Vex gave a toothy smile.

''Who might you be? ''

''Frost. Get out of here Vex. This is NO domain.''

Who does this goth midget think he is?

kill him kill him KILL HIM

Frost stepped back as Vex gave a short manic laugh.

''Thanks but no ThaNks''

Dark energy swirled around Frost.

''It isn't wise to defy a superior force.''

Vex cackled again.

''We cAn TEST your mIgHT lAter Frost. I'm hErE for a rEason.''

''What reason? ''

Oh he'LL bE here SOoN.

''Who...''

Frost trailed off. Vex wondered if he knew whom he was talking about.

Suddenly, a blinding light illuminated the room. Frost shielded his eyes. Vex didn't bother.

Here comes the birdyyyy.

Frost turned to the source of the light. A massive red bird. Ho-oh.

''Frost. Why do you stay here in the corridors. Come join me in the throne roo-.''

Ho-oh froze mid speech. The light emanating from him dissipated immediately. He was staring at Vex.

''Wha...What are you doing here you....you.....abomination.''

Vex smiled, then spun around on his head and made a fart sound with his tongue.

Ho-oh's face grew pale and he left back down the hallway.

Vex smiled.

Poor scawed wittle birdy.

Frost looked back at Vex, shocked.

''Who are you really? ''

Vex spun on his head, turning back to face Frost. There he spotted a figure approaching.

'' Remember when I said i Had a reason? ''

Vex pointed to the figure behind Frost.

He's here.
Last edited by BrumalHunter on Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Censored curse words
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Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:44 pm
Poopsie says...



DAY A7

Frost was thoroughly confused. In all his days at Mt Icewind, he'd never thought he'd meet someone like Vex. He was dressed in a deep purple cape and held a bronze looking staff that stood taller than he was. His other hand was covered in a large bronze paw. It covered his hand and extended into deadly looking claws. Where the knuckles should have been, small bumps with various different stones floating inside them stood. He recognized some of them. a Dusk stone, a Leaf stone, a Fire stone, a Moon stone, and a Thunder stone and....what was that? It wasn't a stone, but a compressed ball of Aura. How Vex managed to store a ball of Aura was beyond Frost, but at that moment, Vex was pointing past Frost. Spinning, he confronted the newcomer.

A dark figure stood in the shadows of the massive hallway. He held a sword. Frost vaguely remembered seeing it before. Vex spoke behind Frost.

"Hello Shadey."

Shade came into view and Frost's blood ran cold. It was the Bannette he'd seen up on the peak a few days ago. That's where he'd seen that sword. Shade smiled, and Frost became all to aware of the zipper that prevented him from talking.

Shade walked past him and embraced Vex, who had by now righted himself. Frost felt a presence enter his mind and realized it must be Shade.

Hello Frost.

Get out of my mind.

Shade chuckled.

Of course, of course. Just answer me this question. Is their something.....wrong with you?

no. I am perfect in every way.

Vex let out a loud cackle. He was perched on the tip of his staff and messing with the claws on his bronze hand.

Oh don't mind him, he's....weird in the head.

I HEARD THAT


Frost clutched his head. So Vex could hear them. He didn't bother asking how, he'd probably put a Moon Stone in his head.

CORRECT

Calm down now Vex. You're hurting our friends's ears.

ok

Anyway. Come with me. We're going to show you your flaws.

I told you, I don't have any.

Of course you don't. You haven't discovered them yet. Vex?

Vex let out another cackle.

"I WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT DEVIL SPAWN!"

Vex launched himself at Frost, claw pulsing purple. Frost bought up a shield of dark energy, but Vex ripped straight through it. In another second Frost was on the ground and Vex was tearing at his chest. He tried to reach up and stop him, but Vex smashed his claw, which now crackled with electricity, into Frosts stomach, paralyzing him. A moment later Vex stopped slashing. His eyes went wide and he made a cooing noise as he looked at Frost's chest. He grabbed something and Frost screamed in pain as he ripped it out. Instantly smoke began pouring out of his chest and his form began to waver. Vex stood over him with a dark plate in his hands. It dripped blood. He smiled fondly as he looked at the plate

"Plate!"

Shade walked over to where Frost writhed on the floor.

This is your flaw. Let me tell you Frost. You set out on a journey for righteousness and somewhere along the line you got it into your head that you needed more power. You needed to prove to everyone else that you were better than them and that drove you to this. Now look at what you are. See what you've become. Forced to bend to the will of the past. Locked away for all eternity in a dark plate

Shade leaned close to Frost.

You are no stronger than your actions. You are no better than that plate

With that Shade left down the hallway. Vex walked up to him and placed the plate back in Frost's chest. He then leaned in towards Frost until he was inches from his face. In a low voice he spoke.

Their is no shadow on a cloudy morning. Only a quiet place to rest and a bittersweet sky. You, Frost, are the sky

Frost wondered what Vex meant as he lay gasping for breath, looking up at the icy ceiling. He searched vaguely for a reflection of himself, but was met with dark, unseeing eyes and a pool of blood deeper than the world itself.
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Thu Mar 31, 2016 4:26 pm
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BrumalHunter says...



Gabriel | Breaking the Ice | Day A7, 8:40 AM


Whenever Gabriel ran at his maximum speed, he no longer navigated corners but simply turned left and right instinctually. He never hit anything, but he did take several wrong turns before finally reaching his room. The door was flung open, crashed against the wall, and bounced back into its closed position, splintered.

Gabriel skidded to a stop and removed Fleur’s trembling arms from around his shoulders. “I’m sorry, but I’ll be right back.”

The Riolu strode onto the balcony, slamming the doors behind him. A frustrated scream could be heard, followed by a devastating crunch. A crack appeared in the permafrost beside the door. Gabriel then re-entered the room. He closed his eyes and took a very deep breath, which he held for ten seconds. When he exhaled, he opened his eyes and saw Fleur sitting on a chair like a wilted flower. He carefully took her into his arms and carried her to the bed.

Laying her down on the cotton covers, he said, “I’m sorry, Fleur.”

“I don’t like it when you get mad,” she replied, rolling over to look at him. She placed a small hand on his arm and stroked the spot. “Your fur bristles when you’re angry. I like it better this way.”

“You mean soft?” Gabriel asked, smiling slightly.

“Yes.” Fleur looked up and smiled at him. “When you’re defensive or on the attack, your fur becomes hard and spiky. When you’re relaxed – vulnerable – your fur becomes warm and velvety. As it should be.”

He grimaced and looked away, gently taking her hand off his arm and placing it on the bed. “I can’t help it.”

“Not alone, you can’t.”

He looked back at her. “I’m not alone if I have you.”

“I can love you, but I can’t make you better. I can’t apply the pressure you need in order to change.”

The blue canine scoffed. “Xerneas applies enough pressure already.”

“Maybe a father figure isn’t what you need,” Fleur mused thoughtfully. “You need to tell a friend. Somebody who isn’t me.”

“Who? Riley and Flurry wouldn’t understand.”

“You can’t know until you tell them.”

“I can know it, since I can see and interpret auras. Besides, they are on the other side of the continent, sixty degrees away from me in opposite directions.”

“I can count,” the flower said, scrunching her little forehead into a frown, “but I can’t do maths. Anyway, if you don’t want to tell them, and I can’t get to know them better to feel comfortable with that, then make new friends.”

“Absol is an SOB, pardon my language, and Aegeas and Ren have their own problems. And remember, Xerneas said I wasn’t allowed to talk to Ren. If I had mentioned Aegeas, he would have said the same thing concerning him too.”

Fleur turned her head a little and scratched her neck. “What about Marcus?”

“Who’s Marcus?”

She stared incredulously. “Marcus the Mienfoo. You know, the one you threw against a wall? He seemed nice, and I do remember that he said he would like to be friends.”

“I don’t know him at all outside the arena.”

Having returned to her normal shade of green, Fleur sat up and jumped off the bed. “Then get to know him better.”

Gabriel’s voice took on a bewildered quality when he saw her making for the door. “Hey, where are you going?”

“I’d say a girl needs a space every now and then–”

“You think I’m smothering you?” he asked, hurt.

“No. Please, let me finish. I said I would say that, but I know you feel calmer with me around.” The Riolu meant to say more, but she cut him off with a loud, “But.” She continued in her normal, soft tone, “It’s not because I think I have to babysit you – oh, sorry; poor choice of words – and I don’t think that you feel that you have to keep an eye on me either. I just like being around you, even if all we do is sit together in silence. I just have to go do something in the village. I’ll be back after your training.”

Seeing his crestfallen expression, she ran over and gave him a tight squeeze, which he returned a little more so. She then wriggled out of his arms, pecked him on the cheek, and ran back to the door.

Gabiel extended his arm after her as her hand slipped out of his. “Be safe!” he called.

Soft laughter faded away as the door closed behind her.

***


Only an hour had passed, but because Gabriel checked the mechanical clock every two minutes, it felt more like five. Fleur had reassured him and told him she’d be back after his training, yet he couldn’t help but be worried. Perhaps he was too possessive… Actually, no, not “perhaps”. He was, full stop.

Sadly, his flaws weren’t anywhere close to ending at that. He avoided creating personal relationships, his mood swings made being around him a Herculean task, and the metaphorical cherry on the cake was that he had barely been a Pokémon for two weeks, yet he thought he was ready to take on anyone. Reflecting back on his exploits, he realised exactly how lucky he had been.

When he first arrived in Terraria, the New Order had practically sent a horde of agents after him. It was nothing more than sheer luck that Xerneas had found him first. And then, once Xerneas was gone, he once again relied solely on luck to get his Guardian back. What were the chances of not only discovering the location of a Mystery Dungeon by means of a nondescript book in a frozen outpost’s small library, but also finding transport to that region, meeting a friendly Legendary there, surviving an encounter with the Plate’s Guardian, and finally retrieving the Plate? Even the fact that Kyurem had showed up at all after Gabriel had called him was a miracle. Eventually, his luck would run out.

Shaking his head to displace the ominous thoughts, Gabriel returned to his book. It was another volume on auras – the final one before employing their energy in battle was discussed. It was a boring read, since Gabriel had deduced most of the contained information already, but skipping a chapter – or even the entire volume – would probably result in missing something important.

Two hard knocks on the door heralded the arrival of somebody Gabriel was in no mood to see. The Riolu tried to ignore it, but a couple of harder knocks followed.

“I know you’re in there, Gabriel. The obviousness of this room being your comfort zone aside, the guards haven’t seen you leave. Please, let me in.”

“I have a balcony I’ve used to escape before!” he called to the door a little louder than necessary.

“I know, which is why that’s being guarded too, even if you aren’t aware of it. Now please, open the door.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

Gabriel heard an irritated sigh, after which Xerneas opened the door himself. The great stag had to keep his head bowed to fit inside the room.

“You are such a child,” the Legendary reproached. “I’m trying to be civil. The least you could do is reciprocate, instead of shouting at me from inside your room like a sulking teenager.”

“You’re my self-appointed Guardian, not my parent, so you have no right to come here and scold me.”

Xerneas took a deep breath. “Gabriel, I did not come here to scold you. I came here to talk. But if you keep acting like a child, then I’ll have to start treating you like one and monitor your actions.”

“I’m nineteen,” the canine replied, putting his book down on the bed and sitting up. “Back on earth, I might not have been able to vote in certain countries, but I could drink or smoke whatever and sleep with whoever I liked.”

“Actually,” Xerneas replied, “you are still a Riolu, which means you are technically still a Baby Pokémon. As such, you cannot biologically reproduce at all. That would also be why you haven’t experienced any… well, you know, desires of a particular kind. It is rather ironic, though, considering that others half a decade younger than you do and could even have children, if they wanted to.”

Gabriel gave the Legendary an unimpressed look. “The Pokémon of Life has never created life before, has he?”

“I don’t see the relevance of the question.”

“Even though you’re a type of deer, and stags are well-known for the seasonal behaviour displayed in the rut?”

“That is extremely offensive, Gabriel. And no, I still don’t.”

The blue canine frowned. “Hmm, that’s funny. So Legendaries are allowed to insult others with impunity, but woe to whoever even mildly offends them?”

“I would not consider–”

“The point, Xerneas,” Gabriel said, both impatient and annoyed, “is that if you had children, you’d explain the – wait, we have a euphemism for it: ‘the birds and the bees’ – more accurately.”

“Would you prefer I use baby-talk, then?” Xerneas asked, becoming impatient himself.

“Would I be made an enemy of the Resistance if I threw you with a book?”

“No, but it would clarify why you haven’t evolved yet. It would also make it resoundingly clear that you should rather have been a Tyrunt.”

Gabriel glared at Xerneas, who glared back, for a second longer before asking unexpectedly, “Are you a diplomat?”

The Legendary frowned at the random question. “I don’t negotiate very often.”

“Oh, believe me, I can see that, since you absolutely suck at tact. First, you call a sexually violated person a baby with no carnal urges, then, you mock him by asking whether he’d like to be spoken to in baby-talk, and finally, you make fun of him even further because he hasn’t evolved yet. I can only use Foresight and see auras with such ease due to my eager study of this world, so you can be sure I have researched my own species. For me, evolution is only possible with high friendship during the daytime, whatever that means, but two of my only three friends happen to be on opposite sides of the continent. The only one that remains is currently out in the village somewhere, but I see the way other mons look at us, so I try to keep it inconspicuous.” Gabriel paused for breath. “And by the way, I have a greater respect for literature than most people, so I’m not barbaric enough to treat it as ammunition.” He lay back down on the bed and opened the book above him.

“Gabriel–”

“You don’t understand, Xerneas,” he said without looking at him, “I am done speaking to you for the next few hours. You have offended me more than I could possibly have offended you, and now I am politely asking you to leave. If you speak another word, I shall jump off that balcony you apparently have guarded and find Fleur, after which you will not see me again. Ascribe that to my bipolarity if you wish, but I want you to leave.”

The Legendary simply stood there, as if paralysed. When a full ten seconds passed like that, Gabriel lowered the book and glared at him. That seemed to be enough, for Xerneas turned around and left without another word.

After the exchange, the atmosphere had gone from tense to oppressive. Gabriel knew he would probably end up reading the same paragraph seven times if he continued, so he saved himself the waste of time and set it down on the end table beside the bed. He figured the cold, northern air should blast some sense into him, so he stepped onto the balcony and scampered up the wall. It was surprisingly easy, and within moments, he was on the roof.

The glare of the sunlight on the ice was horrible, causing Gabriel’s eyes to water. He sat down against one of the ventilation ducts so his tail wouldn’t suffer from frostbite and gazed at the seemingly endless expanse. He sat there for a few peaceful minutes before fate intervened and Ren walked through the door behind him.

Upon seeing him, the Blaziken immediately made to retreat, but Gabriel wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. However, he decided to use less formal language, lest he alienate the other humon.

“Hi, Ren,” Gabriel said, trying his best to sound relaxed. “Is there something you came here for, or are you just bored?”

What? Why did he say that? What happened to not alienating the other person? Fortunately, Ren didn’t pick it up that way. Instead, he walked over and sat down next to him. Gabriel could feel the heat radiate off of him, and just like that, the cold was gone.

“I guess I’m just bored.”

In the north, summer and winter encompassed most of the year, but it must have been spring, for the sun rose from beneath the horizon, increasing the glare substantially. Gabriel wondered how he should broach the topic he’d been wanting to discuss for so long. He wanted to be subtle, but not too much, otherwise his new companion might miss his cue.

“Ren, I have an important question to ask you.” Wow, really subtle. Well done. But again, Ren was oblivious and only turned to look at him. Err, what now? “Is there anything you feel when entering a Mystery Dungeon?”

The Blaziken sighed. “Not especially. Maybe nervousness. Why do you ask?”

Why did he ask that of all things? Gabriel looked at Ren, nervous himself but keeping his features and tone steely. “Over the course of our journey through the mountains, you’ve seemed a bit… unstable, to say the least. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the dungeons or not.” That was absolutely pathetic. Ren looked down at the rooftop, and wanting to prevent him from leaving, he hastily added, “Look, Ren, what I’m trying to say is that, as your teammate for however long we’re here, I just… just… gah!”

Gabriel shook his head and muttered under his breath. His old, nervous self – his self before his uncle had tainted him – was making a reappearance. Ren surveyed him with a questioning gaze.

“What?”

Gabriel immediately felt hot and looked away. “It’s Xerneas. He told me not to… ask you about your emotional matters.”

Ren mumbled a muffled, “Oh,” and looked back at the ground. Gabriel wrestled with himself mentally in the meantime. Goodness, he could be obtuse. What made him feel even worse was that Ren probably viewed him that way too – as a blunt, belligerent little brat that made everyone’s life more difficult than it already was. It wasn’t self-pity he felt, but rather self-loathing. He tried to hide it and pretend it didn’t exist, but it was always there.

“Gabriel…”

The Riolu snapped out of his thoughts, but he was still too ashamed to face the other Pokémon. When Ren asked, “Is that… what you see me as?” That did make Gabriel turn around. “As what?”

“Am I just the unstable one? Is that what I seem like to everyone?”

Gabriel felt like he was hardly one to talk, which is exactly what Xerneas had tried to tell him. Sighing but not thinking, he said, “I cannot speak for everyone else, but personally, I think, as of late, that your meltdown – literally a meltdown – has been… on the forefront of my mind.”

Bluntness and long-windedness; both signs of his stress. Combined with the utter absurdity of how he’d just said that, he sounded like a first-class jackass. Ren was finally affronted by him and hastily made to leave, for he was sitting the one moment and standing the next.

“I think I have to leave, Gabriel.”

Gabriel looked back. He could imagine what Ren must be feeling, for in some sense, he was feeling it too, but as always, none of it was evident on his face.

“Look, I’m sorry if I’m a bit too blunt. I’ve been having some… trouble myself. Anyway, I’m here for you. I’m aware we don’t know each other very well, but I harbour no animosity towards you. If you ever need to talk to someone, I speak for all of us when I say we’re all here for you.”

He knew Ren was going to leave no matter what he said, so Gabriel left it at that and sank back against the wall. The Blaziken took the opportunity to leave and slowly descended back down the stairs.

Gabriel closed his eyes after a while, just enjoying the heat coming from the vent. He must have fallen asleep, for when a voice disturbed him, he felt groggy and stiff. A furry face moved into view, followed by the rest of his cream and red body. The figure sat down next to him in the exact same spot Ren had occupied earlier.

“How have you been?”

Gabriel held his paw over his mouth as a great yawn took hold of him. “I’ve been better, but I’ve definitely been worse.” He stifled another yawn. “What about you, Marcus?” He turned to face the Mienfoo, who seemed relieved.

“For a moment, I was worried you couldn’t remember me and was using the standard stalling tactic until you either remember the name or it is revealed. But to answer your question, I’ve been fine. Busy, but faring better than you, it seems.”

Gabriel was caught off guard by what was hopefully the final yawn. “How did you find me?”

“I was on the ground when you dashed up to the roof. When I came back, I figured you might still be up here. Clearly, I was right.”

“What time is it?”

“10:30 AM. Why? Do you have to be somewhere?”

“At eleven, yes. Have you seen Fleur?”

“That Petillil you’re always with?” Marcus asked, elbowing Gabriel with a mischievous smile on his face. “Yeah, I saw her. Does she have to be with you for this thing at eleven?”

“Yes, but we both forgot about that earlier today when she left.”

“Eh, I’m sure if she needs to be there, somebody will go fetch her. Does Xerneas know she’s out?”

Gabriel frowned upon hearing his Guardian’s name, and while Marcus picked up on it, he didn’t venture a comment. “Yes, he knows.”

“Well see, then there’s nothing to worry about.” Marcus rummaged in his hip-pack. “Now, moving on to something more amusing. Well, I find it amusing, but you might find it infuriating. Here, have a look.”

Gabriel accepted the parchment with a puzzled look. When he saw the words at the top and the face below them, however, his gaze hardened.

Wanted Poster wrote:
Gabriel the Riolu is a duplicitous canine held in high regard among the members of the Resistance for his brutality and mercilessness. The only crime that can positively be linked to his name is taking hostages and killing them even after receiving the ransom.

Reward
400 000 Poké


“Who wrote this?” Gabriel asked, seething.

“Err, as far as I know, Hoopa creates most of the wanted posters, though they are mostly moderated by Cobalion. But this one I believe was created by Kyurem. He must really not like being humiliated. You shouldn’t worry too much, since it’s a stalemate up here. If somebody tried to take you in, there’d be war, and both sides would take unsustainable casualties. Once you leave the Northern Plains, you’d be fair game.”

“Are those also wanted posters?” Gabriel asked, pointing at the others pieces of parchment in Marcus’ hands.

“Some of them are, yes, but others are transcripts from a speech Cobalion gave four days ago. Sheesh, you people move quickly. Here, I’ve been training for years and have yet to accomplish anything with my life, yet you lot have already defeated Legendaries and retrieved an undisclosed number of Arceus’ Divine Plates. I hope the rate slows down, otherwise the war will be over before I even got to fight in it. These transcripts are barely a few days old, and your wanted posted about a couple.”

“How did you get them, then?”

Marcus rubbed the back of his head. “That’s not important, though I kinda have to return it before anyone notices it’s gone from the archive.”

“May I see the rest?”

“Sure.”

Gabriel took the outstretched documents and read through them. Twinkiel’s wanted poster was probably written by Hoopa, gathering from what Marcus had said, since he was called “The Devil’s Lamb” and was wanted not only for murder, but also torture, among which were included electrocution, dismemberment, and so on. Gabriel’s reward was half that of Twinkiel’s, so Hoopa must really hate the Flaafy.

“Oh, and I heard a rumour that you are being blamed for the loss of a powerful artefact from the New Order’s base here in the village. Not even our spies know what was stolen, so I guess the NO was too embarrassed to acknowledge the loss of said artefact publicly.”

Gabriel nodded, only half-listening; he had moved on to the transcripts, and honestly, they were too exaggerated to be believable. Ren apparently razed residences, businesses, and even orphanages to “satisfy his burning hatred for the world”, and Zulu was dubbed the “most heartless of torturers” for extracting intelligence from prisoners and reducing them to “mindless shells” with his “demonic screeching”.

Marcus pointed to the last of the parchments. “A day or two ago, we received word from our informants that these rumours are no longer being spread. Either the guy is dead, or the New Order suddenly had no more reason to defame him.”

One look at the name clarified everything. “Frost is a Victini that used to be on our side.”

Marcus gasped. “No! You mean the same person who was supposedly our most cunning tactician and who allegedly organised acts of terror so heinous that nobody would dare oppose him, defected to the New Order and they actually accepted him? Bunch of bloody hypocrites!”

“My sentiments exactly.” Gabriel felt like ripping the parchments to pieces, but he knew that would land Marcus in trouble. “Could you keep three of these?”

“Sorry, but no. I’ve only had it for fifteen minutes, and the archivist’s breakfast ends soon. I can be glad he works for an hour before eating breakfast, since I’d otherwise never have been able to access the archive.”

Gabriel handed the parchments back. “No problem. I’ll just ask Cassandra about the rumours. Hopefully, she’ll allow me to see these again, though she’ll think it’s the first time. I’ll just have to hope for the best.”

Marcus raised his eyebrows. “You’re on a first name basis with the Base Commander?”

“No, but she does call me and Fleur her sweethearts.”

“Lucky,” Marcus complained in a whiny voice. “That means you get to do whatever you want to.”

“Well, not exactly, and I have to go for some official Resistance Evaluation Test.”

That’s what you’re doing at eleven? Aww, now I am seriously jealous. Once you pass, you’ll be recognised as an agent of the Resistance. Even if you weren’t a Legendary’s ward, you’d still see some action. Unless you’re posted here, but that’s unlikely. I’ve always fancied seeing Frontier Town… I’ve never been farther south than the Alluvial Fields.”

“Maybe I can convince Cassandra to make you my bodyguard once you pass,” Gabriel joked.

“That would be so cool and I’d love you forever, but you have to pass first. Come on, it’s five to eleven, which means you’re really cutting it close. I need to go return this, so I’ll see you afterwards. You can find me in the training arena. Bye!”

Gabriel waved the Mienfoo goodbye. For some reason, he had sought Gabriel out of his own accord. And furthermore, he hadn’t enquired into any uncomfortable topics, even though he had undoubtedly heard of them. Gabriel realised that Fleur was right after all, so he resolved to find his friend after training.

He walked back to the ledge, manoeuvred his way down to his room, and exited the room. A large, furry, white foot barred his way. Gabriel craned his neck to look at the Bearctic. He was in trouble.

“You’re in trouble,” the Bearctic said, echoing Gabriel’s thought precisely. “The other humons are already waiting for you.”

“We will the test be held?” Gabriel asked. As with Xerneas, he had to quicken his pace to keep up, but it wasn’t nearly as much effort.

“They need to be discreet, so we Teleport the concerned trainees to a remote location. The overseers are waiting at the briefing room, so that is where I’m taking you.”

After a while, Gabriel ventured, “I’ve seen other Bearctics before, but your face is new. You’re not a guard, are you?”

“No, since I am their Captain. Henceforth, you will call me as such. Base Commander Cassandra may hold you in high regard, but I only see a troublesome lad. Pass your evaluation, and you will have earned my respect.”

They turned a corner and stopped at the designated location. The Captain-of-Guards led him inside, saluted to Cassandra and Xerneas, and left. Everyone was indeed already there, in addition to a Gardevoir, two Blisseys, and an odd white Pokémon that floated above them all.

Cassandra stepped into the middle of the group. “Now dat you’re all here, you can prepare for departore. Lieutenant Madeleine–” Cassandra swept her arm towards the Gardevoir, trying her best not to speak the name in her accent, “–will be overseein’ your test. Norses Grace and Patience will provide de medical care, and Nort–” she pointed up at the white Pokémon, “–will be responsible for de weater, as well as some of de stetus conditions. Xerneas and I need to discuss intelligence, so we aren’t goin’ alon’. Ah wish you all de best of lock.”

The Jynx nodded and left. Xerneas followed, but he tilted his head to look at Gabriel while he did. The Riolu knew he had been out of his place earlier, so he mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.” Whether Xerneas accepted the apology was uncertain, as he turned to look ahead of him again.

“Is he still angry?” Gabriel whispered to Fleur, who had in the meantime slipped her right hand into his left.

“I don’t know,” she responded sympathetically. “He didn’t seem too angry when he came here. Why?”

“I’ll tell you after training.”

“All right, everyone,” the Gardevoir said in a voice like harp strings being plucked, “come a bit a closer. You all need to be well inside in the bubble if we want to avoid any accidents. Yes, that’s it.”

Gabriel and Fleur were next to the two nurses, Aegeas was to their right, Absol was to his, and Ren stood between the ice wolf and the nurses. He was the closest to the lieutenant, and he seemed distinctly uncomfortable. The lieutenant herself merely stood there, smiling. Gabriel expected her to raise her arms of something, but a psychic bubble of energy simply formed around them. He then prepared himself for the bone-jarring experience that would undoubtedly await them, since teleportation was never an easy ta–

“That was quick,” Ren commented, his one eye squeezed shut, but the other curiously observing the environment. It appeared as if they had simply gone on a hike farther into the mountains, for snow was drifting lazily down past them, and the ice below them was as solid as rock.

“Yes, it was,” Lieutenant Madeleine agreed. “I try to discredit the stigma associated with Teleportation that the Abra line unintentionally created. They do it well, but without much regard for the comfort of others. My way takes a few seconds longer, but it only feels like stepping through a door and suddenly being in a different room, and as if you were being squeezed through a very narrow ventilation shaft.”

“Why did we have to Teleport here?” Fleur asked.

“The New Order is always watching our base,” Absol answered. “We have to take precautions to prevent them from learning of our training methods.” He sniffed the air as if to prove a point.

“We are here for two reasons,” the lieutenant continued. “Firstly, we must see how you perform in combat during hail, and then we must test your tolerance to being frozen.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Fleur said, her eyes wide and leaves trembling already.

“Under normal circumstances it would be, but we regulate the conditions here, so you don’t have to worry. I wish I could say the training won’t hurt, but it’s excruciating, in all honesty. Most trainees undergo years of preparation, and even then, the test needs to be taken three times on average before the individual is declared battle-ready.”

“Oh my goodness…” the flower mumbled.

“Absol has experienced much worse, so there is no doubt that he can perform at optimum level during your mission, but Commander Cassandra won’t allow any of you to go if not all of you pass. There’s no pressure, it’s just for your own safety. Now, North, please activate RBPT Phase One.”

The little Pokémon changed its form to resemble a snowflake he then zoomed higher into the sky and began glowing white.

“What is he?” Ren asked.

“He is a Castform – one of only four artificial Pokémon created by Rayquaza to regulate the weather and climates of Terraria. West is in the service of the Resistance forces in Sandveil Town, while the New Order uses East and South for their training regimes in Mt. Providence and Frontier Town, respectively.”

North descended to face Lieutenant Madeleine at her level. “RBPT Phase One initiated,” it buzzed in a mechanical voice. “Hail ETA: less than a minute.”

“Gabriel, you will be up first. Get ready.”

The Riolu spun to his right to face the Gardevoir. “What?!”

“Well, don’t look so surprised. Ren and Aegeas ought to fare better at this than you, so you must go first. Fleur will go last so she can spend the least amount of time in the weather.”

“I don’t want to get preferential treatment just because I’m a small flower girl,” Fleur insisted softly, yet firmly.

“Trust me, the treatment you are receiving will be everything but preferential. You will have to endure the same as our usual trainees; it is Gabriel who will have the most difficulty.”

“In that case, I should give this to you now.” Fleur produced something silver from her purse. “It’s a Soothe Bell. I wanted to give you something that you could keep on you always. With this, we’ll never truly be apart again.”

Gabriel gently took the round smooth bell and lowered its delicate chain over his head. For the first time since he had remembered his full past, he felt true happiness. Beaming, he picked her up in a hug and swung her through the air. After putting her back down, he said, “I shall cherish it from now on until the end of eternity.”

“Young love is such a beautiful thing,” the Gardevoir chimed, “but I must interrupt it now, for your love will not survive if it cannot withstand the harsh winter of opposition. Gabriel, please step into the Hail.”

Spoiler! :
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The words leaving the lieutenant’s mouth barely had time to become cold before a miniature meteor shower of icy projectiles rained down upon the frozen landscape. The sky became dark, and all other sound was drowned out by the flurry. Gabriel stepped out of the protective bubble North had formed around the others and immediately felt his skin being stung. The hail was cold, but it nevertheless burned.

As shivers ran up and down his spine, Gabriel shouted, “For how long shall I have to endure this?” and rubbed his arms.

Lieutenant Madeleine shouted a reply, but her voice was drowned out. Whatever her response was, it brought shock upon his teammates’ faces. Gabriel shouted that he couldn’t hear, so she called, louder that time, “Ten minutes!”

“What?!”

“I said ten minutes!”

“No, I heard that, but why?”

She drew back her head and formed an “Oh” with her lips. “You, and everyone else… joins the Resistance, might one day find… self in a prolonged skirmish against the New Order. The victor will eventually… the one who can resist attrition the longest. Thus, the harsh circumstances. North has a mental clock, so you won’t… to stand there more than the evaluation requires. We’ll be back before your time is up, though.”

Gabriel’s hope steadily dropped along with his core temperature the longer the Gardevoir spoke, but when she said “We’ll be back”, he panicked. “Wait, what?! You’re leaving?”

He stretched out his hand as indication that they should wait, but they were gone before the gesture was completed. Dumbfounded, he stared at the spot where they had been standing, his hand still outstretched. They simply… left. His arm fell limply to his side. Well, from what Gabriel had heard, the other humons had defeated the New Order agents with ease. Clearly, their soldiers had not undergone the same training as those of the Resistance, for if they had, they would be infinitely tougher. It was only about a minute, and already his body felt numb from the cold.

Other thoughts flew through his mind in imitation of the flurry, so he closed his eyes and calmed his mind as much as possible. Endure was only supposed to prevent fainting, but Gabriel hoped it would shield him from the weather too. He drew on his Inner Focus and gradually, the screaming wind and crashing hail dimmed. He started counting the seconds to pass the time. After reaching two-hundred-seventy-four, he felt them return – “them” limited to only the lieutenant, the two nurses, and North.

“Before you ask,” Lieutenant Madeleine shouted, “all Pokémon capable of Teleporting use beacons called Psychic Markers to keep track of any locations to which they want to Teleport. I placed… and at each of your friends’ locations as well. And yes, they… also on their own. You have little more than five minutes left. You’re doing splendidly!”

Just like that, they were gone again. Gabriel grimaced and looked around. He was extremely grateful she couldn’t lose him, because if she did, he might never be found again, since they were deep within the isolated embrace of the mountains. He made the mistake of looking up and was struck with hail in both eyes. He cried out and bent over, rubbing his sore eyes and shielding his head.

He tried counting again, but he lost count at thirty-five; he couldn’t remember if it was actually thirty-five or forty-four. He decided to go with the latter, but a dip in the hail distracted him. He looked up, hopeful that it was reaching his end, but the mocking wind scream and flung a large wave of ice down on him. Quickly bending down again, he was saved from despondency’s grasp by his Soothe Bell. It chimed softly, provoking the wind to roar angrily and continue to pummel Gabriel with the frozen pellets, but he had heard it, however briefly. Fleur was out there too, and if she could handle a little unpleasant weather, then so could he.

He clutched the Soothe Bell and gasped in shock. The silver was frigid. His fingers protested, but his mind insisted that they be locked around the charm. Gabriel decided it would be his lucky charm, and one did not let anything happen to those. It was also a symbol of his and Fleur’s love, which made him all the more determined to keep it safe.

“I am impressed!”

Gabriel started and jerked his head up. The Gardevoir regarded him with crossed arms and an approving gaze.

“You have done well, but I regret to inform you this is far from over.”

“What do you mean?” Gabriel called.

“Try not to speak!” Lieutenant Madeleine advised. “Speaking takes energy, and all of it should be used for generating heat and fighting.”

“Fighting?!”

“Yes. The whole point of this evaluation is to see how you fare in combat. You will have to defeat four of my Substitutes in order to pass. By the time… return, the one you were facing has to be defeated, or else you fail. You’ll have two-and-a-half minutes between each battle. Good luck!”

The area next to the lieutenant shivered and another Gardevoir appeared. The new Psychic stepped into the hail, after which the overseers disappeared once more. Silently grateful that Quick Attack was typed Normal and not Fighting, he lunged at the Substitute and tackled it to the ground. He sat on it with his knees spread out, but instead of continuing his assault, he hesitated. It was strange attacking what was both an ally and a female, but he reminded himself that firstly, it wasn’t the real person, and secondly, he had to destroy it if he wanted to participate in retrieving the Glacial Plate. He grabbed its head and bashed it against the ice. His ferocity increased until finally the Substitute faded. Exhausted, he sat down on the ice, only to jump up immediately afterwards and scolded himself for being stupid.

When the lieutenant returned to create the next Substitute, Gabriel used Quick Attack again, but he aimed for the legs that time. The Substitute fell forwards and had its face bashed in. By the time the third Substitute was created, he had no more heat in his extremities and both his legs and tail felt like lead. He feebly punched it in the stomach and anywhere else he could reach, destroying it a moment before the lieutenant returned and created the last one.

“Seriously?” he remarked, but his words were so soft and the wind so infuriated, he couldn’t even hear himself.

Sighing and rubbing his stiff muscles, Gabriel trudged toward the Substitute and threw his most pathetic punch ever. He circled it and jumped onto its back instead, but when he couldn’t get it to fall over by yanking its head backwards, he started strangling it. Of course, Substitutes didn’t have to breathe, so it had no effect.

He started swinging his body side to side, hoping to destabilise the decoy. After the tenth attempt, it worked, but he had no energy left to finish it off. He moaned and strongly considered giving in to the black fatigue that threatened to claim him, but he drew his last bit of strength and launched himself into the air. His foot crashed down on the Substitute’s face, breaking it too. He collapsed onto the ice, not caring about how much the cold hurt. He was done, and that was all that mattered.

“I see you have defeated the last Substitute. Well done. Lying over there won’t help, though, so come on. Get up.”

With great effort, Gabriel opened his eyes, rolled onto his side, and pushed himself off the ground. “Do I have to do anymore battling?” he asked. He was sure his voice had been drained – no, that wasn’t right… drowned? – out by the noise, but North had moved their bubble closer, allowing the Gardevoir to hear. Or read his lips. Whichever.

She said something in response, but she had to shake him before he looked up at her. “Sorry. What’d you say?”

“There is one last thing you have to do. This will be very painful, but–”

Gabriel pointed behind her to the panting figure that supported himself with his hands on his knees. “Hey, what’s Ren doing here?”

Lieutenant Madeleine turned around to look at the Blaziken before returning her attention to the Riolu. “Fire types can’t be frozen, so there was no point in trying.”

“Frozen?” Gabriel asked. He looked at his fingers and gasped. He then remembered he was a bipedal canine with a black mask and blue fur, so of course his fingers would be blue. “Right. Duh.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” the lieutenant consoled, thinking he was still addressing her. “I’m sorry for this, but you have to stand upright now.” After Gabriel shakily did so, she instructed, “North, commence RBPT Phase One-Point-One.”

“Activating non-harmful Ice Beam,” the Castform said.

Gabriel vaguely registered a flash of white before his entire body went stiff. He knew he was only encased, but it honestly felt like all his bones had been removed and replaced with ice. He wanted to scream, but his throat refused to let out any air. He knew he had lost all control of his limbs and that once he thawed out, he would be a deadweight and sink down instantly. His heartbeat slowed and he felt what could only be described as a blanket of wool descend on his eyes and mind. His eyelids drooped and closed, and once they did, the remained shut. His lungs burned and demanded air, but his weak diaphragm couldn’t find the strength to contract.

Desperate, Gabriel thought to himself Endure! Endure! Just… Endure… For Fleur. His mind went black and blank, and not until the blackness coloured a little red did it stir again. He became aware of a painful shock against his chest, and a second later, against his head too. Jarred, he gasped for air and opened his eyes.

“He’s still conscious!” a female voice said. “Hmm… didn’t think he’d actually make it. The little guy… guts. Ren, pick… and warm him. He’s passed.”

Whatever happened next, Gabriel could enquire about later. With no more reason to cling to reality, he fainted.
But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
— Paul the Apostle

Winter is inevitable. Spring will return eventually, and AstralHunter with it.





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TheSilverFox says...



Thicker Than Water


Day A7, 10:50 A.M.

Naturally, it was at that moment that Aegeas remembered why he hated the cold.

Of course, it was too late for him to do anything about it, so he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut as he was led by a large Bearctic from his room. Though the Dewott had demanded to bring his knapsack with him, the Bearctic flatly refused, on the ground that it might contain some item that would allow him to cheat the test. The evidently more powerful and tough-looking Bearctic made using intimidation all but impossible, and Aegeas had begrudgingly agreed in the end. Thus leading to his present situation.

“Excuse me,” he said, as the Bearctic led him through the corridors and hallways for the fortress, “Where are we heading to? It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a test like this.”

The Pokemon in front of him, who towered over his head, began to ramble onwards about how the New Order was spying on the fortress, and so they needed to conduct the test at a far enough location to avoid their detection. It would be a disaster if the New Order was aware of the humons participating in the brutal exam to become agents of the Resistance. Aegeas listened patiently and intently as the Bearctic went on to explain that he was taking the Dewott to a briefing room, where the participants and conductors of the test would gather. Then they would Teleport to the designated location, a statement that made Aegeas flinch. His experiences had not given him a favorable impression of teleportation, and he hoped that whoever was transporting them would be a tad fairer.

Finally, after a short time, the larger Pokemon gestured to the entrance of the room. Saluting at Xerneas and Cassandra, who were within the room and evidently in the midst of a serious conversation, he made to leave, but not before making a comment to Aegeas before the Dewott entered the room.

“I’d wish you the best of luck, but you don’t look like you need it. You might a relic of the old war, but you sure don’t look all that like one. Of course, that remains to be seen. Has your strength lasted as long as you age?”

Aegeas said nothing. He had nothing to say that the Bearctic already hadn’t.


*****

Within a few minutes, the other humons and test participants had arrived. Gardevoir, two Blisseys, and a Castform, alongside Xerneas and Cassandra and Fleur, had already gathered sometime previously. Aegeas was particularly surprised by the Castform – he had heard of them before, not to mention their story, but knew that they were incredibly rare. Only a few existed in the world, and, on top of that, they were scattered across Terraria. What could one be doing here? He was struck by a sense of curiosity, but hid it; it would not be appropriate in this situation. Instead, Aegeas scanned his memories. Yes, he had remembered meeting one of them once. Aegeas remembered he was called East. He wasn’t quite sure who this one was, however, as they all looked the same; he expected to find out soon enough.

A few minutes after Aegeas arrived, Ren showed up. They nodded at each other, but said nothing. Aegeas moved to the corner of the room, more to create an observational position so he could watch everything that was happening, and waited for the final person. Subsequently, around 11 o’clock, Gabriel finally arrived, brought into the room by the same Bearctic that had led him in. When this happened, Cassandra, finding everyone she needed within the room, stepped towards the center, and began to speak.

Of everyone, perhaps Aegeas felt the most isolated and awkward. Most of the ‘mons in the room he knew next to nothing about, whether due to the fact he’d hardly seen them previously or had never talk to anyways. The remainder, like Absol, he knew well too much about. As such, once more, he stood away from everyone else. He was a stranger in a strange land he was only partially familiar with (you can never be entirely familiar with a world), and he accepted it. He focused intently on the conversation, memorized all of the necessary details, and cast an occasional glance at his surroundings when something happened, such as when Xerneas and Cassandra left. He only came close when the time came to teleport all of the participants to the testing grounds, which was due to necessity so the Gardevoir’s, who had been called Lieutenant Madeleine, psychic energy could formulate a sphere around them.

He grimaced, clenching his body as he prepared for the forceful nature of the teleportation. The Gardevoir hadn’t previously entirely seemed the most caring person with respect to the comfort of all passengers, especially when she had been smiling, and also her not having said a word to anyone previously, which meant that Aegeas hadn’t a clue about who she was, which didn’t exactly make him trust her. Besides, his bad experiences with teleportation made him untrustworthy of her abilities. Just one second, he breathed, ignoring the bemused glances from Absol, who was next to him, just one second, just one…

******

“Now, it’s your turn. You’re already well aware of the protocol at this point, so I don’t think I need to explain it again. All that’s left for you is to step into the hail.”

“Sure,” said Aegeas, gritting his teeth. “I’ve only got to do what experienced members of the Resistance took three years to prepare for by throwing myself into more brutal conditions than I’ve experienced in a long time. That sounds easy enough.”

“I’m sure you’ll find you underestimate your own abilities,” replied Gardevoir in a calm, but firm, tone. “I’ve heard you did fight in the old war, after all. And it’s not as though you’re at serious risk. If something goes wrong, there are two nurses here to heal you, and if something goes drastically wrong, I’ll be there to pull you out in a pinch.”

“How are you going to…” began Aegeas.

“We don’t have much more time,” said Gardevoir, “I’ll explain it later. Right now, you need to begin the examination.”

And, with that, she not-so-gracefully pushed him from her psychic ball of energy and into the fierce hailstorm.

“Remember,…10 minutes!” called Gardevoir in a voice barely heard about the pitter-patter of the hail striking the frozen mountainside. Aegeas gritted his teeth as he felt the freezing pieces of hail smack against his skin, sending shivers coursing throughout his body. Those words echoed through his mind as he stared at the ground, afraid of looking up for fear of being struck in the face by the ice, which would not be comfortable. The whirlwind tore through his hearing, and the darkened sky reduced his vision significantly, but neither impacted the dreadful silence that entered his mind, which was far worse than either of them. They were gone. The Lieutenant, the nurses, Fleur (who Aegeas was aware to be the last to conduct the test) – all of them were gone.

“Wonderful,” he spat. His senses were dulled in the onslaught, but his muscles, fortunately, hadn’t gone numb yet. However, they were cold, and made no attempted to hide it. He couldn’t help but admit that North had done a fantastic job of creating this cruel environment, but it didn’t relieve him in any fashion. Now Aegeas was stuck in this brutal test, and all he could do now was enter his mind. He couldn’t run, he couldn’t hide; both could expose him to potential injury. All he could do now was what he always did best – think – and hope to stay warm.

Slowly, the Dewott began to drown out the noises and sounds around him. Even while he shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, and his muscles slowly began to grow sore, he embraced the blackness that was his mind. For once, it was devoid of thoughts, senses, memories. It had emptied itself out for exactly this purpose, for him. And he found this comforting, as, for a change, he was not completely aware of the world around him, and he was free to wander and drift through his mind as so he pleased. Unfeeling, uncaring, tranquil. Which, given the ferocity of the world around him, he did for some time.

And then he started hearing the voices.

Yes,” boomed something at the edge of his hearing. It was an incredibly gruff voice, but he could somehow point out its identity as feminine. Which was odd, because he had little memory of ever having heard of it before. Curious, he attempted to concentrate, but quickly desisted when he realized when all it was doing was causing the voice to fade from whence it had come, replacing with the howling winds of the outside. So he desisted, and allowed it to come to him.

And we shall see that they turn the snow red.

Stop. What in the world around you doing?

Aegeas resisted the overwhelming urge to open his eyes. He may not have known the first voice, but the second was definitely familiar. Sure, it was a lot younger than he’d remembered it, but it was unmistakable. It was then that he realized what’d he stumbled upon. Stricken with a sudden wave of emotions, the origins nor the nature of he couldn’t name, he nonetheless continued.

She and I are in agreement; we’re out for blood. Aren’t you coming with us?

Are you crazy? Don’t you know you’re going to die? You’re stepping right into the range of a firing squad, and you’ll be lucky if they don’t shoot you dead!

In that case, you’re just going to have to die with me. Hahaha…

Hey, stop…stop running. C’mon…don’t go! Won’t you listen to me for a change – she’s crazy! Oh, oh…gods…gods…I can’t leave her.

The first voice called, distantly, “We can do it together! They’ll learn just how meaningless their lives are, and how cold betrayal can be. Those damn bastards have been asking for it for so long, and with you on my side, we can show it to them. Why are you just standing there? Hello, hello, hello? Can you hear me?

Aegeas was jolted from his mind when he heard the voice blend into the lieutenant’s. A sudden wave of senses overcame him – the coldness, darkness, the fierce winds, and his protesting body. He turned to his right to see the lieutenant and nurses within the bubble of energy mere feet away from him, which likely explain how he heard the lieutenant’s voice in the storm. and staggered backwards in surprise. He hadn’t noticed them at all. He’d been so distracted by...whatever it was that just happened, that he had completely ignored them. This reaction surprised him more than the wave of senses, which retreated to the back of his mind to come forward later. The Dewott quickly made to compose himself, stuffing the emotions attempting to surge through him back in his mind. He evidently didn’t do this quickly enough, based on the momentarily alarmed expression of the lieutenant and the confused expressions of everyone else.

“Are…are you alright?” called Lt. Madeleine, after hesitating for a second. She quickly regained her composure as she continued. “If you don’t feel like you can do this any longer, just say so…”

“No!” snapped Aegeas with an expression of alarm and frustration, causing the lieutenant to glare at him with doubt. He paled slightly by this reaction, but he remained firm, and noted, “I can’t stop now. If I quit, nobody in the Resistance is going to find the Glacial Plate, and it’s only a matter a time before the New Order takes it for themselves. I can’t stop now.”

Lt. Madeleine, for a second, did nothing. She continued to stare at him, likely questioning his resolve, or, more likely, curious about what had happened earlier to cause him to act in the way he did. “Fine,” she said eventually, much to Aegeas’s relief. Her voice faded in and out as particularly strong gusts of wind blew through. “I just wanted to tell you that we’ve placed Psychic Marker beacons at your…and those of your companions. …track your location so I can Teleport to you…time. You’ve…two or so minutes left, though I’ve tried to talk to you for …minutes. …is bleeding, but you seem fine otherwise, which is good. I told you’d underestimated yourself.”

“Thanks,” began Aegeas, but she had vanished again. He sighed in disappointment. Evidently, she suspected something had gone wrong, but she hadn’t asked about it. Especially not after he regained his senses as quickly as he did. Regardless of whether she suspected it was an underlying problem or he was simply distracted, however, he had a feeling that it wasn’t the last he would hear of it. Nor, he thought, the end of whatever was troubling his mind. And he cursed this under his breath, because the last thing he wanted was for the rest of the expedition to question his reliability and usefulness. He didn’t want to become a dead weight for any of them. Of course, he also didn’t want Absol to have more motivation to prod him, nor anyone else. “Joy,” he thought bitterly

He felt, surprisingly, warm. Likely due to his having been surprised by the lieutenant earlier, not to mention his having suddenly returned to his senses in this bitter environment and his previous emotions. However, he was mostly acclimated with his surrounding environment again, and so he could hear the winds battering against his ears, the hail striking his body, and...

“Wait, did she say I was bleeding?” Aegeas thought. A quick investigation identified a small cut on his arm. He breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t look bad at all, just a minor scrape produced by a particularly large and dangerous piece of hail. He observed the drop of blood on the snow at his feet, and pondered if perhaps this was the cause of his experience. Subsequently, Aegeas took a few steps forward, relaxing the muscles that were beginning to become numb as the heat in his body was released. It made him uncomfortable, as it was a reminder that he couldn’t spend too much more time out in this weather, and he hoped that this challenge would end quickly.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait much longer. Pestered as he was by the rough winds and hail, and his present situation in general, he was relieved to hear the voice of the lieutenant as she materialized behind him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to face her as she nodded at him. “Well done,” she said. “You’ve completed…the challenge, and you don’t seem much worse for wear.”

“However,” she continued, before Aegeas had any time to express his approval, “I’m sure you’re aware this is only the start. Remember that I said we need to find out how well you fight in hail.”

Aegeas clenched and unclenched his fists as rage took a hold of him, defying his freezing surroundings. “Good,” said the lieutenant in response, “You’re going to need that energy. Don’t use too much of it too quickly, however, or you’ll be unable to complete this next challenge. Your next goal … four of my Substitutes within the next 10 minutes. You have two-and-a-half minutes to beat each Substitute, and if I return … don’t finish, you’ll fail. Are you ready?”

“Absolutely,” grunted Aegeas, watching as the lieutenant created the substitute, which jumped into the hailstorm while the original vanished from wherever she had come from. In spite of the fact that this Substitute was one of an ally, a member of the Resistance, Aegeas wasted no time pulling out his scalchops and rushing the Substitute, which, being a substitute, didn’t react. The enraged Dewott quickly aimed for the throat, striking hard with one scalchop and then the other. A few more repetitions all but silenced the first Substitute, which faded into oblivion. Aegeas stood over the place where the Substitute formerly stood, breathing deeply and heavily in the hopes of calming down. The lieutenant was correct – he would burn himself out if he continued to rage and act anything other than calm. If this continued, he was at serious risk of not only losing the second test, he also faced the danger of hypothermia, which was not something he wanted to experience. However, he gradually grew more relaxed as he plotted out his strategy for handling the next Substitute. Naturally, plotting the demise of what caused him the most irritation proved to be effective at cooling his temper. And he had plenty of time to do that.

When Gardevoir returned and summoned the next Substitute, Aegeas was prepared, his mind not dampened by rage. Conjuring a Water Gun attack and shooting at his own hands, he found himself unsurprised when the cold weather caused the water to freeze, forming cold balls of ice around his hands. Though he was beginning to feel numb, and was definitely sore in many places, he rushed towards the second Substitute. Swinging one of his makeshift boxing gloves, he struck the Substitute on the head, smashing the ball of ice, freeing his hand, and causing his opponent to fall backwards because of the force. Raising the second above his head, he jumped into the air and cruelly smashed the Substitute’s face with the other makeshift glove, causing it to shatter as well. As his hands were now numb and hard to control – something he, unfortunately, hadn’t accounted for – he decided that a few quick kicks to the Substitute’s face would work, which they did. The second Substitute vanished, and Aegeas had time to relax and come up with a plan again. But he was running out of ideas. And waiting around was making him ever colder.

The third Substitute arrived within a couple of minutes, and Aegeas knew he had to get more creative. He was still growing colder, in spite of the fact that the fights were keeping him warm (though, inevitably, that meant he was using more energy that he could’ve devoted to keeping himself warm), and his hands weren’t going to be useful in conjuring an attack for some time. Regardless, he knew he could still implement his previous strategy, though it was likely to be much weaker than last time and needed something else to accompany it, and so cupped his hands together and froze them. Getting in front of the substitute, he began to swing in a circle, becoming faster and faster until he gained enough force to bash the Substitute on the side of the head with it. It was thrown into the air by the impact, landing on a heap on the ground a short distance away. Quickly coming up with an additional move, Aegeas jumped into the air, this time conjuring a Protect to form around him, which he subsequently used to flatten the third Substitute. Amazingly, and to his dismay, it wasn’t defeated by this attack.

Aegeas used Ice Beam!

The head of the Substitute was frozen by this move, and a swift and powerful kick all but destroyed it. However, Aegeas had little time to breathe, as, before he knew it, the lieutenant appeared and conjured the final Substitute, calling out before she left, “Tired yet? Well…in luck; here’s the final one!”

Now he was getting desperate. Tired, cold, sore, and frustrated, quick calculations made it clear that, if he continued to do what he was doing, he would be unable to defeat the final Substitute in the given time frame, and would thus lose the challenge. His aura of calmness was broken, replaced with anger and desperation that consumed his thoughts, pouring over ideas in the hope of finding something that would work. In a short amount of time, he found one. Though he knew his hands wouldn’t be happy with it, he summoned a Water Gun attack, shooting out a beam of water that froze into a makeshift spear, which he grasped. Now with his weapon, he dashed towards the final Substitute, heart racing, muscles groaning. Aegeas thrust the rather large javelin into the Gardevoir Substitute’s chest to great effect, as the Substitute seemed to fall on its knees. However, it wasn’t defeated.

Pulling out the javelin, Aegeas made to strike it yet again. That was when, somehow, it shifted. His surroundings grew blurry and out of focus, while the Substitute seemed to change in form, transforming into the silhouette of something else. Something eerily familiar. It looked up and whispered incomprehensible words panicked Aegeas, who instantly assumed that he was now hallucinating. He figured needed to escape this place as quickly as possible, collect his thoughts, and figure out why he was having these attacks against his sanity, and he knew only one way to do that. His instincts now kicked into high-gear, he devoted his energy to stabbing at the silhouette again and again, causing it to silence. Raising the spear above his head, he swung it down upon the Substitute’s head, finishing both it and the javelin.

The final Substitute was finished. Aegeas breathed a deep sigh of relief as the world grew into focus again, the silhouette returning to its true form before fading away. The dream, or whatever it was, was gone. And he was relieved. Slowly, the wind and biting hail drowned his panic, fear, and anger as he relaxed, causing him to become tranquil again. After what he had experienced, it was an immensely good feeling

He heard clapping. Wheeling around, he found right next to him the lieutenant. This time, almost everyone accompanied her – the two nurses, North, and Ren, who Aegeas realized was holding an unconscious Gabriel, the Soothe Bell he’d been given by Fleur still in his hands. Surprised and dismayed, he made to ask about what had happened to him, but the lieutenant seemed to read his mind. Which, given she was a Psychic-type, wasn’t entirely unlikely.

“Yes, he completed the test,” said the lieutenant, alleviating the Dewott’s concern. Being close to him, he could hear most of what she said. “He passed out at the conclusion, but he doesn’t show any signs of significant injury, and he should be fine. You, in turn, have done well. Very creative, although a…brutal towards the end. But that was likely the stress. Many soldiers experience it.”

“And let me guess,” said Aegeas in what would’ve been a sarcastic tone if it wasn’t dark and tense, “There’s yet another challenge to complete.”

“You aren’t incorrect,” said the lieutenant. “However, it will be the last one. Though you may not like it.”

“Hmph,” replied Aegeas. “I’ve had to stand in a hailstorm for 10 minutes and defeat four of your Substitutes in another 10 minutes while handling the same weather. I can’t imagine it would get much worse.”

“That’s the spirit,” said the lieutenant before whispering something to North, who began to prepare, to Aegeas’s horror, an Ice Beam attack. “Now, your final challenge today, which may be the most difficult of all three, is that you are to be frozen by North’s Ice Beam. And you will remain frozen until you are thawed out. If you complete this test without fainting until the end, you will have completed the first part of your Resistance Evaluation Test. Do I make myself clear?”

“Wait,” said Aegeas, stepping forward, “What…I mean…first part? Being frozen…what…”

“North, begin RBPT Phase One-Point-One,” commanded the lieutenant, interrupting Aegeas.

“Activating non-harmful Ice Beam,” said the Castform, and Aegeas found himself encased within a solid layer of ice.

To put it simply, it was a claustrophobe’s nightmare. The flash that had preceded it remained in his vision, and he faced the sudden realization he could neither move nor breathe. His body was frozen into place, and he lacked even the ability to move slightly his hands and feet. The feeling was unnerving, and the pain was fantastic. He desperately tried to breathe, but that was also futile; he couldn’t release any of the air in his lungs, which were beginning to burn. It felt like one of his nightmares, except he couldn’t even look ahead of him, as the ice obscured his vision. And, of course, he couldn’t scream or move a limb. At most, he could blink, but that was it. Aegeas had to allow his skin to become numb, muscles to fall asleep, and tried desperately to cling onto consciousness. Seeing the black dots dancing in front of his face, he pushed to eliminate them and keep himself awake. Time acted like a clock inside of his mind, ticking erratically and eerily slow as he tried to use his remaining energy to avoid failure.

And it was getting harder to stay awake. His lungs felt they were on fire, and the rest of his body was becoming dangerously cold. He could feel himself becoming wearier and exhausted as his body tried to give up, but his mind doggedly determined to resist. He could only hope that the end was near, that he could hold out for a little longer, a little longer…

Finally, the torment was over. He felt a painful sensation in first his legs, traveling up to his chest and arms, and finally reaching his head. Breaking free from his icy prison, gasping for the air that his body had been desperately lacking, he took a step forward.

He could feel his vision drifting out of focus and becoming blurry he did so, and he landed upon the snow and hail-covered ground in a heap. Voices emanated in his ears as the others rushed towards him, though the wind made them barely audible. If he weren’t already numb, he could’ve felt the snow on his face, not to mention the cuts he gained because of the sharper pieces of hail. His eyesight focused on the snowy ground beneath him, but only for a second, as he was flipped over onto his back.

A second later, he was looking up at the lieutenant, who stood beside him with an expression that shifted from disappointed to surprised. “I couldn’t move my legs,” said Aegeas in a sheepish, embarrassed tone.

The lieutenant sighed, using her psychic powers to lift Aegeas off of the ground. “You almost had me concerned,” she stated, “but I’m unsurprised to see that, not only did you handle being encased in ice for over a minute, you’re still conscious now. Evidently, you haven’t lost all of your former strength. You’ll need to be healed, obviously, but that won’t take much time.”

“Congratulations,” she concluded. “You’ve finished the first day of the Resistance Evaluation Test.”
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.





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Robusto says...



Legends and explanations of the world from mind of a space duck

Day A8


“I’ve got to say, that Flaafy really knows how to hit a mon. All that voltage coursing through me felt pretty good. Like… really good. All that was missing was a b…”

“Shut up, you sicko! I’m trying to make a call!”

Zulu clutched the psychic crystal in his hands, waiting for the connection with Cresselia to be established.
Following his... episode… Zulu really felt like he needed some counseling on this.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Twinkiel, but Zulu wasn’t entirely sure he was the best person to get a therapy session from. So, Zulu was turning to the most trustworthy person he knew.

“Come on, face it. You didn’t fight back because you were enjoying biting those Sandile just as much as I was. A little sandy of course. Maybe you could give Cresselia a few nibbles next time you see her, if you know what I mean.”

“Like I said. Sicko.”

“Who’s a sicko?”

Zulu let out a small scree of surprise as the connection with Cresselia was established, her warm voice filling the room.

“Cresselia? How’d you hear that?” Zulu asked, embaressed.

“This is a psychic crystal. Our conversations can be vocal or mental through these. Is there someone else there?”

“No. Just me.” Zulu said, taking time to appreciate the irony of his own statement.
“I just wanted to talk with you again.”

“I’d be very open to talking with you, Zulu. But it’s my concern that you calling two hours past midnight is depriving you of sleep, and I don’t want to be any cause of exhaustion for you.”

“I may be small, but I have a lot of energy. What’s a little sleep lost?’ Zulu smiled.
“So… how are things going at the shrine?”

“Splendid. We’ve finished removing the collars from the prisoners you’d rescued from Darius’s hideout. But…”

Zulu felt his heart stop as he felt Cresselia grow incredibly sad through their psychic link.
“What?”

“There were… losses. Three of our inner council are dead, and we don’t know why or how.”

Zulu felt his heart chill at Cresselia’s news. Three Legendarys were killed, and no one even knew how it had happened?
“Who died?” He asked.

“Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf.” Cresselia said sadly.
“They were three of my closest friends. Whenever I experienced doubt, fear, or loss of will, they would always be there for me. And seeing their bodies return to Etherium… it was like seeing Palkia die all over again.”

“But how did they just die? Didn’t anyone see or hear anything?” Zulu asked, the sadness in Cresselia’s voice filling the tiny bat Pokemon with anger.

“No. Understand, Zulu, they were in a special trance. They had projected their souls into Etherium in order to better gather information on our enemy’s movements. The Legendarys all leave imprints of some form in Etherium, and only those three could read them.”

“But what’s Etherium?” Zulu asked, not understanding what Cresselia was talking about.

“You’ve been into mystery dungeons before. Hasn’t their design ever bothered you? Walls that stretch upward into nothingness, labyrinths that can span miles yet can only be entered through their primary entrances, floors that cannot be moved to through floors except in the case of special traps and magical stairways?”

Zulu hadn’t really thought about it. He thought that sort of thing was just normal physics for a world based off a videogame in his own world. He hadn’t thought there was some sort of explanation for it…
“I… haven’t given it much thought.”

“That’s because when you enter a mystery dungeon, you enter a different plain entirely. Etherium. The spiritual world.”
“As Pokemon, we are all able to draw on energy for offensive and defensive measures, as well as assisting in our day to day lives. But how can a Squirtle produce water nearly double its own body mass? The answer is Etherium. A sort of blanket space surrounding this world. It serves as a barrier between our world and others, and is not only the space Mystery Dungeons occupy, but also the source of our power. As Legendarys, we were born in the Etherium, and so possess immense power. The mortals don’t possess such mastery over it as us due to their being born here, where they’ve never . But you and your fellow humans are a sort of middle ground between the two. You passed through the Etherium to here, and so possess a sort of half-mastery over channeling it.”

Zulu took all this information in, everything starting to make sense to him.
“Is that why fighting in mystery dungeons helps us get stronger quicker than fighting here? Because the mystery dungeons go through Etherium?”

“Precisely. I’m glad you aren’t as clueless as the older ones when this concept was explained.” Cresselia said, obviously pleased.
“But… there is a theory. That even Etherium isn’t limitless in the power it supplies. The rapid decline of mystery dungeons to the point of near extinction makes some think that the power reserve available to us is falling. And as history shows, the time in which the world experienced massive upheavels from excess energy resulted in mystery dungeon outbreaks. Time and Space’s corruption by Darkrai… the meteor crisis… both resulted in mystery dungeon outbreaks.”

“Wait. Meteor crisis? Time and Space corrupting? Can I please get some context?” Zulu asked, his clarity from earlier disappearing.

“Yes, perhaps I should give you brief summaries of both events.” Cresselia agreed.
“The meteor crisis came first. The mortals were not so civilized as they are today. Only a few pockets of civilization existed where Pokemon could live free from the threat of feral Pokemon, that is, Pokemon that stuck to the old ways of killing each other for food and survival. Pokemon Square was one of them. But when disasters threatened the world, a young Gardevoir took it upon herself to bring a human from another world to here, hoping they would be able to help keep order and eventually restore the world balance. But this human, while praised as a hero… had made enemies. And these enemies attempted to use an old legend regarding a human bringer of disaster to try and turn the friends they had made against them”

Zulu felt a pit in his stomach as he thought about how he might have felt had that happened. Chances are he would have broken easily…

“But one friend stood with them, and helped to clear the human’s name. Which they did. But at long last, the source of the energy upheavel causing the disasters revealed itself. A meteor of unknown origin, perhaps shaken free from some distant system during the breaking, was on a collision course with the planet. And it would have caused an extinction level event had Rayquaza not stopped it, but he only did so after the human and his friends begged him to.”

“Rayquaza was just going to let that meteor strike?” Zulu asked.
“No wonder he’s with the New Order…”

“Don’t sell him short, Zulu. He had tried to take steps to ensure the survival of Pokemon kind. Sky Tower, his home base, had been turned into an Ark of some sort. Rayquaza was always good with contingency plans. It’s likely he believed he wasn’t strong enough to stop it, but regardless, he tried and prevailed, ending the threat.”

Zulu couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
“So… what happened to the human?”

“Hmm? Oh, he married his Pokemon partner. The two had a child together.”

Zulu let out a small cheer in his head. So it WAS possible for a human turned Pokemon to reproduce with a plain Pokemon. Not that he’d been thinking about doing that though…

“But I’m afraid that the story did not end well with them.” Cresselia sighed.
“Darkrai at this point had been acting… erratic. He muttered to himself, snapped at others, and began to try and usurp my position. We are counterparts after all, and we help regulate the lunar cycles. He controls the darkness of the moon, I the light. But he became increasingly obsessed with the concept of darkness. Power formed from negativity. And this obsession led him to kill the human and his wife, as he feared they would prove formidable opponents, before fleeing into the night, disappearing.”

“What about their kid!?” Zulu asked, worried to hear the answer.
“What happened to their kid?”

“Dead. Completely and utterly obliterated. Not even a body to bury.” Cresselia sighed.
“My account on what happened next is fuzzy, at best, due to this all having taken place in a dead time line.”

Zulu cocked his head.
“Dead time line?”

“Yes. By all accounts, the corruption of time and space never happened. The gap between when Darkrai corrupted Temporal Tower and when he was ultimately defeated was sealed between the past where he was defeated, and the future that was saved. It’s… confusing. Basically, Darkrai wasn’t killed, but had his memory obliterated. And Mewtwo practically raised him into the warrior for justice he is… was.” Cresselia corrected.
“Out of that conflict though rose a great hero. A young Grovyle, whom Celebi adored. He had partnered with a human, a human no even knows the origin of, that had helped him save time. He defended the future from further corruption by a dark, primal Dialga, while she purified time before it could even fully corrupt from the past. Like I said… confusing. Time travel tends to be that way. But after this incident, mystery dungeons all but disappeared. There was peace after all. No balance disrupting forces remained.”

“But why are there still some around then?” Zulu asked. It seemed like a big coincidence that the only mystery dungeons left were the ones the plates were in.

“Isn’t it obvious to you, Zulu? The plates are solidified pieces of the Etherium’s elements. They created mystery dungeons on top of the regular dungeons which they are hidden in for defensive purposes. The dungeons may be artificial, but they operate under the exact same principles.”

That statement interested Zulu greatly
“Wait… so with the plates we have… we could create mystery dungeons?”

“Theoretically. During the Vallus campaign, there were reports of an Acolyte scientist creating mystery dungeons, but these reports were never proven and his method of doing so remained unknown. So it is possible to create artificial mystery dungeons.”

Zulu was learning a lot about the workings of the Pokemon world. He wagered he probably knew more thant Twinkiel did about mystery dungeons at this point. But the guy seemed pretty knowledgeable on all the other stuff.
But there were still some things that bothered Zulu that Cresselia had mentioned…

“The Vallus campaign?” Zulu asked aloud.

“Yes. The first time we brought humans here.” Cresselia said.
“Hundreds of them.”

“H-hundreds!?” Zulu exclaimed. There were only about a dozen of them here, counting the one that had died shortly after arriving. But hundreds had been brought before?

“Yes. We were desperate for victory, Zulu. Giratina had taken all of Vallus in his grip. The continent flowed with darkness. The dead walked the land under his power, the living cowered in the tunnels or joined him. The plants themselves served Giratina. We needed soldiers. But even the hundred we’d brought didn’t stay.”
“Understand, Zulu. We are not cruel. The humans that we saw as not ready for warfare were returned home. By the time we were done culling the herd, only a small few remained. Aegeas was one of them. There were others as well, all so brave. If only we had known what we were going to put them through.”

“Did any of them die?” Zulu asked.

“Yes.” Cresselia answered flatly.
“As they suffered some degree of memory loss, though not as severe as yours, some chose names for themselves. There was a Vibrava named Dusty, and she was so brave. And when she and Zapdos were together… I’d never seen him so happy.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Zulu stopped Cresselia.
“You’re telling me… Zapdos… was in love… with a human?”

“Yes. Hard to believe, given your history with him. But he was quite different during the Vallus campaign. But Dusty’s death had torn him apart, turning him into what he is now. Her body couldn’t even be recovered.”

Zulu felt a twinge of sympathy for Zapdos… but stamped it out. That bird was a murderer and was downright evil. He didn’t deserve love…

“The mystery dungeons of Vallus were far different. They were forged by Giratina’s darkness. As such, being in them did make one stronger, but also drew those that traversed them ever closer to darkness. Giratina utilized that to try and control them and turn them against each other. He succeeded in one instant, and Dusty was the victim.”

Cresselia saw that she had clearly depressed Zulu.
“I’m… sorry. I hope I haven’t upset you.”

“No, I’m fine. I just wish I could have met some of the humans from back then. Aside from Aegeas anyway.”

“Well, you just might. No one is quite sure where any of them ended up following the war.” Cresselia said.
“Now, I’m afraid I’ve delayed on my duties for the day long enough. I must bid you goodbye now Zulu.”

“Ok.” Zulu nodded.
“Goodbye Cresselia. I’ll see you once we get the plate here.”

With a smile from Cresselia, the connection was cut.

~~~~~

Cresselia sighed after the connection with Zulu was cut, feeling Mewtwo’s gaze behind her.

“You didn’t tell him of Neona?” Mewtwo inquired.

“We’ve already lost Frost to the New Order. I don’t want to put any doubts in his mind that he might be working for the wrong side.” Cresselia said.

“It sounds as if you have doubts about our cause.”

“Of course I don’t. I’ve seen what the New Order has done to the mortals. We’ve done no such brutality.”

“Still, Neona is dangerous. If she were to somehow sway Aegeas to the New Order cause, or worse yet convince one of the others to turn…”

“Then we’d do what’s necessary.” Cresselia said resolutely, though was a little vague as to what “necessary” qualified.

“Be careful of your feelings, Cresselia.” Mewtwo said.
“Giratina targeted Dusty because of Zapdos’s feelings towards her. Her death rendered him incapable of fighting effectively for the remainder of the Vallus campaign. I wouldn’t put it past the New Order to try the same.”

“Don’t worry for my emotions, Mewtwo.” Cresselia said sternly.
“I’m fully in control. Palkia’s death did nothing to my effectiveness in combat. Zulu’s death, while tragic, would affect me just as little.”

Mewtwo raised his eyebrow at that statement, seeing right through the lie, but not pushing any further.

“May the light be with you.” Was all Mewtwo said before teleporting away.

~~~~~

Keela ensured her room was secure. Of course, when a curtain was all she had for a doorway, how secure could she make it? She pulled her hay bed aside, revealing a secret tunnel underneath. Funny, how easy she could dig with her jaw. Of course the taste of dirt hadn’t been pleasant digging this. She descended into the tunnel, having to duck down in order to make it through unimpeded. The tunnel didn’t go that far before opening up into a second room about the size of her own bedroom. But this one was decorated a little… differently.
Hundreds of bones took up the room, lying in piles and carpeting the floor. Three sets of cuffs set in the far wall were also occupied by skeletons. Of course, they were just there for decoration. Keela hadn’t had anyone live, prisoner or not, in here in years. Still, she was hoping to change that. Specifically a certain Flaafy and Clefairy…
At the center of the room lay a short golden pillar, and sitting atop that was what appeared to be some kind of golden crystal. Griseousite, the mineral of darkness. But it was essentially just a lump of crystal in its current state. Giratina’s Griseous Orb however was another story. It had taken the lives of nearly 700 to make it. This was just a mere shadow of its glory. Still, crude as it was, it served its purpose.

“My lord…” Keela began, kneeling before the altar.
“Your servant heard your summons.”

The room seemed to darken, and despite being in one of the hottest places on the continent, a chill settled over the voracious Mawile.

“Keela Mawile, rise.” A dark voice commanded.

Keela looked up to see the dark eyes peering out from the crystal.

“I have good news, Keela.” Giratina said.
“My champion is ready.”

Keela looked up.
“But… I thought my brother and I were? We’re the last true Acolyte’s still around here. Where did you get a new champion?”

“That’s not your concern. I felt I needed someone more effective than you two. The last of my descendents… and such a disappointment to me.”

Keela felt her anger build up.
“I’ve done everything you asked me to do. I’ve kept up with my sacrifices. I’ve fed you strength. What does my brother do?”

“More than you know.” Giratina said.
“While you’re toying with males in a cave, your brother has installed himself in a position of power. But don’t worry, I still need your service, Keela.”

Keela looked up, having had her eyes downcast.
“I’m listening.”

“There is darkness stirring in the hearts of humans in Frostpoint. Specifically, a Riolu.”

Keela looked up.
“And here I thought all those little guys were gone.”

“He’s a human, Keela. In the body of a Riolu. That power could prove useful. After your business is done in Greatwood, you’re to depart for Frostpoint, alone, and try to… nourish his darkness.”

Keela smirked at that.
“You know that’s what I’m best at.”

“Good. But bear in mind… I’m already very disappointed in you. Try not to push your luck with me.”
And with that final remark, the connection was ended.





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StupidSoup says...



Ren Day A7 11:30 A.M

Ren slowly walked alone, moving towards the training...thing...up ahead. He had been called earlier than he expected, at around nine forty however he also hadn't realized that the training ground was so far away.

He spotted Aegeas up ahead. The Dewott nodded to him as he approached. Thankfully, there was no sign of Gabriel. Ren didn't feel like he needed to have any more conversations. The time he'd spent with the Riolu had alerted him to more than just how the group saw him. Ren realized that others were going through the same struggle he was. They were all changing at a surprising rate and Ren didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He glanced over at Aegeas. The Dewott had spent so much time in this world. He was so different from everyone else. Ren would've never guessed he was once a human.

Finally, Gabriel arrived. The Riolu didn't even glance at Ren as he entered, the Beartic from the base back in Frostpoint leading the way.

With the last humon's arrival, the Gardevoir, who addressed herself as Lieutenant Madeleine, stepped forwards. There were words spoken about the challenge but from the environment surrounding them, Ren couldn't help but think any explanation was redundant. He watched as Gabriel and Aegeas both were pushed into their respective hailstorms. Gardevoir then turned to him.

"You're Ren right? I realize this might be a bit to easy being ice type and all but you are required to give it your full attention. If I see you slacking there will be severe punishment. Do I make myself clear?"

Ren nodded. Then allowed the Gardevoir to push him into his own hailstorm.

The storm itself was not held back in any way despite being artificially made. However, it had little effect on Ren. The Blaziken stared into the storm of ice, letting his aura of heat melt away the ice in front of him.

Ten minutes of this eh?

Ren decided to experiment. He let out all the heat inside him at once, creating a large ball of heat around him. The hail melted instantly and steam swirled into the air. Through the hail, Ren could barely make out Lieutenant Madeleine's face staring at him through the ice. Despite the obvious warmth, Ren shivered and his heat receded. She was certainly intimidating and Ren could sense the power behind her gaze. Perhaps should tone it down a notch.

Ren looked down at himself. Sure he could heat up a swath of land. But what about precision?

The Blaziken thought for a second, wondering where to start. Then he lifted his hand and tried to focus the heat into his finger.

He succeeded in looking foolish.

Ren gazed dully at his hand and the astonishing amount of nothing coming out of it. Then he tried a different tactic. Ren locked his gaze onto a point on the ground and willed it to be blackened. Imagining the stench of burnt dirt, he leveled his finger at the spot of land.

Then watched as the ground stayed the same frosty white.

The Blaziken sighed. He decided that perhaps ten minutes of training wasn't enough to learn precision attacks.

Eventually, the hailstorm subsided. Ren was left staring back at Madeleine.

"Well done I suppose. But your next test will be far harder although a bit more straightforwards. You will be fighting...."

Ren flinched slightly.

"...four substitutes created by yours truly. Your job will be to destroy each one within a certain amount of time. I don't believe there is anything left to say. Am I mistaken?"

Ren shook his head, mentally preparing himself.

"Good. You shall begin now."

Ren flinched, his eyes darting to see where the first substitute would appear. The fact that he was fighting a mere shadow took an enormous weight off his shoulders. The last thing he wanted to do was lose his cool against one of his friends.

But are they really friends? You know what they think of you.

Ren silenced the nagging voice in the back of his head as the first substitute appeared.

He wasted no time, letting fire propel him forwards at a blinding speed. He struck the head of the substitute, melting it. Then, with a flick of his wrist, tossed it behind him. The next on appeared moments later. Ren fired a flamethrower, then followed behind it, smashing into the sub with a kick. Realizing the next target would be farther away, Ren leapt into the air, then created a sphere of heat around him. He then fell towards the next substitute, melting it down to a puddle. Finally, the last sub popped up. Ren rushed it again, shattering it with a super-heated palm.

"Well done."

Ren turned, fire in his eyes, and attempted to fire off a heatwave, gathering the energy into his hands, feeling it lock onto the Gardevoir's head.

Then he stopped. The heat faded and Ren stood glaring at the ground.

"Usually the last challenge would be to endure being frozen but as you know we cannot freeze fire types. So you shall be helping us gather the others."

Ren nodded, still trying to understand what had happened.
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Poopsie says...



Shade stood at the peak of Mt Icewind. Vex stood by his side.

What you did was wrong shade. That poor kid doesn't need anyone else beating up on him.

It needed to be done.

It needed to be done? Did killing all of those enslaved Mon in a blood rage need to be done?

It was the only way. It was for the better good...

Was killing Sanguine for the better good?

Shade dropped the sword, shaken. A black bubbly liquid came up at his feet and his eyes flickered from light to dark. From behind him, Vex turned his head to observe. Shade focused, barely fighting off the memories that kept creeping up on him.

Please don't say that name. Shade's voice was a whisper.

Life is a double edged blade. We can only accept our choices. My point us, You let Sanguine die to preserve an ideal.

Shade list himself. With a shriek of agony, he slammed his fist into the ground. Black liquid shot up into the sky, then exploded in a fiery blast. Vex, who was still standing by Shade's side, threw his cloak over him, protecting himself from the explosions.

Inside of all of us their is a pit of insanity, of pain. Their is no end to that pain, only with the acceptance of our choices can we climb out of these pits

With another yell, Shade lashed out, but this time, at himself. With black energy coursing around him, Shade sliced his arm off, blood gushed out of the wound, but before he could get any further, Vex's fist, pulsing purple, smashed into his other arm, tearing it off. This time Shade gasped, his eyes went from black back to white and the energy coursing around him subsided. Shade screamed in pain and clutched the places where both of his arms had been, only to find one of them was still there. He turned to Vex with wide eyes. Vex was holding his staff, half of it was open and pulsing with psychic energy. Shade realized he'd only dreamt of Vex cutting off his other arm. Vex had placed him under a nightmare the moment his fist had met with Shade. Shade slowed his breathing and Vex smiled, he then stopped and Shade gritted his teeth as Vex cauterized Shade's other arm with a fiery finger.

and find the sun again. No matter how consumed we are by grief or anger or insanity, their is always a way to come back to the light, because in the end we are beings of balance. Where we are sad, we are also happy where we are angry we are also...

"...At peace. Where their is a pit if dark, their is a ray of light that cuts down into its midnight depths. You are that ray of light. You are the worthy avenger. Now go find me the wicked, the afflicted, and the damned and let them join us in this ray of light. Thank you."

Shade turned to Vex, who smiled gleefully.

"Vex, I have a plan to bring back Frost."

"Just one thing. No smashing."

Vex frowned.

"That's my favorite part."
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Poopsie says...



Frost didn't want to get up. He felt like his mind was tearing itself apart. Their were two parts of him now. One was of himself, the other was that of the plate. It had taken over him and now Frost could feel its sentience as he struggled against it. He remembered back to when Vex had ripped the plate out of his chest. He'd felt something then. The world had become blinding, as if a haze had been lifted, and Frost had begun to feel something in the fleeting seconds that he lay there. Above him Frost heard a sound. It came from the floor above him. The top floor. Frost picked himself up, and, being in the state he was, opted to smash through the roof and up to the top floor. There stood Vex and Shade. Vex supported his....comrade and Frost noticed that one of Shade's arms was missing. Shade smiled lazily.

"We meet again. Vex, put me down."

Vex dropped him, Shade stood unsteadily, still smiling at Frost.

"What is it you fear Frost?"

"I fear nothing."

Shade chuckled at that.

"Everyone fears something."

"Then I am the exception."

Shade was silent, then, Frost caught a small streak of red run through Shade's eyes. An emotion smashed into Frosts mind, and even though he felt it, he couldn't quite place it. Like a ray of light in a bottomless pit, Frost could only feel the dark.

"Know this, at this moment you may fear nothing. At this moment you may think yourself strong, but believe me when I say you are weaker than you've ever been. You deny that you fear, yet their is still that little voice in the back of your head that has never been so loud. It screams out your sins, and though you try to deny it, try to succumb to the ebb and flow of the abyss inside you, you can never completely smother it."

Frost unconsciously took a step back.

"I hear no voice. I am free. You are not."

"Frost do you remember when you were human?"

Frost took another step back.

"No."

Something was filling him now, it wasn't a voice, or a cold feeling of dread. It was warm, it made him feel secure, but their was something else that came with it. Frost couldn't place it, but it reminded him of what he felt when Vex had ripped the plate out of him.

"Please try to remember, I know you can."

Frost gestured to himself.

"I was once human too."

Frost was stunned. All at once he recalled something. He was under a tree in his front yard. The tree was dead, but the grass was vibrant green. A gust of cool wind rattled the branches of the tree above him. Frost felt something in the wind. It was a bittersweet feeling, it bought pain. Tears welled up in his eyes, but at the same time, a smile formed on his lips. It tore him apart.

That was the day he'd lost his brother.

All at once, emotions flooded out. Frost stood stock still, shuddering. Their was pain, happiness, anger, humor, humility, arrogance, and their was one more feeling.

Fear.

Shade smiled, not a cruel smile, but a warm smile, a smile of understanding.

"Frost listen to me. My master taught me this, it'll help you when you feel yourself being pulled back down into the dark."

"A sound of silence
silhouettes the breaking dawn
Sorrow slinks west."


Frost repeated the mantra in his head.

"It isn't finished."

"The haiku, as us humans call it, represents the meaning of humanity. It is equilibrium, their will always be darkness, their will always be a moment in which you are weak, but we must go on, it is the human way, and eventually you will find the light, their will be a moment in which you are strong, and that makes all the difference."

"But it isn't finished."

Shade's eyes twinkled. Hiding a silent laugh.

"Neither are you."

Frost stepped back once more, then turned and ran
Last edited by Poopsie on Sun May 08, 2016 3:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TheSilverFox says...



Los Desastres de la Guerra


Aegeas was genuinely surprised when he found the Bearctic at the door, once again ready to send him to the next day’s training. The fact that an entire day had passed without feeling like an agonizingly slow deathride was almost relieving. Though any serenity was broken by the realization that he would have to subject himself to the same punishment he received yesterday.

The rest of the previous day had actually gone fairly well. In spite of the fact that every bone and muscle in his body was sore, his injuries had been largely superficial. The effective treatment of the nurses had cured his wounds with quick ease, and the pain had gradually subsided throughout the day. Still, though he had been recommended to rest and get his body to relax and adjust itself to the more peaceful conditions, he’d spent his time wandering through various parts of the Snow Fort. Unaccompanied, which was the way he liked it. He preferred not having foils commenting on his appearance, personality, or actions. Besides, word seemed to have spread quickly about his participation in the Resistance Evaluation Test – at least among the higher-ups, as he surmised it would be foolish for the large population in the massive fortress to know, lest the New Order learn through word of mouth what was happening. He received smiles, friendly greetings, even a few snippets of conversation. It was pleasant.

His sleep, as usual, was punctured by a score of nightmares, but when was it ever not? Aegeas tried to bury them as well as he could when he woke up. Which, having done this for a long time, he did with relative ease. And the morning of the subsequent day had come and gone dully enough, giving him the time to relax for a change. Peacefully, calmly, and unbothered. Nothing he’d experienced in great quantities since this ridiculous adventure began over a week ago. The bag had been untouched, which was relieving, although he doubted it would remain this way for long. Thus, he made sure to hide it under his bed when he heard the loud footsteps of the Bearctic coming down the hall. Absol was definitely not stupid enough to ignore checking such a place, but Aegeas hoped it would deter him. At least for another day.

“Congrats on surviving the first day,” commented the Bearctic in his gruff voice as he led the Dewott down the halls in the exact same path as yesterday. Aegeas had already memorized the route of the path, and so could’ve been able to traverse it himself. But the Bearctic did provide security. “I wasn’t all that sure if you’d make it. But it seems you succeeded in the end.”

“Thank you?” replied Aegeas awkwardly, having the distinct impression that was most likely going to be the closest thing to a complement the ‘mon was going to give him. Especially given the way that it was said in a slightly surprised tone, with what may have been a hint of embarrassment.

“Of course,” the Bearctic continued as he stopped and gestured towards the entrance to the room, where Cassandra waved from within, “I bet you’re aware that that was just the start. You still have a long way to go.”

“Well, it’s not as if I’m here for any other reason,” sarcastically remarked Aegeas as the Bearctic saluted his superiors and left. However, by then, the Bearctic had already rounded a corner and was out of earshot. Aegeas sighed. Considering his self-doubt, especially when it came to his abilities, he felt he needed to speak less often.

Today, most everyone he had seen yesterday was already gathered. The lieutenant, nurses, North, Xerneas, Cassandra, Fleur, and Gabriel. The last of whom didn’t seem all that happy. Of course, that was Aegeas’s general impression of him to begin with. Not that it bothered him; he was aware that most of the humons were teenagers, and subject to mood swings and emotional conflicts, not to mention the fact that most of them likely had some sort of tragic or dismal past. After all, he used to be one. Too, he’d seen worse. Far worse. This was easily mild in comparison. No, what interested him is that he’d gotten the general impression that Gabriel and Xerneas seemed to have some sort of a conflict or tension with each other. It was evident in the way that they seemed uncomfortable around the other. It was like this yesterday, as well.

Of course, the Dewott wasn’t going to pry into such a matter like that, which seemed personal. It would be rude to do so. He wasn’t going to get involved unless someone wanted him to, which didn’t seem too likely.

Ren arrived a few minutes later, completing this strange menagerie of assorted test overseers and participants perfectly. They nodded at each other yet again, but any attempts at conversation was stifled when the lieutenant stepped into the center of the room and began speaking.

Aegeas still found her unnerving. His experience had made him distrust slightly anyone with an alluring voice, because, much of the time, they turned out to be unreliable and/or manipulative. He knew that she was a senior member in the Snow Fort, and likely one of the most devoted to the cause of the Resistance, but he couldn’t break his old habit – it had been ingrained in him, and remained as such. So, in order to keep himself calm and prepared for before actually participating in the test, which would allow him to remain focused and more capable during the test, he focused on the words instead of the tone. “Welcome, everyone. Here begins the second day of your Resistance Evaluation Test. Congratulations to all of you for having completed the first day; you’ve proved to be capable and effective so far. I’d like to state that Commanders Cassandra and Xerneas will be accompanying me in observing today’s set of challenges and keep an eye on your progress. Now, gather around me, everyone, and we’ll be teleporting to the scene for today’s tests. I’d specify, but I think it would be best for you to see it yourselves, not to mention that it wouldn’t be fair for the other participants if you were to prepare some kind of strategy before beginning the test. And, of course, security reasons. Come a little closer; we don’t want any accidents taking place before the test even begins.”

These last words proved unsettling for Aegeas, as it had yesterday, but his determination led him into the circle that gathered around the lieutenant. A large psychic bubble of energy (accommodating Xerneas, who was by far the greatest ‘mon in the room) formulated around them, and Aegeas prepared for the quick jump that would transport him to their next destination. I seriously hope, he thought as he closed his eyes in preparation, that, of all things, I don’t find myself at the –

The coincidental nature of the transportation with respect to his thoughts gave the Dewott the distinct impression that the lieutenant was reading his mind and doing this on purpose, but he quickly ignored the thought as a chill ran down his spine. He could hear fierce winds in the background. They didn’t sound like he was on another snowy mountain, but that wasn’t the problem. If his assumption was correct, he could deal with another snowy mountain test. Aegeas could deal with several more. Nonetheless, the impression of the battering of sand against the psychic bubble of energy indicated what exactly it was that the wind was carrying, not to mention implied where he was. Knowing he would dread it, he opened his eyes, and found himself in the midst of – where else? - Sandaroza Desert. Same tall dunes, same fierce winds, exactly as he’d left it. And, if he was unlucky, that same pestilence would show up as well.

The Dewott groaned. So much for today being easier than yesterday.

“Now then,” began the lieutenant, after everyone spent a few seconds staring at the seemingly endless expand of giant dunes and typical desert landscape, “As before, we are here for two reasons. In this case, it is test your performance in fighting during a sandstorm, as well as your tolerance to being poisoned.” The eyes of some of the humons widened at this last statement, causing her to sigh and explain, “Naturally, as with yesterday, it will not be lethal. At worst, you’ll faint, although you’ll hopefully do this after you’ve completed the test. Otherwise, as you know, you will fail.”

“I’m assuming that we’ll begin by spending ten minutes in a sandstorm?” piped up Aegeas in a slightly bitter tone. The constant reminder of failure was not something he preferred.

“Correct,” replied the lieutenant matter-of-factly. “As a matter of fact, this will effectively be conducted in a similar fashion to yesterday’s tests, except you’ll be facing a sandstorm instead of hail. Not to mention poison instead of being frozen. However, I’m not going to be standing here and spend all of my time providing explanations. North, activate RBPT Phase Two, please.”

The Castform transformed into a shape that resembled a miniature sun, passing through the psychic bubble as it rose into the air and began to glow. “RBPT Phase Two initiated,” it noted in its monotone, robotic voice. “Sandstorm ETA: less than a minute.”

“The order is the same as last time,” noted the lieutenant. “First Gabriel, then Aegeas, than Ren, then –”

“Err…,” Aegeas said. The impression of a familiar face flickered in front of his mind, surprising and intimidating him. He expected the voice, the one he’d learned to rue, to once again appear in his head. This, of course, would be an embarrassing spectacle, especially in front of the assortment of people around him, and so he accidentally stammered, his voice a mix of a slight amount of fear and a lot of displeasure. Which he instantly regretted. The lieutenant, turning around with an expression that would’ve included a raised eyebrow if she had any, noted, “Unless, of course, you want to serve as an example for everyone else.”

The Dewott raised his hand and was about to argue, but gave up. He was unwilling to admit he was intimated by so many eyes staring down at him, especially from a Legendary, but he excused himself in another fashion. It would be cowardly if he were attempt to back down from a complete misunderstanding in front of the people who were here to verify his strength. Besides, he knew that a confrontation with the voice was inevitable. The better to conduct the test sooner and be done with it faster. If he was especially lucky, it would be the last time he had to speak with that madman.

“Sandstorm ETA: In ten seconds…nine…eight…” echoed the Castform, signaling Aegeas’s nearing departure.

“It’s almost time,” said the lieutenant, who was likely counting down in her own head. After a few seconds, she nodded and concluded, “Let us begin the second component of your Resistance Evaluation Test. Aegeas, step into the sandstorm.”

And, with that, Aegeas walked through the crowd assembled in the energy bubble and stepped onto the flaming desert sands, just as the Castform unleashed a massive storm of wind and sand at him.

Aegeas was lucky to close his eyes just in time, as the blinding wave mercilessly began to pummel his body. It wasn’t freezing or piercing, as the hail had been, but it was hot, dry, and persistent. He could already feel his skin start to feel inflamed as, once again, a whirlwind formed and traveled about him. Dust and sand grasped at his eyes, body, wherever they could find. His hearing was replaced with the deafening, fierce roar of a sandstorm, and his vision, when he mustered the courage to open his eyes, was blurry. The most he could do was cross his arms and bend forward, allowing the sand to brush over the top of his head and prevent his eyes from receiving any form of an attack.

They were gone. He could feel it. The lieutenant had already provided all necessary explanations yesterday; she had no need to explain them now. He needed to test his endurance, and that was the sum of the matter. No doubt, she and the others had likely observed him for a few seconds, seen his situation, and chose to continue with the testing. Maybe that was why the roar felt emptier than it had previously. It felt abandoned, soulless. Like…like…a scene in a disaster…movie?

Ah, you can thank me for that, echoed an audible voice in his mind. Given its location, it wasn’t hampered at all by the fierce wind and waves of sand. Aegeas felt the sudden urge to collapse face-first into the desert, but chose rather to groan and try to ignore the not so welcome visitor at the doorstep of his mind. Which, given he had absolutely nothing else to do, as even the simple task of opening his eyes and walking would prove to be difficult, was challenging.

Hello, hello, hello! Aren’t you glad to see…wow, someone isn’t happy to see their old…last I checked, I saved your life. I’m fairly sure that at least makes me qualify as an acquaintance. I should imagine that you would be proud; how many people can say they’re friends with a Legendary who doesn’t threaten to destroy them on a slight? …Hmm? Pity that they would pacify themselves like that. They could’ve used their power in much more imaginative ways.

Aegeas opened his eyes. Given his position, he had a fairly good view of the ground. Little sand was flying around in the small area he’d created, especially not by his eyes. However, his skin was gradually starting to feel more dry, and his lips were slightly parched. This was not good – he needed to maintain his hydrated state, or his abilities would slowly begin to wane and become less effective. That would give him less options when fighting the substitutes, which would make sure the battles would be harder and longer. Hence why he never much preferred staying in deserts for a length of time. At least, before he met the guest presently in his mind. He started to search his mind for any solutions.

Are you trying to ignore me? I am not about to rebuffed by your scrolling through memories and thoughts in a distinct attempt to stop me from conducting my investigation. Honestly, you are an incredibly reclusive and hidden human. A human, of all things. I’ve rarely ever met another human beforehand. Is your entire species like this? I haven’t had to deal with such mental battles even among Psychic-types. Now they were fun to fight – a greatest match of –

“Would you shut up?” shot back Aegeas, yelling the words out loud. The wind assured he had a hard time hearing them himself, but the intruder had no doubt gotten the message, given the way he stopped in the middle of a conversation. The visitor would never do that unless he was surprised – he had a propensity for endlessly chatting. “If you haven’t already read my mind, I’m in the middle of a test, and I’m looking for a convenient way to keep myself from failing in the next ten minutes. And, Volcanion, I’d like a little less of an interruption.”

Oh? replied a bemused Volcanion, whose tone infuriated the Dewott even more. Well, standing there and looking sad is doing you a great job of solving that problem. Not to mention drying up like…what’s a human analogy I could make for this…grapes in sunlight? Yes, that. Oh, but you’re in a sandstorm, you say?

“As I’ve said time and time again,” chastised Aegeas, “I would rather like it if you didn’t –”

A powerful gust of wind tore through the sand dune Aegeas was standing upon, sweeping the poor Dewott off of the ground and throwing him into the air. He hadn’t the time to say another word before he crash-landed a few feet behind his former position, landing on the ferociously hot sand as sand stung his eyes. Muffling a scream of pain, he grappled with the ground in other to find something he could hold onto and use to pull himself up. The desert seemed to be clamping his throat, and he gasped for breath as he tried to keep himself from dying, much less regain his composure. In the meantime, he shot a long series of curse words at Volcanion, who was strangely silent. The Dewott was, of course, too busy to question why. Fortunately, despite the persistently shifting sands, Aegeas was able to place his feet and hands squarely upon the ground, and soon, struggling against the harsh winds, grunting and groaning, began to rise and stand once more. The gust of wind, whatever it was, had been only brief, for it had vanished as soon as he fell on the ground. However, his body was now coated in a layer of sand, and his chest was tinged red where it had touched the searing sand. Worse yet, he felt dry. Parched, as though the water had been pulled from his body. It was not comfortable, to say the least.

“Are you happy now, you damn…” began Aegeas, the rest of his sentence muffled by a slightly strong second gust.

Now, now. It was Volcanion’s turn to criticize Aegeas. You haven’t a right to swear at me, of all the ‘mons. And yes, I know exactly what each of those words mean; I’m in your mind, remember?

“What in the world was that for!?” boomed an enraged Dewott, resisting the urge to shift into cursing once again. He figured that the Legendary would be far less willing to talk if it assumed he was acting in a threatening fashion.

Mhm, yes, yes,” replied Volcanion, who was now evidently distracted by something. Aegeas instantly suspected he knew exactly what that was.

"Was that an excuse to probe through my mind? Of all the damn –”

Yes, mhm, of course, said Volcanion once more, before it seemed to register that it was in the midst of a conversation with an incredibly angry person. It shifted his focus from whatever had distracted him and spoke to an inflamed Aegeas. Oh, the microburst? Now, that was just to test your reflexes, not to mention an amusing display of show on my part. Of course, it proved useful in other ways.

“How in the world did you manage to do that? And did you summon that upon everyone else? Are you trying to make the Resistance question its own security and jeopardize the expedition that I’ve devoted so much time and energy to join!?”

Firstly, of course it wasn’t me. I might be powerful, but I don’t have magical sandstorm powers that I could activate from a distance. I merely informed a few of my underlings to add their energy into the sandstorm to produce, as you’ve seen, stunning results. Ones that…blow you away, so to speak. They seemed quite pleased to do so, let me say. I suppose working with me has spread some of my personality around. But I digress. Secondly, perhaps. But I’ll leave them to tell you themselves. Finally, your expedition has nothing to do with any of my goals, so I fail to see why I should be concerned about it. Regardless, I will still have the opportunity to continue my search, which has so far proved to be beyond fruitful.”

“Give me a reason why I don’t just come over there and tear you apart? Do you want me to fail? Do you want me to die? Would that make you happy?” Aegeas was tired. Angry, frustrated, brushing the sand off of his body. Whether he failed the test or not, his only focus was the imminent demise of the Legendary who proved to be among the cruelest and infuriating he’d met in recent times. And, given all those he’d met, was saying something.

Goodness, you’ve such a tendency to complain over irrational fears, sighed Volcanion in annoyance, as though the recipient of all the pain that had taken place was him. Just shoot yourself in the face with the water you have; that’ll brush it from you and keep from drying into a pile of bones. Sure, that would be amusing, but it defeats the purpose of…why, no, I did not take lessons from Hoopa. Always found him to be fascinatingly sadistic and cruel, but he lacks the appreciation of an intelligent mind. It’s a book to read through, you know – you can gleam so much information and knowledge from it. Especially yours. Between my trying to probe those hidden ones at the back of your head and having to look through your rudimentary and dull ways of torturing me, I’ve…

Volcanion suddenly grew quiet. What in the hell is he doing? thought Aegeas. Has he found another piece of my mind to rip apart? But the Legendary didn’t respond to his thought. That wasn’t normal – even if he was distracted, he would’ve at least made some kind of response to his commentary. As Aegeas surmised, for some reason, he didn’t appear to be in his mind anymore. An immensely relieved Aegeas sighed. Finally, he’d managed to drive that nuisance out. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d done it, but he had. Hopefully, he could keep him away for a long amount of time.

It was then that he remembered that Volcanion, in spite of his being both overwhelmingly frustrating and useless, had provided a piece of advice that actually made some sound sense. Volcanion had actually come up with an idea that could help prevent him from fainting. One that could actually help him complete the test. That was, in spite of the all the pain that Aegeas had just gone through, and his failing endurance against the sandstorm, the worst piece of news he’d learned that entire day. However, Aegeas, whose lungs were beginning to grow increasingly more pained and drier because of his lack of water, and whose body felt inflamed and sluggish as muscles struggled to move, had no other choice. Closing his eyes, he shot a Water Gun blast into the air in front of him, and was cooled down as the water was deflected by the wind and shot back towards him, soothing his inflamed body and brushing away much of the sand that had clung to the Dewott previously. Now he could breathe better. Now he felt just a tad stronger. He wasn’t sure how long this would last, but he felt slightly better about the possibility of surviving this endurance challenge. And then, of course, he could fight, which he was slightly better at than sitting around and hoping not to pass out.

I’m baaaaaack, said the voice in his mind after a few seconds, shattering Aegeas’s moment of hope and tranquility in the midst of the storm. Clenching his hands, he stomped on the ground and gritted his teeth in irritation. Is she gone? Did she leave?

“What are you talking about?” replied, through still gritted teeth, a confused, though still frustrated, Aegeas. “I haven’t heard a single ‘mon other than this nuisance. Do you know him? He’s a chatterbox, cruel, incessantly annoying…” It brought him some satisfaction to get some kind of revenge against Volcanion, and he relished in the moment. Of course, Aegeas made sure to not think about his implementation of Volcanion’s strategy – the last thing he wanted was for the Legendary to realize Aegeas had actually followed his advice. He already had a big enough ego.

Yes, I’m quite aware of him, I see him rather often noted Volcanion in a sarcastic tone. Aegeas envisioned that, wherever the Legendary was, he was rolling his eyes. I’m talking about the lieutenant. I could sense her nearby. She seemed to be watching you behind your back, silently, patiently. He emphasized these last few words with a false sense of drama in an obvious attempt to exaggerate his seriousness and unnerve Aegeas.

“Wait, are you telling me that you’re hearing voices in your mind, in my mind?” said Aegeas in what would’ve been a witty tone if it wasn’t streaked with suspicion and tension. He doubted Volcanion was wrong. The lieutenant hadn’t exactly been secretive about her concerns, and didn’t surprise him that she would check out of the blue in a situation where he wouldn’t be able to see her and act as if everything was normal. He’d have to find some way to address this when he had the chance. But, of course, he couldn’t do so now, not while he was in the midst of a struggle to stay conscious. Not to mention the fact that she was sure to return in a few minutes’ time and summon her Substitutes. No points in trying to argue with someone while fighting; you could risk talking and getting yourself killed. As usual, that brought up a few all too familiar memories, but Aegeas avoided thinking about them, hoping that Volcanion wouldn’t notice them. Thankfully, he was too busy talking to do so.

I did say silently, didn’t I? I can’t hear the voices of quiet people, said the Legendary, who obviously hadn’t gotten the hint. Except, of course, when I talk to them through their minds. And have access to their thoughts and memories. It chuckled.

“What would it take to get rid of you?” demanded Aegeas, looking down at the ground as he brushed the sand from off of his shoulders. The effects of the Water Gun blast were beginning to wear away, but the results more or less resembled how he’d originally felt after a minute in the sands, which wasn’t terrible. Though it was disheartening when the clock in his mind registered only a couple of minutes before the end of the test, as it meant he’d still have to converse with this buffoon for a while longer.

Ah, said Volcanion, treating the question as one that he had expected coming for a long time and had prepared for in advance. This was most likely the truth. While you do contain some of my energy, your body will naturally…ahem…dispose of it over the next few weeks. Aegeas rolled his eyes in what may have been a slight amount of embarrassment before the Legendary continued. Assuming that you stay away from me long enough, it will entirely fade from your mind, and then you needn’t worry about me bothering you anymore. But I imagine that would be an absolute shame, since I know that you have something on your mind.

Aegeas gasped when his piece of necklace flashed in front of his face. He tried to grasp it, but it flew away from his grip. The sand blew in and stung his eyes, and he quickly returned to gazing back down at the ground, letting an errant tear or two drip down. “Enough,” he called quietly, brushing the sand from his eyes, “with your silly mind games. Yes, I am trying to look for a particular person. And that necklace has something to do with it.”

Who are you looking for? noted Volcanion in a questioning fashion, almost as though he was a reporter who had just heard an interesting scoop, opened his notebook, and held his pen patiently above the paper, ready to write.

“Well…” replied Aegeas, pondering this for a few seconds as he scrolled through the few memories he had. “…I’m fairly sure they’re a girl.”

I must say that those are some of the uncertain search parameters I’ve ever –

“With a deep voice, as well,” identified Aegeas suddenly, remembering the events of the previous day. “Switching between innocent and violent subjects between sentences, sometimes within sentences.” Volcanion sighed, and Aegeas was slightly disheartened. The Dewott was absolutely fine with the Legendary doing a little less searching of his mind, and still mad at him for what had happened. However, he was struck by the realization that, unless something or someone had enough force to dislodge the memories buried within his mind, this idiot was the only chance he possibly had at learning about himself. Distressing, obviously, but the truth. Otherwise, Aegeas would have to wait until he figured it out himself, and he had serious doubts that this knowledge would improve his situation, especially through the eyes of someone linking together all of the only set of puzzle pieces. Too many realizations in a short space might not prove to be so beneficial to his emotional state. After all, they had to have been buried in his mind for some reason, no?

After a minute of hopeful and patient waiting, the Legendary finally responded. Your mind is a fascinating combination of memories that leap out in front of my face, and those that remain hidden despite how much I try to probe them. And, whoever this girl is, she is in the latter category. It’s simply marvelous; you seem to have either forcefully buried them, or done so quite by accident. As I am within the constraints of your mind, I have as much of an ability to reveal such memories as you mind does. I think that even a Psychic-type would have to devote a consistent effort just to be able to pull any of these out. If you had someone purposely bury these for you, they must have been incredibly powerful. There must be a tragedy behind this one, I’m sure of it; you would have no motivation to hide your memories otherwise.”

“Wonderful,” groaned Aegeas, now downcast, especially as his last thoughts had been validated. At least he wasn’t focusing on the fierce desert sands or the terrific gusts, both of which persistently vied for his attention. More time was ticking by, adding onto the large amount that had already passed and less lay in front of him before the beginning of the second challenge. If he could just hold on for a short while longer…

Naturally, I am doing you a favor. My own interference in your consciousness can also prove to a barrier in case anyone else has the idea to breach your mind. Now, if a Psychic-type were to take control of me, they would have the ability to access your mind through itself, which would give them a greater ability to find whatever it is they may be searching for. Though they would still have to apply the effort. I’m not one to give up so easily, especially not when you have proven to be of immeasurable interest and value, and I will definitely fight to the death to assure my right to ponder yours. I…

Volcanion grew quiet again. “What?” said Aegeas, wheeling around behind him in spite of the fact that he did not expect the lieutenant to have already returned. He was now facing away from the gusts by now, and so sand beat down upon his back while the winds roughly nudged him forward. But he held his ground, and the sandstorm was unable to change his mind. Swept up once again with the harsh sounds and his inability to see, only a few silhouettes marked in the wind gave an indication that something was approaching, though they were beginning to come into view. She’s coming, I’ll be back soon, the Legendary whispered swiftly, pointing out the obvious, before its voice faded into the crashing waves of sand.

Reacting quickly, especially now that Volcanion was finally gone for at least a minute, Aegeas shifted to his firm expression, turned back to face the winds, and shot another blast of water in front of him. That would keep his muscles and body limber long enough to allow him to act more effectively during the battles. He breathed another sigh of relief as his dryness, which had previously been acting more and more severe as it made sore his body, eyes, ears, and mouth, was temporarily relieved by this effort, and he was capable of moving back just in time to see the figure of the lieutenant, alongside Xerneas and Cassandra and the nurses, appear in full view from the Gardevoir’s psychic bubble.

“Impressive,” commented the Gardevoir when she drew close enough to where Aegeas could hear the majority of her words, though some were still being masked by the fierce storm. “You’ve managed to last 10 minutes, and don’t seem any worse for wear for it. That’s…than I had expected.” Cassandra, who was talking quietly with Xerneas about a topic Aegeas was unable to discern, broke from the conversation to smile and wave. The Dewott, remembering when he’d first met her, awkwardly waved back.

“If you feel perfectly ready, we can begin the second part of your second day of testing. On the other hand, if anything is … alright, please state so. For instance, if you’re experiencing an excess of stress or anxiety that may impact your ability to undergo the test to your fullest potential –”

“I’m ready,” asserted Aegeas confidently. He hoped he hadn’t said it so quickly, as that would do nothing but raise the lieutenant’s suspicions all the more. At the same time, he didn’t want her to delve into, and perhaps expose, any of her impressions. The last thing he wanted was to be faced with questions that he didn’t exactly have all of the answers too. At least, answers that some of the most powerful leaders of the Resistance, gathered before him, would want. The Dewott focused on keeping his mind blank of all impressions and emotions. Experience made him incredibly effective at doing so, and he was relieved when all the Gardevoir did was sigh and, without questioning his sudden interruption of her speech, note, “You will now be facing four consecutive Substitutes … over the next ten minutes. As before, I will summon the first, and you must defeat it before … the second within the next two and a half minutes. Otherwise, you fail. Understand? Alright. Then let the second challenge begin.”

The lieutenant conjured a clone, called out “Remember, two and a half minutes,” and vanished alongside the others.

As yesterday’s opening moves had proved to be so effective, Aegeas began by rushing the clone, which had stepped out of the psychic bubble. A few quick and sharp scalchop swipes against his neck quickly eliminated it, and it dissipated into nonexistence. The Dewott, only breaking a sweat because of the heat, resumed the posture he had taken when testing his endurance and waited. Unthinking, patiently expecting the return of the Legendary. True to that Legendary’s actions, the familiar voice crept slowly and smoothly back into his mind.

Hmph, said the Legendary after a few seconds in a chiding tone.

“What is your problem this time?” noted Aegeas dully into the winds, which swept his voice and carried it to the far corners of the desert. Naturally, the Legendary, being in his mind, could hear it quite clearly. However, Volcanion was proving to be more a mental weight than he’d expected.

If you ask me, he noted casually, you’re not using your full potential.

“And I’m sure you know all about using other’s full potentials,” replied the Dewott sarcastically, holding one of his scalchops over his eyes to protect them from the winds as he scanned the landscape. Nothing. It would still be some time before the lieutenant returned.

Please, my goal is to help you find that you have any potential at all. Not entirely relegated for my pleasure, of course.

Aegeas waited a minute to see if he would elaborate, but the Legendary seemed enthused in some other subject, given his distant mumbling and humming. Likely focusing on pouring through his mind again. He wondered if punching himself in the head would rattle the Legendary’s perceptions. But this was quickly dispatched by the realization that the Legendary would make an irritated comment and persist irregardless, if not just summon another microburst to taunt him. And he needed all his strength for battling.

Suddenly, Volcanion grew quiet. Aegeas, now feeling more parched and dry, prepared a battle stance as the lieutenant appeared once again, conjured yet another clone, and vanished as the said clone stepped out into the desert’s embrace.

Ah, now here is the action I was waiting for, Volcanion began in a bemused tone as Aegeas once more made to attack from the front. Wait! Stop for a second! Listen to me! Stop! it shouted in Aegeas’s mind as the Dewott prepared to strike with yet another series of deadly blows from his scalchops. Placing his hands, and the scalchops they were holding, over his temples and groaning from the impact of the evidently loud noise, which momentarily drowned out all of its surroundings, he seized his attack.

Much better, said Volcanion with satisfaction, having now gained the voice of a teacher disciplining a lazy student.

“What was that for?” shouted Aegeas. Though he worried for a second that Gardevoir had some kind of a connection with her Substitute, and would be able to hear this outburst, her lack of a reaction, much less an appearance, quickly disputed and dispelled this theory.

I’ve noticed that you seem to be using the same, bland tactics Volcanion said. As I’ve said, I’m interested in tapping and testing your potential. And I would rather see you use the massive amount of stored energy within you than resorting to the rudimentary strategies that will burn away all that which you have on the surface, leaving you tired and exposed to the elements. And this, of course, won’t be healthy.

“Could you please do this some other time, when I don’t even have a couple of minutes to reinvent my entire strategy?” shouted Aegeas in frustrating, trapping his wrist in the general area a watch would be. Momentarily surprised that he could remember what a watch was, he instantly blamed this upon the Legendary, who responded by laughing ever so slightly.

Relax, it said to the obviously tense Dewott. This won’t take much of your time. You can feel free to strike while I give you my professional opinion.

Aegeas snorted, but, happy to be able to fight again, he shot a Water Gun blast at the clone. It was knocked back, but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect. On the bright side, at least it cured his thirst and drought slightly. Though it was beginning to eat at him once more, and his muscles were growing sore from the effort of keeping him alive and fighting. Aegeas rushed forward and cut at the neck of the Substitute, causing Volcanion to sigh as he provided his explanation.

To all those who first see you, you seem to be rather mellow. Calm, honest, firm. However, given the right stimuli, you quite easily shed this façade in favor of being enraged and quick-tempered. This indicates that you seem to have a rather large amount of rage within you, an energy supply that you seem to be intentionally…goodness, can’t you even understand what I’m hinting at?!

Aegeas deftly executed the second Substitute, watching it fade like its predecessor, before replying. “If you could skip your lengthy explanations and get to the point, I’d be very happy.”

Alright, if you’re so impatient, grumbled the Legendary. As I was saying, you have a lot of energy within you because of your temperament and your consistent efforts to hide it – which, might I add, only have a partial rate of success, especially if something you consider personal to you is invoked, or you’re afflicted by some frustrating situation or problem. That can be manipulated, naturally. If you could somehow take the anger inside of you and add it to your fighting abilities, you can become…

“Become what?” called out Aegeas after a few seconds. However, he silenced himself before he could continue any further, suspecting the third clone was to soon be on its way. This proved to be all too accurate, as the lieutenant soon materialized in her psychic bubble and crafted it.

“Getting tired yet?” she yelled in front of him in what was a rhetorical question, as she vanished before he had the ability to answer.

A weary Aegeas restored some of his stamina with another Water Gun blast, which concluded before Volcanion mustered the guts to return. …Ah, and here comes the third challenger. Alright, show me your anger.

“What?” replied a confused Aegeas. The Dewott, looking to test an idea, turned away from the third Substitute. Volcanion, who had stopped speaking in favor of watching with what may have been curiosity, observed as the Dewott conjured a small shaft of ice with an Ice Beam attack. Hoisting it in his hands, Aegeas willed some of his available energy to keep it from freezing. Hurling it like a javelin, it rapidly began to melt, but was turned by the wind in the general direction of the Substitution, whose chest it struck squarely and ferociously, almost impaling it.

No, no, no, not like that at all, commented a frustrated Volcanion, though his voice betrayed the fact that he was impressed by the Dewott’s creativity. Think of something that annoys you.

“You?” said Aegeas sarcastically as he closed in on the Substitute, prepare to finish the badly weakened clone with his scalchops.

I mean…well…yes, confessed a disappointed and, to be honest, embarrassed Volcanion. One of the consequences of an excess of self-esteem known as an ego. Since that is undoubtedly the case…yes, you may feel free to use me as your focal point. Craft an image of me, and devote your mind to that. The anger within you should surely begin to rise.

The Dewott, with a moment of victory on his hands, smiled. However, deciding that it would be best to listen to the advice of Volcanion, he took a few steps back. A few seconds later, he had a near-perfect image of the Legendary within his mind. Most definitely not planted by it itself, since it would be too ashamed to see an image of itself desecrated in this fashion. Regardless, taking a few deep breathes, clenching his fists to get the blood moving through his hands, Aegeas ignored his groaning body and rapidly shot out a scalchop, which shot through the head of the third Substitute and all but destroyed it.

Well done! commented a pleased Volcanion. Aegeas thought that, if the Legendary actually had working hands, it would be clapping at him right now. The speed, accuracy, and power…what an astounding and graceful movement! The temper within you certainly rose, even if only slightly, and certainly contributed to such a blow. A marvelous thing to witness, indeed. Still inefficient, naturally, and that probably sapped plenty of the energy out of you, but this is something that can be correct in time. Now, if only you could devote this skill into your other…

It tapered off yet again. Aegeas, tired, breathing heavily, muscles sore from the effort of fighting and resisting the desert weather, didn’t feel as though he had too much strength left. His face was flushed, and his body was simply exhausted from all that it had gone through. Ears were ringing, and perhaps almost bleeding, thanks to the endless din and racket of the storm, and his eyes were sore and stinging. Despite the despair that was slowly crawling its way up his throat, however, the Dewott willed himself into his battle position and waited patiently, expectantly, for the final clone to appear.

The seemingly short amount of time that it took for the lieutenant to return and materialize the fourth clone all but confirmed Aegeas’s doubts about his timeliness and capacity to defeat these clones. They were gaining relative strength, for the apparent reason that he was becoming weaker trying to fight each one in these conditions. This one seemed to be far more of a formidable challenge than its predecessors, and a wave of nausea and despair momentarily rippled through Aegeas. It had taken him only a couple strikes to defeat the first; several to defeat the second; and a quick implementation of a strategy he’d never thought of using before to crush the third, although it had only succeeded the strongly energy-draining effort of conjuring a strong enough Ice Beam attack. How was he expected to fight the final one?

Volcanion noticed his fear at once. If you’re lacking the ability or motivation to fight, it began, I can assist –

“I…am here…to prove myself,” breathed Aegeas as he fired a few weak Water Gun attacks at the Substitute, to little effect. “I don’t mind…that you’re giving me the ideas…but I will not let you…guide my entire strategy. I must prove that I can fight…without assistance. What use will I be…in battle…otherwise?” Taking a few deep breaths, he charged at the duplicate of Gardevoir, kicking it in the chest with both of his legs. The effort made it fall onto the ground, at least somewhat damaged by the attack. Grunting, Aegeas jumped into the air and landed on the duplicate with his entire weight, knocking it further into the unstable sandy dune. Sand began to pour over the Substitute.

I must say, pondered the Legendary, acting as the source of entirely unrelated commentary to Aegeas. The Gardevoir must be draining quite a lot of her energy in order to fashion a series of clones for four different opponents. How has she not already fainted yet? Ah, yes, she does have a few healers to provide her with assistance. Regardless, her own capacity to devote and exert her energy like this is rather impressive. It should make sense that she be in a position of high authority; it seems to me that those most capable of battle are in the highest of rankings. Like myself, though I’d much rather prefer to let others work for me. Not as though I can’t fight on my own, I…are you sure that’s a good idea?

Aegeas, infuriated by the Legendary’s chatter, had resorted to blasting the Substitute with a series of Water Gun blasts, which soaked the sand around it into a more-mud like substance. It, in turn, was now beginning to pull it further and further from his view, headfirst. He suddenly realized that the Substitute would have no need to breathe, as it was not alive, and he would be unable to dig it from its trap and defeat in time it if it was lost entirely to the desert. As a result, he reached his panic mode. The threat of imminent failure consuming him, not to mention the disorientation produced by the disparity of the ever-changing ground yet persistently stormy sky, he propelled himself into the air with a Water Gun blast onto the mud beneath him. Rising several feet above the clone, he dived, holding his scalchops out in front of him as he prepared a few quick slicing motions.

The Substitute, struck square in the chest by the forceful attacks and Aegeas’s weight, hadn’t a chance. It dissipated without a second to spare, and the Dewott landed ungracefully in the midst of the sandy pit he’d formed, it embracing him momentarily in what would’ve been almost comforting and soothing if not for the fact that it resembled being bitten by fire ants. Disoriented and thoroughly exhausted, only the burning sensation crawling across his face shot enough adrenaline into him to get him, slowly and painfully, back onto his feet. Shaking his head, Aegeas grumbled incoherently, his mind reduced to a collective of jumbled thoughts whose foggy sum rendered each and every one of them unable to extend into his realm of understanding. Volcanion, ever the undaunted and unaware optimist, made to compliment him.

An undignified coup de grace, but what a display of your natural instincts! Fear, anxiety, anger, a beautiful combination that does a fantastic job of fueling your ability to defeat your opponents, as you clearly demonstrated. The lengths at which you went to defeat your opponent were a tad over the top, especially given how you dived down upon it and exposed yourself to landing on the blazing sand, but you definitely show the capacity to transmit your inner energy into your attacking strategies. The lieutenant shall be returning any minute, and my understanding of your previous day indicates that she’ll be here to stay until you have finished the final challenge, so I must bid you farewell. Fantastic job; I’ll be sure to continue this training as soon as I possibly can, for how fruitful it seems to be! Until then, just remember my advice, and don’t break your ne…

“Final…final challenge?” groaned Aegeas in surprise as he awkwardly stepped across the desert surface, eyes widening as he heard his only useful companion in this landscape fade and wither back to whence he’d come. Now panting, he wiped some sweat from his forehead, disgustedly throwing it upon the earth, where it was quickly swallowed. “That…that wasn’t it? I’m not done…just yet?”

“Not at all,” sang a voice behind him, and the Dewott turned to face the lieutenant with her previous party in tow. The nurses stared at him with concerned expressions, obviously sensing his pain, but did not move nor make to interfere with the Gardevoir, who gestured to the Castform flying above her head. “It’s good to see that you have … with the general routine of the testing, but you seem to have forgotten that one of the objectives was … ability to fight while being poisoned. While it’s evident you’re in as rough as a shape as you are – which surprises me, given how fine you seemed previously – this simply must be done. Aegeas, you are now ready to complete the final component of your second day of testing.”

“What…are you talking…about…” Aegeas was able to manage to say before he felt a tremendous pain at his back.

The agony that had preceded this moment paled in comparison to the sensations that crawled through his veins and arteries. Arcing its way towards his arms and legs, and then up towards its skull, it was tremendous and almost unbearable. His view faded in and out, though this wasn’t actually that different from what he already was able to see, and black spots danced at the edge of his vision. Pain shot through his nerves into his brain, which originally was almost unable to process exactly how much there was at the beginning, but soon released it into his awareness. His ears were definitely bleeding by now, as a quick investigation of pressing his finger against his ear and viewing the mess on it when he presented the digit in front of himself proved, and Gardevoir’s voice sounded all the more faded and distant as she tried to explain this component of the test. “Poisoned…Substitute…as strong…defeat…fainting…lose. Nurses…if…pass out…safe…no need…worry…dying.”

Aegeas forced himself to nod with the little consciousness and energy left in him. The pain crushed his ability to feel any sort of despair or depression when yet another duplicate of the Gardevoir materialized in front of him. Blinking furiously, his mind and body was so fried and unable to comprehend what it was doing that it took him a few seconds to realize that he needed to begin to move his arms and legs. However, when it recognized the potential that he may not be able to complete the challenge, his brain and muscles worked frantically to react. Adrenaline began to course through his bloodstream, though it remained unable to combat the poison. Regardless, it gave him all the strength he needed to whip out one of his scalchops and thrust it at the dummy. Nothing. He groaned in agony in exhaustion, jelly-like knees threatening to drag his legs into the ground, and he with them, but he resisted. It didn’t matter how weak he felt, how crazy and traumatically his senses were being driven – he had to survive. The Dewott needed to win, and he could only do that by holding off for a little longer and destroying this duplicate with his abilities. Otherwise, none of the members of the expedition could travel to the Museum. The mission would be doomed before it could even begin. And then the New Order could take the plate and gain the upper hand. Thought and rational processing, not to mention passing out, came later. There was one goal in front of him, and it demanded to be accomplished.

As the venom slowly worked its way through his body, it began to sap from him his health and strength. He didn’t have much time left. However, the form of the Substitute in front of him began to flicker, gradually shifting, as the black dots began to mass, grow larger, and approach the center of his vision, into a familiar face. Without the voice that he had grown to despise with all of his senses, but, regardless, the same appearance. Infuriated by the sudden appearance of Volcanion, and forgoing the last of his inhibitions, Aegeas charged.

Though it was a hallucination, he had not the sense to tell otherwise. And so, in a flurry of hands, feet, and scalchops, he opened with a series of fierce blows against the face of this offender. In reality, a good half of his attacks were unable to touch anything, but he had some satisfaction to see the pain reaction of the Legendary as he struck it in the face repeatedly. Conjuring a sudden Ice Beam attack, he formed an icy spear and jabbed it through the skull of his opponent. Disappointed by seeing the lack of submission and surrendering of his evidently injured foe, who did not even bother to react other than what may have been a grimace, Aegeas growled in rage and ferocity, his having completely devolved into a series of basic instincts and unabated fear channeled into force. Turning around, he prepared for his finishing move.

The Dewott devoted the last of his energy into a Water Gun blast, feeling the ball of the water that was the precursor to the move formulate in his mouth, partially stained purple by the toxins within his system. Throwing his scalchop ahead of him, he allowed the beam to explode outwards, capturing the object and whisking it away, against the harsh winds of the desert. Aegeas, crippled by exhaustion, disorientation, a general disorganization of all of his senses, a pained body, and venom eating away at him, crumpled onto the ground in a heap as the blast was whirled in the opposite direction by the fierce gusts of wind.

Eyes staring up towards a sky endlessly covered in dust, he was only able to hear the dissipating of the final clone and the lieutenant’s shouts of “Complete! …Well done!” echoing in his mind before the darkness claimed him.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.








cron
Have a biscuit, Potter.
— Professor McGonagall