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POSTED ON Dec 22, 2020 17:41:00 GMT

Stone Tablet, Turquoise. Origin Unknown. Recovered by divers off the coast of Slateport City in [20XX] Thought to be part of a set.

Her breath fogged a misty circle over the display case. She was so close that the tip of her nose smudged the dusty glass. Every now and then she tore herself from the relic to read the inscription again and then returned, devouring every inch of it with her eyes.

To others, perhaps it was just a mysterious tablet found at the bottom of the sea. Curious, certainly, but not remarkable.

To Chryssa, it was a the blue shard of a stained glass mural, a picture from Testament, a piece of a legend. A lost Plate, she thought. It has to be. Texts called it the Splash Plate, scattered to the winds when the Original One had enriched the world with life. How could no one have realized? she thought, body beginning to tremble. These... people... they really have no idea...

She jerked back as the display case opened from the other end and a museum employee pulled the turquoise tablet out of the display case. Chryssa couldn't even strangle out an objection before it closed again. Farther down the line, other ocean relics were being removed as well. Probably for cleaning. They had looked dusty.

It was bad news for Chryssa, however. It wouldn't be a simple wipe-down-- museums always used special chemicals and cleaning methods to make sure the items remained closely preserved. I might not see it again for weeks, she realized, still standing numbly in front of the empty case. What if someone steals it?

Oh!

...She had an idea.

"Excuse me!" she called, her tone sing-song, and latched onto the back of a passing employee's shirt. "Hello, pardon me! I've come to get some expert advice on my Corsola egg-- I've had it for over a month and it still hasn't hatched yet. Do you think you could help me? I was hoping the aquarium experts could tell me what to do."

^{jayden cross}

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milky

jayden

he/him

december 25

ballonlea, galar

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POSTED ON Dec 26, 2020 20:52:53 GMT

chryssa glasgow likes this

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Another temp job.

[break][break] What was it that people said again? Another day, another dollar? Regardless, it seemed that as of late, Jayden's days seemed to be filled with temp jobs or otherwise as-fulfilling retail or food service gigs. Not that Jayden particularly minded. Despite what it must have seemed like, he was used to completing mindnumbing tasks without questioning what role he played in them. These tasks were not at all different for committing crimes for an illegal, undercover organization, or to holding a dagger over someone's heart simply because he was told to do it.

[break][break] Today, he was playing the part of a museum employee.

[break][break] All in all, the clothes seemed to fit him rather well. He wore a light blue-button down that was the same color as the oceanic exhibits that he was walking through. A walkie-talkie was secured hastily to his belt — it was pretty useless, as no one really wanted to contact him about anything, considering the fact that today was his first and probably only day. On his breast was his name — Michail — but otherwise no other determination — after all, the museum employees were made to all look like the friendly, approachable sort. He stood at the corner of their jellyfish exhibit, watching a pair of children excitedly rush up to the glass and press their face against it. A redheaded woman followed more slowly, pushing a stroller, idly scolding them for their excitement.

[break][break] The museum employee passed them, a few scrolls in hand that he was meant to deliver, headed towards the area of the museum that held more relics and gemstones in display cases than they did live animals. Jayden preferred this area more than the others — it was quieter, and he felt more settled by the older individuals who tended to peruse them, some either scribbling notes onto a notepad, others simply gazing in admiration at the glass murals.

[break][break] There was a ding and he looked down to find his work-sanctioned phone alerting him of his break in fifteen minutes. Jayden blinked. The day had passed that quickly? He pocketed the phone, and was about to presume his steps when —

[break][break] "Excuse me!"

[break][break] The voice alerted him to the presence of another, and Jayden blinked as small fingers latched onto his shirt, stopping him in his steps. "Uhm —" he said, shuffling the scrolls into a more comfortable position, and then looked down at her as she rambled on. He swallowed. He didn't think that she should have been asking him for help of all things... but he wasn't really in the practice of denying someone... "... Sure," he said after a moment. "What do you need, ma'am?"

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sorry for the wait,,

chryssa glasgow

[attr="class","vagrantCredit"]SELKIE

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murk

Not-Chryssa

She/Her

May 1

Eterna City, Sinnoh

Panromantic

radio host

agent

266 height

as flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport

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POSTED ON Dec 27, 2020 11:41:01 GMT

Before Chryssa had, by chance, wandered past the ocean artifacts section of the museum, she had come here for a reason. When she’d first come to Hoenn, she’d helped to exorcise a Cursola near Ever Grande City. She’d recovered an egg after the creature moved on, but now, even after months, it remained dormant. The Pokemon Center had advised she contact a specialist— so here she was.

In theory.

“Yes!” she said immediately upon gaining his attention. He didn’t seem to have heard her earlier Corsola plea, which gave her an opportunity. Her eyes flicked to the ID card around his neck and back. “Michail, right? Dr. McMillan asked me to find you. He said you could take me to the donation center? I have some artifacts I was hoping to get appraised.”

Chryssa didn’t exactly know how to steal a legendary treasure, but seeing the young man’s hands full of scrolls, it occurred to her that she did know how to put people off balance.

“But maybe,” the girl said, as if it was just dawning on her, “You can help me instead!”

She immediately unzipped and began to dig in her tiny backpack, apparently making good on her claim. “I’ll show you what I have. Oh, can you hold this for just a second?” She passed her Corsola egg to him, not bothering to see if he kept ahold of it. It was probably dead, anyway. “Oh, woe! Where could it be...”

Warming to her role, Chryssa began to pull out actual shards of blue pottery, handing them over to the employee. “I found these on an island off the coast of Lilycove, but where’s my relic crown... drat... I had it packaged so the humidity wouldn’t get to it, but if you could just look at it now...” She found her Cover Fossil and shoved that at the employee as well. “And could I get this revived, too?”

Hopefully, he’d be so overwhelmed he’d just take her to the artifacts, no questions asked.

^{jayden cross}

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milky

jayden

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december 25

ballonlea, galar

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POSTED ON Dec 31, 2020 7:11:43 GMT

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Michail, right? Dr. McMillan asked me to find you.

[break][break] Jayden nearly flinched — it had felt too long since he had heard someone call him that name, outloud. Or maybe not. It was written on his badge for a reason, and people had called him that all day. Yet, somehow, everytime he heard it, he couldn't help the visceral reaction he felt, as if something had once conditioned him to reacting in such a way at such a straight-forward address.

[break][break] "Ah, yeah." Dr. McMillan had been part of the brochure shoved into his hands when he'd been hired, the one he had been supposed to memorize along with all the different locations in the museum. "I.. I know where that is." He glanced at her, seeming still unsure. Jayden nearly seemed ready to regret his decision, and he opened his mouth to tell her that maybe someone else would be better equipped to help, but it seemed like something had dawned on the young girl's face. Suddenly eager and full of energy, she began pulling out artifact after artifact, dumping them all into his hands.

[break][break] Despite the fact that he should have been prepared for this, despite the fact that the girl in front of him was easily smaller and slighter than him, Jayden felt overwhelmed as she launched into a mini monologue about all the items she was onloading onto him. The denial on his lips from before had died almost as soon as Chryssa had spoken up, and he remained silent the entire time, staring her with that same deadpan expression that he always wore on his face. It was only when she shoved the remaining fossil in his possession — on top of all of the other things, that he somehow managed to keep hold of in his arms — that he spoke up. His voice was slightly muffled from attempting to balance the fossil just beneath his chin.

[break][break] "Why.. why don't I just take you to the artifact room? I think these are better off there." Anxiety clicked like a heartbeat underneath his skin. Surely, this was the right thing to do. Standing in the middle of the museum, with all these likely expensive and dangerous artifacts couldn't possibly have been the right thing to do anyway. He could feel some passerby's looking at the two with curiosity. A child and mother spoke in hushed whispers to each other, before ducking around a corner.

[break][break] Probably... it would have been better to get this woman to the artifact room... she seemed to know more than him.

[attr="class","vagrantNotes"]

hi thansk for waiting >:)

chryssa glasgow

[attr="class","vagrantCredit"]SELKIE

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murk

Not-Chryssa

She/Her

May 1

Eterna City, Sinnoh

Panromantic

radio host

agent

266 height

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POSTED ON Jan 3, 2021 10:49:19 GMT

It was like he’d said the magic word. Ding!

Her demeanor changed instantly.

“Oh, really? Could you take me?” The items she’d seemed so excited about just moments before apparently forgotten, the girl straightened up again. Her eyes glittered with triumph. “Excellent... yes, excellent indeed. You’re a great help already, Michail.”

Her voice oozed with sinister satisfaction, just like a movie villain.

The moment she was through the blank gray staff doors into the unmarked hall, devoid of the posters and helpful signs in the public section, Chryssa whispered “I’m in.” She tended to say that more often than one would think.

“In... the Artifact Room, that is,” she said, catching herself and faking innocence. Her eyes narrowed cunningly behind his back. Perfect save. Her first heist, and she was already nailing it.

“Where do they do the fossil cloning?” Chryssa asked innocently as they began to pass some different departments, peeking into the small windows above each door. “Is it here? Or here?” No sign of the Splash Plate yet. Were they cleaning it somewhere else?

Passing a set of staff restrooms, Chryssa suddenly whirled on the museum employee. “I’m sorry, do you mind waiting just a moment? I have something... urgent... I need to do,” she said, tone ominous as she passed him her Corsola Egg again before pushing her way into the Men’s Bathroom.

Ignoring a startled man she found inside, who quickly exited behind her, Chryssa immediately crouched down on the tile and released Blaire, her Galarian Corsola. The bleached coral Pokemon looked up at her with dry red eyes, spines rattling faintly.

“Into the pipes, Blaire. Find where they’re cleaning the artifacts,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Do my bidding, and you’ll be greatly rewarded.” The bone-white creature gave a fanged smirk and sunk into the linoleum, phasing incorporeal down the drain.

Outside, in Jayden’s hands, the pink Corsola Egg shuddered once, paused, then began to hatch.

^{jayden cross}

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milky

jayden

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december 25

ballonlea, galar

bisexual

wyndon ceo

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5'10" height

we'll never get free, lamb to the slaughter

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POSTED ON Jan 4, 2021 5:48:59 GMT

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How he got in these situation, he would never be able to tell, but before Jayden knew it was happening, he was leading this young lady to the Artifact room. There wasn't a need for him to pull out the map that they had given him at the start of the day — Jayden had memorized it. However, what he had not taken into account was the swirling corridors, full of people who were visiting the museum, and how exactly identical each of them looked.

[break][break] However, eventually, the two of them came to the end of an unmarked hall and the dark gray doors that signified it's entrance. "So - " he started, about to suggest that she wait outside while he got someone more important to assist her, but the ginger-haired woman slipped through the doors no time at all. His hand was left mid-air, his words cut short. "Ah..."

[break][break] And with that, Jayden had no choice but to follow through.

[break][break] He pushed his way through the doors a second after she had, which fortunately for her, meant that he did not get the chance to hear excitedly announce her entrance in the sort of scheming tone that a villain might. She immediately began questioning him as they walked through the corridor, and Jayden was left with the distinct impression that she was leading him. "Um - " he started, but was once again cut off as she asked another question. Even if Jayden had been able to answer, he wondered if it would have mattered. Would she have been listening to him?

[break][break] He opened his mouth to say something, but chryssa glasgow suddenly stopped in her tracks. She looked suddenly uncomfortable, which made him feel uncomfortable. I have something urgent I need to do. Jayden blinked, then his eyes widened as a Corsola egg was shoved into his arms. Oh. He understood. It was a matter of seconds before the girl was shoving her way into the nearest bathroom which -

[break][break] "That's..." he protested, his voice ending in a resigned sigh as the door swished behind her. "The men's bathroom..."

[break][break] Well.. maybe she really had to go?

[break][break] Left alone to his own devices, Jayden had no choice but to awkwardly look around. It was only then that he noticed a sign on the wall. STEVEN STONE OBSERVATORY it read in large, block letters. The man's eyes widened. Oh, this wasn't the Artifact Exhibit at all. They were in an entirely different building. Oops.

[break][break] Just as Jayden was about to take out his pamphlet to double check, the Corsola egg began to shake in his arms. The vibration made the scrolls fall from his grasp in an attempt to hold onto the egg as he splintered into pieces, leaving the newborn pink Pokemon blinking up at him. Jayden simply stared back at it, unsure what to do.

[attr="class","vagrantNotes"]

im sorry chryssa... sfjakls

chryssa glasgow

[attr="class","vagrantCredit"]SELKIE

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murk

Not-Chryssa

She/Her

May 1

Eterna City, Sinnoh

Panromantic

radio host

agent

266 height

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POSTED ON Jan 4, 2021 16:10:18 GMT

mila alexopoulos likes this

Chryssa exited the men’s restroom holding a pair of large scissors, which she snipped at Jayden playfully/threateningly before noticing he was not holding the Corsola egg she’d left him with.

“Oh, my! How did you do that?” she exclaimed, looming close to examine the tiny bundle of coral horns and blinking, beady eyes. “I thought it was never going to hatch. You truly have an aquifer’s touch, Michail!” That was the name for an aquarium scientist, right? She dropped her voice, leaning in even closer. “Some might say... you have the touch. The one in legends.”

Chryssa’s eyes were penetrating. “Who are you, Michail?”

Snip, snip. She snipped his nametag, severing the ID card from its lanyard. Having gotten what she wanted, she cut the bullshit and immediately turned away in a swirl of hair and billowing skirts. “Oh well! Even your so-called aquaduct touch won’t be able to dislodge the little surprise I’ve planted in your plumbing.”

She pretended to check her watch, still holding the scissors in one hand. She snipped them again in time with the second hand, rhythmically, insistently.

“I wonder how long until it explodes?” she wondered out loud, examining a hanging portrait of Famous Oceanographer Steven Stone (may he rest in peace). “It’s too bad about the baby.” Chryssa glanced sympathetically at the newly-hatched Corsola.

What was she planning?

^{jayden cross}

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milky

jayden

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december 25

ballonlea, galar

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POSTED ON Jan 17, 2021 9:03:35 GMT

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His head jerked, as chryssa glasgow came back, his expression looking half like a Stantler caught in headlights and half like relief.

[break][break] "I... uhm," he said, though his words would come to deaf ears. The young woman was quick to jump to conclusions, gasping, and then praising that he must have had an Aquifier's touch. What did that mean? He did not even own a water-type, at least not currently. Instead of asking, however, he said, "I do?" His brow furrowed, filled with confusion.

[break][break] Again, before he could even begin to consider what that meant, what she meant, Chryssa was once again getting in her personal space. Her eyes were wide and eager as they stared up at him, which only made him blink. Her gaze penetrated straight through him, and made him vaguely uncomfortable. Hesitating, a foot stepped back.

[break][break] Before he could do anything more about it, however, it all happened in a flash. The woman was quick to snap his badge from him and then bounce away, skirt flouncing behind her. Her words surprised him but perhaps what surprised him more was the fact that she had taken off with his ID. Was he going to get in trouble? Or fired?

[break][break] Since he was a temp employee, he hardly had access to anything and it was practically just a flimsy piece of paper. But they had given it to him, so didn't that mean he was supposed to hold onto it?

[break][break] Suddenly, his head jerked, as if just realizing what she had said. Wait explosion? Once again, he blinked with confusion. "Did you just say... explodes?" Perhaps another person would have felt more stunned, or afraid, at what the woman was insinuating. Perhaps they would have felt wronged, for how quickly the situation had turned against him. Instead, it seemed like Jayden was still muddled with confusion, not quite understanding what had happened. His fingers gripped the baby Corsola in his arms, not harshly, but a bit tensely.

[break][break] "Also uhm," he said, swallowing as he stepped forward with the Corsola in his hand. "Didn't you want to see the Artifact room? It's not.. in this wing."

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chryssa glasgow

[attr="class","vagrantCredit"]SELKIE

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murk

Not-Chryssa

She/Her

May 1

Eterna City, Sinnoh

Panromantic

radio host

agent

266 height

as flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport

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TAG WITH @chryssa

POSTED ON Jan 27, 2021 14:48:17 GMT

mila alexopoulos likes this

Three things happened as Chryssa strode awkwardly down the hallway, leaving a puzzled, faltering Jayden behind.

ONE: THE PLOT TWIST

As she walked away, Chryssa released a Sableye, which hit the linoleum flooring at a crouch. It stayed behind in a bundle of gangly limbs and angles as the girl flounced on, then spun around.

“Ally Switch, Zuill,” she called, already confident in her success.

The ghost-type reached out and fell forward, his purple shape passing through an invisible border like a dirty surface being wiped away. His frilled head and faceted eyes became pink horns and beady pupils as the baby Corsola fell out the other side of his leap. The water-type kept the former Sableye’s momentum, sliding to a halt in the middle of the hall to blink perplexedly back at Chryssa.

...Jayden would now find himself holding a bent-over Sableye around the middle, its arms and legs dangling in the same pose the Corsola had been in. Zuill sighed audibly at his new situation.

“Ugh! I should have known that would happen,” the girl’s voice came from down the hallway. She’d forgotten her Corsola egg had inconveniently hatched while she’d been “using” the bathroom. Acting quickly, she tagged it with a Pokeball to prevent the same mistake. The baby creature disappeared into the beam without a sound. “One more time, Zuill. She should have found it by now.”

TWO: THE MONOLOGUE

...Here was the crux of Chryssa’s plan. First, she’d released Blaire into the pipes, ordering the ghost to find the relic. Ideally, she next would have tricked her little tagalong Michail into the bathroom, who she could have then barricaded inside while completing the FINAL STEP of her grand heist: the swap that would put the Splash Plate straight into her hands.

“You’ve miscalculated, Michelle!” Chryssa said gloatingly, now not bothering to use his real name. “My faithful servant has already acquired the artifact I seek. In seconds, it will be in my hands.” Then she could just walk away out the employee entrance, locking the door behind her. Even if he pursued, Michail couldn’t get back in without a pass card—by the time he’d run all the way around the building, she’d already be—

Chryssa paused. A strange expression flitted across her face. “Wait... what did you say?” The wrong wing? She tilted her head indignantly, reality dawning on her. “Then what—“

THREE: THE FINALE

The Ally Swap took effect, and the Sableye in Jayden’s hands seemed to shift in place, becoming a familiar Corsola shape again. But something was different. There was something in its grip this time, something flat and large and much, much heavier.

With the last trace of purple claws disappearing, the bleached coral Pokémon fully materialized. It was holding a toilet seat.

“Oh no,” Chryssa said, very disappointed.

...Unable to find anything matching Chryssa’s vague description in this part of the museum, the ghost-type Corsola had decided to go make trouble in the plumbing instead. She had been lurking in the U-bend, hoping to surprise an unfortunate museum employee.

There was a splash from the women’s restroom and a dismayed yell of <SAAAA!> from Zuill. He’d just landed in a toilet.

Her heist had failed.

Chryssa shook her head, turning away. “You’ve outsmarted me, Michail,” she said. “Well played. Well played indeed. Perhaps you really are the spoken one of legends after all.”

The door slammed and her dripping Sableye came running out with toilet paper stuck to his foot, leaving wet footprints on the linoleum. “Let’s go,” she called without looking behind her, and both ghost Pokémon phased insubstantial, disappearing from sight.

The toilet seat clattered to the ground.

“I will get that Plate,” Chryssa murmured to herself, scanning the stolen employee ID with a positive beep. The girl threw open the door to the parking lot, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She spared Jayden a parting glance. “...Eventually.”

^{jayden cross}

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played by

milky

jayden

he/him

december 25

ballonlea, galar

bisexual

wyndon ceo

admin

5'10" height

we'll never get free, lamb to the slaughter

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TAG WITH @jayden