he's animated, charismatic. persephone watches with fascination as he deftly navigates the conversation then pins down her thoughts as if he's able to read her like an open book. king's eye indeed.

persephone stalls replying by jutting her chin at a shadow of a shuppet lurking behind a corner. the zoroark lurches forward, shifting through several disguises at the same time; fur rippling with varying colours and textures, extra limbs appearing and disappearing. it's unsettling to behold, but persephone suspects arian won't mind.

the shuppet tries to lash out with a phantom force, but receives it back in the form of zoroark's copy cat. knocked to the ground, the wild pokemon screeches in pain, and persephone notices that it had been already injured; the fabric hanging of its body shredded in places. furrowing her brow, she tosses out a pokeball, mostly to prevent the zoroark from feasting off it.

"it would be selfish to want anyone to hurt because of me," she says after a moment. her eyes narrow to ruby chips for a moment but she recovers quickly. "i've thought a lot about it. the ideal death for me is both meaningful, the deepest gravitas, but invisible. i want to fade away."

she smiles, and for the first time it's genuine.

"i don't want fernando to suffer over me. it wouldn't matter for me if i'm gone, right? the dead don't feel anything."

persephone's mind turns to her mother, and keeping the smile affixed to her face becomes a conscious effort, but it's easier when she looks at arian's grin and tries to copy him.

she's thought about the question he posed, tortured herself over it. her loss, fernando's loss; she wouldn't want him to mourn her the same way he mourned her. part of her knows he wouldn't.

"maybe that's what sets the living apart. won't you say love is the greatest weapon and motivator? love for each other, or for ideals, or for our home itself?"

arian coin + capture attempt at shuppet