[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]they're alright... for now.

her body still struggles through unease. and without hesitation, she's combating it with an airy plume of pink mist. psychic terrain begins to sweep across the ground, dissipating in wisps once it hits the five meter radius it's confined to. somehow, the mere sight of her mist, alone, is enough to quell anxiety.

whatever happens here... she can heal it, mend it, save it.

illeana steps closer to the nervous unown, a gentle hand reaching up to guide the blinking letter to her. and like a child being welcomed into an embrace, the unown settles against her chest. its chitters slowly begin to soften in volume.

"deus," she murmurs, eyes flickering to the discolored automaton. it coos softly in return and drifts closer to hear her over the rushing stampede of pokemon closing in. "phantom force. see if you can slow them down." the golurk doesn't offer anything else besides a quick nod before it slips into the shadows at their feet.

and when the automaton resurfaces with the final blow of phantom force, she can't quite see it. she hears the aftermath, the sound of pokemon crying out in pain. a wince follows even as felix commands her attention back to him. there's still a rush of bodies coming but... the sound of stomping feet has lessened a bit.

"what would they be guarding, though?" her head tilts curiously. it could be anything, really... she thinks of the poem he recited and her mouth moves before her brain has time to fully think. "ruins or a relic, maybe?"

by the time her golurk rejoins her side, the horde of pokemon is closer. the automaton readies itself in front of the scientist, half a shield and half a sword.

Felix Gallagher
mission

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]together, they carve a path out of flesh and bone. what her golurk cannot knock down... his porygon-z strikes with hyper beam.

and for a moment, she feels a sense of relief. it's short lived.

silence settles in front of them. prehistoric bodies seemingly crumble to nothingness and everything seems to still. healing mist creeps at their feet, licking at wounds that don't exist. and she breathes out a soft puff of pink, tension slowly easing out of her muscles.

the unown at her chest chitters. something about it feels odd, almost like a faint cry. about what... she doesn't know.

and when he glances back, she looks slightly dazed. cheeks flushed a soft pink, even before his hand extends toward her. the unown squeaks a little louder, a little clearer, and her mouth slowly parts into a smile.

"okay," she murmurs. there's fondness in her touch, in the way her fingers curl around his. "lead the way."

into the unknown...

faintly, almost like a reassuring echo, she whispers to him in the stillness.

"i trust you."

Felix Gallagher
mission

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]he leads her by the hand through an abyss. it's dark, odd edges of the distortion rippling with their movement. and she draws closer out of instinct, pressing up against his back.

the stench is horrifying. she bites back a gag. healing mist bleeds a little faster from exposed skin to combat rolling waves of nausea from rooting themselves in her stomach. somehow, it helps a little.

her back crawls with irritating life with each step they take. paranoia follows, even as the unown shifts from her chest to her back. the strange letter's presence is not as comforting as that of felix's or her golurk's. it tries its best but... it falls short.

she shivers beneath an odd sort of sensation. a presence, not quite here yet not quite there. it makes her skin ignite with irritation, with paranoia, with skittering life.

"what -- what is it?" can he see? it's so dark...

Felix Gallagher
mission

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the flickering flame of a lighter offers no solace here. it bleeds a soft glow, sure, but there's a sense of danger looming. she feels it on her shoulders, arms, back. and it draws out a shiver with trailing fingers up the spine, skin erupting beneath touch.

his hand forces them apart and for a moment, she startles back into attention. away from dreadful thoughts and horrible pits in the bottom of the stomach. her face falls, then, when warmth retreats into painful cold.

the golurk behind her rumbles, stepping up to take her hand and lead her forward. stay back her ass.

"what do you see?" she calls from a few feet behind him, slower without his guidance. her automaton tries to keep pace but the steps are tentative, cautious, distracted. it's difficult to lead when you're half rooted in place to be a shield. eventually, she shifts in front of the automaton and tugs gently at clay fingers to continue.

and when she gets closer to felix, she stops.

"odd," is all she can say at the moment. her mind is churning with possibilities, with theories and ideas and sinking notions. it looks ancient, ritualistic, foreboding. and the wall... it's too dark to see clearly. she blinks as if that'll rid them of the darkness swirling at their skin.

Felix Gallagher
mission

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]her unown chitters against her chest, almost as if it's a soft echo of the prose felix recites.

she listens quietly, stiff and still in the darkness. the words pick at her skin but one thing stands out among the rest: i know your wish- it does not bode well.

it instills a sense of dread in her bones.

"what wish?" comes softly, hesitantly. words etched into a wall in a space-time distortion couldn't know her wishes, her desires. it's improbable. and yet, she feels exposed here in the darkness.

her skin crawls with newfound life.

"is there anything else?"

Felix Gallagher
mission

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]as the wall morphs and shifts, she takes a few steps closer. the warm glow of his charizard's tail makes the path easier to see. and when she draws up beside him, she signals her arrival with a soft brush of fingers against his shoulder.

he recites the next portion in the same steady rhythm as before. the darkness around them swirls a little more with each syllable. her unown grows slightly restless against her skin.

and when he finishes, she hums.

"faded into spaces seen by no eye," she repeats. could it be... distortions themselves? or another realm entirely... she thinks briefly of sea hoenn, of the spatial pocket it sits in. theoretically, if sea hoenn exists, then other pockets do. is this one of them?

"could be referring to death itself or different dimensions, maybe?" it's a stab in the dark, honestly, but it's something.

subconsciously, she leans into him, eyes focused on the wall. will it shift again?

Felix Gallagher
mission

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the fragments of prose are odd in a way she can't place. familiar concepts yet not. she sighs softly, head turning to look up at felix.

"there's theories of a multiverse," she whispers. close proximity does wonders in this case. she's comfortable next to him, as if her skin isn't crawling as much in his presence. "perhaps this is alluding to that?"

what other places unseen could there be besides other universes or pockets of existence? this place, itself, is something of that sort... if her theory is correct, anyway.

she finally releases the hold she has on her unown, then, and the chittering letter zips around in front of them. it seems interested in the etchings, in the way they move. and if she squints, she can almost see a resemblance in the shape of letters.

"why is this poem here, though?" a pause, a confused look, and a hand itching to reach for his. she refrains for right now.

in front of them, her unown chirps louder, growing more frantic the longer they linger...

Felix Gallagher
mission