[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]the question makes her pause.

gears clog up and she's quiet for a moment. somehow, she feels as if there's a piece she's missing, a piece not seen that's too important to the puzzle.

"i'm not sure," she murmurs eventually.

and really, she isn't... but she can't shake the thought regardless.

"megalopolans, the unown assassins, maybe even the renegade or the creator?"

there's too many possibilities to narrow it down at the moment.

"they're connected, somehow, to the instability in hoenn, though. i'm certain of it."

Felix Gallagher

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she gathers all of her wits and pulls herself back together piece by piece. if she cuts herself on any of them or loses some in the process, she doesn't notice.

and eventually, a thoughtful hum escapes.

"maybe celestic town has some clues?"

it's a long shot given the sense of absolute dread that overcame them here but... it's better than coming up empty again and again.

she's tired of the failures, anyway.

"or, um, we can head back home."

to hoenn, she means.

sinnoh feels more like a stranger than ever before now.

Felix Gallagher

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]he directs her by the shoulder and she follows like a doll on strings.

her mind's still reeling, still working over the same sentence and the same feeling until it seeps into the cells of the body permanently.

and despite herself, she feels doubt slowly begin to creep in.

"okay," she murmurs.

they begin to head for the stairs, for the exit, for celestic town... and yet, something tells her to look back. her head turns and a glance is thrown over the shoulder, one last look before they leave spear pillar behind.

Felix Gallagher

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]up in the clouds, he asks a question she's only indulged in passing.

would she ever return?

she doesn't look at him. not yet, anyway. her eyes stay focused on the clouds as they roll on by, distracted and distant.

"no."

it's half a lie.

"i don't."

there's nothing to come back to. and she doesn't want to relive this part of her life, the memories of sinnoh too haunting to open again.

finally, her eyes drift toward him and they linger for a moment of analysis.

"do you ever consider it?"

Felix Gallagher

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]her eyes turn upon him sharply, accusatory in a way she detests.

"why?"

her voice climbs an octave higher, as if offended by the very idea.

"why would i ever come back here?"

it's a warranted response for the wrong reasons, for ghosts of memories he can't possibly know about and living souls she wishes would just stop fucking haunting her already.

her eyes return to the horizon, then, and she closes the door on him. shutting herself off isn't necessary by any means but wounds long healed into her skin still feel as fresh as the day she left.

"i'm not going back."

Felix Gallagher

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]he looks at her so gently, patient, as if she has all the time in the world to let him in. and for a moment, she’s quiet in the face of it all. it’s difficult to remember that he doesn’t know what has happened, what went on behind closed doors when his family weren’t visiting and he wasn’t there to watch over her. he hasn’t seen the aftermath, the scar tissue stubbornly holding memories all over her body.

her stare softens quickly, thawing out.

and when her voice returns, it’s a faint, far away sort of sound carried over by the wind.

”my parents.”

one horrid with the way he tries to physically break her into pieces and the other neglectful in the way she pretends it’s justified.

she’s certain that if she returned to stay…

”they’d kill me this time.”

Felix Gallagher