[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]of all the ways to get caught up in the action... this is not how she pictured the fighting atop mt pyre.

she hisses as growth ensnares her further. seaweed stretches, groans, grows, and she's caught in the binding motion.

of course, it's not terribly painful... yet, anyway.

her eyeballs do not have the luxury, however. her opponent releases a flashing light. and for a moment, despite the blinding or the burning in her eyes as they twist shut, she's reminded of home, of sinnoh. it's faint, subconscious, left to rot.

the bronzong at her side is not faring much better. his scrafty hits hard from the shadows, from all sides and angles, eliciting a loud and painful gong sound from the steel bell. and as she hears the sound, she begins to flail. in her struggle, she manages to knock a pokeball loose from her belt. it clinks to the ground and opens a delayed moment later.

a sableye takes form quickly, the gremlin snickering as it scrambles toward its trainer. shadow claw comes quickly, trying to slice through the growing seaweed enough to release her from her oceanic prison.

her bronzong, meanwhile, unleashes a quick weather ball toward his scrafty to put some distance between them.

and god, despite herself, she doesn't want to do this...

she doesn't want to fight when her dreams feel so tangible.

Isaac Merlo

tl;dr |
- struggle!
- summons sableye, who uses shadow claw on the seaweed holding illie
- bronzong uses weather ball to try and get distance between itself and scrafty

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]her bronzong, despite the hollow look behind its eyes, truly wants to protect its trainer.

and what does it do in the face of swagger?

well... it loses itself in rage.

the psychic gong rings a series of loud, irritated sounds. and if illeana didn't know better, she'd believe it to be war drums. somehow, the sound will bother her for a while after this has long since settled into the ebb and flow of time.

bronzong tries to release another weather ball but the move flies in a different direction. when illeana turns her eyes to the psychic type, it's easy to see its become confused in its anger. she winces at the idea, as if she wants to help but can't quite figure out how. subconsciously, healing mist bleeds from her body.

her sableye, meanwhile, is able to cause enough damage to free her from her seaweed chains. she drops unceremoniously to the ground, rolling twice in a heap of dirt, red, and white. her hair looks a little stained, whether its from the ground or her head is indeterminable.

she struggles to her feet with the help of her snickering sableye, the purple gremlin all but clawing at her skin to keep going. and how can she let it down?

turns out... she can definitely let the ghost type down.

shell smash keeps her from leaving, keeps her from running. and in her surprise, she shrieks, shrill and piercing in the foggy field, and trips over herself. she tumbles down in a heap of clumsy limbs. scrapes ooze muddy red and she heaves out a shaky breath, hands braced against the unforgiving ground.

her mind screams for her to get up, to get moving, to get the fuck out of there.

and as she slowly rises back to her feet, she sways slightly. hitting her head on too many rocks could, very well, be an undoing... but she can't stop here. she won't stop here.

her dreams of space and god and meaning something feel so fucking close. if she could just... get past him...

"get. out. of. my. way!"

her face is twisted into a pained scowl, as if she's torn between anger and hurt. in a way, perhaps she is.

"i don't care about this stupid fight."

and really, she doesn't. league, rocket, it doesn't matter... not in the face of a god that keeps haunting her. does it show in the way she doesn't order for attacks, doesn't summon the cavalry?

"i have to get to the primal point."

Isaac Merlo

tl;dr |
- bronzong becomes confused in its rage
- bronzong tries to use weather ball but highly misses
- illeana's healing mist activates in an attempt to help her bronzong
- she gets up but gets knocked back down by shell smash
- defiantly rises and tells him to move

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]is this fight beneath her?

some, like a certain three piece FERNANDO SILPH, would say yes. he'd look down on her for not being willing to fight this man while trying to throw her life away fighting herself. and yet, she doesn't think in the same realm as him.

she thinks in dreams, hopes, and concepts all led astray by the greed of power.

despite it all, this still doesn't scream for her to fight. every muscle, sinew, bone screams to run instead.

and when she sees the reddish glow of aura sphere, her eyes widen. it doesn't take aim at her, however... it aims for her ghostly little gremlin and she reacts without a single thought in her head.

illeana's body darts in the way, turning to shield the sableye from possible death. the aura sphere collides with her back and it erupts with pain against scarred nerve endings. she whimpers low, half into her sableye's ear.

she only turns back when the dust settles, when the pain no longer freezes her in place. the sableye is cradled against her chest like a baby with its mother. it snickers awkwardly, as if it doesn't know what to do. somehow, it almost seems to look concerned despite the no-good grin it always wears.

"do i look like i care about a position?"

she scowls, tears pricking quickly at her waterlines. red eyes become watery and she tries to steel herself into composure. it's a half-hearted attempt.

"this war doesn't matter to me. rocket, league, it does not matter when our fucking survival is at stake."

and she knows it's selfish but... she still hunts the spatial god despite it all.

her bronzong falls behind her, a hollow pang of pain echoing before silence falls. she lets out a shaky sigh and turns to recall the knocked out psychic type back into its pokeball. somehow, she doesn't call out another pokemon. she doesn't see a point.

"the primal point... there's something there that i need to get to."

she can feel it in her bones.

and while she doesn't say it, the point still stands: he's in her way.

she doesn't want to fight, that much is becoming very apparent... and yet, she will if it means getting closer to salvation.

Isaac Merlo

tl;dr |
- tries to protect sableye from aura sphere with her back
- bronzong is knocked out by phantom force & high jump kick
- trying to reason with isaac

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she doesn't know what to expect, what to do, where to go...

his blastoise looms over her. and while she's used to stretching shadows or hulking beasts looking down at her, this feels different. there's an animosity laced into fog and it makes her uncertain.

what side does the coin land on?

she raises her chin in defiance as gravity brings the coin back down to earth. there's a lull, as if time stutters to a stop for a moment, and she's not quite sure when she stopped believing in the good of people.

not everyone is a villain... not even rocket.

life dew begins to soothe pain, easing it out of muscles like knots beneath massaging hands. her healing mist assists with pink swirls wafting off skin. it diffuses as much as it heals and for all of her stubbornness, she finds a sliver of hope in the man's statement.

"something threw us away from the crystal."

her eyes are focused yet faraway, torn between hope and reality. it's a painful place to exist in, an odd sense of purgatory.

"at the same time as that cry... i don't think it's a coincidence and i sure as hell do not want it slipping from my grasp."

the again is silent but it echoes with too much weight all the same.

"i think this is the closest i will ever get to achieving my dreams. this war between sides doesn't matter in the face of that, let alone with death knocking on our doors."

in a way, she doesn't concern herself with the constant tug of war. there's bigger things to worry about... like gods and monsters and men and dying.

"i will not fight you if i can help it but if you don't move out of my way," she pauses, eyes narrowing into knives. "i will not apologize for what happens."

Isaac Merlo

tl;dr |
- tries defiant
- talkin crazy as usual

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]he moves and for a moment, she wonders if she's played herself.

it seems inevitable, perhaps, that she startles at the cold metal against her wrists. the handcuffs click into place and with them, her hope wavers.

prisoner of war?

her mouth opens to speak, to argue, to yell as her sableye scrambles up toward her shoulders. it stills, however, when the man's voice drops into a whispered tone.

"yes."

when the lockpick settles into her palm, she lowers her head to shield her smile with white bangs. success...

"you gonna drag me up there?"

she tries to make it sound angry, defiant, but there's a satisfied edge to it that persists despite the faint scowl.

she squirms for show, then, and takes a few steps forward as if she's trying to escape. any minute now, perhaps, and he'll steer her in the right direction. after so many tumbles and rocks to the head, she's still turned around and completely out of position.

and wouldn't it be nice if the plan was smooth sailing? if a certain rat didn't get in their way, maybe it would be...

Isaac Merlo

tl;dr |
- pog?
- agrees to his plan
- impressed, ngl
- lead the way new bestie

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]he plays the part well...

a shove here, a dragging there. she stumbles with each one, half out of obligation to the role of prisoner and mostly because her head is still pounding. a headache throbs at the temples and with it, a sluggishness akin to pain.

the closer they get to the primal point, the closer she is to everything she's ever wanted.

and isn't it, in a way, cathartic for something to get in the way of it all?

an explosion sounds to their right. her head swivels immediately as dust billows up into the air. for a moment, she stills. a sense of something rises. whether it's relief or dread, she can't tell. the knots in her stomach are all the same, no matter what font they reside in.

another explosion rocks the ground. as they get closer toward the primal point, one thing is clear: he will not be allowed to walk up in there without a fight.

she can do little but watch as league forces intercept him. for a moment, she thinks she hears PENELOPE LIVY and annalise henderson nearby. it quickly fades into white noise as attacks fly toward her and her captor. she's thrown from her feet with a scream -- the very one PENELOPE LIVY hears a moment later -- and she rolls into a heap a few feet away from Isaac Merlo.

by the time she shakily stands to her feet, he's gone and she's alone...

Isaac Merlo

tl;dr |
- marching!
- attacks throw her away from isaac
- she's alone now