there is no mistaking that the softest knock on her fortree wood door belongs to head scientist reyes. nevermind the scheduling. the notification on the phone.[break][break]

it is the acoustics of confluence that makes the memory.[break][break]

although her mr. rime is present, the commissioner answers the door herself.[break][break]

"you make it sound like a favor." she jokes and opens the door wide. face less taut as if all the stress of 99943 meteno had caught up with her and rendered her skin slack. "come on in, come on in."[break][break]

she strolls into the office. beneath fanciful chairs, an ornate carpet lays tickled with stoutland hairs.[break][break]

"have you had a good morning so far?"[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes[break]

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon mr-rime"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]a healthy flush of peach is quick to spread across skin. it starts in the cheeks and slowly licks its way to the ears. and in a small sort of way, it's remnants of the same girl who had met the commissioner earl in her career. when she had still been new to the position, babyfaced and plucked right out of a councilman's pocket.

how time and people seem to change is beyond even those in this room.

"it's been a busy morning so far! has yours been enjoyable?"

she follows a few paces behind, shifting her smile from the commissioner to her ever faithful mr rime. it's a familiar sight though she does have to wonder... where is her other half, whose hairs lay on the intricate carpet like little bits of confetti.

"have things settled down for you now that the meteor's threat has passed?"

she looks more energized, as if the stress had been destroyed by the primal points instead. and in the back of illeana's mind, she has a small yet blooming understanding that it might reappear after this meeting.

dahlia goode

the commissioner nods. this morning is like any other, and although the weight of 99943 meteno is no more, beneath her heels, the world urges onward and onward, in a brutal march ever so ceaselesss, like the iron treads of some tank.[break][break]

"there is no settling to be had." dahlia says with a quiet smile. "but i can sleep a bit better now."[break][break]

her arms cross over her stomach. her hands grab her elbows to steady her. mr. rime leans on its cane.[break][break]

"and you? you're positively glowing... so what business do we have today?" the commissioner says. [break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes[break]

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon mr-rime"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]"i'm glad to hear that."

and really, she is. the past months have not been kind on the league but they've taken a special sort of toll on their commissioner. she looks lighter now, the weight of the world somehow lessened after the apocalypse has come and missed them by a hair.

the compliment makes her pause, subtle in the way she lags. is she really glowing? the sudden urge to raise a hand to her cheek, to gently prod at skin until it whispers its appearance into her ears, comes and dies just as quickly as it comes.

perhaps a new, otherworldly threat means the return of the brighter complexion she has when there's new discoveries to be made. whatever it is, it continues to elude her even now.

"um, it involves my report of the events from mt pyre..."

she lingers in the sentence for longer than she should before ushering in the rest.

"and sea hoenn."

dahlia goode

yes, the weight of the world has lessened. the boulder has rolled some. but not before bestowing dahlia with some lighter or duller hairs; the sunlight of a morning that shouldn't exist desaturates all with comforting fatigue.[break][break]

"oh?" the commissioner says, lips creasing thin.[break][break]

"sea hoenn? we haven't detected any movement from their world since meteno."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes[break]

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon mr-rime"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]ah…

something about not detecting even a trace of activity in sea hoenn settles like a bag of rocks in the stomach. it falls with a certain punch, threatening to knock the wind right out of her healing lungs.

”really?”

a look of trouble rises, then, and she hesitates as words clog up in the throat. after a moment, she’s able to push past the blockage enough to begin.

”right before we evacuated from mt pyre, this… pink slash appeared in front of me. it looked like it cut right through our reality into another.”

her eyes have never been as serious as now. unmoving, unblinking as they focus on the commissioner’s.

”it showed sea hoenn mining the meteor. i — the meteonite had primal markings in their hands.”

and faintly, her mind echoes the same incessant question over and over: how could they not detect anything?

dahlia goode

dahlia shakes her head tautly. her nose is a sharp arrow of dismissal or defiance. it cuts the idea, slices it like small wounds- but never quite all the way through.[break][break]

"what? not possible." the commissioner says. "as mentioned, sea hoenn has been dormant. dealt with."[break][break]

she places a hand against her chest, fingers fanned out as if to keep any part of it from bursting.[break][break]

"pink slash, you said. what caused it? can we trust what it shows?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes[break]

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon mr-rime"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]"how could nothing be detected? could it be due to the rifts?"

it... doesn't make sense.

she knows what she saw. she knows. the thought brings with it the childish urge to demand righteousness, to stomp her feet and insist dahlia is merely not listening to her.

and perhaps, in a way, she isn't... but isn't that how the world works? you cannot force them to hear you, to understand you.

"commissioner, with all due respect..."

she tiptoes her way around landmines, careful in syllables.

"it was not just myself who saw it. annalise henderson and paxton concordas confirmed they saw sea hoenn survive as well."

it still begs the question of why? why show them? why a pink slash in front of her?

she doesn't have any answers and it drives her up a wall.

"as for the pink slash, i believe it's a credible source. i -- there has been no other reports of a person or creature using pink energy in such a way besides palkia, the legendary that was freed from the drk triad atop mt pyre."

she wants to shrink, then, with the very source of her demotion continuing to be uttered from her lips. in a way, she half expects the full firing. or, at the very least, a strong reprimand.

and in a way, she believes the pink slash had been a gesture of good will. a thank you for freeing the deity, even. she thinks of it in a simple way: for saving me, here is a warning to save yourselves.

dahlia goode

"if what you say is true." dahlia takes steps. paces some and disturbs ruffles in the neat threads of a rug. "then none of it must leave your lips, nor from anyone else's."[break][break]


the commissioner sighs. the breath seems to hold in the lungs, swirling like a building spout.[break][break]

"none of this must be told to the public." the commissioner says. "you tell this to annalise henderson and paxton concordas. understood?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes[break]

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon mr-rime"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]her eyes follow dahlia as she moves. back and forth. a cat watching a dangling string.

"understood. i'll inform them immediately."

sensitive information like this is meant to stay quiet, kept behind closed doors. and perhaps if the public knew, they might have a different opinion of the league. they'll never know, though, and she'll never see if the light would shine in another way.

"what of the aqua initiative?"

she imagines them in a meeting room. a mixture of faces morphing as she drops the bomb. what would she find? relief. shock. confusion... anger?

"are they to be told of this?"

dahlia goode

"let them know." [break][break]

the commissioner says, though uncertainty still lingers in the marrow of her words. [break][break]

"document what you've seen. as detailed as you can." [break][break]

she presses a finger against the small beneath her lower lip. blue eyes glance at illeana; the swinging of the spotlight.[break][break]

"what do you think of this, illeana? of what you've seen?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes[break]

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon mr-rime"]

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]"okay, i'll summon them for a meeting."

the invitations come a few days later, handwritten and sent expeditiously. there's an urgency to the way she conducts the aqua summons, one that refuses to be diminished.

"the document can be ready for you by tomorrow morning."

even here, she understands time is of the essence.

and the questions dahlia asks of her cause a silence to persist. how does she explain the amount of dread in her stomach?

"i believe a war is coming from all sides. this glimpse into sea hoenn and their aggression with every appearance in our universe has only solidified that theory."

not just sea hoenn... the drk triad. megalopolans. rocket. the league has more enemies now than ever before.

"despite the probability of war, i feel we can succeed... we may need more power on our side, however. sea hoenn has many avatars on their front lines."

dahlia goode

dahlia's heart hastens. it is an incessant drum, the mallet she hears more akin to that of a chipping gavel.[break][break]

"i agree, illeana. more power." the commissioner says. "if we are to be sufficiently prepared for any outcome, we need the resources to match."[break][break]

she fights a frown cultivated by worried thought.[break][break]

"but what does power look like for you?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] illeana reyes[break]

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon mr-rime"]