she does not know whether she will find friend or foe in illeana reyes. the last they had come together, it had been in the name and service of FERNANDO SILPH. but before that, a lifetime ago, she stood by a better man. a better person than the two of them. 

this is what draws her out of her self-inflicted exile. the other shoe has yet to drop and paranoia still haunts her every step, the purple under her eyes. her gaze drifts around them and then settles back on illeana when formalities threaten an even larger wedge between the two of them. 

"illeana," she says in return, hopefully breaking the ice. her wry smile is tired. "i have not, but that's of little consequence. our world is coming apart at the seams."

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]the smile grows warmer, more personal with the utterance of her name.

"our world may be coming apart at the seams, but you're still an important part of this world."

a beat passes, lingering in place a moment too long.

"may i help you?"

she offers a hand, then, and pink tendrils of healing mist begin to form. it's similar, perhaps, to the previous ability of FERNANDO SILPH but different in the way it ushers in a sense of mending, not addiction.

"it's not much, truthfully, but it could provide your body some relief should you want it."

she is not certain what ails freya, but her intent is clear: assistance in the only way she knows how.

at the very least, it could ease the tension in her bones for a little while.

her voice is quiet when it returns. the rift behind them almost threatens to overtake it.

"i have heard you're formidable in the field. is this true?"

freya morningstar

one brow raises. is she important? it's been months since she's lost her home, her namesake, and not once has she attempted to lift a finger and take it back. the god that had once saved her spurned her in lieu of another. the man she'd suctioned herself to out of desperation drained her of her humanity and all she could manage for closure was a paltry apology. 

she flinches back instinctually when the mist swirls out from illeana's frame. the back of her throat swells at the memory of nature's madness, of her fragmented self. 

the craving is near nonexistent, but there are still echoes, trickles, every now and then. 

her gaze lifts back up as she crosses her arms, denying illeana's offering.

"i am," she says. "i shared my experience in kyurem's realm with Eva Morales ." months of wandering, of surviving on her own, with the beast baying at her back. 

she smiles. "and you remember the tree." she still bears the gnarled, twisted scars from Lulu Flint 's gunshots. 

illeana reyes

SPOILER: Click to show

*please note the internal dialogue freya exhibits does not reflect ooc/crow's thoughts

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]the denial is, perhaps, unexpected for the scientist. she is not used to the motion, not in the way she should be. it's instinctual to try healing, mending, fixing.

and yet, it is easy to overlook the crossing of boundaries with a swell of mist.

she ceases the healing mist with a wave of the hand. pink tendrils float for a moment before slipping into an early death. they fade as if never having lived at all.

"i do."

she remembers the chaos of it all. the primal look on freya's face. being hunted like rats in a basement. the cacophony of gunshots. it feels so close yet so far away now. nothing more than a distant memory, a conversational piece.

"would you like to be back in the field?"

freya morningstar

the mist snaps back and disappears and as soon as it's gone, her shoulders relax. the tension leaves her palms and her gaze is more focused, less fidgety. shame coils, hot and heavy in her belly, and her lips part in a grimaced snarl. 

this expression twitches and eyes flash - something animal, leftover from fernando's meddling and her upside-down year thereafter. 

"i don't think i belong anywhere else," she says simply. "but tell me - do you still believe in him? in FERNANDO SILPH's greater good?"

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]a hum of satisfaction draws out slowly, coerced from the body with a simple answer.

its existence is short-lived.

"in him?"

her tone seems to morph in the rift's crackling light. it grows tighter, constricted, reigned in. her expression settles into neutrality as best it can, but there are always cracks in a glued together doll.

she debates honesty or duplicity in a sort of frenzied quickness of the mind.

"not anymore."

honesty doesn't linger for long. it's deflected back with a slight of hand.

"do you?"

freya morningstar

the answer is more than satisfactory, but words are nothing. it's her facial expression, that same pained animal tormented by their shared hand. for a brief moment they share a kinship and then it passes, leaving them standing on the edge of worlds. 

"no," she says flatly. "i don't believe in much of anything these days." 

she doesn't question if illeana had seen matias' report of their convergence in littleroot - her attempt on his life beside KING WAYLAND. lines are blurred and hoenn's civilization is devolving. 

"but i want to know what's out there." she nods towards the rift, towards the proverbial elsewhere. 

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]in a way, she doesn't blame freya. a lack of belief is, perhaps, better than putting too much faith in someone or something. it's safer, free of the agony that binds them together.

"would you believe again if given the chance?"

she's uncertain of the concept herself, but there's too much around them now to not find a salvation in something. and while she doesn't know much about the attempt on MATIAS SILPH's life, it wouldn't make a difference to her anyway.

freya touches on the scientist's intention without much prompting. it's baited in a way, dangling on a string behind them. and yet, she leans into the curiosity naturally enough for illeana to dig her claws in.

"you can."

her smile is small. it shows mild teeth.

"are you willing to gather information of what the worlds hold?"

the for me as quiet as it is loud, one foot in each existence.

freya morningstar

"no," she says, voice firm. it's an admittance given with finality. she has lived and loved for others for as long as she can remember, believing in those she's either lost or who've let her down. a body of scars, a soul scorched, but she is not the sputtering embers, remnant coals, she once was. 

this is an emptiness by choice. 

"i will plunge into these other worlds per your instruction, but i am through with pledges and oaths." she splays her hands. "that's my offer."

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she wonders, for a moment, if freya's choice is the better option. safer, free. in a way, she suspects it could be.

"i would never demand you pledge yourself to my cause, freya."

of that, she is certain.

"all i would ask of you is to stay safe and bring what you find to me."

it's an exchange in simple terms: exploration and discovery for information. nothing more, nothing less.

her expression settles into a deadly seriousness. the weight of worlds feels suffocating against her back.

"while you are second to none with your skills, we do not know enough about these rifts to promise a safe journey. i implore you to place your safety above all else beyond the rift openings."

and her tone shifts into a softer sort of tone, more reminiscent of the woman their ghost once knew.

"information is replaceable... you are not."

freya morningstar

"no?" she says, this time with a drawl to the question. she does not believe illeana. buttered words set alarms off in the back of her head. muddled discomfort writhes against the jagged edges of shattered trust, drawing blood. emotions, too many to parse through, flit over her face, and she looks away, jaw set. 

illeana's softness exposes plush vulnerability and as she bears her belly, freya steps closer, hand reaching to the collar at her neck. but instead of gracing the pokeball at its center, she tugs a rawhide string, drawing forth the bottled black rayquaza scale hidden under her blouse.

"we are all replaceable, illeana. we have other selves. better selves." the caustic confession is bitten around the edges and her lips twist.

"but that doesn't matter. just tell me where to go."

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]"no."

she's firm, unwavering in the belief.

other selves are something she refuses to breathe life into. her own is out there... gathering strength, waiting for their fated reunion. and one of them will die when the time come. she hopes -- no, prays -- she will be the self to come out on top.

"yours could be better in your own experiences, perhaps."

she's not privy to freya's experience with her own doppelgangers. the thought of hers, however, bring her back into a skittering crawl. scar tissue threatens to jump off bone, as if hungry for the concept freya brings. and as she turns for a moment to stare at the entrance to her other self's world, the evidence of that fateful day winks at the dragon woman.

"the other me's, though? i would kill them myself if given the opportunity."

she finally bares her own teeth. they're jagged, sharp, as if taken right out of sea!illeana's corpse.

it doesn't matter, though. freya is correct in this assessment. she allows resentment to die out, refocusing on the task at hand.

"you can start where you wish. each rift holds something different... i have yet to receive reports from them all."

actually...

"you were at littleroot, correct? perhaps there might be the best place to start?"

freya morningstar

there is an altercation there, one that freya cannot see. her own doppelganger was a marvel. her own doppelganger had been worthy. and she had fought tooth and nail to ensure freya could return home - to be scorned, heartbroken, feared. she grits her teeth. 

it would be better, she thinks, if she could hate artemis. but she must live with the burden of knowing that her sacrifice had been in vain. 

"perhaps that's why they feel the same about you," she says. 

"littleroot. yes, i was there for a time. long enough to free dialga." her teeth expose. "and to witness MATIAS SILPH unleash groudon on foe and innocent alike." 

she tucks the rawhide necklace with its scale back under her shirt and smooths her hands over her feathered cowl, thinking. "Thomas Benoit reached out to me recently to investigate the rift on mt. pyre. we leave within the week.

"i'll tell you what we find. and then i will go to littleroot."

illeana reyes

☉