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carefully, the commissioner rests her fountain pen, careful not to let its nib run. she is quick to shake her head. dismissing the implications of her workaholism with a quick rise from her seat, dahlia beckons for her.[break][break]

"no need to wait. something the matter?"[break][break]

the commissioner walks around her heavy wooden desk. her heels are muted by the ornate rug beneath them.[break][break]

"always a pleasure to have one of my elite four here."

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"Please, the pleasure's all mine. I know how busy you are, so I'll try not to steal too much of your time."
[break][break]
"Mm," the question, as simple and straightforward as it may be, takes Katherine by surprise. Whether this was a potential catastrophic phenomenon or another emerging oddity in Hoenn was hard to say. Letting her thoughts fall away, she continues, "Maybe. I think so, but you might feel different," in other words, she doesn't quite know.
[break][break]
"It's the rifts. I've been surveying them and noticing something... Weird. We—Giratina and I can both feel them moving away from our Universe. I don't think they're here to stay."
[break][break]
Which would be fine. Their existence wasn't essential, nor was it tied to the survival of Hoenn, "It'd be okay if I could tell where the point of no return is, since we could just ward people off by then, but I can't. They could just close one day, perhaps soon and perhaps not, without warning."
[break][break]
With their people still inside.

[attr="class","bottom"]dahlia goode [break]

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"moving away? the rifts or the ultra realms? perhaps both?" [break][break]

the commissioner's attempts to visualize such a thing fail; after all, katherine communicates an invisible sense. one married to the patron of distortion: a distinct layer of perception unfamiliar to all else but the elite four member herself.[break][break]

a thought occurs to her.[break][break]

"when was the last time you entered the distortion world, katherine?"

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"Both, I think."
[break][break]
Although their relationship was strictly on a professional basis, this should still come as a surprise to the commissioner. Katherine Fairburne was rarely unsure of anything, even during times she should be. The fact she hadn't stormed into Dahlia's office and detailed the information before laying down a concrete plan was almost as concerning as the report itself.
[break][break]
The question forces an answer out of her instantly. Not a moment of doubt, not a trace of suspicion. If this wasn't urgent, she would have likely calculated whether such information should be shared-- but she's worried. "A week ago," in and out, she didn't stay there for too long. As much as she postures about the distortion realm being hers, just as much as it was Giratina's, it wasn't. She still couldn't withstand its effects fully.
[break][break]
"Do you want me to try again?" here and now, she means. Distorted energy prickles her fingertips, not yet daring to tear a rift in space-- but preparing one all the same.

[attr="class","bottom"]dahlia goode [break]

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oddly enough, anxiety begins to trickle up dahlia's sternum. it spreads across her breast like scrambling spinarak—but she is not deterred by the energies of the distortion world.[break][break]

"yes." dahlia says. "can i come too?"[break][break]

the commissioner takes a step closer to katherine. enters her sphere as if to grant permission for escort.[break][break]

"is giratina there right now?"

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Now this question does make Katherine waver for a moment. She has to consider it briefly; the gears inside her mind begin to turn as she contemplates whether there is something specific she'd need to hide before allowing Dahlia to tag along.
[break][break]
There probably isn't.
[break][break]
"Yes, of course. You can come," her tone is soft and gentle, if only because she knows what's to come. Those unaccustomed to her realm could easily lose themselves to its disorienting effects, "but you'll have to hold my hand, and we can't stay for too long. It's.. Well, you'll see."
[break][break]
Distorted energy continues to cling to her left hand, and she makes a slashing motion in the air with it, cutting a tear into space to allow a rift to form. The other hand rises then too, offering it for the commissioner to take.
[break][break]
"No—well, it will be. It's with me," not in a Pokeball, though. Never. "No matter what happens, don't let go."

[attr="class","bottom"]dahlia goode [break]

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"i won't." the commissioner says of letting go. she smiles though fright tickles her teeth.[break][break]

she places her hand in katherine's. gently, as if alighting onto a grand promontory, the commissioner steps in right beside katherine.[break][break]

"i have to admit, this is quite exhilarating." the commissioner says with a nervous laugh.[break][break]

and should they disappear into the distortion world, Katherine Fairburne and giratina may notice that this realm too, seems to be expanding. spreading apart in spots much like ultra plant...

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"Mmhm. That part never changes." Or at least it has yet to.
[break][break]
The barren, ruined realm is revealed to the duo as soon as they enter the rift, emerging on the other side--the distorted world. All seems well; all is as Katherine expects it to be until her eyes continue to drift into the vast ocean of nothingness.
[break][break]
Yes, it was as she knew and recalled it, but... Different. Bigger?
[break][break]
"It's expanding..." The words pour out in a whisper. Katherine doesn't register the movement of her lips until the sound reaches her ears. "They're not just moving. They're growing." Questions ring inside her mind. They echo, but her logic fails to answer them, just as Giratina does.
[break][break]
Distorted energy ripples in the air, gravity bending to the Malevolent's whim until both Dahlia and her manage to stand in the air—no longer susceptible to the realm's inherent unstable physics.
[break][break]
"..I don't know what to make of this. Giratina doesn't know what it means either."

[attr="class","bottom"]dahlia goode [break]

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the arrival comes all at once. the commissioner stumbles a little, her heels tapping clumsily against the earth? rock? no, just air.[break][break]

dahlia takes some to acclimate herself to the distortion world. she swears she can see new colours and her breath feels like it catches on the rippling energies surrounding her escort.[break][break]

"oh katherine." dahlia says. she witnesses the same things, the minutiae of movement. "whatever it is, it doesn't seem good."[break][break]

she takes a careful step forward. takes in the realm with all senses. with an open mind.[break][break]

"do you like it here?"

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No. It really doesn't seem great.
[break][break]
While expansion is far from something worth complaining about, the fact neither she nor Giratina willed it is reason enough for concern. If it's not them, then who?
[break][break]
How?
[break][break]
A flutter of eyelashes precedes the softening of her scarlet stare. The question manages to distract her and, in turn, comfort her in a way. "Yes," simple and curt, unmistakeable. It parts through her lips without so much as a thought. "It's private," and for as much as she revelled in the public's eye, such a rare commodity was appreciated, "and it's mine," there. That selfish greed. What brought her and Giratina together; what makes them so alike.
[break][break]
"Why? Is it really so hard to imagine that this place could be valuable to someone?"

[attr="class","bottom"]dahlia goode [break]

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dahlia perceives defensiveness in the way that her answers fire outward so curtly, so quick. not that she blames her. [break][break]

to be honoured by giratina is to be forever cursed by preconceptions. misconceptions—that one may wear as their own version of authenticity.[break][break]

she had asked not for the reasons katherine believes or guesses. no, she asks out of the goodness of her own heart.[break][break]

"no, not really."[break][break]

the commissioner looks upon the grand malevolence of this expanse.[break][break]

"but if you call this place home and call this place yours, then i will do what i can to protect it too."

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It's hard for the Malevolent to ascertain whether Dahlia meant her words or merely sought to appease her. However, Katherine extends the benefit of the doubt towards the commissioner and elects to believe that perhaps she could empathize with her where she thought others wouldn't.
[break][break]
"..Thank you." It comes out awkwardly. Too slow, too forced.
[break][break]
Her eyes drift to the realm's barren, desolate floating islands, careful to linger near waterfalls where their reflection could be seen, "You know, it always feels like we're on the cusp of something. Hoenn, I mean. War, an invasion-- the meteor."
[break][break]
She's gotten used to it.
[break][break]
"But it feels bigger this time, don't you think?"

[attr="class","bottom"]dahlia goode [break]

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gratitude arrives. it arrives as an uneven stroke against the desolate canvas where cascading and escalating falls flow like vines from one clump of land to another.[break][break]

but she appreciates it all the same.[break][break]

"it does, doesn't it? it feels bigger every time." [break][break]

the commissioner frowns. [break][break]

"do you feel as if we're a part of it? a part of the bigger picture... or do you feel like we're shrinking? like we just can't keep up."[break][break]

she wonders about agency. ponders fate.