And just like that, it’s over. The stillness that suddenly settles around them brings a deafening silence. Any trace of the wind disappears and the stagnant cave air hangs around them once more. The oppression of the INTERDREAM ZONE’s mist leaves with it along with the storm of emotions reeling inside her. It buries back down below the professionalism and duty that drive her.

She’s brilliant in the aftermath, glowing with power and even she looks awestruck down at her own hands. She had tested her power in Kanto, but not to this degree. As the power slowly dissipates, so too does the light. It fades from her eyes, both physically and metaphorically, when she looks over towards Fernando. Fatigue suddenly consumes her. Where he maintained stamina, she recklessly exhausted herself out of fear and desperation.

”Ma-,” she barely begins to whisper a name, the first one that comes to mind, before her knees give out from beneath her and she falls to them. Gravity pulls her, she doesn’t stop it, and she falls to her side.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

+50 for participation in battle/mission
+10 per IC post (16)
+10 for feeling paranoia of the realm
+10 for mega evolution

= 230 MP

Somewhere distant, far above the labyrinth of caves they found themselves in, a presence lurked among the stars. An anxious click vibrated through their throat as a set of golden eyes stayed trained on the otherwise baren terrain above GRANITE CAVE. It was like they could see right through it, watching a film with which they shared the emotional rollercoaster. Loss, grief, fear, desperation; all trivial human emotions that only complicated things unnecessarily. These feelings stirred a tempest within their chosen that disrupted any sort of peace she may find.

Had they chosen wrong? Had they misplaced their trust in the once hopeful and determined professor?

No. She was the only one with a soul capable of balance.

She would learn.

She would learn that she is better off without the mortal as a distraction, the one with such blatant disrespect and misplaced arrogance alongside their brother. They may hold dominion over the land, but it would always lie below the sky. Even the tallest mountain couldn’t usurp their reign. He is, and will always be, insignificant in comparison.

Enough rest.

WAKE UP.

---

A surge of intangible electricity snaps across their tether like a powerline. The suggestion is sharp and pointed. Eva snaps back to reality with a startled gasp. Her eyes fly open, gold fading to green with vibrant new life, like someone hit the rest button.

“Matias!” she finishes her earlier thought when she springs back to consciousness because that’s the last thing she remembers: thinking of him and the comfortable, safe, embrace she had become accustomed to over the years. But it’s not his arms. There’s no warmth, just the cold rocky ground beneath her.

Priority wins over gratitude and she sits up quickly to ensure the threat is gone, that she can find some reprieve from the mist’s deadly grasp, “It’s gone,” she states, but it sounds more like a question, “I’m fine,” she assures herself and Fernando, “Sorry I- That was reckless.”

---

FERNANDO SILPH

+50 for participation in battle/mission
+10 per IC post (17)
+10 for feeling paranoia of the realm
+10 for mega evolution

= 240 MP

You’re fine, Eva nods, accepting the statement as if it is fact. A sense of comfort eventually finds her, but it’s not Fernando that provides it, just the words.

Really, she is fine. The exhaustion fades quickly, and she pushes herself up to her feet. She even has the sense to snag the carefully folded jacket to return to its master, “Thanks,” she offers it back to him while considering his question.

Is she stable?

From a medical sense, yes. Her heart beats a steady, definitive rhythm. She breaths evenly and she holds a fixed gaze. The cogs of her mind shift in sync.

Emotionally? Spiritually? Mentally? She’s more unstable than she’s ever been. The outburst was clear proof.

Would she ever admit it? Even to herself? No.

“Yes,” she says with resolution. She can’t afford to not be. If she believed she was, then it would give life to all the insecurities that bubbled just beneath the surface. Now was not the time to exercise her demons.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

+50 for participation in battle/mission
+10 per IC post (18)
+10 for feeling paranoia of the realm
+10 for mega evolution

= 250 MP

If he doesn’t believe her, she can’t tell. Eva had never been one that could read people well. As with many intellectuals, her social skills suffered beneath the solitude of her studies.

The brief, oppressive silence stirs another wave of discomfort. This time, she can’t quite put her finger on why. She holds his singular gaze, the subtle spike in her heart rate is palpable. Her nerve endings fire in response to the adrenaline for no apparent reason. The threat is gone, but beneath his stoic gaze she feels a whisper of guilt for her actions.

She could do better.

She would have to do better.

The night is still young, and a long, familiar war threatens to swallow them whole.

Her hands roam her own pockets, the movements turning more frantic until she breaks her eyes away to glance down at her own jacket. No, not there. Her pants? No.

“Shit,” she finds the crumpled comm smashed and scattered across the floor. She delicately picks up a small piece and frowns.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

+50 for participation in battle/mission
+10 per IC post (19)
+10 for feeling paranoia of the realm
+10 for mega evolution

= 260 MP

The road through war is long and treacherous. The need for more does eventually split them apart. Their duty demands the most of them, ushing them to the edge of sanity and strength. Eva spends the majority of the night alone confronting Rocket after Rocket, accumulating more bruises, scars, and breaks than she did over the entirety of her first war. With power came a large target plastered on your back – medic or not. Rayquaza doomed her from the beginning.

She would do what she must. Hoenn comes first. She would die before she let it fall into the hands of Rocket or sink into the abyss of these rifts.

The crumpled comm falls back into her pocket, useless. Her gaze snaps back up to his when he continues to speak over the comm, unaware of his intentions, “Do they need us elsewhere?” she asks expectantly, though now the breach into their world makes her hesitant to leave this place vulnerable.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

+50 for participation in battle/mission
+10 per IC post (20)
+10 for feeling paranoia of the realm
+10 for mega evolution

= 270 MP

“Not at all,” she accepts the pokegear to complete the task presented to her. She moves away from Fernando to retrieve the (hopefully) not broken tablet she was concentrated on earlier. Luckily, it survived her outburst, and it shines to life when prompted. A moment later, the interdimensional readings are bouncing back and forth on the screen in a steady, rhythmic pattern. She scrolls back the recording to the time the rift opened.

She speaks in a steady cadence to interpret the data that might correlate with the opening of a rift. Even a few second warning could save a life. She recounts a brief and vague experience with the mist and the anomalies within it – including the Iron Jugulis and a previous encounter with an Iron Valiant. Their robotic appearance has a curious resemblance to a pokemon witnessed in the Dr. Holo's Otome route. To date, the only way proven to seal the rifts is with the MYSTERIOUS ORE which there are far too few of to close them all.

“Anything to add, Silph?” she asks extending the comm back towards him, both offering as a means to provide additional information and to return it to its rightful owner.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

+50 for participation in battle/mission
+10 per IC post (21)
+10 for feeling paranoia of the realm
+10 for mega evolution

= 280 MP

With nothing else to add, Eva closes out the transmission and release the device back to Fernando. Her gaze lingers on the pokegear for a moment with a hint of regret, fearful that she missed an important piece of information, “I hope it helps,” she muses out loud. They’ve already lost too many lives in the mess of this war and she never feels like she’s doing enough to limit those losses.

Suddenly feeling anxious, she paces towards where the portal had blinked into existence as fast as it disappeared. She kneels down to inspect the area itself for any anomalies, “How much longer do we have to stay here?” not that she didn’t enjoy the councilman’s enthusiastic company, she was anxious to get back to the frontlines where she could be of more assistance.

---

FERNANDO SILPH

+50 for participation in battle/mission
+10 per IC post (22)
+10 for feeling paranoia of the realm
+10 for mega evolution

= 290 MP