the alien dragon's pulse meets ori's breath with a sweeping fervor. sparks pop and the singeing flame buffets ori's flank. he snarls, body turned sideways and shoulders squared protectively over his mistress. 

and then, quick as lightning, he darts forward. a bright white spurts from his crown, sizzling as he slithers over rock and leaps headfirst toward the naganadel.

Elisabeth Fiorelli

ori used zen headbutt.

☉

his effort is valiant, but he stood little chance against the superior pokemon. if it even is a pokemon. the stinger plunges into ori's belly, piercing his naturally armored underside with ease. those few inches of resistance may have saved his life; as poison wracks its way through his body, he spasms, falling limp. 

adrenaline courses into his blood. his pulse quickens, breathing labored, and with a tailwind spurred from panicked wingbeats, he's able to free himself from the stinger and crawl into an outcropping of rocks. 

as elisabeth nears freya, a thick wad of blood drips from her mouth. her chest shifts, the scaled armor shifting. it could be a trick of the light, or the ultra deep sea's lingering presence, but it's not. 

as elisabeth's hand nears, freya's last gambit makes itself known, fangs exposed and aiming for the woman's throat. 

Elisabeth Fiorelli

ori is knocked out!
moxie attacks!

☉

the purple scales on the ekans' form shiver. a halo of silver light starts to encase its body, snaking up from the tip of its tail to its neck, but the effect is broken halfway through. the barrier it had attempted to summon is shed like skin as the knife plunges through its eye and into its brain. 

fangs still exposed, the body coils reflexively, wrapping around freya's limp neck. one last goodbye before she goes still.

the tussle is enough to rouse her. she looks up blearily, eyes bloodshot. she sees carnage and she cannot fathom it, and as quickly as she's awake, reaching reflexively for elisa, she goes down again.

Elisabeth Fiorelli

moxie dies sadge

☉

it would be mercy if elisa ended her now when she was none the wiser. maybe she wouldn't have gone out in a blaze of glory like she'd wished these past couple of years, there's satisfaction in going on her own terms. not at her inconsolable grief, not at the command of FERNANDO SILPH. herself, covered with the blood of her enemies. 

but she is not granted that release. snubis gets to keep his cyber. 

hands wander over her belongings. the mechanism in her quiver whirs at elisabeth's touching, heal arrow snicking softly into her hand. the buttons on the side are faded and worn, but the words can still be made out: dragon, dark, heal, flash, poison, explosion.

on her choker is the morningstar crest, lyune's ball nestled tightly between the two wings. but beneath that glinting silver is a leather cord. a warm black scale is tucked underneath her armor. 

in a tangle of silver wire at her side are a dozen more pokeballs, hand-painted with draconic insignia. and as elisabeth wanders about her things, freya draws a rattling breath. 

Elisabeth Fiorelli

☉

she went through hell and back for that scale. she sought salvation and was instead flung into a realm not of her own understanding, a realm where monsters far more terrifying than their own still lurk. where one of them remains still, massive claws digging angrily into the snow and ice, always hungering. 

the arrow's healing does away with whatever mist had still been lingering inside of her. it slips past her lips now and her lashes flutter open. the room is still spinning. hurting her eyes open. she can't tell up from down, but still her hands grope for a weapon. 

instead they come across the lifeless body of her ekans. 

she does not understand. she bows forward, oblivious to elisa still beside her, and chokes on a sob, forehead pressing to the snake's side, fingers gripping the rocky ground until they bleed. 

Elisabeth Fiorelli

☉