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“Why would you even care?” they bite back. The only opinion that matters isn’t Alexei’s, it’s Michail’s. And Fern disagrees with his older brother’s claims.[break][break]

They know what they’ve felt.[break][break]

FEAR floods their system, though, even as they stand their ground. As Alexei warps and mutates into something grotesque, they can’t ignore the pulse of dread. The shiver that lances up their spine again and again.[break][break]

Storm-like rips apart the sky above them from the warring Pokémon, but their eyes are trained on Alexei. On the way his jaw seems to unhinge, the warp of the landscape around them.[break][break]

In a prison cell, they feel cold and alone. Unprepared to meet a strange fate as they try to duck away from the tear of hands and teeth. But they find their HATE beginning to crowd out the anxiety. Twisting and burning through their system as they seek to lash back out.[break][break]

Only to find the mist assisting them.[break][break]

A vulpine smile stretches across their face as Aleks is yanked backward. “My confidence? Will it?” they muse, something cold twisting through their voice as he’s pulled downward. “I hope you choke on it instead.”[break][break]

Their eyes remain fixed on his dissipating figure.[break][break]

And then they hear the cough.[break][break]

They turn sharply, stumbling with how whiplash fast their own movement is. Then they’re on their knees next to him, peering down at him with frantic eyes. “Michail?” They can’t bring themself to reach out again.[break][break]

Not until he says something.[break][break]

“What took you so long?” The chiding tease is too garbled by the thickness in their throat as they speak. “This isn’t a trick…right?”[break][break]

It would feel unbearably cruel, to remain fooled by the mist.

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] "fern..?"

[break][break] jayden makes another water-garbled cough again, warmth returning to his body even if it's only sparingly.

[break][break] he gasps for air, body convulsing and his lungs burn with fiery pain. the world around them doesn't shift. they remain in that cold and oppressive space, in the stark reminder of jayden's own childhood.

[break][break] but the admin doesn't recognize it.

[break][break] he only looks for fern's face, reaching out with cold and numb fingers.

[break][break] "why would it be a trick?" he says weakly, a ghost of a smile on his face. then he winces once, swallowing painfully. "have i ever struck you as the type to play pranks?"

[break][break]

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fern delaney

[break] + INTERDREAM

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“Yeah, it’s me.” Their head tilts into the the touch of his fingers as they drift across their face. “It was a lucky thing that I saw you fall.” The thought of what might’ve happened otherwise is quickly shoved away.[break][break]

They let out the breath of a laugh with a soft shake of their head. “No, duck. I don’t mean you.” Fern reaches down to tug him to carefully sit up. “A pocket of the interdream zone must’ve opened up on the beach.”[break][break]

Gesturing around, it sinks in that they’re not shrouded in pink mist, but the persistence of cold scenery. “See?” Their state returns to him, though.[break][break]

The relief to see stormy purple rather than crimson is palpable.[break][break]

“It doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re awake. You scared me half to death.”

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[attr="class","body"] "fall...?"

[break][break] his thoughts are muddled. he barely remembers the events of what happened before he woke up, and the stone feels cold under his touch. the admin still hasn't realized exactly where they are, but it doesn't matter — not when fern delaney is near him.

[break][break] fingertips graze gently over fern's cheekbones.

[break][break] with a grunt, jayden allows the other to help and pull himself into an upright position. as he does so, he coughs once again, water dribbling from the corner of his mouth which he wipes away with the back of his hand. jayden sighs, leaning his head against fern's shoulder.

[break][break] "scared you..? what happened?" he asks, voice still a bit groggy.

[break][break] it's then that he winces, as he feels a sharp tug of agony. quickly, he touches the side of his arm and finds it damp with blood. with some difficulty, he rips open the fabric to find a deep gash-wound.

[break][break] his mind pulses with the memory.

[break][break] angelo vestri.

[break][break] tentatively, the admin ran his hand over his arm and winces at the searing pain. he looks down to see a large gash, its edges ragged and raw, oozing a mixture of blood and some other viscous fluid. the wound is deep, the flesh beneath the skin torn apart, and he grips tighter.

[break][break] "...do you have a wound kit?"

[break][break]

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fern delaney

[break] + INTERDREAM

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Fern frowns as the gaps in his memory are made clear.[break][break]

Their hand lifts, fingers brushing a fringe of wet hair from his forehead dotingly. That same hand smooths over his back when he leans against them. “You fell from Astlik into the ocean.”[break][break]

The sight is still sharp and clear in their own memory.[break][break]

“Oh,” they breathe at the sight of the gash running along his arm. In all the fuss, they hadn’t even noticed it. “That’s going to need stitches.” Luckily, though, they did have a kit.[break][break]

Hopefully the ocean hasn’t completely ruined it. “My da would be aghast if he found out I wasn’t carrying one.” Producing a plastic case from their pocket, they pop the clasps and offer it to him.

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[attr="class","body"] as soon as she hears her name, astlik comes flying from the sky. the noivern is nowhere in sight, but there is a large gash, cutting down the dorsal side of her head. the lash that cuts down her face in the shape of three claws.

[break][break] jayden pops the case open, and winces when he shifts.

[break][break] "can you clean my wound? i can't reach it."

[break][break] he grits his teeth at the pain that laces through him.

[break][break] "i was attacked. by latias."

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fern delaney

[break] + INTERDREAM

[attr="class","credit"]☉

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Astlik is going to have her share of battle wounds from this day, it seems. Brigid is tired, of course, and running on fumes, but the goodra manages one more pulse of LIFE DEW on the dragapult—at least to slow the blood flow.[break][break]

“Of course.” Fern shifts to take his arm and turn it gently. Grabbing a disinfecting wipe, they tear open the seal. Practiced fingers dab it over the open wound as carefully as they can manage.[break][break]

Years of both training under his da and patching up their own injuries means this comes naturally and instinctively. “I’m sure all the salt from the water helped too,” they muse quietly as they wipe away blood and gritty sand.[break][break]

The sand on the ground hasn’t reappeared yet, they realize with a pause. But his remark tears Fern’s thoughts away.[break][break]

“Latias? Out here?”

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[attr="class","body"] astlik trills gratefully as the goodra washes her with LIFE DEW, and while it does not heal the gash, it does help stall the blood flow for a moment.

[break][break] jayden shifts, leaning back against them as they begin to tend to the wound. even though he winces every now and again when agony laces through him.

[break][break] the z-move was, of course, no joke.

[break][break] "yeah. out back at dewford."

[break][break] it's only then that he realizes where they are. it certainly isn't dewford, but... it isn't the ultra deep sea either.

[break][break] a bitter chill fills him, causing to tense and stand up — or at least he would, if he didn't fall immediately back into fern's arms.

[break][break] urgently, he looks to fern:

[break][break] "we can't be here. we need to leave."

[break][break]

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fern delaney

[break] + INTERDREAM

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Occasionally, Fern mumbles apologies for the pain, with each and every little wince. Lips press against his hair.[break][break]

They likely don’t have the time to do any stitching right then, so once the wound is cleaned up, they take up the roll of linen bandages and dress.[break][break]

“This'll need proper care as soon as you can manage.” And who knows how much longer this day will stretch on.[break][break]

“What was it doing out there?” Well, not helping them out, obviously. Jayden suddenly seems fixated on everything around, and Fern startles as he abruptly tries to stand. “Hey, hey. You have to take it easy for a minute.”[breaK][break]

They look around at the bleak space again, then back at Jayden. “Do you know where we are?” they ask instead. “It’s still the interdream zone, it’s not really this place…wherever it is.”[break][break]

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[attr="class","body"] "it was —"

[break][break] getting revenge.

[break][break] "with angelo vestri. nautica's co-owner."

[break][break] before he can expand on more, however, jayden realizes - with sudden clarity - where they are. the interdream has taken ahold of him again, of his dreams, of his nightmares.

[break][break] "my brother's cell."

[break][break] his voice is hollow as heh utters it, and the memories warp around him once more. shapes and colors shift behind him, flashes of a memory better left unbidden. snarling jaws that leap at a younger jayden, willing to tear eagerly through flesh and bone.

[break][break] however, dmitri's punch that sails through the air, throwing his eldest son back into a wall of chains.

[break][break] "make no mistake," the apparition hissed. "you may have the face of my son, and maybe even some of his personality, but my son you are not. if you ever become a problem, I will not hesitate in disposing of you, aleks."

[break][break] the tall man ripped his grip away from the snarling teen, the chains wrapped around the boy's wrist clanging as aleks fought against his restraints.

[break][break] a hand reaches for a trembling jayden, pulling the young boy's head against his body. the door slams behind him coldly, clicking shut.

[break][break] when the interdream shifts again, warping back into the coldness of the cell, jayden places his free hand against his face. frustration pulses in his brow.

[break][break] "sorry," he said, throat dry. "sorry you had to see that."

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fern delaney

[break] + INTERDREAM

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Any talk of Latios and why it was there fades in light of the sudden warp of the landscape around them. They hold onto Jayden—not too tightly because of his injuries, but as a simple presence.[break][break]

“Oh. Alexei, again.[break][break]

The scene that unfolds is one that makes them wince, because nothing about it is right. But after the conversation they held with the older son earlier, it begins to make sense in bits and pieces.[break][break]

Even more sense why Jayden is often skittish around the subject of his family. And what they did.[break][break]

When they drop back into the space alone again, Fern lets go of a breath they hadn’t realized they were holding.[break][break]

Jayden hides his face behind a hand, but Fern is quick to take gentle hold of his cheeks with both palms. Slowly, they turn his face back to theirs. “Don’t apologize. It’s nothing I’m scared of seeing.”[break][break]

They sigh and relent, glance flitting to the side briefly then back. “He sort of also showed up while you were unconscious.” So that must’ve been why they remained in the empty cell.

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] not even seasoned rockets like Cillian Quinn or THEO BECKETT knew about the darkest parts of his history. it was locked behind a iron-clad door. trapped, because it was too grotesque for anyone to see.

[break][break] it was only Lulu Flint who had gotten a peak into it's inner sanctions, and even then, it had only been once.

[break][break] he'd never wanted fern delaney to see it.

[break][break] his heart finds it's way into his throat as fern takes his face in their hands. violet eyes widen with surprise, and then hurt, and then confusion.

[break][break] "fern... "

[break][break] it was never thought he would be scared. he trusted fern. he knew that the other admin could more than handle his fair share of darkness.

[break][break] and yet... his insecurities clawed hopelessly at his chest.

[break][break] made only worse by the confession they say.

[break][break] quickly, jayden's hands reach for their arms, flinching at the pain, before he places his own hands gently on their forearms. even so, he speaks with an urgency that makes his voice a little rougher than usual.

[break][break] "he did?"

[break][break] terror rings true in jayden's expression.

[break][break] "alex? aleks? alexei?"

[break][break] his voice rises with panic, causing the world around them to blur.

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fern delaney

[break] + INTERDREAM

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For a moment, they let their forehead rest against his. “I already told you earlier.” They don’t repeat that declaration of love again, but they figure he’ll know what they mean.[break][break]

That they welcome every part of him. Every bad memory along with the good. The dark that blots out the light. “I’m with you.”[break][break]

It feels like a mistake, though, to admit with how his demeanor shifts. Fear rises in his face, hardens his voice. But they can’t retract it now. “He did, but he’s gone.”[break][break]

Fern notices the blur of the scenery, and they lock their gaze onto his intently, hands still pressed to his face.[break][break]

“Michail. Michail. Calm down, it’s alright. It’s over, okay? Don’t panic.”