[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] once upon a time, perhaps jayden cross and Alexandra Briarwood could've gotten along. however, it seemed that fate had other ideas in mind, having set the two of them up for failure. they were on opposite ends of a bridge.

[break][break] "stay close," he says, facial expression schooled into nonchalance. regardless of his personal feelings regarding the rocket beast, he had requested her specifically for this — he knew how unstable one could be in the interdream and wanted to ensure that their beasts were well-equipped. "we don't know what will happen here."

[break][break] it was just like the wilds. but instead of a budding friendship, it was antipathy and aversion that brewed beneath the surface, leaving room for HATE.

[break][break] "the longer we stay, the worse it becomes."

[break][break] to prove a point, jayden gestures to his cheek one of the ultra deep sea's mutations have made it's home. as he draws attention to it, the light catches the surface, revealing a patch of small, white scales that seem to have grown out of his skin. they trail down his neck and even cover a gash where freya morningstar had previously knifed him.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

Alexandra Briarwood

[break] + INTERDREAM

[attr="class","credit"]☉

Once upon a time, Lex was a rather pleasant person. She was social, outgoing to a degree, and even had a sense of humor. It was Rocket that broke her, made her stronger, but also slaughtered the woman she use to be. She recognizes the strength, relishes it, in fact. But she hates them for it most of all. Her loyalty is out of necessity, not a sense of family or gratitude. She had nowhere else to go. The vulnerability is something this realm can sniff out, extract, and turn against her. It would only be a matter of time before her closely kept secrets would be laid bare in front of Jayden. Of course, she didn’t know that.

Jayden encourages her to stay close, but she keeps her comfortable distance with only a minor shift closer to his side. The tendrils of mist tickle her mind, and she swats it away like a bug. Her red lips twist in disgust at the sight of whatever it is growing on his skin, “What is that?” she asks, rubbing her own neck to make sure she wasn’t also affected.

The mist nips are her mind again like a Herdier, encouraging PARANOIA to amplify her already sensitive psyche.

---

jayden cross

+50 for participation in mission/battle
+10 per IC post (2)
+10 for PARANOIA

=80 MP

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] "it's an effect of this place."

[break][break] even now, the uncertainty coiled around jayden. he could feel the effects of the ultra deep sea and the fact that it was physical manifestations only made things worse. at least with the border, he could feel a sort of curiosity and desire to explore the unknown. maybe it was his extraudinary interest in the ghosts of the underworld that supported him. whatever it was, the deep sea did not have it.

[break][break] Cillian Quinn had told him it wasn't an ocean. but it was certainly as terrifying as one.

[break][break] "look out for any cracks in the rocks; the sealstones could be beneath a hidden alcove."

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

Alexandra Briarwood

[break] + INTERDREAM

[attr="class","credit"]☉

The itch if agitation manifests across her bare skin. She picks at it like a poisonous rash. The more she tries to brush it off, thes stronger it becomes, “What the fuck,” she grumbles to herself, looking down to see nothing there expect her smooth, pale skin, “Let’s just get the fuck outta here,” there’s a mild sense of desperation in her voice, almost as if she’s begging Jayden to lead them out of this mist because she doesn’t quite know the way.

Where is she?

’You're late!’ the soft giggle of a small girl breaks her attention away from the phantom itch and towards the young redhead. She’s innocent and pure, a time before Lex fell into darkness, “How-” how was she seeing herself?

'You’re late!’ she repeated, turning to skip through the mist and lead them to whatever it was they were late for, “Did you see that?” she asks Jayden, curious if it is just her mind being toyed with or if he was along for the twisted ride as well.

---

jayden cross

+50 for participation in mission/battle
+10 per IC post (3)
+10 for PARANOIA

=90 MP

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] 'let's just get outta here.'

[break][break] jayden tenses. words said once to him by fern delaney, but this time, he sees reason. he knows the danger of the ultra deep sea and without sygna suits, they are only left more exposed to it —

[break][break] he blinks at the sight of a young redhead giggling through the mist.

[break][break] seemingly innocent, but experience in this realm had left jayden weary.

[break][break] "yes," he says quickly, before turning to the beast. "we should still leave."

[break][break] "but do you want to follow?"

[break][break] despite everything between them, jayden's loyalty is to rocket. and he knows the temptation of chasing after one's past.

[break][break] "i'll support you."

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

Alexandra Briarwood

[break] + INTERDREAM

[attr="class","credit"]☉

So it wasn’t just her, but it was clearly a figment drawn form her mind and made real. The INTERDREAM ZONE had chosen its victim. Curiosity is a powerful force, and it clung to her logic, smothering the desire to leave. Instead, she wanted to follow.

Lex carefully glanced over at Jayden. This time, she didn’t hide the critical evaluation she was making in her mind. Her gaze traced him up and down, ripe with suspicion, “I’ll follow her, you stay here or leave - whatever you want to do.”

---

jayden cross

+50 for participation in mission/battle
+10 per IC post (4)
+10 for PARANOIA

=100 MP

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] her wariness didn't go unnoticed, but jayden didn't comment on it.

[break][break] this was not a time for politics. this was work.

[break][break] "i'll follow you," he says, without hesitation. "no rocket gets left behind."

[break][break]

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

Alexandra Briarwood

[break] + INTERDREAM

[attr="class","credit"]☉

Lex’s eyes harden, gaze narrowing in clear displeasure. It’s the same look she’d give a grunt that disobeyed a very clear order, “I don’t want you to come with me,” or was he too dense to pick up on that when she didn’t give him the option?

But it doesn’t matter, her demons will come to her.

A familiar voice, a familiar silhouette whispers in her ear and his words drip from her own mouth in her own voice: “The last thing I need is another Rocket snooping around my mind and using it against me,” her tone is drenched in resentment for lessons learned all too well.

---

jayden cross

+50 for participation in mission/battle
+10 per IC post (5)
+10 for PARANOIA

=110 MP

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] "and i didn't ask."

[break][break] his voice broke no room for argument. regardless of what she wanted, he would follow.

[break][break] jayden doesn't hear the words of her demon whispering to her, instead staring blankly ahead as the world shifts around them in shapes of what look like goldenrod city.

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

Alexandra Briarwood

[break] + INTERDREAM

[attr="class","credit"]☉

The spark of anger that flickered in her gut was easily suppressed by shift of their reality. They found themselves in Goldenrod. The Beast tensed, her jaw so tight she felt like it was going to snap right off. She slowly turned around to watch the scene unfold before them.

A short, tragic story like many of those that found themselves within the clutches of the organization.

A father betraying his family.

A daughter betraying her mother.

A mafia boss betraying his word.

A lover betraying the one that meant the world to her.

A slave betraying her master.

Even when she fled Johto, nothing seemed to change.

She found herself enslaved again but the theme didn’t change.

Betrayed by a mentor then betrayed by a superior.

The Lex presented to them reeked of weakness and distrust. The only thing she knew for certain was that she would be betrayed. So she corrected it, gathering her vulnerabilities and any sort of connections that kept her tethered to people and she cut the ties.

No one could betray you when you didn’t give them the chance to. It left her alone and isolated but that abyss was the only place she could find comfort. And it was that isolation that latched itself onto her like a parasite, a darkness reaching out with ebon tendrils that curled around her ankles, her wrists, her neck. The pressure of solitude weighed down on her, tightening so slowly around her windpipe until didn’t realize it until she tried to gasp for air.

Her mouth opened, a guttural choke cracking out. Her eyes bulged, the whites turning red. It would kill her, and she would let it.

---

jayden cross

+50 for participation in mission/battle
+10 per IC post (6)
+10 for PARANOIA

=120 MP

[attr="class","jayjaytop"]

[attr="class","body"] as the interdream mist sinks it's corossive fangs into Alexandra Briarwood's deepest fears, jayden's eyes widen. it's only a matter of time before the world shifts into goldenrod city.

[break][break] the rocket admin had been to johto before, but only on his father's business. he had only been to the brighter parts of the city, protected by his father's influence.

[break][break] the shadier, seamier parts of the town were kept secret.

[break][break] but now they opened up for him, torn open like a wound.

[break][break] violet eyes widen, then light with vengeance. conviction burns in accordance with HATE.

[break][break] he would not let another rocket fall.

[break][break] "vikhor!"

[break][break] the sable-eye appears in the interdream mist, and jayden triggers his earring charm. the pokemon MEGA-EVOLVES in an instant and rushes towards Alexandra Briarwood after his trainers utters a variety of clicks and sounds.

[break][break] the powered SHADOW CLAW slashes down on the shadows and pulls apart Alexandra Briarwood's solitude until it's merely faint tendrils of rose. a MYSTERIOUS ORE is thrown down onto the floor, shattering, and sucking up the interdream mist until they are back in the ultra deep sea.

[break][break] jayden rushes over to lex.

[break][break] "are you alright?"

[attr="class","oocnotes"]

Alexandra Briarwood

[break] + INTERDREAM

[attr="class","credit"]☉

For a moment, all she sees is darkness and all she feels is the cold and bitter loneliness of her own design. The world is blacked out, and the pressure she feels around her neck is the most real thing she’s felt in a long time.

When the ghost strikes with SHADOW CLAW, the demons hiss and screech in retaliation. They curl into themselves, an ominous aura ready to strike back. Jayden’s quick thinking saves them all the fight. They wai and writhe across the Deep Sea’s rocky terrain as the tendrils are sucked back into the mist being exiled by the MYSTERIOUS ORE.

Finally, she can breathe. The world returns as a blinding light that slowly fades into the darkness of ULTRA DEEP SEA. The Beast finds herself on her hands and knees, fingers curled into the rocks so hard that she can feel blood pooling beneath her nails. A real and tangible fear sits in her amber eyes.

Deep, long breaths of precious oxygen return her wits to her - but not all of them. In a rare, vulnerable moment she doesn’t have it in her to lie and fight and play the classic bitch, “No,” her voice is hoarse and choked, “No, I’m not ok,” not here, and not back in reality.

She leans on Jayden to help herself back to her feet. Her mind clears and stitches together pieces of the puzzle that just unfolded. Embarrassment, fear, and guilt clutch at her heart and it bleeds into her pained expression, “I’ve gotta go,” get away from here, from him, from everyone, “Hecate,” the Shadow Gardevoir answers in an instant and in the blink of an eye, tears Lex away from here and back to her abyss.

---

jayden cross

+50 for participation in mission/battle
+10 per IC post (7)
+10 for PARANOIA
+100 for finishing mission
+300 for ‘losing’ to the darkness

=530 MP