CERES

MISSION ZERO TO A HUNDRED

“AND YOU BELONG IN KALOS,” fernando responds without missing a beat. the constant prattle of his keyboard punctuates sentences best left unsaid.

he doesn’t need to look up to recognize his sister. her arrival in hoenn has circulated enough times that he's memorized her voice from the soundbites. the only surprise is how irritating it is in person when hearing it through his computer is grating enough.

another silph in hoenn, they say.

another imposter, he stomachs.

“go back, ceres,” he says offhandedly. “or i will have you deported and exiled in place of that galarian reject.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Delilah Silph

CERES

MISSION ZERO TO A HUNDRED

HER PROVOCATION DOES NOT RILE HIM UP. instead, he simply ignores her. for she is not the first to try and test him. nor will she be the last. it is up to him, as the better, as the real silph to overcome and break through.

“and it was cancelled,” he speaks with indifference. “so go home. and take fuijin with you.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Delilah Silph

CERES

MISSION ZERO TO A HUNDRED

SHE’S WRONG. disgustingly so. to the point that flaunting such an egregious assumption reels his attention away from his monitor. she steals his gaze but she won’t make it out unscathed. he catches her red handed.

“if you can convince her to leave the region, then you can have her. her work is far from irreplaceable.”

his eye narrows in. brows creased.

“if you are not here to fight and die for this region, like bronwen did, and how herrera will, then you do not belong here.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Delilah Silph

CERES

MISSION ZERO TO A HUNDRED

“I KNOW,” he reiterates firmly. “which is why you don’t belong here.”

his voice starts to rise as he pounds frustration into her history lesson.

“bronwen is dead.”

stormy silph. the most brash and fiery of their line. the silph who came to hoenn demanding answers and proved him wrong. until she died…

“matias and i are dying.”

men chosen by the gods. but every pact has its price to pay. the human body is not meant for such boons. it erodes, crumbles underneath its power. primal intoxication is a silent killer. a necessary addiction.

“lyn is missing.”

songbird. the one closest to living delilah’s life. an idol abroad, secret agent domestically. someone who helped thwart silas’ reign at the cost of her (presumed) life.

“alexander and cecilia fucked off and they’re thriving.”

because they got out of his way.

“i stuck fuijin in a broom closet and she still found a way to, literally, shoot herself in the foot.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Delilah Silph

CERES

MISSION ZERO TO A HUNDRED

“COME HERE.”

he makes it easier for her by removing himself from behind the desk. without the furniture to hide away his legs, his figure becomes more imposing. as if this man truly could be larger than life.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Delilah Silph

CERES

MISSION ZERO TO A HUNDRED

ANTICIPATION BUILDS. it doles its own principle with each passing moment and collect compound interest as each second adds up. half the battle is steeling that power of imagination that lingers in the in-between.

“give me your hand,” he commands. his own is extended, flat and open.

ready for her compliance.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Delilah Silph

CERES

MISSION ZERO TO A HUNDRED

“FORESIGHT CAN ONLY TAKE YOU SO FAR.”

he takes her hand by the wrist.

“but you cannot see with certainty something that has not happened.”

and places it on his face. her palms brushes the leather of his headband. attempts to remove herself is met with an iron vice grip.

“so you must look to others. it is the responsibility of the old to teach the young.”

the way his fingers lace into her own seems almost intimate. laid on top, guiding.

“this is what will happen if you stay.”

until they start to peel back the clothing. feeling the crease of where his eyelid extends into an empty openness.

tw: body horror and implied gore?

SPOILER: Click to show

his wound has long died. most of it has healed in the capacity of no longer being exposed flesh. but John Sullivan’s aid does not regrow tissue that does not exist. no healing does.

so the bits and piece still exist. nerves that have dulled and exist as nothing more than gruesome shock value. ones that he forces her to get ever so closer as he stares back, unfazed. positioning her to touch the live action version of medical diagrams used for optometry students.

“whether it is you or someone else, people will suffer. those around you will find nothing but misery as this region takes everything from them. as it has taken from me.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Delilah Silph