As grim as it looked to the outside observer, trips to MT. PYRE were commonplace for Remiel Calcifet these days.

If not to pay respects to fallen comrades and Galarian soldiers who had lost their lives during the war, then to conduct research into the various sites scattered throughout the mountain. There was no doubt Mt. Pyre was a special place in the grand scheme of things, after all. The fact that he'd fought here for the PRIMAL NODE said as much.

It was a misty autumn afternoon when he worked to tame his SHADOW TYRANTRUM away from the gravesites and ruins. The site provided a strange sort of peace to the otherwise volatile and unpredictable dinosaur. But, today, something seemed off.

At exactly 01:10, a strange presence filled the area. Remiel could feel the familiar charge of DYNAMAX ENERGY lingering in the air.

The black-haired royal follows this feeling, with his Tyrantrum in tow, towards an inky black rift in a crevasse nearby. One look at it and he's briefly taken back to that horrible vision of the OLD ONES, the very progenitor gods he made a point to research now. He hesitates to step any closer to it for the time being.

Reverence or fear? The two seemed to blend into one effortlessly. As a means of testing this rift, the royal archaeologist pulls an exquisite PEN out from his front pocket and casts it inside with an electrical charge. Unbeknownst to him, strange SHADOWS begin to meld with BRIGANTIA's own behind him...

SPECIAL MOVE ACQUIRED! ✨

BRIGANTIA the SHADOW TYRANTRUM learned SHADOW SNEAK!

[break][break]

THE GRISEOUS GULF ♔

☉

arms pale cold blazing-star-above has moved leaves dark above crave warmth stare at light mistress shifts coil tighter nestle into warmth burrow near stomach feel hum, hum, hum of dragon-fire 

startle blink eyes open blazing-star-above has moved again pulsing rapid blood pumping tilting head to look up see gold disappear and reappear lips up no teeth common tongue a mix of words picking out only a few like name MOXIE and LITTLE ONE and shifting

muscles twitch wings fan feathers feeling air's-breath lips down nosing into and hiss-spitting TOKEQWIM and QE SKAULIX in tongue too ancient

mistress closer turns over empty cup bitter remnants gone lungs flatten nostrils flare blazing-star-brick in hand deft fingers moving shifting heartbeat up, up, up

here

and

there

sad angry lonely long gone tired left behind trapped imprisoned dragon keens

THE GRISEOUS GULF
drabbles

☉

Something in the shadow had called to Remiel the previous day. Or, at the very least, he had received that impression. There had certainly been something oddly familiar about the energy he'd felt. That sense had nagged at him to return and attempt to explore it further.

Given the nature of this bizarre event, the archaeologist came a bit more prepared this time. For one, BRIGANTIA the SHADOW TYRANTRUM remained in her reinforced Luxury Ball. Instead, NIKE the LUCARIO traveled beside him. Her natural ability to sense auras could prove useful in this situation, Remiel thought.

Only... Nike sensed much nothing. An ABYSS in the truest sense of the word. The all-consuming black.

It frightened the normally stoic Lucario so much that she immediately took a few steps back from it. Though the exiled prince noticed this, this did not stop him from taking a step closer.

He had sensed the ABYSS before. In a way, it lived inside him. And, when he thought of the one that truly presided over it, only one crude form came to mind.

The prince had carved a wooden effigy of it before coming here. The OLD ONE that appeared in his nightmares most. He offered it to the all-consuming black now.

[break][break]

THE GRISEOUS GULF ♔

☉

you don't remember how long you've been asleep. your hand drifts over the softly glowing dragon in your lap. notifications are impatiently swiped away with a huff. you hover over a name that's midway through your conversation list. the last text is from months ago. 

the vortex remains the same, though it's late into night. (or early morning?) you crawl onto your knees, joints aching, and then gather yourself to your feet. your neck aches and you press your fingers deep against the muscles, missing, very suddenly and with a scowl, the man who used to work out all of those knots for you.

"did you ever love someone?" you ask softly as you approach. as you settle down beside the barrier between universes and wonder whether or not she's listening. 

"or, i guess that's not really the question i want answered." you draw your knees up and then stretch them out, toes pointed, back arcing. more pops shiver down your spine. 

i'm getting old, you think idly. 

"you had so much bravado. you pushed so many people away. were you lonely? by yourself? did you like yourself, katherine?" you don't like yourself. you don't like what you've done and what you will do and still, you won't stop. you won't change.

but neither will you run. you won't escape to isolation. you'll bear your burdens and you'll take up the fight. and maybe it'll break you too, like it did her, but by then it won't matter. 

"i don't know what you've been through, but fuck, we've all been through a lot. so," you say and you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, "i wish you every happiness."

over your shoulder, with a smile, you add, "even though you never wished me mine."

THE GRISEOUS GULF
drabbles

☉