Did she know that voice? Distantly, she felt that she did. The origin of the memory felt hazy, though; all of her surroundings possessed the film of a dream, something not quite entirely real.[break][break]

A bone-weary exhaustion permeated every fiber of her body, rendering her slack and unable to protest his earnest desire to help her.[break][break]

Emerald eyes blinked back grains of sand, trying and failing to put a name to his face. It was difficult to make out any details in the blinding sunlight.[break][break]

"F... friend or foe?" she managed to cough out, seawater burning in her throat as she attempted to speak. Her mind had given up on making any sense of the events that swam through her head, dizzying and defying reason. "I don't... I don't want to fight."[break][break]

It would be easier to just be killed, at this point. She didn't have the energy to survive anymore.

[attr="class","ooc"] Michael Navidson[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"Why am I here?" she repeated dumbly, and the question had the lost echo of someone relearning how to speak.[break][break]

Because I wanted to kill a man who's already dead.

[break]

Because that Beast lied to me.

[break]

Those ochre eyes still bored into her mind, haunting her with their hollow displeasure, and a shiver of repulsion quaked through her as she covered her crumpling face in her hands. Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes as her body convulsed with silent sobs.[break][break]

Cunning and pride had both washed away with the watershed of catharsis, leaving only a frightened shell of a woman behind.[break][break]

The Flygon's WISH soothed and calmed nerves frayed by the wounds two gods had left on her fragile psyche, enough for the sobs to eventually subside. Shaky breaths centered her, each one bringing with it a dull reminder of the arrow embedded in her chest.[break][break]

"It doesn't matter," she whispered, each word costing her another shallow exhale of precious air. "I failed."

[attr="class","ooc"] Michael Navidson[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She hadn't failed? It felt true, and yet like a lie at the same time.[break][break]

Was it treacherous, to be relieved somewhat? That she hadn't succeeded?[break][break]

The man's soft reassurances abruptly vanished as he stated his desired intentions, and panic clawed frantic fingers through her skin, causing her to bolt upright. Vertigo made the world spin, all the colors blurring together into a nauseous kaleidoscope of tropical blues and golds.[break][break]

"No, don't... don't take me back there," she protested feebly, attempting to find footing on legs that had forgotten how to stand. Sheer willpower made her screaming muscles lock in place, an ancient survival instinct ringing in the back of her mind.[break][break]

What if he took her to the likes of FERNANDO SILPH or freya morningstar? She'd barely escaped that encounter alive, and the mist's effects were likely to be dying at this point. She didn't know how long kyle lopez's reign of terror had continued; her usual experience was that a few hours was enough time for Tapu Fini's BERSERK FOG to fade out.[break][break]

"S'fine," she mumbled, stars bursting in her eyes as she rubbed them raw. "I... I'm fine."[break][break]

She stumbled in front of the Flygon, leaning on it for support despite herself.

[attr="class","ooc"] Michael Navidson[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

The world spun on a dime.[break][break]

In another timeline, maybe the woman that floated ashore was ripped apart by her enemies like a Mandibuzz, picking her bones clean and feasting on a victory that freya morningstar had already earned for them.[break][break]

Perhaps in that world, the calamities and Ruination destined to follow in her wake were averted in some way.[break][break]

The Beautifly Effect that set their mutual path in motion was uttered with a single word: "Visionary." Elisabeth's eyes widened, startled to have her initial assumptions confronted; her own mind was not so lucid as his own, a fact revealed by her poor attempts at self-preservation. [break][break]

"You know her?" she asked uncertainly, as if toeing an unspoken line in the sand. Though it had been crossed some time ago, whether or not she'd known it. The point of no return was already upon them.[break][break]

A hesitant nod conveyed her acceptance, unable to do much else.

[attr="class","ooc"] Michael Navidson[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

How much chaos she'd caused. Tapu Fini's BERSERK FOG had infected kyle lopez, MATIAS SILPH, and FERNANDO SILPH alike in these days of battle alone, turning the most powerful men of the League against one another with an aggression that was not their own.[break][break]

The woman responsible for this bloodlust did not mirror it as she leaned into his mercy with a childlike relief, allowing herself to be given undeserved refuge by a perfect stranger.[break][break]

Later, she'd connect this man with the Gym Leader who had once tried to befriend her in a cottage that no longer existed in the Petalburg Woods. For now, he was a soothing voice: a port in the storm she'd found herself in.[break][break]

"Thank you," she said softly, resting her head against the Flygon's neck as her eyes fluttered shut. "I'm sorry," she added, and strangely she sounded like she meant it, too.[break][break]

People like her didn't deserve kindness. Everything she touched turned to rot and ruin.[break][break]

In the months to come, reports would filter in. This woman's Avatarship to Tapu Fini, undoubtedly, would enter AQUA's official notice. He might regret his choice to help her, when that inevitable truth revealed itself.[break][break]

As she soared away to safety, abruptly snatched away from death's doors, Michael Navidson might even start to regret it now.

[attr="class","ooc"] Michael Navidson[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]