[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the door slowly swings open to reveal one illeana reyes, eyes sharp despite the distant sensation of stars stuck behind eyelids. she brightens at the sight of eris and her smile warms like honey.

"hey, you made it."

she opens the door wider, allowing space for the girl to enter.

"come on in - make yourself at home! do you want anything to drink?"

a quick sweep of the beverage station by the corner of the room confirms she, at the very least, has more than just coffee today. there's an assortment of juice swiped from the league's cafeteria and even a donut or two.

and after giving eris enough space to decide, to move around and grow accustomed to the head scientist labs, the alchemist finds herself settling back into her plush rolling chair. she rolls herself over to the smaller, comfier chair by her desk reserved for guests and waits for eris to join her.

"before we get started, did you have any questions you wanted to ask?"

Eris Halla

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]a nod follows and the alchemist gives them room to collect their own refreshments.

and once they're all seated, her smile is pleasant and kind. it grows a little fonder at the edges once a cup is levitated a little closer toward her.

"oh, are you sure you don't want this cup?"

she wouldn't want to take the pixie's drink...

the cup lingers in the spaces between, then, as eris asks a tentative question - one illeana doesn't blame her for fearing.

"no, i would not take mesprit from you."

a hand is extended toward eris, a pinky sticking out in the form of a deal.

"i promise."

whether her pinky is taken or not, she continues all the same.

"this is more to make sure you're both healthy and to gather information regarding your current bond. i'd only ask you questions and take samples from you both if you give permission."

a beat of silence passes. she can see its small little ripples like a bug landing on water.

"would that be alright?"

Eris Halla

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]once their pinkies lock in promise and once she's certain the trepidation has been slightly dispelled, the alchemist retracts her hand. a moment later, a small laugh bubbles out as the cup of apple juice is pushed further toward her with a cheekiness.

"thank you, that's very kind."

she accepts the cup, but she does not take a sip yet...

for she looks to ask a question first.

"let's start with some general information, okay?"

her smile is soft, pleasant, encouraging.

"have you had mes with you for very long? you two seem to be getting along very well."

thick as thieves, in fact, if she had to put an exact term to it. it's endearing, she notes, as she finally moves to take a sip from her cup of apple juice.

Eris Halla

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]slowly, she begins to jot down notes after taking another sip of apple juice. the cup sits idly, then, on her desk while she etches words into blank margins.

and as eris continues, she draws parallels between her remembrance and Hideo Kino's. two individuals, contacted in the same way by the same group... curious. where one might expect differences between the three beings' interactions based on their respective roles issued by the father, there are none.

"had there been anything out of the ordinary that you noticed with the initial meeting? or, perhaps, any instances after?"

she looks for any additional information to string the two stories together, to make them whole and complete before analysis.

her smile smooths, then, into something more understanding - empathy creeping in between teeth.

"it's okay, no need to apologize! i'd be angry as well if it were me."

she's certain a lot of people would share that sentiment, truthfully. her eyes sweep slightly to mesprit, softening.

"have your injuries healed well since?"

Eris Halla

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]as eris explains the meeting and the strings attached, illeana stays relatively quiet. her pen moves every now and then, scribbling notes into the margins of her notebook.

"it sounds like your memory of the encounter was consistently fuzzy unless near another who was visited by a member of the lake trio."

interesting... she had grown up with the fables in sinnoh, but her childhood mind had never deemed the consequences of them entirely true. she had chosen to believe in the good of the myths back then, leaving them pure and holy and untouched by the perspectives of mortals.

"what do you believe the letters were trying to spell?"

another prophecy? or a warning...

the casual mention of brain bubbles makes the alchemist's eyes widen slightly, as if this is new, concerning information. she does remember Ruby Walker, the autopsy, and the cause of death. would that have been their same fate?

and despite herself, a small smile rises with the concept of space mending itself. palkia stirs in a pokeball on her belt as if a mention of space will awaken the dragon. she moves her free hand to quell the wiggling pokeball as if soothing the beast within.

"i do remember what happened to Ruby Walker... have you had a check up since to confirm you're no longer at risk for these brain bubbles?"

her eyes shift, for a moment, to mesprit and the small red gem on its head. it's fractured, losing its luster... could she help with the repair? could she mend it back together with spatial energy if she really tried? her healing mist is gone, surely, but perhaps she's not entirely helpless on the healing front now.

"has anyone tried to heal your gem since the incident?"

Eris Halla

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she listens to the explanations, to the pieces of the puzzle slowly starting to click into place. every now and then, she jots down small notes before the pen stills again.

idly, she makes a soft, "i was there," comment and falls silent to allow eris to continue.

and when the drawing comes to life on eris's notebook, she leans forward and stares. it's familiar, gleamed from an ancient book perhaps... but she's certain of one thing: it's connected to the lake guardians and, by extension, creation.

"three large circles - one at each point of the triangle - and one in the center..."

the additional circles make no rhyme or reason to the alchemist, but she can see the ties. they look like little ripples now, brought into the light with newfound awareness and a bond as ancient as the universe itself.

"my best guess would be that this symbol shows up with the lake guardians because it is the symbol of creation."

she stretches a little further until she's able to reach the paper. from there, she points to each circle and names them.

"dialga." left. "palkia." right. "giratina. top. "arceus." center.

content, she leans back into her seat and settles into comfort once more.

"anyway, the brain bubbles might have been a one-time thing from the prophecy you were given, though that leads me to wonder if they'll return with another."

if they were given another prophecy to uphold or prevent, would the ailment return? would it kill them that time? her eyes narrow at the thought.

"for the jewel, i could try to mend it, but i'm not sure if my power would work. the connection between creation and the lake guardians is strong, clearly, but i worry it could do more harm than good..."

a thought rises, then, and she plucks it from the mind before it can escape.

"or maybe you need all three lake guardians in order to mend the gem? if it's made from the same material as the red chain, it could be entirely unique to the guardians, which would mean only they can mend it."

Eris Halla