[attr="class","textbox"]The world fell quiet and still. Even
Eris Halla, impossible of a feat as it was, had finally shuffled off to sleep. Perhaps on a night like this, even one as restless as Isaac could finally find the peace and quiet that he had never known.[break][break]
And yet, as always, it eluded him.[break][break]
Was it the weight of the world that settled upon his chest? Was it the weight of his own expectations? Or, perhaps, was it something stranger still? As Isaac peered through his strained eyelids, he could faintly make out a shape sitting atop his chest. It sat, arms wrapped around its knees. Even from such a distance, Isaac could hear the sound of its teeth grinding against each other as if it were whispering right in his ear.[break][break]
At 4:44, he stowed his fear and forced himself to look the creature in the eye. It turned towards him, its eyes glimmering like purloined jewels. As it tilted its head at an unnatural angle, a razor-toothed grin seemed to tear its features apart. A shadowy glow outlined its claws, once buried into the crook of its knees, as they began to unfurl one by one. The last unhooked, and the creature began to rise, yet sleep took Isaac before he could see what happened next.[break][break]
There was no sign of the strange creature when Isaac awoke at 7:06 in the morning. Instead, as he reached for his chest, he felt the unmistakable boxy corners of a video tape.[break][break]
"The hell is this? The 90s?" Despite his attempt at being glib, his voice quivered with a nervous edge.
"Do I even have anything to play this junk on?" He clutched "this junk" tight, as if it were a lifeline, and turned to roll out of bed. Instead of the edge of the bedside, a hard impact greeted him.
"The fuck-?" Hardwood. As Isaac peeked up, the edge of the couch loomed over him.[break][break]
"Saves me a walk, at least." Isaac pried himself off the ground, shaking the daze from his freshly-knocked noggin. A hissing sound quickly caught his attention. The TV was on. The TV was unplugged. The TV was calling up static at a mile a minute, dots of black and white pulsating as if they were alive. As Isaac set a hand to his heart, he noticed they were moving to the same beat.[break][break]
He didn't know what possessed him to hold the video tape up to the TV, and yet he did. An electric arm burst forth, passing through the screen as if it weren't even there, and snatched it.[break][break]
The shapes in the static began to take form; Isaac, jolted upright, staring down the unnatural-looking Sableye that had settled upon his chest. Even as its shadow claws finished unfurling, and even as his memory of the night faltered, the Isaac on screen held his eye contact firm. They stared each other down, the Sableye's jaws parting hungrily and its claws settling atop Isaac's throat.[break][break]
"How interesting." Isaac damn near jumped out of his skin at the sound of the a text-to-speech device droned in his ear. He looked left, then right, before finally feeling his hair pulled up on end. A Rotom, body crackling with static electricity, floated down from above to meet his gaze. "Even as it means you harm, you can't bring yourself to look away."[break][break]
"Are you truly so foolish?"[break][break]
With a harsh buzz, the "channel" changed. Now
Zev Harcourt sat atop Isaac's chest, fingers buried in his throat. Isaac could feel his windpipe hitch at the sight. "They'll kill you, you know." Another buzz, another change, with
Cillian Quinn taking his place. "Whether you fear them, or you mourn them."
Elisabeth Fiorelli.
Tempest Quinn.
jayden cross.
bryan delarosa.
Aurelie Lefevre.
Naomi Sato. "Whether they are broken-"
Ashley Shepard.
Caleb Harcourt. "-fools-"
Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki.
Johanna Joy.
Eris Halla. "-or simply too gutless to make their choice."[break][break]
The footage flashed through a montage in reverse, starting with
howard slayte leaving Isaac's house and ending with the day they met.[break][break]
"Is this truly you taking a stand?" Isaac ran a hand on his neck, a thousand claw marks from a thousand talons. "Or are you simply afraid to let go? Of the memories you formed with them? The lessons they taught you? The people you thought they were? The idea that someone such as yourself could ever deserve redemption?"[break][break]
"Fuck you." It was as if the Rotom had his throat in the same vice grip. Just as he had with the Sableye, just as he had with the parade of phantasms that haunted him that night, Isaac refused to break eye contact.
" 'Course I'm scared. Who wouldn't be? I've got a target on my back, a weight on my shoulders, and threw out the last year of my life."[break][break]
"And yet."[break][break]
"Being scared's the only reason I could do this. I've got too much skin in the game to just walk away. Not from Hoenn. And not from them." The TV static shifted from lost soul to lost soul, and yet Isaac refused to let them snatch his attention from the Rotom.
"So I'm not gonna."[break][break]
"Then what are you going to do?"[break][break]
"The best I can." Isaac said it was if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"I've done more than I could ever dream of, and it's all 'cause life gave me a chance. And I'm just some foolish coward from the middle of nowhere. Imagine how much better off the region could be if everyone had that shot."[break][break]
"And if they waste it?"[break][break]
"Then at least they can say they had one."[break][break]
"Turn it against you?"[break][break]
"Then I stand and fight."[break][break]
The static from the TV rippled and warbled, as if the Rotom were chuckling. "You truly are a Fool. But perhaps that is why you are needed, for better or for worse." Something clattered behind Isaac. It was a simple device, the one Eris had once used in her guise as Rosmontis. With it no longer needed, the Rotom fell silent. Instead, it floated back into the unplugged television. Its shadow split the bursts of static, bending them into crude approximations of text.[break][break]
ACCEPT?[break]
Y/N.[break][break]
Once more, the universe presented him an impossible chance. And as Isaac set his hand atop the Y, he had once more made an
impossible choice. [attr="class","oocbox"]
TAG —
Remiel Calcifet [break]
NOTES — notes go here
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