While ■■■ marched forward, familiar with the surroundings that had bestowed him great power, the admin looked around with a bright-eyed excitement.

"I've not, no. Work does not permit me many expeditions into other worlds these days. Public appearances. Work at headquarters. My schedule is quite cramped." The gears of bureaucracy had to run smoothly, especially with Rocket ramping up their military might in anticipation for what was to come. "But I must thank you for the opportunity."

Especially since Howard had promised the Rocket Beast that he'd look into this dimension. Admittedly, that had been before Howard had been promoted to admin, in which case prior orders had been voided due to the ascension in rank. Nonetheless, he owed ■■■ a debt for his aid at the Ancient Tomb.

It was best to repay it now, before it began to rack up interest. Owing the devil was not ideal.

"This place is a ruin maniac's paradise. I'll have to make time to visit it in the future. Who knows what secrets lie within?" Howard frowned and scratched his chin. "That symbol looks familiar. It reminds me of the one you drew for me a few months prior."

Back when ■■■ had proclaimed his disdain for this universe. Fun times.

Alongside the Golurk, Howard's Claydol joined their entourage. A mediocre company, but Howard suspected that any threat that came their way could be crushed by his colleague. For once, Regice was noticeably absent.

---

Zev Harcourt

■■■ had a wife?

Damn. Sucked to be her.

"Yeah, I know the Lunala. Valerio's, right? I've been doing my homework." If there was anything that could be said about Admin Fox, the man was committed to his research. Rocket's archives held much information that the League had not made public, and it was a historian's delight. "I was wondering when you'd chase it..."

The admin stopped and adjusted his hat, his voice thoughtful. There was a meticulous method to analyzing the ruins. Each element was inspected, chronicled, and remembered. ■■■ absorbed light, Howard absorbed the memories of the world.

"...and if Necrozma remembered." He dangled the tidbit, knowing that each fact he doled out kept him safe. He could not control Necrozma or its chosen, nor did he want to. Howard simply wanted to live.

Surviving was far easier if you threw the unleashed dog a bone.

"Do either of you have the flute? I'd like to study it if possible."

---

Zev Harcourt

Nenet? That must've been the wife. The name felt familiar. Hadn't he seen it when adding june sleigh to Rocket's whitelist on Grigori's behalf? Realistically, Howard tried to remember all the grunts of note, but there were too many to list, and far too much to be done.

Some names would simply have to be forgotten. For now.

"I bet you do." Occasionally, he had wished the influx of Dynergy had killed the Rocket Beast. ■■■ struck Howard as the type of man to limit his vices, but how could one man not get drunk on the power of the divine? "Before the Darkest Day, Lunala and Necrozma fought in Slateport. I wasn't there, but I've read the reports."

Lunala and its swarm of Nihilego had gotten the alien god pretty good. If the bat had killed the prism, Howard's life would've been far easier. He'd have less of a certain ex-Avatar and ■■■ running around.

"Pity. I'll look into the flute." Fighting Tapu Bulu? If hell froze, maybe. "The make of the ruin is familiar, but do not mistake that for similarity with another construct in our world. Stonemasonry is a universal language."

Life flit across her surface, but the land's language was one understood by all. Rock and stone was the same.

"I'm going to assume that you restrained yourself and didn't kill the Lunala. What, did it fly off?"

---

Zev Harcourt

The admin snorted in amusement.

"What? Did you think that healing wounds you inflicted would make it magically forget its contempt for Necrozma? You should've thrashed it harder, within an inch of its life if need be." Flick. A lighter flame ignited as Howard lit himself a cigarette. Its influence was a calming pillar of support against Howard's colleague.

"Can't win them all, I suppose. Don't make the same mistake again."

Howard had little faith in Lunala's ability to coexist with Necrozma on a personal level. There was too much hatred there. Too much callousness. Howard's claim was rough and violent, but there was no other way than to capture it by force. Valerio Dachev and his influence could not repair an eternal grudge.

"Mt. Chimney isn't the best example, but it'll serve." A drag accompanied a dull red glow. "You mentioned a flute? It's likely part of a ritual. A ritual that Lunala remembers. Perhaps it was born here."

Mt. Chimney was the cradle of life within Hoenn. It wasn't that Mt. Chimney was Moltres's lifeline, but instead that many entities owed their lives to the warmth and heat that magma offered.

An exhale. Another drag.

"You still smoke?" He pulled another cancer stick from the box and offered it to the devil. "Got a question for you."

---

Zev Harcourt

■■■ did not need to explain himself to Howard Slayte, but he would acknowledge the admin's queries. A man chained by a god was naught more than its prophet.

"Why didn't you kill it? Why didn't you subjugate it?" The admin let out a drag of his cigarette. Smoke fell from his mouth in plumes as he ruminated on his words. The cigarette danced between his fingers with remarkable dexterity. "It should've been easy for you to chain it up."

The admin's gaze was distant as he looked from ■■■ to the ruin before them. Better to perceive the constructs of the ancients than the man standing next to him.

"I didn't think you'd be capable of mercy." His tone was not mocking. Howard did not mock ■■■ out of a survival instinct. "Or that you'd entertain the notion."

Another smoke cloud.

"Unless that was your intention, and you stayed your hand."

---

Zev Harcourt

"I suppose it helps if they're of no threat to you. What's Lunala going to do? Blast you?" The admin barked out a laugh, smoke billowing from his maw like some sort of dragon. It obscured his face for a spell. "Please."

Still, it amused the admin to know that the man whose kneejerk reaction to any threat was to pepper them with crystals was preaching the value of diplomacy.

Isaac Merlo was familiar with both sides of that coin.

Still, ■■■ was the man who let Howard scurry around in the darkness, too insignificant to notice, just valuable enough to keep around in case his niche talents found a use. It gave him remarkable staying power. Even as Necrozma tore a hole through dimensions to reach this plane, Howard did little to react.

He simply grimaced for a moment.

"So who were you fooling? Lunala? Your wife? Or perhaps..." He waved his cigarette towards Necrozma. "It."

---

Zev Harcourt

The admin held up his hands in mock surrender to steel his nerves.

"I'm not one, so it's hard to garner experience on the subject. Forgive me. I overstepped." A gracious half-compromise that allowed the chain of questioning to end. ■■■'s deflection was an answer all on its own. The absence of information was still information, after all. "Go ahead."

Despite his fear of the man, Howard was content to remain behind ■■■. Even power belonging to a demon could be directed, as long as one stood outside the circle of salt.

The alter sat dormant.

"It's not Lunala. The land remembers, and the ruins don't recognize Necrozma. It's a spectre." Necrozma was hollow. It held Lunala's light, but that light shined through it. It did not belong. "We need the genuine article."

Howard adjusted his hat.

"Not an..." Smoke curled in the air. "...alternate measure."

---

Zev Harcourt