this ancient tomb will bury another.

ignorant shepherds guide the lamb to slaughter. sacrifices cannot choose their fates anymore than the executioner can. they ask that she deigns to play the part of martyr. water drips. slowly, steadily: her hands clasp in prayer, the priestess doused in holy water and her fervent prayer echoes through the cave as she calls to a deity that she knows will not answer because of an interloper and its avatar that binds it here.

but, the holy sea beast will still return.

knelt to the stone, she murmurs as the tera crystals hum with prehistoric familiarity: "in land and sea and sky. hallowed grounds, the tempest oceans and in the gates of heaven: bless us with your holy protection."

from the temptations of evil, as she rises to her feet and looks aback at those collected here.

and lead us into our enlightenment for the earth is yours and i am of the earth, as verona turns her attention towards the gaps of sky that she can see between them. they intend to be their keepers and some thank them for that choice. they see so little and understand so little.

may we seek eternal verity in our souls.

they choose to keep their eyes closed for fear of the ending that awaits. but, they have seen this before.

they know what lies ahead.

more devastation. more of what had been wrought.

blessed may the powers be and glory for the ages.

if she is to die, she will be immolated by a divine flame or by the hands of her would-be saint. not by the providence of false gods. verona falls in the light of a dark sun and an eclipsed moon. amen.

[attr="class","poketeam"]

kyle lopez sariel duong

10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.
50 MP include a motif or recurring symbol of some kind in your thread. praise kyogre.

time had passed.

she had not stepped foot on this land for three years. it was different yet the same; the evacuation alarms that blare across the city in cryptic rings, the rumours of war, and of course: the arrival of an ancient god.

she supposed she should have come to expect something like this. why else would have she felt the alluring pull of a home that no longer was, after all the time spent apart? the priestess who lingered in her house had already marked her homecoming an omen.

surrounded by rocket guards, sariel vuong joins the civilians gathered in the cave of origin. it was a pitiful sight: what few remnants of religious iconography existed had fallen to the test of time, weathered paint on white stone and torches extinguished. a result of the silver spire's fall, especially under the hands of rockets no less. memories past, of festivities and ceremonies, no longer existed.

but she would not evacuate sootopolis, even if her life had depended on it. she would die for her homeland if need be. she slips away from the rockets easily enough—they would never know this cave as intimately at her. she descends, deeper into the cavern, and emerges from the shadows unseen. this chamber, filled with tera crystals, was now lit in the reflections of other worlds and faintly glowing facets.

kyogre's proximity seemed to agitate them, causing them to tremble and shake alongside HER prayers. it was unsurprising to find HER near them.

SHE who prays, another martyr for unjust gods.

but the priestess's prayers go not unanswered, because the ghostly apparition of a legendary creature appears, smoke gliding across its back, brown fur and curious eyes. ENTEI, a god of flame and fire, resurrected from the ashes. what could it possibly want in the cave of origin?

sariel puts a hand on the priestess's shoulder and squeezes, willing her to follow. she still did not know what the priestess wanted of her, but she knows now her purpose, eyes fixated on the legendary pokemon.

"come, priestess. i see what you've provided for my-hoa's return." she says.

and so they follow, deeper into the cavern. ever winding. the tera crystals seemed to pulse at the presence of another deity, the shimmering iridescence disorienting not just to the eye, but to the mind as well.

she slows to a stop, squinting against the lights as they enter a chamber. the legendary had disappeared.

where could it have possibly gone?

[attr="class","poketeam"]

verona santillian kyle lopez

50 MP include a motif or recurring symbol of some kind in your thread.
10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.
60 MP running total

cinnamon, then ash.

pallid features warm as this dark sun treads deeper into the cave, but not where she cannot follow. she has only heard tale of the creature called entei. a creature that emerges from the smoldering embers of what once was and her thoughts wander to the spire and of the town that sits eerily quiet in the wreckage and the desecration that it invites in its absence. she does not seek the creature, nor does she call after it to entreat it in a pitiful attempt to bid for its sympathy and protection: these things do not understand those desires.

verona does not trail after sariel.

does not follow with her heavy footsteps, chasing the beast to an inevitable conclusion. but, she leads after, even where the light flickers out into a forbidding darkness. the crystals here breathe as entei does. the stones warm vermillion, the reflections of the two humans that chase passing through stone as an after-image. here, it looks as though verona chases sariel—fearful that she would be abandoned.

abruptly, a flash of smoke and the faintest feeling of oxygen being stolen from their lungs.

verona breathes.

she stares back, her ruby gaze trained steadily as the fire dances. burns bright and colorful.

fingers twitch, as she steps out to silently reach for it. grasping at the phantom flames of a dying star, she smiles warmly as though to say she does not fear that which cannot harm it. ( still, the skin reddens, and she expects it to start to pucker and welt when the time comes. ) priestess draws her hand away again.

she gestures with an open palm to lilith, but does not tear her eyes away: "to where do you run?"

a pleased, then pleasant hum as the warmth rakes across her hand. it does not hurt in a way that matters.

"all that awaits in the depths is that which repels you, little one. there are no songbirds in sootopolis. who will warn you when you tread too far? dragalge, a preview."

she whistles, and the cave reverberates in reply. the dewy, leafed monster does too.

[attr="class","poketeam"]

kyle lopez sariel duong

10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.

she sees the brown fur streak across the crystals before she feels the impact. the shove comes from behind; and she stumbles, her feet barely catching her from falling into the sacred fire that it'd left behind. rose-tinged flames so intense that it distorts the air before them in waves. sariel bares her teeth, her eyes locking with the creature. she despised it for reminding her of her own mortality; how fragile this body was. how this creature could kill her in one fell swoop.

but pray tell, what was stopping it?

did the legendary ascribe to its own version of morality?

or was it perhaps testing her?

what a fool she was. an old woman and a legendary. the priestess her witness. she was not so blind as to forget the pitiful limits of her own power. she who shepherds the sheep, her hands still clean, her heart still soft. even seconds before, she had wandered unknowingly close to death.

what use was fighting against the inevitable?

her eyes linger on the priestess's hand, red from the flames. shouldn't she be evacuating? what was she doing here?

she hesitates for only the briefest moment of time.

and yet her body still moves despite her inner conflict. she pulls out a pokeball, letting her FLAAFFY materialize in a shimmer of bright red light. she does it regardless of her fear, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. in her soul was a decision already made, not by her but by my-hoa. she was only the vessel by which she would make her daughter's wishes come true.

"i'm finished running, priestess." she says. the air tingles, THUNDER arcing from the flaaffy's wool. the lightning attack pierces through the flames, following its path to the source. her hands tremble but she does not falter. she stays close to her flaaffy, biding her time.

"i've no need for a song and dance. i do not fight to live. i fight to die."

[attr="class","poketeam"]

verona santillian kyle lopez

50 MP have your character self-doubt.
10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.
120 MP running total

the legendary did not even bother to flinch as the electricity struck it; a THUNDER so striking should have at least singed its fur and slowed its limbs. and yet it bulldozes it away, grounding itself into the floor. such power was unthinkable to someone like her. humans have certainly evolved alongside pokemon in order to resist their various attacks. and yet the sheer power of ENTEI was enough to make a non-believer faithful.

of course sariel duong believed. but in belief was also the capacity to reject.

steely eyes linger on the priestess, her dragalge floating near. "you test your faith for a god that will not protect you. but do your pokemon share such piety?" sariel asks. most ordinary pokemon are simple creatures; and like humans, there is nothing more innate than the drive to survive. it was said that a good trainer suppressed that urge—and sariel intended to put that bond to the test.

and so trainer and pokemon approached the entei, sariel on one side, and therese on the other, closer to the priestess and her pokemon. sariel took to entei's flank, her limbs steady despite her trepidation. she only needed to close the distance.

"therese, DISCHARGE."

electric builds again, friction in her woolen coat creating an air of static before it launches the elecricity in all directions—mainly, ENTEI and VERONA.

[attr="class","poketeam"]

verona santillian kyle lopez

10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.
130 MP running total

sariel makes a decision.

verona makes hers and follows in the swansong to the inevitable. thunder arcs and crackles throughout the cave of origin. the smell of ozone floods the air and she exhales with the storm, even as a crushing pressure sits like a heavy stone on her chest. each crescent moon of a rib gives way beneath it. verona gasps with delight as the creature turns its fury unto them.

whether it is for their disrespect or for its own satisfaction, the entei sends the ground shaking beneath the two of them as though to assert that this place is its domain. her footing shakes and she stumbles, catching herself on the nearby wall.

her face reflects in the crystal: an iridescent reflection of the impish delight veiled just beneath an apathetic expression. she is reminded of the chaos that lies just outside. of that which shook sootopolis from its foundations, shook her just years ago. her hair falls from place. her shepherd calls to her and verona places a hand at her chest, offering a courteous bow of her head.

deference, and carnelian glints with the stoked embers of a fire in a woman that is more abyssal than she is the sunlight:

"it is too foolish to contemplate such an answer."

it is your responsibility to decide it for us, she implies.

it burns when she does.

electricity coils throughout the area, the dragalge sent aback as sparks coil through the air. her body is sent shivering and twitching involuntarily. it receives no instruction as verona is made and unmade into a new shape, and it decides for itself that it wants to live: rings of water ripple out, pulsing from its body as it does.

it needs not know what either of these things are. neither the person, nor the legendary beast that stands before it—to know that it should be afraid for as long as its captor bids on its usefulness.

[attr="class","poketeam"]

kyle lopez sariel duong

10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.

the priestess...

perhaps it made her selfish to injure others so willingly; to see her vision through no matter the sacrifices. electricity spares none, not trainer nor pokemon, as shocks ripple through their bodies. a look of guilt flickers across her face as theirs contort in pain.

but her will, her purpose had been set in stone. it was for THEM that she would see it done. and when it is done, she will tend to the priestess's wounds, clean her blood and wash her feet. she will care for the ones who follow.

water from the dragalage pulses from its body, a conduit for her flaaffy's electric attacks. "THUNDER WAVE." she calls forth; a weak but insidious arc of lightning, that which would slow and paralyze limbs. quick as electricity was, would it be able to catch the legendary before it got to her?

she had no time to consider the question. the entei rushes and leaps at her. sariel braces her arms, a weak preparation for the battle to come. she grunts as her body hits the floor of the cavern, her head smacking against the hard floor. weaponless, she shields herself only with what she has: her own body. a claw rips into her arm and she screams, the echoes of pain as her flesh tears open. blood splatters into her hair and her clothes, the legendary's fur.

a prayer raises her tongue, and yet she cannot utter a sound but to gasp in pain. what had she expected, a human so defenseless, who had to control another creature to protect her? these creatures that owe her nothing, and yet she subjugates her pokemon to pain on her behalf. but now she no longer runs, giving her own body as sacrifice. there is blood on her hands and it is hers.

blood. so sacred it was. and yet here it stains the legendary's fur and claws.

blood, the essence of life.

that which coursed through not only her veins, but the legendary's.

her breath hitches, and through the haze of pain did she finally see the truth for what it was. it was SHE who was destined to spill its blood. SHE who has never harmed, will be REBORN anew.

in her bloodied hand was a blade, their faces reflected in the gleam of its smooth metal. a dagger that which had been stowed in her sleeve, now glinted in the light of the TERA CRYSTALS.

SHE will kill god today.

SHE will get her revenge.

[attr="class","poketeam"]

verona santillian kyle lopez

10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.

the crystals refract.

light splinters, and in an instant: there are five different infinities. reflected there on the floor is a timid priestess, in awe as she prostrates in the presence of a creature made from holier stardust than she.

there, in the walls: another priestess meets the beast with a steady hand and an open heart. there, in the stalagmites: there is neither priestess nor shepherd, but another that seeks to gain its favor. another, where she lays bleeding on the ground as it looks on with trepidation. the last, this one: where verona collapses when the electricity stops coiling through her veins.

static coils across every surface, and she gasps and thinks it is something close to a laugh.

her legs are weak beneath her and the dragalge offers no assistance as it reels backward, fearful of what may come in the name of divine retribution. her hands press into the stone and dark hair curtains her features. it's delight, but it cannot show as her body resists as her mind does. she cannot get up and sariel welcomes death like an old memory as entei claws and bites.

carnelian sharpens to garnet, and she smiles brilliantly as she does. entei understands her.

they all would.

the images on the facets of the crystals sharpen, her distant reflection in the knife as the priestess smiles cries screams fights lets repents prays burns

( nothing truly dies in the cave of origin for it is the place where only things are born: a prophet, a believer. )

[attr="class","poketeam"]

kyle lopez sariel duong

10 MP per IC post in your prelude thread.