"Rocks, knickknacks, a few pieces of plate and bone utensils is my guess." Howard inclined his head, considering lighting a cigarette. Knowing his luck, they'd step on gas pocket and explode as soon as he produced a lighter, so he suppressed the urge.

After getting attacked by a handful of Dreepy while entering an abandoned shaft with Adrian Malcolm , Howard was beginning to accept that Meteor Falls wasn't particularly friendly. Not that it ever had been, for him. This range had always preferred the exalted, thus it had always preferred his childhood friend to him.

"Hm." The preserved Meteor Village spread out before them. Charred holes dotted the cave walls where Claydol Hyper Beams had been haphazardly fired. Frustrating. In their desire to protect their associated dwellings, the dolls often destroyed them in the process.

Their programming demanded they preserve their ruins, they they did so by destruction. As he considered the thought, Regirock and Regice came to mind. For another moment, he thought of their draconic sibling before pushing the thoughts aside to work.

"Don't look so glum, you two. Smile! He clapped the two on the shoulders. "You're exploring with the best of the best. Think of it is a release from deskwork and cleaning dragon teeth. Be... what's the word, Freya? Lotoc?"

Happiness was a scarcity, these days.

"Everything is gonna be fine!" Howard waggled his fingers as he meandered into a vacant hut. Two seconds later, there was a shout from the small building. "GAH!"

A Dreepy floated out of the hut, before giving the duo a look. It quickly turned transparent and disappeared.

---

freya morningstar Roy Aker

A THOUSAND ERAS

FREYA X ROY X HOWARD

AN EERIE CHILL BATHES THE RUINS. It is an extreme descent in temperature. Fast, expansive, and with no discernible source.

If there could be a natural explanation of the sudden cold, then the resultant theory would be made out of scotch tape and severed string reknotted thrice.

Around them, spirits begin to parade out of the rocky earth. They pay no attention to freya morningstar, Roy Aker or howard slayte. Perhaps, they do not see them at all.

They wear layered garments in muted colors. Draconic patterns and circular shapes, like eyes, adorn their clothes, headbands, accessories. Anklets and staves feature these traditional patterns too; some curiously look similar to the mega stone accessories of today.

Several of the spirits begin to dance. Occasionally, they join hands as they circle around the space with graceful and purposeful movement. Though each dancer is different, they all wear an accessory of some kind.

Others watch on with intense scrutiny. They seem older: the elders, perhaps. One strokes a fiery beard, twirling the ends of it like candle's wick. As the dance continues, it becomes abundantly clear this is not an official ceremony. Rather, it is... practice.

Around freya morningstar, Roy Aker, and howard slayte, the ghosts continue to dance. Spirit orbs and ghostly lights dance across the stone walls.

Eventually, the apparitions fade and the cold loosens its grasp on skin and stone.

freya morningstar Roy Aker howard slayte[break]
Hover Art Credit: @hyo_oppa

While the two Draconids growled at each other, Howard had found a Bagon bone fork. Who was the real winner, here? It was going to look great next to his Shelgon shell bowl that he had excavated two years ago.

"Pothoc draushum xiekivi." The archaeologist muttered as the Dreepy disappeared into wherever Dreepy went. It was good to know that the Dragon Duo had his back when he was faced when Meteor Falls' apex predator. Unfortunately, they didn't.

Life was full of disappointments.

Yet the world remembered those disappointments, and many more besides. It recalled them all, weaving them into a tapestry that would stretch back towards the genesis of the world. Between the alpha and the omega, there was something else: delta. Thus, the world visualized it.

"It's Hoenn's memory." Howard poked his head out of the hut, his eye sparkling as he regarded the ceremony. "Manifested by circumstance, writ in your blood."

He watched the dance thoughtfully, trying to carve it into his mind's eye so that he could write about it when he was back at headquarters. Eventually, Howard's gaze fell upon the elders. The one with the red beard caused Howard's head to incline.

"Magnificent."

---

freya morningstar Roy Aker

Worldcaller.

Howard didn't have the heart to tell them that the world was already theirs. Long after everything was gone, humanity's mark had been carved into the echoing recesses of history. Yet the word had a different meaning to Howard than it did to the draconic duo, and he kept that meaning to himself.

He leans against a hut as they do their ritual. Its meaning is in tradition. A series of actions given meaning through repetition over epochs loses its value if the cycle is broken. Howard was simply there to bear witness to this event. An observer who acknowledged history, while shouldering history of his own.

It was a shame that he was, by definition, their enemy.

It was a shame that Hoenn's legacies would clash with each other, some day.

It was a shame that Howard Slayte would likely lose.

"While you two do that, I'm gonna find more rocks." Howard gave a half-salute, before meandering deeper into the city. As he did so, he reached into his pocket to pull out a lighter and cigarette. Fingers scarred by Dynergy fumbled with the mechanism, before finally setting the cheap tobacco ablaze. "Hm."

He puffed twice, steadying his nerves.

"I was right." He murmured quietly as he passed between ancient huts in this forgotten necropolis. "They were born two thousand years too late."

As he poked around, Howard plucked a rock off the ground and tossed it up and down in his hand.

---

freya morningstar Roy Aker

We're going to die out.

Nobody had bothered to tell them that they already had.

As the admin wandered through dead streets occupied by ghosts, he occasionally found blackened stone from skirmishes held between ancient tiles. He recognized several of the attacks as Hyper Beams from Claydol, given that one of his first Pokémon had been a Baltoy.

Yet occasionally, he would come across an attack that had gouged an entire street, turning stone and dirt into a shiny glass that reflected distorted visions back at Howard. As he leaned down to inspect it, chunks of melted dirt broke apart between red-scarred fingers. The admin let out a weary sigh as he looked closer.

"It was here. Damn. I'm years behind." Creighton had once hid from the draconic construct, and with it locked in an alternate world, Howard had decided to retrace the giant's steps. "But that hasn't stopped me before."

He'd keep searching. This was just a minor hurdle.

As he peered at the massive gouge in the earth, he found pieces of cracked pottery, likely remnants from when the village had found itself attacked. A few small holes indicated something had buried itself within the upturned earth. Taking his light, the admin shined it into the hole.

And something green hopped out, and his scream echoed across the ancient cave.

"AIYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

---

freya morningstar Roy Aker