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Luka hadn’t wanted to return after her last venture in the dreamscape.[break][break]

But she does, more out of obligation than anything else. She feels hollow and numb, prepared for the worst- though her little avatar remains as smiling and cheerful as ever. Her pixelated body doesn’t even display the blood on her hands.[break][break]

So their next adventure, if one can even call it that, is met with much trepidation. And when they emerge atop Mt. Pyre, Luka is fully prepared for the worst. The mountaintop is covered by an eerie purple mist, and in the distance she can see the small headstone that she'd erected for the Pokemon she'd lost back during the Darkest Day.[break][break]

She grits her teeth and steps forwards as the fog continues to surge. It becomes so thick that she can almost taste it. But all of the sudden, as though a gust of wind has just blown over the mountain, it clears.[break][break]

Standing in front of the headstone is her Mienshao. Luka would know her anywhere: the same pink fur, the same haughty expression. Only this time, the ermine seems more melancholy than Luka remembers.[break][break]

"Marjolaine?" Her voice is soft. There's no reason for her to hold onto hope like this here- this isn't real- and yet a bubble rises in her chest anyways.[break][break]

"I-I'm so sorry, I-" Before she knows it, she's already blubbering. The words come out between thick, gasping sobs: so many apologies and pleas for forgiveness that eventually, the words all blur together. Eventually, she finds herself embracing her deceased Pokemon, and even though this is a dream world her former partner feels solid and very, very real.[break][break]

Luka buries her face into soft pink fur, and after a moment, feels long paws wrapping around her in turn. There are no words exchanged between the two of them- there never have been- but in that one gestures resides an understanding, forgiveness, and a promise.[break][break]

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”Eh? O-oh! I’m glad you remembered!”[break][break]

She’s startled, but pleasantly so. Truthfully, Luka doesn’t think of herself as the type to leave much of an impression.[break][break]

”I’m Luka,” she says, taking the offered hand with an easy, practiced smile. Somehow, the formalities help put her at ease. ”And I do…this is it, right?”[break][break]

The pair step closer, and with the closing distance comes the nagging urge to touch the star in front of them. Idly, Luka finds herself wishing she had a nice, thick pair of gloves between herself and the rock. But she’d rather sacrifice herself to some weird space disease than the sweet girl at her side, so after a moment of hesitance she reaches out to gingerly lay her hand on the star.
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- touching the chunk,,,,,[break]

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“HO HO HO!”[break][break]
The jolly laugher of a mechanical Santa doll interrupts Luka’s train of thought as she stands in line at the cafe. There’s a million things to think about this time of year but truthfully, very few of her thoughts actually align with the holiday season. Sure, she has a few gifts to buy-mostly for her pokemon- and work events to plan, but that’s it. Having thrown herself so deeply into work as she has, she’s hardly taken the time to take anything else into consideration.[break][break]
She has thought about going home for the holidays, but she’s quite certain that if she finally left Hoenn, she’d never come back.[break][break]
She’s just about to realize that maybe that’s for the best when something tugs at the bottom of her skirt. Her eyes flit downwards to see a familiar little cat looking up, and almost immediately her expression brightens. Lux appears just as she scoops Sirius into her arms, giving in to bad behavior with nary a second thought.[break][break]
”Lux!” she chips back with a smile, ”Gosh! Fancy, um…fancy seeing you here!”[break][break]

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Clutching the false Lunar Wing in her hands, Luka opens the portal into her dream world.[break][break]

One the surface, it’s the same warm and cozy place she’d dreamed of before. Her childhood bedroom, just as soft and comfortable as she’s always remembered. But this time, Luka looks on into the memories of her past as an outside observer. The lens she seems to view them with is tinted rose.[break][break]

Even so, there’s a sense of unease that sparks within her as she watches the toddler version of herself play with her father. She glances to the side at her Sylveon, who’s ribbons curl and undulate around her like seaweed in a current. Sugar looks up at her and nods solemnly, reaching out with one ribbon to tap the glass they’re staring through.[break][break]

Instantly, it shatters.[break][break]

They find themselves falling, this time through a kaleidoscope of memories that move so quickly they make her head spin. Childhood and adolescence whizz past her until they’re thrust into a part of the dream that diverges from the one she remembered. It doesn’t follow her discovering hidden powers and saving the world— instead, it’s the parts of her past that she had tried to shut out before.[break][break]

Sugar wraps a ribbon around her wrist and quickly urges her forwards. They’re inside a long corridor that Luka doesn’t recognize, but she understands that they’re headed towards whatever it is they need to fight in order to destroy this world.[break][break]

As they walk, her unease grows. She can recognize the winding corridors of Lysandre Labratories, the suits bustling to and fro until the crowd thins and other figures, far more sinister, emerge from the shadows.[break][break]

They don’t acknowledge her as a threat, instead treating her as one of their own. A chill runs down Luka’s spine, as deep and cold as a spear of glaciate ice, as she realizes where they’re headed towards.[break][break]

There are no grandoise battles to light their way. This feels less like a dungeon crawl and more an inevitable match towards doom, though Luka quickly understands that it isn’t her own. When they open the door at the end of the impossibly long corridor, she’s distressed to find that she isn’t surprised by who awaits them at the end.[break][break]

Her only blessing, if she can call it that, is that her father doesn’t recognize her. She imagines that the arm she raises, which trembles with the effort of such a simple movement, looks far different to the one attached to her torso.[break][break]

She’s never met her father’s killer, so she doesn’t know what they look like. They probably weren’t sobbing when they pulled the trigger, the way she does now. But the look on her father’s face, of betrayal and anguish, is one she’d imagined hundreds of times before.

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[attr="class","tag"] @girlygang DESIREE BLOOMS Yuina Higashi Elise Calcifet Genevieve Cromwell Momo Sakai Andrea Vaneau marilee beaufort

[attr="class","credit"]MILKY

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Anything could have happened with that metronome, but Outrage is one of the most absurd.[break][break]
Luka makes a grab for Toffee as he charges out of her arms and flails towards the Iron Bundle at speeds she didn’t think he was capable of. That powerful blow, combined with all the help of their fellows, is finally enough to bring down the chunk of metal that had been tormenting them for so long.[break][break]
However, upon looking at the sorry hunk of machinery, she can’t help but feel a little bad. The very definition of overkill is right there in front of them, after all. Her fellows seem to have no problem with this, some even going so far as to deliver even more vengeance, but Luka can’t bring herself to do it.[break][break]
Instead, even while knowing it probably won’t do much good, Luka gets her Togepi to calm down from his toddler rage by humming his favorite lullaby. Once the baby is sufficiently placated, she whispers a soft, ”Life dew, please!”[break][break]
She’s trying to be discrete so the others don’t catch on, but once the robot is sprinkled with some healing water, the jig is up. Luka giggles nervously and steps back, and she also seems to have forgotten what might happen when you douse live circuits and crackling electricity with water…[break][break]
”I just…feel kind of bad for it,” she explains meekly. ”We never managed to figure out why it was upset, after all…”[break][break]
Her fingers toy with the sleeves of her oversized sweater. Perhaps there’s no use worrying about it— there’s little she can do about it now anyways. Maybe she should just rest up with the others and get a drink…though the previously festive atmosphere is making her crave milk and cookies rather than something highly spirited.[break][break]
”B-but anyways, um. I’m Luka! Thanks for all of your help, really. It’s so nice of you…a-and if it’s okay, um…can I tag along for that drink too?”[break][break]

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- togepi uses life dew on iron bundle[break][break]

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