He's different.[break][break]
Noxious crimson light flickers behind his visible eye, an echo of the corruption coursing through his still-living flesh. His hair is sleeker, longer, darker. His gaze is sharper, his shadow razor-edged.[break][break]
But most of all, he's stable. The man she'd spoken to in her kitchen all those (centuries) weeks ago, the man who'd lied to her about his intentions, had been teetering on the edge of free-fall. This man, floating through the stars before her, had hit the ground so hard he'd died and been remade.[break][break]
The Unown pulse and dance, surrounding their legendary visitors with excitement. Kallistatus hovers by Regice, its blue body shining brightly, reflecting off the surface of smooth glacial ice. Their song has a note of sorrow to it, mixed with a deep and profound understanding. These sentinels of the elements have been forced awake by divine purpose, and the Unown know a thing or two about that.[break][break]
"I wanted to talk somewhere private," Nomi explains, even though she doesn't need to. Somewhere safe is implied.[break][break]
She eyes the folder in his hands, then approaches across the expanse of winking galaxies, until they are face-to-face. The ache of her injuries seems far-away here. Muted. Another benefit.[break][break]
"It has." She pauses, prepares her confession. "I broke a promise I made to you." She bows her head, but there's no hint of regret coloring her apology. "I tried to kill PENELOPE LIVY, and I almost succeeded."

TAGS – howard slayte[break]
NOTES – Set immediately following the events of The Battle of Petalburg[break][break]
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity..." - The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

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Stupid and heroic are the right words.[break][break]
"He declared his loyalty to me," she sighs. "Out loud. To one of my Unown. He thought it was the DRK Triad watching him, but it was me, Howard." She lets that sink in. It was Rocket.[break][break]
The Unown are living beings; their recordings are their memories. They are autonomous - she does not control them - but those allied with her will do what is necessary to save Nomi, should it come down to that. Surely Howard can understand the peril. Should Walsh ask her for dirt on the League, she could lie - but the Unown will not. They will show Walsh the truth in exchange for her life.[break][break]
Their love had saved her from Nisa Holo, and their love might doom Navy.[break][break]
"Tell me something," she quietly requests. "Am I worth it?"

TAGS – howard slayte[break]
NOTES – Set immediately following the events of HYPERBOREA[break][break]
"With silver spears may you conquer the world." -The Oracle of Delphi

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"The Warrior," she repeats, surprised to hear that he'd chosen the title for himself. The Unown had not given her that same opportunity, and it would never have occurred to her to ask them for the privilege in the first place. They had simply addressed her as The Visionary, and that was that.[break][break]
It fit. Like slipping into a perfectly sized shoe. Snug and cozy, the title held her in a comfortable embrace. But, she supposes, his fits, too. So what if he'd picked it instead of his God? Zacian had approved, and that's all that matters.[break][break]
"Is that so?" Nomi can't help but smile, just a little. "I can't say I've ever heard of such a thing."[break][break]
The smile soon dies on her lips, however, as the thought of college settles heavily onto her mind. She'd been forced to abandon her own degree, thanks to PENELOPE LIVY's grudge. She had been so close to achieving her PhD, and she misses her thesis workshops with GIDEON GRAVES. She misses just talking to him, really.[break][break]
Such is the burden of her own destiny.[break][break]
"I don't want to fight you," she sighs, truthful in her conviction, glancing side-long at Zacian. Something about being in the dog's presence made her wary of coming off disingenuous. "But I know you're right."[break][break]
A pang of frustration colors her expression, then.[break][break]
"It doesn't feel good," she admits. "To know that I failed to prevent this war."

TAGS – Navy[break]
NOTES – Set immediately following the events of HYPERBOREA[break][break]
"Now your statues are standing and pouring sweat. They shiver with dread. The black blood drips from the highest rooftops. They have seen the necessity of evil. Get out, get out of my sanctum and drown your spirits in woe." -The Oracle of Delphi

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The environment reconfigures itself, pixels aligning into another familiar landscape. Nomi barely registers the ragged, half-dead Persian; she knows there's no saving it, so she focuses on the lake instead.[break][break]
"The Violet Book is an artifact we recovered in the Cave of Origin, during our last meeting with Walsh," Nomi explains. "Rocket's leadership were gathered there to discuss several important matters - perhaps Zev told you about it?"[break][break]
The lake pulses with an enticing aura. Nomi takes one step closer to the water. Then another.[break][break]
"In any case, the legendary Galarian birds emerged from the book. Two have been recovered by Rocket since." BARNABY FINCH and mint frost had managed to win their loyalties. "As it turns out, the book is yet another source of energy capable of powering this machine."[break][break]
She sighs, clearly vexed.[break][break]
"It is quite a mix of energy. Too many mysteries for my liking."

TAGS – Neffatari Nzingha[break]
NOTES – RKS: AZELF[break]

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Tiny hands ball into fists. She bites her lip so hard she draws blood, but she barely notices: it's just another drop in an already painful sea.[break][break]
The word hero grates on her nerves, rubs her fraying patience raw. Any self-declared hero is begging fate for a beating. She doesn't have the hubris to think of herself in Isaac Merlo's terms. She's only a messenger, a prophet against her will. How many times will she have to explain this? She didn't ask for this.[break][break]
Avatarship is a false choice, a burden disguised as a blessing. And though a part of her cautions ( - screams, cries, wails, protests - ) that she must never forget who she is without it ( - she remembers the prison, stripped bare and blinded - ), she knows that she would not trade it if offered, would not trust another to take her place: not even for Parker.[break][break]
They both know it, and they both hate it, and they both accept it. Love is greed, and they are hungrier than ever.[break][break]
There is so little left to live for.[break][break]
"I'll come back," she promises (or lies, by omission). "The Unown will take you to the hospital, and I'll join you the second Sootopolis is secure."[break][break]

TAGS – parker jones[break]
NOTES – Takes place immediately following the events of this thread

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It could end here and she'd be just fine with that: blissfully content and endlessly willing to melt into the lukewarm bathwater, splayed across Parker's chest until they're both shivering and pruney. She's still aglow with the success of her endeavors, sweet aftertaste on her tongue, when she's - to her surprise - grabbed possessively, in a very definitive we're-not-done-yet-way. A pleased little yelp, an exchange of affectionate nuzzling, and then her eyes go wide.[break][break]
"A present for me?"[break][break]
She cocks her head, eyelashes fluttering, strands of blue plastered to flushed cheeks. It's an utterly innocent look, made more coy by the fact that she doesn't register Parker's meaning, not at first. It's been so long since she's thought about her other preferences. She's only had eyes for Parker, and what Parker likes, and - [break][break]
"What do you mean, put it on - ?"[break][break]
But even as she repeats the words, it hits her. And she thinks, oh, followed by an audible, gasping, "OH."[break][break]
A new sort of excitement bubbles up, and she tugs on Parker's wrist.[break][break]
"I've fantasized about that, you know," she admits, giggling. Of course Parker knows. That's the best part.

TAGS – parker jones[break]
NOTES – Social[break]

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Rarely does she do this against a person's will, but she needs him, and it is a universally accepted fact across every timeline in existence: that love is just another form of greed.[break][break]
She rips a hole in reality, drags him from his troubled slumber, and stands before him as all survivors do: diminished by her own resilience. Her arm is in a sling. Her skin is mottled with purpling bruises. There's a bandage over one of her eyes. In that sense, they are a mirror now. Hers won't be permanent, though.[break][break]
"Howard," she names him, the letter H hovering above her head - its connection to him the reason she was able to bring him here, like this, from all the way across the region. All around them, the rest of the alphabet swirls, pulsing with an ethereal light, the color of creation. Together, they hum to the rhythm of sacrifice.[break][break]
"It's over."[break][break]
Maybe she means the war, or maybe she means something else - something only he can understand.[break][break]
"There's no going back now."[break][break]
There's a horrible finality to every word she speaks.

TAGS – howard slayte[break]
NOTES – Set immediately following the events of The Battle of Petalburg[break][break]
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity..." - The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

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Here, now, is an angle she has not yet considered - but as soon as he says it, she realizes how utterly right he is.[break][break]
It's a simple issue, and yet, so very insurmountable. The average Hoenn citizen will never care about an abstract, existential threat like the DRK Triad, so long as it does not affect their immediate day-to-day lives. Without a mass consensus, what traction will she really make with her mission? She'd assumed the leaders were the people she needed to convince: but who better to sway a government than its people?[break][break]
"I need to make it the problem," she resolves. "One way or another."[break][break]
She chews on it as he imparts his final warning. At the mention of her girlfriend's name, she glances up, meeting his eyes. There's an exhausted grief gnawing at the corners of his mouth, the furrowing of his brow. Like a man refusing to quit on something (someone), even when doing so, more often than not, results in pain. He weathers the storm, not because he likes it, but because - well, what other choice does he have? Love will always sunder the soul.[break][break]
He really is a lot like Parker, she thinks.[break][break]
"Ye," she echoes, a small smile spreading across her lips. "I won't get myself killed. Promise."

TAGS – KING WAYLAND[break]
NOTES – Social[break]

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Different. Nomi blinked. Ex-Triad?[break][break]
"Did she go by any specific name or title?" Her brain whirred with possibilities. "Did she have...Pokemon with her? If she had an Unown, what letter did it represent?"[break][break]
She glanced at Kallistatus. Had it ever encountered this person? It had once been bonded to Holo, so her signature was most familiar to it. The shiny Unown-K stared back, its expression blank. Inside her mind, it hummed to the rhythm of uncertainty.[break][break]
The projected images of the RKS Machine, and her altercation with Holo, disappeared. A blue, crystalline after-image shimmered in its wake.[break][break]
"Every detail matters, so whatever you can remember - please tell me. Even if it seems insignificant."

TAGS – Eduardo Hisakawa | Shalin Nariya[break]
NOTES – Social[break]

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We must be on the same page about our enemies.[break][break]
Nomi opened her mouth to immediately reply - Greyson's just - - but stopped herself, the words dying in her throat. DRK Triad. Not Greyson Connors. Okay, she could work with that. Eventually, she knew, the Elite Four would come up, and she would need to explain. A small part of her felt relieved at the prospect of avoiding that topic for a little bit longer, however. It was just so...complicated.[break][break]
"Yes," she confirmed, finding her voice. "I do believe they are watching the RKS Machine. Ours and the League's." Lulu's next question was a far more interesting one - an angle she hadn't considered yet, she realized.[break][break]
She thought back to her ascension. Nisa Holo had been as real as anyone else in Nomi's life, on that fateful day. Solid, tangible, able to make contact with her and Isaac Merlo. That encounter hadn't felt like just another simulation, but...[break][break]
"I don't know," she confessed. "Anything is possible, but I think they're real people." She remembered that other timeline, the one where she'd joined their ranks instead of Rocket's. "They're too unpredictable to be a computer program."[break][break]
Unless, technically, they had all been programmed by some greater power. She shivered at the thought.

TAGS – Lulu Flint[break]
NOTES – Mission

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Nomi's expression darkened - but only for a moment.[break][break]
"I prefer to think of them as partners," she corrected pleasantly, returning Ameena's smile. "The DRK Triad refer to them as tools, and that is what ultimately inspired Kallistatus to betray them." She watched the shiny Unown as it slowly began to drift closer to its shadowy counterpart. "They are a Collective, but each one has its own individual personality, too."[break][break]
Nonetheless, she agreed with Ameena's overall assessment.[break][break]
"They are the oldest living beings, save Arceus itself," she praised. "Which inherently makes them incredibly unique."[break][break]
She listened with rapt attention as the other scientist explained her experiences thus far with the shadow Unown.[break][break]
"All Unown are capable of Divine Imminence," Nomi mused. That was the Z-Move she'd discovered upon becoming their Avatar. "But perhaps this is something different?" Her crimson eyes flashed with excitement. "Could you ask it to demonstrate?"[break][break]
She paused, gathering her resolve.[break][break]
"And then, I'd like to test my powers on it. If it - and you - are willing."

TAGS – ameena abadi[break]
NOTES – Mission

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She wishes it were that simple.[break][break]
"The Unown are living beings," she reminds him, gently. "The recordings are their memories. They are autonomous - I do not control them - but those allied with me will do what is necessary to save me, should it come down to that."[break][break]
Maybe he can understand, because his heart has not been corroded by envy and ruination as the Councilwoman's has: it beats to the rhythm of reconciliation, all while yearning for the capacity to protect that which he deems precious.[break][break]
If Walsh orders Nomi to show him any dirt she has on the League, she could refuse or lie - but the Unown would likely intervene on her behalf, should the Rocket Boss's threats grow more sinister. And in that scenario, she would not be able to prevent the exposure of Navy's declaration. The Unown would betray her pact with him, for love.[break][break]
Kallistatus had done the same, once, to Nisa Holo. And as howard slayte knows: history repeats.[break][break]
The howl catches Nomi off guard, and she whirls around, face-to-face with yet another creature of legend. This one exudes a heroic aura, which tickles the back of her mind - dredges up memories of a time and place removed from her current reality.[break][break]
Zacian is beautiful, she thinks. Beautiful and sad.[break][break]
"I did not," Nomi admits. Another puzzle piece falls into place, another turn of destiny's wheel. She isn't surprised that he, too, has been chosen. He wears his willingness to defend Hoenn on his sleeve. In that way, they are the same - factions be damned.[break][break]
"Or rather, I did not see it happen. Admittedly, my focus was on Admin Fox and Regice."[break][break]
Kallistatus drifts down, regarding Zacian with its singular gaze. The shiny Unown-K hovers about her head like a floating crown.[break][break]
"What does she call you?"[break][break]

TAGS – Navy[break]
NOTES – Set immediately following the events of HYPERBOREA[break][break]
"Now your statues are standing and pouring sweat. They shiver with dread. The black blood drips from the highest rooftops. They have seen the necessity of evil. Get out, get out of my sanctum and drown your spirits in woe." -The Oracle of Delphi

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Kallistatus gazes back. A tapestry of centuries unfolds between these psychic titans, the modern marvel of humanity's folly interfacing with, perhaps, one of the oldest beings in existence. It's a weighty silence, a poignant pause. A barely-perceptible barrier ripples around the Mewtwo, and Kallistatus follows suit: the slow and steady generation of HIDDEN POWER brightening shades of blue.[break][break]
All around the cavern, the rest of the Collective bob and sway, each letter eager to observe some new deviation. This is not a path any of them expected her to take. This creature has no precedence in the multi-colored history of this universe.[break][break]
Nomi holds out her hands, palms facing up. It is a gesture of supplication, a prayer before the altar of hope.[break][break]
"Is there anything I can offer you, in return for your help?"

TAGS – SPIRAL[break]
NOTES – Mission[break]

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