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Morrighan would be untruthful if she were to claim that she didn't feel a chill down her spine at the menacing stature of the Volcanion, now very unlike the once-broken one they found. "You ... you again," it grumbles, looking disapprovingly as Carbink after Carbink leaves in haste, shielded by a line of the Chatot, the Lunatone, the Solrock and their trainer. "Are you aware of what you're doing! You are damning this kingdom!"[break]
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"Yet I would argue that you can't continue like this forever! Your cherished kingdom will perish before you'll ever-" she looks at the heap of soulhearts, of the same portrait that hangs in those gilded halls, "-before you'll ever find what you are looking for."[break]
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The Volcanion gruffs, huffing as it seems to shake its head, "but what choice is there? As if you'll ever understand!"[break]
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Indeed, it would be frivolous to say she'd ever know what such a creature has gone through, but ... still. "It's a coward's way. Would you wanna greet your cherished one like this?" (Again, nothing she has definite experience with, but there is an echo of something that rings familiar, still. Perhaps, in a life like this, she would have been just the same as this lone, solitary one.) "I will help you - in fact, we will help you," she gestures towards her own Pokémon, the Carbinks that - fearful yet brave - stayed behind, and her emerging companions in the form of Lutgarde and her Pokémon partners. "We'll ... come again, and help as much as possible, I hereby vow to you." Morrighan does a curtesy, hoping to convince the stubborn one as it only huffs and puffs.[break]
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"... Fine," it grumbles, just in the direction of looking elsewhere when- wide-eyed, it carefully moves the Magearna that Lutgarde found, letting it rest by its side. "Could it be-" Narrowing its eyes, it looks over to Morrighan, gesturing her to come closer, "You! Come here-"[break]
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Yet, even as they go through the process of inserting a reactivated soulheart in the Magearna's once-lifeless body, it doesn't respond to the Volcanion as it would have wanted. "Take ... take it with you," is all left ushered as they are prompted to leave the castle.[break]
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Taking off her hat, Morrighan bows in front of the Volcanion, "I'll return," muttering as she turns to take a leave with the freed Carbinks and her companions - newly-found and old-alike.

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As the Pokémon and Lutgarde help out to raise the Carbinks' morales, with the Chatot flying around and doing her best to inspire where possible, Morrighan is determined to see if there isn't a way out of this rotten place. It seems as if the Carbinks have worked away their entire lives, with weaker ones resting by the side as they are tended to by other Carbinks. Just what prevailed? Luckily enough - it seems -, she actually finds a passageway. Taking a deep inhale as they are about to ruin their dress willfully, she calls the Lunatone and Solrock by her side. "We will be clearing this passageway, so lead them all here! I'm not sure where it'll lead to, but ... anywhere strikes better than here," she remarks over to Lutgarde before going through the narrower pathway.[break]
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Fortunately, they do break free at the very end of it, a continuous up and up and up until ... It ends in a gorgeous ball room, emerald, ruby, sapphire - gold, rosegold and silver glistening in a dull kind of glory. In a corner, many lifeless spheres - soulhearts, as they would learn - are piled up.[break]
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Light falls in through high windows, some dusty and some crystal clear. It seems to be a way out for sure, so Morrighan goes back to the hole and shouts, "It's safe, you can come out here!" At least, no mechanical Pokémon are attacking them here and as long as the Carbinks can move out, possibly ...[break]
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Before long, though a booming voice would interrupt just as the first Carbink is about to leave, "who do you think you are!"[break]
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Flinching, Morrighan turns around to be face-to-face with - Volcanion?! But unwilling to bend in the face of the Legendary, she only stands upright with all her Pokémon by her side, arms stretched out in an attempt to shield the Carbinks, aiding them to leave this desolate place.

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Before they can further investigate the painting, the Tsareenas' attack is in full swing. The Chatot itself is gearing up for a Hyper Voice - though, perhaps, it's a lapse of judgement over the stability of the structure as the high-pitched attack is breaking the ground loose, making the Pokémon and human alike fall inside. It is just fortunate that the Tsareenas break upon the fall or suddenly find themselves disinterested upon the enemies being out of sight.[break]
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Instead, now the chill and mouldy tunnels underneath the castle are revealing themself. It's greased with oil, poodles of it here and there, and Morrighan can only sigh out in displeasure. It seems that she has to replace yet another dress - her shoes for sure ... But nothing beats her curiosity as she looks over to Lutgarde. "Do you hear this sound?" It feels like the wailing of many - in fact, what she thought to have been the ever-mechanical fizzling, might actually just be ... Cautiously walking forward, she is soon met with a horrifying sight.[break]
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Carbink next to Carbink is working away, tirelessly and endlessly, with no clear idea when it started, and when it ever might end. One Carbink is falling to the ground, exhausted, a shallow last sign of life breathing in and out ... "Now it makes me wonder ... speaking of energy sources, huh?"

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The novel painting is the first thing that greets them in this desolate space, a stark contrast to the dull brown and greys that have greeted them before. It captures the storyteller's interest with intrigue, something that seems so ... timeless in nature, too. "A masterpiece that truly survived the passing of time," she mutters, a little more to herself than to Lutgarde, as she walks closer, the Chatot flying near-by. It takes such a centre stage in this abandoned castle (or, is it really abandoned?), so it strikes as a surprise, but still, it speaks of importance. And remembering what they learnt during their last venture towards these parts of the world ... "Ma- ... Magearna ...," Morrighan mutters walking close to the picture in awe, "and ... this name isn't easy to read." There is a young princess pictured, too, though there isn't much to be seen of her. Does this Magearna have anything to do with the Volcanion they just encountered before-[break]
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But before she can share such thoughts with Lutgarde, she sees something flicking out of the shadows, a sharp and violent edge that attacks them mercilessly, ruthlessly. It seems that perhaps, their motions have woken the royal soldier out of its slumber, its mechanical appearance mimicking that of a Tsareena. The Chatot is quick to counterattack, but even so- "Attention-!"

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Fortunately, their views remain to be similar and there is no opposition - no urge to revisit their makeshift camp just now, and no urge to see where the Volcanion might have left to. Depending on how much time really passed by, it would be a fruitless endeavour to search for any traces, if anything has ever changed. "Perhaps ... some valiant efforts of automatons and suchlike," Morrighan can only ever muse over the power source, though. Who's really to say? This is such a strange place ...[break]
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Soon making contact with the train and its rather unpleasant seats of metal and rust, the storyteller finds herself preferring to stand as the train departs without a hitch, slowly going towards ... the castle? Lurking in the far depths in front of them, they yet arrive more quickly than she would have anticipated. It seems to be a well-used route, a direct way towards the assumed-centre of this curious kingdom. Still, nothing invites them much - there is no reception whatsoever, only the dull sound of clockwork somewhere in the near distance. The castle is alive in its mechanical way, but that seems much about it.[break]
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"Shall we venture forth?" she muses, looking over to her companion. Still, before she can even think of departing, she releases her trusted partner, Calendula the Chatot, as one could never quite know what to expect in such a place.

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And back they are again ... watching as the now-familiar scenery unfolds in front of them one more time, she gives the other familiar presence a bemused, yet melancholic smile. "Here we meet again, huh? I hope you've been well," Morrighan mentions to the ranger before her gaze drifts towards where they landed now. It's not too far from where they last set up a retreat for their own, but as it seems, this is also ... an entirely different place. They seem to be looking at a train station, for better or worse, and one that is actually still running, too.[break]
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Six blinking lights are marking its departure, as it seems, as one after another vanishes from sight. Looking at Lutgarde, she reaches out a hand, her curiosity piqued, especially as the Volcanion they left behind the last time is nowhere to be seen under the tower, from where they are. "What do you say, a little ride into nothingness?"

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Mysteries upon mysteries seem to pile in this strange place, and none of them are any wiser of what might have happened here. There are only snippets and pieces that they can stitch together in any one way, wondering what it might protect underneath that crucible layer of clockwork and steel. "Oh? Let me have a look," Morrighan notes as Lutgarde points at something, carefully trying to get a hold of its mechanism to unroll it and provide a bit more shelter. Whether it actually rains or storms in this perpetuality, however ...[break
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Just as she is able to remove the cover on the wall, a wisp of something seems to be released - dancing light across the air, something so ... marvellously beautiful that it catches Morrighan's words away entirely. It doesn't seem to last as long, disappearing somewhere - but before she can discuss such matters with Lutgarde, a biting pain shoots through her head, making her cower. "Ugh-" The air feels sickening, even moreso than before.[break]
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Still, ensuring that there is a little bit of shelter for the broken-down Volcanion, she turns to the other. Before she can say much anything yet, she loses consciousness - just falling right into the wormhole that opens, a portal back to a different, their original dimension.

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Knowing the Volcanion to be safe, Morrighan lets out a quiet sigh in relief - her everything has been focused on the Pokémon in front of them that she hasn't noticed much else that is going on, ensuring that there are no other threats lurking around in this strange, timeless kingdom, simultaneously left to rot by time, captured by its own debris and hubris in this day and age. Or ... wherever, whenever this is, really.[break]
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"It seems to be doing better," she notes after a while as the water tanks of the Volcanion seem to recharge thanks to the Primarina's efforts. Weak as it may be, it seems to rustle to life, bit by bit. There is still caution within the storyteller not to be too close for when it might regain its full strength, but she also doesn't find it in herself to stray too far, in case something goes astray. "Just what is it doing here ...?" Morrighan wonders out loud, her gaze drifting towards the lone kingdom's castle in the distance. Steam seems to puff out, or maybe, the background just merges with what she wants to believe to be true.

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She can't help the chuckle that escapes as he introduces his long list of title, a truly renown man that she didn't happen to know, and the honorary one of 'Master of Faster'. "I like the rhyme, I should see if I can witness it for myself," she remarks with amusement, nodding only as he gives her permission to note things down. Laying down the notebook on the table and getting her newly-rescued fountain pen ready, she begins a page whose first line reads, Josh Devlin.[break]
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Looking at the Rainbow Feather with piqued curiosity, she is quick to draw a sketch of it, noting the slithers of Sacred Ash that are now lingering in the air and on the table. For now, she is quiet, only nodding and making affirming sounds every once in a while in a nudge for Josh to continue as she writes small notes. Later, she would possibly write it out in prose from her notes and her memory, so she tries to take in as much as possible right now, underlining everything she deems particularly important, too. She already makes quick notes on what she wants to crossreference later with what book she already knows - a habit she picked up from an old professor of hers, and one she thought worth keeping. "I heard that Lugia is - in some way or another - connected to storms, do you think there is any correlation between the downpour and Lugia?"

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Just short of arriving near the clearing that the mysterious Solrock has taken dominion over, a figure intercepts and makes her halt immediately, blinking at what the stranger is telling her. "Pardon?" she wonders out loud, not quite understanding the rather frenzied state of the other, but still taking the precaution to leave some distance between her and the brilliant Pokémon. "Might I take that you are familiar with this kind of ... occurrence?" she asks, taking the cue that it might be more appropriate to be quieter.[break]
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In truth, there is something eerie about this strange sight - she has looked at her own Solrock for enough times to notice the subtler differences, too, something that adds to a feeling of distortion. But perhaps it's a same sense of familiarity, too - as wrong as it may be -, that she feels a curious pull towards it. A wildcard, truly, and she still reserves judgement.[break]

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Throughout their travels, they have heard many a tale about Volcanion - most of them were sketchy at best, unclear visions of a Pokémon that reminded her of her grumpy grandfather who never showed a sign of weakness in his lifetime. Yet ... She wonders, what kind of legend would the actual legend come with? What is the past behind its downfall in this moment? And what is the chapter like that it is currently living? "No ... I think Volcanion - tried to communicate something," Morrighan confirms what the other must have heard, too, a spike in their minds. Just who is 'M'?[break]
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Before she can continue to ponder, though, they rightfully have to get to work - unable to leave the Pokémon alone, as if something of her own distrusting heart has been stirred. She nods at Lutgarde's suggestions, instructing both of her Pokémon, "Chamomile, please help Chrysanthemum with the rubble as much as possible." Then, she looks around - leaving Volcanion out in the wild doesn't seem like the best idea, so perhaps ... the distance towards the tower isn't too huge ... "Let's move it towards the tower, and build a shelter-of-sorts for it? Unfortunately, I don't think Volcanion fits through the window," she suggests to the ranger, a lightly bemused smile on her face as she nods towards the Pokémon that helped from Lutgarde's side. Tapping off the dirt from her gloves, she gestures for the Lunatone and Solrock to follow her, with the lifeless Volcanion in tow.

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