it hadn't taken her long at all, which, in retrospect, is somewhat concerning. after all, ana's basically only six months old.

they're different than what she's used to. not the sleek silver she's used to; the chromatic material is cool to the touch. they're not as heavy and she's had to compensate for it. the prototypes of the embellished ones, she hasn't touched yet, but they lay sprawled out beside her, flecked with graffiti, fletched in ridiculously bright colors. 

normally she'd be in the draciary to practice, but she has enough volunteers now that, when she's there, at least one of them wants something from her. 

and she wants to be left alone. 

so she's in the compound's training facility. shapes move outside the reinforced glass walls as league workers migrate to their next meeting or make their way out to lunch. she doesn't spare a glance to the foot traffic, or the occasional pause when someone stops to watch her. 

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

her step-father's hands are on the viola and the sound is resplendent. sonorous. heavenly. his drawn bow, quivering with grace, reaching into the earth, feeling the shifting of hundreds of ancient bodies and turning their rumbling language to song. 

they make a mockery of it, these heralds of a cultist's choir. this is the song of the deep dark, the place where the light cannot reach. and it has infested tsubaki's cadence, slithered between vowel and consonant. 

she dodges to the side as the amalgamation carves through alien steel, tearing hinges, crushing valves. steam bursts from a hydraulics pipe and sprays the side of one of the children, sending it spinning like a top. 

that does not stop its chanting.

"you more than anyone know i'm not perfect," she says - a lot more calmly than she feels. her grip tightens on the hilt of her sword. she does not spare a glance at the hole in the wall. 

but she senses lathliss' approach, feels the temperature change before the dragon forces her head through with snapping jaws. freya whirls, says, "no, lath, stop!" - she  tries to clamp one of tsubaki's tendrils between her teeth. 

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

☉

"is this like the other times?" she asks to the void as the simulation rebuilds itself, as one moment she is sitting and the next she is walking, trees passing by around her. "the other times you've been here?"

or is there a way to stay? is there a way to force yourself to remain in one of the simulations?

the tree emits of soft pink and blue aura; among the ribbons of light are even more shifting colors. the draconid's lips curl at the presence of fae magic, but she picks up the ornate watering can all the same and nurtures the dry, cracked bark. 

frozen pokemon bore their gaze at their backs. 

Hideo Kino

water it
+1 curio

☉

shades of grey, tinged with pink. there is a part of her, beating on the walls, scraping at her insides, begging her to ask did he do it to you too? did he use you? did he give you what you wanted? she was on the battlefield that day, protecting him under the canopy of that tree while freya rained hellfire down on rats - rocket and pokemon alike. 

her jaw tightens. 

"i was that person once." but a shoulder slumps. she leans into the swing, drawing whorls in the playground sand with the tip of her boot. "never again, but i was once."

it has only ever happened a handful of times, but the gentle promise makes a pink heat crawl to her cheeks. in what world would freya morningstar ever, ever allow someone to look after her?

sand crunches as she stands. the chains jangle at her abrupt exit of the swing. she says, "you'll have my voice, illie, when you need it."

and better that, her fangs, when she needs that too.

a moment's hesitation. 

as she walks away, skin still rosy, she says, "thank you."

illeana reyes

☉

hearing herself say it was one thing, but hearing eva say it sends a trill up her spine. she doesn't know what she's expecting. if it were KING WAYLAND, he'd say something smarmy - enough to make her smile, maybe even laugh, and make it not seem so big, so daunting. 

and eva asks if she's okay.

she's doing the right thing and it's horrible, how hard it is. every word, she wants to bite back, swallow it back down and let it fester in that foetid pit inside her. but the mire rises when she sleeps and she can't go on running from the tide forever. 

"he didn't," she says and all the years that hadn't happened between her and roy (but had happened to her all the same) give her voice a defensive edge. 

"my birth mother was a draconid." and again, it feels more real when she says it aloud. "her sister, roy's mother, was there too. she passed when he was young, i think."

she slides her hand away from eva's and hesitates, lifting gold to meet green, remembering the rightness of it all on the pillar. she reaches, slowly, pinching her bang, tucking the lock behind her ear, wonderingly admitting - 

"father winter visited soon after. in another life, had she lived, i was happy. i found you and i was happy."

Eva Morales

☉

and what is the crown prince's ideal world? is it the same as FERNANDO SILPH's? is it the same as her own? is it even his - or is it a warped desire by zekrom? pull the man apart from his patron and then ask him to paint the picture.

they fly to war and watercolor bleeds across the page. the caverns are quiet compared to the sound of a battlefield, but each step echoes around the terastal crystals around them. 

the red-scaled creature in front of them rears back, splaying webbed toes. the territorial display, feathers pluming, muscles coiling in anticipation, makes her shift her gaze from the creature and to the other dragon handler. 

if it's possible for anyone in the region to know more about dragon-types, it's him. "am i correct in thinking - " 

draconic fire races down their koraidon's arm as it bears down on its opponent with an attack.

Remiel Calcifet

win the battle
+100 rks points

☉

freya listens to the story just as intently as the white-haired lady seems to. she'd brushed up on the events surrounding the tea room, but she hadn't partaken at the time. all of her knowledge is through thirdhand accounts. 

it does the trick. 

their next prompt will pull them away from the simulation and she grinds her teeth. anything she can get from her is invaluable. anything she can get could help them figure out why she's after yuina. who she is. what she wants. 

but the eyes press in and they succumb.

Hideo Kino

succumb

☉

the princess's forewarning gives her enough of a hint to prepare for the next part. the floor crumbles away and she tucks her knees in. no physical harm can come to them here, but the fight or flight response in her brain doesn't know that. her amygdala spasms, eeking out hormones that make her eyes sharpen, hand at her choker. 

her fingertips grace the ball, but lyune is not summoned. she hits the ground at a roll. 

breath in staccato pants, the walls around them swimming in a language of the ancients. her attention goes back to the calcifet cousin with some urgency. 

"you alright?" she asks as she offers a hand. 

Elise Calcifet

proceed to stage 2

☉

"the only protocol when leading civilians should be a safety protocol, one that includes barring them from entering active warzones," she says churlishly with a cutting gaze towards Michael Navidson. "they want to fight? they learn like other league cadets and officers so they're not hazards on the field. we need reliable minds and sound bodies out there; not a gaggle of wannabe hotshots."

like CIAN MAHER and noah faber are saying, but the import of this meeting blooms. Josh Devlin claims an order of operations and a muscle in her cheek flicks. noah hints at delegation and she slides smoothly into the point - 

"train a delegate in your stead. if you're summoned to another attack on a large scale like kyurem's, you're expected there."

her patience starts to wear. this was always the worst part for her - the drivel, the chatting around in circles, the talk of action. but she hides it amidst the rest of her sharp demeanor, the hawkish cut of her expression. it's necessary. it's part of the job. 

Hideo Kino turns to her after a deep inhale and she tucks her tablet pen down on the table, giving him her full attention. and when the illusion falls to the wayside, confession placed before her, she is silent. 

they don't yet know where Eris Halla is. they have their suspicions, their own convictions, but finding the girl has proven more difficult than they'd like to admit. 

gods in the hands of children. what a horrible world this is.

"how long?" she asks quietly. "how long have you kept this information from the league?"

GYM JAM

☉

it will be some time yet before the truth about hideo's ralts comes out. some time before he becomes another vexation, another problem, another headache. another hope, however small, for the future of their region. 

now, he's just another gym leader. her reservations about working with children are still the same, but his station gives him better footing in her stern golden eyes. she stretches her fingers over the armrests of her chair and spares him a glance, considering the woman before her. 

and her eyes widen. 

it's her.

the woman looking for Yuina Higashi. 

two options, digitized, lay before them in the freeze frame. her hand stretches out.

"we join them."

Hideo Kino

join the hexenzirkel
+50 rks points

☉