Magna City Shining Congress – Side Halls

[canisaries]

"I don't... I don't remember when I stopped seeing the way ahead," blurted the Medicham, lip wobbling.

Andre might get the impression she wasn't really talking about the past few minutes.

"It used to be so clear. There was a wonderful goal ahead, and I just kept stepping towards it, and now I don't know where it's gone..."

Andre hummed quietly. He figured that doctor's goal must have been the same as that of the CDE's, or maybe more broadly that of the Covenant, but it would be better to ask.

"What kind of goal was it? Do you remember anything about it?"

Roscoe sniffed. He didn't have an immediate answer for this one.

"Not as such, no... I guess I just... I dunno, man. I don't really have friendships, I don't think, with the rest of the Teardrop crew? I can't imagine they think the kind of thoughts I'm having right now, though. Which is fine, but... I'm. Not sure why?"

He pressed his tail-hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his squat, Aipom nose, hard.

"I think I... have a double standard?"

The amount of mental acuity and personal will it took Roscoe to recognise this while practically drunk on Blacklight must have been enormous. But a crack was showing in the cognitive distortion.

"Just feels like... I gotta live up to what they need me to be?"

"I think you just gotta be you," Ben said. "That's all anyone can be."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"I..." She averted her eyes. "I think I know what you mean. You try to be somebody, but then maybe people don't like the person you're trying to be, and you don't know how to be somebody different."

She looked back up at Garnet, placing a paw on her pincer. "I like you, though."

Garnet froze, as if by moving the pincer, she might injure the little fox cub touching her, or startle her away.

"Y-yes..." she replied, hesitantly. "I just keep being that same person, because what if by changing I make it worse? Or, I don't even really know how to be different..."

A pause, as she processed the other thing.

"I like you too, little fox. You have a pretty red colour, like me. You're much warmer than me, though."

She took a long, deep breath, that came out in a sigh. As she exhaled, the tower she'd been building blew away like loose sand in the breeze.

"It's nice. Relaxing."

"What kind of goal was it? Do you remember anything about it?"

"That's classified," she replied, tartly. Then her face creased in worry. "Maybe it doesn't matter. You sound like such a sweet boy, honeymuffin... Would you keep a secret for me, my little follicle? Of course you would. Yes."

Cherry reached out for him, still disoriented.

"I work for the Commission for Directed Evolution," she whispered. "We're researching the very foundational energies of life and spirit and body... My dream, oh! My dream was to perfect it. Just imagine. No more loss or pain, no more cruelty, no more fear. Imagine endless joy. A surfeit of love."

"I think you just gotta be you," Ben said. "That's all anyone can be."

Roscoe scoffed, and looked away. But the frown on his brow showed the sentiment meant something to him.

"Just be yourself, huh? Well, maybe I will. See how they like me without my airs and graces. Behind the mask, there ain't much to me but quips and smoke and miseryguts."

The monkey looked so tired, now.

"Saints, it'd be such a balm to have fuck-all expectations for once. You... You ever feel like that, kid?"

 

[canisaries]

"That's classified," she replied, tartly. Then her face creased in worry. "Maybe it doesn't matter. You sound like such a sweet boy, honeymuffin... Would you keep a secret for me, my little follicle? Of course you would. Yes."

Andre's snout wrinkled. Follicle?

Cherry reached out for him, still disoriented.

"I work for the Commission for Directed Evolution," she whispered. "We're researching the very foundational energies of life and spirit and body... My dream, oh! My dream was to perfect it. Just imagine. No more loss or pain, no more cruelty, no more fear. Imagine endless joy. A surfeit of love."

Andre extended a vine and gently placed it in one of Cherry's hands for her to grab.

As for her words, they did bring to mind some thought experiments Andre had pondered in his teens. If all suffering was eliminated, would evil cease to be as well? If so, would it be because no one would have reason to do evil any longer, or would it be because no harm could even be caused anymore, even if people tried?

But those were thought experiments. Real life was never quite as ideal. Still, Andre didn't think pointing that out was productive - at least not yet.

"No more loss or pain," Andre repeated. "Well, that sounds like a noble goal. What changed? Did you find it unachievable, or did you, for some reason, find it undesirable?"

Roscoe scoffed, and looked away. But the frown on his brow showed the sentiment meant something to him.

"Just be yourself, huh? Well, maybe I will. See how they like me without my airs and graces. Behind the mask, there ain't much to me but quips and smoke and miseryguts."

The monkey looked so tired, now.

"Saints, it'd be such a balm to have fuck-all expectations for once. You... You ever feel like that, kid?"

Ben thought back to Mike again, though he hated that. He thought about Mike talking about how important the matches were, how important it was to win, how he wanted - needed - to have a better win-loss ratio. Everything was fine and good whenever they won, but...

Whenever they lost, Mike didn't take it so well. Mike would lash out at the other team members. Never Ben, no, never Ben, but sometimes it almost felt like he wanted to...

But all of that was just because he was so driven, right? So passionate. That's something Ben loved about him. That unflinching confidence. Ben wanted to keep that alive. Ben wanted to win for Mike. Because when Mike was happy... Ben was happy. And when Mike was upset...

Ben sighed. "Maybe," he said quietly. "Maybe it would have been nice if the losses didn't sting as much."

 

[Cresselia92]

Julius looked at her with wide eyes, wider than his glasses could accomodate.

"It's... going to be rather more like an explosion, I fear. They may be nothing left to fix, very soon."

He took a long, shuddering breath.

"If there's stability to find, I don't know where to look for it..."

Lyra blinked slowly, trying to make heads and tails of the other rabbit’s despair. An explosion that broke something that couldn’t be fixed? What was he implying…?

“…A point of no return.”

Silver’s sudden voice took Lyra by surprise, and upon turning to her friend, she saw that while his eyes were still aimed at the chessboard, his gaze was focused on anything but those moving pieces. He sighed deeply and crossed his arms before continuing his own rambling.

“The reality that your life will change so drastically that nothing will be the same nor feel familiar ever again, forcing you to start from scratch. Like a page that has been erased in a flash and needs to be written once more…”

As he spoke, Lyra could feel the somberness seeping from his body language and voice, with his claws digging in his arms and his eyes narrowing sharply, and her heart squeezed with sadness. Stability was a luxury that Silver had lost twice in his life, from what she understood, and he was still only a teen like she was! Having to start again and again after working so hard and for so long… goodness gracious, the idea alone sounded so daunting and frightening!

“Maybe… it’s less a matter of fixing what is broken and more a matter of creating something outta the broken pieces,” Lyra offered, rubbing one of her ears. “Like, huh, you might break a prized glasswork, but you can always melt the shards to craft something else. Sure, it might not end up with the original shape, but there is also the chance of getting a better glasswork because you remember how it looked beforehand. All you need is… ah, to have a goal to keep you and your experience centered.”

Lyra leaned closer, giving an encouraging look to the other Lopunny. “What is something you wanna pursue at all costs, no matter what happens?”

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Lillian. All I've done here... That's what I've kept going for. If I can't get back, then at least I can build something here. But it's all failing, rotting. It's like Aether all over again. Maybe this is just what I am? I struggle, and work, and suffocate, and achieve nothing."

He glanced around the halls of the Congress as if it were collapsing around him.

"There's no way to keep it together, anyway. It's all coming down whatever happens now. And with it, all my work, gone, like a library going up in flames. What a fucking waste."

The Umbreon's rings glowed and flickered, then dimmed. There was little fight left in him now.

"I'd give anything to start over from the beginning. Anything."

Back home, Lillian's Aether had been rotting from the inside out from the beginning. Maybe Gladius meant it differently, though. Meant something other than the moral rot that came with the existence of the deepest labs of Aether. Because, well, he wouldn't have been blindsided by something like that existing in the Covenant of Light.

"Even if you could turn back the clock to the beginning, you'd lose everything you've done so far." She scratched the back of her head awkwardly, realizing that this was a weird thing to say and she was probably taking this too literally. "You know, by way of going back in time...

Words about how salvaging things died unspoken on her tongue. Something about watching the Covenant fall apart felt natural. Maybe it was because this was her first time here, and she'd never seen it in any other state than active collapse. Not that the idea of Gladius losing whatever he'd built down there wasn't not sad, but it felt nature documentary sad. This pikipek will die, but that is the way of things kind of sad. The kind where you have to understand that you shouldn't really fight it. Institutions rotted and burned and that was that.

"You know, they clean things with fire, sometimes. Maybe you do need a second chance, but not one to do the same thing over again. Struggling and suffocating comes more naturally to you than breathing, doesn't it? Ha, I was never much good at struggling. Maybe not trying so hard is what's kept me safe so far. It's never did anyone else in our family much good so far, has it?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Parallax slumped, breathing heavily. The idea of letting go took the wind out of him as readily as if Lillian had slugged him the gut.

"I get it. What you're saying... makes enough sense."

His jaw tightened, and he screwed his eyes closed.

"It just... hurts. I don't wanna live with the kind of mistakes I've made. I want to salvage it all somehow and prove it was worth it... or start over like it never happened. But it's impossible. So, 'burn it all down' it is."

He opened his eyes to look at Lillian with a hunted expression.

"And... I don't know if I'm gonna make it if that happens. Maybe it's the right thing to leave my work behind, but..."

There was so much fear in the Umbreon's expression. Fear, guilt, and loneliness. Maybe what he was going through felt so similar to death that it felt like there was hardly a difference, in the end...

 

[Chibi Pika]

"What's she saying?" Leaf snapped at Ralsen. She flung a pay day into the air, bright and sparkling and attention-grabbing, anything to keep the charizard from fleeing further away while they worked this out. "What does she want with him?"

Ralsen shook his head. "I doubt she wants anything with him in particular. He was there," he replied simply.

The glittering coins sailed through the air, catching Jade's eye as well as Vesta's. The Charizard wasted no time in picking them off with a spray of fireballs.

Jade strained her ears to catch any words in the Charizard's noises, but it was all guttural snarling and raw aggression, devoid of tones. She would've said that it wasn't speech at all, except... there was something there. Barely perceptible, more subconscious than anything, like the distorted words buried under radio static that you could only make out when you weren't trying to.

"burn it all. burn it all down..."

"Before losing her grip," Ralsen began, "she kept saying that this place was a dream, and that she needed to burn it all down so that we could awaken." His expression was strained.

Jade's tail swished. "It must've turned into a full-on frenzy." They were honestly lucky it hadn't gotten this bad with any of the others. She'd already been suspecting that this fight wasn't one they would win with words.

She turned sharply to Leaf. "We've gotta get her to drop him. You aim low, I'll aim high."

Out of the corner of her eye, Jade spotted Ralsen charging up his leaves with grass energy, but she ignored him and took off running down the hall, already reaching for a Water Pulse. Thunderbolt would've been faster, but... prooobably not ideal while Vesta was still holding Blue.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf had no clue what Ralsen was mumbling about, and at the moment she possessed neither the time nor the patience to figure out what to do with it. Not what mattered; getting Blue away from the charizard was the only thing that did. Wouldn't even be that hard, actually. She'd done it before.

She nodded at Jade, but stepped behind the persian rather than charging forward. "I can do better than that. Don't worry about hitting him. Just do what you have to to make her stop!"

She closed her eyes and thought outward. She reached from the tip of her horn for the little burning point of anger and terror writhing in midair ahead, willed him back safe to the ground and herself into the charizard's claws, and then threw her head backwards to smash it straight into Vesta's chin before she even registered the switch.

 

[Jackie Cat]

"No more loss or pain," Andre repeated. "Well, that sounds like a noble goal. What changed? Did you find it unachievable, or did you, for some reason, find it undesirable?"

Cherry looked right through Andre with an unseeing gaze.

"As I pursued this goal... I have only brought about its opposite. How can that be? Why didn't I see it before...?"

She swallowed, painfully.

"To control and to to hurt... I keep doing this. I want to do it. Maybe in this perfect world, I should not even exist."

Ben sighed. "Maybe," he said quietly. "Maybe it would have been nice if the losses didn't sting as much."

Roscoe snorted in amusement.

"Yeah. Sure. I'd rather I didn't fail at all, personally, but... Well. That's why I'm thinking of a cliff edge right now. That way I don't ever have to fuck up again."

...and never succeed again, either. Wouldn't ending it all be one last massive letdown?

 

[Jackie Cat]

“…A point of no return.”

“The reality that your life will change so drastically that nothing will be the same nor feel familiar ever again, forcing you to start from scratch. Like a page that has been erased in a flash and needs to be written once more…”

“Maybe… it’s less a matter of fixing what is broken and more a matter of creating something outta the broken pieces,” Lyra offered, rubbing one of her ears. “Like, huh, you might break a prized glasswork, but you can always melt the shards to craft something else. Sure, it might not end up with the original shape, but there is also the chance of getting a better glasswork because you remember how it looked beforehand. All you need is… ah, to have a goal to keep you and your experience centered.”

“What is something you wanna pursue at all costs, no matter what happens?”

Julius' eyes fixed themselves on the black king – styled after the imposing visage of Articuno. The other pieces, Lyra might realise, were all individual pokémon, from the regal white Calyrex and his two steeds, to the black pawns that all seemed to represent some Covenant ally. A growing number on both sides had left the board. In Julius paws, he cradled a black piece, hesitant about where to place it.

"I wish to preserve that which is good," he said, haltingly. "If I cannot win the game, then I can try to stall it as long as possible..."

His ears trembled with fear and apprehension.

"If Calyrex wins, there may not be any more games, my dear. With him as godhead, how can there be uncertainty or struggle? To play requires free will, the unexpected choice..."

The rabbit seemed to struggle internally over where to place his piece.

"I know what you speak of, you know. I know of gold-seam repair as they practice in Tsainan. I just do not wish to let everything shatter at all. But if I must sacrifice... Must I sacrifice? Can I truly not find a way through without losing something...?"

 

[canisaries]

Cherry looked right through Andre with an unseeing gaze.

"As I pursued this goal... I have only brought about its opposite. How can that be? Why didn't I see it before...?"

She swallowed, painfully.

"To control and to to hurt... I keep doing this. I want to do it. Maybe in this perfect world, I should not even exist."

Intentions of helping, of doing right, of bringing about justice. Acts of harm, with disastrous results.

"I think I know how you feel," Andre said. "I also had a goal, a goal I thought wonderful, and I worked towards it through hurting others. It was only when it was shown to me that my motivations weren't pure that I realized I'd walked the wrong path."

He stared off into nothing in particular. "When that happened, I also thought the best way to make amends was to remove myself from the equation. Thankfully, I didn't... really think the method through enough, and someone found me. And that someone got it through my head that I'll make better amends being alive than dead. And I've been alive since then.

"What do you think you could do to make amends?"

Roscoe snorted in amusement.

"Yeah. Sure. I'd rather I didn't fail at all, personally, but... Well. That's why I'm thinking of a cliff edge right now. That way I don't ever have to fuck up again."

...and never succeed again, either. Wouldn't ending it all be one last massive letdown?

"Well, hey, now..." Ben said. "Won't there be things you'll miss? Even just little things, like the sun or the breeze? O-or those times you do succeed? You must have had some successes in order to get this far. Do you really want to never have those things again?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

She nodded at Jade, but stepped behind the persian rather than charging forward. "I can do better than that. Don't worry about hitting him. Just do what you have to to make her stop!"

She closed her eyes and thought outward. She reached from the tip of her horn for the little burning point of anger and terror writhing in midair ahead, willed him back safe to the ground and herself into the charizard's claws, and then threw her head backwards to smash it straight into Vesta's chin before she even registered the switch.

Jade nodded sharply, not questioning it. She reached for the cool, clear energy of Water Pulse, felt it rushing to her forehead gem, not her paws like she'd grown used to. It was a weird, alien sensation, but she didn't have time to question it--she just braced herself with all four paws and let the water fly.

Vesta saw it coming and flared her wings like she was about to take off... and then a rippling distortion appeared right in front of her, and her momentum suddenly halted with a violent jerk right before the Water Pulse crashed into her face. Jade blinked at the direct hit, taking a few seconds to process the similar distortion she'd caught in her peripheral. And the Growlithe now standing behind her.

"Wait, what--"

Vesta let out a strained growl as Leaf smashed into her, coughing and sputtering from the water still running down her face. She released her grip on the Rapidash right away, stepping back a few feet before she swung her flaming tail in a wide arc, slamming it into Leaf's side.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I get it. What you're saying... makes enough sense."

His jaw tightened, and he screwed his eyes closed.

"It just... hurts. I don't wanna live with the kind of mistakes I've made. I want to salvage it all somehow and prove it was worth it... or start over like it never happened. But it's impossible. So, 'burn it all down' it is."

He opened his eyes to look at Lillian with a hunted expression.

"And... I don't know if I'm gonna make it if that happens. Maybe it's the right thing to leave my work behind, but..."

Lillian closed her eyes in concentration, trying to block out all the emotional noise surrounding her and think carefully. That was a death wish, right?Like he wasn't gonna make it because he didn't want to live with himself. She didn't know how to deal with that. She really didn't know how to deal with that.

"I don't know what you should do next. But it's got to be something, right? Promise me that, if you can't think of anything else you'd want to do then we'll find something."

There was a tinge of desperation to her voice.

"If you want to find a way try to make things better or to just move on, we- we're going to find something. I promise, please..."

 

[Butterfree]

Garnet froze, as if by moving the pincer, she might injure the little fox cub touching her, or startle her away.

"Y-yes..." she replied, hesitantly. "I just keep being that same person, because what if by changing I make it worse? Or, I don't even really know how to be different..."

A pause, as she processed the other thing.

"I like you too, little fox. You have a pretty red colour, like me. You're much warmer than me, though."

She took a long, deep breath, that came out in a sigh. As she exhaled, the tower she'd been building blew away like loose sand in the breeze.

"It's nice. Relaxing."

Jean smiled. "Yeah! Red's pretty!"

The pincer might have been cold, but she felt warm anyway seeing the wall crumbling away and the odd echo fading from Garnet's voice.

"Maybe... Maybe I can help you make more friends? I think there are more people here who are hurting. We can help them together and maybe then you'll be friends!"

 

[Cresselia92]

Julius' eyes fixed themselves on the black king – styled after the imposing visage of Articuno. The other pieces, Lyra might realise, were all individual pokémon, from the regal white Calyrex and his two steeds, to the black pawns that all seemed to represent some Covenant ally. A growing number on both sides had left the board. In Julius paws, he cradled a black piece, hesitant about where to place it.

"I wish to preserve that which is good," he said, haltingly. "If I cannot win the game, then I can try to stall it as long as possible..."

His ears trembled with fear and apprehension.

"If Calyrex wins, there may not be any more games, my dear. With him as godhead, how can there be uncertainty or struggle? To play requires free will, the unexpected choice..."

The desire of ‘preserving that which is good’ was a wish that Lyra could relate to, and she smiled warmly at the other Lopunny, but her mood quickly deflated as soon as she realized the full implications behind Calyrex’s plan. No free will, no choices, no opportunities to grow and become your own person. Just marionettes controlled by a puppeteer blinded by his own idealism.

She glanced at the dwindling chess pieces, at the two armies of individuals — pawns with little to none free will of their own, she guessed — controlled by ‘kings’ with conflicting agendas, but her nascent thoughts were interrupted by a faint growl from Silver. Then his displeased voice echoed in her mind: ‘Of course… They’re always the freaking same! Imbeciles who believe they know better than anyone else and who won’t hesitate to impose their own will on others!’

Lyra bit her lower lip, feeling uncomfortable with the array of dark, raw emotions that Silver had poured through his telepathic message: disdain, confusion, frustration, familiarity, dread. Because she knew that he knew what loss of freedom entailed, and even without his insight and experience, she firmly believed that nobody had the authority to determine what others could or couldn’t do with their lives — not even the Almighty Alpha themself.

‘We won’t let that happen,’ Lyra relayed back, her voice full of confidence and reassurance. A soft sigh from her friend was his only response, but she took it as a good sign.

The rabbit seemed to struggle internally over where to place his piece.

"I know what you speak of, you know. I know of gold-seam repair as they practice in Tsainan. I just do not wish to let everything shatter at all. But if I must sacrifice... Must I sacrifice? Can I truly not find a way through without losing something...?"

Lyra looked back at the other Lopunny, somewhat startled by his dilemma. “Well, huh…” she started before silencing herself, unsure.

Self-sacrifice in the name of the greater good had always been depicted as a truly noble goal worthy of admiration, hadn’t it? With valiant heroes going as far as giving up their lives to defeat the villains and save their homes and worlds. Now that was something she had learned on her own skin… sort of.

Lyra began toying with her dewlap to gather her thoughts. “…I suppose you can’t always get something outta nothing, y’know. But I’d say what truly matters is the amount, value, and perspective you put behind a cost. As in, is it enough or too much? Is it worth it or not? Is that a sacrifice or an investment?”

The girl glanced again at the chessboard, paying particular attention to the black pieces. “But most importantly, if a cost is truly inevitable…”

She reached for the other Lopunny’s paws and gently pulled them by the board, drawing the lone pawn close to the other black pawns.

“…then you don’t have to take the entire burden all by yourself. A weight becomes more bearable when you share the burden with multiple people who wish for the same thing. Dontcha think?”

 

[Jackie Cat]

"It was only when it was shown to me that my motivations weren't pure that I realized I'd walked the wrong path.

"When that happened, I also thought the best way to make amends was to remove myself from the equation. Thankfully, I didn't... really think the method through enough, and someone found me. And that someone got it through my head that I'll make better amends being alive than dead. And I've been alive since then.

"What do you think you could do to make amends?"

"Amends...?"

The word sounded in Cherry's mouth like a thirst-slaking draught of cool water.

"Oh, I don't... I don't know. And I don't like to think that it's all I can turn to. But it's not... It's not oblivion. Or worse than that."

Cherry's eyes closed, and her facial muscles relaxed. Accepting that she could not see had to be less distressing than peering into darkness for answers.

"I'm sure someone will have some bright idea," she muttered, vaguely. "I appreciate your words of counsel, my little cuticle."

"Well, hey, now..." Ben said. "Won't there be things you'll miss? Even just little things, like the sun or the breeze? O-or those times you do succeed? You must have had some successes in order to get this far. Do you really want to never have those things again?"

Roscoe glanced out of the window again, as if he'd only just realised it was there.

"The sun and the breeze, huh? You know... it's been a damn long time since I stopped to smell any flowers."

He was quiet, sitting with that thought at length. His tail swished from side to side, tapping out an uneven beat on the masonry.

"Okay," he said at last, in exactly the same tone as before – just without the distortion. "I'll hang tight. Call that a win, kid."

From where Ben was standing, it'd be hard to tell just how much Roscoe had been at risk. Maybe hugely, maybe not at all. But something had eased in him, if only a little, and if only for now.

 

[canisaries]

"Amends...?"

The word sounded in Cherry's mouth like a thirst-slaking draught of cool water.

"Oh, I don't... I don't know. And I don't like to think that it's all I can turn to. But it's not... It's not oblivion. Or worse than that."

Cherry's eyes closed, and her facial muscles relaxed. Accepting that she could not see had to be less distressing than peering into darkness for answers.

"I'm sure someone will have some bright idea," she muttered, vaguely. "I appreciate your words of counsel, my little cuticle."

Andre nodded. "You're welcome. I'm glad I could... be the voice of reason, for once in my life."

Roscoe glanced out of the window again, as if he'd only just realised it was there.

"The sun and the breeze, huh? You know... it's been a damn long time since I stopped to smell any flowers."

He was quiet, sitting with that thought at length. His tail swished from side to side, tapping out an uneven beat on the masonry.

"Okay," he said at last, in exactly the same tone as before – just without the distortion. "I'll hang tight. Call that a win, kid."

From where Ben was standing, it'd be hard to tell just how much Roscoe had been at risk. Maybe hugely, maybe not at all. But something had eased in him, if only a little, and if only for now.

Ben let out a breath of relief. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. And if you ever need to talk, then you can... call the Wayfarers and ask for Ben. That's me."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"I don't know what you should do next. But it's got to be something, right? Promise me that, if you can't think of anything else you'd want to do then we'll find something."

There was a tinge of desperation to her voice.

"If you want to find a way try to make things better or to just move on, we- we're going to find something. I promise, please..."

Parallax hesitated, the moment dragging out painfully as his gaunt eyes searched Lillian's face. At last he replied,

"...Okay. I... I trust you, sis. I think I gotta. I just don't see how I come out the otherwise unless I do."

He screwed his eyes shut, and his rings flashed, then faded.

Where he'd been standing, was now Gladius' only remaining alter ego. Chimeric, head caged in the usual, familiar, leaden control mask.

'Neo' looked around, expression hidden, as if he was searching for something, or someone. His voice, when he spoke, was subdued. Thick, hoarse, weary.

"I just miss her so, so badly," he murmured. "My... my Chestnut."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Yeah! Red's pretty!"

The pincer might have been cold, but she felt warm anyway seeing the wall crumbling away and the odd echo fading from Garnet's voice.

"Maybe... Maybe I can help you make more friends? I think there are more people here who are hurting. We can help them together and maybe then you'll be friends!"

Garnet nodded tentatively.

"Yes. Yes, okay. I'd like that."

She breathed deeply, and the hazy memoryscape faded.

"I'd like that a lot, little lady."

 

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf felt the claws dig into her side, then let up, then the air being driven from her lungs as the charizard recovered way faster than she'd expected. Probably she'd feel that in the morning, but she'd taken worse. Of course they'd be able to bring Vesta down if she couldn't see sense, but if they didn't do it quick then no telling how much more damage she'd do, who else she might hurt.

She caught her breath and straightened up, then launched another zen headbutt at Vesta's chest to return the favor. At least they could speed this up now that Blue was safely out of the way. "Don't hold back," she called to Jade. "Keep her grounded for me if you can!"

---

The hall spun as the charizard thrashed Blue around. Then it spun harder, for good measure, a sudden wrench like he was about to get pitched into a wall, and then...

Nothing. Three seconds of peace, or maybe just pity. No being jerked around in midair, no statue-melting heat in his face. Just the floor, and the lingering sensation of phantom claws still hooked into his back.

Everything was still swimming a little when he opened his eyes. Where had Lillian and Gladius gone? Who cares. They were the ones with the weird fucked-up issues; let 'em work it out themselves. Not your problem. This is what you get for trying to make it your problem. Leaf was there, now. Also a persian. (Jade or something?) They were standing up to the charizard. Good for them. They'd be fine, probably. Better them than you.

A grovyle stood nearby, clutching his side. Not freaking out, but not really doing anything about anyone who was freaking out, either. The fact that he looked like someone'd scraped him off the inside of an industrial furnace might've factored into that last bit.

"Charizard get you, too?" he muttered. Not like he had anything better to do than ask obvious questions. Blue liked obvious, easy questions more than a bunch of shit that didn't matter to him, anyway.