Frontier Town Mayoral Residence – Upper Floors

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Through the haze of his self-inflicted misery, something shiny caught Steven's attention. If the rose color of the crystal wasn't distinctive enough, the shape (even in miniature) was a dead giveaway. It was enough of a distraction for him to find his voice again.

"It looks a lot like the Anistar Sundial." His voice was quiet and withdrawn, yet the most confident he'd sounded since the start of the meeting. "Like the others have said, it's a monument in a city in Kalos."

He was unsure if he should continue, but Lucien's words-- about knowing the truth-- echoed in Steven's mind. A pursuit of knowledge of the unknown; the same thing that frustrated him here and now with the shadows. The least he could do was share what he knew with Lucien.

"I've visited it in person myself. It's really quite extraordinary, even if it's a sundial in name only. It doesn't exactly tell time," he said with emphasis, "more like acknowledges it. So to see it replicated in a pocket watch is a bit puzzling."

While he spoke, his head peeked higher and higher from his cloak. "Even more puzzling is that no one really knows its origins; where it came from or who constructed it. A true geological wonder, though, regardless."

But Steven quickly became aware of how much he was talking and ducked lower once again, half-burying his eye in his cowl.

"The significance of it as one of your family's heirlooms, though, I'm not sure."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Maybe the human of his family that got sucked up here was someone prominent in Anistar City?" Nova thought aloud. "Y'know, like a mayor." A pause. "Or some other bureaucratic whatever."

Sundial? Did his Anistar have one of those?

... Was it something Matriarch had his squad destroy to send a message to Kalosians to stay in line? He couldn't remember. Nova doubted it mattered.

 

[Cresselia92]

“… … …That looks very fancy,” whispered Silver, staring at the intricate watch-thing with barely a trace of interest. After that, he merely shrugged and crossed his arms, completely in the dark about that topic.

Kalos wasn’t an unknown name to him, but there was very little he knew about the region (it had a very tall tower with a distinct shape, right?). So he deemed it best to let the others do the talk.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Lucien peered at his strange, crystalline device with fresh eyes, deep in private thought.

"So it does have some connection with anther world," he mused, softly.

At length, he seemed satisfied, and returned the 'sundial' to its place.

"Since our last meeting of note, I have been re-examining my feelings on the notion that I am part-human," said the Prinplup, hesistantly. "My father believed it to be of enormous significance, and until recently I had believed that this was – for the most part – because of genuine ideological beliefs he held about governance and the role of humans in Forlas. But I've begun to wonder if there was a more personal, emotional, shameful component to it. I don't mean that he was using grand excuses to justify his pride and ambition – I have always understood that to be true to whatever degree – I mean... that..."

He swallowed, glancing around.

"It is... terribly lonely, to imagine yourself to be different to everyone else, separate, not belonging. By circumstance of birth, no less, about which nothing can be done."

The seabird's gaze wandered towards the windows. He couldn't have been talking only of his father – by implication, this was really about himself.

"Easier to decide that this makes you remarkable, and entitles you to various rights and powers. I suppose."

He shook his head, clearly finding the idea unpleasant. He had found the idea of being in charge terribly stressful, after all.

"I have been looking into my father's private correspondence. There's an awful lot of it, but I believe he communicated infrequently with some organisation based on the eastern seaboard of Luctemar. It seems he was most keen on joining them, and they continually rebuffed him. In hindsight, I suppose this could be a reason for his endless thirst for greater power and success..."

Well. That could only be the Covenant, couldn't it?

 

[Ambyssin]

"That... sounds very much like a lead some of us are looking into," Nova said. "Some kind of organization with human ties." He shifted around. "Not something I'm in much of a position to help with. I leave it to the others."

He stepped toward the prinplup. "As for that other point," Nova took a breath. "The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

The null paused, looking out the window. "Old flame used to tell me that. And he was created like me. But point is... your old 'mon's not casting this long shadow anymore. Even if there are still eyes on you, you can choose whether you want to stay in the spotlight or move it in another direction. And, yeah, maybe there'll be mistakes. But I'd rather be around a genuine person than a 'perfect' one."

The little gathering had lasted a decent bit of time. He had no idea if Lucien was getting ready to bid them farewell.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lucien's words struck straight to Gladion's heart. "Yeah..." he said, in a tentative tone as if something could break if he spoke too flippantly. "Yeah, it can be. I see what you mean. Makes sense why you don't want to stick around in power. Sometimes you just have to... get out of the shadow that stuff hangs over you."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Lucien nodded, his gaze still elsewhere.

"I'll have to give that some more thought," he said, quietly. "Perhaps I'll feel more at ease when my father has been sentenced."

The word hung in the air, uncomfortably, as if there was some doubt as to the outcome.

He turned back to the Wayfarer and cleared his throat, banishing the silence.

"Well! I have much to look into, and to pass on to town security in my role as marshal. And you – I hope – will shortly investigate the Wolf's activities. If you find anything of note, or happen across him and are able to apprehend him, I trust you'll remand him to town custody. I have every hope that capturing him will be a step of substantial progress to unravelling these troubles."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Better stock the jailhouse with bones, then," Nova said. Though the mask-muffled tone was trying to show he wasn't serious. "I should get going, too. Still have... training to get to."

He slowly turned, pausing to nod at the others. "Gentlemon." Then he headed for the door.

 

[Cresselia92]

“We’ll do what we can,” said Silver, nodding. “And we’ll let you know if there’s some news about the Wolf’s whereabouts and whatnot.”

Feeling that the conversation was pretty much over, the now-Sneasel bowed respectfully and glanced at the door. He narrowed his eyes and flicked his ears; some thoughts still lingered in his mind, wishing to pour out. As such, he glanced one last time at Lucien.

“…The big guys are right, by the way. A legacy is just a fragment of someone’s identity, not the entirety. And yet, far too many people focus only on that or some other aspect, either positive or negative, without bothering to see what’s truly inside the book with a misleading cover.”

The light in Silver’s eyes dimmed, just as his tone grew more serious and tired. If eyes are the mirrors of the soul, then anyone would have been able to see the various experiences reflected into the young now-Sneasel’s pupils. All the times he had been sneered at and prejudiced for being associated with his infamous family.

“Never waste your time and efforts with superficial folks. The real allies and friends are the ones who accept you for who you really are, no matter the flaws. Those folks… they are who make life worth fighting for.”

Without anything more to add, Silver bowed once more and murmured a faint ‘See ya ‘round!’, then walked out of the room. There was a certain canid to track down…

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Alright. I guess there's nothing left to do but hope this ends well."

They were supposed to go chasing down this Wolf, were they? It wasn't a bad idea, but he still felt enough people had plans to that effect already. Gladion had other thoughts on his mind. He still couldn't get his mind off that railroad...

It seemed at least two different conflicts were liable to come to a head very soon, and he could not shake the feeling of impending disaster.

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