Destiny Village ~ Pasta Plaza

[Cresselia92]

"I feel a li'l similar, friend. After all, I'm meant t'be what Brisa aspired to, an' now she's surpassed me in personal growth an' such. What am I t'do now? But there's still plenty of work awaitin' the efforts of those with a will t'help out, an' I have a family besides my host. I got you guys an' all the other shades. Even the weirder fellas."

She offered Petram a warm smile. "D'you think y'can latch onto such sentiments as those, darlin'?"

The fox-like blob stared at Luz with his non-existent eyes, his stumpy ears quivering. “Do you… really consider me family?” He glanced at the paw on his shoulder, before giving a slow jelly-like nuzzle. “I… I’d be happy to consider you my sister! And yeah, I know we’re tied by matterline, but I mean, like, for real-real. With family gatherings and stuff!”

That small sense of reality and hope seemed to resonate with his core, making the black hole start to close. Even his matter became slightly more solid and defined.

“If you… want to, of course. I’d like to know our family better. For us to be siblings in every sense.”

As he uttered those words, a small purple glow began shining from inside the black hole…

"So, what I'm getting is that, so far, your purpose has been to help your father? If you've accomplished that, then perhaps it's time you learn to live for yourself. For your own sake. No matter how many chances you've missed, there will always be more."

[…]

"We can't change what we did with our pasts, but there's always the option to begin living as you wish to today."

Begin living as he wished… easier said than done.

“Well, that’s the golden question here: what do I wish? How do I wanna live?” Petram tilted his head and scratched his cheek with his stubby paw. “I… I dunno what path I wanna take. My mind is a jumble of fragmented pieces, and I’m struggling to navigate through them. I’m… kinda overwhelmed, yeah.” He chuckled nervously. “I don’t even know what I’m truly capable to do.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz smiled, and relaxed a little. This was progress.

"Y'don't gotta have all the answers at once, fella. Y'can start with one small thing at a tiime an' work yer way forward. Bein' siblings is a good start. How'd'you like t'be called 'brother', huh?"

 

[Cresselia92]

The fox-like blob thought about that for a moment, before a smile spread on his muzzle. “Just keep calling me Petram. I might want to look for a future, but that doesn’t mean I gotta forget about my past.”

The glow inside of his chest intensified.

“The past is important. It shows us how we used to be…”

A white and purple sheen filled the upper side of his body.

“As well… as what we shouldn’t be anymore…”

The light spread on the lower part of his body, too. Almost shimmering, and yet it was still filled with darkness.

“I’ll never forget those happy days I have spent with Daddy. And even if Diyem is my biological father, I will always be Daddy’s son.”

His entire body quivered, with the black hole pushing against his black skin-like goo. He reached for his two sisters, clutching their paws.

“But… it is now time to march forward.”

There wasn’t any fear in his voice anymore. Only incorruptible faith.

“…Together.”

The black hole exploded, in a mix between violet flames and dark matter. Fumes seeped from the stone, shrouding the surroundings for several seconds. Then, those same fumes converged once more toward the core, and formed the outline of the entity sitting on the bench.

The entity was a fox standing on two legs, with a long mane on the head glowing with a purple gleam. A nebula-like fur collar was now around his chest, with a renewed star shining in its center.

Two clawed forepaws clutched his sisters’ paws, as if to seek their support and send his own brotherly energy. He flicked a comet-like tail, which was a weird addition for his species. However, he refused to let go of that piece of his past.

Then, the fox pulled his two sister into a warm hug, wagging his alien tail while tears poured from his new eyes.

“Thank you,” muttered Petram, the Dreamer Zoroark, “my dear sisters.”

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul smiled and leaned into his hug, brushing her face against his coat.

In the end, it was true, neither of them were really Ninetales. Curious, how that worked out.

"You're welcome, brother. I'm so glad you've found yourself."

She wanted to hold on to this moment forever...

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz gripped them both in a big hug, her huge paws pressing them close. It felt good. To matter to them. To care about them. To have family besides her alter ego of sorts.

"Y'got me any time y'need me," she said, warmly.

 

[Cresselia92]

“…Cool.” Petram wagged his tail faster. “That’s very cool.”

And it felt very good. To have found a connection, and someone who could understand him and who went through what he was going through.

Sure, it wasn’t pleasant to have so many ringing questions and so few answers, but at least he knew that he had all the time in the world to figure out himself. Besides, he wasn’t alone in the quest. He had a family.

A family, and it wasn’t going anywhere. Even if they were to be away physically, he knew that in spirit they were going to be forever connected.

A wag too many, and the bag with the cupcakes fell. Petram blinked and looked at the scattered pastries, before collecting a few of them with his tail.

“Well, these cupcakes aren’t gonna finish themselves! How about finishing this convo with a sweet note?”

It felt so weird to use his forepaws to hand out the cupcakes, but it was far from unwelcome. If all, perhaps he would have been able to bake some new stuff better with his clawed paws.

Bake… hmm. Yes, why not?

Petram studied the cupcake in his new paws, rolling it to test his new paws. Then, he took a bite.

And he could taste it again — the melody of happiness.

<><><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

"I want some of those spicy rice cake soup bowls," Cal said, pointing at one of the dishes with a popping, red broth. "And I'll also have the deep fried rolls, too. Oh! And are those ones fresh? Yeah, those barbecue fish. Yeah, that! Okay, and Luz, I think we can also go to that other place to try their burgers, and I think next to that place had pizza or something, and . . . "

Pasta Plaza had a small crowd gathered that Cal was largely ignoring. The Charizard, now coreless and a little more opaque than before, had bags of food over her arms, ready to eat one after the other. She didn't really have a stomach, after all, and she was presumably a growing girl. She didn't really get hungry, but food. Food! She could taste food! As a core, she had a dull sense of it, but now...

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz inhaled deeply, trying to get the scent of the food. She licked her lips, more to get into the headspace of being 'hungry' than because she had any real craving for the food. She did crave it, though... She wanted to taste everything.

"Pizza places let you have lots of different toppings divided between the slices," she offered. "I bet we can get a ton of flavours from a place like that! But can we stop and eat some of this real soon? It'll all go cold!"

She wore as big a grin as she ever had as she said it. She hardly cared about the food going cold. It was just a delight to see Cal so happy.

 

[Namohysip]

"I think I heard one of the humans in our team say that cold pizza is good, too," Cal said. "But then another human didn't like it. Maybe it's a cultural thing across humans." Cal took their orders and stepped away. "I'm glad Pop can fund all this. I'd have to do a job soon, though. Once Dad goes back home and stuff. Maybe I should ask for career advice. Maybe I'll take up farming in Shaymin Village or something."

It was a remarkable attitude shift; there was a wonder what Cal and Owen had gone through in the storm. For one reason or another, she hadn't mentioned it--only that she seemed to think more positively of Owen than ever.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz nodded. "Let's try pizza hot and cold! Hm. Can't say I fancy farmin', but maybe I'd change my tune if'n I gave it a try. I've been doin' some dungeon runnin' of late, takin' after my host an' namesake alike, an' I bet I'd be a touch better at it now, after the storm."

Luz looked Cal up and down, and rubbed her chin. "Yer lookin' mighty strong yerself. Y'ain't lookin' t'put that to use?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I mean, probably..." Cal hummed, thoughtful. "I just wonder if I might get tired of that one day and then find a place to settle. I'm... according to Eien--I mean, er, Mom--I'm probably immortal. Or close to it. I think I should, like... set up a mental map of a bunch of hobbies to take on and flip through." She looked at her claws as they made it to the pizza place next. "It's still weird to feel things, like the ground under my feet. It's one of those things you don't realize is real until it happens, right? And I didn't think running fast, I could feel the air..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz nodded, and walked with her friend – her sibling? She still wasn't sure about that one – while trying to guide them towards a nice bench or somesuch resting spot.

"Yeah, I figured we'd last indefinitely. S'why I was so relieved Joule might provide an out. Now that our cores are dissolved or whatever, that might be right out, too. In which case I'd better have all sorts of plans fer the future if'n I'm to stave off a truly enormous helpin' of boredom."

She grinned. "Can't say as I think I'll get bored any time soon with all Cibus has to offer. I'd say the multiverse, but... I wouldn't be surprised t'see the Squad settlin' down on Cibus. An' I don't intend to pressure 'em into doin' otherwise fer my sake..."

Besides.

Cibus was home.

 

[Namohysip]

Cal nodded. "And even if they don't want to explore anymore, what's to say a new God Squad... thing will start up again one day, y'know? We've got centuries and stuff!" It was clear that the concept of centuries did not fully register to Cal, who did not yet know her first year.

Cal took her first bite of the rice cake soup, savoring the spicy flavor first before swallowing. Then, she firmly held the base of her head and pushed, popping it off and turning it around so she could watch the food float around and fade in her upper chest area. This earned several stares from onlookers. "Look at that, how does that work?" Cal's head murmured.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz chuckled. Bodily dismemberment wasn't her thing, but on Cal, it was pretty darn funny.

"Can't say as I know. But I'm sure Chip an' Lexx will find out fer us. I get the feelin' Diyem an' Eien know more'n has been previously intimated, given this new term floatin' around. 'Void Eternas', huh? I kinda like it."

Luz began helping herself to some of the food. She had a hankering for the stronger tastes, particularly sweet and spicy flavours. Maybe she could combine them all together...

It was nice. Not just the improved sensation and solidity, but the being able to force her body into definition with a little less effort. Good.

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, it sounds awesome," Cal agreed with a grin. Even her golden embers seemed to light up a little. "God, it's crazy how good stuff tastes now that I can actually taste it, though. And feel things, and stuff, too. Have you ever curled up in a bed and just felt the fabric all over? Fucking hell, right?!" She swallowed a whole bowl--including the bowl--and pulled out the hard-paper container that was now empty.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz laughed and gave Cal a light thump on the shoulder. "Hell yeah. I wanna try just about everythin' there is to try t'make up fer lost time. Fancy shoppin' fer clothes? Bet they gotta lotta different textures to feel."

She chuckled to herself at the dizzying range of experiences now available. Swimming, maybe. Or intense combat. Or something gentler. Hmm.

"Hey," she said, smiling. "Feel like a real good hug?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I was thinking about trying out a scarf," Cal said. "Maybe a stylish one, you know? Oh! Or maybe I could try out a cape. I heard that Owen once tried one on to act like he had wings--er, wait, I'm not supposed to say that one out loud. Forget I said that."

But then came the offer and Cal tilted her head. "A... hug? Y'know, I haven't really tried something like that except with Dad, but... Maybe, yeah. I think I was still mid-hatch when that happened, anyway... How... how does hugging work?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz beamed.

"Well, there's more'n one way t'hug a friend. But maybe I can show ya how I'd do it."

Luz had some truly massive paws for her size. They would surely prove big enough to hold even the torso of a charizard-shade. Both arms around Cal, one paw under her wings and the other around her draconic neck. It might be warm. There might be a sense of pressure. Either way, it was trying something new and being close to someone she cared about. That sounded lovely.

Luz wondered if she could purr.

 

[Namohysip]

Cal could, though for someone like her, it came off more like a great rumble that shook both of their ectoplasm. Her wings folded over them both, and her arms, much smaller by comparison, did what they could to run along Luz's false fur.

"So... that's what it's like..." Cal held her position for a while, new sensations both confusing and intriguing her. It felt like some part of her wasn't supposed to be able to feel this--perhaps the Void half of her? Yet, she could. Flitting memories, fragments from Owen, ran through her mind, more like memories from a different person to her, like a catalogue of someone she'd watched over their shoulder. Yes, Owen liked these, too. Did Charmander do this to keep warm even in the rain?

Finally, she let go, wings first, then her arms.

"I... didn't think that'd work," Cal admitted, sitting back down. She saw, in the corner of her vision, a Flygon taking to the skies.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz rumbled back, enjoying how her body kept its shape even as it rippled from the mutual vibration. Yeah, this was a good hug.

Her eyes tracked Cal's, and she, too, spotted the airborne flygon.

"Pansit," she said, drily. "Looks like we got some rumourmongerin' t'look forward to in the papers, darlin'."