Destiny Village ~ X-Eye Cauldron

[Cresselia92]

Icetales blinked, somewhat surprised by the reveal. He surely wouldn’t have expected Brisa to have a lone existence in her homeworld, what with her being around helping folks left and right. From what he gathered from their comrades, she was like a pillar for others to lean on and a source of inspiration and support.

Hmm. Could it be…?

“Yes, that is understandable. I have a few fellows back in my homeworld, but I have been living in solitude for years. No folk wants to meddle with a ‘pompous fopling’, after all. But I digress.”

He sighed and sipped some more of his cider, while some mental wheels spun in his mind.

“Is this… why thou art always giving thy entire self for the cortège? Pushing thyself to thy extreme limits to show thy reliability and prove to be someone others can rely on? Is this why thou art spending thy entire energy and efforts to connect with everyone?”

He raised his paw reassuringly.

“Now, do not misunderstand me. I do not intend to chastise or anything like that. Far from it, I find thy desire to help the cortège and keep everyone united a most admirable effort, and for that thou have my respect.”

His eyes narrowed. “Howbeit, I cannot help but be concerned about thee. I can see some… exhaustion in those eyes of thine and in the rigidity of thy muscles. So, well… art thou taking some proper care of thyself, or at least getting some adequate rest? I know that Sir Joule is a huge threat, but… well, we still need some relaxation and time for ourselves, once in a while.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Is this… why thou art always giving thy entire self for the cortège? Pushing thyself to thy extreme limits to show thy reliability and prove to be someone others can rely on? Is this why thou art spending thy entire energy and efforts to connect with everyone?

Brisa bit her lip and dropped her gaze. Her whole face stiffened as the ninetales spoke. He was so wrong and so right all at the same time and she could barely stand it. How to explain that she did it wholly out of duty, but that since realising she had friends among the posse, she'd been desperate to keep them by the same means? It felt shameful.

But the fox clarified he was not scolding her. If he was sympathetic, perhaps she could bear to continue speaking freely...

"I'm gettin' as much sleep as I oughta, but I'm workin' damn near every minute of the day. I stop sometimes fer a drink or to shoot the breeze, but it's a gasp of air, I tell ya, an' even then I end up tryin' to help folks as much as help myself. I know I'm workin' too hard, but it's not forever. Just until things calm down, y'know? Just as soon as we're not in this godawaful condition, I'm sleepin' a day away an' headin' straight to Treasure Town beach with my pals. Assumin' we're not straight off to fight Giovanni or Eternatus or gods know what else, that is."

She smiled weakly at Icetales. "I'd be glad of yer company too, fella."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales nodded a few times as she explained her situation, realizing that they were basically moved by more or less the same goal — work hard so that they could live to see another (hopefully more peaceful) day. It was stressful, yes, but if there wasn’t anyone to keep everything in check… well, who would do that?

“I see, yes, and I understand. I truly do. I sure know I am giving mine entire self, too, to keep the morale of the cortège as high as possible. Most exhausting, but an essential role, nonetheless. After all, we are the most effective when we are a tip top shape, and now more than ever we need to be fully motivated to handle this new threat.”

He smiled serenely. “And I shall try to assist thee in any way I can. I just desire for thee to keep taking care of thyself, too. Thou art an essential part of this cortège, just like everyone, and we will need thy maximum strength when the time is due.”

A confident grin appeared on his face.

“Thou art a pillar of lightning that flashes through the foul darkness, Brisa! A sonorous roar of justice that shall bring down those dastardly fiends. Never forget that!”

She smiled weakly at Icetales. "I'd be glad of yer company too, fella."

Icetales blinked at hearing that, before laughing happily. “Oh, I’d be most delighted, honored even. We could even share some drink again some day, yes?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa couldn't help but snort and chuckle at Icetales' overblown encouragement. Still . . . it had the desired effect. After all, wasn't that what she wanted? To be a light in the darkness? To bring justice? She sipped her cider and smiled. Maybe it wasn't all she wanted, but... Well, it was what mattered. If she was doing that, if that's how Icetales saw her, then she must be doing okay.

"I appreciate it, partner. Don't you fret yerself about me—I'll be just fine, y'hear? I've got what it takes fer fights like this."

Yeah. Hadn't she always said she wanted to face off against threats to the innocent and use that power she was born with for something good? Well, the realisation had been a creeping one, but . . . here she was. Doing everything she could in service of that goal. She'd give her all to it.

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales grinned and his tails wagged, as his heart became a beacon of confidence. “…Of course. I do not expect any less from such a mighty defender.”

He wrapped a tail around the glass with the cider and lifted it, beaming a proud smirk.

“For our cortège! For Cibus! And in thy face, Giovanni!”

And so, two souls from different backgrounds and with different strengths renewed their vow to offer their services and help for the innocent inhabitants of Cibus. But more than that, a new spark shone inside their hearts and spirits, glittering and dazzling like diamond dust.

<><><><>​

 

[Adamhuarts]

A craving for some high quality water brought Cynthian back to the cauldron bar for the second time that day. It wasn't as if the poppin arms facilities had bad water, but had too much chlorine for her tastes.

When she went in, a vaguely familiar face caught her eye: a zoroark enjoying a drink at a table. Pushed on by her curiosity, she approached the God Squad member and climbed up the seat opposite him.

"I hope you don't mind me welcoming myself here. How goes the day... Koba?" Cynthian asked. Ah, was Koba his name? Or was it Doba?... "Oh, sorry. It's Cola, right?"

 

[Namohysip]

The Zoroark narrowed his eyes at Cynthian, trying to figure out if the plant was making fun of him or actually just that forgetful. "Soda," he muttered back. "How's the end of the world treating you?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Oh! It was Soda! I'm so sorry!" Cynthian said, burying her face in her flowers and groaning. "We're not well acquainted, so your name must've slipped my mind at some point. I apologize for that."

"Right, you just asked a question. Hmmm, well I don't think it's the end of the world or anything. There was that whole meeting that went on and now we have some plan to go off on..." Cynthian tapped a vine on the table in thought. "I imagine it isn't any easier on you guys though, seeing that your friend is trying to blast us all to bits. We'll save Joule though, surely, that's something I'm confident about."

 

[Namohysip]

"Right, cool." Soda rolled his eyes. "You mean the plan where Arceus seems dead-set on going full martyr for this world? Seems to me like we lost before we even got started." He shrugged. "Even if we beat Joule, I'm pretty sure Arceus is just trying to let us down lightly and he's only got a day left to live. That attack is unstoppable."

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian froze and she stared at Soda with widened eyes.

"Wait, will he really not be able to make it?!" She asked, leaning forward. "I thought Arceus was invincible or something and this would just be a mild inconvenience at best. Didn't he like make this whole universe?!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, he did," Soda said. "But he also made a world where he wouldn't be as strong in it. He's a Creator. His power is in creation. They can decide how strong they want to be in their own world after that, and Arceus decided to go with 'really strong, but not absolute,' for this world. Guess I'll give him brownie points for that, but it really bit him in the ass now."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"We... we need to come up with another plan of some sort. I don't like the idea of him sacrificing himself like that. It's much better when everyone's there together at the end of the day when all is said and done." Cynthian pushed her flowers together and grimaced.

"Those who sacrifice themselves for others won't know the pain those left behind have to live with." She sighed. Maybe she could ask the others in the crew what their thoughts were. Cynthian wasn't the smartest rose around, so there was no way she could think up a solution in her own...

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, sure," Soda said. "Got any bright ideas on stopping a big ball of death? Like, Pop thinks it ain't a planet-buster, but I'm less sure. I think he's understating it so you guys don't go full panic and lose hope." Soda leaned back. "Chances are, if we fail this, Cibus is exploding with everyone on it."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Maybe we could try to throw off Joule's aim in some way. If there was a way to bend the trajectory of the attack, we could have it aim towards the sky and then It'd never strike Cibus!" Cynthian got excited for a moment, but her smile faded as she brought a flower to her chin.

"But the question is how to even do that. Maybe Arceus could make a small black hole to twist the attack's path? I read somewhere that black holes bend light around the... How about we hit him with something just strong enough to tilt him over and misfire his attack?" Cynthian furrowed her brows and groaned. "Wait, aren't you like the master of illusions or something? Don't make me do all the thinking here. Surely you must have some tricks on your mind, right?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Main thing I can do is distort what he can do, but at this point even my illusions are getting dispelled by the guy's presence. Don't go relying on me for that." Soda shrugged. "Arceus doesn't have a lot of time to do any fancy tricks. He can only really s tart his work once that time bubble goes down, so... simple actions only."

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian groaned. Was there really no other solution? She'd have to ask the others later.

"Thinking about this is hard..." Cynthian gazed up at the ceiling briefly, then she looked back up at the Zoroark.

"Say, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" she asked with a head tilt. "It's fine if you'd rather not say, but I really don't know much about you God Squad folks. I hang out with Leg often, but she doesn't exactly talk a whole lot. She is good company though."

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, well, Leg's feral and still growing out of it," Soda said. "Figures you wouldn't get a whole lot outta her. But, y'know, what's there even for me to talk about?" He shrugged, looking over. "I'm just some Zoroark who decided to go along with the rest of them. So what?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Huh? There must be more to it than that? I always thought Maple sought you all out or something, like she went around the world picking chosen ones with a lot of potential. Granted that sounds more like a fairy tale," Cynthian said with a nervous chuckle.

"How did you two meet? I don't mind listening. I love hearing other people's stories," Cynthian said, bubbling with curiosity.

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, well, ever consider that maybe I don't like telling 'em?" Soda asked with a scowl. "Besides, if we all die, I don't really think it'll matter all that much, either." Tapping on his glass, he took a bite out of the sandwich he'd ordered. "...Look, none of the stories the God Squad have are happy ones. I dunno if you should go around asking us why we're wandering worlds without a home to go back to."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Sorry. That was rude of me." Cynthian retreated back to her stool, deflated and glum.