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Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

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Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
  6. joltik
  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
He hadn't quite expected Xernatus to take his suggestion too serious but... perhaps they might be helpful after all...

"Who would stop you?" he said wryly. In a more serious tone he continued, "If you wanted to... well I'm sure you can go back. Diyem will be there, and I don't think anyone could stop us anyway. And... I'd vouch for you."

For whatever that was worth. Brisa perhaps trusted him enough, and from there... well he was sure it wouldn't be hard.
 

Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
  6. joltik
  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
"Yeah," Koa said quietly, gazing pensively out at the forest. "There's no rush. Whether you come or stay... just make sure its something you want. Your decision." He sat in silence for a few moments more. Grinning, he said, "If you ever want an easy choice, you can always come grab food with me. A burger or whatever." Could Xernatus even eat? Did it matter?

"Or I can bring something out here," he said with a shrug. It'd be nice to get away. The forest was peaceful and Xernatus would be... interesting company. Good company.

Whatever Xernatus choice, he planned to stick around a bit. It felt good, to be able to help someone, even if it was just a small way. As he watched the strange yet fascinating being from the corner of his eye, he found himself wondering... Might they one day look at him as a friend?
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
It was hard to tell what Xernatus thought about it all, but it was at least enough that he tolerated Koa staying for a while. He was hesitant to take on burgers or other mortal meals... but maybe that would be worth trying later. Maybe a lot of it would be worth trying.

By the time it got later in the day and it was time to part ways, Xernatus made it a point to ask where Koa lived so he could visit. He technically wasn't banned from Destiny Village, after all. And maybe, one day, he'd work up the courage to return.

<><><>​
 
R14 - Myles’ Identity

TheGOAT

🗿
Location
Houston, Texas
Pronouns
Him/his
Partners
  1. serperior
  2. alolatales-goat
“Honest with myself,” Astrid scoffed. “What do you mean by that?”



Myles skipped a rock twice as far as her last one. “I dunno.”



Rolling clouds absorbed the pinks and oranges from the beginnings of a sunset. It reflected off of the lakewater across from them, disrupted by Astrid’s next throw. There was little else to distract them out here, surrounded by an endless forest of craters and trees. Mostly trees. Mostly nothing of note. Appropriate, because their conversation had taken a similar pointless course right up until Myles’ question.



The rock bounced once, twice, then a final time. Then, silence for a little while.



“…And what about you?” Astrid finally said, still unimpressed with her throw.



“Mm?”



“How honest have you been with yourself? If you’re gonna be asking me that, y’know,” she said, hesitating. This was uncharted territory for both of them. “I mean, just… who are you? You’re not my brother, you’re, um, you’re—god, I feel like I know you even worse than I knew him. But we’re attached at the hip, and you’re an ally, not an enemy. It’s just weird.”



Myles listened intently to the strange confession. Just weird, huh. Okay.



There was something there to latch onto, and Myles wasn’t going to pass it up. Getting this girl to speak in a straight line was hard enough sometimes.



He licked his dry lips and said, “You feel like you didn’t know him, you say?”



“Yes.”



“Then why do I look like this?”



“What?”



“Why am I him, without, according to you, actually being him? Shit don’t make sense.”



Taken back, she answered lamely, “Because, um, I… still think about him a lot. Even as his face and his voice has gotten blurry and impossible to recognize, I still hold onto hope that things can be better. Someday. Maybe.” She feigned a shrug. Another rock in the water. More visible disappointment.



Her familiar’s face turned to iron. “Hope?”



Astrid met his gaze, unsteady. “Yeah… hope. For our family. I mean, mom and d—erm, my parents, they’re sort of… ohh. I don’t know about them.” She looked away. “They’d probably hate me for running away.”



‘And proving them wrong.’ Maybe Astrid didn’t mean to project that at him, but whatever. Happened all the time. Myles was certain he heard more than she realized, and definitely more than she’d be comfortable with. There was always that urge to say something, and there was always that urge to say nothing at all…



“…But yes. I have hope for Myles still.”



“Do you now?”



“Yeah.”



In spite of the edge in her eyes, her mouth ticked upwards at some blurry memory of him. She really missed him, or at least, she missed the memories. Missed the idea of having those memories. Missed having family close instead of far, as she seemed to view it. She wasn’t addressing the Myles before her, of course, who couldn’t make any more sense of those memories than she could, even as he experienced them in spikes every time she fell into a stupor. Even as he discovered more of what was hidden than she could, for whatever fucking reason, he could not make sense of it. Could not accept his origins, as if being aware of it made it any fucking better.

If she was more perceptive, she might’ve noticed the glint in his eye that had formed. But, ah. Astrid’s brother, wherever and whoever he was, was real; Myles was simple mimicry, borne of an abundance of energies and different parents entirely. Something else. Someone else. Astrid’s brother hadn’t been seen in years, and he was right here, but he would never be her brother, and that was what mattered.



Her hope was never meant for him.



“What do you think I should do?” Astrid earnestly asked him, pulling him back to reality.



Now it was his turn to be taken aback. “Huh? You mean, about… ah. Hmph.” Was she asking because he was the closest thing to her brother she could talk to right now? “Why ask me? I ain’t a family guy, or based on one, so. Yeah, sorry, not my lane.”



“Because you’re the closest thing to my brother that I can talk to right now,” Astrid said candidly. Myles twitched his nose, annoyed for once at how attuned their minds were—but could not bring himself to feel disappointed when he saw such softness and desperation in her stupid gleaming eyes. What was with this girl and her… bizarre emotions? Sometimes he wondered if he was really the biggest alien between the two of them.



In the end, Myles shrugged. “I’m just me, y’know? Closest thing? Sure, okay. You want my advice, so here’s what I got.” Vulpix to Ninetales, familiar to host, he stared her in the face and said, “Run and don’t look back. Find a way to incorporate those rocket booster paws of yours into my metaphor about running because you cannot possibly get away fast enough. I’ve spotted more red flags about this ‘family’ of yours than I saw at the Colosseum the other day when they were putting up banners for that gross Fire tournament going on.”



They stared at one another.



“Run?” Astrid whispered. “I can’t just give up, right? I mean, I know it’s a long shot, but hrmm.” She turned away and frowned. “It might take years. They might be gone forever, I don’t know. But they’re family and I think I should try for that reason alone. If I fail, well…”



“Red flags,” Myles repeated.



“There are plenty of red flags about my fighting style,” Astrid countered a little darkly. “Haven’t you encouraged it the whole way? Even when my friends didn’t?”



He flinched, then quickly adjusted. “Yeah, well, that’s different.”



“Is it?”



God. When had she grown so assertive?



More importantly, where had he gained the notion that she shouldn’t be by default?



“Yeah. It’s different because you found a way to control yourself before you got killed. Adapt or die. You can’t adapt your family to shit, Astrid. They gotta decide what they care about for themselves, and if your memories are any indication…”



“I don’t think it’s that—“



“Well it is that simple sometimes,” Myles cut her off. “Sometimes hope is misplaced.”



“Misplaced?”



“Mis-fucking-placed.”



Another rock skipped across the pond.



“We’ll see.”



No we won’t, Myles thought to himself, but you might.



It was clear to him what this exchange was, because indeed, he considered himself a master at reading terse situations like this. Perhaps that carried over from the bastard he was designed from; he didn’t give a fuck. This was borne from mutual exhaustion for the most part, compounded of course by the circumstances that Cibus continued to deliver them. Astrid clearly wasn’t over the trauma from seeing her friends pseudo-die, and it had affected things between them. Bursts of tension gave way to periods of neutrality and even softness, as it always had between them.



Wasn’t that what actual siblings did?



I’m not your goddamn brother.



I’m not your goddamn brother.




A deep silence lingered between them. All was familiar.



And as always, they both harbored feelings of misgiving for the real Myles, wherever and whoever he was indeed. Did it matter? He might’ve forgotten about Astrid by now, fake Myles reasoned. It had been years; there were plenty of other kits at the time, and not all of them made it. Stupid memories lingered that weren’t his, yet were. He—the real Myles—might have a family by now, which wasn’t uncommon in those tribes. Adapt and survive. Commit to the Way of Life, or you might as well be dead. Adapt and survive. A horrifying thought crossed his mind: he was created by those very words, that very principle. One of the freshest memories forced upon him was telling Astrid those very words, spoken right from his mouth…



Yes, he was starting to remember all of it. It was becoming less blurry the more he dug. The more he did, the larger his hatred grew.



He looked at Astrid; she was staring off into space, probably busying herself thinking about random shit. Were those memories clearing up for her, too? Because he could feel her frustration, and it was nothing quite like his. There was confusion there. Something clearly wasn’t clicking.



She picked up another rock and threw it. The look on her face as it released from her paw said it all.



Plink—plink—plop!



“Ugh, damn.”



Yeah. Astrid didn’t swear out loud often, unless she was fighting, drunk, or especially distressed.



Tense and suddenly uncomfortable where he sat, Myles stared into the water, stared at her reflection, and pondered that disconnect further.



Not your goddamn brother…



<><><>
 
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R16 ~ Dragons of Light

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Through one way or another, Owen had convinced, or at least made Bahamut impassive to, having a guest for their next meditation together. Thankfully, it was not that hard of a sell, because while he was brighter and more upbeat in general than the Owen Bahamut knew, it was still Owen--and therefore, he probably knew a thing or two about meditation etiquette.

By the time it was over, the two Owens both opened their eyes nearly in sync. Wind-ups afterward went the same, with the pair performing nearly identical stretching exercises despite their difference in size.

"Thanks for letting me come along," Miracle said to Bahamut. "I didn't want to impose too much... but it's still just, um, me with you."

"I think you did great!" Spectrum replied.
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
Bahamut was too damn old for this. He was aware of alternate dimensions, but always assumed parallel ones were an impossibility. Because the alternative was an infinite number of dimensions. Meaning an infinite number of dimensions that Eternatus could get to once it was free of Bahamut's. And that was a truly terrifying thought.

"Mmm. Well, you weren't really imposing." Bahamut curled his wings. "Because I wasn't meditating this time around. I was... praying. For all the souls whose lives were extinguished as a result of... Soda's madness." He looked at the new Owen. Or was this an older Owen? Fuck it, Altowen. He looked at Altowen. "That blabbermouth Potluck lookalike casually mentioned that there were not any casualties when you intervened in some... parallel Cibus.

"... must've felt nice. Being so successful."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Altowen nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry it turned out that way, even if you saved most of the world."

Owen folded his wings back. "Apparently, their Water Continent had a lot of missing Pokemon, which might have had something similar happen, but... Arceus of their world helped things there. Still..."

Altowen folded his wings the same way. "You said that your Buffet is helping with funerals and spirit migrations, right?"

"Yeah. I'm glad this world has crisis management like that covered, even after it's over. I can't say the same for mine, or, well, any other world I've heard about. Cibus is lucky."
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
"It's far better than what you get on Etherium," Bahamut growled, shaking his head. "I suppose this is all just an unpleasant reminder of what I get to go back to." He would've added more, but there was a good chance that would break one or both of the Owen's brains and Bahamut was not in the mood to deal with that.

"Not even sure diving into Soda's mind at the last minute was a good decision."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
"He's doing better than before," Owen pointed out.

"To think, the Soda of our world could have followed the same path if..." Altowen shook his head. "I just can't believe it happened that way."

"I think you did good, Bahamut," Owen said. "And bringing Dave along definitely also helped. You... steadied him. He was on the brink and you pulled him back."
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
"Yeah, well it doesn't really feel that way." Bahamut dropped to the ground with an unceremonious thud. "Humans have this idea of saving criminals so that they can 'face proper justice.' But I don't think it applies in this particular circumstance."

Bahamut loudly sighed. "I'm sure one or both of you understand what it's like to feel like part of you missing. I believe I've lost the part that can feel joy."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
The two exchanged a look, then somberly nodded at Bahamut. "I guess Diyem is kind of the same way, before he found Eien," Altowen said. "Is yours the same?"

Owen nodded. "Cal told me about what you're talking about, Bahamut. I can't really imagine what it's like to lose something that fundamental. But--you can look at it logically, right? Soda would have been worse off without you. Now, at least he has a chance to move on, and he has a whole team to support him. God Squad hasn't given up on him at all."
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
"I'm not entirely confident they can ease the burden on his soul," Bahamut said. "And that's from someone who's done significantly worse. Or perhaps I'm just jealous that so many get happy endings, but mine will always be forever out of reach."
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
Bahamut picked his head up to scowl at Altowen. "My happy ending is having my wife and son with me. But I'm not from a dimension where people get to magically come back from the dead. So, yes, it's forever out of reach."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
Altowen frowned. "It's not like you're the only person in the world who has to lose someone. Even in my world, dying means you can be away from them for too long... to the point where you aren't the same people when you'd met... But people can still move on and find new things to be happy about."

"Can't feel happy," Owen reminded. "But... I think Bahamut, you aren't able to move on, either, are you?"
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
"Of course not. I'm a fucking zombie, for all intents and purposes." Bahamut lay his head back down. "I should've burned out centuries ago without my wife to support me. But I didn't. And I can't. So, of course I can't move on. I'm stuck in far too many senses of the word."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
"I should've died a long time ago, too," Altowen said. "And I've lost some people that I'm never going to... be the same with ever again. To them, and to me, we're alive to each other, but gone. I don't really... know if that's better, but it's still a loss... forever. And--trying to fight to get something back like that, instead of finding a way to move on... That's the best you can do for everyone, isn't it? Including them."

Owen frowned. "I guess that's true, in a way. If they're gone, I think they wouldn't want you to suffer because of that. If I died and everyone couldn't move on without me, that'd... terrify me. I don't want them to depend on me that much, to the point where they can't do new things."
 

Ambyssin

Gotta go back. Back to the past.
Location
Residency hell
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. silvally-dragon
  2. necrozma-ultra
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. dreepy
  6. mewtwo-ambyssin
Oh, great, now he was getting double-teamed. "You make it sound so easy. They made me the happiest I'd been in a long, lonely life. And then they were taken far too soon."
 

Namohysip

Dragon Enthusiast
Staff
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. charizard
  3. milotic
  4. zoroark-soda
  5. sceptile
  6. marowak
  7. jirachi
They both seemed to understand on a basic level, nodding. "And you can find something else later, too," Altowen said.

"If he can't feel joy, though, he needs to find a way to get it back. Cal said it might be something... external that did it."

"Maybe his first goal should be finding a way to get back whoever took it away?" Altowen suggested. "It does sound... supernatural, the way you described it."
 
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