Air Continent ~ Bone's Abode

[Namohysip]

Bone took another long drink as she weighed the question. "It's a fine thing to ask," she said slowly. "And sometimes, it is something that I wonder for myself, too. It is something that all humans wonder when given this task. What would have happened, had I refused? Or, after I succeeded, what would have happened if I truly left? ...My partner would certainly be devastated, but I do believe that life would have gone on for him as well. The world, too, would have gone on just as well.

"For a long while, as memories of my past slowly trickled back to me, I wondered if I'd made the right choice. To stay for as long as I have... to let the connection I had to my human life... disappear." She gently tapped at her club.

"...Fifteen years, seven months, fourteen days, on the first full moon of summer." Bone looked at Brisa. "That was the day that my time as a Pokemon would have eclipsed my time as a human. It was also the day... that my ability to return to the human world would have disappeared forever."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Bone talked about her decision in terms of how it affected others. Even though . . . it was such an intensely personal choice. Brisa wondered if the feeling she had now was the one other people got when she talked about her duty.

"Y'know, my father used t'talk about havin' been a delphox longer'n a human in the same breath as bein' unable t'go 'home'. Guess that's the same rule in both our worlds. He was fifteen when he came to my world, too."

Brisa drank more tea, and growled softly to herself. There was much she could ask, but it would do well to take her time.

"Did you ever consider startin' a family, ma'am?"

 

[Namohysip]

Bone chuckled a little. There was a glint in her eyes at the mention of Brisa's father. It seemed to get her talking more. "It terrified me," she said, and then she sighed to herself. "A lot of things did. The little terrors of life crawled on me long after my time as hero was over. When I actually started living an adult life. Family, kids, obligations that weren't just something that a Voice guided me through. It is strange how lost I felt, when truly my most lost had been when the diesters I'd fought to end had been blamed on me, for being human."

Another sip. The cup was half empty. "I did not want kids, or to start a family, or to interact with Pokemon in that way for a very long time. I was terrified in some primal way in my innermost self that it was, somehow, wrong. I became so attached to my humanity in ways I'd never processed at the time, until... Well. I'm not fond of it. But I'd exploded all of my emotions onto my partner, Nugget. But he was so understanding, for something he knew nothing about.

"The way I saw it, I was afraid of being a Pokemon, yet I was afraid of becoming a human again. The people I would leave behind here. The people I'd already left behind there. The complete unknown of either choice going forward. In the end... I defaulted to doing nothing. And therefore, I'm here now.

"I don't regret my choice," she said. "...I do regret the way I came to it."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's attention held, and here and there she smiled behind her tea or furrowed her brow slightly. There was something reassuring about the way Bone could speak of such things so placidly. She described a life that sounded so similar to Jesse's in several ways, and yet she'd turned out remarkably different. Not that they'd necessarily have ever had similar temperaments.

"I think I understand," said Brisa. "You regret havin' one outcome imposed on ya, when if you'd made the choice with intention, p'rhaps you'd have saved yerself some years of indecision." She put a knuckle to her chin and flexed the corresponding claw in thought. "If this really is the outcome you'd rather've had, ain't it all academic? Seems like you'd be lookin' t'spend yer time in whatever way y'want most, rather'n lookin' t'change it."

She poured more tea, with care.

"If not family, how d'you intend t'spend yer years as a marowak?"

 

[Namohysip]

Bone hummed. "I've had a midlife crisis or two. I'm probably going through one now. I'm getting on in years, though. I don't know if it counts as midlife anymore." She looked at the tea, enjoying the scent even as only a quarter remained. "...I live a quiet life reading about what's going on in Cibus, then going on routine tours around town to see how things are. I have more than enough funds to last me until I'm underground. But on the first week of every month, I live frugally and off of only a basic income and what the town's social structures provide."

She gave Brisa a sly smile at that. "If I complain during that first week, it holds great weight on their policies toward the needy. Being a hero has its benefits."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's mouth pulled inexorably upward at that. Oh, yes. She liked this one.

"Sounds pretty good t'me," she said, warmly. "I could see my way to a life like that after 'hero' work runs me through enough times. Though I doubt I'll ever give up battlin'. Ah, d'you get in much fightin' these days? I'd put a challenge t'you, if you'd take it up. My partner an' me 'gainst you an' Nugget, p'rhaps."

The electric thrill up her shoulders at the very thought was more than the usual excitement at a new or strong opponent. Bone was both, if she accepted. And knocking Pine on his end had given Brisa a hankering for more throwdowns with Omen Heroes...

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh?" Bone asked with a curious head-tilt. "Right... you do like your battles, don't you? And something tells me your natural typing will be far from detrimental against me." She chuckled. "Yes. I accept, when time allows. Nugget will be thrilled... He's much more active than I am nowadays. Tender might also be interested, you know. He may be getting older, but perhaps something could interest him..." Then, with a little, entertained snort, she added, "Or he'll lie that he foresaw a disaster and not join in. He's gotten wise with those as he got older..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded, only very slightly bashful. Yeah, she liked her battles.

"Thanks," she replied, her tail perking up involuntarily. "It'd be a privilege. I wouldn't say no t'fightin' Tender as well if Starr and I can find an interested third. Or maybe by then we'll be strong enough t'take y'all on outnumbered, who knows?"

She grinned. Not cocky. Just playful.

There was something else. She pawed at her chin, tail-tip tracing circles.

"Say, y'said yer name was important from bein' a rare remembered thing about yer identity, an' that's why you'd use my name despite the translation problem. Is 'Bone' yer name from yer human life? I still ain't got a handle on how this phenomenon works even after months on Cibus, but, ah, the'word I'm hearin' is the same as the word fer a bone, like y'got right there. Fits with how all Cibusean names sound like food an' food-adjacent words to us in Diyem's posse."

 

[Namohysip]

She nodded. "My name is a little strange for Cibus," she said, "but it is still my name. It seems that you all are from a reality so far removed that even your names are strange to us. Your leader must have quite a lot of power and knowledge to do something like that for you."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Well, wasn't that fascinating. She really ought to follow up on that some more. Too many things to keep track of...

"Supposedly, yeah. Even some of my team have names that're strange to me, or to each other. Icetales' real name is 'Kyukon', which is just noises to me. Meanwhile, Starr's name is just the word fer a star. And mine means 'breeze'..."

Bone seemed interested enough in the topic of names, and speculation about the differences between distant realities, so she kept going a while longer. The marowak was easier company than most. It was . . . nice, being able to talk at length without strain or ending up gushing. Brisa mentioned as much, after sharing a little more tea had warmed her further.

"I don't suppose I'd be within my rights to ask yer company again, some time?" asked Brisa, knowing full well that asking was nothing more than politeness.

 

[Namohysip]

Bone smiled at that. It was rare from her, but after talking for so long, it seemed that she had opened up, just a little. "Well within them," she replied warmly.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well, that's one more thing I'm lookin' forward to," answered Brisa, with a smile of her own.

It was the strangest thing. By the time she left, she didn't feel tired at all.

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