Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul popped up into the air with surprise when Ivy turned to face her.

"I-I'm Soul. I'm..."

Soul didn't know where to go from there. She wasn't really anyone...

"I'm not really important. I'm not Great and Mighty or anything... just Soul."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Soul. That is a very good name. Yes, oh yes indeed!" Ivy said. If she had normal hands, she'd have gotten into applause, but she did not have hands.

"I'm not really important. I'm not Great and Mighty or anything... just Soul."

Ivy walked around Soul in a circle once, her eyes brimming with curiosity and intrigue.

"You say you're not important, but you don't look unimportant. Oh, I just got an idea! Let us be friends. Friends are important, so if you become my friend, you become someone important to me!" Ivy placed poked Soul's shoulder with the tip of her charred stubby arm and laughed again. "Haha, problem solved! We've done it!"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul tucked their tails against their body, as if to shield Soul from Ivy's inspection.

Why did Ivy want to be friends with them? Soul wasn't really in any way interesting... Petram had wanted to be friends with them, too, though. And Luz. Soul didn't understand why people wanted to be friends with them. Was it out of pity?

"Oh... Okay? But... If I'm your friend, can I ask why you want to be friends with me?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Were you not listening just now?" Ivy said, shaking her head as though she'd heard something rather silly.

"If you're Ivy's friend, you become someone important to Ivy! And then you won't be a 'not really important' person anymore!" Ivy said, slamming her claw into the pavement with a grin. "So, will you become Ivy's friend?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul nodded. "I will."

They weren't sure what they were getting themself into. What Ivy meant was beyond them. They would become important to Ivy, and therefore they would be important in general? But then they would already be important, so they didn't think being important to Ivy would change anything.

Soul didn't feel any differently after accepting. "Am I important now? I still don't feel like it..."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Really? You don't feel anything? Not even a spark or a zing? Nothing?" Ivy asked, mouth agape.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul gulped, suddenly nervous. "Did I do something wrong?"

Luz and Petram had made her feel something when she'd accepted being friends with them. It was some kind of... connection. She didn't feel a connection with Ivy. "Maybe we have to... do something? Something that makes us become friends?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I don't know... I've never had friends before. I am like today years old." Ivy scratched her head along the cracks then shrugged.

"That's okay then. I just need to learn how to make friends then! Learning is also important in the path to being great and mighty, don't you agree?" Ivy said with renewed vigor.

"I have a powerful dream to have as many friends as there are stars in the nightsky sky. What about you, Soul? Do you have anything you truly want badly?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I want..."

Soul paused, thinking about what it was they really wanted.

"I want to be someone. A-And I want to know who that someone is. I want to know who I am. I didn't get someone to be from my stone like the rest of us seemed to. So I have to make someone to be. I have to decide who Soul is. That's what I want to do. I want to decide who Soul is."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Huh? I don't get it. You're already who you are, aren't you? There's no one else who's Soul aside from you, as far as I know anyway," Ivy said, patting Soul on the shoulder with sympathetic eyes.

"Between you and me, Ivy is the name I was given while I was still a jelly, squiggly creature. They called us shades, I think. My memory is a bit hazy, but I remember most of what happened before I started looking like this," Ivy said, waving her claw to drive home her point.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Oh. I didn't get a name when I was a stone. I choose Soul. I chose to be a vulpix... although it was kind of an accident. That's the thing: There isn't a Soul other than me. Most of the shades are based on someone, but I'm not. So I don't know who I'm supposed to be."

It occurred to Soul that Ivy, if based on someone, must have been based on a very strange someone. "Wait, hold on... Are you based on someone? Is there someone else out there that... looks like you?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Wait, hold on... Are you based on someone? Is there someone else out there that... looks like you?"

"I'm only based on what's left of who they were." And that was all she said regarding that matter.

"There isn't another me that exists here nor there!" Ivy said, swinging her claw up right.

"Stop thinking about who you're supposed to be, Soul. If you gave yourself your own name, I say you already know who you are better than I know who I am. Not everyone gets to choose their own names. That's something to be celebrated, wouldn't you agree?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

I'm only based on what's left of who they were. There isn't another me that exists here nor there!

Soul mused over how Ivy had described. It sounded like she was based on... a dead person? Is that why she looked so... so much the way she looked?

"I... I don't know who I am at all. I am 'Soul,' but I don't know who 'Soul' is. Celeste said everyone from his world names themselves, but I guess it is pretty special for us shades... I had thought the other shades felt like the people they were based on, but you really don't know who you are? Or who you were?

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Is it really important for our kind to be based on someone? I mean sure it makes things a bit easier if you're given a starting package of who to pretend to be, but I think you're the most special of us all." Ivy walked up to them and placed her claw on her hip, though it made her pose awkwardly.

"You were born a blank slate, a pool of infinite possibilities. Soul, don't you think you have the unique opportunity of becoming WHO you want to be? Isn't that better than being who someone else was? I didn't get to choose, and I only accept my current self for my own reasons." Ivy lowered her claw and tapped her nails on the ground and hummed. "But, if you're still finding it hard, I'll be glad to help you! I can't remember much of anything, but I'm very sure I remember that friends are supposed to help each other!"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul stared at their feet. They didn't feel lucky. Petram seemed lucky to her. So did Luz. "I guess it's kinda lucky that I'm able to choose... but I can't do it! I can't choose!" The idea of having to choose scared her. Would Ivy really have liked that?

I didn't get to choose, and I only accept my current self for my own reasons.

Soul sighed. Ivy probably would've preferred it. Soul would've preferred their own situation over Ivy's, too. She didn't want to be scary-looking. But Ivy wasn't complaining, she'd accepted who she was. Soul was the only one looking for pity. They felt disappointed in themself.

"I guess you're right." Still, Soul couldn't accept their current self until they knew what that meant. "I just have to... do... something? I have to find a self to accept?"

Soul was grateful for Ivy's offer to help. They'd never be able to figure this out alone.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I guess you're right." Still, Soul couldn't accept their current self until they knew what that meant. "I just have to... do... something? I have to find a self to accept?"

"Now you're starting to come along!" Ivy said, her voice chirping with thrill and joy.

"We just need to find a way for you to find a self now... I know! What are the kinds of things you like? Stuff you like to eat, places you like to go, flowers you like to grow, and other stuff like that. Knowing those things just might give you a spark. At the very least it's better than standing around in the middle of the streets," Ivy said with a flail of her stubby arm.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul scratched their head. "Stuff I like to eat? I don't think I've ever eaten anything. I almost did when I first came out of the room, but we all got distracted. I've never even seen a flower before in my life, either."

They had one thing, at least. "I do know where I like to go! I like the library, and the books there. Maybe I should be a librarian. If I read all the books in the library, I'll know exactly which ones all the people who go there will like! Now I just need a favourite food and a favourite flower, and then I'll know who I am."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Alright then, my first friend Soul! To a restaurant we shall go!" Ivy declared with renewed courage. "If you want to see a flower, you should meet that person. Although, he's not in the best shape right now. His flowers don't even have a scent anymore. You'll have to wait till he gets better. For now, you'll just have to—" A new crack tore down halfway across Ivy's cheek while she was speaking. She paused, frowned, and grew indifferent right after.

"Oh dear, he's gotten a bit worse now. Anyway, let us go and find something to eat. We should ask around to see if we find anything. I reckon you've been here a bit longer than I have. Has your partner told you of any places we might go to?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Soul looked at Ivy, worry in their eyes. "Are you okay? What just happened? You're sure you're still okay to go eat?"

Soul took a deep 'breath.' "Anyways, I want to try fruits or something! Celeste can't eat those. We should go find some..."

<><><><><>

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian exhaled the frigid morning air with a slight shudder, though it didn't bother him as much because he had a sunny orb hanging a couple feet over his head.

Joule's framed loomed ominously in the sky and Cynthian could see him even from where he stood. Cynthian tensed up for a moment, and he calmed himself down by hugging the little Roselia doll in his arms.

After a few more minutes of walking, he found that familiar house with the garden he'd tended to before. Cynthian took a moment to take in the calming scents of the leaves still damp with the morning dew, and then he made his way to the door. Upon approaching it, he knocked a few times.

"Hey Leg, it's me Cynthian! May I come in?" he asked politely.