Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[unrepentantAuthor]

Dolls of the deceased. How delightfully macabre. Creative, rather. A delightfully creative way to honour the dead.

"I'm jus' fine, said Luz, sauntering closer. "You know me. Nothin' fazes th'Wanderin' Light."

She took a seat and put her cheek in her palm.

"Be honest with me, fella, how are ya doin', really?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, I've... certainly had better days," Truffle replied.

Leg hissed again, pulling him deeper, and he sighed in response.

"...Of course it hit me hard," Anthus finally said, sinking into the dolls as Leg emerged to sit beside him.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I'm fine," said Luz, reflexively.

She pursed her lips for a moment. Her lights flickered.

"I don't rightly know what t'do with myself," she admitted.

Her body language changed, and the confidence dropped off.

"I ain't ever lost someone this way," she finished, quietly.

 

[Namohysip]

Anthus nodded solemnly, though it went without saying that, to some extent, he'd lost others in other ways. "The best you can do is fight on for them," he explained. "Wherever they may be, I..." He looked down. "I... must keep going for their sake. All that they left behind..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I'll keep fightin'," said Luz, just as quickly. "There ain't doubt of that."

She glanced at Leg, and pawed at her cheek fur.

"It's just... strange. I don't know how to belong to someone who ain't alive."

 

[Namohysip]

Anthus smiled sadly at that, gesturing for Luz to sit with them.

"You know, there always was one thing I wondered about you and the other Ultra Shades." He looked her over. "I wondered what would happen when your hosts depart. It seems that you persist regardless. In that sense, Luz... you belong to nobody, just like the rest of us."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz shook her head, and her whiskers sparked a little from the motion.

"I ain't one of Brisa's things, I don't mean like that. I mean like how family belong t'gether. Doesn't every mon wanna belong somewhere, belong to special people in their life?"

Luz bit her lip and stared at the luxio doll.

"Anthus, I don't got any close relationships. I think I was gettin' somewhere with Vix, an' she's dead. I like t'think I'm gettin' somewhere with you, and I can only hope I can go with y'all when this is over. But Brisa's all I got in th'way of family. There ain't a proper parallel. It ain't like one of us is the other's ma, and we ain't exactly sisters. But we belong to each other, and if she don't come back..."

That feeling in her eyes again. Being a shade was so strange, sometimes...

 

[Namohysip]

Anthus winced, looking away. "Yes, well..." He hesitated. "I suppose that's difficult to deal with, yes. Certainly. That loss is painful..." He sighed. "I'm... sorry. There's little I know I can say here, but... if it is any help, I certainly consider you a dear friend, Luz. I'm glad at least you survived..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz perked her ears and her whiskers twitched. "Y'mean that?"

She didn't recognise the emotion filling her up, but it sure was an emotion. Oh, wow.

"Anthus, darlin', you're plenty dear t'me too," she said. "Why d'you think I came t'you so soon, huh?"

She smiled, but turned her face away and rubbed her cheek with her paw. She wasn't crying, but she dried her eyes as if she were, all the same. Somehow, it seemed to help.

 

[Namohysip]

"Of course," Anthus replied, settling into a strange comfort that Leg coaxed him into. She crawled onto his lap and wrapped her tendrils around his abdomen, purring, or perhaps something that was akin to purring.

"Wherever Brisa may be now," he said gently, "you're still here and can fight. That's... what I tell myself as well, and I believe that to be true. It's still worth fighting. There are others you can still save."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that tracks. That feels right."

She sniffled a bit, though she didn't have a proper nose as such. It seemed to help.

"Still holdin' out hope fer savin' Brisa, of course. I guess Diyem needs a lotta power to drag 'em outta the Voidlands, or somethin'? I try to keep up, but there's just a lot goin' on and most of it ain't got a parallel on Brisa's world. You wouldn't believe the amount of online searches I do, partner."

 

[Namohysip]

Anthus seemed crestfallen for one reason or another until Luz had continued talking. While inspecting one of the dolls, this one of a Cranidos, he paused and looked up at the Ultra Shade. "P-pardon me?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Y'ain't heard? The fallen posse members are in Diyem's Voidlands. Heard it from Soda that th'place is more or less hell, so I figured the God Squad would all know. Still..."

Luz cracked her knuckles distractedly.

"If the power of the Tree of Life is off limits, or all gets allocated to Pop, we ain't gonna see 'em fer a long darn time. By then, who knows what'll've become of 'em?"

 

[Namohysip]

Anthus still had that spark of hope in him regardless and he nodded. "Y-yes, I... that's true. But they're, there's a chance, they aren't--this is..."

Leg curled a little tighter around Anthus, growling. He was too cozy to get moving now.

"Er, well." He looked away. "I suppose that means we have to put our faith in them to find a way out. Perhaps Maple would be willing..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"If there's a will, there's a way," quipped Luz. "There's plenty of will on the team, we've been rallyin' splendidly fer a buncha grievin' souls as far as I can tell, but I'm not so sure about Maple. That gal don't trust Diyem none, which is no surprise to anyone as knows her history."

She sighed, constantly aware of how her body wasn't flesh and blood. Ever since the moment Brisa's mortality was proven, it was like it mattered that her lungs did not breathe, her heart did not beat.

"You reckon she can be persuaded? What about Xerneas?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I... do not know." Anthus moved Leg until she was by his side again. She growled and pressed against his plumage. "Maple is, reasonably, quite distrusting if the powers of darkness, and doubly so when it's toward the Tree of Life. Xerneas had been sealed inside the Tree, and I imagine would be just as wary. It would be an uphill battle. To be quite honest, even I am a tad wary..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well met, stranger. I'm lux– I'm shinx Brisa, an' these are my associates. We're new t'this world. Who might you be and what're yer intentions?"

"We were wary of y'all at first," mused Luz. "Not me personally, I was still a lil' shade, with no bond t'make me 'me'. But Team Spectrum—we had t'make a choice to trust a lotta folks in order to lend our strength fer th'sake of this world. None of the breathin' members knew each other afore that day we met ya, Anthus. We had to trust Diyem, trust each other, an' trust anyone on Cibus we needed t'work t'gether with."

Luz recalled every fight she'd participated in, and wondered whether any of them would have been winnable for the forces arrayed on Cibus without the presence of Team Spectrum.

"Maple can distrust Diyem forever if'n she cares to. He don't blame her none fer that, he seems to resent bein' what he is himself. But the way I see it, the folks of Team Spectrum have earned yer trust. And . . . Cibus both owes the fallen and needs 'em."

 

[Namohysip]

"Owes and needs," Anthus repeated with a dry chuckle. "You're right, aren't you? Until Giovanni is defeated... I do believe we will need them no matter what. All of you. And with so many of your team missing, I do believe it would be wise to... spare some of that energy to revive you all." He looked toward Luz, curious. "Though, I do wonder why Diyem wanted to gravitate toward the Tree immediately. Yes, he's familiar... but surely he also knows what that would look like. Why not seek out a different, potential power source? ...I don't know what, but certainly..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Darned if I know," said Luz, honestly enough. "If there're other incredible power sources layin' about, could any of them be used to help Arceus? I ain't heard of any yet. I guess if he restores hisself somehow, Joule constitutes one?"

Rubbing her cheek wasn't working anymore. It wasn't fur. It was gloop. Firm gloop, sure, but contiguous monomaterial gloop nonetheless.

 

[Namohysip]

Anthus nodded. "I don't know, myself, unfortunately. Yes, Maple is a Voice of Life, and Joule in a sense has some of her power as well... but I do not know if it can truly match the sheer power needed to restore Arceus to his best. The Tree of Life may have been the backup plan he'd had in mind all along. A shame he's too out of it to say as much now..." He hesitated on saying something, but seemed to have decided to go ahead. "Luz, are you well? Something seems to be bothering you..."