Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[Ambyssin]

"Which is exactly why I do not believe in these stupid Overseers," Bahamut growled. "Otherwise, they are at best useless and at worse woefully negligent to allow such lopsided distribution of good and bad fortune between dimensions."

 

[Namohysip]

"Meta-multiverse is a big place," Cal said, frowning. "Besides, I don't really know if others would be comfortable with some truly omnipresent superpower that can take down gods to be totally everywhere at all times, either. I guess we'll just never be satisfied, huh?" She kicked her legs, humming.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut grunted. "It's been so long that I don't even remember what satisfaction feels like."

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm..." Cal looked at Bahamut again, frowning. "I guess after everything that's happened, you'd be pretty, y'know, jaded to it all. I doubt you have the same psychology as, uh, meat-based life, either..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Jaded. Dysfunctional. Whatever you want to call it, the answer's probably yes." Bahamut lazily flicked gray embers off his tail. "The longer I'm here and the more I do things the team's way, the more it feels like... something happened with my psyche back home. Not in a 'growing jaded' sort of way. More like... an external force manipulating it.

"At least in my mental recesses I can still mow down Eternatus Troopers." He turned his head so it lay against his right upper wing. "If you're ever bored of those sad substitutes in the colosseum, you can talk to me. ESP training can be useful. The mind can take what it experiences and apply it going forward." A beat passed. "Assuming you're still itching to do fighting."

 

[Namohysip]

"...I don't really know anymore," Cal said. "I guess the influence from Owen has me kinda interested in fighting, sure. I still pick fights now and then, even if I can't really do much. But... I, I dunno. I think I'm still trying to find myself." She glanced at Bahamut. "If someone's manipulating you back home, I guess that means you're kinda like Owen in that way, too. I don't think he wants to show it, but he's afraid to go back. He barely knows who he is back home..."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut chuckled. "That's the beauty of mindscapes. Your power is only limited by your creativity and imagination. And how good you are at wielding those."

His expression darkened. "But I don't believe it's manipulation. More like... parts of me were unintentionally cast aside."

 

[Namohysip]

"Parts of you..." Cal hummed, thoughtful. "So, like... the parts that can be, like, happy, or something? You mentioned something about... what was... Malice, right? Do you think maybe it's kind of like, something is turning you into a Diyem?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Not exactly." Bahamut tapped a leg against the edge of the roof. "I have no desire to go around destroying planets. But the last time I ever remember experiencing anything enjoyable was when my family was still alive. So, who can say?"

 

[Namohysip]

"...Could it be because... of a defense mechanism, maybe? A... mental one? Maybe, with all of the horrible things that happened, you tried to... get used to it by tricking your mind into thinking that's all there is? So then you won't... long for something better, because, like, maybe there isn't any? Not that it's right, but that's what your core would think..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I doubt it." Bahamut frowned. "My core has broken apart numerous times. It always pulls itself back together. Someone else must've done something to it."

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm." Cal leaned back. "Who could have done that? Was it, y'know, something recent, or like... way before you arrived on your latest planet-to-blow-up and stuff?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Etherium is where I met my wife," Bahamut growled. "It must've happened after I lost my family. So, recent by my standards."

 

[Namohysip]

"...I see..." Cal frowned. "You must've met a lot of people. It's too bad you probably won't be able to get any kind of way to give yourself a hint for when you go back, but I get he feeling you and Owen are kinda in the same team there..."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut shrugged. "Well, the closest I ever got to hints was the planet with the monks that prompted me to... retire from travelling all together."

 

[Namohysip]

"The planet with the monks? Is that where you learned about meditation and stuff, too? I forget where Owen picked up his techniques... Maybe someone like you. Funny how that works."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Well, there was a planet with monks. Now it's Qliphoth matter," Bahamut mumbled. "I tried to let the monks convince me to help them, but they were pacifists until the bitter end." He sighed. "I left before Eternatus showed up, then found the barren rock Etherium. I guided some meteors toward it then waited out the millennia it took for fires and storms to form a primordial soup that slowly evolved into various pokémon species."

An awkward silence. "Gods can handle isolation. But I am not a god. Isolation... is very lonely."

 

[Namohysip]

Cal frowned. "Wow... So you really did all that, huh? That's kinda incredible, when you think about it. I know you don't want to be called a god or anything, but, you know, depending on the world and its definitions... If your universe doesn't have reality-warping people--aside from that Eternatus thing--you... might be second from the top."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I wouldn't say that." Bahamut scratched the tip of his beak with a claw. "I'm sure meteors would've hit the planet and started the process eventually. We had to fend off plenty after life grew on Etherium. I was simply... inpatient. And it's not like it was altruistic. I was lonely and I wanted company who wouldn't drive me to flee. After the meteors hit, I basically meditated most of that time away on a neighboring planet."

 

[Namohysip]

"Right, right..." Cal seemed to understand that much, at least. "Maybe I can look into that in case something ever happens here. Like, if this planet blows up, or I outlive it, or something. Meditating until I land somewhere interesting..."