Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[Namohysip]

"Perhaps so," Maple said. "We'd saved countless worlds until now. It would be a shame to put that to a halt. But... I am a Voice. Whether I used to be one or not. If Telum returns... then I shall return to Telum. I'm... sure Joule would understand. And I would understand if he..."

 

[Ambyssin]

She wasn't going to finish that sentence and Bahamut knew it. "Well, he knows exactly what becomes of a necrozma who mettles on too many planets." Bahamut pointed at his head with an upper wing. "But I would think his brush with insanity would help him to open up to settling down."

Red, blue, and purple lines cycled across his eyes. "I'm sure it's... great that you two managed to have such a long string of successes until now. Can't say I know the feeling. But just as Dark Matter believes it was only a matter of time before you and his mate were drawn to one another... I firmly believe it was only a matter of time before you encountered a situation that you would not be able to handle. It's quite... fortunate for Cibus that the stakes were personal enough to Dark Matter for him to want to get involved in the way he did. How fitting that on this planet where hope and friendship are tangible forces that the power of love kickstarted this endless domino chain of miracles."

He huffed. "Must be nice."

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm." Maple looked down. "We've seen our fair share of worlds that have failed. Cibus is lucky to have a god that cares." She glanced left. "We will see. I have faith that whatever happens between Joule and I will work out. The only uncertainty is... myself. Perhaps I should take Diyem on that offer after all..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"You probably should."

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh?" Maple glanced at Bahamut. "I'm surprised to hear that from you. Did Diyem tell you about his plan?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"No." Bahamut folded his upper wings under his chin. "But thus far his ideas have managed to work out one way or another. Chances are he can improvise a solution to your situation, too."

 

[Namohysip]

Maple smiled wryly. "Accepting help from the likes of him... Tell me that one year ago and I wouldn't have believed you." She nodded at Bahamut. "Well, thank you, then. I hope you'll be there to witness it in the Colosseum once I tell him I accept. Perhaps something will come of it, perhaps not."

 

[Ambyssin]

“I’ll put it on my calendar.” Which didn’t really exist, of course. But it wasn’t like he was doing much with his time.

 

[Namohysip]

"Of course." Maple seemed to recognize the half-lie and her smile didn't waver. "Though, I do have one question. I wasn't quite myself during your assault on the Tree. I would like to know... Are you aware of any weaknesses Diyem has in battle?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut shrugged. “I was too busy getting mauled by you to notice what he was doing.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Ah. Well." Maple looked away again. "Right. Apologies for that. ...I'll be sure it doesn't happen again." An easy promise to make now that the Parasite was gone, at least.

The bedroom suddenly became a lot brighter--Joule must have opened a portal.

 

[Ambyssin]

“Yeah.” Bahamut glanced at the source of the light. “I guess I’ll leave you two alone.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Take care, Bahamut," Maple said. "You're always welcome to visit, you know. Joule could learn a thing or two from your meditation."

"Hmmm? What was that?" Joule asked, peering around the corner. "Ah! Hello, Bahamut!"

 

[Ambyssin]

“Hello. I was just leaving.” Bahamut slithered toward the door.

 

[Namohysip]

"Ah, well, goodbye, Bahamut. Don't be a stranger, now!" The silver dragon of light waved.

 

[Ambyssin]

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

Bahamut hastily went through the front door and flew off. He wasn’t sure if he had come out of that with any new takeaways.

<><><>​

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave'd bought way too much food, especially for not managing to eat a whole lot of it. He was going to head to the lab and deal with the parasite, he swore to God, but first he was going to have to drop these leftovers off back home. Couldn't do much of anything carrying all this shit.

The takeout bag also didn't help him stay balanced on his feet. Maybe he'd drunk too much, eaten too little. Whatever. He'd manage.

He was making his way along Parfait Way when he saw a red-leafed Meganium going the opposite way. At first he just vaguely noted their presence before looking back at the road ahead, and then, suddenly, a bright, clear spark of an idea speared through him. "Hey. Hey, wait! Uh, Saltriv?"

 

[IFBench]

The Meganium stopped, turned towards Dave, smiled, and waved their leaf. "Hi, Dave!"

 

[Dragonfree]

He stumbled over. "Hey, so--" Talking was hard with a bag in his mouth. He put it on the ground, wobbled on his feet again. "Look, you're... you drain people's corruption, right? I mean, okay, maybe just the Blacklight part, but -- that's got to be an improvement, right? You can help Soda." He stared wildly at Saltriv. "Right?"

 

[IFBench]

"Yep! I can drain corruption!" And also take others' corruption upon themselves, but the others don't need to know that. They leaned down, their cheerful expression beginning to fade slightly. "I...don't think it'll work on Soda, but if you want to, I can try!"