Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[Ambyssin]

"Congratulations, then." Nero's tail wagged. "Seems like you got your head fastened on straight, then. Hope you remember these lessons when you end up departing Cibus."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales smiled, his tails swaying gently. “Thank thee, much appreciated. I hope to preserve some of my memories, too.”

He tilted his head. “Speaking of that, did you forget your experience with the Blacklight in the other reality? It must have been shocking to remember everything or almost in a single rush. If you forgot, of course.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Didn't forget. Sorry." Nero laughed nervously. "But I have thousands of sets of memories running around in my head, so it kind of... got compartmentalized until it became relevant." He looked to the side and mumbled, "Didn't expect to need it to be relevant again, but that's life."

 

[Cresselia92]

Oh? That was a very interesting detail. So it doesn’t seem everyone forgets what happened in Cibus.

Hmm… Well, wasn’t that quite the dilemma.

From one side, he would remember he had learned and perhaps change his life for the better. Have the bravery to face his father and claim the throne, so that he could keep his world safe from the clutches of madness.

From the other side… he would remember everyone, and his heart would ache for a very long time. Expect… if he thought about Cynthian and Celeste.

Icetales sighed somberly. He would have dealt with whatever he needed to deal with in due time.

“Yes. This is life, indeed. Truly the prankster, hm?” The Ninetales hummed for a few seconds. “Pray tell. What was your role in your team? How did you help your comrades during battles?” He wagged his tails. “There is someone of your species, Potluck, who specializes in explosions. Do you have a similar talent?”

 

[Ambyssin]

Nero stiffened. "No. Definitely not." His electronics briefly reddened before shifting back to gray. "I just hit people with my claws a lot." He lifted a foreleg and flexed his claws. "Being adaptable helps. I could probably take you out in a single blow. Your severe steel weakness kind of works against you that way."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Ah, yes. Because there is nothing deadlier than hard steel to strike down frigid fae, is it not?” Icetales flashed a smirk. “Yours truly has tasted metal in more than one occasion, and my endurance is near unparalleled. A result of years spent as a butler and the mastery over darkness. Whenever my Blacklight flares up, I unleash my true element. My true self.”

He hummed to himself, while his tails flicked randomly. “Hm. I daresay that perhaps I am far more attuned to the shadows that I am to winter, bizarrely enough…”

 

[Ambyssin]

“You don’t actually turn Blacklight type.” Nero shook his head. “At least, I hope not.”

 

[Cresselia92]

“Not quite, no. But this humble Ninetales has a few tricks hidden into his tails,” said Icetales, his smirk not leaving him. “Not literally, however. So dost not try to check into my fluff.”

 

[Ambyssin]

Nero squinted. “I’m happily married.”

 

[Cresselia92]

“Married, hm…” Icetales wagged his tails faster. “How wonderful. Your soulmate is truly lucky? Who are they? Someone from your world or your team?”

 

[Ambyssin]

“An espeon from my world. She’s my wife.”

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales nodded. “I see. Well, I wish all the best for you both, and years of serenity and happiness.”

The Ninetales checked his cup — empty. And his bottle… empty, too.

“It looks like I must brew more tea, huh…” He glanced at Nero. “Well, it has been a wonderful chat, but I must get going. I shall see you around, then.” Then, he smirked with confidence, a dark gleam in his eyes. “And when we shall face each other, do not hold back. I need to push myself to my limits, in order to help my team face this lingering Blacklight. Can you promise me that?”

 

[Ambyssin]

“Well, I’m much weaker in this body than I am at home.” Nero shrugged. “But I’ll do my best to, uh, make it close? Exciting? Something like that.”

He nodded politely, then trotted off.

<><><>​

 

[Chibi Pika]

The weeks following the battle on the moon had lasted forever. Sure, in the beginning it'd been nice getting to lounge around and being waited on, but by the end of it, Starr was ready to never set foot in either the house or the infirmary ever again. At least having Silver's team hanging around kept things interesting--not that she'd told him that. Rocky was always showing off random shit to her and Nate, and even Lexx stopped by now and then (not even bothering to check if he was wanted, figures.) And of course, Luz used her newfound strength to ferry Brisa over all the time. (No one could make a fuss about it so long as Brisa wasn't walking there herself.)

And then when the team was finally allowed to leave the house, Bean had called them all there for that picnic, and they'd met the other Blacklight team. The Miracle Matters (the hell kind of name was that, anyway?). Starr really would've thought she'd be ready for more universe bullshit by now, but apparently the universe just loved proving her wrong.

Also half the team was totally batshit, so there was that.

She supposed she'd probably meet some of the saner ones before the big training that everyone kept making a big deal out of. God, she'd used to train every day and now the thought of getting back into it and sucking ass made her want to do literally anything else. Not that she had to worry about that sentiment lasting long though--not with the likes of Brisa and Owen and Koa Cabot and--

This wasn't the time for training though. It was a nice day and Starr was stretching her legs on a walk through Parfait Way.

 

[Magyk]

Someone else was making their way through Parfait Way, walking around with a strange look on his face. Ben wondered which house would have been the one he and Aria had stayed in during their time in Cibus. Everything felt familiar, yet strange to him at the same time. Nobody recognised him, nobody here was familiar with him, and it filled him with strange, bitter feelings.

The Arcanine couldn't help but see glimpses of the zorua he was missing, his own partner/child/familiar that helped him get through the madness that was Blacklight. It would have been more difficult without her, so being technically back and not having her around felt wrong. Other memories floated to the surface, and Ben grimaced at some of the more painful ones. He remembered a time he bolted out of one of the many houses, frightened and emotionally wounded after being destroyed by Aria. He didn't think he could ever forget how that move felt, how it tore through his very being. Ben was glad he wasn't going to be on the recieving end of her more frightening powers anymore.

She was already off mingling with the folks from Team Spectrum, (what the hell kind of name was that?) and Mergo and Owen were equally doing their own things, so Ben found himself literally walking down memory lane instead.

Ben was so lost in his own thoughts that he would have absolutely missed the incineroar who was equally minding her own business.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr did a double-take when she passed by the Arcanine on the street. She wasn't totally sure, but she could've sworn he was one of the ones from that other Blacklight team. He hadn't been one of the ones chattering nonstop at the picnic, so she hadn't caught his name. She hadn't admitted it, but there were a few things she'd wanted to know about them. And she'd sooner ask one of the quiet ones than the ones who'd never shut up.

"Hey, you were one of the ones from that other Blacklight group, right? Already saved Cibus before, and all that?"

 

[Magyk]

The arcanine stopped and turned to face the other occupant of Parfait Way. He looked her over with narrowed eyes, then straightened himself out as he regarded her question. "That's right," he confirmed, almost cheery. "Name's Ben, what's yours?"

He briefly wondered if she'd like an autograph, then dismissed the idea with a grimace.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Starr," she replied with a nod. "Gotta say, I wasn't expecting anyone else to have already gone through all this shit here. Still don't think I've really wrapped my head around it." Was this whole thing going to just keep happening with other Diyems grabbing so-called heroes for the same song and dance again? (With Owen getting dragged into all of them for some reason?)

Starr folded her arms. "So did you guys just pop back home when it was all done, like nothing ever happened?"

 

[Magyk]

Ben gave a wry smile. "Heh, well imagine my surprise when we got told another group was going through the same things in a place that exists more than once. I thought we'd be the only ones, y'know?"

Then a sigh. "To answer your question, it was like a dream at best when we got back, if you were lucky. Otherwise it was taken from our memories completely. Some of it is still coming back to me in bits and pieces and..." the arcanine growled. "It's frustrating. Imagine making a bunch of friends, and then one day you wake up and they don't exist to you at all. Coming back to realise that...is awful. Especially because I know at the end of this I'm just going to forget again."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's mouth went dry. For so long she hadn't really put much thought into the far-off notion of leaving Cibus, aside from those moments when she'd desperately missed her friends back home. And the reassurance that no time would have passed and it'd be like nothing ever happened had helped back then. That was what made the whole thing bearable. But now...

"Getting to come back at all was more than I'd ever expected to be honest," Starr replied. She forced a small laugh. "If you'd told me, back when we first got to Cibus, that there was I chance I'd get dragged back here after the mission was done, I'd have told Diyem to bite me."

There was a chance they'd all come back. That fact wouldn't stop repeating itself in her head.