Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Namohysip]

"I don't really... do that whole philosophy thing too much, or, thinking about it that way," Owen said, narrowing his eyes at Seyka, "but you're kinda missing the fact that the other person doesn't have a say. It's different from sacrificing yourself, compared to sacrificing someone else. One is selfless. The other is selfish, because you aren't thinking about how they feel. I don't think you can ignore that." He shook his head. "I'm a Heart, back home. I always put my life on the line for strangers. That's an easy answer for me. And you don't usually know if you'll die or not; a Heart is supposed to be strong enough that they can live to help another. All these thought experiments... never capture the essence of reality, I guess. My reality."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"I was more thinking along the lines of a nonnegotiable situation where you and someone else random must die for others. You know, sharing in the burden!"

Seyka sighed. "I guess you're right though. You did find another way to say that it's context dependent anyway, haha."

"Your reality doesn't sound like it would be found wanting. You'll give it all for someone even if they turn right around and strangle you with it. Certainly a profession that invites a specific brand of criticism. Just what you sign up for I suppose." Seyka shrugged. "If you were treated so unkindly though, would the rest of your organization consider retaliation? Or would it be a matter of reconciliation?"

The Skarmory hung his head. "Where I come from, I wouldn't have the means to back up that kind of goodwill. Oh well, that's my problem!"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen frowned, nodding. "Sometimes it is thankless. If you only save some people, they will focus on the ones we failed to protect. I don't think we can blame them for it, though. It's our duty to protect everyone. As many as we can. That's the bottom line." Owen nodded. "I've... had to protect more than I've bargained for, lately."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka nodded. “Maybe you should start charging a fee. I know it’s unethical in your rule book and all that, but when you put it like that, it only seems like a fair compromise.”

The Skarmory made a face. “Does you group have a healthy community outreach program? You know, you can teach self defense so you don’t have to protect as many Pokémon.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, uh, well, I mean, I do get paid," Owen said. "The pay is actually pretty good. I don't usually know what to spend it on, and, uh, the amnesia every few years can also mess with my finance tracking, so I end up donating a lot of it to community causes anyway..."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

“Well, that’s not too bad,” Seyka replied. “If you forget, but you’re in the same place, you can bury your money in the same place. Then, when you forget again, you can feel like you found a secret treasure.”

“I’m positive too that you would keep going to the same place because it’s not like you forget everything, only some things, so you think the same.”

“I’ve been a volunteer my whole life-” athe Skarmory continued, “-so I can’t say for certain. But it feels like it would work.”

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I guess that's true, huh... Even if I forget, I'm still, you know, me. I didn't forget... everything." He smiled a little, flame burning a few steps brighter. "I kind of wish I could think that way more easily, Seyka. Maybe it would've helped me keep a cool head when I got memories back that I wasn't ready for."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka tilted his head. “Sounds like an imprecise metric. If only you could choose what you wanted to remember, but then there’s no meaning in forgetting, huh.”

“You still have options I suppose. If you don’t like what you remember, just hit yourself until you forget again until you remember something better.” Seyka looked at Owen curiously. “I’m not sure what kind of things aren’t fun to remember. It’s the past, so unless you did something like ate your own hand by accident, then it shouldn’t be too bad. In my opinion at least.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, I ate my own head by accident once," Owen said, nodding. "But, uh, I don't think I ever forgot that one. But there are some things that are... hard to remember. Like past relationships that you left behind and they never knew why, and..." Owen's voice trailed off, flame dimming rapidly. "That's all."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

“Mmm. The past is the past,” Seyka said quietly. “Do you think that the ones left behind... should be considerate of circumstances they were unaware of?”

“More to the point- who is responsible for resolving something like that?”

 

[Namohysip]

Owen frowned. "I don't know. Maybe it's nobody's responsibility but my own if I choose to reconcile."

Cal had gone quiet for a lot longer than usual. He brought his tail around her, pulling her close.

"But knowing when it happens has been a lot better."

"I hope you can find Remi again," Cal said. "You know, the... real me."

"You're both real," Owen said gently, rubbing the back of her head. "...But I hope so, too."

Cal glanced at Seyka. "So, what do you think will happen once you get back home?" she asked him.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka shrugged. “Nothing really. I’ll go back to the same thing I’ve been doing for years. Although- I have wanted to take a vacation by myself. Maybe I’ll do that. My world doesn’t have anything going on in it like here.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Some vacation sounds nice, huh, Dad?" Cal jabbed him with her elbow.

"Yeah," Owen replied, laughing. "Yeah, some vacation... Can't wait for that one. Maybe I'll take an off day."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka was thoughtful. “But if you forget that you wanted to take one, then you’re out of luck.”

“Well isn’t that a problem,” Seyka said. “Maybe you could just take a break from whatever that creature is and let the rest of the team handle it?”

 

[Namohysip]

"Uhh, I don't think I can do that," Owen said. "Turning into a tree and stuff has been pretty important for the fights lately."

"You do look prettier like that," Cal remarked idly.

 

[RJR Basimilus]

“If you say so,” Seyka replied. “If there’s no good times, you could just outsource it to someone else. You know how we were talking about doing things without reward? You could just tell someone else to take a vacation. Like, live vicariously through them!”

 

[Namohysip]

Owen blinked, not looking at Seyka, but once again trying to figure out if the strange Skarmory was joking or not. Metal birds. Always so hard to read.

"I'll, uh, think about it."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"Better decide soon then," Seyka said cheerfully, "We're almost out of time in that regard."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen chuckled a little without realizing it. "Almost out of time," he repeated to himself. "Yeah..."

Cal shifted a little, leaning against the much larger Charizard. "It'll work out," she said. "I'm ready. I'm more worried about the fight."

"I'm not," Owen said, pulling Cal close with his wing. "Hey, let's sky-watch a while longer."

Cal's embers burned a little brighter. "Yeah!"

With the enigmatic Skarmory, the pair watched the few clouds roll by, wondering only distantly what the future would hold for them all.

<><><>​

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa fidgeted uneasily in one of the many benches around the park. Half of him felt quite excited by the prospect of this 'interview'. He'd seen some of his teammates do it, and it seemed fun. On the other paw... The thought of having to answer potentially personal questions seemed daunting. At least this Flygon he was supposed to talk to was nice, according to what he'd heard.