Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Flyg0n]

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Koa strolled through the peace and quiet of the park, Echo perched on his head. A cool wind blew, stirring the trees, scattering flecks of early dawn light across the earth. At this hour, there was no one around, which was just how he liked it. It gave him a chance to spend some quality time with Echo after what had happened.

A few minutes of silence slipped by as he walked, his thoughts wandering with his steps. He could almost pretend he was a trainer again, wandering through some forest in Sinnoh, Echo on his head, his team at his side...

Except he wasn't. He was here, on an alien planet, far from home, far from his team, and his cousin. Fighting gods and creatures he'd never dreamed of, with unstable powers and struggling to cope with things he'd thought weren't even a problem to begin with. Some part of him still felt as if he were in shock after everything. His ear twitched and his thoughts paused. He almost expected to hear that voice inside his head, that same dark one he always heard. Instead he sensed.... nothing.

Or perhaps it was silence, he wasn't sure.

He stopped walking, his thoughts drifting further away. Echo said nothing, but he could sense the question on his starter's mind.

"Echo... I'm sorry."

Koa, you don't have to apologize to me.

"I know. But I should, because you deserve one. I'm sorry that I didn't appreciate you better. I spent so much time tearing myself apart for not being perfect I completely took for granted how you felt. You always believed in me, from day one, and I.. I treated that belief like-like it meant nothing."

Echo shifted on his head, then hopped off to perch beside him. He stared off into the trees for several moments before speaking. "It did hurt, sometimes. But... I know how it feels to be scared. The other Echo felt it, and I feel it too."

"Scared?"

"Always feeling like everyone just... tolerates you. That one day they'll get tired of you, tired of your mistakes, tired of something about you." His voice grew quieter. "Because you're... you're not good enough. But you try your best anyway because maybe if you do... maybe they won't leave. Maybe you can't be hurt." Echo wrapped his wings around himself.

A strange dampness gathered in Koa's eyes but he barely felt it. A pit yawned inside him as he listened to Echo's words. Words he knew had nothing to do with any kind of telepathic link.

"But that's not true. Thinking we can be perfect just hurts more." A flicker of a grin crossed the Crobat's face. "I might as well try to swim to the bottom of the ocean, or you fly. We'd always fall short."

Koa managed a nod, and a small smile. It still hurt a little, still felt weird to think about. He'd been trying for so long without realizing it, to get something he'd never reach. His gaze drifted to the ground.

"That's why you transformed back there." Echo turned to look at him suddenly, his yellow gaze burning brightly.

He drew back slightly and cocked his head. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you think about why it took you so long to be able to be able to evolve like the others. But I think... I think it's because you finally accepted it. The same way I broke free because you accepted me, you were willing to let me attack you because you didn't want to hurt me... You accepted you didn't have to be perfect."

It's not enough. You'll never be perfect.

I know.

Cracks suddenly rippled across ethereal red chains that had bound his body, chains he hadn't even seen until just now.

And thats ok.

Koa blinked, and tipped his head to the side. Then he laughed. He laughed like he felt he hadn't in a long time, tears slipping from his eyes. After a moment, Echo joined in too, his squeaking chuckles filling the forest. Finally, some time later, he managed to stop, though a a few more chuckles still slipped out. He lay on the ground, leaning against Echo, one of the Crobat's wings draped around him.

"I'm such an idiot," he said, grinning. It was obvious but he gotten so caught up he'd missed the simple truth. He could imagine what Blake or Kitto would say to him. Of course Echo would be the one to point it out.

Echo nuzzled him, smiling. "I know."

A few moments of pleasant silence fell. Koa closed his eyes and smiled, enjoying the presence of his best friend. These were the best moments, he realized. Not the endless pushing himself, not obsessing over every mistake... This was what he loved best.

I love you.

I love you too.

Yes, Koa decided. Perfection is overrated anyway.

'...'

Echo's voice chimed in again. Honey is way better.

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[Negrek]

Nate still wasn't up for any long walks. Ever since all the moon shit, even just being out in the sun was enough to give him a headache sometimes. Being fucking sick all the time wasn't something he missed from being human, but at least he knew this bullshit would go away eventually now that he was a marshtomp. If they actually stayed on Cibus long enough, that was.

Even making it as far as the park was an accomplishment. Nate was fully intending to find someplace shady to flop, and then after he'd rested he'd back home and call that all the effort he needed to put in for the day. As he was scanning for a nice place to rest, though, he caught sight of a lopunny strolling along one of the paths, and hang on. That was one of the members of the other Blacklight team, wasn't it?

Nate hesitated. The lopunny had at least seemed level-headed; Nate didn't think he could stand even one more fucking second of whimsy after all the bullshit he'd had to endure on Cibus. If that fucking zoroark, the mildly less insane one, ever showed up again, he was probably just going to fucking snap and punch the asshole into next week. Legendary hero or not.

Rocky caught where he was looking and perked up immediately. "Oh! That lopunny's from the other team, aren't they? Are you gonna say hi?"

"Sure. Hi," Nate muttered. He shook his head faintly to chase off something he definitely couldn't have heard, and started towards the lopunny.

"Be nice," Rocky said warningly, and of course Nate wasn't going to dignify that with a response.

Instead he drew himself up as tall as he could and made for the lopunny. "Hey," he said. "You were at that picnic, weren't you? Visiting from that other Cibus? You're, ah..."

Lucius. Rocky supplied for him.

"...Lucius, right?"

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa let out a long sigh as he strolled through the quiet park. The last day or so had been another wave of typical craziness, and all he really wanted was to be alone. Ever since the moon fight he found it hard to actually relax, and he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at every noise, or keep an eye trained on the sky. He had to keep reminding himself that according to Diyem, the crisis was finally over.

Still, despite his best efforts, he found himself subconsciously keeping one ear open for any threats.

 

[Cresselia92]

The limited time between sunset and night was a peculiar time to check out the Moon, but Icetales was in quite the hurry to check its overall damage.

Such a bizarre sight, with a massive crated that could be seen even from his bench. It was a wonder that there wasn’t even more destruction during that fateful battle.

“I wonder how they will go around fixing that. Will the two moon ‘mons be able to do something about that?” mused Icetales, his tails swaying gently save from one. As usual, he had a cup of tea in it, and he promptly sipped some of his cold drink. “Woe the romantic folks who wished a lovely sight by nighttime, too…”

Ah, yes, because that’s what really matters.

“What can I say? Even the seemingly irrelevant details have their importance.”

Hmph. Right.

He took another sip. “But yes, the change of the tides is a most disturbing detail. Which is a pity we cannot do more than we could…”

A casualty, I am afraid. We must get used to that before we return home. Alas, warfare hardly ever ends without repercussions…

“…I know.” Icetales shook his head. “But I do not desire to ponder about that for now. This is a time for relax, and I need all the serenity I can get before the final confrontation with the Blacklight.”

As thou sa—

The darkness quivered.

We aren’t alone.

“Hm?”

By sensing what his own shadow what sensing, Icetales pinpointed the location of the unknown individual. Soon enough, he spotted a Skarmory. The Ninetales waved his paw.

“Ah, good afternoon, good sir! Enjoying this pleasant weather?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

The Park had rotted through for a time after the waters rose. Brisa had limped out against medical advice, to find somewhere peaceful, somewhere open and natural and beautiful. She'd found mud, struggling plantlife, a handful of volunteer ecologists doing their best to mitigate the disaster, one acre at a time. Too weak to help out physically, she'd offered her thanks before bowing out of the conversation, uncomfortable with the questions about the fight up there.

It almost looked normal again, now. She felt almost normal, the dull ache barely there, the impression of aberrant inner city bogland fading from her memory. Not many folks had taken to its paths today. A couple of those same ecologists, tending to more delicate parts of the system. A couple of sporty types on a morning jog. And herself, wandering restlessly, wishing she had a task to attend to.

She padded around the perimeter of Sundae Park, appreciating the texture of healthy grass beneath her paws, idly scanning ahead with her penetrative vision for any surprise encounters. Gods knew those were uncannily likely in Destiny Village.

 

[Flyg0n]

Sometime before the death match in the colosseum...

Koa strolled through the quieter area of the park, lost in his thoughts. He found himself out here often, more than before. So much happened in the past days, and he was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of the Miracle Matters. He couldn't help but be curious about them. So different, yet they'd gone through something so similar...

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Sprawled out on a bench, Seyka stared at the sky. The Skarmory frowned.

"A blade that has been raised to strike must be allowed to finish its stroke? I read something like that," he said to himself. "That... thing, isn't even here anymore. Even if it comes back, didn't we finish what we came here to do in the first place?"

"Ahhh, but wait!" Seyka made a face. "No one ever set a clear expectation of what to accomplish. They say we'll go away after this, but what if we're kept here in perpetuity because of a technicality? I bet I could ask for a raise..."

 

[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.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

The city park was an ideal place to cool Brisa's head, in theory. Despite all the incidents she'd borne there – Owen in a frenzy, Cynthian in a rage, and that goddamn gardevoir – it was still a vast space perfect for both running until exhausted, and settling down for a peaceful meditation. And it was, still, the place where she'd had that moment with Astrid. So here she was, loping along the perimeter, maintaining a steady state of being just-barely Blacklit, nodding at the now-familiar recovery workers tending to the park as she passed them.

A couple hours of this, and she'd feel better for sure. Hell, she already did.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's tail swished idly back and forth as she wandered the familiar paths of Sundae Park, phone in one hand, hot dog in the other. She was planning to meet up with Brisa and Astrid later for some drinks later, but for now she had time to kill.

Weird to think that there were only a few days left now. She'd known it was coming, but it still didn't feel real. This had been her life for so long now. And soon she'd be returning to her old life. Starr wasn't really sure what, if anything, would've made her feel more ready. Back when she'd first arrived on Cibus, she figured she'd be itching to get back home. Crazy how much had changed.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Leaves danced in the breeze that swept past a lone bench. Cynthian lowered her legs and pressed her bouquets together.

Her gaze held contemplation, layered over the tepid melancholy in her eyes. She was counting the leaves in the tree branches above, committing each to memory.

"Stop feeling so down, idiot," she scolded herself. She cupped her bouquets over her face. She huffed and a small smile found its way to her lips. She didn't know to whom she smiled, or what for, as she sat alone on that bench.