Destiny Village ~ X-Eye Cauldron

[ntmymike]

"Yeah, I think? I haven't check it yet" Miles answered. How does one forgot to look for a place to sleep is a subject of debate but that's the case for this shinx... He finished his drinks after a little while and ready to get out. "I think I'm done now"

 

[Fusion]

Puddle nodded, then finished the other drinks in record time. It looked like a water balloon in Scraggy shape, but it also had a pretty blend of colors and smelled of that good ol' fashioned artificial fruit orchard, miscolored raspberries and all.

"Sweet! We can bunk at my old dorm for the night if you ain't got a place, I'm sure the guild won't mind." Puddle was about to get off the table, when it slipped. "Oh shi--" It hit the ground with a loud splash, splattering soda all over the floor as it turned into its namesake. Puddle slowly reformed, pouting. "Goddamnit... And I don't have any towels this time."

It quickly climbed back onto the table and tossed all the napkin on it on the floor. "There! Let's get outta here, I wanna try and have a dream thing tonight!" Puddle said, already heading for the exit. "We'll probably be back before its too dark, too!"

<><><><><>

 

[Disco]

That evening in the X-Eye Cauldron, a new face had settled in with the regulars. She didn't speak very much but was enjoying the atmosphere all the same. They must have been at least a little familiar with Shades, because there was no hesitation at serving her food and drinks, which Raven gladly ordered. As high quality as things usually were in this region everything must be good!

It made up for the fact that they still hadn't found the haze that antagonized them recently. Or any other information or leads to discovering much else...Save for what came up with the Mew-Two and the Lunala. Maybe, if they found out who did that to them... The Charizard nibbled on her fries as she recounted what had happened while thinking of what their next move would be...

 

[Namohysip]

"...Well, you're a new face," someone remarked. A few seconds later, a Zoroark appeared next to Raven, looking sleek and poofy as ever. He stared at Raven, inquisitive. "What, had a spat with Bahamut over at the Tree, or something? Heard you usually hang around there."

 

[Disco]

Raven blinked and her feathers ruffled at his sudden appearance. At first, she was going to ask him to give her space. Then he mentioned Bahamut and she paused. There was a Zoroark on the God Squad's team... She hadn't heard of any other Zoroark with clearance to approach the Tree of Life.

"Are you Soda...?", she asked curiously, before taking another sip of her beverage. "Hm...No, there weren't any spats... Well. Not with him, at least. I'll probably head back there later tonight anyways."

 

[Namohysip]

"Heh." Soda gestured to the other side of the table, as if asking if he could take a seat. "Well, good on you for keeping that place in check, I guess. Pretty important spot to guard, since Eien's in there and all."

 

[Disco]

Raven signaled that he was free to sit if he wanted, then nibbled a bit on another fry. "She is, but lately, something strange has been happening... It's worrying. I'm not sure anyone knows what to do about it..."

 

[Namohysip]

"Something strange?" Soda repeated with an inquisitive quirk of his brow. "With the Tree? One of those things that only you guys can see and none of us can?"

 

[Disco]

"No...none of us can get close enough to see. Except Diyem. It seems that he and Xerneas are getting along very well.", Raven answered, sourly at the last part. "He talks about it frequently. It's almost as if Eien doesn't matter to him anymore... Or leaving Cibus, either." Raven took another sip of her drink and looked away. "Mellow hasn't been handling it well..."

 

[Namohysip]

Soda didn't say anything, waving down a waiter so he could place an order. After a few casual pleasantries--he was a regular, apparently--he looked back at Raven and remained quiet for even longer. Then, he said, "So. How confident are you guys on beating up your own boss?"

 

[Disco]

Raven had stopped eating her food. She didn't feel that hungry anymore.

"...If that's what it takes to snap him out of whatever has gotten into him."

She sighed and slowly began finishing her drink.

 

[Namohysip]

"That's probably gonna be it," Soda said flatly. "Want my guess? When Diyem took the power that was needed to restore you guys back to life, he also took on a heaping load of corruption. Maybe just that one part wasn't enough to mess with anyone, since it doesn't seem like anyone's behaving all that odd aside from him.

"But then he got powered up by Xerneas... who might also be corrupted. That might've done it. He might not be himself at all, not thinking straight. Knocking some sense into him might help, but I bet we'll have to do that all at once when we raid the Tree. That way, we can free Eien, too, right? Or kill her. One or the other. Kinda a tough call without seeing the damage."

 

[Disco]

"...I would like to see Eien come out of this alive and well. Hopefully we can take on all of those things... Getting the corruption out of Diyem and Xerneas, and saving her..."

The Charizard seemed uncertain.

 

[Namohysip]

"Heh. Real heroes, aren't you? Trying to save everyone just because you can, or maybe you think you can." Soda tapped his claws on the table. "Well, hey. You saved Sword. You've got that going for ya."

 

[Disco]

That got her to smile, though it was half-hearted. They had been lucky. Apparently, if it hadn't been for the spy... They might not have.

"We're just doing the best we can. I hope it will be enough... We wouldn't have gotten this far without your team though. You've done a lot to help Cibus too."

 

[Namohysip]

"Heh, have we?" Soda leaned back. "I can hardly tell. Powers are nullified and all that, and boy, is that frustrating to deal with. And unprecedented, as far as Maple's concerned. She said she's never encountered something like this in her life, and she has a long history of living."

 

[Disco]

"Not completely nullified. Maple makes those portals, and when her powers are completely usable... To be honest, it's frightening... Especially if those powers are being aimed at yourself... But without her, there's many times when we would have been too late. You have your illusions, so you've been able to find things we would never have known about.", Raven pointed out. "And you aren't half as frightening as Maple is."

 

[Namohysip]

Soda looked offended for a flash. He glanced off. "Peh, sure, I guess she's pretty strong, what with being some kind of abandoned Life God or whatever," he said. "But I guess even her powers aren't anything compared to this Blacklight stuff."

 

[Disco]

Raven wasn't sure what to make of that, but let it go.

"You're right. It seems there's no limit to what it can do... There's been plenty of unusual circumstances with no real answer as to how it happened, with Blacklight energy being the only thing we can think of. The bigger question being who's made those things happen."

 

[Namohysip]

Soda let out a noncommittal shrug. "Who knows? My scouting didn't turn up a whole lot. Guess it's up to you guys to just fight blind and figure it out from there, eh?"

He got a set of what seemed to be mini sliders. He took the first burger and downed half of it in one bite. "So how's Shade life treating ya?"