Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

[Ambyssin]

“It turned you into a gardener?” Bahamut narrowed his eyes. “If this situation is really that important to you you might have to take one for the team. Even if it turns you into a giant piece of shrubbery.”

 

[Namohysip]

"N-no, I meant, making it some inert power means someone might just grab it and start the cycle all over again," Owen said, puffing his cheeks. "...And it turned me into a Grass-type. For a little while."

 

[Ambyssin]

“If that power is so incredible, couldn’t you put an impenetrable barrier on it or something? Or send it to another planet entirely?”

 

[Namohysip]

"Maybe..." Owen considered this. "Impenetrable is sort of hard to do. Never say never and all that."

"Yeah. I was told that I'd never be able to court someone, once, but that turned out fine!" Altowen grinned.

"Yeah!" Owen nodded. "But, er, I guess never say never doesn't come in our favor here."

 

[Ambyssin]

“Maybe you should just travel to another planet and seal the power there,” Bahamut deadpanned.

 

[Namohysip]

"Until some random outworlder finds it or something," Owen said. "...I also... kinda have some suspicions that all the other planets aren't... er... real. But that, uh, that's another problem... Long story."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut’s eyes narrowed. “Then make them real or something. You speak of power I am completely unfamiliar with. I can’t help much with that.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Guess I am," Owen said with a laugh, leaning back.

"Sometimes we forget how crazy other worlds can be, including, y'know, our own," Altowen said. "You think it'll always be that way?"

"Maybe all worlds are crazy and we just don't know it."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Go live inside Eternatus and then come back and talk to me," Bahamut muttered.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen and Altowen both brought hands to their chin, considering their options.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut just stared. "Please don't tell me getting eaten by giant daemons is something you're secretly into."

 

[Namohysip]

"N-no! No!" the Owens said. Owen went on, "It's just, you know, not the first time it's happened..."

"We've survived worse," Altowen said. "...We'll... pass on it."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut grabbed a dead tree branch with his tail and twisted it around until it resembled the eight-pointed star branded on the back of his head. He held it up in front of Owen. "I don't have any holy water, so this'll have to do. You better not pass whatever germs turned you into a cosmic plaything to me. Otherwise my soul will haunt your being upon return to your own world. That's a promise."

A beat passed. "Also I have, like, five coupons for free curses from Ninetales' Black Magic Emporium and they don't have expiration dates."

 

[Namohysip]

"C-curses?" Altowen asked.

"We'll try our best not to, um, curse you by proxy," Owen said, inspecting the Branch of Necrozma.

Altowen giggled. "I've never been cursed by a sacred Ninetales before, though," he said.

"I get the feeling we don't want to be," Owen tittered. "Still... I guess that means it's good luck to all three of us back home!"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut facepalmed. "How long do I have to live with two of you, exactly?"

<><><>​

 

[Fusion]

"Uhhggg..."

Vix grumbled to herself, sitting in the middle of the woods. It was hard to tell if she was meditating or sulking, but the frown on her face and the groans she made pointed to the latter. Her body was physically... well, she was pretty much back to normal on that end. Perhaps a tiny bit melty to the touch, but all in all, she was physically fine. In fact, she was able to go out and chat with a few people, and that certainly started to make her feel better...

Although there was one person she wanted to visit, yet there was this... cloudy haze over her mind whenever she thought of him. It was like when she was trying to remember Kane's memories, and so, one quick text to the local dragon with a memory horde to see if there was anything they could do about this.

While she waited, Vix thought that meditating would help someone, but obviously... it wasn't going well.

 

[Namohysip]

"...Are you doing alright?"

The usual, deep voice of Owen shook some snow off of nearby low branches. He loomed over Vix, frowning. "You don't need to go back to bed, do you? Most of us are feeling better after the picnic, but I know it was a push for some of you..."

 

[Fusion]

Vix fell back and looked up at Owen. If she didn't know who he was, she'd actually have been intimidated by him. "Yeah, I'm..." she cut that lie short, grimacing slightly. "...not. The picnic was fine, honestly, it was fun. I'm just..."

How to put it...

"My head's doing that thing where it doesn't feel like it on right, and no matter which way I screw it--" Vix took her head and turned it clockwise, then counter-clockwise, "--I can't seem to fix it."

Or, she could have mentioned that foggy feeling.

"Oh, and it feels foggy too, just like when I was struggling with my memories," she added, her smile returning for but a moment to say, "I feel like I haven't thanked you enough for helping me with that, Owen."

 

[Namohysip]

"Wasn't a problem," Owen said, sitting next to her. "Head is a fog, like it isn't screwed on right..." He let out a long, perhaps wistful sigh. "That's... familiar to me. Really familiar. You know about all my, you know, 'past selves' and all that, right? I... don't think we're too different in that way. Only difference is, I kept my name through them all. And, well, species, too, but... for some of those lives... the similarities end there." He stared ahead, not at anything in particular. "Sometimes those old lives call out to me when the situation calls for it. Old experiences... conflicting opinions... and they're all me. All... who I used to be, who I am..."

 

[Fusion]

"Gods... being your present self while remembering your past selves is such a drag," Vix groaned. "But, as far as I know, Kane's the only one I remember. If there's more... oh gods I don't wanna go through remember all of them too. Trying to settle with just Kane was stressful enough."

She let her gaze roll up to the clouds, eyeing a particularly fluffy one. The curves, the floof... slap a color of red on it and it'd look just like...

Vix grimaced, turning from the cloud to look at Owen. Probably the furthest looking thing from anything tall, dark, and fluffy. "At the very least, I know when this started... Way back when we first decided he had to stop Soda." Vix paused for a moment, then tittered lightly. "A surprise, I know," she said sarcastically.

"It got to a point that I thought making myself blind would help, in the fight and it did. But... hearing him in pain, hearing his insanity... and seeing him beaten and broken afterwards..." Vix dimmed, rolling onto her side and holding a hand... arm-nub over her chest. "...I'm surprised I didn't do anything rash at the time."