Mystery Continent ~ Southern Beach

[Namohysip]

Unlike the beach south of Treasure Town, the beach at the Mystery Continent was anything but pleasant. Harsh, cold winds kicked up chilling ocean mist and choppy waves of a dark ocean. The sand was gray from the stone that it was made of, rather than the traditional beige, and made for a gloomy, yet elegant set piece for any artist. It was prettiest during the twilight, where long shadows carved into the flat shore.

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Meringue flew in tight circles around the coast while Lugia stood at the shoreline, making large motions with her wings to direct him from afar. Meringue seemed quite tired, and a few of his feathers looked like they were drifting down to the waves as glittering silver. Still, Lugia did not relent, and the training continued as normal.​

 

[Virgil134]

The following day Cabot tried to look for Nip around the guild, only to find out that he'd left town early in the morning. With no way to know where Nip went or when he'd be back, Cabot instead opted to try and take his mind off of things for the time being and check out the different sights Destiny Village had to offer. He eventually found himself at the beach to the south of Destiny Village, the frigid winds making him shiver slightly. While the place certainly didn't feel as nice as the beach on Treasure Town, at least the unique sight more than made up for it.

As Cabot walked along the beach he eventually noticed much to his surprise that not only Meringue was flying up ahead, but his mentor was standing there on the shoreline as well. He'd been curious about how they'd been doing ever since the fight at Silver Trench, and didn't hesitate to approach the two.

 

[Namohysip]

Lugia didn't acknowledge Cabot for quite a while. She raised her wings, made more sweeping motions, and Meringue followed them like a Combee followed its queen. Lugia's body glittered and shined against the sunlight. Scales of silver, marble, and sapphire covered her body; without the Shadows to twist her form, she seemed so much stronger. Even Cabot's strikes would likely do little more than a scratch to her, now.

"You're of those world visitors," Lugia acknowledged. Her voice was deep and foreboding like thunder at sea.

 

[Virgil134]

"Uh-huh! I'm Cabot," the Cranidos said, giving a small wave with his claw. "It's nice to meet you properly after everything what happened. Meringue told me quite a bit about you."

 

[Namohysip]

"He did, hm?" Lugia asked, peering down to take a closer look at him. "Hmm... I see." She rose again and made another gesture for Meringue to follow. "Considering your cheer, I assume he spoke highly of me. That's good. I always wondered if he was the sort to badmouth his masters when speaking freely. It is only natural to feel such things when going through such an intense training regimen."

Lugia swung a wing leisurely forward, twisting up a whirlwind that sucked up sand and water as it barreled toward Meringue, who struggled to fly around and away from it. The twister followed him, and was catching up quickly.

"Than I suppose, as well, I thank you and your team for rescuing me. To become so corrupted is... unbecoming of me."

 

[Virgil134]

"You're welcome! Though it was no problem really," Cabot insisted. "We were happy to help, and nobody is blaming you for becoming corrupted. Darkwhite has a lot of strange and bizarre tricks up her sleeve, so even a god can get caught off guard by them."

 

[Namohysip]

"...Mm. Darkwhite." Lugia looked ahead. "Yes. That strange... Mew, I think she was. A very odd one. When I was with her, there was... a crazed feeling in my mind that I wasn't able to shake. It was foreign to me, yet there was nothing I could do about it." She growled, the rumble enough to make loose grains of sand shake in place. "...But something was strange about it. During that battle, I felt that... horrible corruption lessening." She looked toward Meringue, who had somehow escaped the twister. "Curious."

 

[Virgil134]

"Maybe it's because the Shade's grip on you was loosening?" Cabot mused. "Whenever me and the rest of my team fight someone who is corrupted by one we usually get it out by either knocking that Pokémon out or by attacking a lot, so it probably makes sense that it happens gradually as we do more damage."

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm, maybe," Lugia said, though she didn't seem very satisfied with that answer. It seemed like something else was bothering her about that possible solution, though she didn't bother to bring it up with Cabot. "And from what I heard, you're no stranger to corruption, either, hm?"

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot blinked. "Oh, I didn't realize you'd heard about that already." He supposed word travelled faster around here than he thought. The Cranidos shifted around a bit and uneasily pawed at the back of his neck. "But, you're right. Yesterday we fought this strange machine in Shayim Village that had corrupted all the villagers. During the battle it fired a beam that corrupted some of us... I was one of the 'mons who got hit by it."

 

[Namohysip]

Lugia nodded. "I read Maple's report on the incident," she said. "One of the Charmander, the Shinx, you, and the Mudkip had been badly corrupted, in addition to those who had already been brought to darkness. Hmm. Quite dangerous how easily that happened, so we can only take solace in the fact that you were also able to recover quickly from it."

 

[Virgil134]

"Yeah, I guess that part was nice at least..."

Cabot's gaze drifted towards the ground as he thought back to yesterday's events. Part of him wanted to just let things go, but that was easier said then done. He let out a sigh, before looking back up at Lugia.

"If I may ask, how well do you remember things from when you were corrupted? Aside from that crazed feeling, I mean."

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm afraid it's... foggy." Lugia looked ahead. "I remember I was training Meringue. And then I sensed... a presence. A powerful presence nearby, familiar yet unfamiliar, but that's the best description I can give you. Mm. And unfortunately, after that... I do not even remember being attacked. It all went to darkness, and it felt like it might have been a while...

"But then, the next thing I know, I was... I emerged, no, it was as if I didn't have a body. And then, I did, and I was staring at Darkwhite, and..." Lugia growled, rumbling the sand again. "Well, I performed some ill-suited tasks, and eventually you all arrived." If she ever saw Darkwhite again, she'd give her a piece of her mind for coaxing her into dancing...

 

[Virgil134]

"That... must have been awful," Cabot said. "So you had no control over your actions at all?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I don't know," Lugia said simply. "When I was corrupted... it was not as if I was a puppet on strings. I was moving on my own, and it felt as though my choices were my own. And yet... now that I am pure, they did not feel like actions of my own. They were unlike me, and yet I chose do to every single one..."

She hurled another whirlwind toward Meringue, this one stronger than the last. He screamed, but the wind drowned it out.

"Such a power must be eliminated."

 

[Virgil134]

"I... see," Cabot murmured. "That sounds a lot closer to what I went through than I thought. When that machine corrupted me I started thinking all kinds of bad things about my team and I wanted to hurt them as much as possible, but I was never directly controlled by it. In fact, I still wanted to fight Darkwhite even when I was corrupted."

Cabot looked over towards Meringue, watching as he struggled to deal with the winds that Lugia threw at him.

"The only difference is that I can't say for sure that my actions didn't feel like my own. I mean, it's not like me to act that violent at all, but, like I told some of my teammates, at the same time when I look back to it it feels more like something I did out of anger during an argument or something. Nobody forced me to attack my team... or say the things I said for that matter."

 

[Namohysip]

"It could be a trick of the mind," Lugia said simply. "It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the thoughts implanted only feel like your own because they were just that... implanted. And the mind may not be able to discern what is what. It is a fickle thing." Lugia noticed that Meringue was caught up in the twister, so she increased its velocity, forcing him to find an escape. "If the Shadows take over, you may no longer be able to trust your own thoughts. All the more reason to destroy it at the source."

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot looked back at Lugia and tilted his head. "I... guess I hadn't thought of things that way. I know I definitely felt a little better when that machine was destroyed..."

He took his Lump out of his bag and stared at it for a bit.

"It's a shame we don't know what the source of these Shades are, other than that it's probably related to Darkwhite somehow."

 

[Namohysip]

"Right, those Shades..." Lugia hummed as the twister finally died down. Meringue had somehow escaped the winds by countering them with his own, but now he was battered and soaked and dirtied by all the attacks, and finally, Lugia let up for him to return.

"I don't really know what to think of Darkwhite," Lugia said. "Have you seen her at all since the Machine was destroyed?"

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot turned to Lugia again, but shook his head. "I haven't. I know it hasn't been very long since we've destroyed that machine, but it is a little strange. She was giving hints about the machine even when Team Spice was still missing, yet now that it's destroyed she's gone quiet."