Poppin' Arms ~ Dorm Lounge

[Ambyssin]

“Aesir,” Bahamut said. “The cosmic realm that houses departed spirits. But Eternatus is where souls end up now.” His eyes dimmed further. “They cannot watch over me, for they were consumed by the beast long ago.”

He sighed and shook his head. “But it has no bearing on Cibus. I just have to stop dwelling on it.”

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales's eyes narrowed slightly and his ears drooped. So those souls were in eternal void, with no way to be salvaged.

The Ninetales believed that they would be proud if they knew what Bahamut did for Cibus, but alas. He could see that Bahamut wanted to drop the matter and any other word would most likely be empty encouragement. Better focus on the current situation.

"...Yes, indeed. Dwelling on the past is not going to help us with the current circumstances. Better to focus on the matter at paw." Icetales ran his leftmost tail under his chin. "Namely, what threats we still need to deal with. There is still that human around, Giovanni, and we have yet to find Sword. And... who knows what else is waiting to come forth from around the corner.

"As such, Sir Bahamut, I shall put my faith in thee. Faith that we both can support our cortege even in the bleakest darkness. And if thou hast to slap some sense on us, then... thou must do it, so that we do not lose the path nor ourselves." He grinned with mirth. "Perhaps not a physical slap, but I must concede that some... um, persuasion might be required at times, in order to get the job done. So, can I count on thee to keep reminding us of our main objective, whenever thou feel we are losing focus?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut nodded. "That can be arranged." A smirk crossed his beak. "Provided you continue to support the team's remaining attackers with your... erm, whatever it is those blacklight powers of yours do."

... that took the wind out of the atmosphere, he imagined.

 

[Cresselia92]

Blacklight powers.

Hm, Icetales hadn't really stopped to think about what he pulled off during that battle, what with him being overcome by his own emotions. But, by thinking about it, he remembered feeling like... a living oxymoron. Two opposite forces pulling and pushing against him at the same time, giving both a tremendous strength and an exhausting weakness, a maelstrom of radiant hope mixed with shadowy wrath.

Light and darkness converged into a luminous black hole, like a dead star sucking and expelling light in a perpetual circle.

Oh. How curious.

"I... shall keep supporting our cortege, thou can count on that." He smiled and looked at the sky, right where light and darkness mixed together. "Blacklight, huh..."

Only the heavens knew if holding that power was going to be their blessing... or their curse. Regardless, every single ounce of power mattered, and he was going to master that strange sorcery, in a way or another.

For his friends...

And then, his stomach reminded him why he left his room and he chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, golly! I had forgotten how ravenous I am! I must get going, I'm afraid." Icetales glanced at Bahamut and bowed with respect. "So, until next time, Sir Bahamut. Might our united strength lead us to a hopeful and safe world."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut scratched the back of his luminous head. "Yeah, take care." This many months in, it wasn't worth probing Icetales' speech patterns. Even if Bahamut did think the guy could save some energy by cutting down on the long-winded, old-timey phrases. Though, for all he knew, there were planets out there in his universe that had similar vernaculars.

Eh, he was overthinking things. Bahamut lay back down, folding both sets of wings over his torso and tapping the gray spikes rhythmically.

People are seeking me out... and it feels really weird.

<><><>​

 

[windskull]

Tempest wasn't one to get out much. Though he was polite and friendly to most of the other pokemon and familiars, he'd gotten into the habit mostly just hanging around Nip. Now he didn't even have that.

But that was fine. After all, if Diyem was to be believed, Nip would be back soon. Hopefully. Hopefully in one piece. In the mean time, though, he needed to find things to keep himself busy. For now, he had taken up cleaning up around the dorm lounge. No one liked a messy living space, right? Everyone still around would appreciate it, he was certain, and perhaps the dead would appreciate it when they returned.

He had become so absorbed in the cleaning that he quit paying attention to the comings and goings of the mon around him. Until the larger form of Joule caught his eye. He twitched his tails as a greeting, and finished nosing some of the board games back into a neat pile before speaking.

"Good afternoon, Bahamut. Just passing through or are you here for some down time?"

 

[Ambyssin]

The events at the infirmary had left Bahamut with a lot to think about. What was the best way to approach this situation? What was the safest way? Was there even a safe way? Could the team reach an agreement on what to do? And how many people would be left upset?

... none of this even took into account what would happen if things went belly-up like they did in the fight with Joule.

In some respects, Bahamut was one of the worst people on the team to be saddled with this knowledge. His anti-Eternatus bias was as strong as the blows some of his allies were capable of inflicting. And a large part of him cared not if it was hiding in a tree. As far as he was concerned, it was a damn tree. They could take some saplings or something and plant a new one.

But here he was, carrying all this information. The ones who typically tried to juggle all this stuff and guide the team were all in hell. Bahamut knew that everyone on the team had their own roles and niches, but when it came to their main mission and everything surrounding it, the team rallied around Owen, Cabot, and Brisa. At least, that was how he saw things.

Then again, he was so very detached from everyone. Not off in his own world, per se, but isolated. Because that was what he was used to. It was what Bahamut knew. He hadn't truly been part of a team in a thousand years. And he couldn't say he really knew anyone here save for maybe Owen. And Maple, but only to the extent that everyone else did.

Case in point, the ninetales shade who addressed him. He was with Nip, right? Bahamut didn't know jack about the weavile. He was... around. And now he wasn't. The necrozma tried to read his body language for some sort of hint, but got nothing.

"I had set up a makeshift moonbathing bed." Bahamut gesture to the stacked furniture by the window. "I was coming to disassemble it."

 

[windskull]

Tempest followed his gesture. "Ah, I see. If you'd like, I can help out. I've already been tidying up. Keeping myself busy." He began to walk towards the furniture, inspecting the pile to figure out which piece he could take without toppling the structure.

"How has the planning gone?" The tip's of his tails twitched, the only only sign he gave to hint at his worry. "With so many moving parts, I imagine the coming weeks are going to be... chaotic, between rescuing our fallen team members, and all that is happening with Arceus. Not to mention the danger of Giovanni hanging over our heads."

 

[Ambyssin]

"There's... no real progress." Bahamut frowned. "Dark Matter puked up two new members... and promptly passed out. I don't know how long it'll take him to recover from that episode."

 

[windskull]

"I'm sorry, he threw-" Tempest cut himself off with a displeased flick of his tails and a drown. "You know what? I'm not going to question it."

He paused, sighing, and shook his head. "I just hope it doesn't delay the retrieval of our fallen. For their sakes."

 

[Ambyssin]

Ah, there it was. The subject Bahamut wanted to dance around. Diyem wasn't awake. Bahamut wasn't sure of a good way to even bring up the subject of the Tree and what awaited. His tail twitched. Little sparks of grayscale light danced around it. "Do you not have a badge? The issue at hand is Arceus needs the Tree's power to restore his strength. Nobody knows how much energy is safe to take from it at once. It's not exactly fair for us to deny Arceus, is it?"

 

[windskull]

Tempest held Bahamut's gaze, for a moment, his face betraying no emotion. "I had just been using Nip's badge when I needed to. But... unfortunately he had it on him during the battle. I think you get the idea. I have yet to replace it."

He turned back to the furniture for a moment. "You're right. We're here to help Cibus first and foremost, and if that means prioritizing Arceus, then so be it. " He paused, his tails drooping. "I still worry, though. Nip is... well, It's not my place to say, but based on what I've heard of the void lands, I worry about how his mind will hold up." His voice dropped, barely above a murmur. "In some ways, it would almost be easier if he had not been savable."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I wonder..." Bahamut looked at the window. "You say that, but neither of us know exactly what he's experiencing right now." His tail coiled around itself. "I certainly know far less about him than you, but surely there are a couple of allies he'd grown close with there with him. They can lean on each other for support. Much as those who survived the blast are attempting to do."

At least that was what Bahamut assumed.

"And besides... speaking from experience, it's better for you all to have something to hope for than have them battling with nothing but revenge on their minds."

 

[windskull]

"I suppose you have a point. But I can't help but worry." As much as he wanted to believe Nip would find the support of the others, he knew just how deep Nip's trust issues ran.

"Revenge would do them little good anyways. It may make them feel better for a time, but revenge leads to recklessness. And recklessness often only leads to more pain." He shook his head. "Apologies, I believe you already knew that."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Something to that effect," Bahamut muttered, his light tendrils prickling like a pyukumuku's spikes. "I've lost far too many in such a short time."

 

[windskull]

"Mm. I can sympathize, and I'm sorry to hear that." He passed, staring out the window for a moment. "Nip and I, our culture does not put high values on avenging the dead. Death is a part of life, and accidents happen when hunting. Perhaps that is why I feel so detached from Nip's death. But there's a difference between falling in battle, and being killed in cold blood."

 

[Ambyssin]

Death is a part of life, huh.

"Wouldn't that be nice." His upper wing joints sagged. "But Eternatus cursed me with eternal life. So, it's not a sentiment I can say is familiar."

 

[windskull]

"That is... unfortunate." Tempest chose his words carefully, uncertain of how to best air his feelings on the matter. "I do not know if your culture places any value on an afterlife. But even if you don't. To be an immortal among mortals... I imagine it's... difficult. Emotionally draining." It explained a lot about the necrozma's personality as well, though Tempest kept that part to himself.

 

[Ambyssin]

"The afterlife is a tangible realm... but now it is only Eternatus," Bahamut said, red and orange expanding in his eyes. "It's why I don't have much ot say about Dark Matter's revelation. I doubt his insides are worse than Eternatus' realm, the Qliphoth."

 

[windskull]

"I see. Our tribe believes in an afterlife, but it's only reachable by the help of Yveltal. Without her, souls are lost and doomed to wander the world as restless spirits." A pause. "Our understanding is that it's a world free of pain. Where the dead are able to find peace. Those that would shatter the peace do not get to enter, and are instead left as wandering spirits, or perhaps reincarnated, depending on the severity of their crimes."

He shook his head. "But all that is beside the point, I suppose. It's... saddening to hear what has happened to your world, Bahamut."