Poppin' Arms Guild ~ Infirmary

[Namohysip]

"I see, okay." Rasp relaxed a little. "You see, sometimes when a Deino evolves into a Zweilous, rarely, very rarely, the core spirit doesn't properly transfer into the new head. This is usually something that happens to split the personality of the Deino so they can come to terms with themselves before recombining, but, without that, there's a worry that they won't properly develop. Not to mention having a missing head, which really puts a damper on your firepower, if you were in a combat-related job...

"Were you a Pokemon in the world you came from?" Rasp asked. "I'm not sure if it works the same way in your world, but that is how things are here. Thankfully, we might be able to help..."

 

[Persephone]

"I wasn't, no. But I had some of the powers of a psychic-type pokemon. And also a twin, who had the same powers. We kind of shared minds sometimes. He died. I'm. I'm not over it. Radiance and shadows make mental things real, right? That probably screwed it up."

I probably screwed it up.

That's what she really meant.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmmm..." Rasp listened closely, then nodded. "It's a good thing I called who I did. He should be here soon... But this is a very unique case. Not only are you a Dark Pokemon, but you also have latent Psychic powers, and are dealing with an evolution that usually splits the mind. Perhaps that's why it happened--the Psychic aura interacting with your Dark body... Hmm..."

"Hello."

"Oh! Good, you're here. Cuicatl, this is Xatu Wheat. He's one of the best Pokemon to work with Dark types and psychic ailments. It's rare, but he's a specialist."

"My brother in Treasure Town mentioned your team," Wheat said. His voice lacked any sense of expression, so he was probably just as emotional as that Xatu, too...

 

[Persephone]

“I’m Cuicatl.”

She repeated what she’d told Raspberry, doing her best to keep her voice almost as calm as the Xatu’s.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hello. I am going to inspect your mind. For a Dark-type, this will be a foreign experience, but I can assure you it will only be for the surface level and basic conditions of the mind. This will assist me in finding what can be done to assist, and if the problems truly are as they seem. Is this acceptable?"

 

[Persephone]

“Sure, just let me meditate first. Back home I would sometimes hurt psychics who tried to look...”

Turned out, meditating was really hard under the circumstances.

“...sorry, this is taking a while.”

 

[Namohysip]

They waited in silence for a while longer, and Latias drifted backwards to look toward Wheat. "Do you think we will need Breaker for this, too?" she asked.

"It is possible. But there is no need to disturb her yet."

Wheat's eyes glowed brighter, and he readied to analyze Cuicatl once she gave the go-ahead. A mere, surface check for her state of mind, the state of mind--if any--of the other head, and any potential blocks that could have caused the improper evolution.

 

[Persephone]

“Yeah, guess I’m as close as I’m going to get...” Her defenses couldn’t be too potent anymore, right? They had been tied to her powers, which were gone now.

 

[Namohysip]

And so, Wheat started, first with the motionless head. Aside from basic reflexes, there was nothing within the mind, and Rasp could confirm the lack of an active aura flowing through that part of the body as well. Malformed aura, indeed.

Then, Wheat advanced to Cuicatl herself. "You will feel a presence at the forefront of your mind. For Dark Pokemon, it often feels like wearing headgear like earmuffs or ear coverings, or a hand to your forehead. Do not be alarmed; I will be going no deeper." He was searching for only basic feelings, though surface thoughts always leaked through. There was little to do about that. Meanwhile, Rasp inspected Cuicatl's energy for any part of her that might have been meant for the second head; if so, that could make things a lot easier. If not...

 

[Persephone]

It was simultaneously more and less invasive than psychic contact with her brother. Should she be thinking about him? Would that help or hurt things? Help, maybe. She tried to focus on as much as she knew about him as possible. If this was wrong, she'd probably be asked to stop...

 

[Namohysip]

"Why are you thinking about your brother?" Wheat asked. "Memories do not become your other head. Zweilous typically are opposites of one another, two aspects of the personality that must come to terms with one another before evolution. Your psyche is closed off. Perhaps that is why it was unable to split."

 

[Persephone]

Unproductive, then, but not actively harmful. “Right. I haven’t really let other people into my mind since he died. Makes sense that it’s closed.”

 

[Namohysip]

Wheat nodded. "You will need to schedule an appointment with a specialist. As of now, however, it does not appear to be life-threatening. We will get a brace for the inactive head so it does not get in the way for day-to-day activities."

"Right, I'll get that now," Rasp said, drifting away.

"Cuicatl. I understand that your circumstances are different than most, considering your part in Team Spectrum. With that in mind, you have three solutions. One: we get a specialist who is known for extreme psychological surgery. Her name is Breaker. She will be able to manually split your psyche and reestablish a proper Zweilous evolution. She has done this before, in recent memory.

"Two: she can clone your psyche such that you are essentially identical. This bypasses the typical psychological growth of a Zweilous into a Hydreigon; however, you are not a normal Zweilous, and this is not necessary in your nature.

"Three: we find another psyche to implant into this head, which will then be discarded when you evolve into a Hydreigon. This is nonstandard, but it may prove to be a solution if your mind proves immutable. This is a very rare and strange method, but it has worked before, usually with the spirit of a recently deceased relative or surrogate Ghost performing a possession of the empty vessel. Upon evolution, the spirit will exorcize itself and you may evolve normally. I also suspect these Shades that have been appearing on the news lately may also be a potential option for a surrogate."

 

[Persephone]

Three options.

Cuicatl didn’t like herself. She certainly did not want to share a body with a clone of her mind.

The third was by far the most appealing but... she knew that her shade(s) might not be ready for months. She might have evolved by then.

There was really only one option. Too bad that it sounded like it was going to hurt.

“I think the extreme surgery would be best.”

She knew even before she said it that some day, maybe even some day soon, she would curse herself for saying that.

 

[Namohysip]

"Very well." Wheat turned around when Rasp returned with the brace for Cuicatl to wear.

"It's here. What did she decide?"

"Set up an appointment with Breaker as soon as possible," Wheat replied.

"You got it. Cuicatl, mind holding still for a moment? I'm going to brace your other head in a comfortable position. It might be a while before Breaker is available, but..."

 

[Persephone]

“Alright...”

Psychic surgery to split her in half. What had she gotten herself into now? Probably best to deal with any sensitive business before she made alterations to her mind...

 

[Namohysip]

Wheat nodded formally, and soon Cuicatl had her brace taken care of. It was a little cute if not for how macabre it was: the head was curled inward toward where the necks diverged from the body, tucked in as if sleeping. Rasp made sure to guide Cuicatl to what to tug and pull to take it off in case it was ever needed, and how to put it back on--which was much harder, but still doable.

Then, with that taken care of, they took down some basic information of her, and then sent her on her way. It was efficient, but considering how high priority they were, there was no doubt they took her at the top priority...

"Take care," Wheat said.

"We'll contact you when Breaker has an appointment!"

 

[Persephone]

“Thank you!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Namohysip]

They had to get one of the larger beds for Brulee, but they were of course prepared for Pokemon of his size and stature, particularly the wingspan. Zinc was there, tending to him quietly, though the Goodra seemed confident that he would be okay. "He's... stable," she said. "And getting better, too..."

"Urgh... you sent that... weird Lugia to find Meringue?" Brulee asked, squinting in Cabot's general direction.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot was standing opposite of Brulee's bed, frowning a little upon hearing his friend being called 'weird'.

"His name is Pleo," he said. "But yeah, your brother should be here soon."