Tree of Life ~ Exterior

[Ambyssin]

"A shame no one can just... take him closer to the sun. That always worked for me back home."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmm..." Potluck considered this. "Well, Maple might be able to. She must still be self-conscious about her body or something. Or maybe she doesn't know if Joule can handle it yet? She's really nervous about him right now. He hasn't been like this in a long time."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Dave's ears perked, listening to the talk about Eternatus. Diyem'd been adamant she was corrupted beyond repair and had to be killed, but here Bahamut of all people was saying she was fighting back and could be saved. Well.

But right now he really didn't want to get in there to fight Eternatus. He just wanted to go back to Destiny Village and find Mia and get a goddamn drink and...

Oh. Brisa was... calling him over?

He padded over to her, questioningly. Even as a Mightyena, Starr looked like she could pick him up and use him as a fucking basketball. Cibus was determined to not let him just enjoy finally having evolved, wasn't it.

Brisa took a breath far deeper than her smaller body would have allowed, and sighed with exhausted relief. Everyone made it safely back, and while everything wasn't perfect, there were things to be done, people to check on—it didn't have to be now, and she didn't have to do it alone.

"It's a hell of a fuckin' relief to see ya safely back, Dave," she said. "Guess you were right about me evolvin' real soon. Howdy t'you too, Shadow."

She rolled her head and stretched out her limbs with a shudder. Her body felt . . . powerful. Really powerful. Powerful enough to take on anything... So long as she had the people she loved by her side.

"Gods," she said to Starr, blinking away a tide of emotion and fatigue, "we got a lot to get caught up on, I'm guessin'? I'm ready to get goin'."

She could tell by both Starr's expression and Dave's that this was not the desired attitude from her.

You oughta sleep fer a fuckin' week, goddamnit.

...Yeah. Rest sounded good. Yeah.

"Never mind. Let's go catch some shuteye fer a bit. C'mon."

Starr and Dave accompanied Brisa towards the portal, and rest, and home. A weight lifted off Brisa's shoulders. Why carry things alone, when you had people who cared about you?

(<><><><><>)​

 

[Ambyssin]

She must still be self-conscious about her body or something

"I'm not sure if I buy that." Bahamut tapped his chin in thought. "Her disguise has momentarily faltered during some of our fights. I'm pretty sure most of the team is well aware that she's in a disguise of sorts."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well yeah, but just because someone knows you have a disguise doesn't mean they know what it's hiding," Potluck said. "...But I think it's pretty!"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Pretty, huh?" Bahamut said. "I wonder if, given that your appearance is rather piecemeal, Maple looks as though she has several elements of other pokémon." He chuckled into an upper wing. "I could see it. If that's the case, you two might've made for a cute couple if Joule didn't exist."

 

[Namohysip]

Potluck flinched and tittered. "Y-yeah," he said. "Yeah. Um, she does look kind of like a lot of Pokemon, in a way. I don't really know how to, um, describe it..." Something about Bahamut's commentary had put Potluck in some kind of mental stagger.

 

[Ambyssin]

And the trap snares shut.

Bahamut wasn't going to press the matter. He knew that kind of reaction. He'd seen it so many times on Sages who had been trying to hide relationships from him like he was going to invoke some harsh judgement or strip them of their titles. It was good intel, however. Something he could file away in case any funny business popped up in the future.

... not that he wanted there to be funny business. Potluck was a pure soul. Maybe. Probably.

There were those questionable magazines I saw...

Bah. That wasn't important. "Well, you're free to tell her that whatever her true form is, she's welcome to use it in my presence. Very little fazes me after all this time."

 

[Namohysip]

"Okay. I'm glad!" And back to cheerful. Oddly enough, it seemed genuine. "I think she'd be more comfortable anyway because you share the same species as Joule. And I guess Millijoule. We don't really know what they're like, huh? Shades. I think I heard Joule commenting that they might be, like, fragments of him, or something... Does that mean they're kinda like Cola and Pop, or?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"That would be... something." Bahamut's tail curled up. "I'm more concerned that they have a connection to the alien lady slumbering in the Tree." He pointed an upper wing forward. "Darkwhite, for all intents and purposes, had an Ultra Stone in her and look what happened to her. She had the neutralizing aura, too. Perhaps she was exposed to Eternatus for a degree of time. So, my fear is that taking any shades into the Tree will corrupt them into similar monstrosities."

He pulled his Ultra Stone out from his bag. Curiously, though it had a glow that suggested it was active, it was completely inert. "A lot of folks have grown quite attached to the shades. And others wouldn't hesitate to kick their asses if given the chance." He set the stone down. "Or you could be me... and frighten the shade so much they decide to sequester themselves."

 

[Disco]

Raven had been quiet as Bahamut and Potluck spoke. She didn't have much to say, really. But when he mentioned the shade in his care, she listened intently. Looking up at him again, the familiar looked back at the stone. Then she simply took it from his hand and stared down at it.

"...Hello.", she mumbled.

 

[Ambyssin]

The stone didn't respond.

"I do not believe Esper was well-liked among Team Spectrum anyway," Bahamut said. "I think that's about the only thing we had in common."

 

[Disco]

"...I never met him. Not really... I didn't really meet you until now either. You haven't hurt me yet. I don't think you will."

Raven tried again. "I don't mind if you come out. I don't think Potluck would either.", she said with a smile.

 

[Namohysip]

"I wanted to have one, but Maple said that maybe one was enough for God Squad," Potluck said. "I think they're really cute!" He probably thought everyone was cute.

 

[Ambyssin]

The stone didn't respond.

"Well, as long as you stay away from the inside of the Tree, we shouldn't have a problem." Bahamut continued looking ahead. "But I don't think he's going to come out if I'm here."

 

[Namohysip]

"What did you do?" Potluck asked, tilting his head. He gently poked the back of his claw against the stone.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut scowled. "Our little mental link was superficial. He overstepped when the team was meeting to discuss how to handle the whole revival thing. He saw old memories. Planets I destroyed in response to their hostilities."

 

[Namohysip]

Potluck's cheek bolts turned blue. "How come you destroyed the whole planet?" he asked. "You seem like a good person..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"For the longest time I told myself I was saving their ungrateful souls, by allowing them to pass to Aesir and avoid languishing within Eternatus," Bahamut responded. "But perhaps it was just rage. How would you react after getting chased away from hundreds of planets despite wanting nothing more than a home?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I cry a little but then remember that some of them were nice to me," Potluck said, misinterpreting Bahamut's hypothetical question as an actual one. "I know I'm not normal. But maybe one day, I dunno..."