Week 5.

[azumods]

WEEK 5 As of morning the next day, it seems the rain has stopped; with Azelf awakened and your newly-hatched companions by your side, it's possible that you're feeling a new sense of resolve regarding what needs to be done - and, perhaps more importantly, your ability to accomplish it. The device Maylene gave you certainly does seem to work; activating it will reveal a dark portal crackling with energy, shades of pink and purple swirling brightly around the outer edges, and those of you that walk through it will find yourselves quite suddenly standing somewhere else - there's grass beneath your feet and an unfamiliar city to the west, and the place you're standing seems raised up in some way; turning around once the portal has closed behind the last of you will reveal a massive bronze statue depicting a Pokémon of some sort, though what it is seems to be a little difficult to tell... The trip to Eterna City may leave you feeling a little dizzy and disoriented, and for a few uncomfortable moments you're likely very, very aware of your organs, but the effects will pass after a few moments and you'll soon feel right as rain. Of course, it'll likely become obvious very quickly that you aren't alone near that statue... Either way, it's a long journey up to Snowpoint City; you might want to take some time to make sure that you're prepared before you set off. It really does seem as though finding Azelf at Lake Valor has done the world some good, though, along with your combined effects on the world already; hopefully the Guardian at Lake Acuity in the north will be just as helpful... CURRENT LOCATION: ETERNA CITY POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week five of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due this weekend!]

Comments

[bloodspent]

Morag's on our side, by the way.

[That sounds like a non sequitur, but...]

Most people still seem determined to try the whole diplomatic route, but she thinks we're gonna have to fight and it's not going to be clean and pretty.

[fatalstrikes]

[Thanks for the clarification, Jake...]

Is she? I thought she might agree with that. I don't know her very well, but that's the impression I got from her.

[bloodspent]

Yeah, she seemed really down after the whole thing with Azelf, so I tried to talk to her a little.

[fatalstrikes]

That was nice of you.

[Don't worry, he's not going to dwell on it.]

You think she's doing any better now?

[bloodspent]

I don't know, maybe? We were all kind of weird after that, I'm pretty sure.

[fatalstrikes]

Yeah, that's certainly true. I don't think any of us expected any of that.

[bloodspent]

Between Azelf and Maylene, the whole thing was kind of fucked up.

[fatalstrikes]

[Well, he wouldn't put it quite like that, but...]

Yeah, it was.

[Yuri sighs and glances around the gym again.]

...So what are you doing hanging out in here?

[bloodspent]

Thinking about stuff, I guess. Some of it's from this world, some of it's from back home. Nothing too important either way.

[fatalstrikes]

Didn't mean to intrude on you. Is it anything you want to talk about?

[bloodspent]

It's pretty stupid - this place reminds me of these stories I used to hear about, when I was on a mission a few years ago. I don't know why the stories stuck around, the mission itself was a shitshow. It got fucked up pretty fast.

[fatalstrikes]

Maybe that's why the stories stuck around. People love a good horror story.

What were the stories about?

[bloodspent]

One of 'em was about this guy who did all sorts of fucked up things to a bunch of people to save his daughter; the other one was about some crazy guy who used to torture people for kicks and kept his sister locked up in some building on an island. They were both really weird in that sort of way that makes you think they weren't just stories. Too much detail with no real ending, you know?

[fatalstrikes]

Yeah, usually if people are making stuff up they'll come up with an ending. Leaving it without one really does make it sound like it could've happened.

[bloodspent]

I'm pretty sure one of 'em actually happened. The one with the guy and his daughter. I think one of the world-enders I've mentioned was involved in that one.

[fatalstrikes]

Seriously? How was the world-ender tied up in that?

[bloodspent]

For a while he was passing out viruses like candy; I don't know for sure that that one incident was his work, but I know that's one of the regions he fucked up in some way, and there were reports of that guy and his family becoming monsters.

[fatalstrikes]

It'd make sense if it was that guy's work, then. What a mess...

[bloodspent]

Yeah. It wasn't the one I dealt with personally, this was something like ten years ago. I just heard about it on the mission six years after the fact.

[fatalstrikes]

I'm not surprised they'd still be telling stories like that. Good thing you weren't wrapped up in that, though.

[bloodspent]

I nearly died on that fucking mission as it was. I didn't need to get caught up in some insane virus bullshit on top of it.

[fatalstrikes]

Yikes. It really is a good thing you didn't have to deal with that. What was the mission?

[bloodspent]

I was doing a lot of stuff at the time that came down to "go into this combat zone, clear out the important targets, get the fuck out." We were a bunch of young, expendable guys; I was sixteen at the time. Some guys got the drop on us before we could get to the target. They killed everyone but me, and it wasn't for want of trying. Backup showed up and saved my ass, but not before someone went to town on me with a blade for a while.

[...Says the guy who was very, very obviously took a knife to the face a few times.]

That's why I don't use 'em. Knives and stuff. They give the person you're killing too much time to think about it.

[fatalstrikes]

[He's been wondering about that, but it's kind of rude to ask...]

Sorry to hear that. Sounds like it was a real pain.

[...he's kind of bad at this, but he's trying, okay...]

Can't say I blame you for wanting to avoid knives after something like that.

[bloodspent]

I don't blame you for liking them, since you seem to. Swords and knives and shit. I just really hate using them myself.