2024-02-13: It Won't End Like This

• Log: It Won't End Like This
• Cast: Xantia, Lily Keil
• Where: Pewter City - Rock Road
• Date: February 13, 2024
• Summary: For their own separate reasons, Xantia and Lily return to the site which Michael of the Ten Wise Men attacked. Meeting up, they discuss the events that happened there, and what's next for them regarding the pursuit of the Wise Men, their respective magical talents, and Pokemon!

---

========================<* Pewter City - Rock Road *>=========================

The Rock Road cuts through the heart of Pewter City, a city on the northmost sector of the Emerald Cape province. The shopping district caters heavily to travellers between Viridian Forest and Mt. Moon; many of the shops and stalls feature hiking and tramping supplies, and there are no small number of guided tours offering rides to Pewter's unique environs. Away from the commerce, the residents of Pewter City live in beautiful townhouses along the side of the mountains, each at least three stories high; cable cars provide views of the mountains, and walks for all levels of fitness are dotted around the city's wards. Pewter City is also a geologist's dream, housing the famed Princebridge University and Pewter Museum of Science. 

BGM: Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee & Pikachu! - Pewter City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGrGjO5F6ZM

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia once again finds herself back in Pewter City. In spite of not exactly being in the most central of locations, it's certainly been at the center of her attention. For obvious reasons. This is where Michael of the Wise Men appeared, setting a great deal of things (and people) on fire, for nebulous purposes. At the same time, the local gym seemed to have been a target of a separate attack by unusual Pokemon. ...which doesn't tell Xantia much since all Pokemon are unusual to her, but it's easy enough to figure that the incidents were related.

What the actual goal was, she still has no idea. But since both Michael and the Pokemon were repelled, it seems reasonable to assume that it wasn't accomplished. In which case they might return. And so, Xantia finds herself returning here as well, on the off chance that something in particular here might draw the Wise Men back again. She's been just a little bit single-minded, ever since she learned what they're doing to Filgaia.

Well, not entirely single-minded. There had been the rather unexpected development of Pokemon approaching her, and then following her. She was reluctant to accept that at first, but now it's clear that they're not going anywhere. They've 'chosen her', apparently, a meaningful phrase commonly used in Energy Nede for situations just like hers. And while she hasn't entirely embraced that... she has accepted it, the proof of which can be seen in the one change to her usual attire: a trainer's belt, with two miniaturized Pokeballs attached.

Once again, the red-haired 'Visitor' makes her way over to the street that suffered the first fire bolt, heralding Michael's appearance at the time. There was quite a bit of damage to the buildings and infrastructure in the area... she'd offered to help, but was turned down. And yet, looking at it now, you'd never know anything went awry here not two weeks ago. The advanced technology employed by the Nedians evidently extends to their rebuilding efforts.

Xantia sighs, and shakes her head. "What am I doing here...?" As always, she's not handling it well when she feels like there's something she must do, but she can't. Relaxing hasn't gotten much easier for her since she and Lily last met. Forming a giant sword of pure light in one's hand is probably not something most would choose to do idly, but it's what Xantia does. She examines the construct only briefly, before letting it disperse into motes of light. Her most unusual element, it's only partially made up out of Xantia's familiar brand of Ether, and partially... something else. But that's not what brought it to mind. She's thinking back to her actions that day, once again only partially remembered...

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil has also been spending a lot of time in Pewter City lately. She has reasons for this, too; since Michael attacked, she's likewise been on the lookout for the Ten Wise Men returning here in whole or in part. She's also been studying the remnants of the magical signature he left, which are largely gone by now. Further, she's been training at the Gym...

Her Pokemon aren't Rock types, but she can appreciate Brock's approach nonetheless.

But now... it is indeed almost like nothing happened. Lily steps up the street, and comes to a pause some distance behind Xantia.

"...What is the rest of that construct?" Lily wonders. "It's only partly Ether."

A pause, and she steps the rest of the way. "It's like it didn't happen. Even the magical signature is gone, by now. With no further clues as to what they were after here."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

It's fairly common for Xantia to be taken by surprise and startled when someone comes up behind her while she's in thought. For whatever reason, not this time, as she replies calmly to Lily, having taken notice of the approach.

"I'm not sure... but given how I learned, if I had to guess, it's something Seraphic in nature." Only then does she turn about, looking much the same as always when she's unsure about something. "...Is that a word, Seraphic? I'm not sure how else to say what I mean."

She shakes her head, quick to move past that with a soft smile. "Hi, Lily. Is that why you were here, looking into the magical stuff? Sorry if I made that more difficult, I guess I was, uh... kind of a lot in this fight, or so I've been told."

She probably doesn't have to specify what she means any further. Those memory lapses are getting disturbingly frequent in fights that she considers of critical importance. At the moment, though, she seems less disturbed by it than she appears to feel guilty. Mostly because, "...Apparently I damaged like three buildings by smashing the Wise Man into them. I didn't mean to do that..." She only remembers doing it once, but that doesn't make it any better.

Naturally, she has to ask Lily the obvious question, at the forefront of her mind. "Do you have any idea why they would attack here?"

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Not this time. That's probably a good sign?

"Seraphic," Lily repeats. "That shouldn't be possible," she points out. This is not the only thing about Xantia--or her--that shouldn't be possible, though. "It's a word, though. Unless I'm misunderstanding you. Relating to or coming of Seraphim, right?"

Then she nods back. "It's fine," she says. "I know your signature enough to discount it from my search. That's part of why I'm here, at least. If I'd been here when it happened, I could've helped..."

Well, regardless.

"They seem to have repaired them all right, at least."

A pause. "I have only guesses. My first guess was that their real target was the Gym--the Gym Leaders are some of the strongest combatants on Nede, with their Pokemon. But they didn't strike the university directly, so it shouldn't be laboratories or information they're trying to seal..."

A shake of her head. "Too much we don't know while we can only act on the defensive."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia nods evenly when told she did something impossible. No surprise there. "That's what I meant, yes. Have I mentioned the time I kind of... accidentally fused with a Seraph?"

That may be kind of a bomb to just randomly drop, but Xantia has a different frame of reference for what is Normal, so she just continues without batting an eye. "I'd been trying to learn Light from Clarine, but I wasn't able to do it until after that happened. I just kind of... understood Light, after that. It doesn't feel so much like it gave me a new power or anything like that, more like I just know how to... copy how she does it, more or less."

It tends to be a struggle to explain how she does anything, but somehow, where it comes to Light, everything makes just a little bit more sense to her. Moreover, while she has no strong feelings about her other elements, she could honestly say that she likes Light, which to Lily is more plain than most. Xantia's mood is slightly elevated just by talking about it.

She continues to listen until Lily answers her most burning question, to which the answer comes as no surprise. "I thought so. I mean, I did ask people, but they didn't seem to know either. Mostly just kept going on about the weird Pokemon. I can't even tell if they were worried or excited." Still, she had to ask. Less out of suspicion that the Nedians weren't telling her everything, and more out of hope that maybe Lily could detect something they couldn't. Alas, it appears more clues will be needed.

"Don't worry about it," she gets back to the previous topic with a faint smile, "This Michael guy seemed more my speed." She pauses, then explains, "What I mean is, not that he was super fast or anything - though he was pretty fast too - I mean that he just seemed to really enjoy fighting up close, and fighting in general." Heaven forbid that people don't understand that she's speaking figuratively. Even if she's more capable of it these days, it's such a strange thing!

Her gaze drops down to the Pokeballs at her belt, recalling, "Even these two tried to fight him... I guess they thought they needed to protect me."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"You haven't," Lily says. But Xantia continues, and Lily tilts her head as she thinks about it. "That makes sense," she says, and while for some people that might just be a placeholder of something to say, a thing to talk herself through it--Lily is sincere. She gets it.

"It's a good capability to have. I think it might be key, in some respects--things that you can't do with just Ether, you can do with those Artes."

The terminology, of course; Lily may only use Ether, but she studies other forms of magic... for various reasons.

"Probably both," Lily says of the weird Pokemon. She has a few Pokeballs on her belt, too.

Don't worry about it. Hmmm. "Well, that's something," she says. "The one I fought, Zaphkiel... he seemed to be doing it out of enjoyment as much as out of a need to fulfill his mission, the same way."

But those two... "Heh. Well, forty thousand years of genetic memory--fighting is something they're designed for. Meant to do. It makes sense that they'd want to protect their friend."

"Mine have been giving me new ideas for spells. Seeing the wy their Symbology manifests... It makes me realize I'm being too limited in my approach to Ether, maybe."

"...I did come up with something, though. Instead of that teleportation spell you made me promise not to practice anymore. But that's a tangent, I suppose."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Artes... is that the proper term? Xantia only cants her head instead of asking the question. Terminology isn't something she studies so much, it's just Stuff She Can Do. But it's good that Lily agrees it's a good thing. It's always felt like a good thing, it would be disappointing if it wasn't actually good.

Her mood turns upon the mention of Zaphkiel, a deep frown appearing when speaking of that Wise Man. "I fought him again up in Marduk... I agree, he and Michael had that in common. I'm starting to think that they may all be like that. Just... reveling, in obeying their nature."

...It's disturbing, because Xantia feels that she understands this about them. That on some fundamental level, she has something in common with them. She may have drawn the conclusion that she was most likely meant to be some kind of living weapon a long time ago, but... it's still unnerving to what degree it feels like she's been staring into some kind of twisted mirror. She may not be able to hide the way that makes her feel from Lily, but she sure doesn't want to discuss it, and thus leaves it at the initial conclusion.

Pokemon, yes, that'll do as a diversionary subject. Even if it's another one she doesn't feel quite at home in, rubbing the back of her neck at the word 'friend'. "It's weird to think that they just kind of decided to be friends like that. I mean I sort of understand what attracted them to me, but still. The people here told me that there was only one way to make sure they wouldn't keep acting on their own, so..." She makes a sweeping gesture with her hand across her new belt. "They said Pokemon don't mind being in these things, but... still kind of feels bad." It's hard not to think about how she would feel if she was stuck in a tiny ball.

Lily adds a new element to the mix, which visibly surprises her. "Oh, really, they can just kind of naturally use Symbology? I didn't realize that's what they were doing. ...Must be really something, if it could teach something new even to you. Tell me all about it!" She's imagining it's quite something, given that Lily already knew basically everything worth knowing about magic. Felt like it to her, anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"It's what they call them," Lily explains further. "Seraphic Artes. Spells that only Seraphim can cast." And Xantia, of course. But it's definitely (probably) a good thing.

"...It's definitely..." Lily considers. She has her own opinions about that. But she picks up on Xantia not wanting to discuss it, so instead, the witch just inclines her head. "Right."

"It is a little weird," Lily admits. "But Drifters make friends about as quickly." She pauses, and looks to the belt, before looking up to Xantia's face again. "Supposedly it simulates an ideal environment..." Shrug.

It is what it is.

But, "They can. It's apparently coded into their DNA. That's the level of Symbological advancement that they have around here." A pause. "Which is to say, I can be acting on significantly smaller quantities of matter than I've been thinking about."

"But the main finding I've had is that I'm working on duplicating the effect the Ten Wise Men are using to reach Filgaia. That is to say... Instead of just co-locating myself, co-locating two points to create a portal that anyone can go through. It gets around the problem of the last way by not requiring a vacuum--the downside, of course, is that it requires physically traversing the shortened distance."

"...But considering that it means my target doesn't explode on its way to its destination, I think that's worth it."

"And between studying the portal to Filgaia and studying these Pokemon, I have the effect stable enough to use over short distances. I wouldn't be able to open gates between planets or even continents yet, but across a field I think I can reliably do."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Seraphic Artes... or a facsimile of them, at any rate. Xantia rubs her chin, considering how she might be able to use that. ...Maybe to confuse people who'd know it's not something she should be able to do? Could be worth a try. But that's for later worry.

...And that other thing is for MUCH later worry. Or maybe they could just take out the Wise Men before it becomes more of an active concern. Wouldn't that be nice.

Xantia gives Lily a dubious look when she compares Pokemon to Drifters. She doesn't say it aloud, but the expression says it: 'but they're animals'. And as soon as she thinks it, Xantia appears to give it more thought, and the dubious look vanishes. She's already noticed it, hasn't she? Pokemon are more than regular animals. That almost callous indifference toward animals... it's somehow different, when it's Pokemon. The only conclusion she can come to is, "...There's still a lot I don't understand about all this." Her own feelings are just one element of it all.

"Interesting..." Xantia says initially as she's following along with the explanation regarding DNA, which isn't something that confuses her at all. Instead, she briefly panics when Lily mentions acting on significantly small quantities of matter. "--Wait, wait, you're not considering breaking your body down into DNA before teleporting, are you?!" ...It says something that to Xantia, apparently this neither feels impossible to do, nor is it impossible to imagine that Lily might try it.

The creation of portals is comparatively normal, and feels quite a bit safer since Xantia's already tried portal travel and that's all the evidence she needs. "Ohh, I see. That sounds promising! It could be a convenient way to move around, as a group too. If maybe less practical in a fight, since even if you can do it real fast they could still see where you're about to appear." She rubs her chin. "Unless... you make a lot of portals, so they have to guess which one you'll pop out of!"

Xantia... may be playing whack-a-mole in her head.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

That would be SO nice.

But Lily sees that expression--and she sees Xantia think it through. Lily of course has more regard for animals to begin with... But even so, "That's true for me, too."

But of course Xantia understands DNA. That doesn't surprise Lily in the least. The conclusion she draws though--Lily should just say 'no, not at all', but instead she thinks about it for a moment. "...No," she says. "There's too much that isn't DNA to account for."

Pause. It is much safer! "I thought so," Lily says. "I can see combat applications, if I can quicken the spell enough, but mostly it would be useful for travel and traversal of obstacles."

A lot of portals... Hmmm.

"True," she says. "That's an interesting idea. But I think trying to tri-locate might break local space-time too much to be useful."

"For now."

"...it also means that, in theory, if I can get enough power, I can close the portal the Ten Wise Men are using to siphon life from Filgaia. But I don't have that much power, and I have no way of ensuring they won't just reopen it even if I did. ...if it comes down to it, though, we might be able to find a way to do something about it."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Oh, Xantia doesn't like to consider that she just gave Lily a very bad idea, but thankfully the conclusion to that is still a 'no'. It's not hard to allay her fears, regardless of the reasons Lily's no means no. Which isn't to say that's the only bad idea she may have inadvertently had.

"Uh, I didn't mean to suggest anything that could cause space-time breaking, I hope that was clear." Whack-a-mole with portals bad, perhaps?? "But it sounds like an interesting way to do it, and I'm not just saying that because this way I might be able to join in the teleporting." Though the grin says that she considers this a nice bonus.

That's all she thought it would mean for her on a personal level, at best. She hadn't at all considered interaction with existing portals. When Lily so much as suggests she might be able to close the Wise Men's portal, Xantia is positively glowing. "Really?!?"

Even if there are 'but's, just the mere implication that there might be something that could be done to halt or at least slow what's being done to Filgaia, it means the world to her. She latches onto that hope with all her might, and almost does the same to Lily. Almost. That sudden charge was definitely a hug that she had in mind, and the sudden stop right before that happens was definitely her remembering that Lily doesn't appreciate hugs. It's clear that it took a herculean effort to hold herself back in that moment, so hopefully Lily will forgive having her hands seized by Xantia's as a compromise.

"If you can work out how to do that... or just, anything, anything at all to help with that portal, I'll... I'll be so grateful, you have no idea!"

It doesn't even begin to do her powerful feelings justice, words are failing her where it comes to conveying just how much it would mean to her to give Filgaia even a little bit more time.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily has plenty of bad ideas! That's how she reaches the good ideas!

But, "Oh, no, you just made me think of trying to set a portal to go to two places at once, depending on the direction..."

Ideas. A grin back, though. "It does. It's not the spell I was chasing... but it's a more effective version that's less likely to accidentally kill someone I like." Pause. "Myself included."

But Xantia is glowing, and almost hugs Lily. Lily for her part looks briefly alarmed when Xantia charges towards her, and not because she expects her to attack. But Xantia realizes in time, and Lily manages a stilted smile for her friend. "...Yes," she says to those feelings, and closes her fingers around Xantia's.

"I'll keep working on it," she assures Xantia. It's much, much more than just 'appreciating the world and its continued existence.'

Doing what they were 'made' to do...

"...We'll save our world," she says. "It won't end like this."