2024-01-30: Absolution
- Cutscene: Absolution
- Cast:Hannah Curie
- Where: Curan Abbey
- Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2024
- Summary: Hannah takes a trip to Curan Abbey and discovers a pokemon accused of causing earthquakes. She takes the time to try and understand the pokemon, and in so doing discovers a far greater danger, as well as a new friend.
Hannah stopped for a moment to catch her breath, shading her eyes with a hand to scan the roads before her. She'd covered a lot of ground, and she still had some ways to go to reach her ultimate destination, Curan Abbey. She needed materials to continue her Crest Sorcery development, and while she probably could've found some way to fabricate more Crest Graphs on Energy Nede, she needed much more than that.
She needed information, pure and simple. There was a vague part of her curious about Energy Nede's symbology, of course (and a part of her that was unsettled by it, as well), but none of that would help with Crest Sorcery. It was a totally different discipline. Normally Sielje would be her preference, but it was a whole continent away. So instead Curan Abbey seemed like her best bet. It was a school, at least, even if it wasn't her school. But she'd come equipped with several letters of introduction that would hopefully help allow her access to their libraries.
Her first stop, though, had been to Adlehyde for a change of wardrobe so she could fit in better; there was no sense drawing any more attention to herself than she had to. A long black hooded robe, a dress in a lovely shade of green that she had shortened the skirt of to allow for easier movement, white leggings, and, of course, her trusty hiking boots.
Never underestimate the value of a good pair of broken-in boots.
She could hear Zephyr's voice in the back of her mind, a chirp carrying alarm and concern. Battle-danger. She frowned and closed her eyes, reaching out with her senses to tap into Zephyr's.
He was soaring ahead of her current position, scouting for her in the way he always did. As she settled into Zephyr's senses, Hannah could feel everything he did: the way the wind rippled through his feathers, how the bitter cold of the altitude was held at bay, how the landscape just stretched for miles and miles around, colored in subtle shades and hues Hannah couldn't see with her own eyes.
The landscape tilted as Zephyr banked in a wide turn (she could feel every muscle pull and tighten as Zephyr subtly twisted and altered the shape of his wings to make the turn), and then everything narrowed down to focus on one thing on the ground.
A group of soldiers--not the first she had seen, of course--but--
Hannah gasped and opened her eyes. A four-legged creature, with a mostly white coat, dark blue fur on its face, a gem on its forehead and a single horn.
A pokemon, she was sure of it.
She took off running.
Zephyr helped her find a shortcut onto the fields where the two groups were fighting. The soldiers were using a mix of magic and Crest Sorcery, and the creature was darting back and forth to attack with its claws and horns. Hannah pulled out a crest graph and drew power into it, causing it to thrum with a steady orange glow. "Earthen Ramparts!" she shouted as she stomped on the ground.
The ground started to tremble, and Hannah winced as she witnessed the soldiers stumble, leaving them open to attack. The pokemon had no such issues, on four feet, but before it could press the attack a large stone wall erupted out of the ground between them, blocking off the two sides of the fight.
Too much magic. Even being on Filgaia wasn't helping tame her affliction.
The pokemon, though, whirled around, eyes widening upon spotting Hannah. It took a step back away from her, dropping into a defensive stance with a growl.
The sorceress held up her hands. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you none. I just wanted to help stop the fighting."
The pokemon was in bad shape, and it started to growl at and prepare for a fresh attack, but the sound of the stone wall crumbling behind it caught its attention. It glanced between the two and then turned tail and ran, sprinting off.
Hannah glanced up to Zephyr. "Keep on 'em," she muttered softly. Overhead, Zephyr let out a cry and banked, heading off in the direction of the fleeing creature.
Back on the ground, a portion of the wall crumbled to dust, allowing the soldiers to swarm through. One of them spotted the fleeing pokemon, but Hannah was quick to move to interject herself between them.
Several soldiers raised their gunsmoke ARMs in her direction, but Hannah held her ground. The captain stepped forward, looking her over with a disdainful eye. "I hope you realize that attacking the Adlehyde militia is a serious offense, miss."
Hannah looked up to the Captain. "Technically I didn't attack anyone."
The captain's frown deepened. "You have still interfered in the official duties of an officer carrying out his duly appointed duties."
She considered that for a moment and then nodded. "Yep. That sounds 'bout right."
"Wha--" The captain looked taken aback. "And I suppose you feel you have some justification for this act?"
"That creature you were fightin' is from Energy Nede, beyond the rift. I was one of the Drifters that went to Marduk and got transported to Energy Nede, so I've had a chance to learn about 'em. I'd like to help the creature get back home to its habitat, where it belongs."
The captain considered Hannah for a long moment and then raised his hands. "Stand down," he ordered his soldiers. "Miss, I think we'd better have a talk."
It was a very awkward conversation in the Abbey with the guard captain and the abbess. They explained how the creature had been harassing those on the island where the Abbey was located for the last few days, and how every time it had appeared there had been an earthquake.
Hannah had, naturally, pointed out that causation did not equal causation, but had to admit that it wasn't impossible for the pokemon to be capable of doing so. In turn she had explained what she could about the Pokemon, how they were bred to be peaceful, for the most part, and even demonstrated with her own two Pokemon.
The already awkward conversation only got more awkward when the topic of her spellcasting had come up: Hannah had been hoping to not to bring that up as she conducted her research, but it was too late on that front. In the end she managed to convince them to let her attempt to handle the Pokemon, though warned they would settle things themselves if there were any further incidents.
Thanks to Zephyr, she had a lead on finding the pokemon. It seemed it had taken up residence in some small cove that was a bit difficult to reach, but Zephyr helped her find the best route down. She carefully made her way down a narrow path and stopped when she could see the pokemon.
It was staring pensively out at the ocean, and had been doing so for a while. Its wounds didn't seem too serious, but the creature hadn't shown an interest in tending to them. Instead it was simply watching the ocean and waiting, occasionally growling with something approaching anxiety.
Hannah checked with Zephyr, but he hadn't been able to see anything in the ocean either.
She observed it quietly for a moment, but just as she had gotten ready to say something, the creature turned directly to look at her instead. A low growl issued from its throat as it got into a defensive stance. Hannah stepped out into the open and held her hands up to show that they were empty.
"I'm not here to fight," she said calmly. "I know what you are. You're a Pokemon, right? I just want to offer to take you back to Energy Nede."
The growling subsided, somewhat, but the creature still remained in its aggressive stance.
"I'm sorry if I scared you before," continued Hannah. "My magic is... well, let's just say it's concernin'. I just wanted to stop the fight before anyone else got more hurt."
The pokemon seemed to relax its stance somewhat, standing up a little straighter.
Progress, thought Hannah. She started to lower her hands.
But just as Hannah was starting to relax, the creature tensed again, letting out a warning growl. Hannah took a few steps back, raising her arms again.
"Please, I'm not--"
Above her, Zephyr let out a warning chirp and suddenly took into the air. The warning she heard in her head rang as harshly as an alarm. ``Earth-move.`` She barely had enough time to drop to the ground before the ground began to violently tremble. It felt like her bones were rattling together, and she was being jerked around too much to get a hand to her crest graph pouch for a spell.
Something cracked and broke apart above her, and Hannah glanced upwards just in time to see a large boulder rolling down at her. Before she could react something blurred across her field of vision: the pokemon, its horn glowing faintly, leapt over her head and sliced through the boulder.
It cleaved cleanly in half and broke apart. Both chunks landed on either side of her with a heavy thump, kicking up dust into the air. The turbulent shaking began to subside quickly after that.
Hannah stared as she tried to process what she'd just seen. "You..." She turned to see the pokemon already running off, bounding back up the trail in great leaps and heading for the Abbey.
"You protected me," said Hannah in quiet wonder. She frowned as she played the events back in her head. Why would the pokemon cause an earthquake, only to save her from it? That could be a scam of some sort, but what was the gain? She looked up to Zephyr, who was circling overhead. Zephyr was sensitive to things she couldn't perceive, and had sensed the deep vibrations within the earth... What if...
Hannah looked to the ocean. "Zephyr, that pokemon was watchin' the water. Get out there and see if anythin' is happenin'. I got a hunch."
Hannah's breath was running ragged and her muscles burning as she made for the shoreline in front of the Abbey. She had figured out what was happening, she was pretty sure, but she couldn't worry about the pokemon right now. Zephyr had spotted it, and now she only had one priority.
A tidal wave, out in the ocean. It was still relatively small, but she knew it was gaining speed, and gaining strength.
There wasn't much time left.
Zephyr was tracking it for her, and she knew where the wave would be the worst. She had to get there, to do /something/, and she wasn't sure how much time there was due to the acceleration. She turned a bend in the path and looked to the shore.
There was the pokemon. But the soldiers were also there. They had seemingly cornered it against the tide, and Hannah felt the burn spreading through her lungs as she pushed herself down the path and into the beach, kicking up flurries of sand behind her.
"Hey! Stop!" she shouted, skidding to a stop in front of the creature and turning to face the soldiers, her arms thrown wide. "This pokemon is under my protection!"
Behind her she could hear the pokemon's growl give way into a noise of surprise. In front of her the soldiers with their guns drawn and sorcerers with crest graphs at the ready looked uneasily to their captain, who gestured for them to lower their weapons.
"Look. I told you very clearly, that if this creature appeared again--"
"She ain't been cousin' the quakes. She's been warning you!" Hannah glanced over her shoulder to the pokemon with a small smile. "Ain'tcha?" Softer, she said, "That's why you were watchin' the ocean, wasn't it? Don't worry, we see it too. You don't have to do this alone anymore."
The pokemon looked up to Hannah in surprise, and then slowly relief washed over her features. She nodded. "Ab, absol."
The captain narrowed his eyes. "This creature still attacked us and is a danger."
"Did she ever attack you first when you ain't opened fire on her first?" challenged Hannah. "I was watchin' her when the last earthquake hit. She wasn't usin' magic, and in fact she saved me from a fallin' boulder."
One of the soldiers spoke up, "The Abbey was built and reinforced to withstand earthquakes, Sir."
The captain nodded to his soldier, then looked to Hannah. "Then warning received. Just get that thing out of here and we'll let this go."
Hannah shook her head. "She wasn't warnin' you about the earthquakes." She turned to point to the ocean. "There's a tsunami headin' this way. And before you go askin' how I know this I have-a familiar, a hawk, watchin' the ocean for me." She didn't think of Zephyr as a familiar, of course, but it was the easiest way to explain without inviting more arguments.
The captain's face darkened. "Are you certain about this?"
The Absol stepped out from behind Hannah and nodded gravely. "Ab!"
One of the crest sorcerers in the guard unit spoke up. "Sir, we don't have enough time to gather enough crest sorcerers to protect the whole island."
"Then we'll have to prioritize," said the captain.
"No you don't," said Hannah, lowering her arms. "Gather everyone to the Abbey. It's the most secure building. Have the students and teachers help you raise a barrier. I'll stay here."
"What are you planning to do, then?" asked the captain.
Hannah looked to the ocean. A stiff sea breeze was blowing in, causing her robe to billow around her. If she squinted, she could just make out a subtle swelling in the breeze, and a subtle shift in the tides.
"I'll buy you all time," she said finally, not looking back. "The waves should hit here first. I can bust through 'em, keep the worst off the Abbey. You got two soldiers an' a bunch of students and teachers. Even interlinkin' your spells might not be enough. I'll lighten your load."
"But," started the crest sorceress who had spoken earlier. "Surely you could lend your strength to us?"
Hannah smiled sadly to herself as she kept watching the ocean and shook her head. "That would be nice but... I can't cover the Abbey by myself, and... my magic won't mix well with others. This is the best place for me to be." She knelt and looked to the pokemon next. "My name's Hannah Curie. What's your name?"
The pokemon turned to look at Hannah and clearly said, "Absol!"
Hannah smiled, "Nice to meetcha properly, Absol. Will you lend us your aid? After this, I'll help get you back home, okay?"
Absol firmly nodded. "Ab!"
"Good." Hannah stood up again. "Absol is under my protection. You harm her, you haveta answer to me, got it? She'll be helpin' you all. Now get goin'! I ain't sure how much time we got, an' I need to prepare."
Some time later, Hannah stood by herself on the beach. Everyone else had gone to gather up the inhabitants of the island and make preparations for protecting the Abbey, which suited Hannah just fine.
She didn't want anyone else seeing what she had to do.
Besides, she wasn't alone. She closed her eyes and reached her mind out to Zephyr's so she could watch the world through his eyes. He had climbed up to a much higher altitude than normal, and from here Hannah could see the subtle sways and shifts in the ocean's surface.
There was an ache that permeated Zephyr's body as he fought to gain and keep altitude--he hadn't found any thermals with a view that Hannah needed, so he had to keep flapping his wings to help. Exhaustion was eating away at his reserves, but kept at bay by a fiery determination burning deep in his core.
Hannah smiled. "Thank you, Zephyr. You're doin' great. I know it's rough, but just hang in there a little bit longer." She opened her eyes to look at the tides. Already they were starting to surge wildly.
It would be her turn, next, to light a fire of determination in herself.
She took a deep breath as she saw the waves starting to peak. This was just the start, but it would get worse. In her hand was a crest graph, blazing with a bright red energy. She lifted it up under her mouth, inhaled deeply, and with three quick breaths spewed several massive fireballs forward. Crackling and roaring they plunged into the ocean waters, and exploded with a cacophonous sound, spraying ocean water everywhere but disrupting the first set of waves.
So far so good.
She continued this way, doing her best to disrupt each set of waves as they came in, but they were growing taller and coming in faster, leaving Hannah less and less time to respond.
With each spell cast her magic was growing wilder and more unmanageable. She hated it, it made her sick to grasp for that mysterious power, and she knew, now, that her unease was causing the magic to become more wild, but there was too much at stake to stop now.
The power had overtaken her all at once as she had started to exhaust herself, flooding into her body to fill the void of her rapidly dwindling stores. Crackling lines of force started to ripple and twist in the air around her, making it shimmer with potential.
She didn't have to look to know that her eyes were glowing green.
She needed to disrupt the flow of the ocean water, cut through their flows and break the whole ecosystem. And she needed to use this power to do it.
No holding back this time.
She reached for another crest graph, already glowing with furious yellow wisps of energy as she channeled mana through it. She slashed it through the air with a shout of "Cyclone!" A furious storm of winds sprang to life over the waters, rapidly growing in ferocity as Hannah channeled more power into it, willed it to expand more and more. She clutched the crest graph tight as she forced more and more power into it.
The conjured cyclone rapidly swelled to become as tall as the waves it was combatting, causing an unearthly wail to tear across the island, mixing in with the deep rumbling of the ocean waters as the waves traveled forth. The funnel crashed into the head of the wave, completely blasting it apart as the water started to tumble and whirl around inside the hurricane instead. And as it grew louder and angrier, Hannah straining to maintain its shape, it drew up water from the ocean beneath it, cutting the feet out from the wave further out where it hadn't been demolished directly by the summoned storm. It persisted, demolishing the next wave and the wave after that, all the while growing larger and larger.
She was sure they could see it from the Abbey now, but tried to push that thought out of her mind.
They were past the deadliest part of the tsunami. Zephyr was reporting that they had passed the highest crests. She could stop any time now. They were past the worst of it. Surely those at the Abbey could handle the rest.
Her vision was starting to blur, and Hannah wasn't sure if it was exhaustion, tears, pain, or all three. Magic and fire were burning through her veins as she kept pushing magic into the crest graph.
She'd done enough. Zephyr was yelling that at her in her mind as she wobbled on her feet.
She let the spell go. It would persist, at this point, on inertia, and that would give her time.
Hannah turned and stumbled down to a knee. Darkness was overtaking her world, creeping in at the edges of her vision. Everything was narrowing to a point.
Barely functioning legs pushed her up and she took another step. Something slipped, the world jerked violently, and the last thing she recalled before everything went black was the feeling of something soft.
Hannah found out that Absol had left the safety of the Abbey to come find her, catching her just as she had collapsed and delivering her back to safety. She wasn't at all surprised to find out she had been diagnosed with mana exhaustion, again, and it had taken a few days of recovery to get back on her feet once more.
She was allowed to do her study and research while recuperating, but the Abbess had expressed her hopes that Hannah's recovery would not unduly delay her travel plans.
Hannah could take a hint.
She did her best to ignore the looks and stares she got around the Abbey after that. They were grateful for her assistance, but... word about her display had gotten around.
It didn't seem to matter that she had come here expressly to curtail that magic's effects, sadly.
Ultimately she decided not to overstay her welcome. She did her research and took notes as she recovered, and mostly kept to herself.
Zephyr and Absol had stayed close to her the entire time, too.
Hannah stepped out of the Abbey gates and took a deep breath of the air. Zephyr was on her shoulder, and Absol was at her side. "Alright, Absol," Hannah said, looking down to the pokemon. "I appreciate you waitin' for me, but I think it's high time we got you back to Energy Nede. Whaddya say?"
Absol sat down and shook her head. "Sol."
Frowning, Hannah shared a glance with Zephyr. "Do you... wanna stay here, then? In case another tidal wave comes?"
"Sol."
Hannah scratched her head for a moment. "Well, you could stay in Filgaia, I s'pose, but I can't guarantee you won't be misunderstood again..."
"Sol!" Absol stood and nosed insistently at Hannah's side. The sorceress knelt down to look Absol in the eye, and the pokemon licked her face.
"Whoa- h-hey!" Hannah laughed as she accepted the affection. "Someone's gotten mighty fond, huh?" She grinned as she looked Absol in the eye. "Well... if you're sure... Gonna need to give you a name, though... How about Cassandra?"
"Ab!" chimed the pokemon happily.
"Then it's settled." Hannah reached into her satchel and pulled out a pokeball. She tossed it at the Absol, who vanished into it in a flash of red light. The pokeball landed on the ground and then chimed pleasantly. Hannah stooped to pick it up and carefully tucked it away.
"Well, Zephyr. Least we made one new friend."
Zephyr chirped happily, and the two set off down the road away from the abbey.