[PoV: Zolviks]

I am accustomed to darkness, but the shadows of the Vault are...far more unsettling. It contains an air that is dry...yet damp, old...yet new. It radiates a constant feeling that makes me wary, that its interior is...out of place.

Keeping my form low I crawl across the ground, my eyes glancing from one place to another for...any sort of activity.

Activity was not something I found, no... Instead I found the corpses of Fallen, and upon seeing their coats and tattered banners, I knew they were part of House Wolves - the House that Skolas led into the Vault to steal Vex Technology.

I heard the tales - how one of the Risen followed the Wolves into the Vault and began slaughtering them. Skolas did end up accomplishing his goal, but at a heavy cost.

...

That was over a year ago, so the corpses should’ve long since rotted.

Yet here they are, looking as if they were freshly killed. I suspect that this is the Vault's doing, how time flows differently within its walls...

...

In the end I didn’t question it, since what is there to question? What answers would I find? Nothing. I am no longer in a place to ask questions that contain answers I will never find.

Instead I did what us Fallen do best - which is scavenge and steal. I searched through their corpses for anything of use. I found several unused Ether Vials on the remains of several Captains - in which I eagerly refilled my mask with one of the vials while stowing the others. On the body of a Vandal I found an undamaged Wire Rifle, it took me no time at all to yank the weapon out of their claws and hook it to my back-plate. On further inspection I noticed that they also have a still-functioning Cloaking Module - something incredibly important for my survival within the Vault.

After careful prying I managed to pull it off from their body and after carefully inspecting it for any damages, I attach it to the back of my helmet. With it in place I tap the device with one of my upper-arms, enshrouding my form with distorted light so that I am invisible to the naked eye - or at least mostly invisible, for the only traces of my existence are faint ripples in the space where I’m standing.

I...am in a far better spot now. I have more Ether. I have more weapons. I even have better stealth.

I stand high, a faint sense of hopefulness filling my being.

I came in here with little to nothing, yet now...I have at least a little more something...

Looking down at the dead Wolves, I feel that hopefulness turn into disgust. With a low hiss escaping from my maw I pull out one of my sheathed Shock Blades and stab it into one of the corpses, the serrated edges easily sinking into their flesh.

The action brings me a great sense of satisfaction, for House Wolves were the ones responsible for fracturing my House further.

...

My House...

When...I think about it, I am the sole survivor of House Winter. With me being the only member, does that make me Kell?

...

I couldn’t help but grin a bittersweet grin.

I...never thought I would reach a high point of leadership. I clawed for it just as much as my brothers and sisters had, but I never possessed enough strength to even become a Captain - not much a Kell no less. HA! If one were to say that Zolviks were to become a Kell, I would stab them in their neck for insulting me with impossible fantasies.

Yet...if I am the only remaining member of House Winter, then...that makes me its Kell.

Zolviks, Kell of House Winter.

The thought of that would be so much sweeter if it weren’t for the fact that I’m the only one left that wears House Winter’s banner.

The universe is cruel... Very cruel...

With a growl I yank my blade out of the corpse and proceed deeper into the Vault, my feet barely making a sound against the stone that was converted by the Vex.

...

The Vex....

...

Ever since I entered the Vault of Glass, I never once saw a single one of those machines. This makes me wary. Very wary.

The Vault of Glass is not abandoned, I know that well enough since the Vex activity on Venus is still strong - although far more weakened after the severe blows the Risen have dealt to them.

So where are they?

That is another question with answers I do not know, but the answer of this one? It makes me afraid, for I could discover this answer any minute...

That is why I must be careful...

If the Vex were to find me before I find anything I could make use of, it would be my end.

Even with my newfound spoils, I would be helpless if the entire Vex Collective of Venus were to hunt me.

Yet I still must go deeper...

“Oh? Do my own eyes fool me?” I hear a peculiar yet familiar voice speak to me, just barely audible over the loud music. “Ees tees Jezebel in a nightclub of all places?”

Hopping onto the empty stool beside me is no other than Elisabeth, in which said Lopunny/Vaporeon hybrid is grinning widely at me.

“I deed not tink you would be te type to be ‘ere, renard chéri~” She purrs. “What a pleasant surprise eendeed~”

Stirring my now half-empty glass, I look at her with a clearly unamused expression. “Elisabeth.” I say curtly before looking back at my drink.

From the corner of my eye I see her take her tri-corn hat off her head and set it down onto the bar counter. “I ‘ave been ‘ere many times, yet never ‘ave seen you ‘ere. I assume that tees ees a special occasion, no?” She nudges me with an elbow. “Hmm? Am I wrong?”

Feeling tempted to just take my drink and walk away, I instead let out a heavy breath through my nose.

‘Just answer her, Jezebel.’ I mentally tell myself. ‘You’re not here to be stressed out. Yes, Elisabeth of all people had to show up, but answering her will most likely make her stop bothering you.’

“Kaiser has now returned to her position as Night Hunter Branch leader.” I say in an almost bored tone. “So that means I’m no longer needed to work in her place.”

Looking at her, I see that her playful grin has turned to a small smile. “Was eet tat bad?” She asks.

I rub my temples. “Very.” I say lowly. “I have very little experience in working such a position, so managing all of you was...very stressful to say the least.” Letting out a sigh I rest my head in my arms. “I’m used to filing after-mission reports involving my team as well as the occasional interrogation, but keeping track of tens of dozens of teams all the while making sure they’re all okay? It’s...something else completely...”

I feel her pat my shoulder, in which I look up at her. “For what eet ees wort’, you deed a great job.” She assures me, still smiling. “You deed do tings rater deefferently compared to Kaiser, but you steell deed well!” She starts to laugh. “Een fact, tees does explain your rater grumpy atteetude whenever we needed to speak to you, renard chéri~”

I roll my eyes at this, but I found my irritation towards her fading away. “Yeah, I was...not in a good mood throughout the entire time I was in that position.” I focus on my drink again, letting out another sigh. “I do apologize however, it was very rude of me to act that way towards all of you.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “No ‘arm done, Jezebel! No ‘arm done at all!” The Lopunny nudges my shoulder, giving me a cheeky grin. “Eef you want to make tings even ‘owever, ‘ow about a keess on the leeps~?”

I don’t even miss a beat. “I’ll pass.” I say before draining the rest of my drink. With the cocktail glass empty I push it away, letting out a contented sigh of relief.

Elisabeth watched the whole thing, in which her cheeky grin becomes something more devilish. “Say...” She starts in a singsong tone. “I am feeling rater competeeteeve, so ‘ow about I challenge you to a leettle game~?”

I glance at her, once again unamused. “I assume this involves alcohol?” I ask, although I already knew the answer.

She nods slyly. “Oui, Jezebel~ ‘ow about you and I ‘ave a contest? To see who ‘as te strongest stomach~?”

I rest my cheek on my hand, letting out another breath through my nose. “So you’re requesting me participate in a drinking contest with you.” I state.

She nods her head. “Oui~”

My flat look intensifies. “You’re challenging a co-worker to a drinking contest.”

Elisabeth waggles her finger. “Ah ah! We do not work togeter, Jezebel! We are on deefferent teams, so we are not co-workers!”

I blink.

“We...both work for the Guardians of Twilight.” I say slowly, looking at her with bewilderment. “That means that we are co-workers. In fact, I was technically your boss at one point.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Back when I was into piracy, te capitaine would drink wit te crew all te time! Een tees case, I see eet to be no deefferent~”

At this point I’ve decided to humor her. “Alright, so a drinking contest. Let’s say if I were to accept, what do you and I get out of this?”

Elisabeth leans towards me, her grin widening further. “To prove who ‘as te strongest stomach, deed I not already say tat~?” The Lopunny straightens herself, her grin turning into a smirk. “Altough...’ow about we...’up te stakes’, as one would say?” She starts tracing the brim of her hat with a finger. “Whoever weens not only shows tat tey ‘ave te strongest stomach, but also ‘as to do whatever te oter wishes for te next hour~?” A low purr comes from her. “Are you up to it? Or are you too afraid~?”

Heh, I should’ve expected as much. Elisabeth has a reputation of pulling stunts like this. This usually tends to involve her teammates, so it’s a little surprising to see that she’s trying to involve me of all people.

Although when I think about it, she’s probably just saying all of this just because she’s playing around. She tends to go overboard when it comes to messing with people, so this is something I wouldn’t put it past her.

...

Actually... This could provide me with an excellent opportunity...

I look at Elisabeth, the Lopunny still smirking at me. With a completely straight face I respond. “Very well, I accept.”

She lets out a laugh. “Ho ho ho! I knew you would not- WHA?!” At this point she’s realizing what I said, and all of her bravado turned into incoherent sputtering.

My face is still straight. “Did I stutter?” I say, this time leaning towards her. “You did challenge me after all. As leader of Purging Light, I need to represent my teammates.” I wave at the bartender. “Tender! Please bring the both of us a shot train of a strong rum.”

Elisabeth is looking at me uncertainly now. “A-Are you sure? I do not believe you are up to tees.” She starts grinning, albeit still looking confused. “I ‘ave outdrank all who contested wit me, after all!”

I watch as the bartender starts placing shot after shot before us. “I would never participate in something if I’m unsure about it.” I answer in a matter-of-fact tone. “There’s a reason why I’m where I am.” I grab the shot glass, looking her straight in the eyes. “You have one chance to back out, Elisabeth.”

She immediately grabs her shot, now smirking. “Ho! Me, Elisabeth Brasseur, te Fearsome Sapphire Beauty, back out from a drinking challenge? Vous devez faire erreur, Jezebel.” With that she immediately downs the shot, grinning like mad. “Te deed is done! Now let us see who weell last!”

Without hesitating I down my own, the burning liquid flowing down my throat. I can tell that this stuff is very potent, the bartender made an excellent choice. I never faltered from this and upon setting my shot down I grab another, holding it towards her. “The challenge is on.” I say.

Little does this Lopunny know that she already lost, since I have a secret weapon that no one knows about.

The trio of them were pretty much lounging around while I worked, giving me space to create these charms. I didn’t really need the space though since I’m no amateur, but the thought behind it is appreciated nonetheless.

The first to approach me is Bladesong, the cyborg looking at the necklaces curiously. “So those are the charms you were making?” She asks before wincing, probably realizing how obvious the question is.

I snicker. “Indeed! And of course admiring them won’t do us any good, we need to see how well the illusion fits on you after all~” I offer one of them to her, the necklace possessing a smooth metal sphere inscribed with numerous runes on its surface.

She eagerly takes the necklace and immediately puts it around her neck.

Turning my gaze to Chimera, I see him standing with crossed arms. “I haven’t forgotten about you~” I say to him, winking. I extend the other necklace to him, in which he carefully accepts.

“So...” Bladesong speaks up. “How does this work?”

I look back to see that she’s poking at the necklace uncertainly, clearly confused.

“Simply putting it on won’t activate the enchantment, my dear!” I laugh. “I always make sure that these charms have a verbal activation, so you can throw it on whenever without worrying of the illusion immediately taking effect.” I lightly scratch my cheek with one of my claws. “Simply cup the metal sphere of the necklace in one of your hands and say ‘Star’, it’ll activate right after~”

I’ve never seen someone grasp a necklace so quick. Bladesong immediately did just that and says the word.

“Star?” She says uncertainly, as if doubting it’ll actually work.

And the second she said the word while clutching the necklace, the black fire immediately surrounded her form, causing her to yelp in surprise. The fire only lasted for a second though, since it dissipates immediately.

Now I get to see the result of my expertly crafted illusion~

Standing in place is a cyborg Pokemon no more, for in her steed is a more ‘normal’ Human.

Her body-shape and hair-style remain the same, but that’s all where the similarities stop. She now has light fair skin, her eyes a nice shade of green, and each of her fingers end with bright pink nails - as if she recently visited a nail salon. The two bladed tentacles on the back of her head have been changed to a pair of long black braids of hair, their length being the same as said tendrils. Her body sports a simple white t-shirt with jeans, and on her feet is a pair of red sneakers.

The only thing that truly stands out from her are her abnormally long braids, but between that and her simply waltzing around Progria in her full glory? We’d much rather take the former.

Upon looking at her hands Bladesong’s eyes widen instantly. “Whoa!” She exclaims, her gaze rapidly shifting from her hands to her own body.

“There’s the nearby spring if you want to properly look at yourself.” I remind her, in which she immediately dashes towards said pool of water.

As I watch her run off, I hear the quiet mutter of Chimera, saying the activation word ‘Star’.

After another burst of black flame, the result of his transformation is also quite different.

Now he is a man of dark brown skin, with rich blue eyes and not an ounce of hair on his head - an excellent fit for him. His attire consists of a black hoodie, jeans, and brown boots. His appearance was far more easy to work with since his form is shaped exactly like a Human, so he’ll blend into Progria just fine~

He glances down at his hands, taking note of his changed appearance. “Brown skin huh?” He mutters, turning the appendages around so he can see the palms. “Never thought I’d see myself switching skin colors three times in my lifetime. From white to orange to brown.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Then again, back then I never expected it to change to begin with.”

I blink, not quite understanding on what he meant. “Switching skin colors?” I say, tilting my head slightly.

He waves me off. “Just me muttering, forget it.” He dismisses before making his way over to the spring, most likely to check his own reflection.

I’m not necessarily sure on what he meant by that, but it wouldn’t do me well to pry, or at least for now~

As for the spring, so far Bladesong looks to be fawning over herself, turning her face and body so she can see every last detail of her newfound disguise.

“Even though you do have a reputation for your illusions, it’s still quite impressive to see them firsthand.” Trojan comments, floating over beside me.

I grin at this. “What can I say? I’m good at what I do~”

He crosses his floating arms. “I can’t even discern if it’s real or not, the fact that it’s fooling even my digital feed is quite outstanding.”

“That’s due to the sheer complexity of the illusion. It holds enough ‘realness’ to fool things like cameras, which I presume is how you’re seeing.” I say, looking at his digital eyes. “And vision is not the only thing my illusions fool. If one were to touch them, their senses will give them the texture they’re expecting~” My smile falters somewhat. “Although...it does have its limits. Extended physical contact is not recommended, since that’s where the illusion will begin to falter. If they touch something for longer than fifteen seconds, the faux-sensation will give way to what they’re actually feeling.”

“Such as for Bladesong’s case, the feeling of fabric would be replaced with metal?” Trojan asks.

I nod. “Indeed. My illusions are quite powerful, although they’re considerably weaker when placed into charms.” A frown fully takes my face. “I also say that they should avoid combat at all costs while under the illusion. If anything were to strike their forms while the illusion is in-effect, it’ll disrupt the magic field to the point where it’ll break down completely, thus causing the illusion to disappear.”

“And we don’t want that.” He says with his own nod. “This information will definitely need to be relayed to them so that they’ll keep these precautions in mind.”

“Of course, I don’t plan to leave them without it after all.” I chuckle, my smile returning. I turn my head slightly to look at him more, one of my eyebrows raising. “Are you sure you don’t want a charm like them? I’m quite sure I can whip up something for your unique form~”

He shakes his head. “The offer is most appreciated, however it would ultimately be useless for me. Not only do I intend to not go out in public, I don’t even intend to use this body for most of the mission.”

This makes me pause. “Body?” I repeat, my eyebrows raising. “Are you saying that this isn’t your actual form?”

He laughs at this. “Oh definitely not! My true form is made of pure energy! Throughout this mission I intend to inhabit the electronics at our base of operations, so that I may effectively communicate with them while they’re out in the field. That and effectively gather information through the web the moment they need it.” He taps his body with a metal finger. “This body is merely something for me to efficiently travel around, that and manipulate objects.” He waggles his fingers for emphasis. “But regardless, although the offer is appreciated, your efforts would ultimately be wasted.”

“That...makes more sense now.” I say slowly, my mind processing this newfound information.

Glad that I’m understanding, Trojan turns his floating head to look at the two disguised individuals - who are still examining their forms through the reflection of the spring. “So...” He starts again. “...Should we be leaving now?”

Warden Team Identification: Shadow Bane

Team Members: 5

Specialization: Well-rounded - preference towards elimination of dangerous targets

[INDIVIDUAL INFORMATION BELOW]

Name: Nina Darkclaw

Alias: Fenrir

Gender: Female

Species: Lycanroc (Midnight)

Bio Below

An unparalleled brawler. Her talents in close-quarters combat has proven to be essential to the Guardians of Twilight countless times. Nina Darkclaw’s favored weapons are her clawed gauntlets, the exceptional strength and speed of her body combined with her skill in these weapons allow her to rend through both rock and foe with ease.

Her personality is carefree and brash - bordering on reckless. Although she has a strong lust for combat, she at least has enough restraint to ask questions before striking. There are times where she has difficulty on taking things seriously, resulting on her having trouble evaluating the intensity of some situations. These situations require her teammates to put her in line. 

Nina Darkclaw is the official leader of team Shadow Bane.

Additional Notes: GoT Branch Leader Officials are reconsidering her position as team leader.

Name: Grace (Self-Given)

Alias: Barricade

Gender: Female

Species: Bisharp/Forretress/Ferrothorn Hybrid (Artificial)

Bio Below

Self-imposed ‘tank’ of Shadow Bane. Her strongest assets revolve around the two giant shells on her arms. Although capable of being used as weapons, their use as shields is her greatest advantage. Their length is large enough to enclose around her whole body if she were to crouch down - acting as a portable bunker. Spikes lining these shells can be launched as projectiles, giving her a form of retaliation to those who strike her while enclosed. These shells combined with her exceptional strength makes up for her lack of mobility.

Her personality is strong-willed and steadfast. She’s known to be straight to the point and unafraid to voice her thoughts, often focusing on the task at hand. Although having difficulty expressing emotions, she does show concern for her teammates and does her best to look after them.

Additional Notes: The HWDP Identification code on her body reads BNK-01

Name: Flint McCoy (Possibly Self-Given)

Alias: Deadlock

Gender: Male

Species: Gardevoir

Bio Below

A ‘gun-less gunslinger’. Flint McCoy specializes in ranged combat, however has an unusual amount of strength and muscle mass for his species. He possesses an arm-length gauntlet on his left arm that channels and concentrates his psychic energy, allowing him to unleash ‘solidified’ bolts of psychokinetic power from his fingers - similar that of bullets fired from guns. His precision and speed with these shots is very remarkable.

His personality is noted to resemble that of main character cowboys from Human western films. Broody, overconfident, likes to show off, tends to speak few words - mostly an attempt to come off as intimidating. He has been known to instigate fights and is considered a troublemaker. It is a necessity that he is to be accompanied by at least one team member at all times in public areas, especially places where brawls tend to occur.

Additional Notes: Despite his brown coloration being unusual, it is the result of his heredity on where his ancestors lived.

His interest in Human old western culture is noted to be obsessive, due to his behavior and how he dresses himself.

Name: Pythia Noma

Alias: Psybreak

Gender: Female

Species: Alakazam

Bio Below

A powerful psychokinetic wielder. Pythia Noma’s sheer psychic power is acknowledged and respected by all Psychic-types in the Guardians of twilight. Her greatest strengths lies in her telekinetic power over inanimate solid objects. She is capable of lifting objects of extreme weight or numerous smaller items with ease. However she has shown numerous signs of concentration issues when it comes to living entities, making it difficult for her to restrain more than one individual with her power at a time.

Her personality is normally calm and collected, although rather self-absorbed. She’s very analytical of various scenarios and looks at the finer details, yet she has also shown difficulty in taking the emotions of others into consideration. She is also easily stressed when it comes to situations she is uncomfortable with. The severity of her reactions vary.

Additional Notes: List of a few situations that causes Pythia extreme stress:

1. Being touched by those she’s not close with, most especially strangers.

2. Being unable to find an answer to what she feels is an obvious question.

3. Being exposed to loud noise for extensive periods of time.

She however has shown great amounts of improvement ever since she joined the Guardians of Twilight, especially the handling of her stress during combat.

Name: Shiro (Self-Given)

Alias: Affliction

Gender: Male

Species: Gothitelle/Aromatisse/Tangrowth Hybrid (Artificial)

Bio Below

Field medic and bio weapons master. Despite being part Gothitelle, his psychokinetic power is almost nonexistent. Yet in the end his greatest strengths result from his Aromatisse and Tangrowth traits. His right arm is composed entirely of plant matter - mostly vines, and he is capable of instantly growing numerous seedpods of varying effects. His most known seedpod is a unique variation of Leech Seed that imbues healing energy to those it’s attached to. He is also capable of generating weaponized seedpods, containing deadly gas or other dangerous effects

His personality is that of professionalism and courtesy, holding himself with an air of dignity. He has shown extreme tolerance to stress, rarely angered or upset regardless of the situation. Although aware of societal norms, he seems to personally care little if others abide by it - unless it jeopardizes the current mission at hand. Although reluctant to admit it, he has grown attached to his teammates and desires to see that they’ll always be well.

Additional Notes: He has shown to have a disturbing fascination on the effects of what his seedpods do to the living body.

The HWDP Identification code on his body reads GTH-05

...

...and walk...

...and walk...

...and walk...

The distance is extraordinary to say the least, but thankfully this is all technically a dream. If this were reality, the heat from the sun and the sheer distance I’m forced to walk would definitely leave me severely exhausted. Yet here I am, traversing the rolling dunes without feeling a hint of fatigue.

As for the length of this ‘journey’, I don’t know how much time it took. It could’ve happened in an instant, or over a period of several hours. Yet regardless, that speck in the distance grew into something I can clearly see.

A mountain.

Its massive size towers over the desert, its surface a distinct gray that stands out majorly from the surrounding tan dunes of sand. As I grow closer, I see a small structure at the base of it.

Its design reminds me of ancient temples I saw in the history books I read when I was younger, yet this design in particular seems even more familiar.

Its overall structure appears to be completely intact - untouched by the grasp of time, and also made of the same stone as the mountain: granite.

Eventually the sand beneath my feet is replaced with granite tiles as I begin entering the temple, yet the stone doesn’t feel even remotely hot to me. Giant smooth pillars tower over me as I walk past them, their surface covered in hieroglyphics. Occasionally I walk past a giant statue of what seems to be a Lucario of unique species, their heads held high.

At this point everything clicks in my mind. The aesthetics, the material that everything is composed of. The origin of this temple is Venharan.

I remember reading plenty of books on Venhara in my youth. Of the towering granite mountain the kingdom was founded on, the black-coated Lucario race that lives there. Of course plenty of other races also live within Venhara too, but that’s besides the point.

Confusion starts to well within me. Why am I in a Venharan temple? That wasn’t in my nightmares at all. And why can’t I see the city of Venhara? It’s built right on and into Mt. Sekhemkhet. I don’t believe I’ve approached the mountain from the opposite side since the city stretches very far out, I should be able to see at least a few buildings from even the opposite side of the mountain.

So is this Mt. Sekhemkhet? Or is this mountain something else entirely...?

...

Something isn’t right...

I finally get a break from the intense sunlight as I enter the temple proper, the roof of the building being my shield from the flaming orb in the sky.

Numerous stone statues line the walls, each of them a Venharan Lucario. Some of them have gold jewelry on their stone frames while others have sapphire eyes. Yet all of that mattered little to me, for what really got my attention is what’s in the center of the temple.

It’s a large monolith made of bone-colored stone, contrasting greatly compared to the surrounding granite. At the base of this monolith is a tablet made of a similar material.

When I approach the structure I kneel down to look at the tablet, looking at its incredibly smooth surface.

What’s the purpose of this thing? It’s definitely of some importance, so why is it here?

As I reach over to touch the tablet, a sudden voice rings in my ears.

“Stop.”

I stand up immediately, my blades quickly unsheathing from my forearms. I turn on my heels to look behind me for the source of the potential threat, but the moment I could see the one who spoke to me I feel myself stop.

Standing before me is a female Venharan Lucario.

Her attire consists of countless jeweled bracelets and anklets, their gold surfaces covered in sapphires. Around her neck is a pendant with a massive sapphire, her head possessing a circlet with a head of a gold Seviper coming out of the front, and her hair is tied back into one long braid that’s decorated with gold beads.

The only thing covering her ‘important’ parts of her body are strisp of white cloth wrapped around her chest as well as another around her pelvis, the color sticking out massively from her black coat.

She smiles at me, her amber eyes glittering. “I have been waiting for you.” She speaks, yet...her words seem to reverberate through my head as if a voice was inside it.

And here I thought my confusion couldn’t get any higher. “Waiting for me?” I repeat. Although I wanted to go further on that... Another, more pressing question couldn’t be overlooked. I shake my head before looking at her suspiciously through narrowed eyes. “Who are you?”

She opens her arms, her smile never wavering. “I am Tiye, fourth Queen of Venhara.”

Now I definitely paused when I first saw her, but hearing those words in particular? That made my blood go cold.

Tiye? Fourth Queen of Venhara?

My knowledge on Venhara is somewhat limited, but I do know things such as the generations of queens.

As of currently we’re on the eleventh Queen of Venhara: Neferhotep.

Tiye? She’s...

...

She’s been dead for over 600 years...

...

“I u-understand.” I say to them both, my gaze unable to meet their eyes.

“Well, now that’s out of the way...” Honora shakes her head before swiping the card, the lock makes an audible beep upon recognizing the keycard and thus unlocks said door. After stashing the card she pulls the door open and gestures for me to walk inside.

Alright...here it goes...

Tucking my wings in I walk into the room, my mind focusing entirely on keeping whatever composure I have left secured. The...last thing I need is to have another breakdown...

Once inside, the room itself I see is...not too large. The first thing I notice is a small table and chair in front of me, but beyond that is a wall of what looks to be incredibly thick metal. There is a large pane of glass in said wall to grant vision to the interior of the cell, and there’s a solid metal door off to the side that acts as the entrance to and from said cell.

But when I look at the one who’s currently contained, I feel my breath catch.

Miasma...

The four legs on her back each have what looks like large blocks of metal covering her blades, each with a chain that’s attached to the walls of the chamber. Her wrists and ankles are also bound together with metal cuffs, ultimately showing to me that every limb of hers is prevented from moving. Her hood and mask is gone as well as...pretty much any clothing for that matter.

Her cell does have things like a toilet in a corner, but I see no bed or chairs. In fact...it looks like she has no furnishing of any kind, and even if she did...she wouldn’t be able to reach it to begin with since her bonds keep her tight in place. This ultimately forces her to do nothing else but sit in the center of her cell, since...well...she’s incapable of doing anything else.

Honora noticed my horrified expression, seeing how quickly spoke up. “We were left no choice.” She whispers to me. “She was way too dangerous to even roam her cell, so we’re forced to keep her chained until things like...restroom breaks.” She rubs her sides with her free hand. “But even then that requires complete supervision...”

But...that’s still...horrible...

Hearing quiet whispering, Miasma looks up. “Back so soon?” She hisses angrily, her dark blue eyes burning with anger. “How quaint, are you now starting to take pity in m-” Her voice cuts out the second she notices me.

In that moment, I see a mass of emotions fluctuate on her face.

Surprise.

Confusion.

Anger.

...

Lots...and lots of anger...

“YOU!” She shrieks at me, her body immediately lurching towards my direction. However her bonds hold strong, preventing her from even moving an inch.

I flinch at this, taking a step back. Already I’m regretting this entire thing tenfold, regretting every single decision I’ve made that lead up to this point.

“YOU DARE SHOW YOURSELF TO ME?! TO ME?!?!” She screams, thrashing violently against her chains. “WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU POSSIBLY HAVE TO BE HERE?!” She thrashes even harder, her teeth biting so hard that I can almost hear the grinding noise over the chains. “TO GLOAT?! TO LORD OVER ME?! TO TELL ME HOW YOU BESTED ME?!” Her eyes narrow to slits. “TO TELL ME TO CEASE FIGHTING?! I WILL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!”

The entire time my body has been rapidly backpedaling, but before I knew it my back hits the wall behind me. My eyes are completely wide, my breathing becoming rapid as panic starts to set in.

I didn’t mean for this to happen! I didn’t think she’d react this way! This was a mistake! I shouldn’t have come here at all! Stupid stupid stupid stupid STUPID!

“SPEAK!” She continues to scream at me. “ANSWER ME!”

Godfrey steps into the room, his lance starting to glow as he channels heat into it. “That is enough!” He shouts. “Miasma, silence yourself immediately!”

“ANSWER ME!” She screams again at me, spittle flying from her mouth. “ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!”

Everything is closing in on me. My insecurities, my regrets, everything. The hopeless feeling that all of my fears are coming true.

Tears start to stream down my face. “I-I-I-” I try to speak, but my voice starts cutting out before the words could even form.

“THEN IT IS TO LORD OVER ME!” Miasma continues, her thrashing causing the areas around her legs to bruise. “YOU FILTHY CREATURE, I WILL REND YOU!”

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Godfrey yells, raising his now white-hot lance. He turns his head to me, his eyes hardening. “Chevalier, you must leave immediately!”

No! No no no no no! This isn’t what’s supposed to happen! Everything is going so wrong! I just wanted to check to see if she’s okay and ask how she’s feeling and see if I can do anything to help her and-

Gritting my teeth so hard I turn and smash my fist into the wall beside me so hard that I feel the bones in my knuckles break, causing an agonizingly sharp pain to course through it.

“I WANTED TO SEE IF YOU WERE OKAY!” I scream back, the power in my voice fueled by the terror my mind is experiencing and the pain my fist is feeling.

Suddenly...everything falls quiet. Miasma’s rage-filled screams are gone,  the thrashing chains are still, it all stopped.

Trying my best to not break down from the pain in my fist I look at the cell, only for the flowing tears to make my vision blurry. I can’t wipe them away because my free hand is clenching my broken fist tightly, leaving me to do nothing but stand there hopelessly.

“See...if I’m okay?” I hear Miasma’s voice say. Although her tone is quiet, I can hear the disbelief and anger in it. “You.... You fucking fool, what do you obviously think?!” I hear the sharp rattle of chains again, but only briefly. “You took everything away from me. You took my home, my family, my daughter. You took it all...AWAY! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I AM OKAY?!”

I breathe in deeply through my mouth as I crumple to my knees from the pain, holding my broken fist close to my chest. “They...were not yours to begin with.” I say to her, doing everything I can to not let my voice choke. “That town was not your home. Those spiders were not your family. That Riolu was not your daughter.” The pain forces me to reel over, my body writhing as I’m finding it more and more difficult to tolerate it. “They were not yours. But that’s not...why...I’m here.”

I clench my eyes shut, baring my teeth. “When we...beat you, you were dying. I wanted to save you because...you were like me when the GoT found me. You looked like you were alone. You looked like you had no one to be with you. You looked like you had no idea on what to do. You looked...lost” My body bends down, writhing from the torture of my self-afflicted agony. “I-I wanted t-to help y-you. You didn’t d-deserve w-w-what happened t-to you. E-e-everything w-was taken a-away from y-y-you. T-the HWDP t-took your i-i-identity. They t-t-took it a-all a-away. I j-j-just c-couldn’t-” My voice cuts out, replaced with pained breathes as I can’t focus anymore.

It hurts so much. Why did I do it?! I broke my own fist by punching a solid metal wall.

Stupid stupid stu-

My breathing catches as I feel something metal slide under my head as well as a hand under my body. The sensation of being lifted up immediately follows, as well as the firm voice of Godrey speaking. “He needs immediate medical attention!” He says, presumably to Honora. All I know is that due to the close proximity of his voice, he’s...the one carrying me.

A rushed sense of movement follows as well as the loud clops of his footstep, signifying that he’s quickly carrying me out.

N-no! I’m not d-done! I don’t want to end it this way!!

I didn’t want for this to end...like this...at all...

But I couldn’t say anything, I just...couldn’t...

I could only lay helplessly in his grip as he carries me out to the medical ward...

[PoV: Miasma]

When the Infernape closes the door behind her, the entire room is empty once more.

I continue to glare at the door, my fangs gritting together. That Hybrid’s words continue to repeat in my mind, and they make me angrier all the while.

I pull at my chains, despite knowing how futile the action is.

“We are nothing alike.” I hiss. “To hell with his damn claims, he knows absolutely NOTHING!”

My glare turns to my bonds, the shiny metal holding just as fast as it did when they first clasped them upon me.

“I was rebuilding everything, to take what I rightfully DESERVE.” I continue to seethe. “It belonged to me, ALL of it did! He ruined it, he took it all away from me!”

My breathing grows heavy as I feel tears well in my eyes.

“I...was starting to recover, I had a safe place. I was in control, I had everything I wanted...only for it all to be taken away.”

My body slumps, yet the bonds keep it upright.

“The station is over there~” Velvett says, pointing towards a small building in the distance. “Once we get into my car, I’ll take us straight to my place in New Falkhom City.”

“Sounds good.” Chimera responds neutrally.

His mood still hasn’t improved much since the name fiasco, sadly.

The rest of the walk was in relative silence, although not quite as uncomfortable - from what I can tell at least. I spent a lot of my time observing the road mostly, the whole shininess of it making it incredibly tempting to just walk up and touch it. I didn’t do this though, since Chimera gave me several rundowns on Progrian laws involving traffic and what-not.

‘Unless during an emergency or if there’s no assigned walkways, pedestrians aren’t allowed to walk on the roads where vehicles drive.’

Well, honestly that sounds less like an actual law and more of a personal rule of his. I didn’t argue though, and I won’t do that now - especially since there’s a sidewalk beside the road for us.

Once we arrive at this gas station, I notice that the place really is...rather tiny. It’s just a small convenience mart, and it only has enough fuel dispensers to house up to two cars.

Sheesh, I guess this area doesn’t get much traffic.

As I’m checking the place out, the second thing I notice is that the fuel dispensers look...very different. Back in Evolutia I’m used to seeing the standard gasoline pumps - with the nozzle and all, but these? They look akin to that of generators, and their ‘nozzles’ share a strong resemblance to plugs.

Then I saw the sign.

"Zach’s Charge Shack?” I say aloud, reading the prices for how much it costs to charge vehicles. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a gas station?”

Velvett shrugs. “That’s what the people in Progria still call them, although they’ve long since switched from gasoline to electricity for their cars.” She taps her lip with a finger. “They’ve massively increased the efficiency of electrical cars from what I remember. That and combining the fact that they’ve found far superior methods of producing power? Fossil fuels are practically nonexistent in Progria now.”

Chimera nods his head. “Various corporations realized how profitable it was to sell electrical power instead of gasoline, so the switch was relatively fast.” He crosses his arms, his expression becoming thoughtful. “This was also due to the fact that vast amounts of technology being made also depended on electricity, and with nuclear fusion now being a staple for power plants? It’s-”

“Wait wait wait wait!” I interrupt him. “Nuclear fusion?! They’ve succeeded in creating fusion reactors?!”

He looks at me with confusion. The look didn’t last though since he realized that I’m not well-versed in Progria - besides the essential stuff he told me. “I don’t remember the exact date, but I do know that it was around twenty years ago that fusion reactors were being produced wide-spread for commercial use within Progria.” He cups his chin with a hand. “I often forget that us Progrians tend to guard our knowledge on technology, not only from Pokemon of Evolutia but also from the rest of the outside world.”

“Us Progrians?” Velvett repeats, stopping and turning to him with her own confused look. “Are you saying that you’re a Progrian?”

Both Chimera and I blink.

Hold on, she doesn’t know that he was originally a Human? I kinda thought that the GoT might’ve informed her about this, since...well...that’s kinda important since we’re right in the middle of a country consisting ENTIRELY of Humans.

Chimera looks at her for a long while before shaking his head. “Forget it.” He mutters. “We need to keep going, we’ve hung around long enough.”

Velvett didn’t look very happy with this response, but she wisely chose not to press the issue. Instead she turns and walks towards one of the corners of the lot in the ‘gas’ station, in which I see a black car.

Now, I’ve seen a few cars when I’ve went to the more advanced towns and cities of Evolutia. They looked pretty cool and all, ranging from ‘SUVs’ to ‘trucks’.

But this car? Damn.

It has a very smooth and sleek design, reminding me that of the rare Sports Car in Evolutia. However this thing looks much bigger than those - since said Sports Cars tend to be rather cramped for size. But besides that, I have a strong feeling that this car would easily beat any regular Sports Car in a race tenfold.

Velvett reaches behind her back and pulls a set of keys seemingly out of thin-air. The only explanation I could give would be that they were hidden in her extremely long hair - which is currently disguised to be very short from her illusion. With the keys in hand she presses a button on it, and the car immediately lights up with several flashes from its headlights.

“Alright, time to load up!” She says, pressing another button that causes the trunk to open.

The trunk was surprisingly spacious, being big enough for us to fit the numerous stuff we brought with us. Once everything was packed away we all climbed into the car - carefully in my case due to my extremely heavy weight. Much to my surprise though the car didn’t even budge when I got in - nor is it even slightly leaning towards the side I’m sitting in. All this can tell me is that this thing is built to carry heavy loads - whether this is a specialized trait though I’m not sure.

Also...damn... The inside looks just as nice as the outside too.

The seats are very soft and comfortable, being made of a black fabric that I don’t recognize. There’s lots of buttons and knobs around the place as well, allowing the people inside to adjust the interior to make themselves more comfortable.

Currently I’m sitting in the right-rear side of the vehicle while the suit-case holding Trojan is on the left, Chimera is currently in the passenger seat while Velvett is obviously in the driver’s.

“Buckle your seatbelts!” She says, tapping the keys against a glowing blue light on the side of her steering wheel. Upon contact the car starts up, unlike the normally loud rumbles that a gasoline engine makes, the sound coming from this car is instead soft hum.

It took me a little bit to figure out how to put on a seat belt - to my embarrassment, but I managed to wrestle the thing into the slot.

With all of us secured in our seats, Velvett shifts the vehicle in drive...

...

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Pitiful creature.

Rotting from your mind.

Poisoned.

Wretched beyond recognition.

[WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE]

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Look at me.

Look at my eyes.

Look at the negative space that swirls within them.

You do not understand.

You will never understand.

You must die.

The ignorant have no place here.

You believe in nothing but lies.

You must die.

...

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I must ask you.

A question.

I know your answer.

Regardless I must ask.

I must hear your answer through your lips.

I must hear it spoken upon this space.

Listen to my question.

Answer me.

...