Eternal Dream

Indie Multimuse; Sideblog to immortal-wrath. Sidebar by Nanneichii

[illusionary-flames-blog]

firetruth :

     Ophelia dropped Red into one of the chairs around the rounded meeting table and then moved to the back corner of the room. She fiddled with the coffee machine, pouring herself a cup of double shot expression before switching the mix to decaf and making a cup for Luna. After setting both cups down onto the table, Ophelia sat down next to Red.

     “Take a seat,” she said. “We might be here for awhile.”

     Rummaging around in her shoulder bag, Ophelia pulled out a deck of cards. Red needed no further prompting after having them set in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at Luna before turning back to the cards– which had suddenly disappeared.

     They reappeared on Red’s head, arranged like a crown. Each card glowed dimly as did the little boy’s eyes. He snickered.

     Teachers are lame.

     Ophelia ignored Red’s antics in favor of being serious. “Even if I wanted to,” she began, “I couldn’t tell you much about his past, because it would put him in danger. And, plus, some things are better off forgotten. But it’s not like he’s never had any training, I guess… he just hasn’t had a teacher.” Leaning back in her chair, Ophelia sighed. “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think what worked for you will work for him. 

     “He isn’t like you. He isn’t like anybody. If he wanted to, Red could destroy this entire building with us inside– and it would be easy for him.” She shrugged, seeming far too casual for the occasion. “Think of it this way: if power was skill, and psychics were baseball players, Red would be an all-star athlete.”

     Luna sat down, and sipped at her coffee, before setting it down and wagging her finger at Ophelia. “It’ll work. It’ll work because it works for everyone, not just psychics.”

     Digging through her pockets, she pulled out a small book. She opened it up, flipped through a few pages, and slid it over to Ophelia. The page she had opened up to was about meditation techniques. It was detailing comfortable ways of sitting for small children.

     “More than how to actually go about using your powers, we mostly deal with teaching each other mental security and compassion, so that we may refrain from seeing ourselves as ‘better’ than people without powers. As I said before, a psychic should value mental security above all else. That is what i was taught as a child.”

     Taking another sip of her coffee, she gestured for Merry to hop onto the table, where she began to chime softly, in curiosity.

     “Friendship and empathy are important, don’t you agree? If you lack these traits, you could grow into quite an awful person. It’s easy enough for a normal child to learn these traits by playing with other kids. But normal kids tend to be fearful of our kind, for the very reasons you just said. We don’t teach kids how their powers work specifically, because we tend to use them excessively anyways, as with your child speaking purely through telepathy so far.”

[illusionary-flames-blog]

firetruth :

     Ophelia waved her hand, easily accepting all of Luna’s requests. “I know a place that’ll suit your needs.” Torn between a smile and a grimace, the woman rubbed the back of her neck, obviously uncomfortable. “It’ll be better than here, at any rate. The middle of town is hardly the ideal spot for sensitive conversations.”

     After lifting Red onto her shoulders, Ophelia gestured for Luna to follow behind them. Several corners passed them by, the large purple buildings of Saffron looming over them, watching with squinty window eyes. Eventually Ophelia stopped in front of a building which was very obviously not a coffee shop. She turned around to face Luna.

     “No one will bother us in here,” she said to her. “Plus, your… friend… should be able to fit through all the doors. They’re made with Arcanine in mind, so they’re pretty big– even the backdoor is big. It doesn’t really look like a backdoor at all.” 

     Motioning toward the stairs, Ophelia pressed the blue button next to the door after climbing them. The pager beeped twice before someone on the other line picked up.

     “Saffron PD, how may we help y– …Ophelia? Is that you? Y’know, it’d be helpful if you called in advance sometimes. Sure, you can come right on in. I’ll open the door for you.”

     The lock clicked and then the doors opened. Ophelia shot a glance at Luna before walking inside. “You can tell me more about this teacher business on the way to the conference room, alright? Let’s go.”

     Hopping on top of Xavius, the Metang began floating along behind Ophelia. Luna looked around at all the people walking by, giving her strange looks. They likely weren’t used to seeing something like Metang, nor a trainer casually riding their Pokemon through a town.

     Arriving, Luna frowned. This was not the kind of place that served coffee, as far as she knew. While Kanto was culturally different, that much was certain, she could say with almost certainty that this was not a coffee place. Before she could question Ophelia, the voice responded and opened up the doors.

     Hopping back off of her partner, she followed Ophelia inside, looking around. This was her first time inside of a police station(at least, that’s what she was assuming it was), so she was curious. She was eventually led into the conference room, where she would stand behind a chair, unsure of if she was allowed to sit or not.

     Resting her arms on the back, she looked over at Ophelia and Red, and tilted her head slightly. “So you’ve never really heard about what a psychic teacher is like?”

[illusionary-flames-blog]

firetruth :

     Red listened without comment while Luna spoke, until suddenly she was done, and he was grinning mischievously. His eyes began to glow a feverish yellow. The only thing that stopped him from doing anything with it was Ophelia’s hand on his shoulder. She frowned at him in disapproval. 

     “Hold it right there, young man. This is no time for shenanigans.” After giving Red’s shoulder a squeeze, Ophelia offered Luna an apologetic look. “He’s a good kid, but he’s got a rebellious streak, too. It isn’t easy raising someone who can throw you across the room without lifting a finger, I’ll tell you that much. Does that answer your question?”

     Pouting, Red tugged on his mother’s sleeve. I said I was sorry, he muttered. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to.

     Ophelia ruffled her son’s hair. “I know,” she said. “I’m just kidding.” After straightening up, she turned her attention back to Luna. A troubled frown pulled at the corners of her lips. “He doesn’t have a teacher. The only one capable of dealing with his level of power is Sabrina, and she’s out of the question.” Her expression turned dark. “I might not be a part of the force anymore, but if she ever came near him, I’d take her out in an instant.”

     The street was quiet. Most of the passersby had thinned out since the start of Ophelia and Luna’s conversation, however a few remained, lingering, listening in on what they could.

     “Let’s grab a coffee,” Ophelia said suddenly. “My treat.”

     Luna laughed awkwardly, as Ophelia stopped Red from using his powers. The lack of discipline in that regard began to give her an idea that perhaps he was untrained, a concern that was soon confirmed. Xavius behind her made some concerned noises.

     Luna sighed. “No teacher, huh? That’s frightening to hear.” She muttered under her breath. When Ophelia went on with her comment about Sabrina, her curiosity was peaked, but she didn’t ask anything on the matter. She looked to Xavius and nodded, in a silent gesture to make sure they knew to remember this for later, so she could look into it.

     The offer of coffee caught her off guard. Sure, it was normal for someone from Hoenn to offer to grab something to eat or drink when meeting someone new, but Ophelia had just mentioned that not everyone from Kanto was as friendly. Thinking on it for a bit, she nodded.

     “That sounds nice, but a few requests. Can we drink somewhere outside, so Xavius doesn’t have to go back into their ball, and can I get decaf. When you have powers relating to the mind, you don’t want to have sudden bursts of energy if at all avoidable.”

[illusionary-flames-blog]

firetruth :

     Ophelia watched Luna closely. Years of being in the Kanto Police Department had made it easy for her to tell whenever someone was lying, but this girl just looked genuinely confused. So either she was a really good actor or she was telling the truth.

     “From… Hoenn?” Now that she could get a closer look, Ophelia had to admit that this girl looked like a tourist. It was probably the outfit. “Huh. Well, I guess that explains your accent. And your shorts.” Scrunching up her nose, the woman muttered, “I haven’t seen anyone wear those in at least ten years. Not around here, anyway.”

     Snorting, Ophelia shifted Red to her left arm and then offered Luna her right for a handshake. “You can call me Miss Bellerose,” she said primly. “Let me offer you some free advice: around here, it’s a bad idea to approach random strangers. I don’t know what it’s like down there in Hoenn, but up here in Kanto, not everyone is as friendly as I am.”

     When Luna quieted, Red’s eyes widened. How’d you do that? He squirmed in his mother’s arms until she let him down. Hey! Sticking an accusatory finger in Luna’s face, he continued, You talked to me! Not at me, like everybody else.

     Luna laughed nervously as Ophelia commented on her outfit. It was tacky and outdated, sure, but it was what most of the psychics back at Mossdeep wore. Shaking it off quickly, she gave her an awkward smile.

     “I’m sure!” She made a quick mental note that Ophelia hadn’t really been too openly friendly, at least by Hoenn standards. Returning back to her default smile, she knelt down to get down to Red’s level.

     Because I’m just like you! I come from a place where there’s lots of people who can do this! Her smile brightened, seeing his excitement. She had met a few psychics in her travels who had grown up alone, and were starving for similar people to talk to.

     “Your son’s a sweetheart, ma’am. Has he displayed any level of telekinesis, too? I hope he hasn’t broken anything by accident. What’s his teacher like?”

     Luna, having grown up in a community of psychics, was used to the concept of the older people teaching the younger responsibility with their powers, and properly control them. She’d never met a Kanto psychic before, however.

[illusionary-flames-blog]

firetruth :

     Ophelia held her son’s hand while they walked through the crowded streets of Saffron. He appeared to be doing fine, chewing on the chocolate bar she had given him with vigor, but she knew him better than that. He was nervous; his eyes darted every which way while his shoulders remained rigid, his grip on her pinkie unusually tense.

     Lifting the small boy into her arms, Ophelia asked him, “Are you sure about this?” But he wasn’t spineless, and so he nodded, looking off into the distance toward Silph Co. Ophelia sighed. “Alright, big man. We’ll follow through. Just know that if you change your mind, I won’t be mad, okay? We can always visit Silph next year.”

     The two of them pressed forward. Red wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck and stared straight ahead in silence. Until, of course, Luna appeared, and he snapped away from her. He buried his face in Ophelia’s neck.

     Go away.

     Narrowing her eyes, Ophelia turned her body away from Luna while keeping her eyes locked on the mysterious girl’s face. “What’s it to you?” she said coldly. “We’re not here to play with Sabrina’s goons, if that’s what you’re implying.” 

     Red peeked at Luna. 

     You’re weird looking. Why don’t you just mind your own business, weird lady?

     Luna tilted her head slightly at the mention of Sabrina. She knew who she was, of course, she made it a point to know of all the big name psychics in the world. She looked over to Xavius for answers, who just made noncommital noises. Turning back to Ophelia, she frowned.

     “I’m... sorry? What does Sabrina have to do with this? Did she do something?” She stopped to try thinking of what it could possibly be, when she turned her thoughts to the voice in her head. So she was right, it was the untrained boy.

     “I guess I should introduce myself! My name is Luna Caro, I come from Hoenn! I’m looking into info about the connection between psychic types and psychic people! I could feel your son’s powers reaching out, perhaps accidentally, and wanted to check it out!”

     She smiled sweetly at Red, before using her own telepathy. I’m sorry if I scared you! I don’t mean to. Looking back to Ophelia, she continued.

     “I don’t really have any connections with anyone in Kanto, so I’m sorry if my kind has a bad rep here.”

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     Luna stretched, groaning slightly as she did. She had just caught a long ride on Xavius’ back as the Metang flew her all the way from Vermillion to Saffron. Thanking her partner, she moved to recall them, before getting stopped. They wished to remain out, and she wasn’t going to force them into their ball. Letting Chingling out for some fresh air, she began to walk through the town.

     She looked at a scrap of newspaper as they went, with Chingling reading it from her shoulder. It told of a police raid on the Rocket headquarters in this very city three years ago. While this normally would not have interested her, she heard tell of a Pokemon named Mewtwo being created nearby. A man-made psychic type... It could provide her with some answers.

     Absently dodging around other pedestrians to Chingling’s chimes, she paused. There was a strange feeling in the back of her mind. Normally, one might brush it off, but it was clearly someone’s powers acting up. Nodding to her Metang, she hopped back onto them, and flew over to where the feeling came from, seeing a lady with her child. Once they arrived, she hopped off their back, landing directly in front of the lady.

     “Ah, uh, would you mind terribly answering a question for me? I have a nagging feeling, because of a feeling I got a few blocks down, that one of you may have untrained psychic powers. Is that right?”

[illusionary-flames-blog]

@kollektsiya-kharaktera​

     Fujiko sighed, looking around. It had been some time since she had spent a prolonged period of time in a place that actually had natural lighting. So long, in fact, that she could only manage to go out during the evening, for fear of hurting her eyes until they’ve gotten more used to sunlight overall.

     While she was groaning under her breath, her daughter was bounding happily around her, humming cheerfully. Looking up at the sky, she pointed excitedly at the stars, pulling on her mother’s arm to get her attention.

     Smiling wearily at her, Fujiko looked forward, noticing someone else walking in their direction. Likely just another person out on an evening stroll, so she gently led Lucia to the side of the road, giving the other lady a tired smile and a nod.

[firetruth-blog]

     Hilbert raised an eyebrow at Mikayla’s awkward attempt to pet Maple. This your first time seein’ a ’mon like her? he asked. You don’t gotta be afraid, honest. She’s a big girl, but she don’t mean no harm, even if she’s a li’l surly sometimes.

     Maple rolled her eyes, but Hilbert just smiled at her and ran his hand along her snout. The deer bent her head forward, leaning into her trainer’s touch with a vaguely pissed-off expression, much like how a tsundere anime character would accept affection from a friend.

     Then, after taking a step back, Hilbert flashed a thumbs-down at Maple. She shook her head. Hilbert repeated the command, but she simply shook her head again, stubbornly refusing to lay down. Side-eyeing Mikayla, Hilbert gave her a look which clearly said, See what I mean? Surly.

     The boy reached into his pack and then silently tossed Maple one of her favorite snacks: a Pecha leaf. She laid down immediately afterward, crunching happily on her treat, looking smug.

     Hilbert climbed onto her back. She already had a saddle tied around her middle, so he had no trouble getting comfortable before offering his hand to Mikayla and helping her up. If somethin’ crops up, he wrote, and you wanna get off, just gimme a holler. Maple ain’t gonna buck you off or nothin’ tho’, so don’t fret! This here’s a no frettin’ zone, ya hear? ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨

     After stowing his notebook in his pocket and picking up the reigns, Maple stood. She shot a glance at Hilbert, and he nodded, his head tilting toward the farmhouse and, beyond that, the town.

[illusionary-flames-blog]

    Mikayla sat on the saddle, shifting around in front of Hilbert until she was comfortable, then sighed heavily. It was in times like this that she really felt like a little kid. She was old, damnit! ... By human standards, at least, she was only a young adult in her own standards.

    As the Sawsbuck ran along, she took the time to look around. It’d been a while since she’d been to this world, but she didn’t think she’d ever been to this region. Sawsbuck was something completely unfamiliar to her, at that, so she just shrugged gently and decided to go along with the flow.

    They had made it a considerable distance along when a bright flash of yellow blasted the land in front of them. Off to the side, a raging Zebstrika was furiously kicking at the dirt, huffing at them. Something seems to have riled her up, and the area around them would tell them that she’d been rampaging for quite some time.

    Mikayla reached onto her belt, and grabbed her Pokeball, but hesitated. What if Slash wasn’t ready? Furthermore, this was an electric type, and she remembered how hard it was to battle Wattson over in Hoenn. She frowned deeply, and remained frozen for a few moments too long.

    The electric type charged at them, cloaked in flame.

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     The deathly pale woman walked slowly through the trees, reminiscing about when this was a lively place that she and her friends would play together in. Looking off in the distance, there was nothing but a dense cloud of mist. She sighed softly, sad that it was so dreary around her.

     Sure, the mist covered the sky in these parts, making it safe for her to walk around even during the day, but she’d like to be able to see more than five feet in front of her. As she was walking, her foot hit something soft.

     Bending over, she investigated, only to realize it was a vampire. Sighing, she picked the unconscious man up, and lay him over her back. Though he was taller than her, her strength was great. Within a few hours, they arrived at the collapsed fort, left by the mortal races ages ago.

     Placing Mika on one of the old, broken beds, she sat to wait for his awakening. She was used to sitting in place for hours, so they may be here a while.

[illusionary-flames-blog]

Fun Fact:

when designing Mikayla’s animalistic mannerisms, rather than just shrugging and saying whatever goes, i actually have been referencing the behaviors and diets of dogs and cats to see what could realistically fly

and i learned that she can eat cooked potatoes, but if chips/fries are too salty, it’s bad for her

and so are raw potatoes

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     Mikayla sits to the side of the room, absentmindedly eating a bag of saltless chips, wondering how she managed to warp herself to a random world. She was too comfortable to get up, though.

[starlitsnow-blog]

Rii landed onto the earth with a light grunt, and looked up in time to witness the dragon fall with some kind of strange grace onto Frank’s back. The cow in question stopped munching only to moo vaguely in response, and the sage grinned. “Heya, sweetie,” she spoke gently to her long time friend while walking over and met the cow palm-to-snout. “Still feelin’ under the weather? Poor thing. Wanna duke it out with your nemesis ‘nd see if it helps you out?”

Frank’s ear only twitched. Rii gave another pat.

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     The small dragon stared at the cow for a bit, seemingly in a trance, then looked across the field at Rii’s bull, before letting out a drawn out sound of realization. She absently rubbed the cow, before turning over to her wife and frowning at her.

     “Listen, I know I’m technically a monster, but even I wouldn’t fight a pregnant lady. It’s just not something you do.”

[firetruth-blog]

     The falling sun caused the sky to darken and the land to cool. Hilbert rubbed the goosebumps on his arms absently, but frowned at the prospect of this small girl having to travel through the cold without a coat. If they didn’t have to walk, it wouldn’t be so bad, but–

     Hold it, he wrote. Ma’am, we’re in luck. Now, yer fit as a fiddle, ain’t no doubt about that, but I figure there’s an easier way to get t’where we’re goin’. A devious look crossed his eye. After reaching into his backpack, Hilbert pulled out a Pokeball with a pancake sticker on it.

     A Sawsbuck appeared in a flash of red light. She shook her leafy head– which towered above Hilbert and Mikayla– before padding at the ground with her hooves. This here is Maple, Hilbert told Mikayla while offering the deer a gentle pat on the shoulder. But you can call her Syrup, if you’ve got a hankerin’ for it. She don’t mind.

     Maple Syrup snorted. 

     She’s a good girl. We can ride her, if you’d be alright with that. She giddy-ups quick, even tho’ she ain’t no horse, I swear. (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     The girl opened her mouth, but closed it again. She felt slightly bad that the Sawsbuck was going to have to carry her around, but she also didn’t want to turn him down, as it was getting dark. Now, she wasn’t scared of the dark, but nighttime meant cold, and cold could be lethal to her if they were in the wrong part of the world.

     She awkwardly pat Maple’s snout, not quite sure how to pet one(All her time in this world was spent in Hoenn, after all). She shifted around nervously, seemingly scared of the beast. In actuality, however, she was just trying to decide on how to act.

     It was getting cold, she was stuck with a mute country boy who oddly wrote in his accent(though that was harmless), and a Pokemon she had no idea how to treat. She walked over to her side to try climbing on, before realizing she was too short, and frowning. She’d normally boost herself up short rises with her tail, but she clearly couldn’t do that in front of a human.

     Flustered, she muttered under her breath. “Could you, uh... Maybe help me get on? Climbing’s not my strong suit.”

[starlitsnow-blog]

Cocoa ate contentedly at the pile of bread rolls at on her plate, though she was still anxious and hyper-fixated on the cafeteria. Large spaces without something to concentrate on made her nervous, so she was glad that she could at least have her favorite food to think about. Eating alone was nerve-wracking.

Upon the arrival of her guest, she blinked in surprise and halted her chewing. The dragon waited for the other to speak to her and then go through the awkward process of conveying her affliction, but… It never came? As the other became less tense, she rubbed at her arm and waved shyly. ’… Her name was… Pyrrha? I think… She seems nice, and she’s pretty ‘nd doesn’t make me say anything…’

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     Pyrrha frowned at her, but went back to eating for a bit, letting the thoughts but her for a small while. She was pretty sure Cocoa just didn’t at all remember who she was. She wouldn’t remember who Cocoa was, if so many damned people didn’t think of her so often.

     A few moments passed, before Pyrrha got fed up, and swallowed. “Of course I ain’t gonna make you say anything. I know what you mean to say anyways, so. Go ahead and start screaming or whatever bullshit people do.”

     She was a little flattered that Cocoa called her pretty, however. Improved her mood, even if only a little.

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     The psychic stared in dismay at the cafeteria, seeing that her usual seat by the window was removed. A quick burst of effort told her that Aoi had removed it in an effort to get her and Asuna to socialize more with the other residents of this place. Cursing the Kappa, she made her way over to a relatively lonely table, with Cocoa being the only other one there. She’d rather be alone, but that wasn’t an option.

     Sitting across from her, she began picking at her food, her mind clouded with negative thoughts. She hated being around other people, because almost everyone grew to hate her due to her mind reading powers. She’d occasionally glance up at Cocoa warily, making sure she wasn’t staring with hatred or fear.

     Honestly surprised to see no such thing, even after a few minutes, Pyrrha loosened up. She still refused to talk, at least for now, but she no longer looked like she was about to scream.

[starlitsnow-blog]

      Letting out a small ‘pfft’ at her dramatics, Rii grabbed her wife’s small hands and pulled her up to a standing position as she rose herself. “Maybe seeing his old foe ‘ll thrust some spirit back inta him, yeah? Just don’t tussle too much.”

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     “I make no promises. Such a villain deserves no mercy.” Though her tone remained serious, she had a very genuinely happy smile. She started to pull Rii along towards the floating island. Though she jokes around, she did very much like playing with Rii’s animals.

     It had even been a few weeks since she’d gotten a chance to play with Frank. Once they arrived by the island, she wrapped her arms around Rii’s waist from behind, and began flapping her wings to get some lift. Once in the air, she flew her up to the island, and dropped her off at the edge, then dive bombing the poor cow. Naturally, she made sure to get rid of her heavier dragon parts to not hurt the animal.

[firetruth-blog]

     Hilbert cracked a smile. Well golly. Pardon me, li’l lass. ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ After casting a glance over his shoulder, at the farmhouse cresting the horizon, he tapped his pen against the notebook. 

     I reckon we’re by my house, he wrote. Ain’t no city for miles, but there’s a town a ways down the road. I can take y’there, if you’d like. Those shoes you’ve got better be for walkin’, tho’, ’cuz we’ll need to cross a couple o’hills to get there. （＊〇□〇）……！

[illusionary-flames-blog]

     The small girl looked over at the farmhouse. She frowned slightly as she fought the urge to torment to livestock, but managed to overcome her impulses, and smiled back up at Hilbert. It’d been a while since she’d gotten such straightforward kindness from a stranger.

     “I’m fine with, egh.... Walking a few miles.” Though she sounded upset at the concept of traveling so far without transportation, she was mostly upset that she couldn’t just fly there. Absently patting the lone Pokeball on her belt, she nodded at him, letting him know she was ready.