#blackfog2024

[heroftruth]

"You know, coffee's on the second floor," Giovanni's voice alerts Hilda while Jack stands with uncanny idiosyncrasy of the dead man's behaviors.

"It's inadvisable to sleep. You're worrying me, sitting still like that. Coffee may be good for you. Koga's likely to lead a group meditation later, if that is also something you're interested in."

She doesn't know how long she's been sitting there, the light stone cradled in her arms, gaze fixated on it. The warmth against her skin has been soothing, but the lack of the dragon's consciousness in the back of her mind since she came to has been anxiety provoking. Years Reshiram has been there, a paternal voice, a constant companion, and right now there's nothing. Hilda can't dwell on it, can't focus too much on the gap or her chest begins to feel tight and her hands too shaky.

Giovanni's voice pulls her from her thoughts and causes her to lift her gaze to see Jack standing there, a posture reminiscent of him. It's simultaneously a relief and a reminder of the reality surrounding them. He's here, but his body is in tatters, and there's no guarantee they'll be able to save him. "I was just lost in thought I guess... I'm not used to how quiet my mind is right now." It's been too many years. She glances at the stone again before placing it carefully in her bag. This at least, is temporary thanks to Giovanni and Jack protecting the stone. Reshiram will wake in time, she's confident of it.

"Maybe, right now I don't think quiet is going to help me. I'll get some coffee though." The caffeine will help, soothing and familiar but also to keep her from falling asleep. "How are you holding up?"

[heroftruth]

The darkness covering Saffron City isn't natural.

Water is soaking her clothes, weighing her down. She keeps having to swallow down the fear that threatens to grow, they have a mission to finish. They're so close, two of the four pylons are up, and the third is right here. But as they continue to be surrounded, the reality of the danger they are in is continuing to set in. Gastly, the swarms, the claws... it's all around the four of them. Hilda knows, even as the youngest person of this group, that they're vastly outnumbered. Is there any way out of this?

Withdrawing Reshiram is a heavy blow that sinks her heart, even as she fights to remain focused on the task at hand. The last time the dragon's health had been expended was the castle, so many years ago and so many miles away.

It's hard to spot the others amidst the chaos, but she's able to see Giovanni throw something with such force behind the action. Realization of what the item is hits her swiftly. He's tossed Jack's pokeball away from the fight that's threatening to engulf them all. Dread fills her in a mere heartbeat, sending the Iron Valient away can only mean one thing, that he doesn't think they will survive this fight. If Giovanni, a man who has faced this entity more than once and lived doesn't think he is making it out...

They're going to fall here.

Despite her hands shaking at the thought, she manages to grasp Reshiram's pokeball tightly, eyes darting to the same direction he'd tossed Jack's. She's not going to make it out of here. This will be where she falls, and if she doesn't act now one of Unova's dragons is going to be lost here in the waters coating the streets of Saffron. Lost to the waters Black Fog is responsible for, lost thousands of miles away from the place the dragon is responsible for.

When her heart stops the dragon will revert back to that stone, and if it is lost here how will the person who succeeds her find it? The loss of Unova's dragons for centuries is not a piece of the region's history she wants to be repeated.

For one moment she needs to commit an action to the future of her own region. Because there will be one, there has to. Others will finish what they have started here and find a way to defeat Black Fog.

"Please, tell him to take care of the stone." The words leave her lips just before she follows suit, throwing Reshiram 's pokeball with as much strength as she can muster. The moment the sensation of the item against her fingertips is gone it feels as though her chest physically aches. The moment she can't see it anymore her heart shatters. It's as if a piece of her has been violently ripped away, devastation there is no time to dwell on. There's only a small comfort in Giovanni's agreement.

Hilda forces herself to turn away and focus her attention on the battle, forces herself to breathe. She'll have to trust that Jack will make it, that someone will take hold of the light stone and get it back to Unova when all of this is over, when others take down Black Fog. That Rosa will receive the stone.

There's nothing else to do but fight as long as she can.