★ Empire of Angels ★ [1x1]

Autumn: *I was surprised when I was suddenly picked up off the ground by the much larger Seraphina. I hadn’t expected my spell to be as effective as it appeared to have been, the charizard being almost completely under my own influence. I didn’t like the power that I had over her, it felt too wrong* “erm, yeah, it’s just beyond that apple tree ahead of us” *I pointed with my muzzle in the direction before pacing towards it. Passing between the bushes and various other forest foliage until I suddenly entered an open clearing. Ahead of us was a small town, from a distance it didn’t appear like much, but from up close I could see that it was quite lively. It was the reason why I enjoyed visiting here. The streets were paved from cobblestone, the buildings made only from natural materials like wood and stone. Colourful lanterns hung over the streets, each with their own murals on them. The air smelled earthy and clear. Pokémon were actively bussling about despite the rain, many of which were heading over the tavern known as “Ponyta’s crossing”. This was the place that I was performing in. Undoubtedly Orion was already there, making friends with everyone who entered. He was a kind Pokémon, very charming with his innocent, almost naive demeanour. My face grew red as I thought about it* “W-well, we’re here Seraphina let’s get inside” *I hurriedly rushed inside, pushing through the doors into the lively tavern. The tavern was quite large, with several raised tables, bar stools, and a large stage that had musical equipment always prepared for guests. I took a moment to look around the dimly lit room, listening to the chattering of excited Pokémon until I both heard and saw Orion. The vaporeon was sitting at one of the circular tables close to the stage in the middle of the room. He was wearing his armour just as I was, though his spotted an emerald in the middle. He turned in my direction, his violet eyes meeting mine. He gave me a friendly smile and wave, I was expected to go on stage soon so I had no time to go and chat with him unfortunetely* “Seraphina, if you don’t mind my...friend...is sitting at that table over there, I’ve gotta go do something so why don’t you go and sit with him, and get some of that food I mentioned earlier, okay?” *I wasn’t sure if Seraphina had followed me in or not but I figured she was close behind me if anything*

 

Drake: “I see” *I continued to watch Kamaria who now seemed to have locked her gaze solely on me. A sense of awkwardness creeped through me as we both seemingly just stared at one another. I almost wished that Lunar was out here to help liven things up. I certainly wasn’t good at it* “er, you’re from the Kalos region right? What was growing up there like?” *I tried to initiate small talk again, but finally came up with some type of topic that could be more interesting for the both of us*

 

Orion: *I turned to face the Pokémon that had tapped my shoulder, noticing that she was a large Pokémon just from the shadow that she cast over me. She appeared nervous and uncomfortable, but there was something more that was wrong here. I could sense that she was being tampered with, Autumn must have used a spell on her for some reason* “Hi Seraphina, my names Orion. Nice to meet you” *I smiled ecstatically, my tail involuntarily wagging in response.* “oh, you didn’t scare me at all. Please, why don’t you take a seat, you seem tired” *I gestured with a paw to the chair across the table from me, wanting her to sit down and get comfortable* “So where did Autumn find a charming young lady as yourself? I hope you weren’t getting into any trouble that required a mystery dungeon explorer to rescue you” *I joked around, trying to get her to ease up a bit before I attempted to remove whatever manipulation spell Autumn had placed on her*

 

Orion: *I raised a paw and gestured to a semisage across the room, he was dressed in what would normally be called waiter attire. Upon noticing my request he silently dipped into the a back room, appearing moments later with a plate of food that resembled pasta with various types of dried chopped up berries and sauce. The semisage then made his way to the table and placed the plate of food, before nodding to me and returning to his post* “like that” *I replied curtly before returning to the original question* “well a mystery dungeon is an area in the world that is constantly changing, a strange place that is very dangerous. They’re filled with treasure and powerful Pokémon. Mystery dungeon explorers and rescuers like Autumn and I answer requests to find lost items, apprehend criminals, or rescue Pokémon in mystery dungeons. Perhaps you know Lily, she doesn’t live that far away from here and she’s one of the most well known explorers in this part of the region. Autumn and I are just visiting from Kanto, so we’re a bit better known over there” *I shrugged at the idea, even though I knew that Autumn and I were a bit more than better known around both this region and the Kanto region.

 

Xeno: *The sudden increase in energy that I received from Maxine was more than enough to give me the strength to find Seraphina. As my aura spread I quickly became aware of a multitude of auras around us, many of which I ignored as I could tell it wasn’t hers. I thought she would be alone and made sure to check any single Pokémon that were close enough in aura to Seraphina, but none of them were the right one. As I continued searching a sudden shift drew my attention, a large gathering of Pokémon within some kind of town. I focused on it, picking out individual Pokémon until I finally felt a sense of familiarity. I breathed out a sigh of relief as I had found Seraphina and knew that she was safe* “She’s in a town just south of here” *I was glad to know that she was safe as I had heard the rain start falling. I wouldn’t have known what to do if she wasn’t under shelter, I feared that I would have been too late. I turned in the direction of the tavern and started padding towards it, as I did so I turned to Maxine and softly said* “Thank you”

 

Drake: “Me?” *I took a moment to analyze her expression and the monotonous tone that accompanied her question. She knew something, it was obvious that this was the truth. It wasn’t worth it to lie to her, but I wouldn’t want to give her everything* “I was also born in the Kalos region, although the Kalos I knew was very different from what you know. Much more hostile I assure you, and far less filled with the food you’re speaking of. The landscape was beautiful, far more beautiful than any of the feats of engineering that are here now. As for everything else...” *my voice trailed off for a moment and a low rumbling growl instinctively resonated in my throat. It was like a bolt of lightning suddenly cut through my brain. It scattered memories, languages, emotions. My pupils contracted, leaving almost nothing but the golden iris. As I looked at the Noivern I had no recollection of her name. She didn’t look threatening, a perfect target. As I took a step forward I placed more weight in my claws to grip the wood which let out a chilling, high pitched snap which caused an immeasuareble amount of pain that shot along my spine like a hundred pin pricks. I was once again plunged into a state of confusion, shaking my head, the growl disappeared, and my breathing suddenly grew in rapidity. My mouth was open now to breathe, I felt like I couldn’t breathe through my nose at all, and I couldn’t remember anything that had happened up to the point in which Kamaria had asked the question* “I-I was born in the Alola region. I lived there for a few years and I wish that I could have stayed there. It’s one of the most beautiful regions in the world. It was as if it was always summer there. There were so many colors of flowers that were not only enchanting to look at, but had an aroma that could brighten anyone’s day. It was like living in another universe actually, everyone was kind and laid back, no one struggled for food or warmth. It was all I ever wanted. But my father and I had to move to the Hoenn region, I couldn’t imagine why. But that’s where I met Lily” *I realized that I wasn’t even looking at a Kamaria anymore and was fixated on some random point through the window. Everything was somehow blurry to me, to the point in which I couldn’t even see my own feet upon looking down. All I saw was some red (blood) on the claw in front of me and that It was stinging rather badly*

 

Autumn: *I padded away from the main crowd of Pokémon in the tavern, heading to a backstage area that was reserved for the performers that often played at night. The ‘bouncer’ an ursaring attempted to stop me as I walked but was quickly halted by the manager, a tropias names Adelina* “I’m sorry that I’m late, I needed to help someone who was lost in the woods” *I murmured apologetically. Adelina didn’t seem too upset and just nodded to the stage, she never was one to waste any words. From what I could tell, the stage had already been set up for my performance, the piano was already in place, the lights were dimmed enough for me to put on a show with my sorcery, and it seemed that most of the crowd already knew I was supposed to be here tonight. I took a steadying breath as I stood just outside of view of the crowd of Pokémon. As I stepped out from behind the red curtains is was as if everyone was watching me, I was familiar with the feeling, but it amazed me still how the moment I’m on stage everyone suddenly gets quieter. I hopped up onto the piano bench and allowed my paws to lightly slide across the pianos keys. I whispered the runic word for ‘illusion’. The symbol appeared in three places at the front of the stage, larger than any of the ones I had cast before. They took the shape of Pokémon, the one on the right, a vaporeon. The one on the left, a Leafeon. In the middle was an eevee. I originally was going to start my performance with a song known as “souls lament”, but I had decided now that I wanted to play a more upbeat song. The song I decided to play was known as “Destiny of Love”. As soon as I struck the keys on the piano the Illusions began to playfully bound around the room In what I would only describe as bliss. They were meant to tell a story with the songs that I had chosen to play. “Souls lament” included, which was now supposed to be played towards the end*

 

Orion: *I now understood what Autumn was thinking after she rescued Seraphina. A Charizard from the Kanto region was very rare, far too rare to be a coincidence. It still wasn’t right for her to have used her sorcery in this manner however, but I’m sure she felt that it was absolutely necessary to do so. I took a moment to let Seraphina eat, she seemed absolutely famished from what I could tell. Music erupted from the stage, accompanied by the dancing of fire around our heads. I swished my tail to the sounds of the music, I always loved the way Autumn played music. It was how we first met after all; however, the added light show was, painful. To avoid watching I ducked under the table, reaching for a saddlebag that was on the floor. It was filled with all sorts of trinkets. From necklaces, rings, armour, and small weapons. I had everything enchanted, my own sigil, my own runes. Luckily for Seraphina, I even had a necklace that was designed to counter minipulation spells. Seraphina would remember everything that happened and that it wasn’t her who did so. This was a sensitive issue. I pulled out the necklace, it was made of a mixture of obsidian and steel, one of my treasured items. It had numerous amounts of enchantment runes enscribed on it, but the mind manipulation rune was the reason for its creation. There was once a time that I was put under its control and I wasn’t a fan of it. The necklace was shaped like a vaporeon with a pair of wings. It was something I crafted after an encounter with a young enchanter named Lucius. He was proficient with that skill, almost terrifyingly so. I shook my head, refocusing on the task. I placed the necklace on the table and slid it over to Seraphina* “I want you to put this necklace on. This might sound strange to you, but you’re not yourself right now. Before you put this necklace on, I want you to look around, you’re safe. This is a public place with lots of good Pokémon. Autumn and I are rescuers, we’re not bad Pokémon. What Autumn did was meant to help you help yourself. Nothing more, nothing less. Please, don’t panic”. *I let go of my paw on the necklace and waiting for Seraphina to put it on, I made sure to pull out my mystery dungeon rescuer badge and make it visible to everyone in the tavern. If something went wrong I would want to be seen*

 

Drake: “What? How did that happen?” *I lifted my tender foot off the ground, I still could only barely see in front of me. My breath coming out in short rasps that rattled my entire body. I could feel that I was losing my balance, my legs feeling unsteady all of the sudden. I placed my foot down and fell onto my side. [Why is this happening to me?] I wondered. Then, like a sudden flash I remembered my past. Both of my pasts. However, I still couldn’t recall what it was that triggered all of what happened recently* “Do what you need to” *I mumbled to Kamaria, refusing to make eye contact*

 

Lily: “I wouldn’t worry too much. It shouldn’t take long for us to get there, I’m familiar with the town, and I know a couple of Pokémon that are supposed to be there tonight” *I said cheerfully. I had already planned on going to see them and now that I know she’s around them I’m sure she’ll be in good hands wherever she is in the town. Especially if they find her. I know they had a connection to Freyr and a Charizard like Seraphina would certainly draw attention to them. Perhaps it was time for me to open the chest he gave me some time ago*