[IC] SoA-Ep1: Passage

[Chevaleresse]

Yuuki sighed and slumped downward into a sitting position, frustration and despair with the situation beginning to set in. "I came here to do research, and now I'm likely to end up imprisoned for the rest of my natural lifespan or worse," he said in a dejected tone. He stared at the deck as he pondered the situation. Police after me, not likely to accept any explanation I have. A strange man and a stranger woman that almost don't seem to follow the same rules as the rest of us. A cult or some other shadowy that the last is apparently opposed to. My life has grown much more complex in the last hour than I could have ever anticipated.

[Hiss13]

Yuzuki started at the incoming craft. She had already long since accepted that she was past the point of no return. "Well…it's not like they saw our faces," she said so that the others could hear. "Perhaps the thing can be shot down. Inertia dictates that it can't change directions that easily considering that it's already moving quickly."

[Sutoratosu]

Stranger

"Well you saw my plan get shot to hell. Bird Jesus Christ but I wish I could keep things within legal bounds. You know how likely our chances are to be league champions AND convicts? Jack shit, I'll tell you that".

"Really?" The hooded woman couldn't help but laugh at that, just under her breath. "Really, after everything that just happened, and you're concerned about that, of all things? Is that really the one thing that got your attention the most out of all this? Not the fact that you somehow managed to just kill a being almost as old as the continents themselves? Or that it's body literally faded away when it died? Or that it had the ability to wield two opposing elements equally well?How strange..." She still leaned against the railing, a few black locks peeking out from under the hood of her coat and trailing in the wind, eyes fixed to the vast expanse of sea on the starboard side, just where she had been since Nikki's little escapade with the police. The Volcanion slaying aside though, there was still the question of what to do about the vessels tailing them. She could take care of it herself... but chances were that the ghost masquerading as a man already had this exact outcome accounted for. And hadn't there honestly been enough fire and destruction for a day? or possibly two or three...?

And how right she was... how right she was indeed.

There, sitting atop the superstructure, was none other than his Gengar... taking aim at their pursuers... and unleashing her trickery.

((Everyone))

The change in the sea behind them was sudden. One moment, normal, bright as day, with the half dozen Vermillion police vessels still fervently gaining speed. The next... all that could be seen where their would be captors had once been was the thickest, bleakest cover of night any of the veteran trainers had ever seen. The transition between the two realms, the sheer difference in illumination and atmosphere... the contrast of the bright hours of early morning which they now tread under, and the pitch black blindness of midnight which the authorities now suffered from confusion and disorientation in...

Whatever this cover was, it was unnatrually generated. That much was for certain. And just as certain as that...was the fact that it had also taken care of their legal troubles. They were all as good as free... free as a bird.

Or rather, as free as they could be given the fact they were stuck on a vessel out in the middle of nowhere with a strange man who acted more like a phantom and obviously knew far more than he let on... and a woman for whom the phantom had vouched as being among the strongest on earth, yet from the sound of her voice seemed to be only around their own ages...

But on the other hand... freedom was never free.

One gets whatever degree they paid for, afterall.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Steele breathed deeply. It had been too long a day dealing with an insufferable bird and these.... very strange folk. She felt like she jsut wanted to sleep already. She wondered if i was just a side effect of the unnatural darkness looming overhead. Isamu was back in his ball, probably sleeping the lazy ass. She sighed... he was such a handful. However, he was strong it's why she kept him around. They had a bond not many would understand. A pact of understanding, a warrior's bond. In such it'd never be broken despite how easily they got on each other's nerves. One might think they hated each other at a glance, but anyone worth their salt would know it was a friendship that could be broken by nothing. An Iron Bond. The Steele woman and her Iron Bird. A tag team feared by some. They were adapt fighters, even if Isamu was a slacker.

Steele found the closest thing to a chair she could on the deck and sat down looking out into the horizon. She wondered where this boat would take them. Though she did know it's true destination, she'd never been there. So, it was still a great mystery. Steele didn't like mystery lying around unsolved. It's why she traveled so much, she just always felt compelled to be moving her feet towards some goal. The only place for her was past the horizon. One knew it was impossible to ever truly reach the horizon, but, Steele couldn't be helped to try. She'd been told many things she did were impossible. She did them with ease. And so she stared over the starboard side of the ship watching the Horizon, watching them near a new place, a new journey. She always looked towards the horizon, for it held the future. Perhaps she would get closer to it this time. Though... she knew that the answer was no, she couldn't help but think it. She laughed at herself, audibly, not really caring if anyone heard her. It was a silly thought. And yet, a human one. Though, it more fitting a scholar, an explorer, a philosopher. Not a warrior. Then again... what were warrior but philosophers of war? She held her cane in her lap, straight across as she sat prim and proper. Even her sitting form was poised and disciplined. It was evident she had remarkable control over her body. She looked like she would be ready to pounce at any moment, ready to strike. It aired on the edge of her relaxation. Her face soft and serene by comparison of the rest of her form. She nearly forgot anyone else was there, as she pondered what the future might hold. That was more fascinating to her than really anything else. People weren't for her. They rarely understood the path of a warrior. So, she didn't really care they were there and more or less pretended they weren't there for the time being. it wasn't that she didn't want to, it's just she didn't really feel the urge to talk to any of them of her own volition. So, she sat and watched the horizon move in the distance instead.

[Chim]

Joey stared with interest at the mysterious man as he disappeared from view. “So that Gengar is his...” the young trainer muttered. “Interesting. He could be the person we're looking for Ishmael. We might be able to give us a clue how to break this... limit we've reached.”

Ishmael roared in disagreement. In his eyes they hadn't reached a limit at all. It were his trainer's needless doubts that kept him from reaching higher levels. If only he could get that through his dumb human's skull.

Unfortunately for the Sea Serpent his trainer wasn't listening. Instead Joey made an attempt to follow Khan when his companions started to discuss something, followed by that Gengar's display of powers. It was enough to distract Joey for a second and make him lose sight of Khan. 'Dammit! Just when I wanted to ask him a few questions.” He was about to ask Khan's whereabouts to whomever he could find, when his eye fell onto an unfamiliar hooded woman. She looked surprisingly calm under the circumstances.

Joey quickly turned on his heel and made his way over to the mysterious woman. In his haste he even almost knocked over Steele. “Hey there, Miss, the name is Joey. And who might you be?” he said when he reached his hooded target, completely unaware that he almost ran over the Ice Queen.

[Sutoratosu]

Joey ((and possibly Johanna))

Yet another one who doesn't seem even the least bit phased or bothered by any of it either. Hmmm... Maybe they're all even stranger a breed than I originally thought. "Valeria." She answered, glancing at joey. "Valeria Ettna. I'm what you might call... a member of higher administration. For all intents and purposes, I'm supposed to keep an eye on Khan for the time being." The water Trainer caught a glimpse of her In the increasing light of the sunshine overhead, transitioning from early to mid morning. Long, silken locks of Raven Black hair parted to frame an olive skinned, diamond shape face. Thin, dark brows sat just above brilliantly Violet, round eyes that, in the light of sun, shone with a strange sort of beauty behind them, almost exotic in nature as they stared at him. Her nose sloped in a gentle curve, culminating in a button shaped profile and tip. Then just as quick as he caught it, she turned her gaze to the others within his ragtag travelling party.

"Speaking of whom, I'm sure you've already met him; you had to have since you're standing here now. Knowing how the captain and owner of this ship generally is, Jackson himself would never have let you onboard today, not unless he was overruled or physically forced to, that is."

[Darvan Korematsu]

A sudden chill shivered down the spine of Felix. He continued to traverse through the shadow-strewn hallways of the burnt out ship, trying to find the other wayward travelers from earlier or perhaps even the captain. He'd decided to give up on pursuing that Blaziken, as ensuring the safety of the other travelers was priority number one. He peered through one of the fogged up portholes, and to his unbeknownst surprise, the horizon, or at least what little he could see of it, turned a murky hazed violet.

"Shit. I don't like the look of this," he muttered to himself as he pocketed Pory's Pokeball and beckoned for his loyal automaton to follow shortly behind in his wake. He tiptoed up a small flight of stairs, and upon reaching the top, squinted and barely made out, he assumed, the shape of a young woman. Presumably on her knees. "Hey," Felix called out, "You okay there?"

[Chevaleresse]

Yuuki shook his head and stood up. "Janah, feel free to relax. I believe we are not in any immediate danger, for now at least. I won't speak as to what the future holds." He peered about, trying to penetrate the unnatural murk surrounding him. His partner did not seem comfortable with the conditions in the slightest; the Gallade still seemed ready to leap into combat at a moment's notice, gaze darting this way and that as he remained alert. There has to be some source of steady light on this ship left intact. He set off in search of such, heading toward the interior of the ship.

[Hiss13]

"I guess that's better than shooting the pursuers down…" Yuzuki muttered to herself. She then looked towards her Pokeball and realized that now was probably the best time to tend to Natsuki's own injuries. "Is there a recovery machine here or anyone capable of healing another Pokemon? Natsuki isn't in the best of shape after that explosion." She asked to everyone in the vicinity.

[Sutoratosu]

Joey, Yuzuki, maybe Johanna, who knows?

"Is there a recovery machine here or anyone capable of healing another Pokemon? Natsuki isn't in the best of shape after that explosion."

Valeria gave a wolfish smirk beneath her hood at the inquiry, though Joey was the only one close enough to actually see it. Before the water type trainer could answer the earlier comment about Khan, she was speaking up yet again. "If a healer is what you need, then you're in a lot of luck. I happen to specialize in just that field."

She turned away from the railing and walked over to the girl. The smirk on her face was a bit less wolfish and more friendly than anything else as she approached. "Go on, send her out. I'll fix her up." Then turning her attention to address any of the other trainers nearby. "And I can do the same for anyone else here who needs it too."

Not even as soon as the declaration was made though, the sigh of the dragon was ringing through her mind, clear as a bell. "Showing off now, are we? For someone who's supposed to keep these types of matters underwraps, you seem to have little qualms flaunting my power..."

"If I really wanted to flaunt your power, I would've used it to vaporize those boats and the entire area around them a few minutes ago." She chimed back. "and is there really any point in trying to hide it now? They probably already saw a few things from Khan's bag of tricks...if you don't want to though, then fine... I'll use my own for it."

"No, no... wouldn't want you to break a sweat or do any actual work now, would we? Give me a minute..."

[Hiss13]

In a rare moment, Yuzuki gave a small and short-lived smile. It was a huge sign of relief seeing as Natsuki was likely the most injured Pokemon out of the group. "Natsuki. Come back out." She said, opening the Pokeball containing her partner. From it came the injured Gardevoir, kneeling while wincing in pain. She looked to Yuzuki wondering what was going on. "It's alright. She's going to heal you." Yuzuki reassured it before turning back to the hooded woman and nodding.

[Sutoratosu]

Valeria, shepard of fire!!!!

Valeria didn't miss a beat, flexing her fingers in preparation. Her eyes fixed intensely on Yuzuki, reaching out a hand towards the green crest of the psychic's head "Alright. Let's go then." "Are you ready?"

"Just do it. The sooner we end this charade, the better."

Without a single word more, she placed her palm against the crest, giving the fairy the most comforting smile she could as whatever she was doing started. At first, for just a few miliseconds, there was nothing. Then it came. Like a storm of winter. White embers, bright emebers, warm emebers, yet not burning embers. Circulating in the air around her fingers, churning with a greater and greater intensity until finally, they merged into a silent inferno around the woman... and Natsuki. White Fire, bright fire, warm fire, yet not burning fire. No... rather than burning, all the gardevoir felt was a strange force flowing through, around her. A power beyond what normally existed in this world, a power greater than she'd ever experienced. A Power that if it wanted to, in a fury could melt entire mountain ranges, vaporize whole oceans, set the sky itself ablaze... but yet power that was just as gentle as it was formidable. So gentle, that with the same instance in which it could unleash such unbridled wrath and destroy entire continents, it could at the same time operate... with such grand precision and care that it could also heal entire armies and burn away the epidemic outbreaks of whole nations.

And Natsuki could tell... that this woman before her was not the source of her power. She may appear to be the one conjuring the flames, but there was another there, where she was... another who occupied the same space at her, and yet somehow at the same time, did not occupy the same space. And that someone... no, that something... was something worth fearing. Something higher than mortals. Something of a whole nother magnitude of order above the realm of the living and the dead alike. And yet, for some reason, she did not sense this prescence trying to dominate the woman's soul... it was as if...

as if they were instead working in tandem. It was strange... almost like... pokemon and trainer when a true bond exists. But it wasn't. This... whatever this was, it was far more profound. far more binding... wait... binding...

"And that's it..." Valeria finally spoke up. The gardevoir looked surprised when it was finally over... Valeria paid it no mind, only turning to the trainer. The veyr fires which she had just used for... what could be described as a miracle- there were no known powers in this world, whether pokemon move or otherwise, which could take the destructive nature of the element of fire... and juxtapose and subvert it to such a point that it healed rather than destroyed- now began to slowly flicker and fade as they died down once again.

"It took a bit more than I expected, Exon must've done upped his training since he..." She paused, the friendly smile she wore fading into something darker, sadder. "um... nevermind. Anyways, your friend here is the best possible condition she can be, I guarantee it."

"Don't blame yourself. The boy made his decision when he deserted and left with her. If Khan hadn't struck first, you would've had to do it yourself someday... and seeing his corpse on that day would have only been a thousand times harder than it is now."

"Oh please, he didn't do this for me or anyone else." Valeria muttered to herself aloud, though it was barely enough to be audible to anyone but Joey...as to who precisely the line was directed at though, was entirely uncertain. "He enjoyed every moment he was killing him."

"...what had to be done, had to be done. I am sorry."

[Chim]

Joey stared with open mouth at Valeria's performance. Immediately all the questions he wanted to ask her about Khan were replaced by new ones. He was stil trying to decide which one to ask first, while doing his best not to blurt them all out at once, when he heard her mutter. By the looks of it she didn't seem to be talking to Yuzuki or anyone else.

Joey's eyes squinted a little as he stared at Valeria. He placed the remark about the killing in the back of his head. It was probably best to ask her about it when there was no audience. In the end the water type trainer settled for a more urgent question. “How the hell did you just do that?”

[Sutoratosu]

Valeria

"There are some beings who are not bound by the laws of this world." Valeria answered, though her gaze remained fixed on the gardevoir. "It is through their power that things like what I've just done are possible. Things like using fire to heal and replenish instead of kill and consume." She paused at that moment, seeming to consider something she hadn't before. Then turning her attention back to Joey "What exactly happened once you guys were allowed onto the ship?"

[Hiss13]

"Are you feeling okay, Natsuki."

Natsuki simply turned back and nodded with a smile. With that, Yuzuki let her shoulders drop and sighed. "That's a relief." She said before petting Natsuki on the head.

She then turned to Valeria as she explained in a vague manner how the healing worked. Yuzuki found herself a bit puzzled though. It was not like she had not heard of religious symbolism where fire represented life force or health. After all, fire was central to a lot of mankind's own development. But the concept of using fire to heal was something Yuzuki was definitely skeptical of.

Even though Valeria was looking towards Joey when she asked what had happened, Yuzuki decided that there was no problem with her answering. After all, the woman did put the effort into healing Natsuki. Calmly giving answers was the least she could do. "The tall man with the ghosts let us into some lounge area, gave us some backstory about this organization called the Brotherhood, and before much else could happen, the ship was attacked and he had suddenly disappeared."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Steele backed up the girl's account rather quickly. It wasn't like her to usually but into a situation unfolding but she figured she might as well confirm.

"Her account is correct. The attack happened pretty quickly after we had arrived there wasn't much time to prepare. Our attackers probably were clued in on what was transpiring here today. It seems... to well planned, and they too well armed for a random attack. I suppose you know more, but I'm not going to pry for answers... I could care less. I'm only here for the fighting. It's the thing I'm good at."

[Felicity]

"You could care less?" Nikki interrupted when Steele spoke. "How could you care less, one way or another we're in a bad situation. Work for these guys, go to jail or get offed because we know about the crazy cult people who may or may not have just attacked us. We may not even be fighting. It might be we just go skating along beneath anyone's radar until we're forgotten about, forbidden to do any more without revealing ourselves." Nikki glared at the hooded woman, not impressed in the slightest, refusing to allow herself to be impressed. "Did I sum that up right?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"If you end up dead or in jail you deserve that fate. You fate is what you make it, therefore if those things happen you let them happen. It's not my problem if that happens to you. It's not my problem you decided to be here. You're the one that came, it's of your own actions you are here." Steele said no real emotion in her voice, other than perhaps a small bit of distaste. This one wasn't a warrior. Content to complain about the lot they made for them self. It was no one's fault but her own that she was here and that she didn't walk away from it. Not sure what use complaining was now that the situation had come to fruition. She kept staring out over the horizon. There was much ahead many challenges... one probably dealing with half of these whining ingrates and insufferable crybabies. These People that complained that they made a bad decision or a bad call, but didn't hold themselves responsible for putting themselves in the situation in the first place and thought everyone else was to blame that they now held this lot. It was pathetic. Whoever this girl was... was not worth her time. She decided as she thought more on it that she wouldn't just ignore them, but that she wouldn't really bother trying to care here either. This one would see fit to whine and complain, she showed it nearly every time she opened her mouth.

[Sutoratosu]

Valeria look back and forth between Johanna and Nikki. She gave a heavy sigh, focusing on the more hot headed of the two "Enough. to answer the assessment you gave, the answer is Barely. Barely any of it is correct." She turned and walked back to the railing, bracing her palms against the smooth steel as she gazed out over the ocean. "The Entity calling itself Khan obviously withheld this from you, but the ship you're standing on, the captain and it's crew, even Khan itself, they all employed in the service of the Church of Arceus." She glanced back at nikki. "I don't know why Khan decided to step in and let you onboard, though I have my suspicions... either way though, it's his fault you're involved now. So given the circumstances, the answer to your question is no. You don't have to work for us, you won't go to jail for the police incident in vermilion... and you don't have to go flying under any radars either, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, so any warrants or wanted notices that are issued for you will be taken care off; I'll make sure of it."

Then she turned her attention towards Johanna... "As for the question of fate; If anyone is fine or just doesn't care about this mess Khan has created and involved you in, then fine, you're free to stay, and I'll try to explain all the things that Khan withheld from you. But at the same time, I'm not about to force anyone who doesn't want to get any deeper into it. If anyone here wants off this boat, then Goldenrod and Olivine are the nearest port cities; Vermilion is off the table for obvious reasons. It'll only be a detour of a few hours at the very most... they can be back about their own business by tomorrow and forget anything happened here if they wanted."

[Felicity]

"I'll take that option then!" Nikki piped up. "Seeing as Arcadia ended up being a myth I need to find a new training area."

Right now, Nikki did not trust this woman at all. Her associates hadn't given her much reason to trust anyone to do with this mess and so far she wasn't feeling very warm towards other people. she also didn't particularly like ships either. There's a reason she cut through Diglett cave instead of just catching a ferry to Vermilion port. With all of this combined, Nikki's mood was not feeling very joyous.

[Sutoratosu]

"Whinny little coward... so concerned with her own problems, so eager to go scrambling back to her precious training...does the world mean nothing to this girl?"

"Be quiet. Your input isn't exactly helping at the moment...I've already got a big enough mess to clean up without you shooting your personal commentary into my head every five seconds."

"Anyone else who would rather get off in johto than stay aboard?" Valeria called to everyone else yet to make their decision. "Now's the time to speak up if so. We're only making this detour once..." Of all the things Khan had ever started...god damn it. The detour and the Police matter would be fine; their window of the operation's execution time was large enough to accommodate a single day or so grace period encase things went awry. But what khan had done here... he wasn't about to get away with any of it. The Pope herself might trust that dimension hopping freak of nature, but she and Leon? Not even a single bit. never had, never would... the entity had always had trouble written all over him.

[Hiss13]

She left her decision unsaid. Instead, Yuzuki simply prodded further into the topics the two tunnel vision cases seemed to be overlooking. "Entity? You mean that man is not human?" She paused to think before speaking again. "Moreover…what exactly is the Church of Arceus after?"

[Darvan Korematsu]

Felix sighed to himself as he stared at the strange shape through the darkness, realizing that merely his eyes were decieving him into the shape of a shadowy female. He shook his head and pulled out his loyal servant's Pokeball and pointed it at the floating automaton. "Don't need you burning out here. Pory, return," he muttered as the shimmering red beam absorbed the Pokemon back into the capsule.

Felix pocketed the Pokeball and set down his backpack out of curiosity. He unzipped one of the pockets after feeling around for it in the murk. He dug in until he felt the cold metal of his most important luminescent tool. He retrieved the tool out of his backpack and held it up to his eye for a closer inspection. Bingo, his flashlight. He felt around for the button, and clicked it on. The diminutive, yet radiant beam assisted in purging some of the darkness. Although not all of it.

He sighed once more as he shone the light into the shady area. He scratched his head in bewilderment. "Where is everybody? I gotta find them." He picked up the backpack and continued exploring the ship.

[Sutoratosu]

"Not even a little bit." Valeria answered. "He looks like it, he might've been once, but he's not, at least not anymore. To be honest, I'm still not sure what the hell that thing is, aside from a monster. And I don't trust him either... the only reason he hasn't been purged from the face of the earth yet is because the Pope thinks he's actually valuable. And if you want to know what we're after, let me put whatever that thing up in the bridge right now told you about the brotherhood and the story behind them in a laymen's terms: 15 years ago, a series of terrorist operations were carried out in six nations by various heretical groups- you all knows this already, it's nothing but contemporary history, they were all crazy people who thought they could control and subjugate the gods themselves to their own will. The church and the National Armies of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos all banded together and declared war on them... and won with landslide victories with few survivors on the heretic's side."

She crossed her arms as she went on with the story, gaze growing a bit darker as she fixed on Yuzuki in particular. "Now, why don't you imagine that, by some chance... we weren't thorough enough when we were cropping out the stains from that mess. Imagine that... there were a few remnants. Remnants who, separately, were far too weak and outnumbered to pose any threat. Now imagine those remnants were smart enough to realize their sticky situation, and joined together with one goal in mind, and one goal only- to get rid of anything and anyone who dared to stand in the way of their original goals. That is what the Brotherhood is. A collection of mentally insane people who are thirsty for grade A, bonafide vengence-on-the-rocks who will stop at nothing to get the job done, and who are likely to end up destroying the entire world if they actually win.

The Church's mission here is simple, we intend finish what started 15 years ago. Prevent lunatics and madmen from killing everyone by toying with powers the likes of which they don't understand. But the only thing is... the Pope has to be a bit more quiet this time. She can't just come outright and state that she messed up back then, was too soft on the prisoners they took."

There was disgust on her face as she launched into the next part. Genuine, actual disgust. "So, because she's too afraid of owning up and losing face value, guess what she came up with, with Khan's help, I'm sure... She decided that instead of the National Armies, this time around, the church would rely on trainers alone for this fight. Train them, brief them, help them grow stronger, use it's power unlock the hidden potentials of themselves and their partners... and then when we finally had enough, we strike at the Brotherhood and end it all in one fell swoop. A Coup de Grace with years of build up behind it..."

And there he was in her mind. Just as she had expected the dragon to be. "Mother of god... the things you have just told them..."

"Don't even start. Those of them who decide to stay will have had to be told the exact same information eventually. And those who are leaving... well, who the fuck is honestly going to beleive them about this if they say anything? To be honest though, I kinda some of them actually do go talking... maybe catch her red-handed afterwards."

"Hmmm.... you may have a point...but still, disclosing all of this-" She cut off the link between their minds. As simple as the mental snap of a finger; building a temporary wall between two connected hearts. The dragon's voice went silent within an instant.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Pointless detail. Action matters more. It's through action things are conveyed. It's through action and motion one learns and sees. A History lesson is of no use to me. I don't really care what happened or why I ended up here I'm here, and now. My path lies within and I'll walk it. Don't need to give me any detail on why I'm here, or how I came to be here. I'm already here. That doesn't matter. For those that wish to leave, that's your prerogative. That's your path. But I have no need to walk the path of cowards and the ones of those that would complain about the destination of the journey of their own making." It was all Steele said before falling silent once more.