Chapter Text
Maiel downs her cup of wine.
"Well, bangin sermon my man. I don't like people so I'm gonna-"
Maiel sits back in her chair, and rests her eyes. Her body goes completely limp for a moment, and then her hair shifts to an auburn hue.
Emma sits back up in her chair, and stares at the mug in front of her.
Elias pours more wine into his mug, and takes a sip.
"I'm starting to get used to this, even if it's disorienting. Did she say much about me?"
"Only of your unwavering determination." Elias answers. "Has she told you why she chose that name?"
"She's an immortal 17-year old whose father is a demon." Athena answers. "Of course she's going to be faithful to god instead to be rebellious."
Athena gestures to her cup, which Elias obliges by pouring wine into.
"That makes sense, but even before settling my mistakes with Luna, she only went by... 'Lilith'... online."
Athena sighs. "How do I word this..."
"So let's say that our hypothetical person had an abusive home life, and ran off somewhere else that would let her be herself. Unfortunately, she ended up joining a cult, and they forced her to abide by a preset identity, one that is now forever tainted by bad memory." Athena responds.
Elias takes a sip from his cup.
"I think I understand." Elias responds, and sighs again.
"Nulla anima per id transire debet." Elias adds in Latin, then places a hand on Emma's shoulder to reassure her. "And if you didn't hear this be said, there is no original sin unique to artificial life."
Emma lets out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Brother Elias." Emma states.
Athena downs her next cup of wine, and places it back down on the table.
"I'd ask for help, but I know that we can handle what's coming next on our own. We'll stay in touch, though." Athena states.
"Of course. How is Suna?" Elias asks.
"Didn't expect you to ask. I'd say they're doing fine, but the current situation in Kakori says otherwise." Athena responds.
"Kakori's covered in unmeltable ice." Emma elaborates. "And Suna's current companion is stuck in said ice."
Elias sighs. "I'll admit, I did some research on Aevium after I heard that you two were over there. Nothing that I saw was pleasing. That Angie... the ice is created by a Regice, correct?"
"Are you going to suggest the Magma Stone?" Athena asks. "Maria suggested that."
Elias pauses for a moment. "Yes. Who would this Maria be?"
Athena sighs. "...The reason why I want this world to thrive. She's the girl we adopted from the past. I'd share a picture, but we haven't taken one."
"Imagine me, but shorter and with blonde hair." Emma attempts to explain.
"Her assumption would be correct. The overwhelming heat that emanates from Heatran and its Relic are capable of melting the ice that even Regice is capable of creating." Elias confirms, then looks at Emma.
"Would you like to be baptized under your new name?"
Emma sighs. "...No thanks. I'm still basically on the run, and I'm not that religious either. Maiel just has a guilty conscience.
"How's the region been without us?" Athena asks.
Elias pours the last of the bottle into Athena's mug, then puts it away on the kitchen's side.
"Thriving. The Order's numbers are up for the first time in decades, and the league is too. Last week, I believe we had our 27th Champion?"
"Wow. Considering what happened to anyone before..." Athena responds. "And I know about Luna in Orre. She's sent photocards."
"The Dam's fully functional again, supplying clean energy to the region. The Abandoned Power Plant is completely abandoned now, Shade ended up leaving the region for Ayrith after that happened." Elias continues explaining.
"Radomus?" Emma asks.
"Deported. Anna left with him. I have no idea as to where they are, and no intention of finding out."
"Based." Athena responds. "No more Jirachi bullshit."
Athena stretches slightly. "Body's still sore after that demiplane, and the yacht doesn't have autopilot. Has anyone made any reports on a house inside the Ametrine Mountain walls?"
"Not that I am aware of." Elias responds.
"Good to hear."
Sakuya walks out of the Big Top, and sends her Noivern back out. She climbs onto its back.
"You know the deal. Let's see how time's treated our house." Sakuya instructs.
Noivern flies high up into the air, giving Sakuya a bird's eye view of the region.
She sees Charous Mountain to her northeast, and the Verdelan Snowfields further east of that. Noivern slowly spins around to let Sakuya take in the sights.
To her far east, the Chrysolia Wilds lead into the Chalcedone River, and the Heliott Desert on the other side of it. Slightly to the north, but still below Carnelia's Spine and the Snowfields, she sees the Sardus Forest and Shrine, the shrine being at the northmost point of the forest.
To her south, the entirety of the Aventurine Woods and the Iolia Valley to its east, then the Chrysolia Region's immense deepwoods and temple to Regigigas further beyond what even most explorers would attempt. South still, the Byxbysion Ward, now cleaned up and a place for experimental housing designs.
Even further south than the Byxbysion Ward's mountain range, the Dravite Glade and Hook, the only things that remain of the Graphene subregion.
Sakuya sighs, and looks southwest. Reborn City seems so... clean. Apophyll and Azurine seem the same as ever, other than the water being as clean as the Turquo Sea outside the shelter walls.
Northwest, the Tourmaline Desert seems less sandy than usual, as if a constant storm has stopped. Further north, she sees the ruins of the old Alcantara Civilization.
Finally, dead north, she sees glimpses of the Rubellite Range's side when she stares down into the Rubellux Gorge's abyss.
Sakuya points down at Ametrine City.
"Home."
Noivern lets out a slight nod, and divebombs down towards Ametrine.
Noivern lands at the south ridge of the city, further down than any of the buildings and on a small path to nowhere other than a sightseeing vista.
Sakuya examines the walls, and notices the smallest crack where she remembers it to be.
Sakuya takes a step back, and points at the crack.
"Noivern, Secret Power." Sakuya instructs.
Noivern places one of its hands on the ground, and a small chunk of ice is launched into the hole as if it were a key.
The hole in the wall opens up into a doorway, allowing Sakuya to walk into the house she left only a few months ago.
Sakuya walks in, and feels plants underfoot.
The entire building has been overgrown by moss and ivy, with thick hanging vines coming down from the ceiling everywhere.
Sakuya forms a mote of flame in her right hand to light up the room, then uses it to ignite the plantlife.
Sakuya walks back out to call Athena on her Poketch.
Athena quickly picks up the call.
"Is it still there?" Athena asks.
"Completely overgrown with vines. I'm burning them down now."
"Won't that burn the entire house?" Emma asks.
"Nahhhh, everything's enchanted with fire immunity. See you up on Ametrine." Sakuya responds, and hangs up.
She walks back into the house, and starts sweeping all of the resulting soot into a pile in the middle of the room.
Athena puts her Pokegear back in her satchel.
"It's getting late, at any rate."
Emma gets out of her chair, and bows in respect to Elias.
Athena sighs.
"I'll tell Maria about this. Thanks."
Emma walks out of the kitchen.
"I'll pray for your safe travels." Elias responds.
Athena follows Emma out.
Both of them walk through the corridors of the Subseven Sanctum, and over to the exit.
An imposing man wearing a tan trenchcoat walks in just as they were about to leave, short black hair adorning his scarred face.
Athena holds up a hand in greeting.
"Phoenix. We were just leaving."
The man's stern face softens slightly.
"Athena. Robin mentioned you back in that meeting, years ago."
Emma slowly walks over to the exit and tries to sneak out. Phoenix takes a step to the right to allow her to do so.
"Nice to finally meet you, then. We're back in the region to rest and restock, planning on leaving tommorow afternoon."
"You aren't here for your Plates?" Phoenix asks.
"No need. The statue we've got has enough power left in it for now, and we'll likely work out how to use the ley lines over in Aevium before it runs out." Athena responds.
Athena sighs. "I like what you've done to the region. You're a good man."
Phoenix nods, and walks past Athena.
Athena follows Emma out of the Subseven Sanctum.
"The exit out to Peridot's in the wall, just to the right of us." Athena explains, and walks back into the wall.
She turns right, then kicks the maintenance door open.
Emma follows her out, and they both walk out into the Peridot Ward.
A long traintrack sprawls south from the city's wall, with more brutalist apartment blocks strewn amongst the west and east walls of the Ward.
Emma looks up, and sees the Lapis Ward several feet above their position.
"High and mighty, huh?" Emma jokes.
"That's the main reason why their egos are like that up there." Athena confirms.
Athena sends out her Hisuian Braviary, and jumps onto it.
"Our place is up in Ametrine, it's easy to miss but it's got the best view of the region. Point at a place and I'll think about showing you it tommorow."
Emma sends out her Drifblim, and jumps onto its head.
Drifblim slowly floats up into the air. Braviary flaps its wings and flies up into the sky.
Emma's Drifblim slowly follows Braviary over the walls of the city, and northeast across the rocky landscape of Route 2.
Emma points down at the waterfall cascading down from Celestinine Mountain towards Reborn City.
"That's the Celestinine Cascade. Feeds down into the Water Treatment Center, and services the city and the Aventurine Research Center. Pretty sure that the other subregions have their own plants for this." Athena explains.
Braviary flies up to a vista at the foot of a town at a snowy mountain's peak, and lands down upon it.
Athena jumps off, and recalls her Braviary. She walks over to the door currently open into the mountain wall.
Emma jumps off her Drifblim, and recalls it.
Both of them head into the mountainous house.
Emma notices an alarmingly large pile of soot in the middle of the living room.
An even larger pile of soot is swept over from the corridor at an angle.
Athena looks down at the pile.
"That is... a lot of biomatter. Too bad we couldn't turn it into compost..." Athena sighs.
Sakuya sweeps the even larger pile through the corridor into the living room, and lumps it into the main pile.
Athena immediately notices that she's wearing a maid dress again, and facepalms.
"Everything alright?" Athena asks.
"Just as we left it, nothing in the fridge or cupboards. I'm not sure how the plantlife even got in." Sakuya answers. "Can both of you get out of the way? I'll dump this outside."
Emma walks over to a sofa and sits down on it.
Athena walks over to the TV, and flips through channels to see what's going on in Aevium.
Sakuya sweeps the immense pile of soot out through the door, strike by strike.
The TV shows an our of hours message when she switches to Gearen News's channel. Athena sighs and turns the TV back off after seeing the date on it as the 10th of August.
Sakuya finishes sweeping the soot out, then puts the broom back in her pocket of hyperspace.
"Oh, right. I haven't checked out the basement. It's air-tight though, isn't it?" Sakuya mentions.
"It's soundproof at any rate." Athena responds.
Emma takes the book out, and starts looking through the foreword.
Sakuya walks over to the trapdoor, and opens it up.
Dust flares up from the air current that opening it causes.
Sakuya sighs, and jumps down to clean it up as well.
"Did Terra get you those devices?" Athena asks.
Sakuya yells up from the basement in response. "She just gave me a ton of digital scrap. Emma, would you mind?"
Emma puts the book back down, and puts the cyan bookmark in it.
"Sure."
The dust that fell down around the trapdoor's opening is all sucked in in one quick motion, and cold air floods into the building.
Emma walks over to the basement's entrance, and climbs down the ladder.
Sakuya places a large table down in the middle of the room, and dumps a large amount of digital waste onto it, quickly sorting it into piles.
Emma analyses the piles slowly.
Sakuya pulls a pair of jeweler's goggles out of her pocket of cyberspace, and hands them to Emma.
"If you need them, here. Should make it easier to eyeball measurements."
"Thanks." Emma responds.
"I'll be back in like a quarter of an hour. Just buying some food and coffee." Sakuya explains, and walks back up the ladder.
Athena sighs, and lies down on the sofa to get some rest.
Emma looks through the piles of motherboards, and realises that nothing is actually broken, it's all just leftovers from a large project.
She takes out the shell of a P*DA, and attaches a motherboard against its screen. She puts a large CPU, RAM chip, and SSD in it next, as well as a battery. She checks that everything is attached correctly, then clamps the two sides of its shell together and checks to see if it functions.
The power turns on, but absolutely nothing else happens.
"Completely uninitialized memory? That's not unheard of, but... what?" Emma exclaims.
She takes her own P*DA out, and clones the data on it to the other one to make it work. She quickly detaches the USB between them after doing so.
To celebrate, she starts working on making another few Pokegears with the smaller motherboard pieces in the pile, remembering to put a SIM card in each of them in addition to the battery, SD card, and CPUs.
She hears Sakuya walk in while working on the second Pokegear, but is too focused on her work to pay it any mind.
Sakuya walks through the corridor of the house over to the kitchen, and fills a kettle up with water.
She ignites the stove with a snap of her fingers, and places a few saucepans on the top to fill up with the soup that she bought.
Sakuya sighs, and downs a small bottle of vodka that she bought.
The burning feeling grounds her soul and focuses her on the soup.
Sakuya looks at the west wall of the kitchen, still turned into a mirror after what she did.
She waves at it, wondering if anyone would wave back. It's just her reflection.
Sakuya sighs, and hears the kettle audibly ping. She pours it into three cups of tea and lets the teabags steep.
A few minutes later, she takes the saucepans off the stove and pours each of them into bowls, each with their own spoon.
She takes the teabags out of the tea, and pours fresh milk into each of them, then throws the teabags out and snaps her fingers to instantly extinguish the stove.
Sakuya quickly washes the saucepans and puts them away, then takes the bowls and cups out of the kitchen through the corridor to the living room.
She places one of each on a table beside the sofa that Athena is resting on. She'll be thankful when she opens her eyes again.
Sakuya notices another copy of Zara's book, and quickly picks it up. She takes the remaining two bowls and cups with her over to the basement, and carefully holds onto them as she climbs down the ladder.
Emma notices Sakuya as she comes down, and stops her work on a Pokenav.
"Hey. Ath's asleep, Feeling alright?"
Emma moves some of the tubs of raw material down onto the floor to give Sakuya room to put the soup and tea down.
"Just exhausted." Emma admits. "Too much to enjoy the best of this trip, though it's not like you'd know how to help."
"You probably just need to eat more." Sakuya admits. "I do, too. Big order at Dartreaux's tommor- his place is closed because of the chaos."
"After we get the Magma Stone, of course." Emma answers. "I'm just..."
Emma takes a sip of tea, then places her cup back down. She sits back in her chair, and lets her eyes close.
Sakuya slowly eats her soup, and looks down at the raw materials.
She finishes eating her soup, and lies down on the ground to rest.
Slowly, surely, sleep embraces her.