[Game Thread] Lord Windos’ PokeRole Adventure 2: The Wild Lands

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Oz was trembling and crying like never before. She is probably just Dite would be in her place. All the years of neglecting, suffering, anguish, nightmares…ALL returning at the same time. Oz is her weakest state, her most emotional vulnerability in her entire life. She thought she had surpassed all of that pain…But it seems her soul is still shattered and broken like a vitriol. Its like a black ocean of pain and sadness, dangerously close to consuming her whole.

Despite a deplorable situation, she expected to Seddi hate her, even knowing a little better Seddi chivalry spirit, she wanted Seddi to hate her. Even now, she wanted and craved heaven's judgment upon her, for what she did and let happen to the point who trusted her: Her friends who died because of her hubris and who she unfairly repaid their loyalty with death. The dead she used as means of survival. Her own people she left behind due to her inability to cope with her failures at the time.

She wanted judgment. She wanted to be accused, to be called a traitor, because she felt undeserving of love and friendship.

But then…A hand on Oz's shoulder.

She slowly lift her face, still in a haze of sadness and self hatred. That feeling of…understanding. Of…Caring…Of…human connection.

It was such a simple action…But…It was enough to let some of Isobell pain go away, even if it was just a little.

She hugged Seddi, and cried on his chest. Wanting more than anything in her life…just…let it go. Put all the pain away from her heart. To finally let years and years of anguish, guilt and despair out of her wounded heart. To finally be free of all.

She cried and cried. Letting out sobs and tears coming through her eyes. She hasn't cried like this since 10 years ago.

With Seddi words, she lifts her face from the ground, and look at him, curious and still crying.

Seddi returns that hug, not saying anything.  He's just simply being there, because someone needs to be there for her.

And that's what friends are for, right?

Before Seddi starts his story, he'll summon Kusanagi from her pokeball.  "I know that last time we spoke it was a little frosty between us, Kusanagi, but I thought you'd want to hear this story as well.  You remember what I told you when we first met, I'm sure.  Well, it's time for that story.  My translator is unfortunately not able to translate for you right now, so if you want to discuss it, it will have to be later unfortunately."

And then, he begins.

Music: Cascaraffa - Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

"My story begins in Paldea's Asado Desert, in a city where all the streets and roofing is paved in blue.  Somethin' one of the city's previous gym leaders thought would be good for the city's image, as it's built in the middle of an oasis.  It's only the third largest settlement in the region, but it's a bustling trade hub due to its proximity to Porto Marinada, a port town with a famous auction house as its centerpiece.  And it makes that region a hotspot both for tourists and for enterprisin' folks of all kinds."

Seddi's Theme: Yotabu's Theme - Histrobea Chronicles

"I count you luckier than me in some ways, Oz.  I grew up an orphan, with no family to speak of.  A street rat that nobody seemed to have wanted.  I have no memory of anythin' before waking up in a dark alleyway in one of the most beautiful cities in Paldea.  There were no expectations on me, but also no guidance.  I was well and truly alone.

"It didn't take me long to find a soul in a similar situation to mine.  On the city's outskirts, I met a lone Charcadet that seemingly had no friends either, and the two of us vowed that day to stand by each others' sides, no matter what came.

"Charcadet and I stalked the alleys of the city for years, doing whatever we needed to survive.  Eventually, we got picked up by a local gang, and they gave us shelter and supplies in exchange for training us in their work.  Real opportunists, those folks.  But also many who were down on their luck and had no other place to go.  Made a few friends there, and got two more pokemon partners with their help and the supplies that we were provided by our benefactors.

"The real turnin' point though was when the gang that picked me up finally decided it was time for me to earn my keep, around the time I turned 16 if I remember rightly.  The first job was simple.  Break into a wealthy collector's house and steal a particular item of value for a client.  In and out.  What I didn't anticipate was what we'd find there, as we weren't actually told what specifically we were looking for.  Only that it would be obvious when we saw it.

"We found two sets of armor, two items of particular importance for any Charcadet.  One set of golden Auspicious Armor, and a set of dark Malicious Armor.  They may or may not have been the items we were after, but they drew Charcadet's interest all the same.  Lookin' back on it, I have to wonder if the client knew I had a Charcadet as my partner, and specifically picked us to do that job because of that."

Ceruledge's blades and eyes suddenly flare.  She isn't bothering to hide that she's angry.  Angry at what happened.  Seddi pauses and puts a hand on his partner's armored shoulder, and she calms down, taking deep breaths as she cools her flames.

"We screwed up.  Got too greedy.  Too ambitious.  One of us did something that alerted the collection's owner that thieves were after his things.  It didn't take long for him to show up while we were tryin' to loot the armors.  And he wasn't happy to see thieves in his home."

B A N G

(Music stops)

The sound still reverberates in both their memories to this day.  That fateful night, when everything changed...

"...he owned a firearm, and he brought it with him to that room.  He didn't hesitate, and he fired at the easiest target he could see.

Charcadet, her fiery plume illuminating the space around her, the light reflecting off of the two armors in their display cases.

"She flew backwards from the force of the projectile hitting her directly, and collided with one of the armors.  She was enveloped in the bright light of evolution, while I panicked and grabbed the nearest weapon I could find in the darkness.  And then..."

S T A B

"...a struggle ensued. Next thing I knew, the collector was dead at my feet, and Charcadet had evolved into Ceruledge.  A cruel, cruel irony, for she would have much preferred to evolve into an Armarogue.  But the deeds were done.  We had one of the armors, technically speakin'.  And I'd just killed a man with a blade from his own collection of priceless artifacts.  Also quite ironic.

"So, we ran.  We ran and we ran and we ran.  But we forgot one thing.

"We'd left evidence.  And with evidence, came justice.  Sooner rather than later.  That's the story of how I was incarcerated, convicted of both murder and larceny.  It didn't matter that I killed in self defense.  I was a thief, so murder was just the cherry on top that sealed my fate.

"My pokemon partners were all confiscated, and I was jailed with a rather lengthy sentence.  I learned later that my partners were sent to a rehoming facility, and I was thankful that they at least had managed to escape being punished severely.  But again, I was alone.  Alone, and with nobody to look out for me anymore."

"There's a sayin' among the folks in the criminal underground of western Paldea: not all the streets in Cascaraffa are paved blue.  That day, I learned first hand what that sayin' meant.  Sometimes, they're as black as the people who walk them.  Others, they run red with blood.  As nice a place as it looks, if you go lookin' for trouble, you'll find it in spades."

The entire time Seddi is telling this story, he keeps the details very matter of fact.  There's almost no hint of emotion from him that hints what he might think of the events he just described.

Of course, the story doesn't end there.  Ceruledge obviously wasn't rehomed, as she's standing right there with Seddi.  And Seddi obviously got out of jail somehow.

He lets the question of what came next hang for a moment, watching Oz and Kusanagi to see how they react to this first part of his origin story.  It's not every day that someone tells you they're a convicted felon, after all.