[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Spurred on by the competitive power of the Eye, you sprint for the fortress. Nathan recognizes this from some subtle clues of architecture. This is the place where Sarimanok was holed up right before he faced the new League.


It's made of the same indestructible material as the minarets, and covered with spikes and barred windows. If he'd stayed here, he could have held out for weeks.

Cosh strides confidently through the wyrms coiled around the ancient fortress and with a severe popping noise from his gauntlet, Strengths the door open.


With the power of his Legendaries, Sarimanok was able to make this place "bigger on the inside." It's the size of a big house, but the central part is filled with a huge glowing orb marked with sigils.

Looks a little something like this.


It's about ten feet in diameter and gives you a weird feeling whenever you look at it. Spira and Heart are both drawn toward it.

There's another trapdoor in here, with the same symbols on it as the one Spira found. The room is decorated like a taste of the Throne Room, appointed with every luxury and probably a ton of gold worked into the decorations. It's entirely undisturbed by any humans or bigger Pokemon, and none of the fine furnishings have decayed. The stone floor is soft to walk on, somehow. The room stays well-lit despite the lack of proper windows or indeed a sun. Every chair is soft, supportive, and beautifully upholstered. There are even casks of wine and golden goblets.

The rest of the space is packed with items, but also a lot of Pokemon bones. Actually, looking at that... Terra sees the partial exoskeleton of a Genesect, including a purple orb behind its eye sockets, and two strong limbs connected to a rigid steel backbone.

Heart spots a strange cone at the base of the orb. It looks partially ethereal, bits and pieces of it shifting in and out of existence. By contrast, it seems to be made of a metal, which you might ID as mithril.

There are twenty fitted colorless Apricorns (akin to red Pokeballs) scattered around the room. Some look used, but all are empty now.
There's a robe made of articulated steel, looks like it could function as a Metal Coat.

There's a bookshelf of mahogany and gold, filled with old school TMs. And a chest, filled to the brim with smooth Mega Stones (but no keystones sadly). Two each of Delta Steelixite, Alakazamite, Aggronite, Metagrossite, Lucarionite, Mawilite, and many more for experimental Sarimanok Pokemon that don't exist any more.

Cosh runs forward and pries up a loose floor tile, his back to you. Kelda follows and bends down beside him. When she straightens up, she's wearing the Helm and her form is wreathed in two colors of fire. Every time she swivels her head, she seems to be moving almost faster than the eye can see, like Sid.

"We're done here," say the two armed Scimitars in unison, made cohesive by the bond of the Hauberk. "Finish up and let's go. We have a world to save."

".....Ominous. Impressive."

That's what Terra has to say as he takes in the old fortress, looking at it with stoic fascination and clear interest as he rapidly encroached upon it. While he was hardly the historical ethusiast that his friend Nathan was, even he knew and recognized the significance of this long lost place to some extent. It was Sarimanok's his final santacuary against the rebelous League that sought to bring him to task for his dark deeds and amoral acts, his last refuge in the face of overwhelming opposition that was bore against him, and his last staging point for the defense of his kindgom, and the location of The Helm, the very last Artifact he and the Scmitars needed to obtain. Simply put, this fortress was Important in the grand scheme of history, and you'd have to be a greater fool than Terra to be oblivious to that.

At that moment, the sagely monk couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the old king as he stared at the building, and all that was lost from the rebellion against. Thought the man almost undoubtably deserved his final fate, as a son from a long line of merchants it was not hard for him to understand why Sarimanok so doggedly defended what was his, as that was his wealth, advances, and legacy he and his family worked so hard and tirelessly to build, grow, and sustain over their lifetimes. Almost all of it was lost pratically forever in the wake of his defeat, so much of it buried deep beneath the earth of a place that would one day become The Skull Ruins, the rest scattered or destroyed in the chaos and recontruction afterwards, and ever since the League(s) have worked tirelessly to regain or recreate the glorious wonders of his time.

It was a necessary cost, ultimately, for the good of everyone then and in the present future. But that didn't mean he couldn't find it all deeply regretable too. If the war between Sarimanok and the League never progress to that point, and the two sides could have found a peaceful compromise, how much more would have been preserved from that age? How changed would the Modern Era, all eras following the end of that great war, be now? Would it be better, worse, or just different? Who know, who knows...

(...)

Cosh gets a smile and nod of thanks for opening the way into the ancient fortification, and upon stepping in his calm unflinching demeanor was shattered as he gazed upon the opulance of the pseudo Throne Room, awestruck as he took in all the riches as the Business/Merchant part of his brain starting taking inventory and pricing said luxuries.

".....Wow. This.....inside is.....so much weatlh and.....wow. *Beat* ....Want it. Want all I can get. Treasure here can benefit everyone, so must take much as possible. I Must."

Yeap, Terra's suitably impressed and left avaricious by all the riches/Items/relics he sees! Not so much that he had forgotten the main purpose of coming here, but enough that he couldn't resist taking the opportunity to make a profit in the meantime/while the search for the Helm was happening!

Once he snaps out of it/finishes processing everything, the mountain of a man would have hardly wasted any time in pilaging/looting this place all he could, but he was stopped in his  when he caught sight of the Partial Genesect Exoskeleton + Purple Orb. That arrests his attention like dancing Clefairy using Follow Me, and he'd quickly rushed over to investigate it more closely, taking care to make sure it was not trapped or had a nasty surprise for him/the others, and releasing Solomon to help him in that task (if they may). (Roll necessary for this, Iron?) . After all the tricks and trouble the Ruins unloaded onto to him and the group, he was not about to go messing with the remains of a Legendary willy nilly until he had taken proper due diligance/care first. 

Fastforwarding a bit, and Terra would have done the following:
- Obtain 4 of the Colorless Apricorns after they have been all gathered up (Presumably this amount, since it's 1/5 of the Total).
- Take a Lucarionite, Mawilite, and (if no one objects) all the other useless/unusable Mega Stone as his own. The former because of obvious reason, and the later because even though they're functionally worthless as Held Items, they could still hold great research and/or monetary value to the right person.
- The 2 TMs he'd take from the bookcase would be a copy of Hidden Power and Iron Tail, the former to be used on Arete and the later on Angie ASAP. I.T. would be a fantastic coverage Move for his divine drake, as she has all the tools to exploit it to the fullest and gets pseudo STAB on it (Due to Terra's Steel Blessing). Plus, after all the she's been through in the Skull Ruins and the sacrifices she made on his behalf (Mainly with Mega Syrentide), she deserves something special like that! HP, meanwhile, is mainly obtained for his aquatic terror out of curiosity, as how would it be manifested by a Legendary Pokemon such as they? 
-He'd have them (Arete) test/use their HP just outside the entrance to the fortress to learn just that, taking percaution in case its effect would be problematic or interesting in closed confines and to keep his friends/allies safe in the even something went wrong. If they would notice/detect the reamins of The Genesect (If it would be left undisturbed), he'd order them to leave it alone for now.
- Finally, he'd loot loot loot the pseudo Throne Room for all he could! Let him leave no Poke on the table, if at all possible! He'd want to keep a cask/few bottles of wine himself too along with a Gold Goblet, as the former could be used for some Cooking recipie or another, and the former because he saw Shiva grab one for herself and decided to keep one for personal use too. Nothing says power and status like drinking from a solid gold cup of Sarimanok's, after all!

With all that is said and done (And his investigations/interactions with the Genesect remains concluded), he'd be ready to depart back to the surface, giving both Artifacted Scimitars a gravely serious nod.

"I am ready. Let us go, and defeat it. DEOXYS. Save the world, and make happy future. Together."

He glances over to Nathan as he says the last part, partially to remind him of their alliance with the Scimitars (And not to jeopardize it a this point), and partially anxiously (internally) waiting for him to bring out The Cress City Card to transport everyone back to the surface (I presume he'd have found out about it at some point, either via Ven warning about him, or learning about it on his own by some means). 

This was it. It was time for them to return to the surface, and prepare to face DEOXYS, Cheshire's old nemesis from beyond. 

If they can, that is. Should it had arrived and was causing intersteller hell on earth while the group + Scimitars were deep within the Skull Ruins.....well, he and everyone would have to be a lot more prompt in taking care of it.

Whatever the case, they would be ready. The fate of the world was in his friends and allies hands, and he'd make sure they'd succeed with their lives intact at all costs. Even at his own....

[Iron]

You can spend another Encounter seeking further treasures if you want, but Cosh and Co are eager to return to the surface and would even pressure Nathan to use the card if they know about it.

*rolls*
*rolls*

Solomon thinks the exoskeleton is safe. Further inspection proves this Genesect to be a sort of porter or courtier. It doesn't seem built for offense and doesn't even have proper claws. However, it does look like it could hold very heavy loads, plus whatever that purple orb does.



Arete's Hidden Power is actually entirely independent of her additions.
It's Fire type, three power, and gives her a nice reliable move she can use no matter what mode or alterations she's using. It has +1 Power against Flying types.


There's a lot of loot here. If you want to liquidate it, I need to know how many Pokeballs you're willing to use to store it. Small items like goblets can be stored in backpacks, but furniture and finery will require extradimensional storage.

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

You can spend another Encounter seeking further treasures if you want, but Cosh and Co are eager to return to the surface and would even pressure Nathan to use the card if they know about it.

*rolls*
*rolls*

Solomon thinks the exoskeleton is safe. Further inspection proves this Genesect to be a sort of porter or courtier. It doesn't seem built for offense and doesn't even have proper claws. However, it does look like it could hold very heavy loads, plus whatever that purple orb does.



Arete's Hidden Power is actually entirely independent of her additions.
It's Fire type, three power, and gives her a nice reliable move she can use no matter what mode or alterations she's using. It has +1 Power against Flying types.


There's a lot of loot here. If you want to liquidate it, I need to know how many Pokeballs you're willing to use to store it. Small items like goblets can be stored in backpacks, but furniture and finery will require extradimensional storage.

(Huh, didn't expect HP Fire from Arete, but I'm not complaining, especially since it adds a whole bunch of coverage to it's meager Move arsenal!)

Well, if the king sloth thinks its all safe, then Terra would approach it further, crouch down to take a hold of the Purple Orb in its skull, and try to see if he could remove it from the exoskeleton to get a closer look/feel of it. If the Orb starts acting funny in a bad way, though, he'll attempt to reliquish it and back off to a safe distance once more. Lastly, if the Orb doesn't react negatively to him, he'll keep it and then share it with Arete later as they're testing/discovering their HP, asking them to Hold and not eat it to see what it does when they hold it (If anything), and 'tell' him or Solomon (Who'll I say would still be out, for conveniance's shake) about their Insight/feelings on it. If something goes wrong with this experiment, he'd immediately Order her to drop the Orb and return her. Bit thorough with the investigations and percautions, but if they prevent haphazardous accidents.....

Regardless of the Purple Orb investigations, the sagely monk would try to store the Genesect Exoskeleton in one of the Colorless Apricorns (with/without the Purple Orb in it). If more than one of the Colorless Apricorns are required, tell me how many before I decide to dedicate them all and/or have Terra get one of his friend's assistance in packaging it away. The parts on that dead Legend would most definately be of use modifying Arete, given on loan/permission to Dr. Mallorn/his boss to help research the Legendary Species and get favors from them, or could possibly even used to revive/create another Genesect for him if he has half a mind/means to do that. All are viable possibilities, so he needs to carefully consider what he wants to do with it.....

Concerning the matter of obtaining as much Loot as possible, I have a question: how much would a Heavy Ball hold of the total, if it was all gathered in a huge pile that would constitute as a singular mass/Target for it? The H.B. works better the bigger/heavier the target to be Captured is, so could it store a large chunk of avaliable loot by utlizing that mechanic of its?

[Iron]

The orb won't come out of the exoskeleton and seems to be almost a part of it. The whole shebang can be sucked into an Apricorn, however.

Pokeballs can only store a single thing even if they're massed up. The Heavy Ball could hold a lot of the gold if it was all melted together, but that would remove some of its value.

[Lord Windos]

The orb won't come out of the exoskeleton and seems to be almost a part of it. The whole shebang can be sucked into an Apricorn, however.

Pokeballs can only store a single thing even if they're massed up. The Heavy Ball could hold a lot of the gold if it was all melted together, but that would remove some of its value.

Then let the whole shebang be contained in a single Apricorn! Simple as that!

Okay then.......what value of Loot could Terra get with his three remaining 3 Colorless Apricorns (If he choose the most valuable Items for them to hold), and is there a large singular Loot/Relic Item that would both necessitate the use of a Heavy Ball to hold it + would be profitiable against the cost of said Heavy Ball if sold (Like, say, the Throne, if it's not bolted to the ground; Base Price of Heavy Ball was $10000 Poke, if I remember correctly)? Oh, and could Terra carry a cask of wine in his inventory without using a Pokeball (and if not, are their singular bottle of wine he can take)?

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Spurred on by the competitive power of the Eye, you sprint for the fortress. Nathan recognizes this from some subtle clues of architecture. This is the place where Sarimanok was holed up right before he faced the new League.


It's made of the same indestructible material as the minarets, and covered with spikes and barred windows. If he'd stayed here, he could have held out for weeks.

Cosh strides confidently through the wyrms coiled around the ancient fortress and with a severe popping noise from his gauntlet, Strengths the door open.


With the power of his Legendaries, Sarimanok was able to make this place "bigger on the inside." It's the size of a big house, but the central part is filled with a huge glowing orb marked with sigils.

Looks a little something like this.


It's about ten feet in diameter and gives you a weird feeling whenever you look at it. Spira and Heart are both drawn toward it.

There's another trapdoor in here, with the same symbols on it as the one Spira found. The room is decorated like a taste of the Throne Room, appointed with every luxury and probably a ton of gold worked into the decorations. It's entirely undisturbed by any humans or bigger Pokemon, and none of the fine furnishings have decayed. The stone floor is soft to walk on, somehow. The room stays well-lit despite the lack of proper windows or indeed a sun. Every chair is soft, supportive, and beautifully upholstered. There are even casks of wine and golden goblets.

The rest of the space is packed with items, but also a lot of Pokemon bones. Actually, looking at that... Terra sees the partial exoskeleton of a Genesect, including a purple orb behind its eye sockets, and two strong limbs connected to a rigid steel backbone.

Heart spots a strange cone at the base of the orb. It looks partially ethereal, bits and pieces of it shifting in and out of existence. By contrast, it seems to be made of a metal, which you might ID as mithril.

There are twenty fitted colorless Apricorns (akin to red Pokeballs) scattered around the room. Some look used, but all are empty now.
There's a robe made of articulated steel, looks like it could function as a Metal Coat.

There's a bookshelf of mahogany and gold, filled with old school TMs. And a chest, filled to the brim with smooth Mega Stones (but no keystones sadly). Two each of Delta Steelixite, Alakazamite, Aggronite, Metagrossite, Lucarionite, Mawilite, and many more for experimental Sarimanok Pokemon that don't exist any more.

Cosh runs forward and pries up a loose floor tile, his back to you. Kelda follows and bends down beside him. When she straightens up, she's wearing the Helm and her form is wreathed in two colors of fire. Every time she swivels her head, she seems to be moving almost faster than the eye can see, like Sid.

"We're done here," say the two armed Scimitars in unison, made cohesive by the bond of the Hauberk. "Finish up and let's go. We have a world to save."

Well then, this certainly quite interesting.  How many unidentified mega stones are there?  Nathan would also want to collect them all up for possible reuse/research later (as well as any others that the rest of the group doesn't pick up).  @Lord Windos, we might have to discuss this a bit.

Concerning the identified Mega Stones, the only one Nathan needs to take is one of the Metagrossites.  The other one is probably going to go to Heart since he also has a Metang.

Concerning the colorless apricorns, I'm fine with an even split between the party of 4 per person.

Nathan spends a decent amount of time digging through the TM box as well until he comes up with two particular ones that he was looking for:
- A TM for Hidden Power, which is immediately getting taught to Calam.  That effect was so cool, and I want to use it some more!
- A TM for Acrobatics.  Nathan knows who he's going to teach it to later.

So...Kelda is the one who'll wear the Helm...creepy synchronized talking aside, Nathan doesn't particularly mind that too much, but...well, he just hopes they don't end up regretting this in the long run...

Concerning the card...even if the Scims are bugging him about it, this is actually something he agrees with the Scims on, so they don't have to do so at all.  He's also tapping his foot impatiently as the rest of the group wastes time unnecessarily.  It's not like any of this is going anywhere, after all.  They can always just come back.

However, there is ONE thing Nathan wants done before they leave: Heart (hopefully) restoring Marco Warren back to his normal self.  The sooner he's restored, the sooner his family can help him with recovery.  And if he's restored before they return to the surface, that saves explaining to the general public about what's going on.  Oh, and Gallade will help out by using a Lucky Chant to hopefully increase the odds of success.

And one more thing that Nathan wants to do before leaving is tell Kelda something privately (assuming she'll hear him out at all).  Yup, he's just gonna suck it up and say it. 

And he says...

"...look, there's one thing I want to say about this.  No offense to you personally, but...what I'm fighting for is different from what the Scimitars and Almanac are doing this for.  It'll put us at odds with each other.  It can't be helped.  If you're going to continue supporting your current job...fine.  But know you'll be in front of the firing line if you do.  If pokemon are employees, then what workers' rights do they have?  If they're going to continue to suffer like Sceptile was, then I have to do my best to change that for the better.  It's what I promised I would do to those concerned about it, and what I believe in.  So...yeah..."

[Iron]

The orb won't come out of the exoskeleton and seems to be almost a part of it. The whole shebang can be sucked into an Apricorn, however.

Pokeballs can only store a single thing even if they're massed up. The Heavy Ball could hold a lot of the gold if it was all melted together, but that would remove some of its value.

Then let the whole shebang be contained in a single Apricorn! Simple as that!

Okay then.......what value of Loot could Terra get with his three remaining 3 Colorless Apricorns (If he choose the most valuable Items for them to hold), and is there a large singular Loot/Relic Item that would both necessitate the use of a Heavy Ball to hold it + would be profitiable against the cost of said Heavy Ball if sold (Like, say, the Throne, if it's not bolted to the ground; Base Price of Heavy Ball was $10000 Poke, if I remember correctly)? Oh, and could Terra carry a cask of wine in his inventory without using a Pokeball (and if not, are their singular bottle of wine he can take)?

I'll give the group a total value when they tell me, in total, how many pokeballs they're donating to this endeavor.

You can stow a single cask of wine in your backpack. 

There are 30 unidentified mega stones, most of which Heart thinks are for long-gone Delta species.

Most of the TMs in the library are broken or incompatible, so it's not really that you're limited to two, it's just that the chances of finding more than two unbroken are very low. The selection is kind of an out-of-character thing. 



Kelda: "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. All I'm thinking about now is Deoxys, and my hope that the Helm will protect my thoughts."

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Nathan sighs and wordlessly turns to face Heart, arms crossed, a sad expression on his face.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Well, first of all, @Iron, yes I wish to spend an Encounter to search for hidden keystones here in this place, Shiva will do so with Azu's Helping Hand, Lilith's Frisk Ability and Yena's keen sense of smell. She's just as eager to do that as Cosh and Co. are to return, and stays adamant about her point regardless their pressure, and regardless the fact that the Leage can give some out because the joy of finding one herself would satisfy her more. "We've given so much to actually arrive here, so please LET ME investigate this place a little before we leave again, heaven knows whatelse can be found here that is obscured from vision!" ( `ε´ *) Shiva feels that since there are SO MANY Megastones, a keystone...well, could very well be here.


You didn't come back to me concerning this also,maybe because I edited it in later than making it a new post. Respective post here. So, what's the result?

She's looking through the shelf mindfully, looking out for TMs that are unique as in 'not available anymore in nowadays'. If Sarimanok had unique experiemental Pokemon, he might as well have experimental TMs, wouldn't he? Any TM Shiva is unable to identify is discreetly scanned with her Almanac. (Outta-chara, is there a TM labeled 'Caustic Breath'? It's something Shiva would enjoy to bring along for Chi aka her smol and adorable dragonfairy. [Luxi])

Oh no, wait, does

Most of the TMs in the library are broken or incompatible, so it's not really that you're limited to two, it's just that the chances of finding more than two unbroken are very low. The selection is kind of an out-of-character thing.

mean that I can have a TM of Caustic Breath indeed? Thank you!!


4 of these old Apircorn-Pokeballs for each of us is fine. Shiva pockets them for now.


Now about the Megastones:

- From the usables-identified, Shiva will gently pick one for Mawile and one for Alakazam, because the former is a pretty cool Fairy Type and the second is for backup shall her Alakzazite she got from Juni break/be stolen.

- The unusable-unidentified ones, she will...

> ...take a look if any of these look like this:

It's an Eevite, and Shiva believed that Mega Eevee from Torren is just a tall tale for most people and a nice imaginary story for her. If there is one of the Megastones for Eevee here, she's got the proof that it is not. She can't use it now and won't until she settles down and breeds more Eevee (post-game), but she takes the stone along anyway.

> ...grab five random ones for Ventus to let him have for research, I unfortunately can't remember whether he has any Deltas on himself? @Lord Windos, does he? If a Megastone for Arbok is among this batch of stones, even better!

> ...see if Primal Espeon is drawn to any of the stones, and take it along for him. A Primal Eevee was a top-of-the-foodchain-predator and more offensive than Modern Eevee, so maybe King Sarimanok took one exemplar into his care?

> ...loan that Megastone Detector from Nathan and see which of the unusable ones blink in green and in pink, and take those to herself. (Iron, it suffices if you'd be to tell me solely the total number) Doesn't matter whether she can't use them, those are Megastones for Pokemon of her favorite Types, ones that don't exist anymore unfortunately. She wishes to store and hold onto them for preservation.

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Heart take a deep sigh and begin to talk. "I...want to tell you something...I sorry. For everything I said to you. I was wrong about you. About...everything. I was blind by my own rage and jealous, and that cloud my jugdment about you. You are a brave and courage person, willing to sacrifice yourself for what you believe...and a great desire to protect you home and family."

"It just...I envy you...Not just because of the sword. But because you have everything that I desire most: You have a mother, who love and cherish you. You have place here in Cheshire who there someone waiting for you. You have a father who you can be proud of be son. A region who you love and have fondle memories. Heck, you are even descendant of royalty and now have a sword for you. You are better than me in all aspects..."

"And me? I have less to offer: I have no family. No mother or father. No home to return. No one waiting for me. Or even clan....And now...not even my best human friend...Who gave me a purpose and will to follow, and a reason to continue living..." Then Heart look in the ground. "And how I repaid your kindness and friendship? I give you a stab in the back, just like the coward of my father would do...In my own jealous and hatred, I became just like my father, and hurt a precious friend of mine...I have nothing..."

"I....know what I did to you there is no justificantion, but even so I beg your forgiviness Nathan, for the terrible and insesible things I said to you...You are worth of the Sword, way more than me to wield it...I will understand if you...never forgive me, but I want you to know that I sorry for what I did to you...You deserve a better friend than me..."

Heart then search his bag, until he find what he was search: The Pokeballs of Rose and Lancelot. "...They say Doublade was suppose to be symbols of Kings and Leaders...I not even worth of wield such Pokemon...I think he deserve a better trainer than me...Included Rose. I could never be a Leader of my Clan. If I cant even be Loyal to the promises I made with a friend, how I suppose to expect reach the expectations of my Clan?"

"All I want to say is: I sorry Nathan...I am a terrible friend. And a dirty traitor. Our friendship should be more important than any stupid magical sword in this world or in this universe...And I hope you someday you can give me another chance and prove to be your friend..."

Heart said all of this words with sincerity of all of his heart. He feel terrible for what he said to Nathan, and want hard to fix things between them.

What it Means to be Worthy: Schala's Theme - Chrono Trigger DS

Nathan listens to the whole thing without interruption.  And when Heart's finished, Nathan steps forward and puts a hand on the collector's shoulder.

"...to start with, my noble lineage doesn't really mean anything in this day and age as far as social status goes.  And if you think about it, none of us were worthy of this Sword.  We aren't kings and queens.  What we can be worthy of though is the trust and friendship of those around us."

Nathan moves his hand to the pokeballs that Heart is holding.  "...I don't think Rose would want to be trained by anyone else, Heart.  She's been with you through everything, and it'd probably break her heart if she had to be apart from you.  And Doublade...while the Creshirean Honedge line is well respected, the only member of it that's a true symbol of leadership is Aegislash.  And Creshirean Doublade only evolve when those who train them are worthy of being in a position of leadership.  However, that's not usually something that's inherited, but earned.  If Doublade is listening to your orders without complaint, then that's a good start, I'd say."

He crosses his arms again.  "...I'm not any more worthy than you are, Heart.  I'm human too.  I feel anger, rage, jealousy...I know what it's like to lose someone or something important to you, and want to do anything to get that back and see justice done.  To err is to be human, as the saying goes.  But to be human also means having the capacity to forgive.  So I accept your apology, Heart."

Nathan looks at Heart's bag, or the Moltres egg if it's visible.  "...fire is a delicate thing.  A warm, gentle flame can quickly become extinguished if neglected, or just as quickly turn into a raging Inferno if not tended carefully.  If you need to begin again, I'd say that young one you're caring for would be a good place to start."