foolishwren | IC CONTACT (Victory Road)

[ He's a little worried about that. He thinks over who he could be talking to right now. But he can't think who would have Pokemon who would seek him out or co-incidentally befriend Assumption who cou-

Oh.

But then...why had her Pokemon come to him at all? How did Assumption meet them? He frowned, worrying his lip. ]

Heather Mason. You never told me your name.

I know you hate me. If I had known they were yours, I wouldn't have told them anything.

I don't hate you. I hate the Order. And I appreciate your discretion. It's more than some people would offer.

_{[And by some people, she means Claudia absolutely would not have refrained from talking about her religious BS no matter who the Pokemon belonged to.]

[She thinks about mentioning that he already knows her by other names. But decides against it. It's not the conversation she wants to have right now. She's not even sure if it's a conversation they can have right now.]}

The Vulpix's name is Warden.

She belonged to Claudia Wolf.

[ It's not so much respectful discretion as it is 'I'm tired of people telling me my religion is bullshit and then harassing me for information about it'. He bites down on his lip at her hating the Order. His fingers hover over the buttons. I hate them too. He types it but immediately deletes the message and starts again ]

Claudia Wolf. I keep thinking I've heard that name before. Was she at the Wish House too? I avoided talking about that.

You probably have.

She was a high priestess of the Holy Mother sect.

I don't think she was at the Wish House. Or if she was, I didn't know about it.

_{[As far as she knows, Claudia remained with her father all that time. But, well... Alessa had been gone from Claudia's life for almost twenty-four years. And what Heather already knew about her old friend's life in the interim was bad. Who knows what else could have happened?]}

If not her, maybe you heard of her father Leonard Wolf. I think he was important in his day.

_{[But not so important that he hadn't bitterly faded out of power when the next generation grew up to take his place-- sometimes Heather wonders if Claudia herself had anything to do with him being committed to Brookhaven. Not that she'd blame her if she did.]

[If anyone deserved to rot in there, it was him.]}

[ The same sect as him. It comes back to him now; she was young when he had been alive, but after death he was aware of her and her efforts. ]

I remember now. After my death I watched over the sects. The priests only ever seemed to cause pain, but she was a good Priestess to her followers. She felt sorry for them.

I know Leonard Wolf's name. But I was overseen by the priests who ran the orphanage. They didn't let us leave and we did not see anyone else unless they deigned it. Lady Dahlia was the only outsider I met with their permission.

_{[Ugh, of course. Dahlia had her fingers in every pie she could get them into. Even if she hadn't raised Walter herself, Heather is still positive that-- just as she'd laid the brickwork for Claudia to carry on her dark deeds-- Dahlia was also responsible for everything that Henry and Walter's other victims had been through. Because of course she was. The bitch.]}

Claudia believed that everyone deserved salvation, even nonbelievers.

It doesn't make what she did even remotely ok.

But her intentions were good.

_{[Of course, the old saying about good intentions was quite literal in Claudia's case...]}

I can't recall what she did. [ When the Mother of God's reincarnation had been found and Claudia had set her plan in motion, Valtiel's priority had shifted to the physical presence of God in the world. As a result, Walter had drifted into a dreamlike state; still a ghost, still torn into two different manifestations, but almost asleep and dreaming during Claudia's plans. ]

[ It was odd, to be talking so calmly with Heather after their previous conversations. ]

How do you know of the Order? They don't let people leave easily.

_{[The textual medium probably had something to do with it. Having to pause, to take time, to think through each thing she typed before actually sending it made it easier to stay calm than having to look someone in the eye and summon audible words while being bombarded with every horrifying memory her brain could summon by association. The anger burned regardless, but now it simmered rather than roared.]}

It's not important.

_{[No, actually, it was EXTREMELY important, but she doesn't want to talk about it.]}

I didn't get OUT easily.

But I'm a cult kid, just like you.

_{[Whether a child was born into it or recruited through the orphanages, it didn't matter.]}

[ You could argue that Walter was both. He'd only been a baby when taken in by the orphanage. He'd never known any other kind of life. Eileen gave a curious chirp when she noticed the carefully blank look on his face, approaching him and pulling on her ear. He permitted her to check his heartbeat (it seemed to be a tick of Audinos) as he tried to find words. Her being raised in the Order explained how she knew the things she did. ]

[ Eileen settled beside him for a hug. He turned to look at her. It was so strange. He stole her from her trainer, why did she keep doing this? ]

How much has Henry told you?

Everything he knows.

_{[Or the cliffnotes version, anyway-- that, and he had his scrapbook full of everything he'd collected, the notes of the journalist who'd been investigating the case...]}

[ Walter exhaled, subconsciously leaning into Eileen. He had chosen Henry and had to reveal about his life and the ritual for the 21 Sacraments to be properly carried out. Strange to think, someone else knew all about it now. About his small, insignficant life, and then his death and everything that came with it. ]

There's not much he didn't know. [ In the quiet dark, with Eileen's presence at his side and only words to speak back to...it was much easier. ]

I still know I should be dead. And that Henry will kill me. I don't know why he hasn't yet.

He hasn't because I've stopped him.

_{[Might as well say it.]}

It's his job to save the world, but none of us could do that from here even if we tried. So I've stopped him.

You haven't murdered or attacked anybody here that I've heard about, and news spreads fast about that kind of thing. You haven't tried to get into our house and attack us.

So killing you wouldn't help anything.

It would just be a death, and a pointless one at that.

Sometimes I wish he would kill me.

[ He just doesn't understand...</small. ] Why do you want the world to be saved as it is? It's beyond human salvation.

Do you really want to know my answer to that question?

Because you won't like it, and I don't want to waste my time if you're not even willing to consider it.

_{[It's honestly been refreshing, talking to him like this-- and she'd really rather not return to basically being two brick walls shouting at each other. Not tonight.]}

[ He thinks about it, looking over his Pokemon. Could he consider it? He lowered his head, curling up. memories sprung up, fanged and ugly, reminding him why he lost hope, the straw that snapped. ]

For the world we came from...no. And this world is better. It's not hopeless. [ He pets Eileen thoughtfully. ] I shouldn't have asked.

_{[It's true. He probably shouldn't have. He's not ready.]

[Fortunately, it's a hell of a lot easier to be tactful through text.]}

It is better. People and Pokemon have worked together to make it that way.

That is true. [ He debates for a while before continuing. ]

~~I'm thinking of traveling. In the New Year. I don't know what I'm meant to do or where to go. But my Pokemon seem to think it's a good idea.~~ [ And then deletes it again, exhaling deeply. ]

I'm going to leave soon. Henry will probably be pleased to know that.

Edited 2016-12-31 01:57 (UTC)

_{[Leave? That could mean a few different things.]}

Probably, yeah.

Where are you going?

_{[Then it occurs to her that he doesn't... really actually owe her that information. Even if she mostly asked to ascertain whether by 'leave' he meant travel, or... that he somehow thought he knew a way to leave this world entirely.]}

You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just curious.

...I don't know. People have been telling me there's more to this place than this city. I never had so much [ It took him a few moments to find the right word. ] choice.

I've been able to go and see the sea. And the beach. I don't know what else is out there.

[ To many, it probably seemed stupid that a twenty-something year old man had never seen the shore and thought it was noteworthy that he had been there. But anyone who had been raised within the Order knew it was actually an experience few got. ]

Edited 2017-01-01 14:45 (UTC)

_{[There's something painfully poignant about Walter's words. More than almost anything else he's said, this is something she can relate to.]

[All her life, even before she had the memories to understand why she felt this way, each new sight and experience carried with it a novelty and awe beyond just the simple wide-eyed curiosity of a child. Alessa Gillespie had lived almost her entire life held prisoner in dark rooms and restraints, trapped in her own charred skin.]

[Heather's lust for life came straight from the fact that her past life hadn't even been a 'life' at all.]}

I think traveling is a good idea.

There's so much out there to see.

_{[No matter where Heather's gone in the past, she always finds herself coming back to Goldenrod City-- it's home. But there's two entire regions to explore-- forests, mountains, fields-- with all kinds of towns and cities scattered between.]}

[ Walter had no idea what lay out there. He had been raised in an isolated forest and often let out at dusk or dawn, not during the day. He had lived in towns, bustling, lonely city centres that had often been grimy. To see and climb mountains, wander through meadows and open fields, travel to and through the various cities.

Well, he had a real journey ahead of him. He looked over his Pokemon again. At his side, Eileen smiles and pats his side encouragingly. ]

I will inform you whenever I come back to this city. I don't want to startle Henry again. [ He might accept Henry's violent reactions but he had picked up that it upset Assumption. The little Pokemon was too caring towards him. ]

_{[While Henry had given her what he knew of Walter's history, she doesn't know as much about what went on in the years he spent on his own, separate from the Order. But she's willing to bet that he's never seen anything like the sprawling wilderness and colorful cities that make up Johto and Kanto. Hell, she'd never even seen anything like it, and she'd lived free with her father for almost eighteen years before coming here.]

[Maybe-- hopefully-- that can change his mind better than her gnashing her teeth at him over the network can.]}

Thanks, I would appreciate that.

I still haven't decided if my Pokemon should be allowed to keep visiting yours. But I don't want to stop them from saying goodbye to yours before you go, if they want, and if that's okay.

_{[Warden, she really has to do some thinking on. But she's not about to tell a baby Riolu that he can never see his friends again...]}

[ He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want his Pokemon to suffer loneliness because of him. Funny; he felt no guilt about the murder of adult men and women as it was for the greater good (children were a...different matter). But for possibly preventing his Pokemon from having friends, he squarely placed the blame on himself. ]

That is fine. I know I'm hated and I won't argue against it. But my Pokemon don't deserve to be lonely because they ended up in my hands.

I told Assumption and I think he wants to say goodbye too.

Is there a good time for them to meet?

I intend to leave within the first week of New Year. Otherwise, I have no pressing engagements.

[ There has to be a sting in this. He looks over at Assumption, worrying his lip. There's no way Heather would trust him. And he's not certain about her either. ]

We should both be there. When they meet.

IC CONTACT (Victory Road)

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Shift to Action at the time/place? Or make a new thread for it?