Where Our Origins Lie...

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Present Time

Fox hadn't left her room for days. She was currently in what had become known as "shut-in status" (something that happened sometimes for various lengths of time that were frequently vaguely long, one time almost going on for a month until Zash had came knocking at the window halfway through the third week to snap her out of it), focusing all her energy into some form of something that was usually research. This time, however, it wasn't alchemy-related, at least not to her knowledge.

No, this time Fox was deeply sunk into a practically-ancient book (not that she wasn't already sinking lots of time into ancient books already) that she had found in some old lock-box that had just somehow appeared in her room.

Literally.

She had no memories of where it could have possibly come from. The librarian and the bookstore owner both had said that they hadn't seen her come in for anything like the book in any state; fugue or otherwise. Her friend at the historical institute had said he had said she hadn't requsting something of that nature from him... ever.

So where had this box, which she had found lying under a stack of research notes in her "myths and legends" pile, come from?

She had her suspicions as to its original whereabouts. By that it was implied that she had already figured out that she had probably dragged it back in a fugue state and then not noticed it up until now, but it was figuring out where she had wandered during the state that was giving her a hard time. She had obviously wandered way off from her usual routes she would walk on by habit...

The evening light was dwindling now as Fox's research on the book continued. A few of the night's first stars were now peaking out at the dimming landscape. Neighborhood children who had gone back out after dinner to see their friends once more were now being called in for the final time, and everywhere the town had a sense of preparation for the night to call upon it, bringing quietness and sleep in it's wake.

This is when Fox operated the best.

Nighttime allowed her to sneak out without worry of her parents discovering her missing. It allowed her to avoid her family and the terror they brought her; allowed her to break whatever rules she wanted and/or study in complete peace. Nighttime offered her complete and unappaposed freedom.

A cool breeze broke the dulling midsummer heat and blew in through Fox's slightly-opened window, another sign they night was fast approaching. Without even looking up from the page she was studying, Fox leaned over and turned her table lamp on (she assumed it was safe to having not heard from any of her family members in a while), flooding her room with the artificial light produced.

Her room had originally been pretty shabby, considering how her parents treated her. She could have fixed it up with alchemy a long long time ago, but it was already all she really needed. She had fixed it up some by hanging her research and other things over the damaged parts of the pale blue walls (even though she mostly kept her research under wraps), but things like cracks in the windows and small stains on the time-worn carpet remained.

Fox did have a few relics and trinkets from her adventures set out in various places around her room as well, including an artifact from her springtime journey to the Sinjoh Ruins sitting innocently on her windowsill. Looking at it would often cause her to think back to that that journey and the friend she had made it with; after causing her to wonder where he was and how he was doing...

Fox was startled by the appearance of the Absol, wheeling bawards but brandishing needles in defense of her friend. She felt a hard pressure on her arm, though, stopping her. She felt a sepparate feeling of concern dissuading her, unwilling to let her move her hand. She flinched against it, but it was incredibly strong. She only was able to move her arm again once the instinct to strike back passed, and she went to sheathe the needles. Clearly it was a misunderstanding, but Fox was careful to inspect the ship after that.

Or rather, she tried.

With everyone aboard, a strange force flung every unseated body into place. The walls closed around them, seeking tight with a variety of strange noises. The hull around them flashed to life with a variety of lights, and a panel slid open, reaveling the dock around them through tempered glass. There were floodlights in the small dock space, revealing the room. The outside wall of the cave was still visible, and even some of the mechanisms that flipped the room could be seen. At least, for a little while. The ship suddenly swiveled 90 degrees to the left, and then began to tilt up until it was at an exact 85 degree angle. Above them, a hatch opened.

"Os gwelwch yn dda cael gwybod y daith hon yn cynnwys onglau serth na 45 gradd. Dylai pobl sydd â chyflyrau iechyd perthnasol a menywod beichiog yn ceisio advisement cyn cymryd unrhyw daith yn y Saethmôr."

The electronic voice recording began to then count down.

"Deg, naw, wyth, saith, chwech, pump, pedwar, tri, dau, un. Lock Llawn Ymgysylltu."

A loud electronic locking noise could be heard, followed by the sound of the cabin pressurizing. A whirring of gears, and then..... FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The ship rocketed into the sky faster than anyone could blink. It went high enough that that the o-zone started to fade away. The ship then angled down 90 degrees, and the sound of thrusters engaging could be heard.

"Diving," the voice recording announced.

They re-approached the ocean near the north of Sootopolis faster than anything ever. At an exact point, the sea split open and the dove past walls of water that were hundreds of thousands of feet high. Down they sped, until the ocean crust was visible to them. The rock suddenly slid out of the way, revealing a path as they dove. They breached red-hot material of the mantle, and the vessel bounced around precariously.

And then, suddenly, they breached what seemed to be the sky again.

The craft leveled out to a gentle glide. The area outside their window showed a veritable paradise.

"Wrth gyrraedd Clwstwr Brifddinas, Doc Wyth.
Cartref Croeso"

They touched down on what appeared to be a landing pad. The ship could be heard disengaging, and everyone was released from their seats.

Slowly, the hull swung open again, revealing what appeared to be an airport. There were people all around, startled and terrified. Staring at them.

A soft smile made its way to Priam's face as he looked over and saw Poshie call the Absol over, watching the old acquaintance care for and play with the pokemon like he'd used too. Even though the host he was using was different, both he and Alkaios could recognize the familiar friendliness and personality coming from the boy. Finally, he addressed the elephant in the room, turning his attention to Priam. The man's smile twitched subtly as "he" was mentioned, and he closed his eyes for a moment, taking a few moments to remember and almost seeming to lose himself in fond memories. He gave a small nod of his head towards Poshie to answer the first question, before...

Alkaios let out a surprised yelp as he was flung into one of the seats, finding himself restrained there for the ride back. The seat just so happened to be one next to Pika, who found himself starting to break into a nervous sweat as he glanced around the cabin, watching everything start. It was so sudden that the ship started to spin and tilt upward, that the thoughts almost didn't make their way to Pika's mind in time.

Vessel. Some kind of language. The way it's being spoken...It's a countdown. It's a countdown.

Holy shit, we're about to launch.
Holy shit, we're about to launch.

And then, they launched.

There were a menagerie of reactions going on in and around Pika. He was still in a stunned silence, feeling like he wanted to scream but finding himself unable to find the breath to do it. In his head, there was a wild laughter sounding that he didn't hear often, but unmistakably, it was Kobal's. Alkaios next to him, eyes wide and chest pounding as he seemed to have the look of a creature that thought they were about to die.

He didn't get the chance to see Zash/Poshie or Fox/Taiga's reactions, but Priam...

Priam...

"Not exactly from the start, but I've known long enough." The old man spoke calmly and casually, only raising his voice a bit to speak over the sounds of everything else going on around them.
"The situation is complicated, and things have certainly...devolved, in some ways, but..." He paused a moment as the ship reached the apex of its height and prepared to dive.

"No apologies are necessary, Poshie. Not from you. It's good to hear your voice again." He smiled as he spoke the ring's new name, the word feeling somewhat foreign to his lips, but he knew he would manage to remember it.
"Although, as for how HE is, that is a very complicated matter I'd rather talk over with you just the two of us." Priam added, as the ship made its incredibly speedy dive. He seemed hesitant to speak further on the subject, with Pika and Fox around. Of course, he'd rather have been able to talk about it without Zash around too, but since he was linked up with Poshie, he didn't really have much of a choice.

The ship slowed to a glide, and while Priam calmly waited for the shuttle to land, Pika and Alkaios seemed petrified in their seats, both wide-eyed and fearful as they eyed the doors to the craft. Priam couldn't help but chuckle at the two next to one another, equally terrified. Pika was a first time flyer, and poor Alkaios had taken the easier ride up, but never the ride back down before.

When the doors opened, there was no contest. Pika and the Absol lunged out of their seats and practically flung themselves to the door, both scampering and colliding with one another at the doorway in their rush to get out. The two tripped over one another and fell to the ground, both rolling a bit as they landed and standing up, only to face the crowd of people standing all around them, looking at them.

It took Pika a moment to realize they'd gone from the frying pan to the fire, and he thought of what he wanted to say very carefully.

"...the hell are you all looking at? You guys built this thing, didn't you? Why are you the surprised ones?" He called out to the people, sounding exasperated as he rubbed the back of his head with one arm, and shrugged with the other. The Absol by his side shrank back slightly at the sight of the crowd, and moved up closer to Pika as the boy spoke.

Back in the vessel, Priam had barely managed to stifle some laughter before getting out of his own seat, looking at the rest of the passengers.
"Well, here we are. Atlantis. You should all stick with me for the time being, we can sort out important matters and get you acquainted with the area before anything else." The man suggested, though it felt more like a command. With that, he stepped out and started to walk over to Pika and Alkaios, the former of the two muttering curses and complaints about 'air safety' and 'elaborate bullshit'.

"Everyone clear a path, important business affairs going on. We need to head out as quickly as possible, please make it easy for us." He began to say to the crowd, addressing everyone with a high amount of confidence despite the fact that they didn't really need to be out as quickly as possible.

I don't remember the ride being quite this rough. Poshie thought to himself as they started on an incredibly bumpy and speedy journey to the legendary sunken city. He was thrown into his seat not immediately next to anyone and the ride began. Poshie was a little flighty but managed to calm himself enough to listen to Priam's reply. Which was all that matters to him in this instant, the words that came from his lips filled Poshie with endless relief.

This had haunted Poshie to a high degree for the longest time in his eternal wondering and bodiless time on the surface, he had always had regrets about this time above all others. His time in his original body was nothing more than a faded photographic album of faces and moments of importance. Flash bulb memories but even shifting through all of those in his mind he could not find a single moment where he had so much invested in a number of people than the time he had been in Atlantis with this trio.

He stood up very woozily from the craft as first Pika and then Priam made their leave from the craft. His eyes shifted slowly carefully with great tact and purpose to Fox next. He had a grand moment of pause as he saw them and then looked down at his hands at, Zash's hands. Poshie had lives century and been a part of many trios, and duos, quartets and even armies. He knew the dynamic the ins and outs of it all down to a near perfect science but right now in this moment, in this body that he felt the way it reacted seeing her and then seeing Pika, Poshie got chills. He didn't hear so much as sense a presence in here with Zash and himself. He felt great alarm and a premonition of misfortune.

He whispered to her trying to keep it private between the two as Priam made his gesture to part the crowds. " I believe this one will be making a move to get back in the action he really has an issue with sitting on the sidelines." Poshie sighed as he pointed to himself. " He also has quite a bit of a identity crisis too, he's gonna need a strong young lady to take care of him." He winked to her leaving the whole identity crisis comment vague as he extended a hand to offer to the lady to help her out of her seat after such a bumpy ride.

Fox woozily stumbled out of the ship after being thrown into a seat and promptly shaken like a polaroid picture, feeling dizzy from the vibrations from the ship. She was certain they had passed a survivable number of G's in the first three seconds of the ride, and it had only. Gotten. WORSE. Even TAIGA felt sick, and she was a GHOST. All Fox could think about in that moment was planting her feet on some steady ground as soon as fucking possible.

"From now on. I want ALL of my drinks stirred," Fox groaned, holding her aching head in both hands as she crouched down for a breather.

She looked around at the modern interior of the building, arched dome that held five landing strips. There was natural light filtering down from the ceiling, illuminating the entire hanger and almost putting them in some kind of weird spotlight. The crowds of people seemed to back to the walls with confused and befuddled looks plastered on their faces. Nobody confronted them, and Fox found herself wondering if it was Priam's influence or their presence that was causing them to do that. Security didn't even move to stop them.

"You.... really weren't kidding about the visitor thing, huh?" Fox asked Priam quietly as they moved past the people and into the main terminal. She seemed to gravitate towards him and remained by his side; which was definitely an odd behavior as she normally gravitated around Zash. She almost didn't catch what Poshie was saying to her in her eagerness to get out, but she turned to acknowledge him. "Yeah... sorry he's such a pain. We'll keep an eye out, though," she assured him, even though she was clearly distracted by something.

They didn't waste any time moving through the airport, and soon they emerged onto the Atlantean streets.

A Reference Picture:

Another Reference:

Another Reference Again:

Another Reference, but there would be much more green:

As they ventured past the crowds and outside, they came across a verdant and eclectic collection of buildings not unlike towns on the surface, but with more modern and lighter colored materials. Beyond the shorter roofs of the town buildings, magnificent skylines of clean cities could be scene off in the distance. The streets were lined with small streams and river, which glistened in the....... sunlight? Maybe that's what it was? Water also ran off some of the roofs. There were plants everywhere, on walls, in streets, in planter boxes......

At the corner of the street ahead of them, there was a coffee shop with a beautiful, round outdoor veranda. On that veranda was.... well, it would have been an odd sight for the surface people. Among the people outside, having their coffee, there were two pokemon seated by themselves. One was a ninetails, the other an Absol. The Ninetails.... seemed to have more coffee in it's fur than it did in it's mouth. You could tell the two were having a discussion by their facial language, although it was impossible (for the humans) to tell what the topic of the chat was.

The Ninetails looked over casually when Priam suddenly caught his glance. He looked at him for a few moments, as if registering the face, before giving him a knowing grin and waveing at him with a paw. He looked back to the Absol and gestured in the direction of Priam before looking back over to him. The firey haired girl next to him..... also caught his attention. A clear voice cut through the bustling noise of the street and made it into Priam's mind.

"Morning, champion. Long time, no see. Nice girlfriend."

As he made his way forward with the group he’d picked up, Priam turned towards Fox and raised a brow at her question.
“What, you thought I’d lie to you? About an ancient, lost city the outside only knows as a myth not getting too many strange visitors that often? I’m wounded.” He remarked incredulously, showing more than a hint of well-intentioned sarcasm. He had to give her the benefit of doubt with the question, considering the amount of G’s she’d just experienced, and the whole experience of finding one’s way to a place like Atlantis. If anything, she was probably in the slightest bit of shock. Of course, that didn’t stop him from milking his faux-offense a bit with a look of mock-surprise and a hand pressed up against his chest.

He continued to lead the group up past Pika and Alkaios, who both seemed to fall back in line with the group and join in just behind Priam, but in front of Fox and Zash. Err, Poshie, who was currently using Zash’s body. Pika was currently dealing with the shock of the situation in his own way, that being silence sometimes broken by some annoyed grumbling.

Ohhhhhh boy, now that was a ride. We should do that again sometime, that really...wow. Made me feel a rush, there isn’t a lot that does that these days.
Oh, no. No, we are not getting back in that death trap of a shuttle ever again.
Okay, I understand.

That made Pika blink. It didn’t feel right, Kobal giving up on that so easily. It wasn’t something bad, nor was it something harmful, and those were the kinds of things the voice seemed to be stubborn enough to keep insisting on.

So I’m guessing you plan on living here from now on, huh?
What?
You know, if you’re not using the vessel again and all. I imagine there’s not exactly another way of getting out of here.
…

“Shit.” While he’d spoken that out loud, Pika managed to keep it down to a mumble, probably only able to be heard by the people right in his direct vicinity. The Absol still moving beside him seemed to overhear it and glanced up at the teen, raising a brow at his muttered expletive. Catching notice of him staring, Pika looked back to the creature and stared back for a moment, raising his own brow.

“Well, what are you looking at? Is that illegal down here or something?” He snarked at Alkaios, who met the remark with a shrug and a continuation of his staring. That made Pika furrow his brow a bit.

“You know that makes me uncomfortable, and that’s why you’re doing it. Isn’t it?”

The Absol grinned and shrugged, making little effort to feign ignorance.

“Yeah, alright, fine. Be that way.” The teen grumbled and looked away, placing his attention on the group’s surroundings as they made their way through the area. He turned his attention to Fox and Zash(err, Poshie) and stepped over closer to the two of them, seeming a bit wary.

"So...I can't be the only person here who doesn't like this, am I?" He questioned the two of them, bringing a hand up and rubbing the back of his head.
"We're completely out of our element in this weird-ass city, pretty far away from any outside help or contact, and something just feels...up. I don't like it." Pika stated in an attempt at a whisper to the other two. In reality, it was still audible enough for at least Priam and Alkaios to hear it, though neither responded.

Instead, those two continued on ahead, only pausing a short distance away from a coffee shop. The two were equally surprised by what they saw there, not by the Absol, but by the Ninetails. Priam knew that the Ninetails had basically been asleep ever since Taiga left...

Alkaios' expression quickly turned from surprise to disgust as he gagged slightly, shaking his head at what he'd walked into. However, once more, that expression changed again once the other Absol set his eyes on him. The Absol that had been sitting by the Ninetails had a noticeably more mature look to him, an older sort of attitude. He seemed to stare over at Alkaios with a serious look about him, a serious but calm look. Heavily reminiscent of a calm before a storm. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Alkaios was in some deep shit.

Priam sighed slightly and shook his head as the younger Absol tensed up and moved back, standing by Pika as the other pokemon came over.
"Morning, Artorius. I'm glad you finally decided to wake up. And something tells me she's not exactly my type...might be yours though. Between you waking up, and the way she's been acting and speaking...she's definitely got something to do with Taiga." The Atlantean responded in his head, knowing that the Ninetails would be able to overhear it.
"Oh, and one more thing. Please tell Erasmus to go a little bit easy on Alkaios, he wanted to go see the surface and he just took his first return trip on the vessel. He's probably a bit shaken up." He added with some slight amusement, before turning back to the trio accompanying him.

"Don't mind them. I'm sure you remember, Poshie, but as for you two these are Erasmus and Artorius. The former's my trusted partner, and the latter is an old friend's partner who's been very lazily sleeping on the job for a very long time. Now, if that's all the introductions and interruptions to deal with, we really should keep going. I'd like to get all of us someplace more private to discuss things." Priam did his best to explain to Fox and Pika without taking too long, wanting to expedite the process a little bit. He couldn't imagine that news wouldn't travel fast about these three, and he didn't want them out in the open when news traveled to him...

Poshie sighed he supposed now was not the best time for this as she whisked herself away after Priam and the other boy with them whom Poshie did not know immediately by name he realized as though for the first time. But he had the sneaky suspicion it wouldn't matter as he started to feel Zash's stubbornness waver within his mind. The insistent apprehension from him repeatedly attempting to invade him mental safe haven were beginning to cease. He figured Zash would implore for control of his body soon and Poshie suppose it was about time he retreated back into the back ground, at least for a little while there was still one more person that he needed to reunite with. Poshie began to look off into the distance of the intricate and modern design of the great city. He felt the pang of nostalgia mixed with regret and something else something Poshie himself couldn't place at first.

Who is this person that keeps popping up in your memories? Zash questioned him softly calmly attempt to gently coax the information from him. Zash could feel the importance of this whole situation for Poshie the significance of this city and the people in here that he had long buried ties with and Zash felt a simple respect for the chance of this now spirit of a man to gain some closure.

Poshie was about to answer but was distracted by Pika's spat with the mischievous pokemon. The smiled that played across Poshie's lips looked incredibly strange on Zash's body but it was one filled with that unquie way a grand parent or an elder looked upon youth with a fondness and desire which was indescribable. After that little confrontation Pika came to question himself and the girl about how comfortable they should feel here and Poshie felt in the minority when he replied. ' Sorry to argue with you but I'm actually far more in my element here than I have been in quite a long time but I understand your apprehension, Zash agrees with you to a degree." He added as he glanced up to the little coffee shop to a quirky little sight.

" Hello you two, it's been quite sometime, I'm sorry to say but I actually should be taking a rest for a small time so I will be cutting this reunion short, but I would like to catch up with you two latter." he said to both the ninetails and the absol with a polite smile and then in a more sudden change then what was normal the color of Zash's eyes returned to that deep chocolate brown and his hair darkened to his black.
" Finally christ I felt cooped up in my own head." Zash moaned as he stretched himself out finally regaining control, his attempts at pressing Poshie's mind were such an utter failure that he supposed he might as well invest some time in this once and life time opportunity to go adventuring in a lost and forgotten city. " This place looks pretty cool, but Priam, that's your name right?" He asked now he had been a tad bit fuzzy on the whole situation since he had been in his own mind. ' We have followed you this far but you have yet to give us the slightest clue why we are here. I know Fox is under some kind of influence and I am not exactly sure how I feel about that but for me and I hope Pika here, we want some answers before you drag us along further." He made his case more diplomatically than he normally would have but Priam had not given him any sense for danger or threat in the entire time they had been with him so Zash saw no reason to be hostile just yet. But all the same there was something here and now that he was the one in control of his senses he could confirm something or someone in this city was making his blood boil already.

Artorius's initial response to Priam firing back at him was to snort and roll his eyes. "Pardon me for catching an unhealthy amount of sleep after an unhealthy amount of being awake. And sadly, there are two major hangups with her that conflict with what I'm into." His face grew pensive, almost out of shock, for a moment as the rest of what Priam communicated to him settled in. His head shifted gracefully towards Fox and he stared at her, as if absorbing the implications. He didn't even have to enter her mind to figure it out.

Fox was too put off by the Ninetail's stare to formulate a greeting or a comment. She froze in his gaze, noticing how perturbed he looked beyond the chill exterior he sported.

He stayed in thought and observation even while an old friend (in a new body for some reason) addressed him. He simply gave a half-minded nod.

"Well now we know why I woke up," Artorius finally commented bringing Erasmus into the little conference with Priam as well. "That's the boss man alright..... mostly, but she isn't." Now he extended his voice so that everybody in the group could hear, specifically the kid bitching in the back, and implored Priam to give him just a moment. "No offense to you Priam, but I think I should address this considering some of the knowledge I'm privy to. I need just need a moment; believe me when I say I'm eager to depart as well," he assured him. The Ninetail's voiced had gotten layers more serious, possibly even tinged with a strain of panic. It wasn't a face he typically wore. He got up from the table and strode up to the group. "I have no clue how you got to this place, but I have more than a good idea about what brought you here. You'll just have to trust me for now when I say it's not an ambush or any dangerous setup for you. As succeeding head of the Consulate, I'll give you my word that Atlantis holds you no ill will. However, you're right; something IS up that could prove to be very dangerous."

He continued with no pause. "I need you all to just trust in the basics that I'm going to give you now. If I could divulge more I would, but we are in public and my power lies centrally in the Forum. Outside of the Forum, I cannot even assure the safety of this data through telepathic links. Now, firstly," he looked at Zash, indicating that he was going to address his concerns, "the 'influence' that you're referring to isn't just any influence, nor is it some kind of spiritual attachment. Unfortunately, I suspect a piece of Taiga's soul is still attached to this body. If that happens to be Taiga's will... well that's an issue. Potentially a big one." He took a moment to think about what he wanted to say next. "Her will definitely should not be in this body at all."

Artorius then approached Fox quickly.

"I'm sorry, but I need to check this now. Hold still, close your eyes, and clear your head. Don't resist. I'm going to attempt to render your body unconscious with hypnotic suggestions. This will sting, and it will give you a headache afterwords. You will not be hurt." He sounded as if he had given the speech a thousand times.

"I uhhh...." Fox hesitated a moment. Artorius seemed larger than most Ninetails that she had encountered; she definitely wasn't more than a foot taller than him. His tone was so serious it unnerved her. Her eyes broke away from his out of anxiety, looking for any backup. What she saw on Priam's face was just enough to convince her that it must have been worth it. She exhaled, and met Artorius's eye's again. "...Alright. What's the best way to go about clearing my head?" She said as she shut her eyes.

"Think of absolutely nothing," Artorius replied plainly. His tails started to curve up and over his body as his eyes flashed with bright light, preparing some kind of power. Fox grimaced as she started to feel his influence. "...That's too much resistance, I can't reach in with you this anxious. Take a deep breath," he grunted as he pushed against her will. Fox huffed out a long exhale in response.

Those who had been around pokemon or that known Artorius would know that this was Hypnosis. A rather potent form of it, actually.

Finally, Fox wavered, and Artorious seemed to loosen up. the light in his eyes grew more intense.

She did not fall, however. A shadow crossed Artorius's face.

"Are you conscious?" he asked simply.

"Ita," Fox replied.

"Then we have a big problem." Artorius suddenly released his influence, causing Fox to suddenly gasp and doubled over. She gripped at her head and groaned, not unlike she had after the scene with Taiga in Fox's bedroom.

"Aughh.... well, everything went dark.... so did it work?" she asked from her crouched over position as she held her aching head.

Artorius only sighed and shook his head. "No. You stayed conscious. Nobody should be able to remain conscious with their will suppressed, and there's no normal circumstance in which a person has two wills." He grew pensive for a moment, mulling this over. "...there's really a lot more I need to explain... but I can't without more test data. The only thing that is certain is we need to extract Taiga's will immediately."

"What..... what happens if we don't?" Fox asked. Artorius frowned.

"That's not an easy answer. Even though it was calculated, it is entirely unprecedented and there are a number of predictions as to how this might end. However..." He paused a moment. "I suspect that if it were not important, you would not be here."

He turned to Priam. "We need to get her to the Forum, immediately. We can take shelter there, and I will be able to properly educate you all on what's going on. Even better, I'll have the research models to show you." Artorius immediately began ushering everyone down the eastbound road of the city they were in, keeping Fox by him as guided everyone from the side.

Fox still looked to Priam for confirmation.

After being shut down rather immediately in his concerns by Poshie, only to have his concerns be reaffirmed by Zash once he came back to, Pika had elected to silently wait out the ensuing conversation, deciding to just listen carefully and pick up on all the information he could. As he did so, however, he noticed Alkaios moving up by him and the other Absol coming towards them, putting two and two together.

"Friend of yours?" He quietly questioned the Alkaios. The Absol looked away and brought a front paw up, tilting it back and forth as if to say 'more or less'. Erasmus made his way up to Pika and the younger dark type as Artorius and Priam communicated and began to explain the situation to the group, settling his gaze on the half-sheepish half-stubborn Absol positioned by Pika.

"Alkaios...wasn't there something you were supposed to be doing today? Something important?"
"...well, I was supposed to be learning something. And I sure did learn, I learned a lot-"

The mental conversation between the two Absol was cut off as Erasmus sighed and shook his head, grabbing Alkaios' horn in his jaws and turning, giving the younger pokemon a few firm tugs as he pulled him back towards Priam.

"We'll continue this conversation later, once Artorius has this whole thing sorted out. Don't think you're out of trouble yet."
"Yeah, dad..."

Pika watched as Erasmus and Alkaios headed back off towards Priam, the latter Absol looking just a bit embarrassed and ashamed as he was partially dragged off by his elder, looking like the equivalent of a child having their ear pulled by their parent or grandparent. He gave the two pokemon a semi-sarcastic wave, something that Erasmus seemed to be partially amused by, and something that provoked a glare and a growl from Alkaios. The older Absol seemed to let his gaze linger on Pika just a bit longer though, eyeing him with curiosity. Other than the clothing, he looked far too much like Priam for it to be a mere coincidence. Something had to be up with them, but for now, Erasmus brought his attention back to the Ninetails. He was sure they could figure out their copious amount of questions later.

Meanwhile, the surprisingly knowledgeable fox pokemon continued to explain things to the group, going as far as to run a quick test on Fox mid-conversation. Priam simply nodded his head and awaited the results, letting Artorius take control for the time being, while Pika also stood by and waited. Or, at least, he tried to. Of course, he turned and looked to Zash as the testing started and could already tell that the hothead was going to try and do something. Sure enough, as he went to go intervene in the testing process, Pika reached forward and grabbed him, trying to hold the pyromancer back.

"Come on Zash, if they wanted to really hurt her, they could have done it way earlier. They're just doing some kind of test on her." He said through gritted teeth as he held onto his companion with all his strength, managing to hold onto him until the testing process was done, when he finally let Zash go, taking a few steps back and taking a breather.

"Well, the forum was where I was planning on heading anyways. It's weird being a step ahead of you, maybe you're still waking up, huh?" Priam teased the Ninetails once his exposition was finished, crossing his arms and shrugging his shoulders as he looked back to Fox.

"If you're feeling alright, we really should head over to the Forum. It's a good place for you all to get some rest and to further explain the situation." He stated, before turning and following after Artorious, joined by Erasmus and Alkaios who followed on either side of him. Pika sighed lightly, shaking his head. It seemed like Artorius had given them more questions than answers, but hell, he was used to that at this point. It was like his whole life ran off of having more questions than answers. As the group seemed to begin moving on ahead once more, he joined them.

So...what do you make of the whole situation?
I'm still trying to figure that out. There's a whole lot of information there to process.
Well, we've got time. Don't worry, I didn't expect your tiny mind to have all of it sorted out so soon.
Glad I can live up to expectations...what did the Ninetails mean when he said Taiga's will was attached to Fox?
Well, I'm no scientist or religious fanatic or anything, but I've been around long enough to know enough to sort of answer that. A soul is made up of a lot of different things, and one of those things in there is your will. A person's will can do a lot of things, it's kind of a multi-purpose tool, but at its core it's a person's desires, motivations, will to live, all that jazz.
So how are they gonna extract Taiga's will from Fox? Is that safe?
I have no idea how this bunch thinks they're going to do this, but I'll tell you this. Human beings should never be going in and messing with another human's soul. I'd equate it to having a guy who's thought a lot about fixing a car and theorized a lot about fixing a car try and disarm a bomb. Humans all like to think and tinker and test all you want with things far out of your control, and disillusion yourselves with the idea of knowing it and controlling it, but in reality you're playing with things far beyond your reach. So, in short? They might think it is, but I'd say no. No matter how secure they think their handle is on it, I wouldn't say messing with anybody's soul is ever safe.

With that wonderful thought in his head, Pika sighed slightly and nodded his head, having spaced out and been looking down as he walked. It was when he snapped back to reality and brought his head back up that he realized that Priam, Erasmus and Alkaios' eyes were all on him, a perturbed, concerned look on Priam's face that screamed "Dude, what the hell?", and confusion on the faces of the two Absol.

It was at that moment Pika realized that Artorius was communicating with all of them using some sort of telepathy, or some way of being able to mentally communicate with them, and have them mentally communicate back with him, and possibly each other.

Which meant that, if the latter were the case, theoretically everyone in their little group had just heard one of Pika's mental conversations with what was very clearly a different voice in his head, a voice that certainly didn't belong to anybody in the group.  His eyes widened as he felt his heart race a bit, panic and surprise filling him for a few seconds.

...oh shit, we're on speaker phone, aren't we? Man, now that I think about it in hindsight, that was a little insulting, what I said back there, wasn't it...? Oh, man, that's...that's a good one if everyone can hear that, heh. Hah. Hey, testing, one, two, three, who can hear this? Anybody?

With that, Pika quickly looked away and rubbed the back of his head with one hand, still unsure of just who else in the group had heard that whole talk. He suppressed the surprise and panic as best as he could and simply shrugged as he continued on ahead.

"Well? We've got to go to the Forum, right? We can all talk about everything there. C'mon, let's hop to it." He stated, and Priam seemed to raise a brow at him, before sighing and shaking his own head, picking up the pace onwards as well. He'd get some answers from Pika on the subject later, he'd decided. He certainly wouldn't forget about that little bit right there.

He kept an even glare as his concerns were " Addressed" with possibly the most frustrating answer he could have imagined being hit with. The concept of trusting this random spooky Ninetails with some incredibly mental capability out of nowhere was on the bottom of Zash's list of comforting thoughts and he was not quite about it as the Ninetails started going on testing Fox  not even waiting for Zash or Pika the actual members of the group that Zash was 100% certain had her best interests in mind to protest and voice concern. " Wow Fox you do not nee-" He didn't even finish before not only the Pokemon but Priam who had not done anything in particular to get on Zash's bad side pressured the girl into letting a complete stranger crawl around inside her inner thoughts.

Zash was the farthest from calm that he could ever imagine. As the mentions of the sudden side effects of this test starting being listed he already made his move his hand dropping to his hilt the glint of his sword visible. Pika of all people moved to stop him , Zash was surprised he was holding him back so effectively as he grabbed him and pulled harsh. Zash tried to break through with force but didn't want to hurt Pika. " Fuck that man! These people are crawling around in her brain for no reason and your just gonna let them?!" He scolded indignant as he stumbled forward as Pika let him go. He collected himself and dusted himself off as Fox replied in a voice that was not her own to the administrator of these mind games on her. He moved aggressively to Fox's side as she seemed almost worried now about all this even asking the Pokemon what to do. Zash could only guess she had gone crazy from the test as he raised a hand in the two Atlantians light wisps of fire sparking off the skin of his hand. " Fox," He said not looking at her but instead staring at the suspicious pair. " I need you to calm down and start thinking logically here there is no reason to believe there is anything wrong with you right now in the slightest. The only evidence you have is the statement of strangers. And you two." He said now glaring at Priam instead of the Pokemon as Zash imagined he was actually running the operation as he found the thought of a mere Pokemon being in charge laughable. " I haven't gotten anywhere in my life on the kindness of strangers, I want insurance before we take another action as significant as invading my precious friend here mental processes." He gestured with the hand not leaking sparks to Fox.

His gaze remained on Priam he couldn't place his elevated feeling of betrayal from his man, for some reason the simple look he had given Fox to put her into this state of accepting being under their power had put him very much off. The fire on his hand started to resemble a familiar fireball now. " I want the whole situation told to us before we enter this 'Forum' where you guys have even more of an advantage than you already do. Then me and my two friends will decide what we want to do." he stated his terms. He was certain they would have to stay and participate in some kerfuffle as always but he was getting crossed at being pushed around.He paused as Priam had already started on his way away and Zash would have been infuriated but at that instance he realized why he hadn't been giving him his utmost attention. Pika has somebody riding shot gun too huh? Zash thought to himself and sighed. Priam tried to take the opportunity to again rush them onto the Forum and Zash took this as a moment to reassert his earlier demands. "I am not taking another step further into your territory until the safety of my friends is confirmed and the both of you wait for all of our okays before you start testing and messing with us." He said this time with less venom. Even with all of these conditions he had set Zash couldn't shake this feeling or agitation that. Something old and familiar in a unique way Zash couldn't describe was calling out to his blood, to his biology. He could only explain it as an aversion to his own kind and it was not calming down...


" The target is within city limits heading to the Forum, Lieutenant Daingen." The patron of the coffee shop watched as the sporadic and angry group had their small batch of in fighting. He spoke into a blue tooth ear piece reporting to his commanding officer. The situation transpiring before his very eyes he could not begin to comprehend. Ever since the death of her ladyship Taiga leading to the inevitable falling out of the generals, it was awaited with bated breath; the moment that Priam would return to the city.

"That's perfect Alun, continue to watch from a safe distance and do not enter the Forum." The voice crackled to him in his ear piece.
"Um Miss Dainegn?"
"Yes Alun?"
"I I know this is crazy but..."
"What is it Alun come on spill it."
" A woman within their ground strikes a frightening similarity to her Ladyship."
There was a long pause here before Daingen simply replied. " Continue to keep surveillance."

Daingen was the faithful and prevalent member of the Tân Brenhinol, the actual brains of the operation. She rose from her desk in her private office of the military sector of the private grounds for the Atlantain government. She was dressed in a business sense as she had been the single figure response for keeping the Tân Brenhinol together. She started her way to the training hall of the complex which was exclusive for their divisions use. Her heels clicked on the marbled ground as she made her way through the internal bowels of the building. She needed this long walk to collect and organize her thoughts since she was about to reveal the report that would cause the whole of Atlantis to stir. She finally reached the large double doors of the training halls she unaffectionately labeled " The Warehouse." She placed each of her hands on the double doors her perfectly manicured and painted nails clashing against the plain gray metal sheet.

As the door swung open and light finally flooded into the place for what seemed like ages. Mountains of broken wooden,plastic, and stuffed dummies lay scatter around the middle of the grand hall. The smell of sweat and stale booze was also heavy in the air causing Daingen to cough and sputter. She glanced along the ray of light seeing the teal skinned barefoot of her selfish leader." You really must stop letting the place go to waste." She scolded as she picked her way into the hall her heels continuing to click. She straightened her pencil skirt as she turned to the heap her boss was in and coughed loudly to rouse him.

"Why are you disturbing me Dai?" The voice was rough and raspy. There was an intense bottled frustration and curt manner to his speech. He shifted himself against the support beam and bent his knees slowly curling his foot back out of the sunlight and into the recesses of his dark corner. He groggily opened his red eyes with the intensity of them making them seem like two red dots in his otherwise dark surroundings. Even though their should have been ambient light it seemed as though darkness shrouded him.

Daingen took a deep breath as she looked at him as best as she could in the darkness his piercing red eyes drilling holes into her. He wasn't always this way, before he had been such a figure head of good will of energy and full of life. He had been the kind of charismatic man that had such commanded such affection and admiration from a large enough group of people that they were forced to declare him a general and his soldiers called him master not only for deference to his rank but for his truly ruling presence.

"Dai!"

The low growl of his voice shook her from her stupor. She broke the news to him finally and concisely knowing that in his own selfish way that she had fallen in horrible unrequited love with that he would move to action immediately.

"Alun has reported that their are visitors to Atlantis. One of them is a woman who he claims to be nearly the spitting image of her Ladyship." The last of her words slipped out with unconcealed jealousy, Daingen had never been able to hide her jealousy around him but thankfully he was always too absorbed in the news of Taiga to notice.

With sudden and explosive moment the man who had been shrouded in shadows appeared as though by teleportation right in front of Daingen his tall frame leaving her staring at his shoulder. She looked up slowly a chill running through her person, the way he had closed the distant to her had left her absolutely breathless. She met his eyes as they stared down into her raking every feature of her face for any semblance of dishonesty. Then as suddenly as he had moved he turned and Daingen whole body relaxed as a sound she had not heard in nearly ten thousand years resonated within the great hall. The loud baritone laughter of her master...