House of Hallways

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Varda was quite exhausted! The trip through the odd house had been very taxing already, but when he had to make a quick trip back to the little town with a Glaceon on his back... Well, it certainly had been something, alright! Luckily he didn't have to carry his friend back, as they had been lucky and there was a Pokémon who could deal with their injuries for a small compensation, so they could just rush to the spooky weird house as soon as their legs – and wings – allowed them to! They had lost some valuable time doing this, but the bird believed he had done the right decision on his own, without Sova's help...

The house felt strange this time. They had been through such strange rooms on their first visit, but now the door they took sent them to an odd, extremely long hallway. It was rather narrow compared to many rooms they had seen before, but the hallway was wide enough to let a couple of Pokémon to walk side by side. There were no doors the bird could see, there hadn't been any doors for a while since the last one they took. As usual, there were various candles on the walls lighting up the gloomy house, some dark spots left behind by the dim lighting. The floorboards creaked under the pair of Pokémon and the old wallpaper was ripped in many places, revealing old wooden panels.


Current Energy: 38 (57 -19 from entering)

S.S. took his attention off the box as Jak began to speak. He hoped the lizard was planning on saying he could move again, but that definitely wasn't it. Rather, if the glaceon was gathering it right.... it was a taunt of sorts. Leave it to a Fire-type to play with fire. However, he doubted Jak could take much more physical abuse, so that ruled out his favorite kind of response, at least for the time-being. But that didn't mean he was going to just let such remarks go without any response.... He'd just have to get creative.

The glaceon approached the charmeleon and lowered himself so that they were face to face. "Yes, that's right, I'm royalty. He happens to be my servant; that's how we know each other," he spoke with a slight smile.
Now he could make Jak do anything he wanted, assuming it was possible, and to get out of this situation, the charmeleon would need to go through the process of explaining it all to Varda. The miserable, frustrating process of trying to explain ANYTHING to that bird seemed like more than enough punishment. And while there wasn't much he could physically force Jak to do, he could make up literally anything about the lizard and claim it was true without contest.

While the thought of being able to mess with someone on a mental level for a while was certainly fun, he still wanted to get going soon. Sitting around doing nothing was pretty boring, especially given the anticipation he was feeling for what was to come. He wanted to move on, with the hope of more fighting in his mind. Violence was pretty much all he cared about. Violence and staying alive, although he wasn't quite sure which of those took priority. Probably violence. He wished he could say he didn't care about the two he was with, but actually, he quite liked Jak. Someone who seemed oh so very fun to fight.... but that would have to wait.

(Wanna end the thread soon so we can get this event over with? Liiike.... maybe.... y'know, have Varda's legs start doing their job? There isn't really much left to do in the thread but just have them sit around doing nothing.)

Jak let out a small growl as the glaceon stated that it was royalty. “You wish I was your servant…” he grunted as he stared at the hole in the door that lead to the next room. It was only off to the side of his view from where he had been laying. Jak finally decided that he should attempt one last time to get up on his own. Something he was probably going to regret at some point if he falls once more. He just couldn’t stand staying here with this trouble any longer. Besides being physically tortured earlier by S.S, he now had to deal with some mental abuse too.

Varda tilted his head, looking at the pair in a confused manner. If Sova was royalty and the lizard was his servant… Well, it just felt a bit off, considering that this was the first time he had seen Jak! But! It was obvious that the two of them knew each other, clearly meeting before in the past. But when Jak started to grumble, it seemed like the servant option started to slip away further and further. Oh! The bird smiled. He got it. It was a joke! Wow, and he had almost believed it…

The warmth of the flame was pretty nice. Up to a point, at least. The Altaria's legs felt very cold on the inside, but the outside… Well, that felt like it was cooking already! It wasn't very nice. He was way too close to the source and the way his legs tingled was so itchy and annoying too! Varda continued trying to rub his legs together to stop it, but it was no use. Eventually, he just decided it was time for him to start moving. Maybe that would help warm him up better without feeling so itchy and hot.

Slowly, Varda stirred, pushing himself back on his stomach with the help of his wings. His legs felt slow and cold as he moved them, but they at least moved, so that was a good thing! It took a moment for the bird to dare to try to support his entire weight on his feet, wobbling in place.
"Oh, can I have my bag back?"



((It'll never happen, we will forever be stuck in this room.))

S.S. was a bit disappointed at the charmeleon instantly denying his claim, but that was expected.  What really let him down was Varda not questioning it at all!  The bird decided not to question something NOW of all times, how unfun.  But on the bright side, it seemed like they were finally going to be able to get going as Varda was FINALLY standing up.  Sadly, the altaria still seemed pretty weak, probably too weak to carry Jak, which meant he had to.  He lifted the bag off the ground with his bandaged paw and carelessly tossed it over to the altaria, as requested, before setting his focus on the one who still hadn't gotten up.

"A good servant would have gotten up by now.  Come on.... unless you want me to carry you again," he spoke with a maniacal smirk, completely ignoring how Jak had testified against being a servant.
Carrying the charmeleon was no problem, but if he had to do it, he was most certainly going to make it fun.  Still, he didn't really feel like carrying anyone, so he really wanted to get the lizard to just get up.  The only reasonable way he could think of to accomplish this was to be provocative.  Jak had a short temper and was easily angered, so if he kept pushing, maybe he could get the Fire-type's adrenaline flowing.  Plus, desire to show someone up was the best motivator he could think of.

And of course, he was also hoping the threat of being carried again would help.  Considering how he'd handled the situation last time, he was pretty sure it wasn't a very appealing option to his "friend."  And he planned on handling it very similarly to the last time.  He looked down at the music box as he awaited an answer and picked it up carefully in his front paws before dropping it into his bag.  He was really expecting some awe-inspiring melody from this thing to make it worth all the fuss.

Jak grunted as he heard the Glaceon taunt him into getting up. “Ya, still not your servant SOVA.” he responded back in a bit of a cocky tone. He knew perfectly well that he was speaking to S.S, but didn’t want to leak that info out. He didn’t know if bird knew about Sova’s alter Ego, but either way. He wasn’t going to bring it up for discussion.

Jak shifted his arms as he attempted to push himself up. Having very little success in the matter. However, he did feel he might be able to walk at this point. The big problem was getting up at the time. “Varda right? Can you help me up… I think I can walk, but I can’t get up.” the fire type stated. The pain in his voice seemed to be suppressed to some extent, but it would still be visible to those who were keen enough to hear it.

The bag was thrown and hit Varda before softly plopping on the floor. The bird just stood there, blinked and looked down, slowly. Well, that was fast! With a smile, he picked it up carefully, not wanting to spend too much time on just one foot in case it was too weak to carry his weight. The bag was soon fastened back where it belonged, hanging in front of his belly. Sure felt good to have that bag, it felt odd without that little bit of added extra weight pressing against his feathers!

Varda certainly was happy, momentarily forgetting what was happening around him before he heard Jak calling out his name. The Altaria looked up, smiling and nodding happily to show that he was listening before tilting his head. Helping the lizard-like Pokémon get up… Hm. Then he brightened up again.
"Sure! I'll try!" He chirped.

The bird took a few shaky steps closer to Jak, having forgotten how to walk already. He wasn't entirely sure what the best way to approach the situation was, but… He supposed he just had to try to get Jak latch onto him and he'd try to, well, lift him up. Varda lowered his neck and brought it closer so the Fire-type Pokémon could grab it and then he'd… Well, pull!

Still not a servant, eh? S.S. was a bit disappointed, it was really too bad.... But that just showed his new playmate still had some will to fight left, which meant the fun would go on. If Jak was in good enough condition to actually walk, then maybe he could go back to physical torture. He knew Varda would be an annoying problem if he made such actions obvious, but as long as he hid it, he was confident Jak wouldn't say anything. The charmeleon had just called him Sova despite already knowing he wasn't Sova, which meant the lizard didn't want to recognize him as himself.

Varda already knew about him, but assumed this was information Jak was unaware of. He assumed the charmeleon wanted to try and hide who hide who he was from the innocent bird, and he was most certainly going to abuse this. He already had the best idea; as soon as they got to the safe room, he would whip up a Blizzard wind and target Jak's legs. Once the still-so-cocky lizard was down, he would feign worry to make it appear that it wasn't him. This time.... he would torment his new "friend" both physically and mentally.

The anticipation was already making it difficult to suppress a grin, but he managed. For now, he had to wait until they got to the next room at the very least, because he REALLY didn't want to have to deal with waiting even longer to move forward. He decided to go ahead and start walking under the assumption the other two would meet him in the next room. Of course, he was going to stay at the entrance just in case the house decided to pull some tricks, but he wasn't going to sit here waiting for Jak to get up. "Hurry up," he simply stated without looking back.

Jak waited as the bird started to approach him. When he was offered some form of support, he started to grab hold gently as to not cause any harm to the bird. He only needed support to get up, so it wasn’t too much. What caught Jak’s attention was the distinct lack of patience S.S. had, which was a bit annoying.

He just remained silent in response to the demand. He wasn’t going to let it bother him at this moment as he had to focus on moving. It was a bit difficult, but he could manage now that he had some energy back. What was a real pain, was the fact that his whole body was still sore. This wasn’t going to be fixed any time soon, and whatever happened to that ghost? Little did Jak know, the Pokémon still had its destiny bound with him, and if it is knocked out… he will also fade from consciousness.

Varda did his best to stay on his feet as the lizard's hands reached towards him, grabbing him. Having some extra weight put on his shaky legs wasn't really the smartest idea, but he just had to brace himself and endure it. Jak was being very gentle at least, his claws didn't dig into the bird's skin and honestly… The Pokémon felt very warm! That was a bit strange, Jak didn't really look that warm, considering that he was made of scales and not fur or feathers. But then again, his tail was on fire, so what did Varda know?

The Altaria did his best to help Jak up, pulling with his neck and occasionally even attempting to lift the lizard with his wings. It was a bit odd, but it seemed like Jak didn't need all that much help to get back on his feet. Indeed, soon the lizard was standing – and when Varda felt like he could also remain standing, he could take a few steps backwards and detach himself from the Jak docking station.

"Oh, okaaay," the bird looked up at Sova, who had already started to move and asked them to hurry up. Right, they had wasted some time, which they really didn't have… So they had to get going. Varda started to waddle after the Glaceon, but the made sure to stop and wait for Jak as well.

S.S. continued to walk, not planning on stopping until he at least reached the door. Then, if the others had yet to catch up, he would have to wait. However, he was suddenly stopped before reaching the door as a white figure flew out of the next room and outstretched its arms to block the entrance. The froslass from earlier, and it looked like it could barely keep itself up. However, despite it being tempting, he wasn't going to put this thing out of its misery, due to the difficulties it would cause him. It was probably still bound to a certain member of his group, and he did not want to deal with the annoyance that would result from knocking it out.

He sighed at the creature that could barely keep its eyes open, let alone keep itself upright. It looked like if he just let it float there long enough, it would just collapse on its own. It clearly wanted to stop him from moving forward, and it didn't seem to care much about its own life. This was definitely a problem. However, he didn't pause for even a moment, continuing his approach toward the door. His thought process was simple; it was far too exhausted to threaten him. He approached it and his fur suddenly flared into icy spikes, which prompted the ghost to move out of the way slightly.

As he passed by the froslass, a dark purple orb appeared in one of its hands. It flung the ball of negative energy at him, but there was no response on his part. He allowed the attack to hit him willingly, and while the resulting explosion was small, it was enough to obscure him from view. But when it faded.... he was still there, standing upright and perfectly fine like nothing had happened. He gave a cocky and slightly maniacal grin to the ghost as its arms dropped to its sides. Whether it was more defeated or exhausted was hard to tell.

"Give up while I'm willing to let you," the glaceon stated in his "normal" voice.
It certainly wasn't Sova's normal voice, but he wasn't Sova. He looked the froslass in the eyes and stopped moving for a moment, awaiting its response. After just a moment, it began to float down to the ground. The look on its face was a mix between defeated and.... either sad or worried.

As Jak had gotten up with the help provided by Varda, he noticed the ice type had already begun entering the next room. What came next, was some kind of dark orb that shot from inside the room towards the ice type. The explosion that soon followed was fairly small. The question now, was where it came from. The smoke that had obscured the ice type started to drift away.


"Give up while I'm willing to let you," A voice rang from within the room. Jak could only match the voice to the demented ice type, but his view was still obscured by the smoke that was beginning to drift away and dissipate. Jak was a bit curious to whom the ice type was speaking too, but he figured it was one of the earlier attackers.

Just as the smoke passed, he saw a rather burnt, battered, and bruised froslass slowly floating to the ground. The look on its face spelled out exactly what it felt, a defeated look that came off to Jak as one of worry. What exactly was this thing worried about… not the same thing the one froslass was that had stolen his parts… is it? Jak let go of Varda and started to walk towards the room. Jak’s movements clearly showed that he was still in pain, but was willing to push through it. Each step, he gradually grew a bit more resistant to the pain, but it remained present in his motion. He kept his eyes on the two ice types in the next room as he approached it.

((So when we throwing the new thread up?? :3))

An explosion caused Varda to blink and jerk his head up, his gaze having fallen to stare at his extremely interesting toes instead. The ones he couldn't quite feel yet, so he felt like he had to check from time to time to make sure they were still there. He didn't want to lose them in this odd mansion after all, the place was such a maze that he would probably never see them again, unable to find the same corridor!

...Right, the explosion! When he got the chance, he started to hop towards the sound – though he couldn't be too swift in his movements. While he really wanted to get closer, he also didn't want to love Jak behind considering how slowly the lizard was walking, so the Altaria was stuck hopping from one side to another, always trying to get a little further before abandoning that idea and returning. And going back. And returning.

Eventually the two managed to make their way closer to Sova, finding… A rather battered, ghost-like Pokémon. This one wasn't Nevi, just the same species as her. Varda stopped, blinking and looking at the Glaceon and then to the other icy Pokémon, who looked… Sad. Or something. The bird didn't quite know, but he did know that she didn't look very happy. But then again, she wasn't really standing in their way either? At least she didn't look like she would attack them.

"Um… Everything will be fine!" Varda finally chirped, wanting to reassure this complete stranger.


((Never, we will be stuck here forever and ever. Get comfortable.))

S.S. stopped as he heard one of his group members speak, and from the context, it was presumably toward the froslass. This agitated him; the bird was focusing more on chatting with enemies than HURRYING UP! But he had to wait for these two whether he liked it or not. He was stuck babysitting.... plus he'd probably need them if whatever they were about to do was really worth fearing. Of course, that remained to be seen.

"Varda.... stop socializing with the enemy and hurry up, we don't have time to chit-chat," he spoke with clear agitation in his voice at the bird's insistent.... niceness.
The froslass wasn't even responding, so there was no reason to keep trying to talk to it anyway. Just let it sit there and sulk, he figured. Of course, he knew Varda wouldn't agree, but at the very least, the altaria would surely agree that they needed to hurry this along.

He personally didn't care all that much about what they were doing; he was in it mostly because he was expecting an entertaining fight. Of course, there was also the fact that Sova wanted this, very much so, which meant he kind of had to.... But honestly, he probably would have willingly went along with this even if neither of those reasons applied. His main concern was violence and how much of it he could commit, but.... that didn't mean he was particularly fond of letting the world decay around him. Especially not when he would be affected by it.

"Oh, um, but!" Varda chirped when Sova didn't want him talking to the sad-looking ghost. Because she was an enemy.
"And um, I don't think she's an enemy! ...Maybe," he continued, tilting his head and looking a bit unsure himself. True, they just were attacked, but… That didn't mean they were bad Pokémon. They all were on the same side, it seemed – if Nevi and the other ghost had said the truth, which they of course had as they weren't the kind of Pokémon to lie about something like that.

They all just had different ideas as to what had to be done. Probably. He didn't really understand this mess. He just… Knew that they couldn't just wait and do nothing, right? It hadn't helped, it only got worse. They had to do something. Varda didn't know if this something would be good, but he hoped it would be, at least…

But Sova was right about one thing! They did have to hurry up. So, the bird picked up the pace and waddled faster so he could catch up with the Glaceon, giving a last look at the ghost.



((Apparently you should be blaming that person with the Eeveelutions for everything.))

S.S. didn't care much about debating whether or not something was an enemy. It attacked, and therefore it was an enemy. It did not matter if they had similar goals or even the exact same goal; if someone attacks you, they're your enemy! But if the bird wanted to believe otherwise, fine. He wasn't going to get into an argument about something so trivial, not when he had better things to think about. And honestly, pretty much anything seemed more appealing to think about than the inner workings of Varda's mind.

"Whatever," he spoke as he continued into the room, giving it a quick look around.
It looked.... boring. Very, very boring. It was pretty big, but there didn't appear to be anything inside. Anything except the three entering pokemon, of course. Well, perhaps that was for the best; this was looking like it'd be a good place to rest after all.

(I am the root of all evil, blame me for your sins. And mine. Mostly mine.)