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 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2025 8:39 pm
Atlantis_Darts "Don't worry about screwing things up," He advises her, the usual chuckle in his voice as he throws his wisdom back over his shoulder. "Odds are good I've gotten to do it before you did." And with that, he slips into the med bay and is out of sight in mere moments. Of all of the things Crystal expected, a hug was the last thing on her mind. Indifference, maybe even some more chewing out, sure. But a hug? When did Darts ever give out a hug? That threw her for a loop for sure. And as soon as she registered what was happening proper, it was done. Darts had given that little salute and was heading back to the medbay, giving his little tidbit of advice along the way. She would merely watch him as he left, letting her mind and emotions try to sort itself out. Finally, after a minute or two she would nod, the faintest of smiles as she started for the stairs going up. The Soldaleo hybrid needed somewhere that could just be calm right now. The garden sounded like a good place right now. The furthest from all the chaos of members running around and getting their own matters settled. As she got to the stairs, she gave one final look over that the sleeping area that doubled as the makeshift medbay, nodding. "I do hope she gets better quickly, Darts." She knew he wasn't going to hear her words, she was a bit far away for that. But, she made her own sentiment vocal, now that her emotions somewhat settled. Right after, she would disappear up the stairs, taking the slow way up to the rooftop.
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 12:10 am
Ulla didn't even flinch when the 'root' pierced her chest and the two spirits of her parents formed in front of her. She looked at Keiko who had flinched at the sudden stab. Ulla merely nodded to confirm she was alright. "This is a normal thing here." The child said in a joking manner to ease the motherly side of Keiko. She then turned her attention back to her Master who was analyzing the spirit.
"But Master you know my tale....she made me her channeling partner. I was born a still born and she used her channeling to revive me. Something no channeler has ever accomplished. If it wasn't for Xerneas-." Before she could finish her explanation. That was a bit odd...why did Succellus recollection differ from hers? She stayed quiet as the adventured deeper into the realm to the Tree of Life. It's been awhile since she's last saw it up close and personal. Once she saw her master bow, she quickly sat beside him. She placed her staff beside her and bowed her head the same way.
As Succellus asked his question, Ulla was about to speak up but then he was suddenly caught up by the sudden wind. "Master?!" She shouted as she stood up. She protected her eyes from the wind as it suddenly disappeared as fast as it suddenly came. Before she could even ask if he was okay, she saw the concern in his eyes.
"That doesn't make any sense...Are you saying....my parents roots slipped out of the cycle? So they no longer follow the cycle?" She asked as he quickly walked over to the Tree of Life. She already knew far too well what he was about to do. She merely did a slight bow as she picked up her staff. "Please send my regards to Lord Xerneas." The Fairy Child said ash she watched Succellus commune with the tree. She merely sighed, only having more questions than actual answers. She turned to Keiko as she already knew the deal. "Don't worry. We won't need to make the long trip back." Ulla said as she made a portal again infront of them. She let Keiko step through it first and soon followed behind her.
Ulla and Keiko would find themselves back at HQ in their temporary living arrangement. The young girl shuffled her hair. "So much for having my master as a character witness...I'll report this to Sub immediately Mama..." She said as she quickly ran off to find Sub. As she was looking for him, her mind started racing again. So, that was her real mom and dad back at the tower. If that's the case...why didn't they ever come back home? Why did they abandon their children? Make them hold a funeral? Once she finally found Sub, she merely starred at him with a blank, defeated stare. "You want to guess what he said...?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 1:08 am
As Ulla ran off, Keiko sat down on the floor, hugged her legs, and watched her oldest daughter get farther away. Their portal opened pretty close to where I was at the time, so I saw Keiko's reaction. "Didn't go well, huh?" I asked, sitting beside her. "I don't think so," Keiko spoke, sounding worn out. "We walked for hours in that forest, only for him to say something about roots being wrong. I feel like I'm not remembering everything that was said, but there was basically no real reason for us to go there in the first place." That made sense. I remembered the first time we went to the Fairy Realm - we were in bed for days after. As I mulled that over, Keiko seemed to fall further into despair. "I feel guilty...' she said out of the blue after a couple minutes of silence.
Before I could ask what was up, she explained on her own. "I love spending time with Ulla, but every time I realize she can take care of herself, I'm reminded that Yuna and Serena can't and I miss them more. I miss the daughters that were taken from us so much that I can't enjoy the time I spend with the daughter that stayed with us.' As tears began to form in my wife's eyes, I instinctually wrapped my arms around her - an insufficient attempt to support her emotionally, but the only one I could come up with. "At least we know we'll get to see them, soon. That's better than how it was before, right?" I asked soothingly.
"Yeah..." Keiko replied before taking a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Ten days can't come fast enough." I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You may come to regret those words once the court proceedings start," Keiko shook her head violently in protest, making it clear that she didn't care. I couldn't blame how she flet in the slightest. The absences of Yuna and Serena was hitting me pretty hard, too. Of course, I relied on my esper ability if it threatened to get in the way of my attempts to prepare for the upcoming court case. But at night, as I tried to sleep, nothing could hold that longing feeling back.
The sooner Yuna and Serena returned to us, the better.
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 2:56 am
"Guess when you don't need to worry about who sees your innermost thoughts, the masks get hung up," Sol remarked as Sub read off the excerpt. He wouldn't get to say much else, let alone Cera or Amaranth before the TV had turned itself on thanks to GRAY and SWIPE's broadcast was plain for all to see. In an instant, whatever Sub had found felt almost worthless by comparison, hearts sinking as it continued. The apparent jury did little to salve the last words of the excerpt, ringing much louder than they ever would've when the team dealt with Ein. Each of the three were totally silent long after the broadcast ended, in their own mixtures of anxious feelings, despondency, and questioning if they'd even really have lives to speak of provided they did somehow prove their innocence.
"...that's it?" Amaranth eventually asked, causing Flaaffy to jump at the sudden remark. Looking back to her for a second, she'd recall the sheep, not wanting her to see what was bubbling and boiling at the surface. She glared at the stairs where Sub departed to, wishing she could just march up there and give him a piece of her mind then and there, even after his attempt at giving tasks for the rest to handle. Her tone kept growing as she continued, practically yelling by the end. "We all went through the hell of that place, had old wounds open up, and more got hurt besides while everything's going wrong for us at every angle. All for Ein's private vent account!? That SWIPE won't care about!?"
"It would give some deniability to the idea that we worked with him. He certainly didn't see a need to mince words..." Cera spoke up. "Ammy, I get it, I'm still hurting from yesterday too, but we need to-"
"If you're about to say again about how we should remain calm, Cera, shove it and shut up! Maybe you're fine with Sub digging all of us into a deeper hole by the minute, but I'm not!" Amaranth kept yelling, gesturing wildly around the room. "We all had lives before all this and some of us have been finding new ones, and they're all ruined now! Doesn't matter if we're proven innocent, the world's never going to look at us the same! Seriously, ask yourself, was anyone being sent to find S-22 worth this!? Or you being sent off to Almia, because I'm sure Spenser will be happy to use that against us too!"
Cera's mouth would be left gaping throughout the diatribe, the Mew shaking before finally glaring back. "I've been saying we should stay calm because this infighting isn't getting us anywhere! And we had a good reason for keeping an eye on Almia given what might've happened if we didn't!"
"Enough, please," Sol finally spoke up, a deep sigh leaving him. "I know emotions are running high, they are for all of us. What Sub found casts doubt on what SWIPE's presenting, regardless of how... inherently useful it'll be in doing that. But we'd be fools to let that be all we have, especially if we're being afforded a modicum of freedom. We have time, take some it to process things because we sure haven't had a good chance to do that as it is. And then do something, anything. We're going to need it." He'd turn around afterward, starting to head outside.
"Wait, where're you going?"
"You didn't hear him earlier? He said about you looking for something more presentable for the rest of us while I see if I can't find Wes. Doubt it's going to be the easiest task, so don't keep the lights on, yeah? Amaranth, I- ah."
By the time he thought to say anything more, Amaranth had already made her way towards another floor. "I was going to remark that maybe her going to Sinnoh wouldn't hurt, but I missed what Sub said in the first place."
"I'll... give Ammy some time before trying to talk to her. No guarantees."
"Right. I'll leave you to it. Here's hoping I don't have to smack too much sense into him."
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2025 7:37 pm
Somewhere in Sub’s possessions, in the barracks room of Trainer Hill, a particular eye-like gem began to wobble. The crystalline orb wobbled more and more aggressively before it managed to free itself from whatever object had restricted and concealed it from the greater world. It managed to roll itself from Sub’s meager possessions, underneath the collection of cots where the Snagems currently slept, remaining unseen as the members of the team milled about.
Sub called for a meeting and as the Snagems gathered, the gem continued to move without drawing anyone’s attention. As the Snagem leader spoke of recent discoveries and defending the names of the Snagems, the gem rolled off into a not-too-distant corner. There, it stopped, barely hidden by a collection of boxes that had been piled out of the way. There, it rested. There, it felt the none-too-distant pull of the desert sand beyond these walls with no way to reach it.
Shortly after finding its hiding place, the gem found itself in range of the television as it was turned on and Looker made his announcement. For the next week, the gem rested out of sight, rolling around the Snagems’ temporary home as the members of the team slept, collecting whatever grains of sand it could find as they were tracked into the building by the comings and goings of the Snagems. The gem, driven by some internal mechanism, absorbed the sand as it found it, storing the small bits of silica it could gather. Finally, on the night of the ninth day, as the Snagems slept, the gem began to glow softly, like blown glass, as it began to swell and change its shape. It had finally gathered enough sand to do this. It wasn’t perfect but it was better than what it had been doing - nothing at all - for days before.
As the glowing, shape-changing gem lost its glow and its form became solid, a familiar unfamiliar child stood in the room, barely covered by their long blond hair. Wordlessly, the lavender-tinted child would dig into the clothes that had been retrieved for the Snagems to wear to the trial, finding something that would at least mostly fit them properly and quickly dressed in them. They would not miss out on the chance to defend Team Snagem. After all, this had been their only real home for over a year. They felt they knew this group well enough to defend them by now. While they had been unable to communicate, they had been able to absorb information so at least the most pressing of events were known to them. They would need to explain everything to the team as soon as possible but there would be no time before the trial. It would need to wait until their hides were safe, that they were certain of.
Bright blue eyes roamed over the very empty temporary home of Team Snagem as they emerged from the clothing hunt fully dressed, hunting for a place to hide and rest. They didn’t need to be found while waiting and cause a ruckus, after all. “Oh dear…” They remarked quietly, whispering to themself as they headed upstairs to find a spot to hide in the second-floor arcade until morning.
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