victory_road | Where Angels Tread Once More (001)

01- Action

[The more things change, the more they stay the same. Angel wakes, knowing that it's been ages since her last arrival. She can tell by the way the sun shines through the trees outside of a window that isn't her own. It's summer, if she had to guess -- the last she'd seen, it'd been spring.

She smiles politely and nods along with "Mom's" antics. She shoulders the bag, maintains her composure for the length of time it takes to make it to a distant treeline, and then quickly tears through it until she finds the small sphere she's looking for.

Mari bursts forth in a ray of red light. She looks around, clearly confused at the change of scenery. It takes her a good second or so to turn around and notice Angel. Her pleased bleat chimes out perfectly in sync with Angel's own delighted yelp. The young woman gathers the pokemon in her arms, burying her face in the soft wool and hoping that the addition of a few tears won't end up shocking them both.

It takes a good few minutes, but eventually she's back on her feet. She approaches the start of the trail, sucking in a deep breath. She'd almost forgotten how it tasted.]

Well, Mari? [She glances down at the pokemon, then off into the woods.] Here we go again.

02- Video -- closed to fuelthefire

[She doesn't make it far into the woods, though. Once she's far enough out of the earshot of both the town and other travelers, Angel pulls out her PokeGear and settles down once more. There are a number of people Angel needs to reach out to, but no one ranks higher than her best friend. She holds her breath as she thumbs through the network, searching and searching until --

Until she finds Krieg. It took long enough to make her worry, make her heart ache all the more for the psycho she'd left behind. She felt bad enough, disappearing on him, and while she'd managed to earn a chance to say goodbye, she would have much rather stayed with him.

It worries her, the time she'd spent away. Krieg had progressed in leaps and bounds over the course of the year and a half they'd spent together. She would have liked to have hoped he'd kept progressing, that he'd stuck with the friends they'd made together and that he'd stayed strong without her.

But as she pulls up his contact information and begins a call, she can't help but worry what might wait on the other line. She does her best to put on a brave face, but her smile wobbles and her brows are tightly knit together. Off-screen, her fingers toy with her dress, at least until Mari notices and nudges them with a gentle bleat.

If nothing else, it reminds her that she can stroke the mareep's head while she waits. At least she isn't facing this alone.]

03 - Video

[When the call to Krieg has gone out, and after Angel has finally managed to dry her eyes, she turns the camera on herself once more. This time, her smile is a little stronger -- she knows Krieg is okay, and it'll only be a matter of time until they're reunited.

Still, it's hard to shake the nervousness. She worries about who she'll see, certainly, but it's who she won't see that troubles her more. Were Jean and Armin still travelling the pokemon world? Was Cissnei still off exploring the islands? Her stomach twists nervously at the very thought of any of them being gone.

And then there was the one person she hoped was gone. Handsome Jack, her father, the man who'd tried so desperately to endear himself to her over the course of her last visit.

She shakes her head and focuses her attention on the pokegear. Her forces her smile to stretch just a little wider, trying to ignore the sick, twisting feeling in her stomach that Jack always seemed to elicit.]

Good morning, everyone. I suppose the fact that you are seeing this video in your feeds says everything that I am planning to but... I can't help it.

It's... been quite awhile. Four months, if I remember my dates correctly. But it would seem that I'm back and that there are no shenanigans beyond that which brings us here occurring. It... seems safe to say that I am here to stay, at least for the time being.

I... hope everyone has been well. And I look forward to hearing from all of you -- not just those I knew before. It is... nice to be somewhere I belong again.

[She trails off, content to leave it at that. Realization hits her only seconds later, however, and she quickly finds herself stammering out one last sentiment.]

Oh, and -- ah. It's Angel. For those that might have, ah, forgotten. Or. That never had the chance to meet me in the first place.

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[A breath escapes Angel, one she didn't know she was holding. In her experience, Pokemon were just as likely to flee back into the wild as they were to find homes with companions of the departed. That Bailey (or any of her Pokemon, for that matter) had found a place took a significant weight off of her shoulders.]

I'm glad she's with you and Amadeus then. [Now that she thought about it, no one else was more fitting to take care of Bailey than Armin was.]

How have things been, Armin? Are you well? What about -- [His name catches in her throat. She curls her arms tightly around her chest and sniffles.] Krieg. How has Krieg been?

[He'll focus on Krieg first. That is undoubtedly the part she is most interested in right now.]

Krieg is fine. He's staying with us right now.

[Okay, his face still looks a bit like he got run into by a freight train on account of someone's incineroar, but Krieg seemed to be just fine with that.]

He was-- When you disappeared, I'll admit I was very worried about what he was going to do. [whether he would rampage, basically.] But he was-- Obviously fine isn't exactly the right word here, but he didn't cause any trouble.

[Angel might have been relieved at Armin's statement, if it hadn't troubled her. It bothered her that anyone who had gotten to know Krieg might have believed him capable of doing any sort of damage.]

He wouldn't have. [Even before they'd properly met, Angel had spent months observing Krieg. She might not have known exactly how complex his moral code was, but it was easy to make assumptions based on who was left standing in the wake of one of his bloodbaths back on Pandora.

That does leave her with an interesting thought, though. Maybe Armin had been right to be at least a little concerned.]

Or rather, he would not have caused trouble with anyone who didn't deserve it. I... suspect if he had ran across Jack, that might have been a different story.

I know that now. I... always underestimate him.

[It is not something Armin is proud of, but he has to admit it. Perhaps it is his tendency to expect the worst, perhaps it is because he is not from Pandora. He can give hundreds of reasons and thousands of excuses. But it all comes down to the fact that he didn't see the same thing in Krieg as she saw. Despite how often Krieg had proven to go beyond his expectations.]

Well. At least you know now.

[At least he would know for next time. Angel can hope as hard as she wants that she'll be here forever. Maybe she'll even get her wish. But the odds were stacked against her, stacked against every single one of them, really.

At least now, Armin understood that even at his worst, Krieg still wouldn't hurt someone.]

We should change the subject. Your pokemon, how are they?

Well. They've helped me win a few new badges. And a lot more numerous now.

[He'd have to probably check his journals to know exactly which pokemon he added in the period Angel was gone, but he knows at least one group of pokemon that weren't his when she was last here.]

I own a pod of Lapras now.

A... pod.

[Her brows knit together, and a confused laugh bubbles out of her. It's almost a relief, how easily her mirth comes, despite her earlier bout of bitterness.

Really, it wasn't Armin's fault for being wary of Krieg, at least not initially. She had just hoped that, after all this time, he would have learned.

But she's not supposed to be thinking about that, is she?]

Armin, just how did you manage that?

It's a bit of a story.

[And not all happy, alas.]

Do you happen to remember Mr Newt?

[Their times here had overlapped, Armin knows that, but he isn't sure if the two of them had actually spoken much.]

I knew of him, yes.

[Angel couldn't remember if she'd spent much time, or any time at all, for that matter, talking with Newt. She knew the name though -- and not just because of the new(er) Newt, either.

He was a hard fellow to forget, really.]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to hear of his involvement. [She pauses.] Were they his before he...

[She doesn't really need to finish that sentence, does she?]

They were. He told me that back in his world, he works with magical animals and at times has tried to prevent certain species from going extinct. He wanted to do the same thing for Lapras here.

He... didn't get a chance to do so. He was only able to set up the start of a breeding pod before he left this world, roughly around the same time you did.

[Those were some rough weeks.]

They ended up in my possession and since then I've been trying to finish what he has started. There is a lot I still have to learn about breeding but even if Mr Newt isn't here anymore, I'd still like try and make his vision come true.

[She'd seen mentions of Newt's hobbies back home enough to understand what Armin was talking about. It's that knowledge that leaves her thoroughly unsurprised that Armin had gravitated toward the other man. From what she had seen, they were both kindred spirits.

So perhaps that's why she feels an almost overpowering sense of sadness when she considers Newt's departure for more than a few minutes. It's a feeling that only grows stronger when she realizes that they'd left around the same time.

At least he'd still had Jean.]

I am sure Mr. Newt would be very proud of you, Armin. I... know that I am. And I am sure the Lapras are delighted to be in your care.

I certainly hope so. I like to think we've all been becoming pretty good friends. [Armin is getting much better at telling them all apart, and learning those little things about each individual that aren't visible on a surface glance.] If you'd like, I could introduce them to you. Whenever you come to the Islands again.

It should only be a matter of days before I am back on the islands. I will look forward to meeting them all.

[She'd just have to learn to stomach her trepidation around deeper waters. Thankfully, it wouldn't be the first time she and Armin had done something similar. She had no doubt in her mind that both he and whatever pokemon he had amassed around him would come to assistance if necessary.]

You're doing so well for yourself, Armin. It... makes me incredibly happy to see

I just recently hatched a new one, so you can meet him too.

[She doesn't need to worry. Armin will let her keep her feet firmly on the sand. The pod is used to coming up to the beach anyway, especially the little ones.]

I have no reason to be unhappy. Especially now that you are back. I missed you.

[With Angel there wasn't even a possibility to pretend that whoever had left had gone back to their own world and was living there happily. For Angel, this is her only shot at life left.]

I... hope I wasn't a cause for extended unhappiness, Armin. [That guilt is back, pressing tightly into her stomach. She shifts a little, as if re-positioning herself might dull the ache.]

Right. You... mentioned a young Lapras, right? I would... delight in meeting it, I think.

[More than anything, she wants to stop thinking about Armin being unhappy because of her.]

Where Angels Tread Once More (001)

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