Second Spell: Across Time. [Partially backdated.]

[behindblueskin]

Who: Keldor and...
Where: Hisui or Johto
When: The past or the present
Summary: Backdated stuff from the Hisui event and some current day things.
Rating: Unrated
Log:

Hisui #1: It'll be a few days yet before everything's fixed and people are sent back to their proper time, but before that happens, Keldor's making yet another attempt to catch one of the native Growlithes before time runs out.

The clock Keldor should be worrying about right now is the "day clock". It's already sunset, and that means the diurnal 'mons will soon be punching out while the night shift punches in. Already a flock of Zubats and a few Golbats are heading out with a big case of the munchies. Their Crobat leader hasn't arrived yet, but when it does, it's gonna notice Sakura and recognise her as a potential enemy.

Rocks will need to be deployed, but unfortunately for Keldor, there's a Voltorb amongst them, and when he grabs it, the result is predictable. It might even look like the taserings from Despicable Me 2, but we won't confirm that.

While he's recovering from the shock of a lifetime he might need assistance. First to drive off the 'bats thinking he's now been zapped into a lunchable, then to help him back to consciousness, and then hopefully to help him catch his Growlithe.

---

Hisui #2: One day and one electrocution later, it looks like Keldor's made a fast friend with the Voltorb he accidentally grabbed last night. He's not quite sure what to make of it, but the Voltorb doesn't seem inclined to want to leave [despite all efforts to shoo it away], so it looks like it's going to be part of the team for the foreseeable future.

---

Johto: It's good to be back, even if where he is isn't his original home. Ganpi, Fukiran, Gingko and Momiji are eager to get to know their new friends before Keldor's pokegear informs him that he's got one too many pokemon on-hand and the limit is six. As much as he'd really like to work on training Sakura and his second Growlithe, he did spend a lot of money trying to get Fukiran's egg, so he'll be kept while the other is sent to the box [as will Sakura].

Now that that's out of the way, it's time to get to work.

Everyone is behind on their training and they need to make up for lost time.

Comments

[behindblueskin]

I would not say Randor abuses his power, but rather that he simply has no idea what he is doing or should be doing. "Incompetent" is not a word I would use to describe how he uses his power and authority, but it is close.

[crystalmaster]

That's not good either. Then he's a prime target to be manipulated by people who both want the power and know how to use it.

[behindblueskin]

[Well, Keldor is someone who wants the power. Partially because it's supposed to be his; that Randor never should have ascended the throne, and partially to make something of a difference in Eternia.]

I wish I could say that the people he has advising him on what he should do are not those kinds of people, but the sad truth is that there might very well be such individuals.

[Possibly why the Masters exist. In the hopes that they can give good counsel to the king, whoever he is.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley also wanted power back home. But he would have been a kind leader, unlike his enemies.]

I wouldn't be surprised. If they were leading things in the right way, that'd be okay, but they probably aren't.

[behindblueskin]

[Keldor probably be the same. Or at least a just ruler. Being both human and Gar should in theory give him a balanced outlook on things.

Sadly, it seems there are a lot of human hands on one of the scales, tipping it against his Gar blood, making it hard for him to fully accept the human half of his heritage.]

I concur with your assessment. So far, what I have seen during my travels across Eternia has not shown me that Randor would be anything beyond mediocre at best.

[crystalmaster]

Is anyone interested in taking over the throne for a good reason?

[behindblueskin]

[And here he'd thought the biggest test of friendship was behind him...]

Yes.

[Significant pause.]

I am.

[Time to come clean regarding this.]

Randor is my brother. My younger, half-brother.

[Which, if he's playing his cards right, should convey what he means to convey: Keldor is a prince, a high-born noble, and, if titles follow the same rules in Radley's world as it does in Keldor's, that right now he should be king.

All this makes him a touch anxious, but he hopes he's hiding it well.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley stares at him in renewed outrage. He definitely gets it.]

He stole the throne from you?!

[behindblueskin]

More like unexpected circumstances made it so that Randor became king, not I.

I was ... not able to become king due to ... things happening.

[Kinda hard to be coronated when you've been packed up and kicked out of your own home, yes? Packed up, kicked out, and all for one more thing you've never done, but are expected to atone for anyways.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley frowns, thinking back on the ramblings and the points when he remembered hearing Randor's name.]

... Did he blame you for something happening to someone?

[Worse, did he frame Keldor for it?!]

[behindblueskin]

[Damn, Radley is astute. He'll give him that much.]

Not entirely. But neither did he defend me against the charges.

[Randor might not be a perfect person, but he's not the sort to use underhanded means to achieve something.]

[crystalmaster]

You can't do anything to prove your innocence?!

[Radley thinks of how alone he felt when he was abandoned in the Hellish mines. He can imagine Keldor may have felt similarly.]

[behindblueskin]

[Uh oh, looks like Keldor's about to divulge something he never intended to.]

I WAS NOT EVEN GIVEN THE CHANCE!

[There are tears in his eyes now, but he's too angry to notice them.]

She died! She died near me! I laid no hand on her, but she died near me! And yet I was branded her murderer by none other than my own brother! A woman I regarded as "mother" for all that she did not birth me.

[This is probably the first time he's really talked about this. Even his friends in Eternia don't know the whole story of Amelia's death.]

....my.... ...my own brother....

[crystalmaster]

[Radley rocks back at the outburst, then stares in sickened outrage and horror.]

Why?! Why would he even think that?!

[behindblueskin]

I do not know! I have never given anyone a just cause to even think I would be capable of such a thing, but he decided I was guilty regardless!

[It makes Randor's apology to Keldor for having to do such a thing, and his statement that he loved his brother regardless seem empty and meaningless.]

[crystalmaster]

[Radley clenches a fist.]

... Are you sure he didn't accuse you on purpose to take the throne from you?

[That would also be sickening, but it would make more sense to Radley than the alternative.]

[behindblueskin]

[That observation makes Keldor think. He had been justifiably upset when the declaration of exile for murder was given; so much that he'd never really thought much beyond it save to use it as his motivation to take back the crown.]

I ... do not know. I... I thought I knew Randor—knew him better than just about anyone...

[He really wants to deny that that was Randor's motive. But Radley's speaking sense here.]

But now I cannot be sure.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley sighs sadly.]

Some people are capable of it. In any case, no matter why he did it, it's disgusting. It's a complete betrayal of you.

[He definitely doesn't think Randor could really care about Keldor, although people are complicated and he does wonder if there's some twisted feeling for Keldor in there. But he doesn't feel it could be any kind of real, sincere caring under these circumstances.]

[behindblueskin]

[It may be that Randor himself believes that what he says and does constitutes caring, for he and Keldor have the same father. Miro, a man who showed Keldor no love; only cruel indifference and scorn. Randor, not knowing any better, may have mistook it for care if and when Miro said or did anything at all that could be considered "loving" when compared to the usual treatment.

Or to put it more simply, Randor's probably of the "that's how I was raised and I turned out fine" school of thought.]

You think— [Pause.] Yes. Yes it was. Intended or not, it was a betrayal.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley nods.]

If you ever end up back there, I hope you'll succeed in taking back what's yours. Do you have any loyal friends or followers who can help you?

[behindblueskin]

[Keldor grins.]

I intend to, especially with my allies to help me.

[Basically yes he does.]

[crystalmaster]

Good!

[Radley smiles, glad that he has people to help him.]

Who knows, maybe someday I'll get to visit and I'll find you on the throne.

[behindblueskin]

That is possible. And I would like that. Very much.

[Pause. His heart is in his throat.]

Friend.

[crystalmaster]

I would too.

[He blinks, surprised, and smiles.]

Friend.

[behindblueskin]

[This. This is what it means to have people you can truly count on. It's something he's working on with his friends at home. Trust-building. Because if he succeeds, he'll need them even more when he's on the throne as he rightfully should be.]

When I first came here I had no idea what to expect. But, much to my surprise, it has been a most beneficial thing to have done so.

I am ... glad that I have come to these strange lands.