victory_road | Event: The Reveal Glass

Across the Pokémon world, characters may have spotted a falling star last night. Or at least, one would think that's what it was: a naturally occurring phenomenon, rather than a legendary artifact. Specifically, the Reveal Glass fell to earth during a fight among a group of legendaries started by the return of a long-lost family member. But it's probably best to leave them to handle all that themselves, while your characters deal with other consequences.

The Reveal Glass shattered upon impact, and the shards scattered throughout Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islands… And made their way into the hearts of your characters. But bleeding isn't the concern here. Instead, the impact will hit when a character first looks into any reflective service. An eerie feeling hits them as they're transported to the Mirror Dimension.

While this realm can be many different things for different characters, one thing is always true: It is a place of honesty, where true selves are revealed. Those struck by a shard will find themselves facing truths they are no longer able to hide, and now must accept. Fortunately enough, even those who haven't been struck will be able to enter the Mirror Dimension during this event via a reflective surface to offer help. By the end of the 29th, things will return to normal. Characters will be back in the usual Pokémon world and their hearts will be rid of the shards, but time is strange in the Mirror Dimension, and the experience may feel like it goes on far longer than a day. Or, maybe that's just the emotional exhaustion.

The Reveal Glass plot is here. You can swing by the event info post for additional details and FAQ, and play out your characters’ enforced therapy on this post. As with most VR events, this plot is entirely optional and your characters don't need to take part at all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Galliard's back arches like a cat's when Pieck scritches him. More of that, please!

When she says that, Galliard smiles, and for the first time in a long time, it's a real, genuine smile. It feels strange on his face, like the muscles in his cheeks aren't used to the motion, but it feels right. He can do that here. He doesn't have to be afraid of being happy.

"I love you too, Pieck." He drops his head down to kiss her forehead. "You're the only one who's allowed to call me Porco or Pock, now and forever."

Pieck gave him a grin - and then, with a gleam of mischief in her eyes and another little scritch to his back, she said, "Pieck and Porco... Galliard."

Now that was new. And yet, she liked it. It fit. Their names had always fit together. This was just a new version. One she liked. One that fit the pictures on the walls. One that belonged on a mailbox in front of a nice house. One for them to work toward.

She smiled up at him, lower lip caught in her teeth, wanting to see his reaction. Wanting to see if it was as hopeful as hers.

Galliard blinks when she puts their names together. He would be lying if he said he'd never thought about it, but it was always some distant, unattainable dream, something barely worth considering because it would never happen.

Now, he lets the idea sink in, and that shy, rusty smile creeps onto his face again. "I like that."

Their names sound like they belong together. However...

"We could also consider Pieck and Galliard Finger."

He's not opposed to devoting himself fully to the name-change!

But Pieck shook her head, smiling up at him as she cupped his jaw and traced her thumb along the line of his lower lip. "I want your name."

The steam was clearing from around them, drifting away to form, again, walls and windows with pictures hung on them, but this time, the yard outside was green with a cute little fence entwined with flowers. The walls, decked with their photos, were soft, friendly colours instead of either wood or whitewash. Pieck wore a long skirt with flowers along the hem, and, even though the sleeves reached her elbows, there was no hint of an armband. Freedom. A kind of prosperity they wouldn't ever have a chance of knowing in Marley. All theirs. A huge change - and one that spurred her to ask, "Since we can, now - do you want to officially change your name?"

"You want the good one! Going to leave me straddled with the bad half."

He's teasing, he's teasing! Galliard looks up as the world shifts around them again, and this time, he likes the way it looks. Here, wherever here is... he could stay here. They could stay here, make a life of it. They could be happy, and free.

Pieck's question makes him blink. "What would I even change it to?"

He's been making everyone call him Galliard for so long that he's almost forgotten how to have a first name.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I know you've avoided your first name for most of your life." For everyone except her - another clue they both should've picked up on long ago. Still, she kneaded her hands against his back. "What would make you smile to hear it and know it meant you?"

Pieck paused.

"Besides 'love of my life.' I can't have everyone calling you that."

There have really only been two people, his entire life, that Galliard has allowed to call him Porco. The first was Marcel, and the second Pieck. Anyone else who tried it tended to have a snarling ball of rage on their hands immediately after any attempt, and there was usually only one attempt.

"I have no idea."

He's gotten so used to being Galliard that the thought of having an actual first name isn't something he's ever considered. It's not like Eldians are allowed to do such things; he just barely got away with being called Galliard in the military.

He chuckles at her suggestion, though. "No, probably not. That one's just for you."

That one and Porco, or Pock. Privileges only Pieck is allowed.

She couldn't stop her smile as she looked up at him, though, leaning up to kiss him and rest their foreheads together. "We have time. And we have each other. We can handle anything." And, to her, at least, it felt like they had a goal. One that was reachable. Their surroundings...

This wasn't what she'd seen. This wasn't the delusion of a little house in Liberio's internment zone. This was here. This was truth. A possible truth. Maybe this was what she'd been intended to see with all this. That this was a place of hope - and not just for her.

Pieck kissed him again, soft and gentle. "I'm so happy."

A goal of their own. Galliard has never had that before. Every goal he's ever reached for has been in the service of something else: Marley, his family, not dying on the battlefield. But to have a goal of their own, something they can work towards because they chose it... that's new. It's different, and it's something Galliard likes.

Having a goal, and having the time to pursue it. Is that what they're being offered here? It's a better bargain than they'd get anywhere else, and Galliard is going to seize it with both hands.

"Yeah. Me too." All that, goals and time, and Pieck? Yes. This is the best Galliard could ever hope for. "Are you ready, then? Let's go find it."

Whatever it happens to be.

Smiling widely, Pieck took a half-step back and grabbed his hand as the world around them became something a little more familiar, even if it was familiar in its strangeness: Route 29, where Carlo and Snappy waited, where they had all of this newfound freedom, and where they could start on their efforts to reach that goal. Their goal. Together.

Maybe some people would see it as too simple, but Pieck had now seen it as a truth she'd been mistaken about for far too long. She never would've been happy as somebody's housewife, just looking after a home and never taking advantage of everything she knew as hers: her intelligence, her cunning, her strategic mind, her strength in more ways than physical. She never would've been content that way. And the person whose hand she held - he was the kind of man she really needed. Someone who understood her and didn't resent her for being strong. Someone who took pride in what she did, and someone she could be proud of, too. Someone whose strength complemented hers instead of either of them overshadowing the other.

Marley had made her think past those truths for years. Now, she could embrace them - and she wanted to. With him, for the rest of her life.

Pieck beamed as she led him back into the newly-real world with, for the first time, a lot to look forward to.

Event: The Reveal Glass

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And now we can see how they deal with the fallout! /eager