Chapter 11: Chapter 9: A Slow Night filled with Sugar and Tension.

As the sun came down, and Slurpuff's establishment emptied out, all that was left to see was the rapid shoveling of a frosted treat by a white lagomorph with a spiked up tuft of hair in his face. Currently, his face buried in a chalice about twice the size of his face.   There was definitely excitement in the air, there was an extremely unhealthy amount of sugar ingested at Slurpuffs. All of those committed and was caused by the same rabbit currently shoveling his body weight in a liquid gelato sludge.  The establishment smelt of health violation in a "direct shot to the lifespan" kind of way and yet place itself was amazingly safe, with each corner seeming to have either been softened down or covered in a sort of soft felt. Pink and a soft kind of white covered the place with a counter facing a gigantic white furry.. thing with puppy eyes. The thing that Costello had been informed was a Slurpuff was busy taking stock of whatever was left in the back and seemed happy to see them whenever it stuck its nose out of its ingredients.   At that counter was Costello, Braviary, Floe, and Liam.  Liam was currently in process of choking down a large amount ice cream in a technique fire types called "Liquification of the Frosty Spirit." Though in this case, the spirit was replaced with a kind of frosted ice with a juiced oran on top. It was like watching a small animal eat their way out from the stomach of a frosted beast as steam flowed out of the glass that Liam was cupping with both hands while the others watched on.  Braviary in a familiar, impressed way, Floe in interest and Costello in that same way but more with the interest in which you would watch a maggot eat their way out of a dead animal. 

 

"So * cough * So then, me and Zata ended up having to fight off the bugger. Nearly 3 times our size, twice the muscle mass of the both of us combined. Floe came through and she put on a right spectacle. Cos also just tackled the darn thing." Liam put down his comically large glass as he let out a chilled breath. "Of course, we'd probably be in much deeper trouble if it wasn't for Floe.

 

"Well all of you seemed really brave ,weren't you. Though you should avoid head on attacks with someone of that muscular caliber Costello. Battles of strength aren't the best Not to mention that you choosing Assurance, probably wasn't the right move."

Liam barely moved out of his current bowl predicament. "Yeah, Yeah. Type Effectiveness and such. Don't worry!" Liam put up a paw in faux righteous fury. "I won't let em sneak up on us next time.

 

Braviary could only nod in amusement. " And Zata was The dragon type right? Odd to see one here. Shame she couldn't make it."

 

Costello looked up from his meager bowl of Chocolate Syrup It was the only thing he could stomach from this place that didn't make him feel like he was gonna end up in the hospital afterwards. "Yeah, she seemed a bit put off at the option.. Something about not wanting to be left with the bill. She also called me a choke artist so I don't really miss her. "

 

Braviary patted Costello on the back "She's still a comrade, all she's doing is ribbing you a bit. On that note, I also wanted to thank you for your help, Glaceon."

 

"Oh please, the formalities are unnecessary. Floe is fine. Besides, Liam was a great teammate. The same goes for Costello.

 

"Well I'm happy my s-pupil was able to find some great teammates. "

 

Costello glanced towards Liam. There was no reaction from the rabbit, they were too busy drinking what was left of their blue slush in an oddly feral fervor.  

 

Soren continued on. "So I already know that Costello and Liam want to get into the business but what made you want to get into the Rescue Team profession anyway?"

 

A small smile formed on the face of Floe as she took the question under consideration. "Oh, a number of things. Mostly into the historical aspect if I had to pin it down to a specific inspiration. Something about seeing things from long ago and tracing their roots. History in general fascinates me. Its actually why I'm here in Seva in the first place. I was one of the many fools that tried to research the Great Doors of Seva. I've even gone traveling to the different continents on occasion."

 

The comically over-sized chalice was slammed down by Liam, staring directly into the eyes of the Glaceon. "Where have you been? The Rain continent? Maybe Misticio or maybe the Thunder Continent, and have you been to the Rain continent?"

 

As Liam kept the questions flowing, Braviary put a wing over the rabbit's face. "Let her answer before you ask."

 

Floe smiled at the two of them. A closed eyed sweetness kind of smile. "Oh that's fine. I have been to the Rain Continent and Mistico but Thunder is still a bit out of reach at the moment. Oh, that reminds me. Costello, you asked before but I got distracted in the occasion. We're on the Surge Continent and have been for the last several decades or so."

 

"Thank you."  The information at its root wasn't much of an affirmation but at the very least, it was something he could hold onto.

 

"Of Course. If you have any other questions, feel free to give me a shot."

 

Liam gave a cough, less of a natural one and more one of impatience. "Soooo, what's Mistico like? What's the Rain continent like?"

 

As Costello closed his eyes, Floe proceeded to regale the details of Mistico.

 

"Mistico is...developed. The Conkeldurrs and Gurdurrs did an excellent job at building something held together with the firmness of Concrete and steel. The buildings feel higher than the mountains and something about it. Something about it just makes you feel on the edge of something successful.  Though in exchange, it feels a lot more.. crammed together than here. The houses are built close here as well but there's enough distance to feel neighborly. Yet in Mistico, even the time feels cramped. I actually had to live in a complex in Mistico for a few months and the walls are thin, the carpet is cheap and the entire place smells of sweat and exhaustion. Yet in a way, when you walk out the door into the city, you feel a kind of... solidarity with everyone you lock eyes with. The interns under some big Guild, those hired for whatever messengers and even those who try to hustle their way into a gig. Yet the entire thing is built on a guild system but no explorer is truly into it. Each attached at the hip to some mega guild consolidating their teams into spaces, expeditions with them aren't matters of bonding experiences and meeting new mon's since you're probably the 5th one you've met this week while they go on sleep deprived yet feral. They work hard and they're definitely good people,  they just that they don't have a good work-life balance.  The entire place feels like its about to burn out what little candle wax they have left.  Its probably the issue with having a guild as government... but that's not really the point is it?

 

The Rain continent is harder to explain. A whole continent has alot more features and emotions than just a section.  Its mostly just a torrent of rain.  Pokemon there hold a respect to Tornadus and its always drizzling at the very least. Probably not a good spot for weather. I want to say that depending on where you land, the people are either very closed off emotionally or their extroverts. I don't have much to say there as I was mostly just there for research and not to sightsee but overall, the people there are very kind, and at times outgoing and brave. "

 

Costello noticed the small glint of entertainment in eye of Floe as they looked upon the enraptured face of Liam, hanging off of their every word as they spoke. Braviary on the other hand, seemed to be oddly,, reflective? Protective? Whatever it was, it was  hard to get a grip on.  At the end of that realization, however. The bird put down a couple of coins with a P on top of it, as well as a couple of lines through the P. Poke, the money of this world. Gold and all the same engraving. Must be hard for whatever minted that to be so thorough. 

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"Well, we might as well call it a night. Thank you again, Floe, for helping him out."

"Of course, maybe if we're fortunate we'll end up on an expedition together. And maybe you can tell me a bit more about where you come from. History comes from many places!" Floe looked down towards Liam. "Same to you young one. Hopefully we can see where our paths cross."

"Dunno what that means but I'd be happy to see ya again!"

A small smile crossed the face of the Glaceon before she left the establishment, leaving only the 3 left as Slurpuff was currently doing...something in the kitchen.

 

"Hey Liam, you... didn't tell her anything did you?"

"No, of course not." responded Liam. "And they prefer they/them."

Costello could only look at the both of them. "Tell them what?"

"Mr.Braviary says that we're not supposed to be so big about Ygg, because its all hush-hush and whatnot."

"What?"

"Autumn Embers used to be a big meeting place for a bunch of mon's. Its.. actually where my parents met up for the first time. Heh. It used to be so much more thriving. I wasn't around then but I knew it was better than what you landed into Cos." The familiarity in his voice didn't seem to match the tiredness in his voice.  "Mr. Braviary knows  more about it than I do. Though I've seen a few pictures. Braviary and the old bird."

 

Costello tilted his head. "You mean the Corviknight?"

Braviary let out a small chuckle. "Yes he does. And times were... better then. Pokemon from all over came to visit and talk. A few  legendaries and mythicals. I had met Liam's parents there. It was a horrible time." The bird seemed to get a bit choked up on that last sentence. Costello attributed it to a long night.  The 3 of them were left with the smell of caramel in the air and the company of each other as the street torches were light. 

 

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Alzbell set some tea at the table for his guest.  Thea wasn't a regular visitor down where he was located but it was better than the usual puzzle night by candlelight.  As his feathered employer walked in, there was already a grim look on her face. Though in his experience, this is just her average expression. But now that she was here,the only thing left was to address the Donphan in the room.

 

"I'm still baffled by your decision to limit my sessions with Costello. This is someone that has clearly been tampered with mentally,among other things. Whatever happened to him is worse than I expected, something of that extent, able to be that reactionary to a psychic type. This seems like the kind of damage to happen over months and with the amount of 

 

A sip of the glass from Thea. "Still, Alzbell. I can't approve of you going on any more of your mental dives. Give them emotional support and if you can ,make some recommendations to handle any trauma but just keep away from his head."

 

"Ok. Alright. I don't think you heard me then. This kid has been mentally abused for what seems like months, even years . A construction like that is made from someone strong or someone predatory.  This isn't a matter that I can work with. I'm a moonlight psychologist.  I work with simple fears, darkness or fear of fires, not years long mental fuckery. I'm not fond of bureaucracy as much as you but we need to get someone actually experienced with this. Until then, I need to observe him so he doesn't get any worse. Such observations will need to eventually include me entering his head.

 

There was no change in the look on Thea's face.  "This is not the case of someone we can turn over to the authorities,  I know you're familiar with the-"

 

"You're not saying this is about that avoidance order you so "subtly" enforce across the adventuring populace? That thing's been up since the last 2 guild masters, if you actually wanted people to avoid Embers, then you should've just announced the thing a dead run instead of pussyfooting around the issue with back alley thuggery.

 

"The fact of the matter is, Meowstic, I was trusted with this task and I'm trusting you to not go into this further. This is not something I throw around lightly but your employment in this guild is conditional and I am willing to break that condition if you go against your Guildmaster."

 

Silence. Then a sip from the cup on behalf of Alzbell. One in response from Thea.

 

"If this is about the PKA and that Inquisitor nonsense-

"I would gladly appreciate you to move on from that topic, for the sake of yourself and your position."

"Sure,sure."

 

Silence filled the room as the two sat opposite of each other. There was nothing to say, nothing worth saying in Alzbell's case.  Whatever would come from this, wasn't over.

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