Adventure Thread - Group A

Rei just looks down again. She sounds just like Clay.

"I can't stop. I worry all the time, and I want to be strong enough to help myself. To prove I'm not just 'there'. So I feel like I can stand on my own two feet in at least SOMETHING."

She just sighs and gets up and turns and starts walking out.

"I guess I'm not quitting then... I'm not sure if I can really do any missions or anything anymore..."

Rei stops.

"Because that's how I'm built! I had to watch out for my family by myself to keep things from getting really bad, and it's built that into my head as I grew up! If I know a friend of mine is in trouble somehow, I worry until it's solved. If they are sad, I 'need' to try cheering them up. I can't help it!"

Rei turns back at the second thing.

"I know that it doesn't mean that! But I want to 'know' that I can do things on my own! Or that I can help on my own! Because if I'm in a situation where I can't get help, which I HAVE, then I'll be ok! And not freak out! I wanted to be strong! In all aspects! That's why at the beginning when I was told to choose a branch with an element I identified with..."

Rei guestures at the arena they stand in.

"...I came here! You were my first choice!"

She deflates a bit.

"We are stronger with friends, but if I'm strong to begin with, then we are even stronger. Or at least, that's what I thought I could accomplish..."

She sighs.

"What help can I even ask at this point? So many things have gone wrong or terrible... It's too much..."

"It's not that 'I'm afraid of what will happen', it's 'I know something bad will happen.' I can see it coming."

Rei closes her eyes.

"And now everytime I think of fighting again, all I can think of is a combination of that and the fact that I've been trying to turn something born out of poison into something useful and helpful and it's not working. It makes me sick to my stomach. I just can't do fighting myself the way I've been doing things anymore. I just... can't. It needs to change."

She listens to Sorra and just sighs.

"I don't know. I suppose we'll see if it helped."

She looks back up.

"I suppose since you've known I need to inform you now of everything..."

Rei then, a bit solemnly, begins to relay all the info she knows. The description of the dreams and their intensity increase over time. (Including giving Sorra the notes she took in the original meeting with everyone.) Her and Holly's own inclusion, as well as the big increased dream involving a woman in red transforming from Yveltal and back, our 'Usurper'. And then the visit from Celeste, which confirms that Cresselia and Darkrai were the ones sending the dreams, and then gave Rei more direct information/pleading.

Rei just stares as Sorra absorbs all the information.

"So... what now?"

She sighs and nods. She hadn't considering that Saffron would fall first. That might be something she has to prepare for eventually...

"Alright... I suppose I did have access to Celedon now, and haven't used it yet. I'll have to find a way that I can get a second invite before I go though."

She silently gets up and heads out of the arena to let Sorra do her thing, heading back to her room.

Rei finally makes it back to her room, and heads to her mirror. She removes the bandage and stares at her own cut, now already scabbing up. The bark must have been sharper than she originally thought, as the cut is pretty long and deep. Without any magic healing, she'll probably have another scar, but this time not hidden by her clothes. She sighs, and works on dis-infecting it. She tries to concentrate, but her thoughts keep racing around.

How am I expected to do any of this?

Her mind continues to race as it goes through the last few days again. It seems everything is determined to destroy her.

I-we don't want to force you into doing anything, and I hate to re-iterate this, but if you do not act, if you choose to do nothing, then the Usurper wins and everyone suffers.

...That's forcing me then, isn't it? If you tell me I'm going to die and everyone else is going to unless I do that, that's forcing me.

I really don't want to hurt you but if knocking you back out is the only way to get you two to stop running away from your problems I'll do it.

Well what 'is' facing my problems then, Clay? Accepting Tiki's challenge was suppossed to be it. Getting trained in Rock Tunnel was supposed to be it. CHOOSING was supposed to be it.

You do these things without a second thought, like there are no consequences! Then you act so surprised when it turns out you hurt somebody like that.

...

Rei, if you care about me, and value everything we have together....You need to go all out, beat me unconscious, and drag me back into that guild!! If you don't.....I will beat the living hell out of you, leave this place, and never see you again.

...

Not with that attitude you can't! Attitude is everything, Rei. If you believe you can do something, then you will. If you believe you cannot do something, then you never will. Fix it.

And Rei could probably use the help, too. She's blaming herself for the whole mess, again.


...What else am I supposed to do?

Rei can't concentrate anymore on her wound and leans her head against the wall.

I'm afraid there is no one else. I'm not trying to suggest that you must throw yourself recklessly into battle, only that you must stop the Usurper by any means necessary.

Why, Rei? Why do you worry all the time? Why can't you just accept help when you so clearly need it? Relying on others doesn't make you 'weak' or 'just there'. We are all made stronger by our companions.

Please do this. If not for others, then for yourself. You can do this. You can and you must fight.

We'll stop this whatever-it-is, and then we'll hunt down these people for hurting you. We'll make them regret it. You'll see. They'll all pay for hurting you this way. We'll make sure of it, together.

The one that came to me and Tiki didn't mention that part. Someone's going to pay for that.

You must stop the Usurper by any means necessary.

Rei shuts her eyes in an attempt to silence her mind, but it fails as the voices keep swimming around.

'How can I succeed at my goals?'

Someone's going to pay for that.

We'll hunt down these people for hurting you. We'll make them regret it.

By any means necessary.

Finally it seems too much for her. Something snaps in her mind. She turns, and looks stunned, but not really focusing on anything.

I'm in a corner. Life has in every way backed me into a corner. And if this continues, I'll be lost. Or she'll be lost. I have to push back. Or this ends, even if we 'win'. Regardless of our destiny, reality wants me to fail. I want MY DAMN LIFE BACK. ITS MINE!

She finally looks over to Holly, and really weakily gets out a sentence.

"Holly... Lock the door..."

"Now?"

Rei goes to the wall opposite Holly and stares at her.

"Now, is when I realize I'm going to die. I'm going to die if this keeps up. Even if we win, if I don't change how I think, I'll just be dead either way. AND THAT'S NOT HAPPENING. I'm tired of people pushing me to do things, to try to get me to fight their battles. I have to fight this one. Of course I do. We can't let the world end. But..."

She steps forward.

"We are LIVING through it. No man, pokemon, guild, organization or god is going to have say in my fate. Not anymore! You, Holly, are the only one I can truely trust now. And I will do ANYTHING to make sure we both get out of this. I don't care what it takes anymore. Or who I have to step on to do it. They can't have our lives. Only WE can."

She gets really close to Holly. She has an expression of pure determination, like some inner fire got lit.

"So what I want you to do is to take me to that bed and lay with me again. They can't take our first time together away from us! Not anymore! No god can ruin that again! If they try, they will regret it! So you ask me 'What now?' and I respond with: 'What are YOU going to do?'"

Rei looks at her for a long time.

"You should be as angry as I am that they took it away from us. Don't you want to do something about that?"

"Maybe it's cause we were out of the guild?"

Rei turns and throws up her hands.

"Or maybe it's tainted now thanks to all of this and it's ruined. Chalk that up to another thing that's been taken from us...

Rei turns and holds Holly's hand in hers.

"Then lets go! We won't let them win! We'll overwrite EVERYTHING they try to do to us. I don't want the last thing I do today be to fail quitting the steel branch and have a talking to from Sorra. Please."