A brushing noise filled the half-empty room, the noise emanating from a Noivern busy sharpening a knife on a whetstone, his eyes told that he was intensely focused on his task. He wore a black waistcoat that let out a gentle metallic click as he turned.
Just nearby laid a very bored looking Roserade, lazily kicking the air from her flat position on the couch. A long moment passed until the Noivern finally cleaned the whetstone, set aside the knife, drew another one from one of the many pockets on the inside of his coat and began his task anew with a second blade.
Another few minutes passed and the Noivern had started on a third knife. "Come on" the Roserade shouted, extending the syllable on the "o" for a long time as she sat up to look over at him from the back of the couch. The Noivern paused for a moment and angled his head to peer at her, he looked very tired but the Roserade wasn't about to let up. "You've been sharpening them every day for the past week and a half. How many times do you need to sharpen them?" she asked with a wave of her flower covered hand.
"Until I know I can put another gouge in that asshole's neck." he half-snarled as he turned back around and went back to sharpening.
Roserade slumped back down in defeat. "You're so boring sometimes." she remarked as she rolled onto her side.
Brushing once again filled the room until the door was opened. Noivern looked up to see a familiar Malamar standing in the door. "Good afternoon, Ein." he greeted before going right back to his task.
Roserade sprung back to life at the sound of his name. "How was your day, you old coot?" she inquired as she hung off the back of the couch to face him.
"Well, let's just say I have some… interesting tidbits to share." he said as he walked in. Brushing off Roserade's statement and observing as Noivern sharpened his knives with some level of amusement.
The room went silent as the Malamar sat down in a nearby chair, Roserade immediately noticed the slight cut on his shoulder and asked, "Okay, what happened?" as she fell back down into her lying position.
"I'm sure you remember Marie," he began before turning towards the Noivern. "But Zenith, do you remember Irukan?"
"Vaguely." Zenith replied without looking up, he angled an ear to listen in, but it was more of the polite thing to do, he'd be able to hear them no matter where they were in this building.
Marie perked up and saddened for a moment. "What of her? Damn shame what happened." she remarked wistfully.
Ein leaned on the arm of the chair he was in and told her the news, "She was never dead."
The brushing of metal against whetstone stopped. Zenith left the knife he was working on and turned around to face the Malamar. Marie sat bolt upright in a shock that spelt across her entire body, she stared at Ein confusedly.
A long silence passed until the Roserade inquired, "Well? Where was she for the past few years?"
Ein's natural scowl became especially harsh for a moment. "She's become a turncoat, one that must be dealt with." he said, there was an odd intonation to his voice, as if he felt somehow betrayed by this discovery.
Marie slowly slumped back to her original position and went silent as she rolled to face away from the Malamar. Zenith stared for another moment before turning back to continue sharpening another knife.
"Shut up Zenith!" Marie suddenly exclaimed, the shock causing Zenith to nearly cut himself. Ein gave her an odd look before leaning back into the chair and sighing. She sprung up with tears in her eyes and ran out of the room.
A few moments passed and without looking up, Zenith continued his work once more. "Heartless." Ein remarked with a sarcastic smirk.
Zenith took a moment to respond, "There's only one thing I care about. And that's avenging Depra, I don't care how I do it." it wasn't exactly a direct response, but Ein seemed satisfied enough with it.
A few moments passed until the door opened once again. The sharp clicking of talons against the floor clicked against the ground along a strange warping noise.
Ein cocked his head to look over at a Staraptor cleaning blood off of his talons alongside a Reuniclus with a thousand-yard stare. "What's the report Galileus?" he asked.
The Reuniclus floated over to the couch and took off his sash. "Fairly well, could've been a lot cleaner but you can blame Aros for that." he remarked with a flat voice as he hovered above the seat.
The Staraptor flicked his other talon a few times before replying in a very proper sounding voice, "It's no fun when there's no fight." he started flicking his beak from left to right to try and get the viscera off of it but eventually relented and asked, "Zenith, can you help me get this off?"
Zenith sighed and set the last knife aside and questioned, "Why don't you ask Galileus to do that?"
Aros stared at him for a few moments before bringing a talon up to his chin in thought. A few moments passed before he pivoted on his heel and asked, "Hey Galileus, can you help me out here?" In spite of his intellectual sounding voice, he was probably the stupidest in the room. Something almost everyone in the room resented for different reasons.
The Reuniclus, without turning around, began to use Psychic to scrape the fluids off of his partner, making sure to ruffle a few headfeathers to mess with him. "By the by," Galileus began, "I thought Vans and Haley would be back by now. And yet I can't sense their presence."
Ein shrugged and replied, "I may do a lot around here, but I don't know where everyone is all the time." he got up and continued, "I'm going to brew some tea, would you like any Galileus?"
"Why don't you ever ask me?" Aros asked as Ein passed by him.
Ein sighed and said, "Because you don't like tea." he sounded slightly impatient as he grabbed some hardwood and placed it in the wood fired oven in a good formation and stuck some firestarter in the bottom, a paste of charcoal and resin, and set it alight with a flint and steel.
"I think it'd be rather nice," Galileus began, "be sure to make some for Marie and Vans, they quite enjoy it."
Ein filled a kettle with water. "I'll just fill it for six in case someone else comes." he replied.
"Probably for the best." Galileus replied, flowing out of his chair to grab a book, holding it in front of him with Psychic. An action that brought a chuckle out of Ein as he found his way back to his chair.
Zenith took out some polish and spread it on a thick cloth and began rubbing the knives over it to clean the edge up. Aros immediately denoted his intense stare and walked up to stand next to him. "What's up?" he asked.
Zenith paused and gave the Staraptor an estranged look before saying, "Nothing major."
Aros stared at him for a few moments before saying, "Good to hear." and walking away.
Ein rubbed his forehead in disdain. "I don't know how Galileus keeps you alive sometimes." he muttered before saying, "Zenith, I don't get how Jack's still alive either, but the facts are in front of us."
"How are they in front of us?" Zenith exclaimed as he stuck his knife into the counter to walk over to the Malamar. "Jack had cream colored fur, not blue fur. He had orange eyes, not whatever's going on with that guy. He was a Fire-type, not some weird Ice-slinging… Ice-type!" he fumbled his words then admitted quietly, "But he's undeniably him, down to every intonation in his voice. How do you explain that?"
Ein sighed and said, "I do not remember explaining things being part of my job…" he paused mid sentence. "I only have a semblance of an idea. I believe that whoever or whatever that Ninetales is, he's important." he rose from his chair and gave Zenith a serious glare. "Whatever you do, be careful, something's amiss."
As if on cue, two very familiar pokemon jumped out of the ground in the center of the room. A Gorebyss and a Huntail, Haley and Vans respectively.
"I was hoping you two would be here soon." Ein said with a short look. "That only leaves Danielle and Hive."
"Augh." Aros groaned. "Is this another meeting?" he looked as if here in pain over the mere thought of it.
Vans spoke up, "What's the issue?" he seemed a bit concerned.
Haley gave him a somewhat similar look but said nothing as she half-slithered over to check on Zenith.
Ein waited a moment, taking Aros' comment. "It's a vote of sorts. I believe that we should get involved with this."
The entire room went silent. Zenith was the first to speak, "I'm in."
"I am too." Aros said.
Haley and Vans exchanged a look and said, "We're in." simultaneously.
Galileus looked up from his book. "I don't see why not. Count me in." he stated before going back to reading.
"I'm in, let me at them!" Marie exclaimed as she barged back into the room, tears still streaming down her face.
Ein smiled and said, "Very well, that only leaves two of us, and I'm certain they will agree." as he walked over to start steeping some tea after the water started boiling, using Psychic to remove it from the heat.
After a long while, they all settled back in, all but Aros and Zenith were seated with a cup of green tea. "I needed this after today." Ein muttered as he rubbed the spot where Irukan managed to cut him.
Marie seemed to deflate slightly and set her cup down. She slumped over, her elbows resting on her knees, her flowers supporting her head. "Today just hasn't been too great." she said as she idly kicked the air.
A black and yellow blur shot through the window. Landing just besides Aros. "I hate how you always leave me to clean up after you." the Ninjask scolded, her sudden entrance drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Good afternoon, Hive." Galileus remarked. "What's the damage like?"
The Ninjask turned to him and said, "Hid the body in a sewer, it was too heavy to carry to a body of water, and too wet to char it. It'd be too smelly as well." she adjusted herself on the ground as she spoke at an incredible clip. "Tried to make it look like an accident, difficult with how perforated the torso was." She shot daggers at the Staraptor. "And now I'm back."
Ein sat back and scolded Aros, "This, this is why you need to be cleaner with your kills." his voice was flat as he rubbed his forehead with a tentacle and letting out a groan.
Aros just got up and walked away at that remark. "I'll be back at some point in the day." he said before hopping up the stairs.
Vans and Haley watched on in silence, the two exchanged a glance. Haley turned towards the group and announced, "We'll be off for now." before diving into the ground.
Vans sighed, setting down his empty cup using his tail, he dove in after her. Leaving the entire room with one less Gorebyss and Huntail respectively.
A knock on the door echoed through the room before opening. "Hey." A Mawile in a black coat said, she looked tired and exhausted, as she walked over to the nearest empty seat and practically collapsed in it.
"Ah, the woman of the hour." Hive remarked sarcastically.
Without looking up, the Mawile remarked, "If I had any energy left… I'd make you regret those words." she yawned.
Ein sat back. "Danielle, I'd like your opinion. You too Hive."
"What?" The Mawile stated flatly as she rolled over to hang herself off the arm of the chair to face the Malamar.
Hive was a bit more energetic. "Oh, what's going on this time?" she questioned excitedly.
"The Ninetales, we were thinking of getting personally involved." he repeated the same question from earlier.
Danielle let out a half yell, half yawn at the thought of more work. "Fine." she said after everyone gave her a slightly concerned look before going back to what they were doing.
Hive stared at the Mawile for a few more moments. "I don't see why not." she said. "Though, shouldn't we focus on replacing Depra first?"
Zenith winced before getting up and walking away silently.
"Whoops." Hive remarked, her voice devoid of remorse. A few moments passed before the Ninjask turned back and said, "The question still stands."
"Right… Danielle, you had your eyes on a particular pokemon if I remember correctly." Galileus stated as he set down his book and turned to face the Mawile. "Am I correct?"
Danielle slumped over on the arm some more. "A Cryogonal named… Kal… Kela… Kelvin… yeah that guy." she sputtered out in her half-asleep state.
Marie spoke up in her place. "Kalvic, his name was Kalvic… and yes, Danielle's been talking about him a bit. Apparently he's quite competent." she said with a slight edge to her voice.
Hive offered an idea, "What if, hear me out, we send him after the Ninetales, and if he comes back victorious, he can join!" she buzzed as she talked.
The entire room went quiet before Galileus said, "I suppose that would work either way, wouldn't it…?" his voice trailed off as he mumbled to himself, seemingly going through the possible options in his head. "Ironic that we'd be replacing an Ice-type with another Ice-type." he chuckled.
Ein drank the last of his tea before setting the empty cup on the table. "It would be the most efficient tactic. I suppose I can agree to that." he remarked.
Danielle was practically flowing onto the floor. "Whatever…" she mumbled.
Marie sadly nodded her head and laid back down on the couch, slightly shoving Hive as she got back into her previous position.
Hive exclaimed, "Great, I'll go grab him. Where is he Danielle?" she asked as she flew very close to the very tired and annoyed Mawile.
"Shut up!" Danielle shouted back. "I'll tell you in a few hours."
The Mawile rolls onto the floor and finds her footing. Almost drunkenly walking up the stairs as she mutters, "Fucking Sleep Powder bullshit…"
"Well, I guess we're done here." Ein remarks with a sigh.
Are we though?
And this marks the beginning of a short hiatus, I know that some people will be disappointed, I am too. But I think that I just don't have it in me at the moment and I think my writing is starting to suffer because of it, I'll probably work on another project in the mean time and upload some of that. But I need to set this one down for a little while.
I at least wanted to get this far as I felt that this might be as good of a stopping point as it's going to get for a little while. I'll probably be gone for something like a month, maybe less, maybe more. But I'll be back.