[ti]location[/ti] PRECIPICE SHRINE

Alice once again found herself back at the Precipice Shrine, but not because her Pokémon had fainted. She was hoping to be proactive and avoid a scenario where they would faint, particularly during this wild Venipede encounter. While there didn't seem to be any serious in-game consequences to her Pokémon fainting, her sense of pride as well as her affection for her team made her want to prevent it from occurring whenever possible. And when the wild Pokémon could be found right back where she found them... well, it was just a no-brainer.

Coming into contact with the shrine again, she let her Pokéball rest a moment near the edge of the drop before whisking it up again. Time to go beat up another bug.

HE HAD FAILED SERENA

That much he knew to be true and so the hour or two it had taken him searching for the Precipice Shrine was nothing to make it up to his starter pokemon. Perhaps, they started too big? But how was he to have known what too big meant or that the enemy was miles ahead of them in stamina, stature, and power. It would all take time for Vincent to learn and he trusted Serena, who seemed to have it all together. It seemed like they were both trying too hard (putting it on) but they were both still simply trying to figure it out.

"I can't promise you i'll have all the answers, Serena." He spoke directly to the pokeball as they arrived at the shrine. "But I can promise you partnership, we can get through this together, me and you. I'll never give up on you, even when you call me names." He was thankful their was a healing feature in this game because if not, this would've been the saddest and shortest video game Vincent would ever play.

’Everything is constantly changing’, she had told Seta when first stepping into the Everworld – a calculated choice spoken as if the truth in it were unquestionable. She had meant it then, despite everything, and she had been right too: even in this world that is no more than an illusion, change is inevitable.

The Precipice Shrine had changed.

The Precipice Shrine had awoken.

With it, all of the Misty Timberland had changed as well.

Blossoms that rise as if born of mist. A scent akin to lavender mingling with those of frost and evergreens. Dreams. Haunting dreams. Is she awake at this moment, or is she simply dreaming all of this? What is UNOVR if not a dream? An illusion that keeps the mind distracted from reality…

As she sits at the edge of the precipice, weathered and muddied boots dangling, Tuesday thinks of the irony of it.

Illusions within illusions.

Dreams within dreams.

"You’re no more than an illusion too, aren’t you?" She tells the shaggy cat of gleaming yellow eyes. A creature that does not exist in reality; one that is no more than coding. If it dies, it does not matter: it never existed to begin with.

Calm and unfazed, she pushes the cat into the abyss.

"An illusion to feed an illusion, hm?"

It's almost poetic, yet what makes one more meaningful than the other?

It might be belief, as much as that word bothers her.

SACRIFICING GALARIAN MEOWTH TO THE PRECIPICE SHRINE

"What...is that??" Derek asks not really anybody, watching, feeling, smelling the change. It's amazing. It feels his blood with adrenaline and makes him grin. He's glad he came to pay a visit, happy to see how absolutely stunning the change in the shrine was.

"This game is seriously next level, like damn."

Now, don't get him wrong. If he's anything, he's a retro gamer. But this kind of advance in technology? It feels alien, sci-fi, but he's for it. Because it's fun and he'd never do anything remotely close to something like this in real life without some serious encouragement.

Because really he's more a cowardly dog than a wanderlust spirit.

"Not feeling particularly chatty today, huh?"

Of course not. In fact, the Precipice had been consistently silent through out the many, many visits Tuesday had paid to its shrine. She had sat by the edge of the abyss, she had spoken to it, she had sacrificed, and through it all – although she had sensed the presence of what supposedly lurked within – not once had it spoken to her. Not until she prayed.

The irony of it all doesn't escape her, and while many times she has wondered about the religious connotations of the existence of shrines in the game, not once did it feel more latent than when she decided to play by what appears to be UNOVR's hidden rules and got an answer.

Lamb.

They still have a deal to fulfill, don't they?

"Fine, then, see ya soon. Love what you've done with the place, by the way."

She means the Timberlands as a whole.

When Tuesday walks away, it's among blooms of lavender.