books & believers [development]

Finn hadn't been five minutes into the barren settlement when a pop-up on his UI had prompted him to Build Something? He scrolls through blueprints of houses and businesses and a graveyard, of all things, before an imposing steepled structure catches his eye.

Is that a church?

Sure enough, the old gothic building with its vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows fits perfectly on a large hill in the middle of the budding settlement. Finn's intentions are merely to build the thing to see if it nets him any quest rewards. He doesn't expect the second prompt.

Name your Church!

Shit. He hadn't come prepared for this.

What the hell did people in a Pokemon universe worship, anyway? Legendaries?

Finn smirks, and a name appears beneath the minimap on his UI as he hits send.

Church of the Ceaseless Downpour.

It sounds more like a cult, which is more fun anyway. His Kyogre was little more than an egg, at the moment, but he imagined it would be pretty cool to have an entire building built and named in its honor. He cradles the patterned blue egg beneath an arm.

"Hey, you're the kid who's setting up the library in the spare room, right?"

Yggy Br00ks

She seems cheerful in spite of the gloomy church atmosphere; that was nice, he supposed. He'd never been a font of such energy, even as a kid himself. What must that be like?

Shaking off the thought, he's surprised to learn she knows his name.

(He has yet to register the name Yggy Br00ks, which would've given up the game.)

"My reputation precedes me." He smirks. It's not a bad feeling, by any means. Honestly kind of useful for a cult-leader to be. Maybe this kid could be one of his first converts to the Kyogre-inspired 'religion'.

How fortunate, then, that she brings up the church herself.

"Sure am. We can explore it together; I haven't seen the basement, yet, but this place is supposedly built over an underground spring." That's what had given him the initial idea to theme it after his egg. "Be pretty cool to have a library here, too; what kind of books do you think it'll populate with?"

He starts to lead the way toward the ominous spiral staircase that swirls into the depths.

"Symbolism, yeh! Exactly."

He can feel the heaviness of the air as they descend the steps into darkness. Finn keeps blinking with the expectation that his eyes will adjust to the darkness, but for whatever reason this darkness resisted such adaptation. It's not long before he's navigating based on feeling along, one hand trailing along damp stone as he places each foot carefully onto the next step.

What was that creaking sound?

It's been a long time since Cillian feared the dark, though the atmosphere of a dark basement holds memories not worth dredging up. Perhaps they're the reason for the way his spine tingles, or perhaps it's the sense that something terrible exists here.

"Candles! Great idea. Hold on..."

He stumbles a bit when he tries to take another step down and meets only solid ground: the end of the descent.

Pulling up his UI, Finn navigates through the settlement building options and selects some thematic lighting. He confirms the purchase, and in a slow flicker of flame, the spring comes to life. Half-melted candles burn in small groups among stony alcoves, their flames dancing to cast shadows along the ground. Clusters of fungi and patches of moss alone the weathered stone walls have taken on a luminescent property, adding a soothing effect to the otherwise eerie space.

Finn's eyes are as blue as the water and wide as saucers as he takes in the underground spring.

"Look at this place."

Creeping up to the edge of the pool, he sets the Kyogre egg into the water.

"It's a Kyogre egg."

He confirms Yggy Br00ks's suspicions with the appropriate reverence, the candlelight casting an eerie glow across his features as he smiles.

"I got it as a drop after the raid. I'm definitely trying to hatch it, but honestly I have no idea what I'm doing." He shrugs, not seeming bothered by his inexperience. Figuring it out was part of the fun, honestly. He'd never had any of the iconic video game mystery experiences as a kid, like reading braille on a friend's front porch or trying to get a Mew from beneath a truck, so this was like indulging that neglected child. "Talking to it could work, I guess. They can still understand me if I've got their speech turned off, right...?"

Yggy brings up a great point about the water, and while she starts to look for scuba gear, Finn the Swimmer simply dives right into the water.

It's exhilarating and terrifying to submerge himself below the blue-green waters. He has to remind himself firmly that he needs not fear drowning, then opens his mouth to speak (as best as he could, underwater) to the egg.

"I sure hope you can hear me, or I'm going to feel real stupid. Anyway. I created this whole church for you, Kyogre. You're gonna be a god. Or a goddess, I guess. Do you even have a gender?" He laughs. "Man, if my parents could see me now..."

Cillian, the Good Catholic Boy who went to church every Sunday, blaspheming in a video game cult-church.

He surfaces, ginger hair slick to his character model. "Could you hear any of that?"

The egg is unchanged.