thenightsky | Victor Road IC Inbox

I don't think there's any tanks big enough for Gyarados..

[Plus that seems just mean.]

I haven't been back there since we first got here.

[An eyebrow goes up.]

Have you?

Okay, but what about the Magikarp? I met a girl who kept her Dwebble in a bowl. She said he liked it, so I didn't say anything else to her about it.

[Also who is going to tell a Gyarados to stay in a tank they can just bust right out of? Not Sasha, that's who.

Suddenly, Sasha goes all shifty-eyed.]

Noooooo?

[Okay, guilty as charged. Sasha hasn't seen that lady since the first day where she handed Sasha her backpack and a lunch. But who could blame her when her friends from home were here already?]

I mean, she's not my real mom anyway, right?

I guess you could ask it if it'd be okay with living in a tank.

[Excuse him while he rubs the back of his neck with a little frown.]

Maybe it'll like it. Most of mine just prefer flopping around in and out of water.

[He's never considered putting them in tanks.]

I don't think she's anyone's real mom. At least when it comes to those of us from different worlds.

[A pause.]

Wait, why'd you ask that like a question? Did you think she was your actual mom at first?

[Sasha makes a little sound of thought and stoops down to the Magikarp still at her feet.]

Do you want to live in a tank?

[Flop flop. Flop flop.

She can't tell if that's a yes or a no. What say you, oh honorable Magikarp Whisperer?]

I don't know. [She shrugs.] I never really knew my real mom. I only lived with my father for as long as I can remember, so I guess...

I guess maybe I thought it was her for a minute. She died when I was a baby and we don't have cameras where I'm from so I don't really know what she looked like so...

[On second thought, she feels a little embarrassed for that kneejerk reaction on her first day. It sure was stupid, wasn't it?]

[Well. There wasn't any flips in there, just flops, so--

Okay, no, seriously. Noct has no idea okay. He is not the Magikarp Whisperer where are you getting this!]

Seems like it's willing to give it a go.

[Hopefully that's the right call.

Noct's expression melts into something sad and thoughtful, the prince glancing away slightly. He tends to put his foot in his mouth with Sasha quite a bit, doesn't he?]

..That's understandable then. I can see why it would cross your mind. To think that, I mean.

[It's not stupid, Sasha. Not stupid at all.]

[Rumors, man. They come out and some of them say Noctis speaks the language of the fish.

Okay, no they don't, but it would be a useful skill.]

Where do I get a tank?

[He does, but Sasha almost never notices and she doesn't hold it against him. After all, she says stupid stuff more often than not and it's not like she and Noctis know each other very well, so speaking without forethought is something that's just going to happen.]

No, you're right. She can't be anybody's mom. For starters, I didn't even look like her. [As if that's a valid reason.] She did make a nice lunch, though. My dad would have liked it after having to eat smoked meat all winter.

[...Okay he would enjoy that way too much.]

One of the shops in town? Or maybe the Goldenrod Department store has some. You could check their online catalog.

[Still makes him feel bad when he realizes he's been an ass. One day he'll make it up to her. Presents of food. So much food.]

Yeah but you could just look more like your dad so there's always a chance. I didn't actually stay to try the food, though, so I'll have to take your word on it. I was..a little freaked out, I guess.

Online catalog?

[That's a new phrase for her, even after all these months. Sasha spent a week at the department store, but only in person. It never occurred to her to use the Pokegear for anything but looking up Pokemon and communicating on the network. All this new fangled technology still manages to confuse her. Especially those car things.]

Maybe. My dad and I both have brown hair and eyes, but that's about it. He has a beard and I don't. [Thankfully. Facial hair would not suit her.]

Freaked out? Why?

Yeah they have a list of everything they stock online. You can order stuff from your 'gear and have it delivered to you.

[It's okay, Sasha. Noctis will teach you.

By not really explaining how to do it and just giving you the basic description.]

Wait, what color hair did the lady have when you woke up there? [Because he's curious now.] I..didn't know where the hell I was. I honestly thought the Empire had captured me for a second.

Really? But how do I get the money to them? How do they know where I am to deliver it to me if I don't have a house?

[Noctis is so very helpful. Actually, not really, but that explanation has taken Sasha farther than anything else has.]

She had brown hair too, but her eyes were blue and she was shorter than me. What about the lady you met? [A pause.] The Empire? Who's that?

You transfer it with your Pokegear.

[At least he has the sense to be patient now.]

And you can have them deliver to to the Pokemon Center closest to you. So, say you're on the road headed towards a city. You can tell them to deliver it to that city.

[Noctis let out a thoughtful sound.]

Same, actually. I think Prompto met the same woman, too. [If he was remembering right.] They...The Empire of Niflheim is responsible for a lot of really bad stuff where I'm from. They destroyed the city I'm from and...my father's dead because of them.

How?

[She may or may not be turning her Pokegear over and around, looking for a slot to shove money into. Okay, she totally is doing that. People need to go slow and use small words when explaining anything electrical to this girl.

Prompto? That's a name she's heard, but hasn't seen the person attached to it in a while.]

You know that Prompto guy too? [But more importantly...] Oh. I'm really sorry about your father. Why did they do that? What did they want?

It's all--whoa, hey, what are you doing?

[Turning the 'gear like that is a little dizzying to watch, Sasha.]

You deposit money into your account and then you can move it around electronically. You've gotten money from battling people, right?

[Okay. Yep. Simple directions. Start with the basics.]

Yeah, he's my best friend from home. [Putting it lightly.] It's...thanks. [Because it wasn't okay but there wasn't much he could do about it.] They want our kingdom. They killed my father to get the crystal that protected Insomnia. Since he was king he could use the crystal to defend the city, create a huge wall to keep the Empire out but they..they found a way to destroy us from the inside out.

Trying to find where I put the money in!

[Sasha sounds like that explanation should be the most obvious thing in the world. And really, to her, it should be. Stick money in a hole and it automagically goes where it needs to. Alas, technology isn't that advanced just yet.]

Yes, but... [Lucky for him, she turns the gear right side back up]. I don't understand what you're saying. What's deposit?

[Someone has been carrying all her cash on her person since day one. By sheer luck she hasn't been robbed yet. It's really the most amount of money she's ever seen in her life.]

Oh, I didn't know that! He taught me how to use a camera. Tell him hello for me!

[She's grinning happily, but that expression soon melts away by Noctis continuing to speak and is replaced by something that's much more like pure confusion.]

Since he was king? Your father was a king?

You don't--you can't put the money in your 'gear, Sasha. You have to deposit it at one of the Pokemon Centers and they put it into your account.

[Oh god you poor thing how have you survived this long.]

Deposit is money you put into a bank account. So, you take your money and give it to a bank person and they put it into your account. It's safer than carrying it all around and then you can use it to buy stuff on the net and stuff like that.

[Sasha. You...you've been carrying it all around...how haven't you been mugged?!]

I will. [He smiles faintly but it fades pretty quick.] Yeah I..I'm a prince, back home.

[By the grace of whatever higher power and the skin of her teeth. What more can you expect from someone who didn't know indoor plumbing even existed until they got here?

There's so much going on in this conversation that's blowing her mind and Sasha isn't sure what part to touch first. It would be smart to ask how she can trust the bank person to not steal her money in the first place and how she would get the money out when she needs some, but then Noctis confirms the thought brewing in her head and Sasha just ends up frowning. Hard. Like she doesn't quite believe his confession.]

But you don't act like a prince.

[For starters, he's talking to a person like her, someone dirt poor with just the bare basics of an education, someone who has nothing to offer him like a trained horse or a bevy of produce they've toiled weeks over just to hand it off to people who could afford so much more than them for little to nothing in return. Behind the walls at home, the royals stay far away from her kind, looking down on them as if they are feces on their expensive boots. He hasn't called her stupid, a hick, spit on her, or sneered at her. Noctis has done everything that's the opposite of any experiences Sasha has had with royalty.

And it's throwing her for a loop.]

[That was not really what Noctis was expecting her to say and now it's his turn to wear the confused look.]

What do you mean?

[Because honestly this is how he's always been--well, perhaps a little more bratty back home from time to time. But the idea of royals not caring about the people they ruled? That was a new one to him. His father had done everything for their people, for his son, and had never hesitated. Even if the end, Noctis knew his father had probably given his life for the hope that everyone would survive the downfall of Insomnia.]

How do princes act where you come from?

Not like you.

[Well, that sure clarifies everything, doesn't it?]

I mean... they're not really nice. We all live behind walls because of the Titans, but they live in the innermost wall, the farthest away from danger, and they have all the best stuff. They get the most food too. They don't really talk to us--people like me, you know--unless there's something they want from us and even then... they aren't very nice.

[That's the least of it, at least the most Sasha can rightfully speak of. There are a million other secrets that the royals are holding back, secrets that leave their citizens out to dry, but as far as Sasha knows, kings and queens only care about their own kind. Their people are just consequences of carrying the crown, things that tag along just because.]

My village is very small and far away from the center wall. Only a few people live there so we don't have anything like stores or schools or anything like that. We didn't see any of the government people a lot of the time, but when we did, they just wanted us to raise horses for them when we were hunters and have been hunters for as long as my family can remember. They hated us. So did people from other towns. We're so unlike them.

[Okay what the hell kind of place--what kind of people would do that to others?

It sounded a lot like the Empire to him and that just made him quietly boil with anger.]

That's not how Insomnia was. It's not how my father did things or how he raised me to do things. Just because we're royalty doesn't mean we can't...my dad always had everyone in mind. He was responsible for everyone, no matter their status.

[It was something he'd always admired about his dad it just..took him awhile to be able to put it into words. And of course it had been too late for him to actually tell Regis.]

People are always going to be different from one another. That doesn't mean you treat them like crap.

No, but they do anyway. And there's nothing we can do about it, not unless we want to go to jail.

[It's the Hell kind of place. She's barely scratched the surface on the description of life behind the walls only because the royals love to keep their people in the dark, going as far as to ban certain kinds of books.]

Insomnia sounds nicer than where I'm from. [Or sounded nicer. Don't correct her tenses.] I guess it's just all about surviving behind the walls. No one wants to be eaten and if it comes down to being between you and someone who isn't as rich as you, the King will always push the poor person into the Titan's mouth.

That..

[That wasn't right. It wasn't how royalty should act. Was that how other countries were back home? He could believe that the Empire was like that but they were corrupt; fueled by Ardyn's whispers. The idea that cruelty like that was the norm in some places and that royalty didn't care about the well-being of everyone in their kingdom..]

I'm sorry. For that really, really shitty example the royals where you come from set.

[He means it. That's just disgusting.]

I'm pretty sure my dad would have kicked my ass--or had Clarus kick my ass if I ever considered treating people like that. My dad always made sure I knew that everyone was just as important as the next no matter their place in life.

[If only he knew just how differently he'd been treated because of the Prophecy, though.]

[Sasha shakes her head. There's nothing for Noctis to apologize for. He might be a prince, but he's treated Sasha with nothing but kindness since day one. Sure, she's asked stupid questions, but he's never called her names or called her dumb. That's a lot more than Sasha can say about other people in her life.]

I'm sorry the Empire took away such a nice man. It's always the good people that go first.

[Gods know Sasha knows that all too well.]

Did he kick your... butt all the time?

[She still can't bring herself to curse just yet.]

[Noct's expression falls and he glances down.]

..Yeah it..really is, isn't it?

[Oh if only he knew.]

What? No, never. I was just--I didn't really mean that. That was me over-exaggerating. He would have been really disappointed with me but he would never have hurt me.

[A pause.]

Gladio probably would have dragged me into the trainer room and made me work harder than normal. But honestly disappointing my dad would have been enough punishment.

[Which isn't something he would have admitted before his time here.]

Oh. My dad kicked my butt all the time. I mean, he hasn't done it in a long time, but that's only because he told me to not come back home until I became a decent person. So I haven't gone home.

[Sasha... that's not something you just say so casually. But in her world, there's only survival and nothing like hugs or I Love Yous or anything like emotional support. Certainly no psychological support for the child soldiers either.]

Who's Gladio?

[What..

Noctis can't help but look a little horrified, mouth working but no words come out right away.]

He..seriously?

[That's all sorts of messed up and he can't blame her for not going back. Who would want to go back when your parent treats you like that??

He manages to get over his initial shock, still looking a little miffed but her asking about Gladio helps distract him.]

Gladio is one of my best friends. And my sworn shield. [Excuse him while he looks a little sheepish.] Every heir to the throne has a sworn shield that acts as their protector. But he's more than that. We've been friends since we were younger and he's taught me a lot. Not just how to fight.

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