Curate, connect, and discover
Howdy! I may have ended up writing an fanfic based off of this prompt that MaximumCat had kindly let me use for my own idea!
(Fun fact! Did you know that a tag for Professor Rowen might not be in Ao3?)
In case anyone wants to read it I will post the link!
Both Cyllene and Laventon know what they need to do.
Neither of them were particularly religious, but when you both dream of Arceus standing before the both of you on a platform made of stardust telling you what you need to do to send your unofficial child and their amnesiac train uncle home… because the loop must be closed to ensure that they have a home to return to.
Well, there’s not much to argue with at that point.
Still it was not easy to do.
They both woke up and cried in each other’s arms. They spent the whole day together, holding each other and murmuring reassurances that they both knew were sweet lies.
Why did Arceus ask this of them? What could they have possibly done to warrant this punishment (and clearly it is a punishment). They would never know, they knew this logically but they wondered all the same.
They had agreed to Arceus’ command anyway. Of course they would have. Ingo and Akari were not related by blood, but they were still family. And they had a duty to protect and provide for their family, as small and unusual as it was.
And once Ingo and Akari went through the shining portals, back to their proper places, their proper homes and real families, Arceus checked in to make sure that the agreed upon price to send their family home would be paid.
Of course it would be, they are both people of their word.
Cyllene broke off the courtship, much to the shock of the village. There was gossip about it, of course, but she did her best to make it known that it was a mutual decision to break it. (But those closest to her knew that she was lying about something, but they could not figure out what.)
Laventon went back to Galar on the next boat, his precious books and furniture packed as quickly as possible. The fact that he left so quickly also stirred more gossip as was the fact that she saw him off with an embrace that lasted too long.
(The night that he left, she went to Zisu and sobbed on her shoulder until the sun came up. Zisu couldnt pry the truth of what was going on out of her.)
(He had simply looked at the moon while leaning on the rails of the boat and felt empty inside. He did not sleep that night or the next one.)
They both found and married new loves in their lives. They did their duty and raised families as best as they could.
And in defiance of Arceus, they wrote letters to each other. They wrote of their lives, their spouses, their children, their current work. They also wrote of things that made no sense to those who did not know, of a price they paid for family that wasn’t theirs. A price set by a being beyond understanding. Vague allusions to a duty that went beyond their lifetimes.
The letters were swept under the rug and hidden from public knowledge by later generations.
It would not do to have these two great people’s reputations tarnished. They were faithful to their spouses and these letters could cast doubt upon that.
Until Akari went back to her time and wanted to know about how their lives went. She was confused at first (although all the adults simply said, “they simply grew apart, sweetie” which she could not stand. It was too sudden, too soon after her departure.)
She was smart though, she knew how to research things, she had learned it from Laventon. And she had learned how to use a commanding presence and a tone of voice to get respect and favors from Cyllene.
Once she found the letters that had been hidden, she had broken down crying.
And then she raged.
She gathered her strongest team and headed back to Spear Pillar.
Arceus would explain and if the explanation was lacking?
Then she would make Arceus FIX it.
It was the least it could do after disrupting so many lives to do things it could have done itself.