Act 64: Psychic Assassin

After Dryhaven it was time for Aceo's forces to get moving to prepare for the last people that is surely to finally decide the fate of the Lands of Sand: the siege that is currently going on in the capital. On the way there their forces merge with Elec's so now the New Sands Republic army is whole again. Before it was time for them to go though, they would have to do some preparations and strategies for when it was time to sprint into action so a camp was formed in the Capital's territory. 
And now for the strategic meeting of this final battle, in a big tent everyone is there. Stic, Aceo, Elec...and Mattias too, in person.

"Alright. We're all here." Ranii says with seriousness. "So what's the situation?"

Everyone probably has eyes on the human right now, for one reason or another. Perhaps it's like they are expecting something from him.
Stic raises a paw to gesture at him to begin speaking.
"Right then...first I want to say that what I am going to do is just inform you, alright? Good." The human started with that to make sure everyone knew that what he is doing isn't something historic for him to go down in legend, it will probably be overblown into something epic that changed the fate of the war, which would not be true at all. "The Capital of Sands lies ahead, it is a sizable town unlike the rest of the sands, it is built upon a river. Currently most of the city has become a wreck thanks to the Grove's siege, casualties and damages are at an all-time high. A section of the wall has crumbled and many structures have gone down. The Grove is trying to get to the palace in the center of the capital, meanwhile the Old Sand doesn't know for sure what has been going on in the rest of the land since the Grove started sieging them, they are expecting reinforcements to come from other parts of the sands. And of course while the fighting is raging on fiercely outside with no holds barred, the nobles are either fearing for their lives or going full decadent with eating or drinking while they still have time to do so."

Pixie and Ranii both listen to the briefing without saying a word, the latter scratching her chin thoughtfully as she listens. 

"So finding the Grove shouldn't be too hard then..." Stic says. "I say we prepare to move in as quickly as possible."
"But Stic..." Elec is speaking now. "The Grove and the Old Sands are killing each other for us right now, if we stay back we can simply deal with whichever of the two wins the initial conflict."
The Meowstic sighs. "Perhaps so...but the citizens of the capital are surely suffering as we speak as the fight rages on, if we can quell the fighting quickly more pokémon might survive."
"Wouldn't throwing a third army on top of the current fighting only cause more chaos and possibly get more people hurt?" Aceo says now.
Now Stic is left a little unsure about what to do, on one hand his two generals have a point, and what if his idea ends up causing more harm than good? He wishes he could ask Mattias what to do right now, but the human had told him that he doesn't want a repeat of that legend of a human solving their problems, arguing that such a thing has to stop for everyone's own good.

Ranii continues to listen, not interjecting in this.

After a bit, the Meowstic finally speaks again. "Does anyone have any idea how long the current battle mind go on?"
"It should last through this day, but end around the next. Either the Old Sands or the Grove are going to crumble, not certain as to who, but one shall fall before the other does. And then by tomorrow it should be de-escalating." Mattias said to him.
"Right..." He nods. "Alright, then. Aceo, Elec...you two can approach this situation in the manner that you please." So this pretty much means he is giving them the green light to the plan of waiting until either one of their enemies ends one another.
"Thank you, Stic." Aceo said. "But wait a minute, you said that the Old Sands are expecting reinforcements from where?"
It appears that the human needs to explain that with a bit more clarity. "They are expecting reinforcements in a way that the rest of the Sands will simply drop what they are doing and come to help."
"Ah, so that's inconsequential then? Alright."
"Well, we got some our mon are anxious to finally get this over with but if it will make it easier and better for us, we will wait a day." Elec adds his two pokes to the conversation.

"Yes, I do foresee that this is the greater plan." A voice gets their attention. It had not occurred to them that Stic had brought along a guest, an otherwise unassuming espeon. 
At first, Ranii wonders why he brought one of Gaben's old harem along, before realizing this is another mon entirely.
"Had we gone along with the plan to invade right away, I forsee that this would have caused a greater amount of damage to the civilian population." She finishes.

Excluding Mattias and Stic, Luca proceeds to ask the question that likely everyone else in the tent has right now. "Who is she?"
"This is Seer. She is an extraordinary pokémon I have hired. She can see into the future like no other mon I have ever met." The Meowstic introduces her to everyone here.
"Really?" Aceo speaks up a bit. "I don't question your judgement at all, sir but...are you certain of that?" Sounds like he has doubts about this Espeon being as good of a seer as she might have claimed to be.

"I predict that the pikachu in the 3rd row over there will cough within the next 10 seconds. And then say 'excuse me' right after that."
Sure enough, exactly 10 seconds later, a pikachu in the third row coughs.
"Excuse me." He says with a bit of embarrassment.

The Glaceon blinks in surprise and leans back on his seat. "Wow..."
"Kind of a shame we are only getting someone like this by the end of this whole thing though." Elec comments.
"Well, if there is nothing else that needs to be said...generals, please do what you must until it is time to advance." The Meowstic said before getting out of his seat and walking out of the tent.
"Yes sir." Both of the generals say before one of them, Aceo walks out too to go give the news to the soldiers about what their plan is...well, all but one of them went. 
Elec would have gone too but he wants to Speak with Luca, Ranii and Pixie for a moment. "You know, I'm gonna be honest..." He looks around at the place they are in, this military tent...a completely different place than what he would find himself in other parts of his life. "We went from being a guild to being a whole new nation, it all feels so different that I wonder just how much it changed me too."
"Hhmmmm..." Well, the Lucario is sure of one thing: All that has happened did change him, big time.

"A shame I had to miss most of it." Pixie laments. "But I get the funny feeling this isn't going to be the end of it."
"Yeah, you got that right." Ranii reassures her. "Liberating the sands is just an important first step. It'll probably be a while before anything else happens. But eventually it will."

"Yeah, it will be a lot of work, but things will be better." He said to his Vulpix partner.
"If only Lia could see you now..." The Electabuzz said with a sigh while looking away a little.
"..." Luca doesn't quite know how to say that, on the other hand remembering his old partner makes him sad, but she would be glad that he is glad.
"Well, regardless, you should all make sure you are ready for tomorrow, if what that Mattias fellow said is accurate then that's the time we are going to move. So you are dismissed for the time being."

Ranii nods. 
"So guys, we have some time. What now?" Pixie asks.

"How about we go sit down and share some stories?" Luca suggests.

"Alright." Pixie says cheerfully. "Sounds fun! I got a lotta them."

Luca's team goes off to relax and talk.
For now it looks like things won't be eventful, but Seer starts getting a vision of something that will happen...She sees from the point of view of someone sneaking through the camp, then there is Stic sleeping peacefully in his tent and in another moment he is dead with an iron dagger plunged in his throat.

Seer's eyes fly open with fear, and she rushes to find Stic, she rushes to his tent, hoping to the gods she is not too late.

When she gets there she sees that Stic is not alone in his tent, and he is sleeping. And right over him in the darkness there is a mon holding up in his wing that same iron danger Seer saw in her vision, it's not stained with blood...yet. One of the mon's almond eyes spots the Espeon, and it widens in surprise.

"ASSASSIN!!" Seer yells. "EVERYONE WAKE UP, WE HAVE AN ASSASSIN!" She yells at the top of her lungs.

"N-NO!" The pokémon yells in a mixture of anger and fear before trying to stab the Meowstic while he still has the chance. However, The Espeon's screaming woke the Meowstic up, and he woke up letting out a psychic blast with the power of all of his four eyes, blasting him out of the tent and into the open outside, where everyone certainly heard Seer's cries of alarm.
Stic shakes his head and looks to Seer. "What? What's going on? Are we under attack!?"

"There's an assassin!" Seer yells to Stic. "He's trying to kill you!" She informs him hurriedly.

He gets up and steps toward that hole in the wall to see what is going on out there now.
There is a Xatu out there, he is surrounded by republic soldiers on all sides, that must be the assassin. Currently he is pointing his iron weapon at the mons surrounding him, but he is outnumbered and out-ironed.
The Meowstic decided to step out of his tent to go stick around the soldiers surrounding that bird. He tells them to make way for him so he can speak to this pokémon, even with his soldiers insisting that it might be too dangerous he still told them to let him speak with the Xatu, but he won't step any closer to him. "Who are you?"
Still with one eye open, the psychic/flying type glares at him. "My name is not relevant. I am here to ensure that Princess Ivy will have her victory." Contrast to that moment in the tent, he is speaking almost monotonously...
"hhhmmm...and i don't suppose you think your odds are in your favor now. How did you knew i was here? I moved i secrecy, there is no way the Grove could have known of my arrival here so precisely..." Stic said.
"I foresaw your arrival here, I can see beyond that what most mons can..." 

"So you are like me..." Seer says as she calms down. "Then surely you must see that Princess Ivy, and those that pull her strings will only serve to lead us all to our deaths."

"You lie, Espeon. Princess Ivy is not controlled by anyone, she will be the one to control everything...for she is destined for greatness"
"If you see it like that, you clearly do not see as clearly as you claim you do." Stic sighs. Though there are some other things that are bothering him about this Xatu. "You can not be just a mere assassin. You might have done away with your cape and badge but we know you are from the Grove. And the Grove would not just waste talent like this."
The gaze of the bird's eye is jumping between the Meowstic and the Espeon. "These are...desperate measures. I have been disgraced in Bleached Bastion. And I'm being disgraced again. I might not regain my honor and status...but I can make sure Ivy's enemies are crippled."
"What you expect to happen now then? Surely you did not expect to walk away with your life after doing the deed."
"Perhaps not...but that is not relevant." The Xatu said before throwing his iron dagger straight at Stic.
Even with the soldiers doing their best to try to get in the way of that to protect their leader, the small bladed weapon simply slowed down in mid-air until it came to a stop. The Meowstic then stepped besides the soldiers once more and simply took the dagger in his paw. Stic had stopped the dagger with his telekinesis.

"Are you that blinded by pride and arrogance that you cannot see the hand that controls her from the dark?" Seer says. "If you are truly as capable of seeing into the future as you see, then look harder."

He begins to tremble in anger. "I HAVE LOOKED!" The Xatu shouted. "I have...looked. I saw a future where the Sands were in the Grove's grasp and soon the Snow would have followed. But nothing of that happened.............WHY?! Is this your fault?!" He is yelling at the Meowstic now. "How?! How did you change the future like that?!"
Stic is not sure what to say to this right now. He just closes his eyes and shakes his head. "I have only done what I must, I do not understand what you are on about now. You will be seized now, please do not resist."

Seer wants to say something, but she realizes that there is no immediate future at the moment where he will see the error of his ways. He must do that on his own. So she simply watches to see what happens next.

"Seize me?" The psychic bird seems perplexed and angry. The circle of republic soldiers around him begins tightening as they approach, preparing to grab him. "Why? Just because I foresaw my death here you also seek to change that future to just to spite me?! No...you will not make any further mockery of me! This is not over, Stic. I will make my return, you will never be safe." His whole body flashed thanks to the move Teleport. Except...he is still standing there. "What?!"
It would appear that the Xatu cannot escape because Stic is giving him one heck of a Mean Look. "I have made my decision clear, have I not? Seize him at once before he tries anything else now." Now he just watches the ensuing struggle of the Xatu against the soldiers, they have to start beating him down because he just doesn't seem to want to give up.

Seer simply frowns as he's beaten down like this, and shakes her head. 
She has to wonder how he was sent such false images. Or if they were false. Indeed, without the Cold Bird's intervention, the future he foresaw might very well have happened. 
She had seen a version of this very early on. If Stic had not made contact with the Starbound Ones,  it would have been has he had described: Sandstone would have been overrun, reduced to rubble and its citzens left to the Grove's savagery, and the whole of the sands would have been razed. The Snows would have been forced to make some sort of deal to avoid the same fate.
Only for Ivy to then be betrayed by those she had come to rely on, and with her passing, the cycle would have continued.
But... it was not to be. The Starbound ones had made contact with Stic, and changed the course of this world.

Stic is not needed here anymore so he goes back to his tent and to have a seat on his bed. He begins feeling a little unwell as the thought that he almost died creeps in. He is alive right now, and he knows he has Seer to thank for that. "Seer..."

"Yes, Stic?" Seer asks him.

He wouldn't want to show such vulnerability like this in front of someone he cares about but... "Can I ask for a hug?"

Seer replies by extending her arms out, and wrapping them around the meowstic, pulling him in close for the hug he so desires, her head resting upon his shoulder as her hands start idly rubbing small circles on his back.

He wraps his arms around her as well. "Thank you..." He looks up at her with a tiny smile. And after they separated from their hug  he let out a sigh. "I hope this is as exciting as this night is going to get...Still though, the things that bird said..."

"Don't let it get to you." Seer replies comfortingly to him. "The future they saw was prevented. And you've already seen the alternative."

"Yes, of course." And there is no doubt that the future they are on is bound to be better than the previous one. "I won't let this cast doubts in my mind, we already came so far, just a little more and the Sands will finally be free from the dead grasp of the Iron King..."

"Yes, just a little further." She repeats. "Do you require more attention at the moment, Stic?" She asks.

The Meowstic shakes his head. "No, I should be fine now.........unless you see something else happening in the near future tonight?"

Seer looks hard into the immediate future and sees....
... Nothing more tonight.
"No." She replies to him. "It looks like the rest of tonight will be without incident"

"Alright, that is reassuring." He lays down on his bed once more. "Good night, Seer."

"Good night." She says to him.

As it was predicted by Seer, the rest of the night had no more incidents. And the would-be assassin was put in a cage.