A Phantasmic Premonition

Zandrophin smirked and responded, jokingly,

"Have I heard any of the legends, Highness? You mustn't forget, I run this region's port city--sailors have their ghost stories."

As Akane continued speaking, Zandrophin nodded as she rattled off all of the tales he'd heard himself: the lake spirits, the beings which harnessed time and space, and the colossus. All of these he had heard of and, in the case of the lake spirits, even felt their presence.

The servant who'd been serving them returned yet again. Akane waved off the idea of more tea, and Zandrophin politely did the same. Then Akane sent the servant off to gather news of Mentus' condition...and mentioned Maya. Zandrophin leaned forward again, placing his fingertips together and intensely staring at his hands.

Interesting...I wouldn't have expected someone who seems so timid to be connected to something so powerful...but what IS it? I can only think of one creature, but it was all just stories from dusty record books...but I can tell Akane has a theory...may as well hear her out.

And then Akane whispered the name: Giratina. Zandrophin shifted his arms out of Akane's view and and he felt the cool touch of his knife slide into his hand. He gripped it tightly as the servant gave her report.

"Sir, your Abra did not rest long. It seemed only like half an hour of downtime before he was up and about again, I think he may still be distressed."

Zandrophin chuckled and responded,

"That's normal...he hates sleeping. He usually just meditates, so he's still somewhat conscious. Thank you, anyway."

When the woman left, there was a small bit of silence. Then, Zandrophin's demeanor shifted again. His face grew dark and his expression soured. In a flash, he threw the knife straight up. The weapon whined as it ascended, stalled, and began again on it's decent. Zandrophin leaned his head back and exposed his neck to the blade. All that could be perceived by normal human senses was the threatening whistle of the weapon, followed by a rhythmic pulsing. The knife was caught, mid-air, within a small purple aura, only a few inches from Zandrophin's neck. Sitting upon the hilt of the immobile weapon was Mentus.

'Really, Sir...we've caused enough of a ruckus, don't you think?'

Zandrophin took the knife back, without even looking at his partner.

"I needed to get you out here. Wanted to make sure your senses were still sharp. Besides...a new theory on our attacker's identity has come to light...."

...Giratina.

Mentus squeaked and dove into the floral centerpiece on the table, comically shaking the entire ensemble. He popped his head out and said,

'Sir, it can't be! That...that abomination hasn't been in this world in centuries. It MUST be something else.'

"Think about it, old friend....it makes sense...even though we don't want it to. C'mon...whaddya say...wanna help me get back at the bastard that tried to rub us out from across the continent?"

Mentus nodded and emerged from the centerpiece, returning to his master's side. Zandrophin looked back at Akane, his showman's smile on his face.

"We've only got one question, Highness: What's our first move?"