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Eventually, she would learn the best cure for her injuries was to remove herself from situations that caused them entirely before they blossomed scarlet against the white canvas of her skin. Eventually, she would learn that the easiest way to avoid all of the aches and the pains and the potential for missing teeth would be to steer clear of those who would try to inflict them. Eventually, she'd learn that the bottle was her greatest enemy, not her best friend. Until that day, though, she would be stuck in this same cycle: drink until she forgot who she was, smash a glass against the nearest patron's head, and end up bloodied and beaten in the alleyway just outside the poor bar that had to put up with her less-than-pleasant antics on that particular night. It wasn't even necessarily enjoyable, either. Sure, the adrenaline high that came with a thrown punch and a knee to the gut was phenomenal, but more often than not, she couldn't even remember come the morning, and it couldn't have been more positive a feeling than the pain she felt come the sun's rising was negative. Logic should have told her to wise up and put a cap on how many beers she swallowed in a night. Of course, logic wasn't exactly her area of expertise. As she was, a creature fixated on truths and the “nows” of life, she couldn't even bring herself to imagine what good restraint would do her. All she knew was her routine – the one that had her come back night after night with no hope for change.[break][break]

Making the trek from Irisia to the Firefly Springs shouldn't have been anymore than a mild convenience on any normal day. Despite the area's generally unknown status in the past, time and the region's sudden decrease in size had made it more known and accessible over the past couple of years, even springing an easily navigable path straight from the city to the glittering springs should a person know how to find it. Upon adding an ankle that was at best sprained and at worst broken into the mix, however, it was no wonder why Victoria was finding it quite the nightmare making the trip. It wasn't even as though she wanted to go for the sight seeing, either – a near infinite age had allowed her to see sights all the more beautiful all over the world, many lost to time, and she'd be caught dead sober for a week before she decided to torture herself over something as silly as a “pretty okay” view – but rather the fact that it was the most likely place for her to come across just about the only person she'd want to see her in her current battered state. Being famous in the music industry certainly had its upsides, but even those couldn't compare to some of the upsides that came with being acquainted with the legendary Pokemon. For one thing, it tore a hole through her medical bills (well, the ones she didn't have). For another, it swapped out the tediousness of sitting through a hospital visit for the company of one of few Pokemon that seemed to not hate her guts for one reason or another. That aforementioned logic would scold her for abusing her acquaintance's willingness to heal time and time again without ever giving anything in return – but there was a reason she reigned over truth and nothing else, and for as long as she could brush the guilt aside like swatting away a Cutiefly, she failed to see anything wrong with this arrangement.[break][break]

Pushing through foliage and low hanging branches (wincing as the twigs snagged against existing cuts on her arm and accidental pressure on her bad foot sent pain shooting up her leg), the white-haired woman basked in the feeling of relief that came with the sight of rippling water before her, the end of her journey signaled with the view of Volbeat and Illumise swarming low in the clearing. Just in time, hopefully. She'd heard rumors that this was where the wandering healer was going next, and while she usually hated the idea of following such unreliable information, there was just times when it couldn't be helped. Ideally, the rumors were not just rumors; ideally, she'd also made it in time. “Akemi!” the dragon called into the clearing, failing to see the form of another “human” with a single glance and unwilling to go searching with her wounds. Surely, if she called enough, Celebi would come to her. “'Ey, Akemi! You here?”