Altered Bonds Extras
Omake 2 — A Form Most Uncomfortable
(Best read after Chapter 8)
(Canon? — No)
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Anxiety spiked in Lucario's nerves as Eira somehow tugged the white wristband an Abhorrent Eevee gave them onto her hand. That anxiety doubled when she let out a world-changing gasp.
The surrounding forest trembled at the noise. Lucario wiped the sweat in his forehead, while the Eevee made an anticipatory humming noise, sounding much like a kettle that was about to erupt steam. "Do I—?" Eira murmured, her gaze distant.
Lucario nearly shrugged to respond when he froze, the girl becoming enveloped in a white light that reminded him of evolution. Her body shifted, her body melting away into several tentacle appendages, and then—
A whitish jellyfish-like creature emerged from the light. Two tentacles served as redundant legs for the hovering entity, four were her arms, and the rest flowed behind her like a cape. Or hair? The jellyfish looked like an eerie imitation of a human girl, now that he thought of it. Even its glassy, transparent bell, covered in star markings, had a wavy rim of bright blue that resembled a sunhat.
For the longest time Lucario stared at the jellyfish. The jellyfish turned towards him, before raising her tentacles to her lack of a face.
She screamed. Lucario screamed.
Cries of startled Pokemon echoed from afar. "What did you do to her, Eevee?" Lucario yelled as Eira the what-on-earth-was-that-thing moved back, immediately flopping to the floor in an attempt to use her legs and crying out gurgling noises. "Change her back!"
Even Eevee looked caught off-guard by her transformation. "I-I didn't do a thing!" he said, hackles raised. "The band lets her change into a Pokemon form and back, she has to do it herself! Tell her!"
"She doesn't understand me!" Lucario blurted, his voice cracking. "And excuse me? That thing is a freaking Pokemon?"
"I don't know! I never—" Eevee raised his head, gawking at nothing in particular. "A-an Ultra Beast, Leafeon? Why would the wristband turn her into some extradimensional Pokemon? That doesn't—"
He caught wind of Lucario gawking, and firmly shook his head. "Voices in my head, don't mind me," he said.
For a moment Lucario intended to worm through the monster Eevee's head, before remembering his priorities. "Kid! Eira!" he said, sending the human-turned-'Ultra Beast' every ounce of calm he could through his aura. "Please—"
Eira rasped, her voice light and wet-sounding. Lucario stumbled back as she jerked, then shied away, heaving. "I-I'm fine!" she exclaimed. "I'm fine! I'm sorry, I d-didn't—"
She clutched her torso, before shuddering as she realized she no longer had a torso, and clutched her hair-like tentacles instead. Eira pulled up her other three arms, gingerly eyeing the wristband adorned on one of them.
"A Nihilego?" she said. "Of all things?"
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It was a surreal experience, to say the least, being an Ultra Beast.
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Eira the Nihilego — though she really, really didn't want to call herself a Nihilego — had plenty of time to familiarize herself with her form the next morning. The wristband guided her, it turned out, giving her nudges and cues for how to move around.
Right now she was staring at her four tentacle arms and having them move independently, tracing the bark of a tree. She was also floating ten feet in the air.
I can fly.
Insane. Eira gently floated down, as if the act was second nature, and landed on her tentacle legs. She walked on them, as if she always knew how, until she reached Lucario. Sleeping.
What a convenience. It had given her time alone to cry over Mother's death. And to learn that no, Nihilego did not shed tears. They didn't have eyes for that.
Yet she could see just fine. Well, things were blurrier, but she saw in other ways. Her tentacles caught vibrations tingling in the air as Lucario tossed and turned, and she gagged at the overbearing scent of wet fur. Odors were almost tangible to her, the wooden pine smell of the forest permeating all around her.
She still had a mouth, but it was in a rather odd place, at the underside of her transparent head. And she didn't use it for speaking either — there were vocal cords elsewhere that independently did that. "Makes me sound like a high-pitched siren talking underwater," she told herself, disliking the voice. Too childish and bubbly and watery. And with a weird otherworldly echo to boot.
A Nihilego. She could turn into a Nihilego, a creepy Ultra Beast that acted as a parasite. Mother would never quit teasing her about it if she was here. Why, she'd think even Father would, if he—
Eira trembled. We've already cried enough, her inner voice insisted as she held back a choke. Did Nihilego breathe? She took in a deep, quivering breath, letting it pull her away from her painful thoughts. Yes, Nihilego did breathe.
Well, maybe not oxygen, she couldn't tell. And she didn't have to breathe through her mouth. How was she thinking, by the way, if she didn't have a proper brain? Did she have a brain?
Nihilego were probably the weirdest things she could turn into. But I guess it's not as bad as I thought.
She toyed with the lever within her that would transform her back, before feeling her spirit again. She had already done this earlier, prodding the strange energy flowing out from deep inside her, and had felt bizarre knowledge touch her in return. Things like her Rock and Poison typing, her infant Level, her Beast Boost ability, and her moves.
Just Wrap and Pound, ordinary attacks. But she would get actual powers later, surely. It'll be amazing, she thought, giddiness overcoming her as she swayed and floated about. The thought of having Poison moves unnerved her, admittedly — it reminded her of that horrible, horrible Ariados who attacked her — but the wonders she could do!
She would even learn the Pokemon tongue, given time. It brought joy to the child within her.
Inattentive, she let herself zoom around trees with enchanted amazement. Flying was such a marvel, and she wanted every opportunity she could to relish in it. Only too late did she sense the vibrations in the air, warning her to—
A Weavile collided with her, Eira the Nihilego — she still didn't want to call herself that — tumbling down with him in a heap. They both grunted, gazing at each other, and for a moment Eira's fear was blocked by the fragrant, almost magical smell of the majestic pink flower Weavile held, drowning out his own stench of various odors she didn't recognize.
Then Weavile growled and swiped his claw, and suddenly all Eira thought about was self-preservation. As if in a trance, she locked his limbs in place, then scooped the startled Weavile toward her.
Her head latched onto Weavile's, clamping down. He cried out in pure horror. So did Eira.
Still her instincts kept going, injecting neurotoxins into her squirming victim until he sagged, compliant. His thoughts were hers, his memories were hers, his emotions were hers to manipulate and play with like soft dough—
Make it stop make it stop MAKE IT—
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Lucario sighed, observing the comatose Weavile. His eyes stared into the Distortion World, the criminal in shock. Freeing him from Eira the Nihilego had been a hassle.
Said Nihilego was whimpering in a corner, head against a tree. Beside Lucario, a trio of perturbed Pokemon glanced at his disguised human.
Where the Togetic seemed overly concerned over the kid's state, the Gabite looked nauseous, eyes neither able to settle upon her, nor the Weavile she had harmed. "A child can do that?" he muttered.
The Shaymin scoffed, checking her Gracidea Flower for any scratches or torn petals. Yes, he was meeting a real life Shaymin. Yes, that flower Weavile stole was a fabled Gracidea Flower, able to grant her kind the power of flight.
"Typical Nihilego thing. They're parasites that can enthrall victims and suck their vitality to defend themselves." Shaymin scratched herself, ignoring how Gabite cocked his head back in primal fear. "Lucario, was it? Uh, why do you have a young Ultra Beast roaming with you?"
Uncomfortable question. Lucario slid his gaze away, checking Weavile's aura to make sure he was alive. In doing so, he accidentally brushed against Eira the Nihilego and her inner laments.
I don't want to be a Nihilego anymore, she whimpered.
Poor girl.