Inyssa would've been less shocked if the sky had suddenly darkened or if rain had started pouring upwards. She stood still as a stone and similarly expressionless, which might explain why the thing possessing Barry didn't notice her at first.
Whoever it was, it held up and spread Barry's fingers, studying them as if it was reading a book. Curiosity and amusement seemed to exude from his body, as clearly and identifiable as a hot gust of wind. When it spoke through Barry's mouth it did so slowly, as if getting used to talking after a long time. Two voices were intertwined as one, making it difficult to hear where one began and the other stopped.
"Let's see here…" it whispered, turning the hands to look at their backs. "Tall and reasonably lean. Strong, dexterous hands. Sharp eyesight. Male, I think…" Slowly, it grabbed a tuft of Barry's hair between its thumb and index finger, scrunching up its nose as it examined it. "Ugh… blond? Can't win them all, I suppose."
It was like seeing reality upside down. Inyssa hadn't realized how familiar she was with Barry's way of speaking. The shape and cadence of his voice, the slight curve of his lips with certain consonants, his habit to go up at the end of a question; they were like the color of the grass or the weight of her hat. Constant and safe. Reassuring. Seeing all of it absent as that thing spoke through him brought her blood to a boil.
She must've made an involuntary sound, because it turned Barry's eyes towards her. Its voice trailed off, palm still raised limply in front of its chest. There was no concern or alarm in its expression, only a different shade of curiosity.
"Oh?" It held its nose. "I've seen you through his eyes before. Are you his friend?"
It smiled, and that's what broke Inyssa out of her shock. Wave after wave of fury washed over her body as her hand went to her belt. How dare it use Barry's mouth to smile like that?
"Tell me who you are!" she bellowed, eyebrows forming a line on her forehead. "What did you do to Barry!?"
It seemed taken aback by her reaction. Lazily, it took a step back and raised a hand to scratch its cheek.
"There's no need for that attitude," it said, raising its shoulders ever so slightly. "What's the harm in being polite? Or have you humans forgotten manners in the few years I've been away?"
Its condescending tone was like a punch to the gut. She let out a sound halfway between a growl and a yelp of indignation before she could find her words.
"Answer me! And bring him back before I–!"
Something cut off her breathing. One moment she saw it raise Barry's hand as if it wished to swat a fly, and the next her feet left the ground. She tried to gasp, tried to draw in a breath but was not able to. A pink-ish glow surrounded her whole body, and it felt like every inch of her skin was being slightly pulled inwards, as if she had a black hole in her chest.
"Wind and rain, will you cease your sickening chatter?" It shook Barry's head slightly, letting out a puff of air through his lips. "As if this pungent cold air weren't enough to cause discomfort in my– I mean, this boy's stomach." It blinked rapidly, seemingly confused by its own identity. "In any case, I was simply trying to strike a friendly conversation. There is no need to resort to violence; not that you could hurt me in any way. You would have more luck trying to strike the moon out of the sky with a pebble."
But she was barely listening. Desperately, she tried to claw at her throat to force in a breath, but her arms stayed as immobile as rods of steel at her sides. Shadi's Pokeball slipped through her fingers, falling to the ground on the opposite side of the button. At first she was furious at her luck; why couldn't it have fallen the other way? But after a few seconds there was no room for anything but panic. The edges of her vision blurred, and a hot pain flared at her temples, accompanied by the resounding boom of her own heartbeat in her ears.
And then it stopped, and she fell. She landed on her feet but was unable to keep standing, sliding forward as her knees hit the ground. She took in breath after breath, her limbs shaking and wide eyes staring at the grass under her.
"I'm sorry," the voice said from above. "I forgot how fragile your bodies are."
She lifted her chin, but Barry's face was darkened as the sun shone behind his head. The only thing visible were those burning golden eyes. There was a hint of concern in them, but barely. She tried to summon the will to speak, but the words died in her throat. Fear and shock hadn't circulated out of her veins quite yet.
"W–who are you?" she asked again, this time almost as a plea. "Barry… bring him back, please…"
It stared back at her for a few moments, silent. The glow of its eyes flashed once, and it felt like she was being looked at through X-rays.
"Next time, it would serve you well to wait before you cast judgment," it said, forming an easy smile. "Though I suppose I'm the last one who should judge others for being overtly emotional. I simply wanted to inspect what I'm working with. I will release your friend now."
As soon as it finished speaking its eyes closed, and Barry's body fell forward, weightless. Inyssa sprung forward, caring not for the still searing pain in her lungs. Her arms stopped him before he could meet the ground, though she struggled to lift him to his feet as he regained consciousness.
"Ah…" Barry blinked lazily, his eyes back to their soft brown. "What… happened?"
He was interrupted by the sudden grip of Inyssa's arms around his neck. She let out a sound similar to a yelp of glee close to his ear, her hands shaking strongly.
"Y-you're okay!" she said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Uh… yeah?" he blinked a few times, confused. "What's going on? The last thing I remember was trying to turn my eyes gold and then… nothing."
She gathered as much of her scattered wits as she could and tried to reply. "S-something possessed you! It… it talked through you and tried to hurt me! It was like…"
"I have a name, you know."
The sudden voice made them clash foreheads, and consequently take a sudden step back. Eyes slightly watered by tears of pain they turned towards the ethereal voice, and their expressions went blank with shock.
A small, almost humanoid creature floated near them at eye level, its pale body almost transparent under the rays of the sun. Its round face was partially pink, as were the four appendages jutting out from behind its head. Two ribbon-like tails grew from its back. Its eyes were the same shining gold she'd seen on Barry only a minute before.
It spoke again, without opening its mouth. Its voice seemed to resound inside their heads.
"If you must address me, I suppose you may call me Mesprit." There was no cadence to its words, and still they could feel the smugness of it. "Master and guardian of the human concept of Emotion. Mentor and friend to the legendary Synn. Muse to minstrels, enemy to tyrants and youngest of the Lake Trio…"
It blinked once, and Inyssa could swear she heard a smile in its voice.
"…You might have heard of me."
----------------------------------------
To say they were not able to speak would've been putting it lightly. There was a pause to their bodies, to their very breathing as they stared at Mesprit. Like the miliseconds between thunder and lightning. Like the infinitesimal moment after one wakes up, before reality unfolds around them.
"Well?" it said, startling them back to their senses. "Must you stare at me like a couple of slack-jawed Mudbray? Say something, will you?"
But, while they might have returned back to reality, their tongues were still tied by the impossibility of what had just happened. Inyssa exchanged looks with Barry; a mix of cold disbelief and sparkling excitement ran just beneath the surface of his expression.
When she turned to look back at Mesprit, however, the weight of its gaze became almost unbearable. Its eyes did not move. Its voice was not carried by the wind. And yet, when it spoke she could perfectly imagine the inflections and body language that went with the words. As the cogs of her mind whirred back to life, realization started to dawn on her. She wasn't hallucinating, if Barry's mirrored shock was any proof of it. She was staring directly at a legendary Pokemon; one of the first beings to ever come into existence.
She could barely contain a laugh as she thought that. It sounded so idiotic, so dream-like that even when having the evidence right in front of her she could still hardly believe it. But before her mind could fully accept the truth she felt a shiver, and Mesprit spoke again.
"I don't like your eyes."
Somehow, she knew its words were directed at both of them. A few seconds passed in complete silence.
"I'm… sorry?" Barry finally stammered.
"You heard me, boy. Who goes around with a pair of eyes like you two have?" There was a slight accusatory tone in the way it said that. "Look at your friend, for example. As green and bright as a patch of forest; the little yellow spots even remind me of the Illumise that appear during a summer night. Too curious, too Fey."
Before they could begin to process the meaning behind that rambling, its gaze fell on Barry, whose hair seemed to get pointier like the fur of a startled Glameow.
"You're even worse off," it said, and Inyssa imagined it shaking its head. "It wasn't enough with being blonde, you also had to have eyes like firewood before it bursts into flames. You can see the pale orange cracks breaking through the surface like a burning spider web. The eyes of a hopeless fool."
The ghostly shape of its body moved slightly, turning it towards the east. It looked into the distance… or it might be more accurate to say that it faced itself into the distance. Like a tree, or a stone or a lake.
"To think I'd find myself stuck with such a dreadful excuse for a hero," it said, seemingly speaking with itself. "Not surprising, not in the slightest. These humans have chosen comfort instead of greatness, and here they are now. How could I expect songs and temples for me if this is what I'm forced to work with? It's like always, hope and experience…"
"…hats and shelters," Inyssa finished its sentence, unprompted.
There was a small pause, and Mesprit turned towards her. She could sense curiosity behind its eyes.
"That's… something Shauntal said," she whispered. "I mean… that's what she wrote. She's my favorite… uh…"
"Shauntal Hallow?" it asked, a hint of irritation in its tone. "Big glasses? Droopy eyes? Odd, purple dress?"
She nodded weakly.
"Ah, it's been a long time since I ran into her. I can't believe she would steal my saying for her writing." Mesprit sounded halfway amused and offended. "I worked as her muse for a couple of years, you see. Strange woman, but I liked her."
Maybe it was having a link between her current situation and something in the real world, but finally her mind started to accept the reality it had been presented with. The knot on her throat started to dissolve, and she found that speaking came a bit easier.
"So… you really are…" She tried to pronounce the name, but something stole her breath.
"Do you need a written statement, you witless girl? Yes I am Mesprit, and yes I am here in the… well, not flesh and blood exactly, but you get my point. Will you two stop acting like blabbering idiots and finally talk to me?"
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She felt dizzy all of a sudden, as if her stomach had decided to do a few spins inside of her. Taking a sudden step back she felt a familiar touch on her shoulders. Barry had stopped her just before she tumbled backwards into the ground. His expression was not much different from hers, but there was a strange gleam of victory in his eyes.
He parted his lips, and said something that gave her pause.
"I… I knew it. I knew it was you."
There was a certain relief in his voice, though she could barely pick it up by how faint it was. She stared at him blankly for a moment, only after raising an eyebrow in a way that clearly stated 'Explain yourself'.
"I've been thinking about it since the fight with Wake," he said. "I thought I was crazy but… the golden eyes, that whole thing about Emotion and being able to read those plates…"
Realization hit her with enough force that she might've stumbled backwards again if she weren't being held by her friend's hands.
"The day we became trainers," she whispered, pale as a ghost. "W-when we went to Lake Valor! You were shouting and calling for Mesprit and…!"
"It was there!" Barry yelled enthusiastically, starting to flap his hands. He turned his head towards its floating, trans-lucid body. "You were there!"
There was a short silence in which Inyssa could feel a faint, begrudging sense of respect coming out of Mesprit.
"Good, that saves me the trouble of having to explain it. Let it be known that you do have a brain between those ears of yours." It's comment seemed directed at both of them. "I hope you're also aware of the reason I tend to bond my soul with that of a human's? Stories and songs about me haven't waned that much, have they?"
Inyssa let out a sound that might've been a No, if one were listening carefully. Of course the tales and legends about the Lake Trio were still being told; both she and Barry had grown up listening to them. In her younger years she'd made a habit out of collecting these stories, and even after so long with the vaults of her memory covered in cobwebs she could still think of dozens of them without any effort.
Maybe that's why part of her mind refused to believe what was happening. Of course legendary Pokemon existed, of course Mesprit and Azelf and Uxie roamed the world looking for worthy heroes, and of course all those incredible people she'd read so much about had existed, breathed, lived and died on the same earth she walked on.
However, those truths belonged in stories; they belonged out there in ancient times and high walled castles and bloody battlefields. They belonged in the forgotten hours of the night, in those dark forests where lights danced just outside your vision and it was impossible to tell north from south. They belonged in her memories, and in the innocent, hopeful smile of a young Inyssa that had stopped existing the moment her sister had vanished.
So lost she was in thought that she barely heard Barry speak.
"Y-you chose me?" His voice had recovered its strength, and the sheer excitement behind it hit her like a pleasant gust of air. "Me? T-to be a… hero?"
A few weeks ago, hearing that might've filled her with spite to the point where she would find it difficult to speak. But now it was strangely absent, and instead what filled her gut was the happiness behind her friend's voice, which seemed to overflow from him.
It didn't last long, unfortunately.
"Let's not get too excited. I did choose you as my partner, but know that it was due to necessity and not out of by my own volition."
The brightness evaporated from Barry's expression, and his shoulders sank, "O-oh."
"Don't undersell yourself either. I couldn't have just chosen any clueless oaf that passed near my lake; it had to be someone compatible with the virtue I embody." Another slight pause. "I didn't have many options, and you happened to be a barely acceptable candidate. I'd wager that's the reason it took you so long to bond with me and start hearing my voice."
"If you're trying to make him feel better then you're not very good at it," Inyssa said, protectively. "Barry's a better candidate for a hero than anyone else in this region."
She mercifully ignored the pale red tinting her friend's cheeks at that moment, along with the gentle squish of his hand on her shoulder.
"That remains to be seen. Anyone can carry a melody in a bucket, but it doesn't mean their fingers know the chords of a lute," it said, as if Barry and Niss could understand what the hell that meant. "Still, hard facts are hard facts. I needed to find a partner and here you are, boy. May our budding camaraderie be either pleasant or short."
She didn't know what she expected; perhaps a ray of light to tear through the skies and fall on top of Barry, maybe for the wind to dance around him, under his command. She did not expect the process of knighting a legendary hero to be a simple description and an imaginary pat on the back.
Barry didn't seem to mind, judging by the way his fingers curled and uncurled and his hair seemed to get even pointer. She knew what that meant; excitement was bubbling on his chest, and soon it would explode. That's just the kind of person he was, and she loved him for it.
She was different, though. If Mesprit was right about one thing it was that she was curious. At the moment at least a dozen questions danced inside her head, while the other parts of her brain worked like a well oiled machine to unravel the situation in front of her.
"Why were you so desperate to bond with someone?" she asked, controlling the tone of her voice. "You're talking like you were trapped in the lake."
At first she thought her question might've been a bit too forward, judging by the small pause, but once Mesprit spoke the tone of its voice made it clear it was dying to tell the story.
"That is not far from the truth. You see, I am… how to put it, without my physical body, for the time being."
She looked at Barry, then at Mesprit and then at Barry again. He mirrored her expression, lips curling up involuntarily.
"Yeah, we can see that," Barry said, choking on a sprout of laughter.
"I'm glad my predicament amuses you, boy," Mesprit said, and she could feel a sigh behind its words. "Truth of the matter is, I can leave my body whenever I please, with just a thought. Sometimes I find the binds of flesh to be too restricting, or I fancy bonding with a human for a bit. However, this time…" There was a short pause, and Inyssa recognized it instantly as a dramatic one. She'd studied theatrics enough in her youth. "…I've been forced to escape my body unwillingly. I was attacked."
Barry gasped, putting a hand over his mouth. He'd always been the perfect audience for people with a flair for the dramatic.
"Who attacked you?" he asked, concern written all over his face.
"Yeah, and why did you have to run? Aren't you really strong?" she added. "Not that you look the part, mind you."
"You seem to have as much tact as a knife to the throat." Mesprit said, a spark of irritation in its tone. "I am powerful and functionally immortal, but I am not invincible. Besides, those filthy caitiffs caught me off guard while I was sleeping."
She raised an eyebrow. "You… sleep?"
"Of course I sleep! I get tired of dealing with you humans so much, and sometimes I need to rest for a few years," it scoffed. "But that's not important! As I was saying, I was awoken by an army of powerful Pokemon at my doorstep, lead by a strange group of people. I fared well for a short time, for my power truly is great, but soon I found myself overwhelmed. I tried to teleport to another location, but whoever lead the attack had thought it through and had positioned a few Alakazam around the perimeter of the lake so no one could get in or out." It took Inyssa a moment to recognize the weightless tone behind Mesprit's voice; it was the same one she used whenever she was being a sore loser. "I had been… badly hurt, and I couldn't think of another way out. I left my body behind to escape, and they took it. I had no choice."
To Inyssa it sounded like Mesprit was trying to convince itself more than them, but she knew better than to mention it out loud.
"When did this happen?" she asked. "How long ago?"
"Let's see… I'm not very good with time." Mesprit's body moved slightly, its head tilting up toward the sky. "When was the last full moon?"
She furrowed her brow, trying to think back. "There's gonna be one this Saturday, so twenty-five days ago I think."
"I see. Ten moons have passed since then, more or less."
She did the math inside her head. It had happened slightly less than a year ago, which seemed to her like a long time to wait for someone worthy to approach the lake.
"And what did you do when you escaped?"
"After that I flew towards Lake Valor and Acuity, but my siblings were nowhere to be found. I looked for them all over, but after a few weeks my soul weakened and, having no body to return to, I had to go back to my cavern in Lake Verity and wait until a worthy human showed up." Another short pause, punctuated by a sudden gust of wind around them. "My siblings must've been captured first. Had they escaped like I did, I'm sure they would've come to warn me."
Barry and her exchanged looks, not knowing what to say. What did one do to cheer up an immortal entity of Emotion, anyway? .
"My siblings and I… have never gotten along. But knowing that they were attacked without me being the wiser... it was a heavy blow to my pride," said Mesprit. "I hope they put up a good fight against those oddly-dressed bastards, at the very least."
That last sentence, finally, lit up the light bulb inside Barry's head.
"Team Galactic!" he yelled, grabbing Inyssa's wrist. "They have to be the one who attacked them!"
Inyssa narrowed her eyes, mouth slightly agape.
"Y-yeah… I know," she said. "I kinda arrived at that conclusion a while ago."
"Oh…"
"Team Galactic?" Mesprit asked. "What is that?"
She scoffed, swatting at the air grumpily. "Group of terrorists. They've been doing a lot of horrible stuff for a while now."
"That's putting it lightly," said Barry. "I can't believe they tried to kidnap you and your siblings, though."
"It is not the first time humans have tried to garner our power for their own," Mesprit said. "Though they seldom succeed, and when they do it doesn't tend to last. If there's one thing you humans are good at is rising up against a tyrant's rule."
"We are amazing that way," she said. "What's your plan, then?"
Mesprit thought for a few seconds, and when it finally spoke it did so with a noticeable strain in its voice.
"Normally I would lay low and wait for this to blow over in… let's say, a decade or so." Both Inyssa and Barry scrunched up their noses at the sound of that. "But you two don't seem like the kind to stay still and do nothing while others suffer around you you."
"We're not gonna wait for anything," Barry declared, a hint of defiance in his voice. "Even if you didn't have a lot of options, you chose me, and we're gonna do everything we can to stop Team Galactic!"
"Easier said than done," she whispered under her breath. "Though I agree with your sentiment."
Without warning Barry gave her a slight slap on the back, sending a spider web of pain through her spine. She turned to him, furious, but he didn't seem fazed.
"Come on Niss, we're legendary heroes now!" He sent both arms flying to the side, grinning from ear to ear. "We gotta act like it!"
"You're the chosen one here, not me." She raised her palms, knuckles resting on the front of her shoulders. "I'm the charming, silver tongued sidekick that tends to be the audience's favorite."
He couldn't help but laugh, and the sound of it eased part of the knot that had formed on her stomach. To tell the truth she was more than a little overwhelmed, and rightfully terrified. She still hadn't completely accepted the current turn of events, but there would be enough time for that later.
"Yes, how positively charming you two are," Mesprit said, clear sarcasm on its voice. "Well? Do you two have a plan to take down this so called Team Galactic?"
Barry and Inyssa exchanged an identical, guilty look.
"We… were kinda working on that," said Inyssa. "We don't think we're strong enough yet, so we were planning to go through the rest of the Gym leaders before we go looking for them."
"As good of a plan as any, I suppose. It would be inconvenient if you died on my accord," Mesprit said, and for a moment it looked like it nodded. "The few scraps of power I can give you might not be enough to override your weakness, and it might take you a long time to learn to channel my other abilities."
Barry looked a mixture of excited and sad, which was quite the strange expression to behold.
"I wish we could do something, though," he sighed. "The last time we ran into Metchi she didn't want to tell us what Team Galactic was planning. We should've pushed more for her to tell us."
Inyssa frowned, remembering that unfruitful and irritating conversation with the pink haired girl. "She just spouted some nonsense about how we wouldn't believe her. Honestly, why even mention it if you don't–"
Her hand was in the middle of a dismissive wave when it froze, along with her voice. Heat grew from the depths of her chest as her dozen of disjointed lines of thought connected as one on her mind.
"Niss?" Barry narrowed his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Metchi…" she replied, lower than a whisper.
"What?"
"Metchi!" She turned towards him, her voice so high pitched that it made him jump back, startled. "T-the first time I ran into her! And back in Eterna when she was in the lab with us! Her eyes were golden too!"
At first he stared worriedly at her, but a moment after his eyes went wide with realization.
"She told us she stole something from Team Galactic," he whispered. "Do you think…?"
She nodded energetically, feeling as if ants were running under her skin. It was the only thing that made sense, it had to be true.
Metchi had stolen either Azelf or Uxie. She'd bonded with them just like Barry had.
"Mind sharing what you two are talking about?"asked Mesprit, and she could perfectly picture it crossing its arms, offended.
It took a few minutes to explain the whole situation, what with Barry an Inyssa both having clearly distinct views on Metchi's motives and what kind of person she was. However in the end it seemed that Mesprit understood, though it stood quiet for a few seconds.
"I see… if what you tell me of this girl is true, then it is almost certain that she's bonded with one of my siblings," it said in a hushed tone. "If I had to guess, I'd wager that it was Uxie. Azelf has never liked humans, and I'd doubt it'd ally itself with one."
"That's it, then!" Barry said, beaming. "All we have to do is find her and we'll have two out of the three Lake Trio siblings on our team! Team Galactic wouldn't stand a chance!"
Inyssa flashed him an awkward smile. She wished she didn't have to burst his bubble so violently.
"We have no idea where she is though," she said. "And she didn't leave any contact information with us. I doubt she even has a Pokétch."
His entire body seemed to deflate at her words.
"…Oh," he said. "But… couldn't Mesprit track her down if she has Uxie?" He looked up at it, hopeful. "Can't you?"
"Not while it's inside another human's body. I could only sense its presence if we were both on the outside, like I am now, and we were physically close," it explained. "Unfortunately, I must spend most of my time in the depths of your mind, boy. I will not be able to see anything of the outside world while that happens. You'll need to call me if there's trouble."
No one said anything for a few seconds, too busy either brooding or trying to think their way through their current situation. Inyssa's mind raced with possibilities of how they could locate Metchi, but nothing seemed logical. They could ask Sarah to keep an eye out for anyone who looked like her, but then they'd have to explain why they needed that favor. She figured Mesprit wouldn't be too happy if they revealed it for the whole world to meet.
"Now now, no useless sulking when I'm around." Mesprit broke the silence. "We have a good lead, which is better than nothing. Let us simply continue our path and do our best for now. We will find that girl, and things will unfold smoothly."
Inyssa turned to look at it, and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't peg you as an optimist."
"I am the original optimist, you witless girl."
Barry and Inyssa shared a tiny laugh, and she could imagine the beginning of a smile coming out of Mesprit.
"Well… I guess we better get going, then," she said. "The trek to Celestic might be a bit more interesting than I thought."
"Let us hurry, then. I'll retreat to the safety of your mind for now, boy," it said to Barry. "However, I implore you to call me for dinner, and let me possess your body for a short time. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a good meal."