Emilie’s POV
----------------------------------------
She gritted her teeth to stop them from chattering as another volley of ice shards shattered against her barrier. Cold seeped into her skin, frost pushed out from her mouth, fucking drums were pounding in her head-
Crack.
“Fucking hell!” Emilie lifted her hand up and a new barrier quickly formed behind the broken one. She had very quickly learned that replacing what was broken was significantly easier than trying to repair it. She stepped back, only to freeze as her foot stepped on something soft and fluffy.
A large black wave surged forward, sailing above her shield and slamming into the archers above, their balcony crumbling as the energy exploded on contact. Sol brought her horn down before scooping Emilie up and throwing her on her back. “You alright?”
“No.” Emilie huddled closer, burying herself in Sol’s warm, inviting mane. “Lea and Lucas both got snatched up to who the fuck knows where, Crash is grounded with a frozen wing, we’re all scattered across this massive ass fucking room, and we have no fucking clue what we’re supposed to be doing to progress.”
Sol brought her head back down as another black sickle arced through three different suits of armor. “Well, on the bright side, we aren’t dead yet.”
Emilie lifted her head up and surveyed the battlefield. Apollo had been staying low, darting through whatever soldiers dared get in his way with silver wings, his beak puffed up with a small white light shining through the pouch underneath.
Joern stood over a collapsed Duskull, arms glowing black as he shattered an ice soldier’s sword and continued to the bastard’s head, caving his mask in on contact. A swath of Razor Leaves rushed out of his head, rending the contingent that was charging forward into something more at home in a glass of iced tea.
“Just be glad these things are getting weaker, probably means Brawly is doing well.” Sol turned her head and opened her mouth wide.
Emilie sighed before bringing her hands together. The purple whisp that formed in front of Sol quickly coalesced around her rainbow-colored orb, its influence darkening the end result. Her eyes flashed as she pushed out, and the beam carved through a couple dozen soldiers before fading out. A heaviness settled in Emilie’s arms as she leaned forward, her eyelids heavy.
“Oi, nap on your own time!” Sol shouted. “We’re—”
“Losing,” Emilie finished, before flexing her hand.
A group of stalactites fell from the sky, impaling another set of archers that had formed above them. Like hell was she going to let them get off another cheap shot, the first one had nearly sunk them.
How Crash was still cutting swaths through the armies that kept charging the door with a frozen wing was beyond her, but it was still only delaying the inevitable.
Legends above, why were there still so many...
Sol grimaced before bringing her head down, another black wave sweeping through the throne room. “Little ray of sunshine today, huh? Thought I was supposed to be the moody one.”
“Today’s been shit, and we’re all exhausted.” Emilie winced as another gust of cold air chilled her to her core. Wasn’t even a damn sun in here to help fight this stupid— “Besides, sunshine’s your job. Do me a favor and light things up, would you?”
Sol turned around and looked at her, before whacking her paw against her forehead. “I’m an idiot, got it.” She lifted her head up once more, but the orb that pushed up from her mouth radiated warmth as opposed to death. Light pushed through the chamber as it rose up even higher, and the biting cold abated slightly.
Unfortunately, it also seemed to draw their enemy’s ire. Ice slammed against Emilie's barriers as the soldiers that had been harassing Joern and Apollo charged their position. She winced before bringing her arms up and pushing, shoving the wall outward slightly and throwing some of the soldiers back.
“Okay, so now would be a really good time for you to tell me that you know some random fire move that goes hard under sunlight,” Emilie said through gritted teeth.
“Sooooo, now would probably be a bad time to mention that I don’t really know any moves to take advantage of that?” Sol asked.
Emilie whipped her head down and stared at her partner with dinner plate-sized eyes. “Are you fucking—why do you know how to do this, then!?”
Sol winced and leaned down, before resting her paw on her forehead. “It's a weird genetic quirk, alright? Dad said one member of the tribe picks it up every generation.”
Emilie opened her mouth to yell, before wincing as the barrier she was holding up broke. She threw her arms out and grinned as a small clear surface appeared beneath their feet before lifting up with her mind. The two of them quickly rose up into the air as three swords stabbed forward.
Water surged forward, and the platoon of soldiers were swept along with the tide as Joern shot Emilie a salute, then brought up a black fist to meet a frozen steel blade, shattering it on contact. Though the chunks of ice that were their adversaries grew in size, the entire floor failed to freeze over as it did when they were outside.
Sol just shot her a smug grin. “See, it was good for something after all. Quit your bitching and cheer up, would you?”
Emilie sighed as the balls of ice slammed into the back wall, shoving both thrones aside as though they were made of plywood. “That is something, at least.”
She threw her hands down and lifted, positively glowing at the chance to do something a little more familiar. New arms, new fists... Gods this felt so much better than firing off Psybeams left and right. Emilie lightly flexed her arms, her water constructs mirroring her movements as clenched fists rose up on either side of her barrier. In a single sweeping motion, a punch was thrown, and water swelled up in size before launching across the room as fast as lightning.
A path was carved through the chamber, cutting through the horde and clearing a path through the army of the damned that Joern quickly made use of. He scooped up Duskull before dead sprinting towards her. “Thanks for the assists. Never thought I’d be happy to see a vibrant shining sun on the battlefield.”
“Thanks for the water. How’s Duskull?” Emilie asked as she swept her other water arm to give them some breathing room, wincing at the increased weight and rigidity as it started to freeze. “Guess it’s too much to ask for this to stay water when I’m slamming it into these things, huh?”
Joern winced and lifted his hands up, another ball of water forming between his hands. “I can give you ammunition—”
“Don’t, I can kind of work with this and making more ice is probably not a good idea.” Emilie dropped her focus and launched her new frozen wrecking ball up top at an archer that was aiming toward the front gate. “Stop trying to get another cheap shot on Crash and fight, you stupid hunks of scrap!”
Crash turned and gave a quick nod before spinning. Multiple air blades collided with the soldiers and each other, grinding the army directly at the gate into a fine white powder.
Joern sighed before launching a hail of leaves behind them, shredding a fresh wave of gauntlets as they rose up from the ground. “Duskull’s still out cold, near as I can tell. Whatever happened when we pushed into this chamber—”
“When Lea was taken,” Emilie corrected, her tone brokering no room for argument.
“When Lea was taken.” A scowl creased Joern’s features. “At least Lucas is probably with her?”
A wave of darkness pushed through Emilie’s barrier as Sol snarled. “Yeah, cause that goofball has a great track record in times of crisis. Totally didn’t get taken hostage biting off more than he could chew the other day.”
“You mean yesterday?” Joern asked.
Emilie sighed before spinning around on Sol’s back, guiding the frozen wrecking ball as she went. “Who the fuck knows at this point? Should we try getting Apollo? We’re doing a lot better together and I’m worried about archers—”
Her mouth kept moving, but no sound came out. At least, she couldn’t seem to hear it. All she could hear was a loud crack as the room came to life. A white ball had slammed into the ground ahead of her, before expanding. Wind forced her to her knees as she grabbed at Sol’s fur, desperately trying to hold on as her barriers shattered.
She didn’t want to think about what would have happened if those weren’t in place.
A strong arm grabbed her back and she looked up. Joern had grabbed them, and vines had wrapped around the lot of them. A small, barely noticeable drain started pulling at her mind. Was he using Leech Seed to hold everyone in place?
Then, as suddenly as it started, the attack faded, and the room stilled. Joern waved his hand and the vines that wrapped around her fell to the ground. His mouth was moving but no sound met her ears. Why—
Oh.
‘Is everyone alright?’ she probed. She felt a bit silly, but... honestly, she was having to remind herself to breathe right now. Forgetting telepathy seemed forgivable.
Sol just nodded her head, before pointing to her ears. Emilie was sure that if she could hear right now, she’d hear whining.
‘Sorry!’ Apollo shouted as he landed down next to the group. ‘Nearly sunk the crew with the corsairs with that one. Didn’t think my cannon fire would be quite that large. I held it in for as long as I could. That was just... Kyogre I am so sorry.’
Joern sighed before rubbing the bridge of his nose. ‘I mean to be fair; you cleared the room.’ He waved his hand around, before frowning and looking toward the front. ‘And the hall, apparently. Crash, are you okay?’
The luchador swooped down and landed with both wings thawed as she cast a glare toward Apollo. ‘How, the fuck, did you do that?’
‘Spit up,’ Emilie complained. ‘That’s apparently been building up for the last half hour. How the hell are you still conscious?’
Apollo blushed and rubbed the back off his head with one of his wings. ‘To be honest, I’m a wee bit lightheaded. Sorry if that caught you off guard, Crash.’
Crash leaned back, looking chuffed. ‘As if anything you lot could do would be capable of hurting me.’ She puffed up her chest and held a clenched claw in front of her, before wincing and hiding the charred feathers.
Emilie shot her a smug look. ‘Uh-huh.’
Crash groaned. ‘Look, you just ruffled my feathers a bit. Considering this wing was frozen until about five minutes ago, I don’t even feel the burns.’
‘Burns?’ Apollo asked, his tone raising an octave.
‘Guys,’ Joern interrupted. ‘Well, gals too, considering that’s most of the group right now.’ He pointed toward the back of the chamber. ‘I think Apollo might have brute-forced the way we’re supposed to go.’
Emilie whipped around and leaned back at the massive hole behind the shattered thrones. A cave opened up to stairs. Stairs that went down.
More hands shoved up from the ground and Emilie groaned. This really wouldn’t ever end, would it?
“Alright,” Apollo said before hopping forward. “I know we’re exhausted, but once again we have our heading. Who’s ready to kick some undead swashbucklers’ asses?”
Emilie leaned back, surprised that she could hear that, before nodding. “Aye.”
She was surprised that she wasn’t the only one that answered.
The group pushed forward, only to freeze as the hands shattered into white dust of their own accord.
Emilie blinked twice, before looking back to the group at large, specifically at Crash. “Did you do that?”
She shook her head. “I, no, and I believe Brawly is still fighting outside, so...” She shrugged. “Maybe it was something Lucas and Lea did?”
Emilie froze for a moment, before nodding. “Maybe...” She turned her head and looked down into the cave below. The trip was short, at least. A large set of white double doors waited for them at the bottom.
Sol moved, and Emilie fell backwards onto her back. “If you’re going to ride, pay attention. I don’t want to hear you complain when you fall off. Your voice gets all nasally and it’s really annoying.”
Emilie growled before hopping onto Sol’s neck. “Yeah, well your fur smells funny, when was the last time you actually bathed?”
Sol raised her nose up. “If it does, I blame the passengers. Lord knows where you lot have been.”
Crash lifted her wing up, only to stop as Joern lifted his arm up and sighed.
“It’s not worth the effort unless they actually start brawling.” Joern shivered. “Knew a couple siblings back in my old tribe that just fought like this constantly. It was how they talked to each other.”
Crash nodded as she pressed her wings against the sealed door. “I see, I see.” She tossed her head back toward Sol and Emilie and smirked. “Play nice you two, and your trainer might let you have some treats, alright?”
Sol snarled at the simpering tone as Emilie pouted and looked away.
“This is how I get treated for saving your ass from—” Emilie’s words died on her throat as the chamber cracked open, a beam of light shining through the chamber to show its contents. She teleported down to the ground, before sprinting through the narrow opening, her heart hammering in her chest at the still image she had been dreading.
“Suzaku!”
----------------------------------------
Normal Pov
----------------------------------------
I probably stood still for a solid ten seconds after Lucas officially dubbed our new technique, waiting quietly for the other shoe to drop and some new frozen monstrosity to emerge from the aether. The mad dash for the throne had shown me that this place could always throw more bodies at a problem. Oddly enough though, nothing happened. The chamber stood silent as I traced my eyes along the chamber walls.
‘As fun as that was, could you maybe let us go now, Lea?’ Lucas asked.
I glanced down toward the two spectral swords resting in my hands, their conscious minds back in their appropriate place, and blushed. “Uh, right. Sorry.” I quickly let go before walking forward toward the thrones. “Surprised you didn’t just phase out if you were uncomfortable.”
‘I’m, uh... making it a point to ask your permission for most things right now.’ Persephone turned away from me, her scabbard pointed toward the ground. ‘Only seems right.’
I sighed. “Okay, look. We’re starting over, remember? None of this.”
‘Well, if we’re starting over, then I feel it would be prudent to not make the same mistakes I did before, so I’m going to continue asking for permission for most things, especially if they involve you.’ She tilted her scabbard down once as though nodding before turning toward me with a forced smile. ‘Do we have an accord?’
I blinked twice before turning toward Lucas. “Is she always so proper when she talks?”
‘Gigas no. I think she’s working overtime to try and stamp out your memory’s influence on her language.’ Lucas chuckled lightly before floating closer and bringing his tassel up to my ear. ‘If you want the truth of it though, she swears worse than you do whenever she screws up during practe- Ouch! What the hell, woman?’
Persephone had grabbed Lucas’s tassel with her own and pulled back, hard. ‘Husband...’
Lucas blanched slightly before turning and meeting her glare. ‘Don’t ‘husband’ me. I’m still mad at you and intend to milk that for as long as I can.’
Persephone sighed before looking back up towards the ceiling. ‘Lea and I have... something resembling an accord, so the time on that indignance has been cut short.’ She tossed a grin her husband’s way.
Lucas matched that grin, before smoothing his features out into a blank expression. ‘You’ve got a sharp wit, hon, but I’ve been at this for far longer than you. My point still stands that you could have trusted my judgement. A sharp mind still exists in this ghostly body.’
Persephone winced. ‘A fair riposte, though last time I blindly trusted your judgment, we ended up using your longsword to scrape dinner off the wall, so-’
‘You promised you’d never bring that up again!’ Lucas shouted, his eyes dipping into a much deeper shade of red. ‘Of all the double-edged behavior—’
“As fun as this pun off is,” I cut in dryly. “How the hell do we get out of here?”
Lucas joined me in looking at Persephone.
“I can... handle you hanging out in my head, if you need to do that.” A sick feeling pushed through my stomach at the thought. “I just... I’ve been away from the rest of the group for a while, and I’m starting to get worried about them.”
‘I—one second.’ Persephone’s eye dimmed as her sword phased through the stone floor below.
An awkward silence passed as I blinked a few times, before locking eyes with the other blade in the room. “Uh… I was kind of expecting you to tell us your plan before you did it.”
No reply.
‘Persephone?’ Lucas called out, his voice slightly higher in pitch. ‘Honey you can win the argument, please come back.’
Nothing changed.
I walked over and rubbed my hand along Lucas’s tassel. “She’s probably looking to see if it’s safe to bring us over.”
Lucas nodded. ‘Right... That’s probably it...’ He started drooping down until the tip of his blade rested against the floor. ‘I... am suddenly feeling incredibly tired.’
I reached out and grabbed his hilt before he could fall to the floor. “Whoa, easy there. What’s wrong?”
Lucas shook his head slightly. ‘I don’t—’
A loud shriek cut off whatever reply was on Lucas’s lips. I whipped around toward the other sword to see Persephone rocket across the floor.
‘Sephy!’ Lucas darted across the room, all trace of his previous malaise gone.
Persephone took several deep breaths, paused, then winced. ‘I’m fine, darling. Honestly, you worry too much.’
Lucas stared at her with a vacant, deadpan expression. ‘Honey, we’re both dead. Clearly, I didn’t worry enough.’
Persephone glanced down at herself before sighing. ‘I suppose you’re right.’
“Regardless, don’t wander off like that. The second you left Lucas started to collapse. I don’t think you two can be that far from each other at the moment.” I knelt down between the two blades and stared into the decals on Persephone’s scabbard. “What happened?”
Persephone winced. ‘I couldn’t push through the terrain. Apparently, a Ghost Pokémon has more presence than a regular old spook.’ She sighed before looking away. ‘When I tried forcing the matter, I was thrown back. That was...’ She shuddered. ‘Not pleasant. It’s odd, though. I would think that our lord would be all too eager to have us back in its domain.’
“So we’re stuck, then.” I frowned. “We’re trapped on the outside, and we can’t even look in.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose with my mitts. “Lucas, your castle sucks. We can’t take three steps without something going wrong.”
‘If it makes you feel any better, now that I’ve been able to collect my thoughts on this and the outside world, I agree.’ Lucas grinned as he turned to face me. ‘Give me a space heater and running water to this frozen hellscape any day of the damned week.’ He mimicked his wife’s earlier shudder. ‘But honestly, I very seriously doubt if the big guy actually wants us out of his Terrain. Brawly’s probably hogging all his attention if that squad of his was as tough as it looked.’ The decals on his scabbard scrunched up. ‘Maybe, I honestly don’t understand how any of this works.’
“I’m pretty sure this thing qualifies as an honest to capital G god legendary, so... I don’t think we’re supposed to.” I glanced around the room looking for any kind of way forward. All the doors were sealed shut with a thick layer of ice over the top. “We’ll just have to make it pay attention to us somehow.”
‘...why exactly do we want to go back into the terrain again? I fully expected to go in there and drag your team out.’ She looked down at her body and frowned. ‘Granted, I also fully expected to take my shiny new body with me and not become this weird black... specter thing once I brushed up against his world.’ She puffed up before glancing my way. ‘Speaking of, when we get out of here, I fully expect you to get us some nice polish and a good whetstone. Lucas might be able to rock the rough and tumble look, but I fully intend to maintain my sense of poise even in an altered state.’
I stared down blankly at her as a small headache started to thrum beneath my temples. “I can’t ever find anyone normal, can I?” I spied Lucas open his mouth and decided to nip that in the bud before it could even be a problem. “Look, Sephy, I came here to get my friends back. They got frozen in the big scary frozen terrain. Therefore—”
‘Logic would dictate that you would need to go back. Yes, I see the line. Please don’t call me Sephy.’ Persephone pouted. ‘It’s such an embarrassing nickname. So undignified.’
“And yet you didn’t complain when Lucas called you that?” A teasing lilt entered my voice as I gave Persephone a smirk.
The gem in her hilt glowed a vibrant red. ‘Yes, well... this is this, and that is that, and do you want to get out of here or not!’
Lucas laughed, before backing away from her glare. ‘Sorry love, I missed this. Seeing you get teased was always a joy.’
The glare turned more playful. ‘I’m sure, Perc.’ She frowned at Lucas’s recoil. ‘Love?’
‘I... don’t know why but I don’t like being called by my old name. It doesn’t feel like mine anymore.’ He tilted his sword to the left. ‘I—’
‘I’ll refrain from doing so, then.’ Persephone moved closer and wrapped her tassel around Lucas’s crossguard.
I glanced nervously at the two before inching away. There really wasn’t anywhere to go, though. Legends above I felt like a third wheel.
‘Sorry, hon. I’m... still getting used to the changes. I don’t know that... either of us have escaped our changes, well... unchanged. We’re different from who we were before.’ She glared down at the ground.
‘Just gives us a chance to get to know each other again.’ Lucas gave his wife a smile as the two—
“Still here,” I muttered, my face redder than May’s favorite bandana.
The two tossed me a glance before pulling apart.
God, I felt like a heel. “Sorry, I’d give you some privacy if I could but—”
‘We’re on the clock, and we’re stuck here,’ Lucas finished.
‘We’re the ones that should apologize.’ Persephone nodded before glancing toward the front of the chamber. ‘Now, I do believe I mentioned having an idea.’
‘You want to ‘steal’ the orb.’ Lucas joined her as they floated toward the front of the chamber.
I grinned as I followed behind. “Thief.”
‘Yes, well... it’s the most likely way to get the big guy’s attention. I’m honestly pretty sure he’s connected to the damn thing. If we try to take it, he’ll probably drag us back, regardless of whatever else he’s doing, just to make sure we don’t get away with it in tow.’ Persephone glanced at the solid stone wall, tracing the bricks as if she was looking for something in particular. ‘Though, failing that, I could probably use this thing to break in.’
“Assuming it doesn’t just freeze us where we stand when we enter the room,” I muttered.
Persephone giggled. ‘Well, he hasn’t so far... so, winning?’
She pushed against three stones in the middle, wait, they were different. How did I not notice that before? Three triangles seemed to push forward as she pulled back. Was that... were the stones moving?
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
I glanced back toward the two blades, who looked equal parts confused and worried. “What’s up?”
‘That should have opened the way completely,’ Lucas muttered, his tassel rubbing the relief in the wall.
‘I think... that we’re more different than I initially thought.’ Persephone glanced toward her husband. ‘You do it, see if it’ll work if it’s a monarch by blood.’
Lucas leaned back. ‘Persephone, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but neither one of us has much blood to go—’
‘Just quit arguing, for once in your afterlife, and try it.’ The decals in Persephone’s scabbard rose and fell as she once again glanced at the wall.
Was that how these two rolled their eyes?
Lucas groaned before pressing the same three stones to no effect. ‘See? Too ghostly still.’
Persephone huffed. ‘Well not if you’re going to half ass it like that. Be more regal about it or something.’
Lucas turned and glared. ‘How the hell in Regice’s frozen ass do you expect me to ‘be more regal’ about it?’
This was getting us nowhere. Shoving my way through, I quickly lifted up my left hand and pressed up against the wall. An odd heat radiated from my wrist as I followed the same sequence the two ghosts had done.
‘Wait.’ ‘Don’t!’ The shared disapproval faded as the wall quickly started to shift and collapse inward. The opening quickly grew as more stones swung around, moved by a force I couldn’t see in a way that almost seemed like magic. Torches lit up of their own accord to light my path forward. Forward and down.
Why the fuck did we have to go even further down? I pulled back my hand and rubbed at my wrist, glancing down toward the mega bracelet. The damned thing was glowing, what the hell?
‘Huh, well I’ll be. Guess yer a wizard after all,’ Lucas muttered as he floated closer to the passage.
I glanced nervously between the two before taking my first step down to follow him, my heart suddenly beating louder in my chest. A dull ache accompanied it. Grief, pain, loss...
Where the hell was all this coming from?
‘Lea?’ Persephone asked as she stopped and turned toward me. ‘You alright, hon?’
Had I stopped? We—
We were already in front of the door.
“Huh?” I asked, still feeling out of it. “I—sorry. I don’t know what that was. It was like... It felt like my heart just got ripped out of my chest, and I have no idea why.” I stared down before taking a deep breath. I could worry about this later. It wasn’t important right now. Steadying myself, I put both hands up against the door and pushed.
The damned things were warm to the touch, almost too hot to handle directly.
...Considering I was wearing four different layers and gloves thick enough that I couldn’t actually make a fist, they actually probably were too hot to handle directly. What the hell was up with this damn orb?
‘I’m starting to worry that you’ve taken one too many hits to the head, hon.’ Lucas rested his tassel on my forehead. ‘Do you need a breather?’
I shook my head and pushed harder, working my noodle arms to their limit. The doors parted, and a hot gust of wind slammed into me as the room breathed fresh air for the first time in a millennia.
My chest grew hot, and the burning around my wrist grew in intensity. I swallowed before forcing my way through. The room was sweltering, and the air in front of me was wavy and acrid. For the first time since coming down here, I was privileged to a room completely barren of any kind of ice. Bookshelves lined the walls, each adorned with scrolls, lengthy tomes, odd instruments...
Gemstones...
“That... is a lot of diamonds,” I muttered, my eyes tracing along a different kind of ice.
Lucas nodded. ‘Can’t really keep gold in a place like this, now can we? The heat would give us a nice gold puddle before the end of the day. This is the kingdom’s treasury, in addition to it being a private vault for our most precious of resources.’ He tilted his head toward the podium in the middle of the room. ‘Gawk at my riches another time and keep an eye on the prize, would you?’
I begrudgingly tore my gaze away from the gemstones and focused on the centerpiece of the room. Once I did, I found myself entranced. A guiding force pulled me closer, urging me on. Heat washed over me as I moved through the room in greater waves, almost in a pulse-like rhythm, and a faint, otherworldly whisper echoed in my skull. Getting louder. More insistent.
Needy.
‘Found you.’ The words broke my trance, and I shook my head to clear the fog.
“Lucas... it, this thing feels alive. What is this?” My hands were trembling.
‘We don’t know,’ Persephone answered. ‘We were simply charged with its protection. Our lord... felt that such knowledge would be a burden.’
I swallowed again as sweat started to dot my brow. “Do I just... reach out and take it?” That felt wrong. This thing wanted me to take it. It was tempting me, surely-
‘Any and all traps were on the door, which you somehow bypassed. I guess a thousand years is a long ass time to expect traps as complex as what we had to hold up.’ Lucas urged me forward. ‘I just... wouldn’t recommend touching it with your bare hands. You’ve got gloves on though, so it’s fine.’
I barked out a laugh. “Fine, he says. Gloves are important he says.” I raised my hands up and tentatively moved them closer. “God, I feel like I should have an equally weighted bag or something to put in its place. Are you sure it’s not trapped?”
Persephone chuckled. ‘Lea, I promise you, no giant boulder is going to run you down. Just grab the damned thing.’
I nodded once, steeled myself, and grabbed the orb with both hands.
Visions flooded my head on contact.
A volcano, submerged beneath the ocean floor.
A soot and ash filled sky blocking out the sun.
Fire raining down and burning everything in its wake.
Molten earth stripping the sea bare.
Bones... so many bones.
Until finally, a massive red creature, larger than the tallest mountain. A primordial fear gripped me as it leaned in closer, its eyes a vibrant angry red as power surged around it, steam rippling across it in waves as light surged through the cracks in its armor around its joints.
I couldn’t breathe.
‘Lea? Lea!’ I turned away and looked... up? Lucas was hovering overhead, his eyebrows scrunched together in worry.
I was on the floor. Why was I on the floor?
I shook my head again. Seemed I was getting lost up there quite a bit with this thing. “Sorry, that was intense. I, holy fuck.” I wasn’t even quite sure how to describe it.
‘Are you alright?’ Persephone asked as she floated down and wrapped her tassel around my shoulders.
I shakily got back up to my feet before nodding. “I, I think so. Sorry, I just don’t know how to explain it.”
‘It’s alright, hon, take your time.’ Persephone rose up with me, and I smiled at the soft tone.
How the hell was this the same woman I’d met not but an hour ago?
I smiled up at her and opened my mouth, before snapping it shut as the world shifted around me. I clutched the orb tightly, happy that it was still giving off heat, even if in smaller amounts, before bracing myself to keep my footing as the world around me started to shift. Stone became ice, bookshelves became more run-down...
I carefully steadied myself before standing to my full height. The shift was so subtle, yet the second I took the time to actually take stock of my surroundings, I froze, before focusing on a single thing.
I sincerely hoped more than anything else that Brawly was giving that sick piece of trash the beating of its life. Whether it was punishment or some sick sense of humor, I had found myself back in the frozen terrain, standing directly in front of the frozen visage of May Maple, her form locked in the perfect expression of unbridled terror.
Both of my hands wrapped more tightly around the orb, and I could feel a pulse of heat radiate from it. My teeth were clenched so hard that I was worried I might draw blood.
‘Seeing it first hand hurts so much more than imagining it, doesn’t it?’
I whipped my head around, only to see a familiar face. “Joern!” I screeched out before sprinting across the floor, throwing myself down and pulling my tank into a bone-crushing hug. “Oh my god, I’m so happy you’re alright.”
Joern chuckled. ‘That’s my line, don’t steal it.’ He pulled back before glancing upwards, a look of terror beyond any I had ever seen trailing his features. ‘Kyogre below, there’s two of them now.’
‘Come play with us, Joern,’ Lucas said as a smile stretched across his scabbard. ‘Forever and ever and ever.’
Persephone floated closer and just smiled, not speaking to give the game away.
Joern quickly looked toward me. ‘I think I’ve learned all I can from you. I would like to be released.’
“Quit being morons, the lot of you,” I ordered before pulling myself up to my full height and looking across the room.
The frozen terrain equivalent to the vault was, quite literally, a big open room. Were it not for the frozen visages of all my friends, the space would have been quite empty. I bit back a wince as I caught sight of my starter, glancing up forlornly at Suzaku’s statue.
“Guess I wasn’t the only one to take seeing this kind of hard.” I swept around before smiling as a pair of birds landed on either side of me. “That being said, you don’t have to worry too much, Joern. Though she’s currently remaining quiet, the souls that inhabit the two swords of Doublade are two different people. Meet Persephone, Lucas’s wife.”
A smile pulled at Joern’s face, before quickly being smothered the longer he thought about it. ‘Uh... congratulations, maybe?’
Crash glanced between the swords, noted the smiles pulling at their features and the interlocked tassels, and smiled. ‘They seem happy enough, so congratulations probably works.’
‘Per—my husband remains a bit saddened that I had to go through the ordeal of being a ghost and becoming... this, but I’m overjoyed to be reunited with him, and he’s getting more on board with the idea the longer we’re out and about.’ She snorted. ‘Honestly, I rather like my new form. Makes it easier to stab things and you wouldn’t believe how frustrating it is to try and grab something, only to have your damn hand phase through it.’
‘Per?’ Apollo asked, leaning forward. ‘Might that be the start of another name, lass?’
Persephone opened her mouth, only to snap it shut as her decals scrunched together. ‘As if you’re worthy enough to speak it, pirate.’
I groaned. “Persephone, he—”
I was cut off by a loud, booming laughter.
‘Oh, I like her. Way more fire than her husband.’ Apollo turned to me and saluted, a grin pulling at his beak. ‘I’m happy to see you’ve secured the treasure, Captain. Your plundering seems far more fruitful than ours.’
I glanced down at the pulsating red orb in my hands and nodded. “Yeah, still don’t know what this thing is supposed to do for us, but... we got it.” I glanced around at the group. “Where’s Sol and Duskull?”
Apollo waved his wing out toward Wayne’s statue. I shifted slightly, and chuckled. Sol had huddled around the little black ball of ectoplasm, and the mask barely poked out from her fluff. The light had faded slightly, and Sol’s eyes were closed.
‘Duskull passed out after we pushed into the main chamber. I believe him asserting his terrain in this was too much for him.’ Crash sighed before looking towards the other side of the room, where a large cave stood ominously.
This ‘castle’ was starting to look less and less like a castle the further into it we went. In fact-
My blood ran cold as I started to realize that this room was the one from my vision.
‘We didn’t want to push any further into the chamber without you, didn’t really know where the hell you went, and didn’t know if we should press on or stay now that we’d found your friends,’ Crash pushed on, ignoring my internal freak out. ‘The knights have disappeared, thankfully, so we decided it’d be a good time to take a bit of a break. Lord knows we could definitely use one.’
Apollo glared across the room. ‘Half wondering if I should go for a nice fur coat right about now.
I turned and glared at my waterfowl. ‘Apollo—’
Whatever words I was about to chuck his way were cut off as a loud bang rattled the room we were in. The ground shook beneath me as snow started to trickle down from above. I quickly pocketed the gem before moving toward May, making it a point to hold her upright just as a precaution.
She was all but glued to the ground, so I didn’t know why I bothered.
Crash was already up in the air, quickly moving to the entrance. ‘That sounded close. I knew we were having it too good for too long. You lot stay here, I’m going to run recon and deal with it if it’s an issue.’
She disappeared before I could say anything in response. I sighed, before glancing over the group. “So... I feel like we probably have a decent number of things to share. Feel up to swapping stories?”
Apollo preened before stepping forward. ‘Aye, captain. Would be my pleasure.’
----------------------------------------
Emilie was small.
I had known this for the entirety of the time we had been traveling together. In fact, it was something I frequently took advantage of. Never before, though, had that fact been thrown in my face quite like this. Maybe it was the way she usually carried herself, or a presence she had, but now...
She felt so... tiny. So much smaller than usual.
I was at a bit of a loss for what to say here. A normal greeting felt awkward and out of place. ‘Are you okay’ was just a stupid question that wasn’t even worth asking...
‘Hey,’ I mentally probed. Yup. I was right. Awkward.
Emilie tilted her head away from the statue of her rival and gave me a subtle nod. ‘Hey.’ She turned back without much fanfare. ‘I see Lucas evolved. Persephone seems nice.’
Legends above she used his actual name, that was not a good sign. I should probably curtail her insulting nicknames now that I thought about it, but that was still not a good sign.
‘We took down something Persephone called an avatar. We think that’s what was controlling the soldiers.’ At least it felt that way once we compared notes.
‘I’m glad.’ Her voice felt monotone. I didn’t like it. ‘Do you... do we know what’s next?’
I winced. That... that wasn’t really a question I had an answer to. It felt like we had all the ingredients, but the recipe had fallen onto the stove.
‘That’s what I was afraid of.’ Emilie sighed before falling back and sitting down. ‘Did you know that I asked her to watch out for everyone before they came down here?’
‘Emilie—’
‘Fuck me that was stupid. What the hell was she supposed to do against that?’ She waved her arm out toward one of the walls before growling. ‘Don’t even know where the stupid piece of shit ice golem is anymore. How the fuck does a fire type get frozen? How the hell does that work?’
I knelt down low and sat down next to her, frowning when the orb in my pocket pulsed out a wave of warmth.
‘It’s not your fault.’ God, that probably didn’t help at all either.
‘Doesn’t really matter, huh? She’d either be frozen in person or frozen in her ball.’ She glared at the statue. ‘Wonder if the ones in the balls are aware or not?’
Legends above, please don’t put thoughts like that inside of my head, oh god. ‘Don’t ask Joern that question.’
Emilie chuckled lightly. The laugh felt like it lacked warmth. ‘I’m not THAT tactless.’
I gave her a look.
‘Rude.’ She glanced away from me and went back to looking at Suzy. ‘Stupid damn featherhead... making me worried.’
I chuckled. ‘I’ll have to tell her about that once we thaw her.’ I frowned at the lack of response. ‘Emilie?’
‘For all the crap I talk, I know Suzaku’s really strong,’ Emilie started.
Was this humility? Dear god, things really were dire.
‘I know I’d win the head-to-head.’
Oh thank god, she’s back.
‘But I already know that’s not a fair fight. We're both great at different things. She's better physically than me... she’s got more tools... she’s—’ Emilie stopped for a moment before pulling her eyes away from the statue. ‘She’s as strong as me, and she’s still here, frozen solid in a room filled with our friends. Just, what are we supposed to do?’ She looked at me pleadingly. ‘Tell me what to do, please.’
I once again found myself at a loss for words. I opened my mouth, before closing it as the chamber rattled lightly. ‘I don’t know exactly what we can do. I just know that we can’t give up.’ I sighed at how corny that sounded. ‘I know that’s a line from like, every corny power of friendship speech ever, but it’s also all I’ve got right now.’
Emilie started giggling. ‘At least we still have bad jokes.’
‘Nothing will ever take that away from us, especially if we have Lucas and Persephone.’ I nodded as the words left my head.
‘And Persephone?’ Emilie asked, her tone of voice sounding worried for new and exciting reasons.
I grinned. ‘They share a sense of humor.’
Emilie shuddered. ‘I... guess I’ll just have to get used to it.’
I smiled. Plans for the future, that was a good sign.
She turned and looked at me, really looked at me, for the first time since I had walked over. ‘You’ve got a cut across the top of your nose.’
I sighed. ‘Yeah, it stings a little. It’s not bleeding anymore and... honestly first aid’s probably going to be an interesting proposition right now, so-’
‘It looks kind of badass, honestly.’
I puffed up my chest and grinned. ‘Really?’
Emilie nodded.
‘Think May will think so?’ I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.
Emilie rolled her eyes. ‘You’ll have to ask her, won’t you?’
I nodded. ‘Sounds good.’
Emilie looked away shyly. ‘Thank you for making sure this was a private conversation. I... I love the others, but I don’t know that I’m comfortable sharing feelings like this with everyone.’
I smiled before ruffling the green fluff on her head. ‘I’m honored that you feel comfortable enough to do it with me.’
‘Even if me being in your head is difficult?’ Emilie asked, her voice small.
I smacked her lightly in the forehead. ‘There is no one, and I mean no one, that I would like in my head more than you. Got it?’
Emilie almost seemed to sag down in her spot. ‘Yeah.’ A small blush dusted her cheeks. ‘Thanks.’
‘Any time.’ I smiled before reaching into my coat pocket. ‘So... wanna see the orb we snagged from the real world?’
‘Might as well, we almost died lord knows how many times to get it. Maybe I’ll be able to pick something up from it that you guys missed.’ Emilie pushed herself up to her feet as I pulled it out of my pocket.
The ball thrummed in the open air, and I smiled at how warm the room felt. It wasn’t quite as intense as when we found it, but... it seemed to really like Emilie.
Emilie swayed back and forth as she locked her eyes on the lustrous red glow, her gaze transfixed as she inched closer. “I don’t... what is this? It feels alive.”
I nodded once. “I heard whispers when we were in the other chamber. I couldn’t really understand most of it, but I managed to pull out ‘Found you’ in the chaos.”
Emilie blinked, before focusing more intently on the orb. “Whispers, huh? All I’m getting is white noise.” She glanced up at me. “You sure you didn’t hit your head while you were in the other world?”
I sighed before rubbing one of the sore spots on my skull. “A couple of times, actually. I blame Crash’s shitty driving.”
Emilie smiled. “Yeah, it wasn’t exactly the best ride in—”
The ground violently shook beneath our feet this time, way worse than before. I quickly scanned the ceiling for falling rocks, happy to see that despite the cave-like structure of this room, there were no stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
The unfortunate thing, however, was the icy floor mixing with my sudden lack of balance. For the umpteenth time today, I found myself slipping and falling to the ground, the orb slipping from my grip and bouncing a few times before rolling, stopping once it tapped against Suzaku’s foot.
The shaking subsided, and I quickly started to shift my head around to take stock of the room.
I glanced toward Emilie first, who was barely faring better than me as she slowly pushed herself up. Apollo was flying toward Joern as Sol quickly stood at attention, her fur shifting as Duskull started to float higher into the air. None of the ice sculptures even showed signs of being moved, let alone being damaged, so... that was something, I supposed.
“Everyone alright?” I shouted.
I received two salutes from my water types as father and daughter started floating closer.
‘We’re good, how are you guys?’ Sol asked.
I opened my mouth, then closed it as an overwhelming sensation of dread permeated my being. It pulled my eyes down and I realized the cause.
Emilie was pale, the pallor in her cheeks gone completely as she stared toward the opening with wide, terrified eyes. “I... I can’t feel her.”
“Who...” I trailed off as the realization sunk in, and Emilie’s feelings became my own. “Crash.”
A loud otherworldly screeching forced me to cover my ears as a low rumbling sent me back to my knees. Apollo grabbed Joern and flew towards us, taking a defensive position in front of me alongside Lucas and Persephone. I could faintly trace the outline of distorted air and a light blue glow as Emilie lifted both hands up.
Cracking ice and shattering stone heralded its arrival as the massive form of the ice dragon we had left behind so long ago slithered into the chamber, its claws scratching a deep gash into the stone archway as it pushed through and rose up, higher and higher, into the air.
The rumbling stopped as the chamber leading in caved in after it pushed through, finally giving into the strain of this beast forcing its way through.
“Sol, Night Slash, Joern, Razor...” A deafening wail accompanied a chilling wind that drowned out what I had said, and the full size of this thing stole the words from my mouth. The temperature plunged as air left my breath, and I stared up at the beast's open maw as a giant blue orb was slowly starting to expand. ‘Brace yourselves!’
Our entire group huddled together as the blue walls in front of us started to multiply, the bag on Emilie’s waist slowly starting to shake.
In a fraction of a second, the orb fired a beam of pure white light that froze Emilie’s first barrier on contact. I observed, in horrified fascination, a kaleidoscope of colors as what had once been an ethereal wall solidified into something tangible before shattering, the process repeating as the beam slammed into the next barrier.
‘My everstone! Get it off of me!’ Emilie screamed in my head.
‘What?’ I asked dumbly, my eyes still locked onto the symphony of destruction above.
‘Do you want to live or not?! I’m barely keeping up! I can’t let us lose to one of that thing’s minions of all things. I’d never hear the end of it! Please.’ The last word came out strained, and I whipped around to see her sliding backwards with each shattering shield, a thick sheen of sweat beading her forehead.
I rushed over and reached down, my hand wrapping around the bag holding her everstone in place.
‘Just this once… I’ll listen to you, featherhead. If any time’s a time to stop being scared, it’s now.’ Was I… supposed to be hearing this? ‘Just let it be enough, please.’
I snapped off the latch, pulled back, and the brightest white light I had ever seen shined through the chamber with the force of a battering ram.
The barrier above us pushed back against the beam of cold, this one holding firm for longer against the assault before breaking as another formed behind it. How the fuck she was maintaining focus while her body was literally changing shape boggled my mind, but honestly, considering how much of a perfectionist Emilie was, I shouldn’t have been that surprised.
I could see my starter rising up higher as she grew, her robe lifting up before flaring out in the classic tutu her second stage was famous for. Before she could complete the change, though, a wave of heat surged through the chamber, and the white glow of evolution shifted to a violent, angry red.
Before I could even question it, the silhouette of Emilie lifted her arms, and a small red ring formed around her wrists. A violent stream of white fire rose up through the barriers before slamming into the dragon’s attack, banishing the cold as it rose up through the room. The two attacks stood deadlocked for a moment, before another pulse of heat surged through the room, pushing through the assault and slamming home into the beast’s open maw.
The entire upper half of the dragon exploded as it leaned backwards, before slamming into the back wall of the chamber and sliding down. Its head had melted and warped into something out of my worst nightmares, malformed and ugly as the flames licked further down its body.
What the hell was that? Since when could Emilie use fire attacks?
A sharp cry of pain snapped me out of my stupor long enough to realize that something wasn’t right, and I whipped around to see my freshly evolved starter crouched down on the ground in pain. Steam pushed off from her body in waves, billowing from her mouth as odd markings worked their way down her arms and legs. Her eyes glowed an angry red, a stark contrast against her white skin, and her tutu had drooped down, now more resembling a normal dress.
‘Orb…’ Emilie forced out, her voice sounding warbled and echoey. ‘Get the orb.’
Orb. Where was-
I dove down and grabbed the damned thing, feeling my heart race as I realized that this vile stone had half-merged with my best friend in the chaos. The steam slowly dissipated. The lines faded, but…
The eyes remained the same angry shade of red that had pierced into my very soul back when I first looked into them.
Before I could even think to give an order, Emilie disappeared, before landing on an invisible platform looking out over the battlefield. “You stole our friends.”
Fire erupted from Emilie’s hands and bathed the still form of our enemy as the words left her mouth. What had been trying to reform into something coherent quickly shrunk away as it desperately tried to contort it’s body around the flames.
“You trapped us here.” Emilie flexed her hands, and four orbs of light formed in the inferno before moving. My mind flashed back to our first day of training, when I had her working on moves from—
My starter just picked up the fucking fire element from the ice dungeon. The universe was officially screwing with me for my choice in names, damn it all.
The orbs slammed into the writhing mess in front of us before exploding, punching new massive, circular holes into its form as it shrunk down even smaller.
“You’ve been torturing us, for what? Is this just some sick game? Some test?” Emilie snarled as she held both hands up in front of her. “Whatever the hell it is, fuck it and fuck you.” A massive rainbow colored orb formed in front of her, before warping as orange and white light surged from deep within. “Come back from this, you stupid, oversized, parade decoration!”
The orb expanded out into a beam, and what could only be described as a laser beam cleaved through the beast, vaporizing what was left of the creature as a loud, sickening cry pushed through the chamber.
I… holy hell. That was—
‘So… cool…’ Lucas muttered from beside me. ‘Well, I guess not quite cool anymore.’
I winced at the corny joke, before smiling. “Nah, you were right the first time.” I looked up to the floating psychic type with my hands around my mouth. “Emilie, get your ass down here, I need to gush about how cool you look.”
My starter winced, before glancing down at me, with a knitted brow and… slightly less red eyes. They looked more pink now. That’s good. I think.
“Hurry up, this is an all-inclusive pass for free, unlimited praise. This has to be one of your fantasies, right?” I shouted.
A sudden increase in weight on my shoulder pulled me to the left for a second before I could autocorrect, though oddly enough, the weight got lighter on its own.
“I… sorry. I might have put on a bit of weight,’ she said, her feet dangling down to my shoulder as she turned away from me. “I just… wanted to see if this was still doable. I suppose it is, but I’ll have to get used to pulling my own weight, as it were.” She chuckled lightly, her voice sounding nervous. “At least this works for training?”
I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh. Long and hard.
Emilie pouted. “What?”
“I, you,” legends above, I couldn’t talk, this was great. “You just orbital striked a dragon made of ice, and the first thing you do is make sure you can still sit in your spot.” Oh, fuck, the laughter was getting worse. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound right now?”
I wasn’t sure if the last bit of that was intelligible or not, and I didn’t care.
Emilie blushed bright red, before looking anywhere but at me. “Excuse me for wanting a bit of normalcy.” She huffed, then whipped her head up to meet my gaze head-on. “And I was right! I did figure out what to do with the orb before you did.”
“By complete accident,” I countered. “And it looked like it was trying to take you out while it happened. The pyro play is awesome, but that was terrifying.” I shivered. “Don’t scare me like that, alright? I like knowing that you’re in one piece and not in intense agony, thank you very—”
My words died on my throat as I started to realize something. I knew I was horrible at math, but… it felt like we were down a few sculptures.
I watched May sink down into the ice below us and my heart leapt up into my throat. “Hey!”
I dove down only to grasp at a solid surface. Of course this asshole would move the goal post now that we got here. It’s not like we had a way of thawing… them…
“Emilie, blast Suzy with as much firepower as you can! Sol, Sunny Day to boost it! Double time it, move move move!” I screamed.
Both Pokémon jumped at my order, before complying. I noticed the ground below Suzy start to soften and ripple, fuck. We weren’t going to—
A black wave pushed out through the chamber, and the ice quickly faded away. The room seemed to revert back to the one I had seen when I first entered, except… not quite right. For one thing, an exit formed. A billowing wind spewed forth from the front of the chamber, assaulting my ears with an otherworldly wail. Beyond that though, other things quickly changed. The walls were greyscale, the fires were green—
‘I refuse,’ Duskull muttered, his voice strained and murderous. ‘Like hell am I going to let you taunt us like this. You dangled this in front of us, taunting us, but now…’ Duskull almost sounded manic as the sun rose up to the apex of the chamber, and the fire in Emilie’s hands started to swell in size. ‘We get a win.’
The fire slammed into Suzaku before enveloping the firebird completely, pulling her into an inferno that brought the chamber up to a sweltering heat. For a brief second, I worried that it still wouldn’t be enough. That we’d need fire from the earth’s core to thaw someone frozen by this creature.
Soon though, I noticed. The differences were subtle, barely even noticeable, but they were there. The tempest swelled, before exploding upwards as May’s perennial firebird leapt out from the blaze, a war cry bellowing from her beak as she slammed down into the ground before bringing her claws up in front of her.
Suzy froze as she took in her surroundings, shooting me a smile as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. ‘Hey, Lea… I’m guessing you’re part of the rescue squad. I—’ She froze as she looked over at Emilie. ‘Shortstack… you’re not as small anymore.’ Her eyes shined as she smiled once again. ‘Still shorter than me, though.’
Emilie didn’t reply at first. She looked like she didn’t quite believe what was in front of her.
I wasn’t even sure if what I was looing at was real.
‘What? Was it something I said?’ Suzy asked, tilting her head. ‘Don’t think you’re hot stuff just because you evolved, got it. I can still—’
“Sure you can, chicken legs.” The reply was swift, but lacked its usual bite. “I was… better than you beforehand… Obvious—ah, fuck it.”
Emilie teleported across the room and all but tackled Suzaku, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her into a bone-crushing hug as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.
‘Emilie-’
“You scared the ever-living fuck out of me, alright?” she muttered into Suzy’s shoulder. “Don’t ever do that again, you stupid, fighting-brained firebird, got it? I can’t… I just…”
Suzy cautiously wrapped her own arms around Emilie and returned the hug, and Emilie dissolved into a blubbering, incoherent mess.
‘I have no intentions of doing so, alright?’ Suzy muttered, her tone soft. ‘Thanks for worrying about me.’
Emilie nodded, her face still buried into Suzy’s shoulder.