Arc 1, Chapter 24: Soft Light
by owryintheblindforestHaruhi and Amadeus looked at each other nervously. Amadeus sure didn’t have a solid idea on how to deal with Dumas, and he knew that Haruhi probably didn’t either. He felt the need to respond somehow, but the words were escaping him. After a long silence, Elm continued.
“It’s alright if you’re unsure. I wouldn’t expect the two of you to be master strategists or anything. I do have reasons for asking you two, though. First of all… you two do want to take him down yourselves, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Haruhi agreed. “This asshole’s gotta go. Right, Amadeus?”
“He was me once,” Amadeus said with a now-determined nod. “He’s partially my fault. It’d be wrong of me not to at least try.”
“I had a feeling you two would say that,” Elm replied with his own nod. “But there are reasons why you wouldn’t have to do anything. I myself could try and contact your Guildmaster to get Dumas thrown out. I’ve spoken to the man at length before, in fact.”
“But who knows how long that would take?” Haruhi asked. “He has to go now!”
“Exactly,” Elm responded. “But there’s a more… worrying reason that should the case. And it’s also the other reason I wanted to talk to you two about this. Can you guess what that is?”
“…Because he might do something drastic when he realizes he’s cornered?” Amadeus guessed.
“More specific than that,” Elm said, holding up a… ball of blue light? An image seemed to form inside. Amadeus recognized it as the basement Dumas had lured him to with Haruhi and Teru in tow.
It hurt slightly to think of Teru.
“What is that?” Haruhi asked, clearly curious about what Elm was doing.
“It’s a projection of my memories using some psychic trickery. Specifically, a memory of the memories you showed me, Haruhi.” Elm moved the ball closer to the duo, presumably so they could get a better look. “Look at the desk Dumas placed the crystals on. There’s a few more shards of the same color. You didn’t happen to bring those as well, did you?”
“I forgot about those,” Amadeus said, suddenly realizing where this was going. “In a pinch, he could still probably power the machine with those, just not as well!”
“Exactly. And if Dumas feels he’s out of options—”
“Boom,” Haruhi interrupted.
“Then he has to be dealt with by force,” Amadeus said. This is getting scary…
“So let me rephrase what I said before,” Elm replied. “Do you two think you could defeat Dumas?”
“Like he said, we have to try,” Haruhi replied.
“Are you sure?” Elm asked. “You know firsthand how dangerous that could be.”
“We’re sure,” Amadeus replied, backing Haruhi up.
“Alright,” Elm replied, his face just a touch solemn. “In any case, you’re here for at least the rest of today and most of tomorrow. For now, you should enjoy the rest of your day, and think about what you’re going to do.”
“…His Medallion is the source of all of his power, right?” Amadeus asked. “Do you think if we took it away somehow, he’d be just a normal Luxray?”
“Good start,” Elm said approvingly. “Now then, I really have places to be. Good luck!” Elm teleported away, leaving the duo alone with Mya and Fudo.
“Well, that was interesting to watch,” Mya commented. “If I was you two, I would explore the town a little to clear your minds. You two have a lot to think about.”
“That sounds like a plan…” In truth, Amadeus wasn’t particularly eager to continue discussing Dumas. He was determined, sure, but also a little stressed. “You wanna finally explore the town like you said?”
“Boy, do I ever…” Haruhi said with a sigh. “I feel like there’s gonna be so much to see!” She paused. “Uh, for me, at least,” she said, making what looked like a circular motion around her eyes.
“In more ways than one…” Amadeus muttered as they walked out of the door. “You’re absolutely giddy over this, right?”
“Best behavior, you two! You’re guests here!” Mya yelled from inside the clinic.
“We will!” Haruhi yelled back. “But yeah. The suspense has been killing me!”
Amadeus was starting to get a headache. “Could you, uh, put a paw on my shoulder or something? I need to rest my eyes.”
“Oh, sure…”
Haruhi watched as Amadeus closed his eyes. “No glasses for nearly a whole day at this point must be pretty rough for you, huh?”
“It is,” Amadeus responded. “I’m starting to get a headache from all of the squinting I have to do to make anything out.”
“Oh, really?” Haruhi said, gently nudging Amadeus along by the shoulder. “We can take a break if you want.”
“No, it’s fine. We’re not gonna get much of a chance to explore this place later, right?”
“Probably…” Haruhi said. “I just feel a little bad dragging you around like this knowing you’ve got a headache.”
“Thanks,” Amadeus muttered. “We can do what I want when I can see properly, though.”
“Alright,” Haruhi said, just a little bit more chipper. She looked around what she could see of Inner Meade. Mya’s clinic was relatively close to the center of town, as far as Haruhi could tell, and the town itself wasn’t that big. The walk from the temple to the clinic was short enough to be outlasted by a short conversation, after all. This place probably isn’t much bigger that my hometown, but everything’s so nice here… I guess that’s human ingenuity going back centuries for you. Haruhi didn’t know if it was just her projecting her own high expectations onto the place, but everything about the town felt advanced in a way that Hakken no Machi simply didn’t. Or Outer Meade, for that matter. “Isn’t it crazy how nice this place is?” Haruhi asked.
“No kidding,” Amadeus replied. “This place feels way more modern than Hakken no Machi.”
“How about where you lived in the future?” Haruhi asked.
“Honestly, it competes,” Amadeus muttered, squinting slightly. “I might need to be able to see to know for sure, though.” He stopped in place. “Actually… probably not.”
“Going back and forth on it, huh?”
“Honestly, it’s hard to judge. I was living out in space…”
“What was it you told me that one time? A whole city out in space?”
“That wasn’t long after we joined the Guild, right?” Amadeus asked. “Honestly, it was pretty dirty, all things considered. Especially with how stagnant the air could be. Wind is something I’ve had to get used to…”
“So then this place is more clean, which makes it nicer?”
“Not more modern, though…” Amadeus mumbled. “Hm…”
Haruhi looked at one of the buildings they happened to be walking by. She saw a small handful of people sitting down at a table, with what looked like little slips of paper in their paws, and scattered across the table. She stared for a moment, only looking away after a shiny Purrloin started staring back.
“I wonder what they’re doing in there…” She wondered aloud.
Amadeus opened his eyes and squinted at the window. “…I think they’re playing a card game.”
“Really?” Haruhi asked. She craned her neck up to read the sign. “A game store? They make entire stores for games?”
“Knew it,” Amadeus said. “Always wanted to go in one of those things, but Dad would’ve killed me…”
“We should come back here once all of this is over,” Haruhi said, nudging Amadeus along. “We’re definitely not gonna be able to do everything in this place today.”
“Oh, definitely,” Amadeus said. “I wanna know what that school’s all about.”
“Let’s go there, then!” Haruhi said excitedly. It was a bit hard for her to not get lost in the mystique of the place. A town consisting of mostly humans felt almost like pure fantasy to her, and she was feeling almost giddy just walking around the town with that knowledge. It even made the relative normalcy of the town itself feel almost disappointing. Sure, everyone was massively overdressed, but that was just about the only weird thing she’d seen so far. But a school that claimed to teach some mystical art form for a chosen few? She couldn’t help but feel childishly excited at the prospect. I wonder what goes on in there…
After a while, they were on the path between the town and the Academy, which was conspicuously quiet. Presumably, this area was safe, but the relative lack of buildings still made it feel distinct from the town proper. They were passing by what looked like a graveyard when they passed by Fiore, almost without noticing. Haruhi paused, then turned around when she realized.
“Oh, hey. What’s up?”
“I was going to go check on your idiot friend, what do you want?”
“Uh, nothing, just figured I’d try to have a chat.”
“Hi,” Amadeus unhelpfully added, opening his eyes to a squint. “Do you have an eta on those glasses?”
“Sure, and when they’re done,” Fiore said, responding to both sentences at once. “Nice weather we’re having, huh?”
“Yeah…” Haruhi muttered, barely detecting the Bayleef’s sarcasm. “How old is this graveyard, anyway?”
The Bayleef paused, perhaps hesitant to indulge Haruhi, before responding. “As old as the town is, I think. This whole area is meant to be reserved for places of worship and the dead, but there’s never been enough of a will to build a church, so… just graves. I suppose Mya’s little cult is included in that, but it’s not built in this part of town, so…” Fiore trailed off.
“Wow,” Haruhi said, allowing her mind to run wild with ideas on what a human religion might look like, before realizing that it might be wildly rude to voice it. How do I say it… “Uh, not to pry, but you’re a human, right? Wha—”
“Is this the part where you bombard me with questions?”
“You’re gonna indulge her?” Amadeus asked, very obviously feigning a lack of curiosity.
Fiore sighed. “You know what? Sure. Why the hell not? I’ve got time. You two gotta promise to not bother anyone else, though. Especially since you didn’t ask me last night.”
“We’ve behaved so far,” Haruhi pointed out. “Also, one of us was unconscious and at risk of dying, you can’t hold that against us.”
“Then ask away,” Fiore said, giving an almost mocking gesture.
Haruhi already knew what she wanted to ask first. “What is coming from the Human World like?”
“I’m told it varies wildly,” Fiore answered. “Some people get full-on reincarnated, but others get unceremoniously dumped into another body. Also, some of us died before coming here, some just woke up.”
“Well… what about for you?” Haruhi asked. In reality, she was after a bit of a story, and Fiore’s ‘it depends’ response wasn’t scratching that itch.
“For me, I fell off a bridge, and woke up in an egg. That took something like five months to hatch, by the way. I heard noises on the outside, but couldn’t interact with them. It was maddening.”
“Oh, wow, I can’t even imagine what that was like to go through,” Amadeus commented. “So you went through the process of growing up all over again?”
“Yes,” Fiore responded, almost exasperated, “And it was unbelievably weird. I don’t know if my past life is even real anymore, but I guess it has to be.”
“What’s the human world even like, anyway?” Haruhi asked. “That’s something I’ve always wondered.”
Fiore looked to the side for a bit, then sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you. It was a society with technology?”
“Uh…” Haruhi uttered in response.
There was a long pause before Fiore kept going.
“Look, that question is impossibly broad. The best I can do is tell you that I lived in Queens, New York. Hell, there’s more than one ‘Human world’ out there. There’s a whole multiverse people get pulled from. I don’t know how to answer your question other than that.”
“Woah, a multiverse?” Haruhi immediately asked.
“That’s what she fixates on…” Fiore muttered suspiciously loudly. “Yes, the multiverse. I have no clue how the hell it works but there sure is a multiverse out there, and I have my doubts we mere mortals will ever get a taste of it.”
“You did,” Amadeus immediately pointed out.
“That’s not what I—” Fiore paused. “Oh, your friend is up, finally.”
“How did you—” Amadeus started.
“Mya’s telling me to pick up the pace, because he’s being rowdy,” Fiore said, cutting him off. “You guys mind coming with? He might calm down if he sees you two.”
“Oh, totally,” Haruhi replied. “C’mon, Amadeus, we have to go convince him.”
Amadeus took in a deep breath. “Yup, not looking forward to this…”
After nearly running all the way back to the clinic, Haruhi heard the sounds of arguing. It was obvious between who.
“Can I at least have all of my stuff back?” Fudo said, obviously very annoyed.
“The thing missing from your bag was taken for safety reasons,” Mya explained, clearly trying to exert some control over the situation.
“You haven’t explained why I can’t tell anyone where I am yet, either! What could you even be hiding here? Can I at least go outside?”
“Not until your friends get back.” Mya looked off to the side and spotted the trio rounding the corner. “Oh, thank Lada, you three are back.”
“Who are these randos?” Fudo asked, almost offended. Then he locked eyes with Haruhi, and glanced at Amadeus, who was still squinting. It seemed to dawn on him who he was looking at. “Oh, shit, congratulations, guys. Can we all go home now?”
Haruhi, feeling particularly keen to call Fudo out, marched over and put her paws on his shoulders. “Fudo, you’re a really talented Psychic, right?”
“…Yeah?”
“And, if prompted, you could’ve read our minds back then?”
“…Yeah?”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Why? It’s not like anything was at sta—”
“Holy shit, Fudo. Read my mind. Right now.” Desperately, Haruhi tried to make a connection, but the crash course Elm had given her the previous day wasn’t enough to make up for a lack of skill.
Like this, Fudo’s voice rang out in her head.
For Arceus’ sake, do not sass me for being new to telepathy. Just look at this. Haruhi attempted to show the memory that she’d shown Elm previously.
For a while, Fudo just sat there, with a blank expression on his face. Slowly, it changed to confusion, and then… denial.
“Well? Anything to say to that, you damn moron?” In truth, Haruhi felt bad about not suggesting this earlier, but she still felt betrayed by Fudo somewhat, and aggressively slamming him with the truth was the only way she could think of to convince him.
“That… can’t be true,” Fudo responded. “You—”
Now her frustration was a bit truer to her actual feelings. “Do I look like I know how to create false memories, Fudo?”
Fudo silently retreated from Haruhi’s mind, and just sat there for a while before responding again. “But… Dumas did so much for me. There’s no way—”
“He was using you,” Amadeus responded, “And he wants to hurt a lot of people. Those are the facts. All you have to do is accept them.”
Fudo was silent for another long while. “…Sorry?” He said, almost embarrassed.
Haruhi sighed. “Better late than never.”
Fudo sheepishly looked around. “Uh, where are we?”
“Inner Meade. It’s supposed to be a secret, so don’t go running your mouth about it.” Haruhi looked over to Mya. “You don’t happen to have a place we could stay the night at, do you? Since we’re gonna be here at least until tomorrow and all?”
“Ah, I have a few guest rooms in the temple for exactly this situation. Feel free to use those.” Mya stretched. “In any case, I’m one of the people who’s supposed to be checking on Outer Meade periodically whenever an evacuation gets called. I’ll be back shortly. Fiore, you keep watch of this place.” Mya teleported away, seemingly disinterested in dealing with Fudo.
“Damnit…” Fiore muttered. “Alright, you guys, take your stuff and scram.” She unceremoniously tossed them their bags, and pointed at the door with a vine.
The trio quietly exited the clinic for a final time, Fudo in particular looking rather bewildered. He turned to the two of them. “So, uh… to the temple the Hypno mentioned? Wherever that is?”
“If you want. Your call.” Haruhi was almost completely calm now, eager to get back to exploring the town. She realized Fudo probably wanted answers more than anything, though. “We were there earlier today and yesterday. It’s not far from here.”
“Oh,” Fudo replied. “Alrighty then, you two lead the way…”
“You don’t look too good,” Amadeus replied, starting the trek back to the temple.
“Well, I feel like a moron…”
“You kinda are,” Amadeus responded.
Fudo sighed. “You know, I forgot that you guys are older than me. I’m so used to just… knowing more around you guys?”
“I don’t think it would’ve been a problem if you’d listened in the first place,” Haruhi said, somewhat empathizing. “You don’t need to be the one who knows everything.”
There was another long pause in the conversation. Clearly, Fudo felt horribly ashamed of what he’d done, which was grounds enough for Haruhi to forgive him or accept his apologies. There clearly was something deeper gnawing away at him about this, though.
“You looked up to Dumas, didn’t you?” Amadeus asked.
Fudo looked at Amadeus’ squinting eyes. “Yeah…” he chuckled a bit. “It still doesn’t feel real to me. I trusted him more than my own parents. He practically made me who I am today! He did so much for me, and to think that was all a lie is just… crazy.”
“It’s a lot, huh?” Haruhi asked. “I get it. You’re feeling almost angry at yourself, yeah?” Internally, Haruhi thought back to the night that she first found out the truth about Amadeus. That deep frustration she felt that night was… temporary.
Although Dumas was a different beast entirely.
“Honestly, when you put it like that…” Fudo started. “I’m feeling even more like an idiot.” He briefly spat out a flame. That’s a rare sight from him…
“The best you can do is tell yourself it’s uphill from here, right?” Haruhi asked. “Can’t be too mad at yourself. Dumas was always the problem.”
“You’re probably right,” Fudo said. “I’ve known him for so long now, though. I feel like I should’ve seen that something was wrong.”
“No sense in worrying too much about it now,” Haruhi replied, “Because we need a plan to stop him first. You in?”
“Well, now I am…” he muttered. “I feel like it would be hard to get back without the thing Dumas gave me specifically to help teleport back. Where did they put that?”
“A place specifically designed not to be broken into,” Amadeus replied.
“So a vault?” Fudo asked.
“Well, technically—”
“Yeah,” Haruhi replied, cutting Amadeus off. “We saw it. Absolutely no getting it out of there without asking. Before you ask, we were worried about you using it.”
“Couldn’t you have used it for yourselves? Ambush Dumas?”
“In his office?” Amadeus asked. “The last time we had to fight him in an enclosed space, we barely slipped away. That is where the trinket he gave you would take us, right?”
“I feel like we’d have a better chance if we just—”
“Fudo?” Haruhi asked.
“Yeah?”
“I know we just asked you if you wanted in, but I think Amadeus and I are gonna be the ones to fight Dumas.”
“…Why? Don’t you want help?”
“You’re probably the only one he’d trust. You could probably lure him away. I don’t think you’d even be that good in a fight, though, since he’s a dark type, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use a fire-type move.”
“Well, I’ve been working on it nonstop since I first got good at it before I evolved. Actually, I think it was Dumas who first… wait.” Fudo paused. “You don’t think—”
“Nah, you’re reading too much into it,” Haruhi replied. “I think he just saw your pickpocketing skills and wanted in.”
“It’s not just pickpocketing. It’s my ability, Magician.”
“Wait, that’s your ability? I just thought you had crazy sleight of hand,” Amadeus said. “I’m disappointed now…”
“Having a rare ability is why I even knew to suggest that you had Guts in the first place,” Fudo commented. “It was Dumas who taught me about rare abilities like that.” He was silent for a while. “On second thought, I think I’m fine not facing him in a fight. You guys can handle that…”
Haruhi was starting to get curious now. “Just how long have you known Dumas, anyway?”
“Like, eight years? Man, I was so young back then… I think I was struggling to do anything with my Psychic side at the time, and he came along, said something to me, and it just clicked. He was my mentor from that point on.” Fudo sighed. “I know I already said this, but I looked up to him. A lot.”
The trio was getting closer to the temple now. The sun was starting to approach the horizon.
Fudo looked over to Amadeus, gently being nudged along by Haruhi. “Pretty sure he was a Luxio back then, too…” He crouched down to Amadeus’ level. “He looked just like this.”
“We’re technically the same person. It’d be weird if I didn’t look like him.”
“The weirder part is that I’ve never seen him with glasses. You didn’t get better eyes when you evolved, did you?”
“No, that’s why Haruhi’s been dragging me around like an older sibling. Dumas probably wears contacts or something.”
“Would you wear contacts?” Haruhi asked. “You look good without the glasses.”
“But I like wearing glasses…” Amadeus mumbled.
“Alright.” Come to think of it, he seemed really upset when he saw what happened to his other pair…
Not much longer later, the temple was looming over them. Haruhi rather unceremoniously opened the door, already somewhat used to the place after having spent what probably was a few hours inside. Still, the most she’d explored was the altar room, so she was eager to see what was inside. Immediately, she opened the first door to her left.
She was met with what looked like a storage closet.
“Woah…” Haruhi muttered, allowing herself to just get lost in her own sense of exploration. It was full of dusty shelves, dusty tomes on those dusty shelves, spare parts, and other old-looking things. For a while, she just explored the room, occasionally flipping through a dusty book. Most of them were what looked like old legal codes, which sounded boring, but it was fun to just see what was in there, like browsing through a collection of antiques. Amadeus even squinted at a few of them.
“You three having fun?”
Haruhi turned around to see Mya. Amadeus and Fudo, notably, jumped in place. “How old are some of these?” Haruhi asked.
“Very,” Mya replied. “And before you ask, yes, this is my storage closet. I suppose it’s more accurate to say that it’s the temple’s storage closet, but I’m the only one living here.”
“Where is the rest of the order, anyway?” Amadeus asked.
“Elsewhere on the continent. We don’t see each other much. We do write, though. My friend from Teardrop Island tells me she’s lonely as of late. If you ever stumble upon her temple nearby the dam, tell her I said hello. In any case, I could show you where I tend to let guests sleep.”
“Uh, sure…” Amadeus said, sounding unsatisfied.
Fudo couldn’t have possibly looked more lost.
Mya showed them to a rather plain-looking room with a single bed that could comfortably fit two people, a nightstand, and a lamp. “You two can sleep in here.”
“What about me?” Fudo asked.
“There’s another room off to the side for a single person,” Mya explained. “Best to leave the two of them alone for the time being. Besides, I’m sure you have plenty of questions for me.” Mya pulled out a pair of glasses. “You were waiting for these, right?” She asked Amadeus, floating them over to him. “The lens-maker came by when I got back to the clinic. I’m sure you’ll be happy to have them.”
Amadeus nearly snatched them and put them on his face. He looked much happier. “Finally. You guys are lifesavers.”
“Don’t mention it,” Mya replied, shutting the door behind them, leaving Haruhi and Amadeus to be alone together.
“You have no idea how much better this is…” Amadeus mumbled.
“I can guess,” Haruhi replied. “That’s probably the longest you’ve been without glasses for a while now, right?”
“Probably since I first started wearing glasses,” Amadeus commented. “It’s really nice to have them back.” Amadeus hopped up on the bed. “This probably hasn’t been used in a while. I can’t smell anyone on it.”
Haruhi sat down on the bed next to Amadeus. It was pretty soft, all things considered. “So… how about tomorrow, huh?”
“The individual part of the trial is the hardest according to Lada, so… not an issue?”
Haruhi scootched just a little bit closer to Amadeus. “And Dumas?”
“…I’m still figuring that out.”
“…Are you nervous? I’m nervous.”
“Yeah.”
The one-word response she got left Haruhi a little unsure of what to say back. “It’s just… I feel like there’s so many things that could go wrong if we tried to fight him.”
“There is,” Amadeus agreed. “We have to rely on each other.”
“He’s scary…”
“He’s me,” Amadeus replied.
“Not anymore,” Haruhi replied. “You’re better than he is, that’s for sure.”
“Thanks…” Amadeus muttered. “That means a lot to me.”
Haruhi leaned on Amadeus’ shoulder. She let out a little puff of fire. Amadeus didn’t flinch, but he did lean in a little closer.
“It feels good to let out some fire, right?” Amadeus asked.
“If I didn’t, I’d lose control of it,” Haruhi replied. “It does help me calm down, though.”
“…It’s been getting to you more than you’re letting on, hasn’t it?” Amadeus asked.
“…Yeah.”
“You’ll be alright,” Amadeus assured her. “I’m here. I can help you.”
Haruhi wanted to object, to be the one helping Amadeus, but she also didn’t mind being the one being comforted for a change. “Thanks. I really do feel more in control than ever, though. I don’t think I’ll slip up anytime soon.”
Amadeus was silent for a while.
“…You look like you want to ask me something,” Haruhi pointed out.
“If it’s not too much to ask, what happened back in your hometown? Why was everyone treating you like that?”
Haruhi took in a deep breath. “Remember what I said about starting a big fire?”
“Yeah?”
“It was the school that burned down,” Haruhi said, forcing out the words. “I killed nearly all of the other kids in town.”
Amadeus didn’t seem too bothered. If he was, he didn’t show it. “That must’ve been scary.”
“It was. They didn’t let me back in school after that. I don’t think I even left Mom’s farm except to see Teacher for a long time.” Haruhi sighed. “You know why I want to be an explorer so badly?”
“So you could get away from the town?” Amadeus guessed.
“…My brother was with me at the time,” Haruhi explained. “He didn’t make it, since he was a Zigzagoon. He really wanted to be an explorer, and I… took that away from him.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault,” Amadeus quickly said. Somewhere in his eyes, there was an understanding that wasn’t there previously.
“Thanks,” Haruhi muttered back. It was hard to not feel a little relieved to have finally told him what happened. “Arceus, that’s such a weight off my chest…”
“That’s good. I’m happy for you.”
Haruhi put an arm over Amadeus’ shoulder. “Sorry for keeping this from you for so long, by the way. I don’t know why I felt the need to do that.”
“No, you’re fine, Haruhi. It’s really personal, right?”
“But you’ve been wondering about it, right?” Haruhi asked. “I don’t think it’s fair for me to keep a secret like that after teacher forced you to tell me everything not long after we met.”
“…Well, it worked out in the end.”
There was another pause in the conversation.
“You mind if I ask you something more fun?” Amadeus asked.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“You got a lot better at using your Psychic side after evolving, right?” Amadeus asked. “What’s that been like?”
“Uh, I don’t think I’ve been using it enough today to give you a verdict on that. I still have a shit ton of work to do to figure it out.” Haruhi levitated their bag. “It is way easier than it was before, though.”
“What about using it with fire?” Amadeus asked. “That thing that shocked Mya?”
Haruhi tried creating some fire while holding up the bag. Holding the bag specifically felt strangely different while creating fire, for some reason. “I can do it well enough, but… Something’s off with this.”
“I would ask about telepathy, but I guess you can’t really do that with me, since I’m now part dark…”
“Yeah, probably…” Just to be sure, Haruhi tried making a connection with Amadeus.
She found Amadeus’ mind, despite her lack of experience.
What the shit?
Amadeus looked caught off-guard. Clearly, he heard that. The duo jumped, and jostled away from each other.
“Okay, hold on…” Haruhi muttered. She dropped the fire and the bag to concentrate… and immediately lost the connection. “What just happened?”
“Y-you tell me, I don’t know!”
“You’re a dark-type, now, right?” Haruhi asked.
“I, uh, certainly feel like one…”
Haruhi just sat there for a moment. “H-how do you know?”
“A-are we moving along now, or…?”
“You know what? Yeah. We can figure out what the hell just happened later.”
Amadeus took in a deep breath. “Alright, uh… It’s hard to explain, but I feel way more… in tune with my negative emotions now?” Amadeus looked down at one of his paws, lifting it up a little. It faintly turned jet black. “It feels more… natural. Not that I feel particularly sad or anything, just… more in control, you know? Like it could use it just as easily as I could with electricity if I needed to.”
“That… makes sense,” Haruhi replied. “It’s just a part of you now, right?”
“Yeah, totally.” Amadeus sighed. “Honestly, it feels like I found something that was missing, you know? Like it should’ve been there from the start.” Amadeus put his paw down. “What about you? How’s your new body holding up?”
“It’s been… weird. Obviously, my psychic side feels more present, and like I said, I’ve been having an easier time with it, but being bipedal is something else.”
“Oh, I didn’t even consider that. That’s a massive change, right?”
“It should be,” Haruhi started. “And it definitely feels new. But it also feels surprisingly natural. I was able to walk on two paws like I’d been born doing it. Just going off of the feeling, it’s way less rough of an adjustment than I thought it would be, even if I am still getting used to it.”
“That’s… good, honestly,” Amadeus responded. “Guess it came pre-loaded with all of the muscle memory you needed, huh?”
“That’s a pretty good way of putting it,” Haruhi said with a nod. “Like I’d done it before.”
By now, the two were leaning on each other again.
“…I’m getting sleepy, Amadeus mumbled. “You wanna hit the hay?”
“Yeah, sure,” Haruhi replied.
The bed itself wasn’t terribly soft, but that was to be expected, and Haruhi could hardly complain after nearly five days of not having a proper bed to sleep in. She found herself nestled up against Amadeus’ back, arms around him.
He started purring.
“U-uh…” Amadeus said suddenly, clearly a little embarrassed.
“…No, keep going. I like that.”
Amadeus awkwardly resumed purring.
Almost instinctually, Haruhi started gently petting his chin.
He started purring more loudly.
“This is nice.”
“We do have to fall asleep eventually.”
“We will.”
Amadeus and Haruhi both slept much better that night than usual.
Amadeus slowly drifted awake the next morning, feeling rather refreshed. As he opened his eyes, he realized that his vision was clear. Did I fall asleep with my glasses on? It appeared that the answer was ‘yes’, which made him feel a little silly. He imagined that he was so caught up with Haruhi that he failed to notice. He attempted to stretch.
He realized that he was pinned beneath Haruhi. She was laying halfway on top of him, holding onto him like a body pillow. Even her legs were holding onto him somewhat.
“Haruhi…” Amadeus said softly. “Hey…” he tried fidgeting around a bit, but she didn’t budge. She was out cold, by the look of it.
Oh well. This isn’t the worst… Haruhi’s body was very warm, and rather comfortable too. He could almost feel himself drifting back to sleep.
Eventually, though, she did wake up. She made a few slight groans, and slowly opened her eyes, staring right into Amadeus’ own.
“Morning, sleepy.”
“How long did I keep you here?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t keeping track of time very well.”
“Hm…” Haruhi rolled off of Amadeus and sat up, then started contorting her body awkwardly.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
“Trying to figure out how to stretch.” Amadeus heard a soft pop as she raised both of her arms above her head, tilting her neck and grabbing one of her forearms with the opposite paw. It was… pleasant to watch, admittedly. “Got it.” She turned back to Amadeus. “Good morning, by the way.”
Amadeus got up on his paws. “How early do you want to bet it is?”
“Early,” Haruhi said, not really answering the question. She walked over to the shades, and raised them, causing Amadeus to squint a little. Amadeus couldn’t directly see it, but the sun seemed to be creeping over the horizon. “See?”
“Well, you’re not wrong,” Amadeus said, jumping down from the bed and peeking out the window. The forest outside seemed pretty quiet, all things considered.
The duo walked outside. Evidently, it had rained last night, as the ground was wet. Amadeus could see steam rising off of the ground in the morning light, and it was very warm out. It was an almost mystical feeling.
“I swear, this place just feels like it’s been ripped out of a fantasy book,” Amadeus commented.
“You’re telling me,” Haruhi replied. “It’s like it’s designed that way. I almost don’t want to leave.”
“Honestly, I straight-up don’t want to leave…”
Haruhi and Amadeus looked at each other. Both knew that wasn’t an option for them.
“Well, we’re gonna come back, right?” Haruhi asked.
“Right.”
Amadeus knew he had to be optimistic. A lot would be riding on later today.
“Good morning, you two!” The duo turned around to see Mya emerging from the temple behind them. “Shall I wish you luck?”
“For the trial, or for everything else?” Haruhi asked.
“For the trial. I… cannot speak for anything else you might be about to face today.”
Well, shit. That’s not comforting at all. “Can you wish us luck anyway? I think we need it.”
“Erm, good luck.”
There was a painful silence after that.
“Fudo still not up?” Haruhi asked, seemingly trying to change the topic to something less awkward.
“Is he normally up by now?” Mya asked.
“Given that he woke up for the Guild every day just like we did, we shouldn’t be up that much earlier than him…” Amadeus pointed out. “Unless his sleeping schedule is messed up, which wouldn’t shock me.”
“He’ll be up,” Haruhi said quickly. “Any sec—”
To an outside observer, it might have looked like Haruhi summoned Fudo. He strolled right through the doorway, looked at the two of them, and cleared his throat. “So, when the hell were you guys gonna tell me that this is a secret human town?”
“Uh…” Amadeus trailed off, as Mya chuckled. “Never, I think?” We kinda forgot to explain the situation yesterday, huh?”
“Well, you didn’t need to know, right?” Haruhi asked.
“I would’ve liked to know that!”
“You were already reeling from learning about Dumas, you didn’t need anything else dropped on you like that.” At this point, Amadeus was searching for the best excuse he could think of.
Fudo stared at the two of them for a long while. “…Fine.”
Mya was laughing. “He was all ears last night. He walked right into your room to ask that exact question, but you were already asleep. He nearly slept outside the room you were staying in.”
“Yeah,” Fudo added. “Anything else I should know before tonight?”
“Dumas has the powers of Jirachi,” Haruhi quickly added.
Fudo was silent for several seconds. “And you guys were just gonna not tell me about that?”
“…Sorry,” Amadeus and Haruhi said in unison.
“…Guess it’s my turn to be mad at you.”
“Dude, we’re sorry.”
“I know, I know…” He sighed. “So, uh, I hear you guys are doing some cult stuff?”
“Oh, he made the joke,” Mya commented.
“Yeah,” Amadeus replied. “She promised to share a few secrets with us if we passed the trial.”
“Secrets, huh…” Fudo muttered.
“Magical secrets,” Mya explained. “Secrets that will help you.”
“Is that so?” Amadeus asked, just playing along at this point.
“It is so indeed,” Mya replied, motioning for them to come inside.
One breakfast later, the trio was inside of the trial room. The inside of the trial room was remarkably clean, now that Amadeus could see it properly. Most likely, Mya had cleaned it last night. What was left of the blood stain was gone. She probably cleans it every night, huh? The knife was still up on the altar, and Amadeus noticed that the eighteen-sector chart was engraved on it’s hilt. The knife itself seemed to gleam, even in the little light that actually made it into the room. Haruhi and Amadeus approached the altar as Fudo stood nervously by.
“Are you two ready to begin?” Mya asked them.
Haruhi and Amadeus responded with a nod.
“Very well,” Mya replied. “First, prick the paw-pads on one of your paws with the knife.”
Amadeus was… hesitant, given what he’d already tried to do with this knife. Briefly, what happened flashed through his mind as he grabbed it with his mouth. He nervously pricked his left paw pad with the knife, and then handed it to Haruhi, who did the same.
“Now,” Mya instructed, “Grab each other’s paws firmly. The second part of the trial will begin immediately after.”
Amadeus reached out to Haruhi, who took his paw in hers.
Then it started.
V j3q f4
G5 g
W
55
Q
G5gwergeg
Et4f t4mes r0ll
4w
T43t5
Amadeus woke up in what looked like a field somewhere, with Haruhi nearby. The duo slowly rose to their feet, and Amadeus looked around. There were a smattering of trees nearby, so they were clearly in a forest clearing of some kind, but said trees looked singed. Like there’d just been a forest fire.
“So, we’re gonna be wandering around this forest for a while, huh?” Amadeus asked.
“Yeah, that seems—” Haruhi paused, and then started staring at the sky. “Amadeus, please look up.”
Amadeus obliged, and promptly saw what looked like nearby planets in the sky.
A lot of them.
“Uh…” Amadeus said, trailing off.
“We just gotta find a way up, right?” Haruhi asked. “It’s gotta be somewhere in this forest.”
Amadeus paused, think back to how he had to go downwards to progress through his first trial. “If this is anything like stage one, the obvious way forward probably isn’t correct.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Was it not like that in yours?” Amadeus asked.
“Not really…”
We definitely should’ve discussed this before we went in… “Maybe we should tell each other what our trials were like. We might spot some patterns.”
“Ah, good idea. You go first.”
For a while, they just walked through the forest, describing their trials. It was rather tedious to explain it all, but it felt worth it, enough.
“So for your trial, there was only a note on the ground, and that was that?”
“Yeah. Meanwhile, yours had full-blown theming to go with the flashback.”
The similarities between the two trials were scant. Other than the three flashbacks and having to face an alter-ego of themselves, the way the trials progressed was almost entirely different.
“Maybe the reason they were so different was because they needed to fit us individually? Mya did say that the first phase was where we had to face ourselves, right?” Haruhi seemed somewhat optimistic about this suggestion.
“Honestly, that’s probably right. That doesn’t explain why this trial ended up like this, though…” Amadeus looked up to see the mini-planets again.
Their positions had definitely moved.
“Um…” Amadeus stood there, bewildered. “That’s an odd thing to happen.”
“No kidding…” Haruhi agreed.
Amadeus stared at the sky for a while. Everything seemed to have moved in the same direction, and a handful of the mini-planets had disappeared entirely.
“Alright, new plan. Let’s keep walking and look at the sky closely.”
After a while, it became clear that the entire sky above them was scrolling along as they walked. Is everything just that close that we’re starting to lose things? There’s no way, right?
“Just to be clear, we’re walking in a straight line, right?” Amadeus asked.
“Pretty sure we are…” Haruhi muttered.
Amadeus felt there was something obvious he was missing. Something about the way the sky was scrolling was bothering him immensely.
It wasn’t until the duo ended up right back where they started that Amadeus finally realized what it was.
“Haruhi,” he started, “I think we’re on one of those right now.”
Haruhi seemed confused. “Like… We’re on a big ball out in space?”
“Yeah, we’re on a planet just like those. A small one, too.”
“How are we not…” Haruhi paused. “Oh, sorry, I forgot what a planet was.”
“…What?”
“Like, I forgot about gravity, planets, stars, those things. I haven’t been in school for years.”
Amadeus almost tried to argue that he didn’t get much science education either, but he remembered that traveling to different planets was not a part of her childhood. “…So you follow?”
“The reason the sky was scrolling like that is because we’re walking in a circle, right?”
“Right…”
Haruhi seemed frustrated. “Well, we found nothing in our walk, so I guess we gotta get off of this thing on our own somehow…”
“Don’t Braixen ride their sticks like brooms sometimes?”
Haruhi made a weird face. “Where the hell did you hear that one?”
“Fudo,” Amadeus replied meekly.
“…Well, now I have to ask him to teach me how to do that.” Haruhi looked around the field for a while. “Hey, what’s that?” she asked, pointing to something nearby.
It appeared to be a clump of grey fur.
As they moved closer, they realized it was in the shape of a Minccino. The Minccino got up, and rubbed it’s eyes with it’s paws.
“…Uh, hi?” it asked. In Teru’s voice.
Amadeus had a thousand questions.
0 Comments