Arc 1, Chapter 25: Space Elevator

Amadeus, briefly panicking, shot a glance at Haruhi, who did the same. Is this meant to be Teru? If so, what does that mean? Do we trust it? Amadeus didn’t dare say anything in earshot of the Teru lookalike, but he knew Haruhi was having similar thoughts.

“Er, you guys? Why are you looking at me like that?” the Minccino asked. Evidently, they were making it a bit obvious.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Haruhi quickly said. “We just thought you looked similar to someone we knew.”

“Ah, really?” ‘Teru’ asked. “That’s a funny coincidence, huh?”

What does he mean by that? Amadeus wondered, feeling paranoid. “Well, we were just looking for a way out of this place. Mind lending a paw?” Gotta change the subject…

“Oh, really? Well I wouldn’t—” the Minccino looked up. “What in the world?”

“Yeah, it’s some crazy shit,” Haruhi said almost dismissively. “You wanna help, or what?”

“Yeah, totally. You guys just woke up here randomly too, right?” the Minccino seemed genuinely puzzled. “I’ll, uh… go on ahead.” The Minccino turned to leave, but Amadeus stopped him.

“Wait!” Amadeus exclaimed. “It’s… dangerous to go alone.” Like hell I’m letting this guy out of our sight. “We should stick together.”

“Did you guys already walk around here?” the Minccino asked. “Is it dangerous?”

“Oh yeah, lots of, um… holes!” Haruhi was clearly not a very good liar. “Real dangerous. You’ll break a paw!”

“I think I can avoid walking into a hole, but sure,” ‘Teru’ responded, scratching his chin.

The next several minutes consisted of walking behind the Minccino and attempting to fight off the very eerie feeling of seeing someone who should be dead walking and talking like nothing happened. Logically, Amadeus knew he was probably a creation of the trial, placed here specifically to test the two of them, but he couldn’t ignore the visceral feeling of discomfort he felt just seeing Teru.

Haruhi, he was about to discover, was feeling the same. She slowly leaned in and whispered into his ear.

“What do we do?” Haruhi asked. “Do we ask him?”

“Ask him what?”

“If he’s Teru, obviously.”

“What if it’s a trick?”

“We can handle that,” Haruhi assured him. “I think we need to trust him.”

“You’re probably right, but isn’t something wrong with this picture? Why Teru, and why here?”

“The best way to figure that out is—”

“You guys know I have big ears, right?”

Amadeus and Haruhi froze. The Minccino continued.

“You guys clearly know me. I see a Braixen and a Luxio with glasses. Haruhi and Amadeus, right?”

“Yes. Are you Teru?” Haruhi asked, going directly for answers.

“What is that supposed to— Gah, I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” Teru asked, exasperated. “Sky’s all loopy, you guys are being weird, this is all some fever dream I’m having in the hospital after I took a tumble in Dumas’ basement. Got it. Cool.”

The last thing he remembers is dying in Dumas’ basement? “Yeah, totally, you’re dreaming,” Amadeus quickly said, capitalizing on what was probably a better lie. “C’mon, wacky dream adventure time. Let’s have some fun.”

“I would’ve liked to have more wacky adventures before this, but sure,” Teru agreed.

Amadeus died inside a little after hearing that. Oh, Arceus, I’m so sorry Teru… “Yeah…” Unfortunately, none of this had actually answered any of Amadeus’ questions. Guess the only way to know for sure is to keep going, right? Amadeus quietly hoped they’d find a way off of the planet before this drove him nuts.

For a while, the trio walked around the planet, finding very little of note. Eventually, they were standing directly beneath one of the planets, which prompted Haruhi to start looking around the area.

“Hold on, guys, I’ve got a hunch about this…” She started looking through the bushes, and then suddenly burned one away. After carefully putting out the flames, she motioned for Amadeus and Teru to come closer. “Knew it.”

Amadeus walked closer and saw a small tablet. It had two small metal poles sticking out of it, and what looked like a lit torch, probably from Haruhi’s fire. “What is this?”

“The way forward,” Haruhi replied, confident. “I don’t really get it, but there’s little lightning bolts on the poles. You’re up, Amadeus.”

“Uh…” Amadeus uttered in response, having a loose understanding of what was being demanded of him. He delicately placed a paw on both of the rods, and felt the electricity flowing through him. It was certainly something he could do, just not something he was used to. Just think back to all of the times you used this trick to charge your phone. It’s like that, right?

After a few seconds, visible sparks started forming, and then the whole thing flashed green, prompting Amadeus to step away.

“Now wha—” Amadeus asked, before he started rising. “Oh, wow…”

“Oh, we’re going up,” Haruhi said, surprised. “That’s a new one.”

“Uh, guys?” Teru asked, visibly not floating. “Why are you starting to fly?”

“Shit, grab on!” Haruhi exclaimed, flailing around for a bit and reaching out to Teru, who promptly held on to her arm to dear life.

And just like that, they started flying to the next planet. As far as they could tell, they were headed for a desert.

“Why didn’t I get to fly?” Teru asked, sounding almost hurt. “Is there something I’m not getting here?”

Yes, but you don’t need to know that… “At least you’re small enough to be carried by Haruhi,” Amadeus pointed out.

“He is pretty small,” Haruhi agreed. “Like a baby or something.”

“You’re talking some serious smack for a figment of my imagination,” Teru replied. “You’re my same height in the real world, you know.”

“Yeah, sure…” Amadeus muttered, feeling a little bit terrible about this entire situation. How the hell are we gonna explain to him what’s actually happening? I feel like he’s gonna fall apart once he realizes…

 

The trip to the next planet ended rather abruptly with the trio slamming into the sand at a speed that probably would’ve injured them if it was actually real. Amadeus shook the sand off and looked around, immediately noticing an identical tablet on the ground.

“I guess that’s how we’re supposed to be getting around…” he observed. That doesn’t explain what we’re supposed to be doing right now, though. It’s probably linked to Teru somehow, but… the best Amadeus could do was to just keep moving forward. For now, at least.

The trio continued exchanging small talk as they walked, but the uncomfortable nature of the situation kept Haruhi and Amadeus from droning on from very long. For the most part, they let Teru’s doppelganger carry the conversation.

“Yeah, she was pretty nice. I didn’t really get to know her that well, though. She was acting super guarded the entire time.”

“So you sat down with her, had lunch in mostly silence and… left,” Amadeus confirmed. “That’s all you did with her. And you don’t even remember her name.”

“Yeah. I’ll remember it by the time I see her next, though. I also learned she really, really liked card games.”

“Oh?” Haruhi asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one thing she really talked to me about,” Teru confirmed. “She told me about this one time she had a really close game she had with a friend. She seemed… way happier just talking about that. She closed right up again after that, too. It was like her mask slipped or something.”

“Hm,” Amadeus replied, unable to muster up a response.

“I wonder—” Teru stopped mid-sentence. “…Hey, guys?”

“What?” Haruhi asked. “You see something?”

“I see a whole bunch of somethings, actually,” Teru replied, pointing off in the distance. Several dust clouds looked like they were rapidly approaching. “Does that worry you guys, too?”

Are they hostile? Amadeus immediately wondered. He looked around, seeing sand in every direction. Nowhere to hide… “I guess we just stand out ground and see what happens?”

“I don’t like that plan,” Teru said back, very nervous.

“Well, it doesn’t look like we have a choice, so you’re gonna have to deal with it,” Haruhi replied. “Hang in there, buddy,” she added in a somewhat softer tone.

It took nearly three minutes for the dust clouds to arrive, and when they did, it quickly became apparent that they were not, in fact, friendly. A group of six Scizor circled them.

Evidently, they were Scizor of few words, as one lunged straight for Haruhi.

Immediately, Haruhi sprung into action, setting up a Sunny Day, and nearly losing her balance as she did. Nevertheless, she quickly took out the one lunging at her and a straggler who happened to get caught in the crossfire with flamethrower. For some reason, she’d thought to use the move by slapping at the air in front of her.

Teru quickly ducked behind her, and Amadeus attempted to guard him from behind from another Scizor that happened to get just a little bit too close with a spark, which seemed to work as the metal bug fell flat on it’s backside.

This was enough to convince the remaining three to scatter.

“Talk about being all bark and no bite…” Haruhi commented as they scattered.

“Those were ferals, right?” Teru asked.

“It’s probably fine,” Amadeus commented. “Don’t think too deeply about what we’re doing. We’re dreaming, right?”

“I guess you’re— wait, what do you mean ‘we’re’?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Amadeus quickly replied. “It’s nothing. You don’t have to worry about it.” The more Amadeus interacted with the doppelganger, the more he found himself believing he was real. Something about the way he acted just seemed authentic in a way he couldn’t quite articulate. There was something more concrete he could believe in, though. He definitely had a chance to betray us then and there. If he didn’t try something then, I don’t see why he’d do it in the future. More importantly, he definitely seems… confused about what’s even happening right now.

Amadeus decided to cut the train of thought off there.

Eventually, they were beneath another planet in an area that seemed relatively far from where they landed. Haruhi decided to take charge again.

“Alright, boys, let’s look for another one,” Haruhi said confidently.

“Since when do you say ‘boys’?” Amadeus asked jokingly, sifting through the sand a little. Man, the sand’s all over my fur… Definitely avoiding the desert in the future.

“Since just now,” Haruhi replied.

“It’s over here,” Teru said, cutting off the exchange. “Looks like it’s the same as last time.”

It didn’t take long from there to get off of the ground. Teru knew to cling onto Haruhi this time, and willingly jumped up to her shoulder.

“I feel like a little kid…” he commented.

“I don’t blame you. I feel like I’m holding a little kid,” Haruhi commented in kind.

“I would complain, but I really don’t know what I’d do without you guys right now,” Teru responded. “Seriously. It’s like you don’t even need me, but I’d still be back in that forest right now without you. You could totally leave me behind if you needed to!”

“We’re not gonna abandon you,” Amadeus cut in the second Teru stopped talking.

“You’re safe with us,” Haruhi added.

There was an awkward pause after that.

“…You know, you guys have been acting really weird. I get that I’m dreaming, but it’s getting really hard to ignore.”

It was starting to occur to Amadeus why this Teru felt genuine. “Well, we just don’t want to leave you behind.”

“Um… okay? I get that, but you don’t need to be so pushy about it.”

“Alright, we won’t,” Haruhi said somewhat teasingly. “Just worried for our friend, that’s all.”

“…Thanks.”

“Uh, sorry for the random change of topic, but…” Amadeus began, “what’s the last thing you remember before waking up in here?”

“I took a tumble in Dumas’ basement, and then he… hm. I could’ve survived that, right?” he muttered.

I swear to Arceus, if I’m right about this… “You’re probably fine,” Amadeus lied.

The next planet seemed to be extremely cloudy. As they approached the surface, they were met with a layer of clouds through which the ground was barely visible. Thankfully, they knew to brace for impact this time.

That didn’t make the impact any less rough, however. Haruhi in particular landed in a puddle, and jolted to her feet, shuddering.

“S-shit, that’s cold…”

To Amadeus, the water felt lukewarm, but he tried his best to provide warmth by huddling closer to her. “Try setting up a sunny day.”

“Way ahead of you,” Haruhi responded, bringing out the sun.

“Thanks, guys…” Teru said, slowly rising from the very same puddle. “What was that about leaving me behind again?”

He probably meant it jokingly, but it still stung.

By now, the conversations were starting to die down. Teru would attempt to start something up every now and then, but Amadeus and Haruhi were running out of the energy to indulge him.

His ears were starting to droop.

“You guys ever wonder if your whole life was a big waste of time?”

Amadeus and Haruhi paused at the rather sudden question.

“…What do you mean?” Haruhi asked.

“Like your whole life’s not really going anywhere. Like the things you’ve always wanted to do are never going to happen and you can’t control it. That sleepwalking kind of waste.”

Amadeus paused thoughtfully. “…Yeah, I’ve felt like that before,” Amadeus answered. “It’s a great way to drive yourself crazy.”

Teru looked off into the distance. “I honestly can’t say I like the direction my life is headed. Now that I think about it, I’d much rather stay in Hakken no Machi. It’s where I was born, you know? I’ve heard lots about how different the west of the continent is to the east, and the more I hear, the more it just… makes me wish I had a choice.” His voice was wavering. “I guess it’s a bit selfish of me, but all I want is to find my own path in life.”

“…There’s nothing wrong with wanting that, Teru,” Amadeus replied. In truth, it was something he needed to tell himself, as well.

“You could still try, Teru,” Haruhi tried to reassure him.

“…Really?”

“Yeah, in the very least, you could try telling your parents how you feel.” Haruhi’s smile seemed pained, and Amadeus knew exactly why.

Teru seemed to be figuring something out himself. “That’s not what I meant.” He collected himself, then looked Amadeus in the eye. “Can I ask you something, Amadeus? And get a straight answer?”

“…What is it?”

“Do you remember when you were asking me about what I remembered before waking up in this place?”

“Yeah…” Here it comes…

Teru paused for a long time, as if he was terrified of the answer. In hindsight, he almost certainly was. He’d be holding onto that terror for a while longer, however.

The trio heard a screech, as a Peliper swooped down at them. Amadeus, after briefly panicking, swang at the thing with a spark. Unfortunately, he missed.

“Ack!” Haruhi and Teru were left scrambling, seemingly helpless against the Water-type as it showered down what looked like water pulse onto them. “Amadeus, zap him out of the sky!”

“I’m trying!” Amadeus tried his best to do a thundershock, which wasn’t exactly something he’d done in a while, and managed to hit the Peliper, which seemed to scare it off. “E-everyone okay?”

“C-could be much better…” Haruhi said, coughing and setting up a weaker-looking sunny day.

“I’m fine,” Teru quickly said.

“Good, good…” Amadeus muttered. “Right, what were you going to ask, Teru?”

“It can wait.”

“…You were making a big deal out of it before,” Haruhi pointed out.

“I’ve decided I’m fine not knowing,” Teru said, actively avoiding the conversation.

The next stretch of the trial was marked by an excruciating silence. None of the three truly wanted to finish the conversation, likely because they had all figured out where it was going to lead. Amadeus tried to distract himself by looking for another good planet to jump to, but the partially cloudy sky was making that difficult. Teru…

By the time they found it, Haruhi finally decided to break the silence.

“Teru?” she asked. “Can you please ask the question?”

“…Why?”

“Because if you don’t right now, you’re gonna miss your chance.”

“You’re leaving me?”

“…Yeah,” Haruhi said, sighing. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Amadeus added.

“Alright…” Teru began, taking a deep breath. “Am I… dead?”

There was a long pause before Haruhi and Amadeus both nodded. Slowly, Teru started to cry. Haruhi and Amadeus slowly gave him a hug, trying their best to comfort him.

“…I should’ve known something was wrong as soon as I woke up. He killed me without a second thought, didn’t he?”

“It’s okay…” Amadeus said, trying to console him.

“I died. There was so much I wanted to do with my life and I died! So much I’ll never see! So much I’ll never do! I still have every last regret, and it’ll never be fixed! Never!”

Teru sobbed into Amadeus and Haruhi for a while, and as far as Amadeus was concerned, it was warranted. Teru just learned that all of his hopes and dreams were stolen from him.

Eventually, the crying died down, and Teru pulled away.

“Alright. You can go now.”

“Teru…” Amadeus replied.

“I just want to spend my final moments in peace, alright? I’ll be fine. You guys go on ahead.” He was starting to vanish.

“Are you sure?” Haruhi asked. There was a certain softness to her voice that wasn’t there previously.

“Yeah…” Teru replied, sitting down.

Solemnly, Amadeus went to power on the tablet. As he and Haruhi started to rise into the sky, Amadeus watched the last of Teru fade from existence.

He was gone. He was well and truly gone. And now nothing could bring him back. “Goodbye, Teru.”

Amadeus looked to the next planet, only to see every single planet moving out of their way.

“This is the last part of the trial, isn’t it?” Haruhi asked out loud.

“Seems like it,” Amadeus replied, as they both started to speed up drastically. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Haruhi replied. “Not that that’s very ready to begin with.”

“…Love you.”

“Love you too.”

The objects in space seemed to stretch as they continued gaining more and more speed. It was almost terrifying to feel the sheer acceleration of it all, and most of all, there was an almost crushing finality to it. Amadeus closed his eyes, and waited.

Moments later, he crashed into what felt like a wooden floor. He shook it off, and looked around, expecting to see something menacing.

What he saw was quite the opposite. Welcoming, in fact. He looked at Haruhi, who was taking in the sights herself, and then back at the room he was in. It was clearly someone’s living room, and the kitchen was nearby. The smell of fresh popcorn was in the air. Where the hell are we?

“Beats me. Probably some flashback nonsense.”

Amadeus froze. “I… didn’t say anything.”

Haruhi blinked. “Wait, what?”

“You just responded to my internal monologue.”

Amadeus heard Haruhi’s voice. Wait, can you hear this?

Why are you in my head?

I don’t know! I didn’t even try to get in this time!

 

Can you at least tell what’s going on?

 

Uh… shit. Yeah, there’s a link here… hold on… Several seconds of silence followed. Not in their heads, however. Why aren’t you closing? I know I’m not very experienced at this, but Amadeus is a dark type! This shouldn’t be possible! Holy shit… “Amadeus, it’s not closing.”

“I can tell.”

“…You heard all of that, didn’t you?”

Yes. How does that even happen? I don’t think she would’ve done that… Amadeus wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about this development. If there was anyone he trusted, it was Haruhi, but in the very least, this would take getting used to.

I don’t know if I would’ve even thought to do that… Haruhi responded. “We probably should be using our voices, though…”

Fair enough… Amadeus found himself too lazy to speak alarmingly quickly. In the meantime, he decided to scan the room a bit more, his attention drawn to the odd light he now noticed behind the two of them. Haruhi subconsciously followed his gaze. It turned out to be a TV of all things. Did we—

 

“Boo.”

Haruhi and Amadeus immediately jumped in place, startled by the pink-furred Pokémon that had been standing on top of the TV this entire time. Or perhaps it was skin. It was difficult to tell. Holy shit, that’s a Mew! Haruhi thought, Amadeus hearing. Oh that’s Lada, isn’t it?

Yeah, probably, Amadeus replied. “H-how long were you standing there?”

“At least a full minute,” Lada replied, a certain coyness to her voice. Having collected himself, Amadeus found Lada strangely alluring, like they were some kind of supermodel. “I was wondering how long you were going to read each other’s minds for before you started figuring out where you were.”

“Did you do that?” Amadeus asked. “Can you—”

“If you were going to ask for me to break the connection, I won’t. That’s part of the reward for clearing the trial. If you want to keep things to yourself, you’ll have to learn how to do that.”

“Oh, okay…” Guess we’re stuck with this, huh?

But if this is a reward… Haruhi began, “Did we pass the trial?”

“Indeed you did!” Lada pulled out a party popper and popped it. “Congrats! You did it! Not that the trials are made to be failed, mind you. That’s not really the point.”

“So, uh, miss—” Haruhi began, before getting cut off.

“I told you last time, just ‘Lada’ is fine. ‘Miss’ isn’t even correct. I’m a Mew, I don’t even have a well-defined gender. Please, do not feel pressured into such formalities with me. You’re my guests in here, after all.” Lada jumped down from the TV and picked up a bowl of popcorn. “You two want any? Those aren’t your actual bodies, so it won’t stave off your hunger, but it does taste good. I made this earlier when the trial started. ‘Twas watching you two on the TV. That was fun.”

“…Wait, do you run these trials for your own entertainment?” Amadeus asked, annoyed.

“You say that like you got nothing out of it,” Lada rebuffed. “You have the link in your minds now. You got some good growth out of it. Not to mention gaining access to the potential needed to break the chains of typing.”

I have so many questions… Amadeus lamented. “So, uh… now what?”

“There are things you’d like to know about your current situation, yes?” Lada asked, sitting down on an armchair. “Come, take a seat, get comfortable, and I’ll happily tell you.”

This is so strange… Amadeus thought to himself.

He forgot Haruhi could hear. You’re telling me! C’mon, let’s ask them some stuff.

 

Alright… Amadeus hopped up on the couch, and ate a piece of popcorn as Haruhi sat down next to him. Admittedly, it was some really good popcorn. We should probably start small and work our way up. “So, uh, can you start by explaining what you meant when you said these weren’t our bodies? This is a dream, right?”

“From your perspective, yes. From my perspective, I live here, and this is a physical place out in space somewhere. Nearly everything you saw in the trials was something that had to be built, including the bodies you’re piloting right now. I have the trial do that by itself as to not spoil myself, but it does have to exist in the real world. You’re essentially in identical copies of yourselves that your souls can’t distinguish. Aside from the obvious, of course,” Lada said, tapping on Amadeus’ glasses. “I believe you didn’t have those at the time of the first trial. They’re probably the result of improv.”

“…What about Teru? Was he real?” Amadeus still wanted a final piece of closure on this.

“Most likely, he was a copy of the actual Teru constructed from what his soul was, not just constructed from your memories like your own alter-egos were. You’ll have to decide for yourself if that means he was real.”

Amadeus was inclined to say that he was.

“His soul?” Haruhi asked. “How did you even do that?”

“Not me, the trial,” Lada corrected. “It’s just a matter of working backwards on the record of incoming and outgoing souls. Surprisingly easy, in fact. If not for the fact that it’s a massive violation of non-intervention laws, that is.”

“You just created two more questions,” Amadeus pointed out.

“Then let’s back up. That’s big picture stuff, if you ask me.”

“O-okay, uh…” Amadeus trailed off. She’s really gonna keep us on edge like this, huh?

Only one way to find out, Haruhi noted. “The connection in our heads. How’d you do that?”

“Oh, that?” Lada asked. “Just had to bend the rules of the type chart a bit. That’s just a taste of what the potential can let you do! Naturally, I’m a master.”

“…So it works by the same magic as all of the Humans in the town?”

“That it does! It turns out letting any type take on the properties of any other type and also allowing anyone to change their type at will is very, very powerful.”

“Wait, that’s all the magic does?”

“Tehe. Were you expecting something more out there? Unfortunately, power like that only gets given to a select few. Like myself, but that’s not a surprise to anyone.”

Arceus, there’s so many questions to ask… “What do you mean?”

“A certain other deity likes to give certain individuals extraordinary powers and talents just to see what happens, usually humans. Sometimes because someone brought over a human intentionally. In fact, that might be why your flames are so strong, Haruhi. Or maybe you’re strong on your own. Who knows, right?” Lada asked with a shrug.

There was a bit of a pause as Amadeus and Haruhi tried to think of another question. “You said something about non-intervention earlier, but you clearly have an impact on the world, and now you’re mentioning someone else who also likes giving out blessings. Are there rules or not?”

“Where there are rules, there are loopholes,” Lada explained. “And everyone loves a good loophole. The important bit is that the rules stop us from controlling the way society works in any meaningful way, which is what they’re designed to do. Nobody’s particularly bothered about the odd contact or blessing, after all.”

“Still seems a little hypocritical,” Amadeus pointed out.

“If you spend too much time worrying about the letter of the law, you’ll forget it’s purpose. The current rules serve their intent, so that’s good enough.”

“Alright…” Amadeus muttered. What else is there?

 

The souls thing? That seems important… Haruhi pointed out.

Right, that… “What were you saying earlier about souls?”

“Ah, that? Souls tend to get worn down as the body dies, so they get torn up and mixed in with other souls to make a new batch for the sake of efficiency. They even get shared across the multiverse, which brings the odd visitor over.”

“Wait, so humans are accidents?” Haruhi asked. As she did, Amadeus could feel a certain disappointment coming through the link in their heads.

“Mostly, anyway. Sometimes someone gets the bright idea to bring in an outside perspective, but for the most part? Pure random chance!” Lada chuckled as they explained this. “The reputation they’ve gained among the mortals of this world is so stellar, but very few had a grand purpose to their arrival. Funny, isn’t it?”

Haruhi turned to Amadeus. “Dude, I feel like my life is a lie.”

“It’s, uh, gonna be fine.”

“Yeah, but it makes everything I did with you early on feel so much sillier! I mean, I probably should’ve known when I learned there was a town full of them, but…”

We’ve made it this far, right? Who cares how silly it was.

 

…You’re right. Haruhi turned back to Lada. Anything else we have to ask her before we go?

 

Something dawned on Amadeus. They might know about the Medallions!

 

Oh, they might! And about the whole organization. What was it called, Calamity?

 

Yeah, I think so… Alright, I’m gonna ask it. “What do you know about Calamity?”

“Which one?” Lada asked. “There are a few of those.”

“No, I’m talking about the group called Calamity. They’ve got these Medallions, with weird powers.”

“I don’t really keep up with the happenings of the mortal realm, but I might be familiar with the Medallions. Are they named for sins, by chance?”

“Yes,” Amadeus quickly said. Okay, she knows something… “Do you know what the Medallions do?”

“Those, as far as I’m aware, are meant to be used together. Aside from corrupting their users, the abilities change every time the Medallion of pride finds a new wielder. You’re on your own as far as figuring them out is concerned.”

“…Anything else?”

“Well, they can be stolen!” Lada said, clearly trying to be helpful. “Unfortunately, I don’t know much. If it’s any consolation, they shouldn’t be able to destroy the world on their own, since their original creator would be in deep trouble if they could. At least, I think they would.”

“Their original creator?” Haruhi asked.

“Another deity. They did not believe in mortals, so they created something inherently destructive that would still fit within the rules. Idiotic, if you ask me. If they were ever right, they’d be stripped of all of their power. But, that hasn’t happened yet.”

“They were known to be destructive, and they were allowed to exist?” Amadeus asked.

“They’ve come under fire before. But they’ve kept going so far. Maybe your struggle will make the case to get rid of them. It’s happened with similar creations before, so who knows?”

“That still seems… wrong,” Haruhi expressed.

“And I sympathize, but alas, there’s nothing I can do.” Lada sighed. “I think we’ve exhausted the list of things you wanted to know, correct? Anything else?”

“…Maybe a little bit more about how the type magic works?”

“I’d rather leave that to Mya. She quite literally prayed to me to not tell you too much about it. I do have a responsibility to not antagonize those who would aid me in running these trials.”

A bit of silence followed.

“Then that’s everything?” Lada asked. “Good, good. I wish you two well in your travels, and especially in your very near futures. Remember that you have each other to rely on, alright?” Lada hopped down from the couch, and walked over to the door. When she opened it, all Amadeus could see was a bright white light, making him shield his eyes for a moment. “Out you go!” Lada said cheerfully.

Amadeus felt like he was being sucked in.

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Amadeus slowly got up, feeling just a little hazy. For a brief moment, he thought that the link might not still be present, before he heard Haruhi seconds later.

Is it over? She wondered, probably forgetting about the link.

I think so, yeah…

 

Oh, wow, that’s still here…

Amadeus looked around the room, and saw Mya and Fudo, both staring at the two of them, perhaps somewhat excited.

“You passed, I take it?” Mya asked.

“Yes,” Amadeus replied. “And now there’s a psychic link we can break in our heads. That’s gonna take some getting used to.”

“I wouldn’t call it a psychic link,” Mya said. “Maybe it’s a dark link. Or a fire link. Or a—”

“What are you even talking about?” Fudo asked.

“I’ve been waiting for a whole day to be the one to tell them. You can go outside and wait.”

“Why?” Amadeus asked. “He’s gonna ask us anyway.”

“…Fine, he can stay.” Mya approached them, and crouched down next to them. “But seriously, I have interesting things to tell you. I’m guessing Lada didn’t refrain from entirely keeping it a secret?”

“Something about changing the way types work?” Amadeus asked.

“Do you recall when I commented on Haruhi using fire and psychic at the same time?”

“Wait, I was already doing it?” Haruhi asked. Am I allowed to feel like hot shit for this?

Probably, Amadeus responded. You are a fire type.

 

Where did that wit even come from?

No clue.

“Indeed you were,” Mya replied, responding to Haruhi’s initial question. “In particular, you were assigning the properties of the psychic type to the fire type, almost by accident. Of course, this would have an impact on how it works. But I’m getting ahead of myself. What you are using is known as Typing Magic, and it is, in the truest sense, the power to manipulate types at will.”

“So, I could lift Amadeus with Psychic if I wanted to?” Haruhi asked. Now we know what happened last night… she added.

“Yes, you could,” Mya confirmed. “Although that might be difficult.”

“Well, I wanna try it,” Haruhi responded. “Any tips?” We could probably use this against Dumas, she pointed out.

With only a few hours of practice? Amadeus asked.

It’s worth a shot. Anything to tip the odds in our favor is huge.

Fair point…

“The best I can tell you is to try to treat your fire side like your psychic side, or vice versa. It’s… very difficult to get right when you’re starting out. Good luck.” Mya turned around. “With that, I believe you three have no further business here. You’re planning on taking on Dumas tonight, aren’t you? Give me the word, and I’ll bring you to the city. For now, I’m off to take care of a few errands.”

Wanting to get some fresh air, the trio headed outside, and sat down on the grass. Clearly, they had a lot to discuss.

“So, the biggest concern is the Medallion, right?” Amadeus started. “Lada confirmed that they can be stolen, so as long as we can do that, Dumas is just a normal Luxray.”

“Can you remind me what his Medallion does?” Fudo asked. “I’m not quite up to speed with that.”

“It lets him wish objects into existence,” Haruhi explained. “He’s basically got the powers of Jirachi with a handful of limitations. He can also read memories way better than any psychic could, but that’s less relevant.”

“…He probably already came up with a plan for what he does if it gets stolen a long time ago, right?” Fudo pointed out. “If he can create anything, surely he could create something that secures it to his neck?”

“That’s… definitely possible,” Amadeus admitted. “We’d have to get the drop on him for that to work.”

“How do we even do that? He’s gonna be holed up in the guild the entire time,” Haruhi pointed out.

“Come to think of it, he rarely ever leaves the main building of the Guild…” Fudo commented.

“We have to lure him out somehow,” Amadeus pointed out. “Man, I didn’t even think about the Guild. No way we could fight him in there.” Especially not after what happened last time we tried to fight him in an enclosed space.

“…I could do it,” Fudo mentioned. “That gadget he gave me? It’s got a built-in phone. I could call him, and tell him to come to the outskirts of the city. Then we’ve got a wide open area to fight him in, and there probably won’t be to many bystanders to get in the way.”

“Does Dumas trust you enough to come straight to your location when asked?” Amadeus questioned. “That seems like a big ask.”

“It’s way less risky than trying to escort him in person,” Fudo pointed out. “Who knows what he might do if we’re alone?”

“So, the plan so far is to get Fudo to lure him out, and then snatch the Medallion before he has a chance to respond?” Haruhi asked.

“Sounds like it, yeah,” Amadeus replied.

“Alright… what if that doesn’t work?” Haruhi asked.

“If he doesn’t come, we’re kinda screwed,” Amadeus pointed out. “We can’t really do anything if he doesn’t come to us. We’re just gonna have to hope that he does.”

An awkward silence followed.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do about that other than fight him in his own office,” Amadeus added after a moment, “Which sounds like a terrible idea to me. I don’t know about you guys.”

“Nah, fighting Dumas on his own terms in any sense is a no-go,” Haruhi agreed. “Way too risky.”

“Alright, then what if we can’t steal it?” Fudo asked.

“Let’s figure out how we’re gonna steal the medallion before we worry about what could go wrong,” Amadeus said. “Everything hinges on that much going well, so we need it to work out.”

“Alright…” Fudo responded.

“Actually, aren’t you the best person to steal it, Fudo?” Haruhi asked. “You’re clearly somewhat experienced at stealing stuff.”

“That requires me hitting Dumas with a move to trigger my Magician ability,” Fudo pointed out.

“Oh, you need to hit the target with a move first?” Haruhi said, somewhat disappointed. “…You could still probably yank it off of his neck directly with psychic, though. Just do it while he’s distracted with us.”

“I… could do that,” Fudo admitted. “That seems a little risky, though.”

“Well, it’s the best chance we’ve got. You’re still a way better psychic than I am,” Haruhi pointed out.

“I don’t like how much this plan suddenly hinges on me,” Fudo pointed out. “What if it fails?”

“We have to fight him while he has the Medallion,” Amadeus admitted. “Hopefully that doesn’t happen.”

“Well, I don’t think running’s an option if that happens,” Haruhi pointed out. “It’s still possible to fight him with the Medallion, right?”

“Your optimism is appreciated,” Amadeus responded.

Haruhi chuckled. “Thanks. I thought you needed it.”

Amadeus took in a deep breath. There was one last thing on his mind. “…Do you guys think we’re gonna have to kill him?”

There was an almost painful silence. Every single one of them had a reason to be averse to the idea. Eventually, Amadeus spoke up again.

“Listen. If it’s needed, I’m not above doing it, but… we just might have to. I don’t think there’s a way out of that if too many things go wrong.”

“Amadeus, please don’t be too worried about that,” Haruhi reassured him. “It’s not gonna come to that.”

“…But what if it does?”

Haruhi paused, before walking over and putting a paw on his shoulder. “Then I’ll be right here with you, and you’ll be there with me.”

“…Right,” Amadeus replied.

Amadeus looked into the sky with great anticipation. He had no way of knowing how well the rest of his day was about to go, but no matter what happened, it wasn’t going to be simple.

Nothing would ever be simple again. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though.