Chapter 11: The Hanged Man

Yuna braced for a painful electrical shock, but instead heard Nikki’s garbled wails. She poked an eye open. Seifer stood in front of her protectively. Nikki lay a couple of meters away, water dripping from her jacket.

“You all right?” Seifer asked without looking back.

“Yes.” At best, a half-truth. Physically she was fine. Mentally not so much. Her ectoplasm quivered. And she was struggling to understand why this was happening.

Before Nikki had the chance to stand up, Chiaki swooped in with a surprising burst of speed. Rather than using any specific attack, he kicked her in the side and sent her tumbling across the floor. “You can’t take all of us, you idiot!” he growled. “Whatever that freak did to your head… fight it.”

Was that it, then? Had Xeromus brainwashed her? If so, Chiaki was probably the last person Nikki wanted to hear anything from. “Maybe if we knock her out, it’ll free her from Xeromus’ control?” Yuna offered.

“We’ll need at least a few more solid hits, then,” Seifer said, horn sparking. “Aqua Jet was the only way I could get to you fast enough to stop her, but that hardly does much damage.”

“Err, right.” Yuna saw Nikki get to her feet. She imagined getting kicked in the ribs would leave someone dazed, yet something about the toxtricity’s movements seemed… off.

Nikki abruptly jerked to her left. “You hit me!” Her voice was heavily distorted. She jerked right. “You hit me!”

“You attacked first, numbskull,” Chiaki said. The look on his face suggested he shared Yuna’s concern.

“You hit me! You hit me!” Nikki hunched over, panting and slobbering like a wound-up feral manectric. Her mohawk glowed a sickly purple. She rose into the air on a pillar of purple ooze, then dropped to the ground.

“Fly, Princess!” Seifer cried, horn projecting a blue shield around himself. Chiaki also summoned a Protect. The Sludge Wave pushed both of them back while Yuna safely floated over it. Cid had managed to recover from his initial blow and get over the attack, but his hovering was erratic. The Boomburst must’ve done a number on him.

“Grraaah!”

To the group’s horror, Nikki slammed her hands on the ground. Another Boomburst shockwave rippled out. With their Protects fizzling out, there was nothing Chiaki and Seifer could do to shield themselves. Thinking quickly, Yuna darted toward Seifer with Quick Attack speed to back her up. She absorbed some of the blow, but there was still enough lingering force to upend Seifer.

Chiaki didn’t fare much better, getting flung airborne and flailing his limbs around. Yuna used another Quick Attack burst to close the gap. She tried to get her arms around his chest, but she was too small. Chiaki slipped past her and fell toward the ground— which was technically still the ceiling. God, that was confusing.

However, rather than trying to stick the landing, Chiaki’s fake arm whirred to life. His hook shot out toward Nikki with a long metal chain. Nikki flopped down on her stomach. Chiaki’s eyes widened when, despite Nikki’s dodge, the Hooker grabbed onto the air above her.

It was enough to slow Chiaki’s fall and let him land safely. Chiaki tugged his right arm briefly and encountered heavy resistance. On top of that, the floor above them rumbled like a distant thundercloud.

“What the hell?” Chiaki and Yuna looked up to see the serpent insignia shifting from blue to red.

“Chiaki! Princess!” Cid called, his spots glowing. “There’s something inside the floor. I think it’s a ghost-type!”

Grunting from the strain, the grovyle tugged on the Hooker. A brown, translucent arm materialized above Nikki, with four of its fingers connected to her back spikes.

“Ngaaargh!”

The floor rumbled again. Yuna watched it fracture around the serpent. Some of the segments dropped down, dangling by clusters of brown shadows.

“You found me?” The segment with the serpent’s head twitched in midair. “You found me! You found m— aargh!”

Scalding water blasted the face piece. Seifer stepped to Yuna’s side once again. “Professor, can you use Dynascan again? I’ve never seen anything like this!”

“There’s no need.” Cid’s spots glowed brighter. “I thought I recognized that serpent crest. That’s a runerigus!”

Seifer briefly looked at Cid like he was babbling nonsense. Yuna would have, too, were she not watching Runerigus’ stone segments. Were they getting closer?

Oh no! Yuna darted toward the outside of the ceiling. “Chiaki, run! It’s trying to crush you!”

A gust of wind appeared around Chiaki. Aerial Ace, from what Yuna could tell. But used to dash far to his left instead of attack.

“They’re a distant cousin to cofagrigus, but they were declared extinct not long after the Darkest Day,” Cid explained.

“Does that look extinct to you?” Seifer shouted after hopping right. One of Runerigus’ pieces smashed into the ceiling, leaving a spiderweb crack in the multicolored glass.

“You avoided me? You avoided me!” Runerigus shrieked. It dragged its stone segment across the ground, scratching up the stained-glass ceiling. Seifer wasn’t fast enough this time, and was sent rolling over toward Yuna.

“I don’t think the floor can take much more of this.” Chiaki opened his mouth, but Runerigus raised its midsection right before Bullet Seeds would’ve pelted it.

“Technically, we’re on the ceiling.” Cid laughed nervously.

“Not helping!” Chiaki shot the Hooker and latched into Runerigus’ midsection. The giant ghost hollered. It tried to pull up toward the ceiling, but the Hooker’s chain abruptly caught ablaze. Runerigus’ garbled screams echoed around the cathedral. Yuna’s gills shriveled and she wobbled in midair, messing up her attempt at helping Seifer up.

Runerigus hastily detached his hand from Nikki’s back. She crumpled into a ball on her side. Chiaki yanked the Hooker out of Runerigus. “Seifer, I need some help—”

“Stop insulting me! Stop insulting me!” Runerigus bellowed.

“Ngargh!”

Yuna turned around from Seifer. Runerigus had Chiaki in its grasp. His fake arm’s grappling hook flopped about as Runerigus hefted the grovyle up, then hurled him into the ground. Chiaki’s screams only lasted a second. Cracked glass spread out around him.

“No! Chiaki!” Yuna’s immediate thought was the impact shattered his spine and killed him. Relief flooded her when Chiaki shakily raised his real arm, only to have it drop by his side.

“You got beat by me! You got beat by me!” Runerigus giggled excitedly as it continued repeating the phrase. Yuna gulped. If Chiaki was still alive, why wasn’t it going for the killing blow? And what about Nikki? She was out cold, too.

“Princess! Commander! By my estimations, our floor can’t withstand another blow of that magnitude.” From the perimeter, Cid pointed to where Chiaki lay. Sure enough, the cracks in the glass were spreading toward the ones Runerigus had made earlier.

“Professor, you have to distract that thing now!” Seifer barked. Water coalesced around the tip of his horn.

“What about me?” Yuna asked.

“Stay by my side.”

“But I can help! Just tell me what to do.”

“I already did.” The keldeo didn’t budge from the ceiling’s perimeter. “You’re my charge. You’re not leaving my side.” The ball of water around his horn grew even bigger. Any further protests Yuna had disappeared as she swallowed hard.

“Hurry up, Professor!” Seifer cried.

“R-Right!” Cid nervously hovered forward. “Excuse me! Mr. Runerigus, sir? Before you turn me into a pile of mush, might I ask you a question?”

Runerigus lowered its headpiece toward Cid. “You’re insulting me?” it growled.

“No, not at all. J-Just, as a historian, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Cid forced a fake laugh. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t try to learn as much about you as possible.”

“You’re insulting me!” Runerigus raised its headpiece. Cid screamed and threw up a pink shield to try and protect himself.

“Ready!”

From beside Yuna, Seifer unleashed a gigantic water tunnel. It was easily two— no, three times bigger than him! Yuna flopped to the ground and dragged herself away, afraid of somehow getting swept up in it.

Fortunately, the only one taking the blow was Runerigus. The massive splashes drowned out its cries. But it didn’t stop there. Rather than evaporating away, the water condensed into gray, puffy clouds. Before Yuna knew it, rain pelted her from above.

“What just happened?”

“Dynageyser,” Seifer replied, hunching over to catch his breath. The rain washed the dust and debris from his medals and uniform.

Oh, so it was more of that Dynaforce stuff she heard mention of. “But wait… won’t the rain weaken the floor even more?”

Seifer jolted upright, his cheeks flushing. He must not have thought about that. Fortunately, the clouds cleared away, taking the rain with them. In their stead, Runerigus’ segments dangled from the floor. The serpent head disappeared.

“I… I think that did him in.” Cid sighed in relief. “I’ll hover down and get the oth—”

A loud creak sounded. Then another. And then a third. Yuna looked up. The bits of ectoplasm keeping Runerigus bound to the floor were giving way. It was going to fall… and crush Chiaki, Cid, and Nikki. Or shatter the floor and send them reeling through the Qliphoth!

All of this was her fault. Xeromus was drawn to her presence. Her pendant sent the group into the Qliphoth. And all she could do during the battle was stand by while everyone else fought on her behalf.

Why did she have to be so weak? Why couldn’t she keep anyone safe? Even if they made it back to Herbrides, how could she face the other students? Her family? Her kingdom?

I just… want to make a difference for once!

Another burning feeling took over Yuna’s head. Yuna hunched over and thrust her arms toward her teammates, as if she was trying to grab hold of them despite being separated by a good distance. Two shadowy clouds formed next to her. They extended toward Yuna’s teammates until they’d taken the shape of a pair of black, ectoplasmic wings.

Just when it looked like Runerigus would fall on top of her teammates, the wings wrapped themselves around Chiaki, Cid, and Nikki. They held the trio between six red spikes. Without even thinking, Yuna brought her hands up. The wings mimicked Yuna’s gesture, hurling everyone but Seifer to the other side of the ceiling’s perimeter.

“What in blazes—” Seifer reared on his hind legs, whinnying in surprise as he fell on his back.

The burning subsided. Yuna brought her hands down to her sides, staring in awe while the wings evaporated in shadowy trails. She looked down at her hands, wondering how she had even summoned them in the first place. Where had those been when Xeromus confronted them at the Herbrides Lines? They could’ve avoided all of this!

Runerigus then crashed into the ceiling, shattering the glass. A distorted purple shockwave rippled out from the glass shards. The entire room flipped itself all around Yuna. It was so startling, she wound up dropping out of the air and onto the floor. The actual floor. Cold, gray, and made of rough stone that stung as it brushed her ectoplasm.

“Oogh.” Yuna sat up. A wave of vertigo crashed over her, forcing her to lie back down. She waited a few seconds for the room to stop spinning. When it did, Yuna found the stained-glass ceiling was perfectly intact above her.

That got her to sit up. She definitely didn’t imagine all of that. Did beating Runerigus make the cathedral turn back to normal? Oh, it didn’t matter. The dreepy was exhausted. “Guys?” Yuna floated into the air. “Everyone okay?”

“My ribs,” Seifer wheezed to her left. The keldeo was draped over the back of a stone bench like a living dish towel. Nikki and Chiaki lay side by side several meters behind Yuna, with Cid floating above them. His massive head vibrated. Perhaps that was how orbeetle showed they were nervous?

“Princess?” Cid tapped his fingers together nervously. “You… you rescued us, didn’t you?”

Yuna thought back to the wings she summoned. Wrapping up her teammates and wedging them between those red spikes. She’d never seen wings like those on any dragon— heck, on any flying pokémon. “I guess I did?” Yuna looked at her hands again. She flicked one forward. No wing appeared.

“I saw it.” Wincing, Seifer gingerly slid off the bench. “You thrust your arms forward and summoned giant ghost wings.” He took a cautious step back. “What was that? Some sort of dark Aeon magic? It wasn’t any attack I’ve ever seen.”

Yuna flicked her left hand. Again, no wing appeared. “I don’t know.”

Seifer narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know… or you won’t say?”

“I don’t know.” Yuna resisted the urge to flinch. “I was just thinking about how all of this was my fault… and I got mad at myself. I envisioned grabbed onto everyone… and then the wings appeared.” The dreepy turned her hands back and forth.

“I see.” Seifer shook out his disheveled hair. “This is the second time you’ve claimed some strange phenomenon happened because you got angry. If you ask me, I think you’re hiding something.”

Yuna was about to retort when a loud groan sounded behind her. She turned around and, to her horror, saw Runerigus lying in front of the cathedral pulpit. Its stone segments quivered.

“… you… beat me?” The head segment turned to Yuna. “You traitor. You cannot stop us.” Runerigus tried to drag itself forward, but couldn’t manage. “You will pay. Nos vera Natus! Nos… vera… Natus!“

The head piece went limp. Runerigus’ body shrank down, releasing black steam that coalesced above it. Briefly, a black, crystalline mask resembling a dragon skull formed in the middle of the shadows. It instantly shattered and the fragments dissolved away.

“Hey, look at that.” Cid hovered toward Yuna. “Runerigus turned into a cofagrigus.”

Seifer’s eyes widened. “Wait a second.” He walked toward Cofagrigus, wincing with every step. “This is the man that fiend Xeromus threw into the distortion when he attacked me a few nights ago. Sergeant Rune.” The keldeo was in too much pain to properly kneel down and examine him. “Professor, can you sense any energy from him?”

“Mmm. It’s faint, but there’s a spark,” Cid replied.

“That’s good.” Seifer bit his lip. “Though it’s horrifying how much the distortion warped him.”

Is it really that simple? Yuna clasped her pendant. Before fading away, Runerigus chanted that phrase Cid brought up back at the Herbrides lines. And, of course, Xeromus kept referring to Natus. It was probably connected to this Qliphoth place, then. Perhaps Natus was the Qliphoth’s ruler? Or maybe its deity… like Bahamut was for her people?

“Right. Well, just because Rune is safe doesn’t mean we’re out of trouble,” Seifer said, face scrunched up. “Those two students are clearly hurt, but I lost my supplies when we got flung into the mystery dungeon.” He glanced at Rune. “We need a way out. With three unconscious and my injuries, we’re as vulnerable as a beached magikarp.”

Cid raised his right hand. “Hold that thought.” His spots glowed pink. “I’m sensing a strong aura behind that lectern.” His brow furrowed. Cid floated toward the pulpit.

“Professor, wait. It could be a trap.” Yuna was torn between following the orbeetle and staying by Seifer. She tensed up, fearful Cid was about to trigger something bad.

“Hmm.” Cid pressed a hand to the stone wall and knocked on it. “It’s hollow. I think this wall is fake.” He backed away. A pink glow surrounded the stone. Cid effortlessly removed the wall. It dropped onto the carpeted floor without making a sound.

“Oh my!” The orbeetle backed away, shielding his eyes from a brilliant white and orange light. “Commander, are you seeing this?”

Yuna looked to Seifer for some indication he knew what Cid was talking about. His jaw hung open. “It can’t be. That’s… the Herbrides Needle?”

“Needle?” Yuna failed to see the likeness. Then again, all she saw was bright light. Light that was… getting closer?

No, wait. She was floating toward it. But why? She wasn’t telling her body to move! What was the meaning of this? And why was her pendant glowing again?

“Princess, what are you doing?” Seifer called. “Don’t go near the Needle! It’s not meant to be touched!”

Cid looked ready to try and block her. Without thinking, Yuna charged forward with Quick Attack. She planted both her hands on the red gemstone sitting atop the metal rod. When she did, a column of blue fire surrounded her and swallowed her up with the Needle.

“Mmm. Soft.”

She uncurled her large, deep blue wings and let their spectral membranes brush against the dew-covered grass. Above her was a blue, sunny sky. She’d never seen anything like it before. It was nothing like the twisted projections within the Qliphoth. And that meant… she must’ve made it.

She escaped. She was free.

A laugh escaped trembling lips. The endless patrols. The imprisoning of rebellious spirits. It was all behind her. Finally.

Except… what planet had she even ended up on? She tried lifting her head, but pain jolted down to the golden tip of her crescent tail.

… right. A Malice Cannon had struck her while she fled through deep space. She had gotten a portal open, but that was all she remembered before blacking out.

“Guess I had a rough landing.” She mustered the strength to turn her head. An impact crater sat several meters to her right. Chunks of dirt and mud lay scattered around kicked up grass. She must’ve crashed there and rolled to a stop where she currently lay. No wonder her wings and tail were so sore.

“Oh gosh! Oh golly! Oh goodness!”

“Huh?” Despite the pain, her psychic sense kicked up at an unfamiliar, nasally male voice. Her eyes glowed pink, but she lacked the power to open her third eye. She sensed… a fiery aura. One mixed with dragon. She tried sitting up again to no avail.

The temperature around her spiked, then a reshiram landed just in the periphery of her vision. This one looked quite nervous. Tapping his claws together and shifting from one foot to another. He had an awful case of bed head. A far cry from the usual luscious locks she’d seen on other reshiram. Had he just woken up?

“Are you okay, Miss… um…” Reshiram tilted his head. Nervous or not, his soft, blue eyes glistened more than any other reshiram’s eyes she’d ever looked at. Probably a result of not spending eternity in the Qliphoth. “Actually, this is kind of awkward. What even are you?”

What kind of question was that? Oh, right. Matriarch told her about this. The outsiders would not have anything to compare her to.

Should she give her name, then?

“Oh no.” Reshiram knelt down. The pendant around his neck bristled against his tangled fur. Its eight-pointed star glistened under the sunlight. “You didn’t lose your memories, did you?”

He stood back up and lightly bonked his temples with his wings. “Cecil, you nitwit! Look at the size of that crater! Did all of Bahamut’s instructions go completely in one ear frill and out the other? Assess the scene, get the injured immediate aide, then ask the questions.” He smacked his face harder. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!“

“Lunala,” she finally whispered. This guy’s a real piece of work. I hope everyone on this planet isn’t like him. His nerves are going to fry my ESP at this rate.

Reshiram froze mid-face smack. “Lunala?” He rubbed his snout with a claw. “Not ringing any bells. But I can discuss that with Bahamut and the others when we get back.”

“Get back?” Lunala’s red eyes glowed. “I’m not about to run off with a stranger.”

“No, no, you misunderstand.” Reshiram waved his wings in front of his face. “My friends and I saw you fall from outer space. I’m a fast flier, so I went ahead to scout and see if I could find you.” He extended his right wing toward her. “You seem hurt. There are people at home who can heal you. And then we can talk… if you like, of course.”

Nervous energy or not, it was awfully kind of Reshiram. No one in the Qliphoth would offer such generosity if she ended up lost and injured in some unknown segment. But could she trust him? Tensing, Lunala tried to probe Reshiram’s mind. However, a pins and needles sensation overtook her own head and forced her to retreat.

If she refused, she’d be stuck by herself in some field on an unknown planet. What did she have to lose?

Her life, perhaps. But at this point, death was preferable to the Qliphoth.

“Okay.” Lunala shakily reached her right wing to Reshiram’s. “And, um, thank you.”

Reshiram smiled. His tail lit up bright orange. “It’s my pleasure.”

Groaning, Yuna rolled around the crystalline floor of the small, circular room that held the now-missing Needle. What was that vision? Nothing about it made sense… except for Saint Reshiram, of course. And yet, he looked nothing like his depictions in the scriptures. So unscrupulous. And he had a name? Cecil?

“Well, to be fair, that was the name I had when I was a commoner. Y’know, before I took over the whole Sage of Truth gig from my teacher.”

Oh, okay. That made perfect sense.

… wait, no it didn’t! Why was the reshiram’s voice from the dream in her head?!

Yuna abruptly sat up and looked around. The room was full of black crystals. They were absorbing the light from the cathedral, giving the place a warped and jagged appearance. She tucked her head down to see her pendant glowing.

“Huh. You’re a dreepy? What are you doing with a Soul Dew? No, scratch that. Why am I even in a Soul Dew?!”

Yuna’s pendant glowed. Orange and white streams of light funneled out and coalesced into Saint Reshiram himself. The very same fuzz-covered dragon she laid eyes on in the dream.

Well, not quite. He was much smaller. And kind of see-through?

Yuna blinked once. Twice. She smacked her cheek.

Nope, she wasn’t dreaming anymore. Which meant…

“You’re… you’re Saint Reshiram.” The dreepy shakily pointed to him. “It’s really you! The scriptures are true after all.”

“Saint?” Reshiram cocked his head. “Nobody mentioned anything about that to me.” His brow furrowed. He was ready to add something else, but purple light above his head caught his attention. “Err, hold that thought. What is—”

Yuna looked up. A rift much like the previous ones she traversed the Qliphoth with sat above her. Only this one had warm sunlight filtering in through it. Could that be a way back home?

“Is… is that a… Qliphoth Rift?” Reshiram’s fur frazzled. His tail engine crackled. He fanned his face with a wing. “Oh me… deep breaths. Oh my… not working. Oh dear… gonna scream.” Reshiram took a deep breath.

“Waaaaaah!”

He flew around the small room in a frenzied, zig-zagging panic. Yuna watched dumbstruck. All of the stories had depicted Saint Reshiram as a stern individual, committed to honesty no matter the situation. This guy, however, made her look like the most confident dragon in the world. What was the deal? Was he some sort of fake? Was this all the Qliphoth’s doing?

“Hey! Hey!” Yuna floated into the air. Reshiram managed to screech to a halt before crashing into her. “Can you stop freaking out for a minute and tell me what the heck is going on here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Reshiram pointed to the rift. “My seal is broken and there’s a Qliphoth Rift right above us. Our plan must’ve failed… which means the Qliphoth is going to eat away the planet! We’re all hosed!” He paused and looked down at his belly. “Okay, well you’re hosed. I’m already dead… but I’m not looking to wind up a daemon!”

Reshiram turned away and went back to hyperventilating. Yuna was reduced to wordlessly opening and closing her mouth. She thought this Qliphoth business was a lot to take in. But pokémon getting transformed into extinct species? A Luminous Sage appearing in front of her and freaking about some kind of impending doomsday? And, to top it all off, said Sage being nothing like the scriptures Yuna followed her whole life?

She couldn’t deal with this. It was time to put her nonexistent foot down. “That’s enough!” The dreepy floated up to Reshiram, head still pounding. “I know you’re worried, but I’ve had a miserable day. I just want to go home.”

“Home?” Reshiram blinked. “To Bahamut?”

Yuna stiffened. That was not the response she expected. “Didn’t he perish when he lost his light to World Ender?”

“World Ender?” Reshiram scratched his chin. “Can’t say I’m familiar. But who else could you have gotten that Soul Dew from?” He tapped a claw to Yuna’s pendant.

“Hey!” Yuna reflexively covered the pendant with her hands. “This is a family heirloom.”

“No, that’s a Soul Dew.” Reshiram fiddled with one of his wispy hair strands. “I would know. All us Sages had ’em. Also, y’know, Sage of Truth and all.”

And now the dreepy had another issue to add to the plate. “Okay, well, whatever this is… we need to table this discussion.” Yuna crossed her arms. “I have colleagues who are hurt outside. We have to get back home. Y’know, to Etherium.”

Reshiram pointed up to the rift. “Qliphoth Rifts wouldn’t last this long if they were going between segments. That should get you back to the outside world. I’d stake my honor on it.” He looked around. “I mean, honor’s kind of all I have. Y’know, being dead and all.” He shrugged and laughed nervously.

Yuna dragged her hands across her face. Reshiram’s sense of humor was— okay, no, she couldn’t sugarcoat it. It sucked. And it was unbecoming for a Sage to act this casual.

“Well, can you, like, make yourself disappear until I can gather the others?” she pleaded.

“Okay, fine. But we are going to talk all this over, right? Because, y’know, not to point claws or anything, but if you’re the one who broke my seal you might’ve just screwed over the whole planet.”

Yuna glared at Reshiram. He raised his wings innocently. “Hey, I’m just being honest.”

“Be honest somewhere else… please.“

Reshiram nodded. His body shrank down into a glob of red and white light. It funneled back into Yuna’s pendant. Her shoulders sagged.

Something told her it was going to take more than the fancy medicine in Dr. Rafique’s clinic to bounce back from this.

The blow to Noctum’s head was definitely getting to him. He was finding it harder to stay standing. When Vegna went to question a hitmonchan guard, Noctum sat down and braced himself on either side with his arms.

“So, a cloaked figure made a mad dash toward the distortion and you lot made no attempt to stop them?” Vegna’s eye crackled with red sparks, as did the rubies in his skull gauntlets.

“They were just too fast, sir.” Hitmonchan rubbed his hands together nervously.

“And did you happen to miss the hostage they were holding?” Vegna growled. Hitmonchan nodded and looked down at his lavender shirt. Vegna brought his right hand to his side. Shadows coiled around it. “Then it would seem I’ve no choice but to send you to the Twilight Realm. Such incompetence cannot be allowed to remain standing.”

Hitmonchan’s eyes widened. “W-Wait! P-Please, sir, I didn’t mean to do anything wrong.”

Vegna raised his hand as if he was going to strike, then lowered it. “Hmph. T’was a jest you ignoramus.” On the dusknoir’s shoulder, Talonflame’s eyes glinted with amusement. “But I will see to it that you suffer a write-up. And possibly a salary reduction.” He turned away from Hitmonchan, who slumped down onto his knees with a dazed look in his eyes.

Noctum winced. He almost felt sorry for the guy. But if he was feeling better, he might’ve been even more upset than Vegna. Yuna was still missing and this questioning hadn’t brought him any closer to finding her.

The charizard was ready to suggest giving up when the ground rumbled. A few meters away, Shimmer whinnied in surprise. “An earthquake? Here?”

“Yo, V! The distortion!” Griffon pointed a metallic wing toward the black, static twister in the distance. Beams of light poked through the dark clouds. Then a pillar of light erupted from the ground, swallowing the distortion up.

“Whoa!” Noctum threw an arm over his face. The bright light only intensified the pounding in his head. Now he was really wishing he’d heeded Vegna’s words and stayed back.

“Is anyone out there? We need some help over here!”

Noctum’s tail flame grew. He knew that voice. It was Yuna’s! The charizard rubbed his eyes, praying this wasn’t some sort of hallucination. “Princess, are you there?” Noctum called, voice cracking.

“Oh, brother. Are you blind?” Shimmer rolled his eyes. “She’s floating at the head of the group, waving her arms around.”

Noctum was too overjoyed to be bothered by Shimmer’s snide response. Though dizzy, he stumbled forward. “Princess!”

Yuna zoomed toward him. She flew straight into his belly, wrapping her arms around his utility belt. “Noctum! Thank God. I thought… I thought I’d never see you again.”

The charizard’s tail flame turned a vibrant blue. He wrapped his black-scaled arms around her and cradled her tight. “It’s okay, Princess. I’m here now.” Noctum leaned over to brush his snout against her head. “I’m here.”