Chapter 12: Brought Up to Extreme Speed

Yuna used the train ride back to Horizon Academy to stumble through an explanation of what happened… sans the stuff with Reshiram. What made it hard for her was the dazed look in Noctum’s eyes. He mentioned a blow to the head and the welt between his black horns was clear as day. There was also a nagging sense of an invisible feather duster tickling her chest. She figured it was the Soul Dew, which she was trying to ignore.

The dreepy tried going to her mental happy place. She was lying on the gray shag carpet of her stone wall bedroom with a hakamo-o and a vibrava opposite her. Yuna held small bottles of claw polish to use on her friends while they, in turn, painted her horns and the spokes on her tail ring.

“That’s your happy place? Yeesh. That color scheme wouldn’t feel out of place in a prison.”

And just like that it all dissolved away into her mind’s eye. Yuna fought to hide a frown. She didn’t want to worry Noctum when he’d already gone through an ordeal on her behalf. However, Reshiram’s presence wasn’t helping her mood. Which was ironic because she should’ve been ecstatic.

Yuna produced an honest-to-God miracle. She had found the Sage of Truth, despite all the scriptures claiming Saint Reshiram sacrificed himself with the other Sages to end the Darkest Day. If this had happened before the day’s events, Yuna would’ve done everything she could to get another transcontinental train up and running to get back home, where she would’ve undoubtedly been hailed as some sort of hero.

But no. Instead of the stern but wise Reshiram in the scriptures she’d summoned a bundle of nerves.

“That’s not very nice, you know. And what’s with all this ‘god’ and ‘worship’ business anyway?” Reshiram wondered. “Being a Sage meant I was a teacher. One with amazing tenure, sure, but still a teacher. Nothing worth fawning over or anything.”

If Reshiram had disappeared around the Darkest Day, then there was a lot he’d have to catch up on.

“What’s a lot? Gimme your best guess.”

About eleven hundred years, give or take, Yuna responded. Her head was hurting again. Was this what it was like for psychic-types?

“E-Eleven hundred?!” Surprised squeaks echoed in Yuna’s head. She honestly wasn’t sure if that number was larger or smaller than Reshiram expected.

And she wouldn’t get an answer, because the train pulled into Horizon Station. Yuna didn’t even get the chance to rise out of her tan leather seat before Arianna floated into the train flanked by a couple of comfey nurses.

“The Chancellor is aware of what happened.” The gardevoir nudged up her glasses. “I’m teleporting you to the infirmary immediately.”

Nothing had broken through the melancholy shell that hardened around Shimmer. Not the soft silk of his favorite pink, fur-lined bathrobe. Not the cool velvet of his pink pillow case against his fluffy, cotton candy mane. And not the taste of a certain sylveon’s honeydew lip gloss as he pressed his lips against Shimmer’s.

Xander must’ve realized this, too, because he quickly broke the kiss off and sat up. He slid off Shimmer’s belly and sat on a bunched-up section of Shimmer’s sky-blue, down comforter. “What’s going on, Shim? I thought we said we were going to have some quality time after the field trip.” The sylveon’s ears drooped. “Are you really that bummed the trip got upended? We’ve been to the Herbrides Lines so many times I’ve lost count. And it was your choice to run off with Vegna.”

Shimmer looked into Xander’s turquoise eyes, then past them to the diamond light fixture in the middle of the sky mural ceiling. “No, that’s not it.”

“Is this about your uncle, then?” Xander reached a ribbon out and wrapped it around Shimmer’s foreleg. “I heard Magister Reinhardt remanded him to the Crowne Penitentiary until the trial.”

Shimmer bit back the urge to scowl at Xander. After all, the ponyta had been there when Vegna gave that blasted feral bird the requisition to deliver to Herbrides’ police station. And now his fate was in the hands of… well, he didn’t know. Vegna refused to answer his questions. The nerve of that dusknoir! If the day hadn’t gotten away from him, Shimmer would’ve gone straight to his mother and demanded she read Vegna the Riot Act.

And yet, though the thought got him heated, that wasn’t the problem. “Uncle Benedict is innocent. No amount of trumped-up charges will change that. Some idiot inquisitor will have egg all over their face when this is over.”

Xander frowned. “Well, if it’s not that… then what?” He tucked his head and ran his other feeler along the black lace over his belly. “I put on one of my tightest outfits for you. If you weren’t up for doing anything, you should’ve told me.” He flopped down beside Shimmer, tilting his head toward the ponyta’s. “Come on, Shim. Don’t leave me in the dark.”

“It’s the dragon princess,” Shimmer whispered, turning left to face the wall and the three modelling posters he’d chosen to adorn it.

One had him in a white suit with a matching bowtie and fur collar. In another, he was on his hindlegs in an open-neck polo shirt and striped stockings that went up to his thighs. And in the third, he wore an ocean-blue sundress and matching hat. Marker scribbles lined the poster’s borders. Words of encouragement from influencers and celebrities applauding him for bucking traditions and setting new fashion trends.

“You mad because she ruined the trip?” Xander laughed. “C’mon, Shim. It doesn’t matter. Once we bounce her team from the first leg, that’ll be the end of her travels with the class.”

Shimmer sighed again. “That’s not it.” He looked beside the posters, to a bookshelf lined with plaques, trophies, and the occasional snow globe. Awards for academic merit, beauty pageant placements, outstanding guest performances in PV shows. But there was one empty slot in the middle of the bookcase. A spot he’d kept empty since the day he started in the academy. A spot for the Crowne Cup.

The ponyta’s brow furrowed. “Ignoring that she probably hurt Commander Seifer, there was something… different about her when she and the other troublemakers popped out of the distortion.”

“Did she evolve or something?”

Shimmer shook his head. “Not physically. Her aura. It was so meek before she vanished. Now… it’s like an iceberg. Tiny on the surface, but hiding something massive underneath.”

“I see.”

Silence, then Xander’s ribbons draped over Shimmer’s torso. A soft glow came from the ribbons. Shimmer relaxed somewhat. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Shim,” Xander whispered. “Even if she ends up being stronger than she looks, there’s one thing we have that she can only dream of.”

Shimmer turned his head slightly so Xander could see his raised brow. The sylveon leaned in so his head was next to Shimmer’s. “Team synergy,” he whispered, his ribbon slithering up to nestle Shimmer’s chin.

A tingle ran down the pontya’s spine. He glanced at his nightstand, and the framed photo of him beside an eevee with a pink ribbon and a farfetch’d struggling to hold up its massive leek.

“I suppose you’re right,” Shimmer said. “I guess I let the day’s events get to my head.” He chuckled softly.

“I concur,” Xander purred. “So, why don’t we do something to take your mind off of things, hmm?” The sylveon brushed some fur out of his face. “The first-years have an evening drill to run through. Want to head down to the locker room and rate the guys? And maybe, if that gets you in the mood, we can stage a tactical retreat?”

Blood rushed into Shimmer’s cheeks. He smiled. “Sounds like a perfect distraction.”

Groaning, Yuna flopped onto her pillow. Her gills brushed a black pillowcase. She grabbed a stufful doll to her right and wrapped her arms around it. “Well, that sucked.”

A comfey nurse quickly examined her at the infirmary before concluding she had no injuries. Yuna couldn’t say the same for her colleagues, however. They were all ushered back to beds while the same nurse shooed her off and told her she could visit tomorrow. Yuna begged the nurse to let her stay with Noctum, but Dr. Rafique showed up to turn her away. If the zarude was upset about seeing the group there again, he didn’t let it show.

Baraz took her back to her room, but had to leave since he wasn’t permitted to stay in the girls’ dormitory. She figured a couple of security guards would be posted near her room or something. Not that it mattered. Yuna wanted to sleep and forget this day ever happened.

“Not to be that guy or anything, but sticking your head in the sand isn’t going to make this go away.”

Yuna grabbed the Soul Dew with her right hand, looking to yank it off and toss it off the bed. However, no matter how hard she tugged, the pendant wouldn’t budge. Yuna pushed the stufful doll away and pulled the pendant with both hands.

No dice. It was stuck.

“It’s not stuck,” Reshiram said. “Now that my spirit’s inside it, it’s bonded with you. Frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen earlier. I didn’t think any empty Soul Dews existed anymore. Bahamut hadn’t made any in a while, last I remember.”

Yuna’s brow furrowed. So now she was stuck with this thing? And Reshiram, too?

“Aww, you make it sound like a punishment.” Reshiram whimpered. “Come on, I’m not a bad housemate. I pick up after myself, I do my own laundry, and I sweep up my fur when I’m shedding!” A beat passed. “Oh, wait… that stuff doesn’t really apply if I’m dead, huh?”

Yuna buried her face in her pillow. Why me? All she wanted to do was bide her time and keep her head down until the treaty was signed and she could return home. But there was nothing normal about her time at Horizon Academy so far. She dreaded the very idea of getting out of bed the next morning. Who knew what horrors awaited her?

“The choices you make don’t really matter.”

Xeromus’ statement replayed in her head. Did that crazy monster know something she didn’t?

Reshiram cleared his throat. “Not to worry you or anything, but we do kind of need to discuss the whole me waking up from a lengthy slumber thing. Because there are some pretty big repercussions here. Like, world on the brink of collapse big.”

Yuna lifted her head up and dragged her hands over her face. Okay, fine. She rose from her bed. You can’t come out, though. This is the girls’ dorm. If the guards hear a guy’s voice, I’ll get in serious trouble.

“That’s okay. Everything you can see, I can see, too,” Reshiram chirped.

Delightful.

… it wasn’t. But there was nothing she could do about it.

Yuna lazily drifted toward her desk. The Aeon World Almanac sat in the middle, gifted by her parents to help with the move to Radiance. She flipped it open until she found two pages. One showing Bahamut’s eight-pointed star. The other bearing World Ender’s circle with five diamonds surrounding it.

I was taught that the world was shaped by Bahamut, the Luminous Creator. Yuna pointed to the sigil. He helped shepherd the world with the Luminous Sages, protectors who were blessed with some of Bahamut’s power.

Yuna turned the page to a map of Etherium. The world used to be one large continent. Bahamut and the Sages didn’t oversee it, however. That was left to a council. One with a lot of dragons, because their auras were most in tune with Bahamut’s.

She paused and glanced at her Soul Dew. No interruptions. Was she right or was Reshiram trying to be polite? She looked expectantly, but didn’t get an answer. So, Yuna flipped back to the previous pages. Then came the Darkest Day. A planet-sized daemon known as World Ender blotted out the heavens. Bahamut tried to stop it, but was destroyed. His light scattered.

The dreepy turned back to the map. World Ender’s immense power fragmented the continent. But before it could completely wipe us out, the Luminous Sages banded together and sacrificed themselves to destroy World Ender. Yuna sighed. In the aftermath, dragons were blamed for the Darkest Day. Those who remained on the largest fragment of the original continent rallied around a group of fairy-types. They declared war on the dragons and those who supported Bahamut and His teachings.

Yuna placed her right hand in the middle of the map and moved it to the top left. The fairies and their allies drove the dragons into these volcanic mountains. They formed a kingdom. The one we’re in right now, actually. She put her free hand on the Soul Dew. The dragons and those exiled with them were unhappy with their new living conditions. World Ender’s attacks had rendered the environment far from hospitable. So, they continued mounting attacks to try and claw back some land from the fairies. But they were largely unsuccessful.

She flipped pages to another map. While similar to the first, there were large clusters of black swirls. An entire black circle surrounded the Kingdom of Radiance in the middle of the map. At some point, distortion began to sweep across the globe. The dragons stopped fighting the fairies and focused their efforts on warding off the distortion and rescuing one another from the mystery dungeons that lay inside.

Which brings us to today. Yuna shut the book. While the Aeon Kingdom, my home, has managed to keep the distortion from overrunning it, the fairies in the Kingdom of Radiance have been less successful. Mother told me they lost big, bustling cities to the distortion.

So, our two kingdoms are looking to make a treaty. My parents decided to send me to Radiance as a goodwill gesture.

… though after the week’s events, Yuna couldn’t say she had much goodwill left inside her.

She glanced down at the Soul Dew. No response. Yuna poked it. You going to say anything?

After a few seconds of silence, Reshiram piped up. “Okay, that makes things clearer.” He paused. “Like, fifteen percent clearer at best, but that’s fifteen percent better than before!”

Yuna banged her head on the almanac. Was she going to have to go through all that again? “What am I missing, then?” She couldn’t keep that comment in her head.

The Soul Dew shimmered. Yuna tried to grab it, but a small tendril of white light popped out and plopped a toy-sized Reshiram on the almanac. “I thought I told you to stay in the gem,” Yuna hissed.

“You did. But I thought this’d be easier.” Reshiram looked up at her and flinched. “Don’t swat me. I don’t wanna be a pancake.”

Yuna groaned. “Fine. Go ahead.”

“Great. Lemme start with the easy one.” He hopped off the back of the book and, grunting, tried to get it open. Yuna lifted her head and flipped the cover, allowing Reshiram to turn to the page with World Ender’s sigil.

“See this?” He tapped one of the diamonds with a wing. “I don’t know where or when the whole ‘World Ender’ thing came from… but that daemon is a planet-devouring behemoth known as Eternatus. And any tales of its death are greatly exaggerated.”

Eternatus. The name clicked immediately for Yuna. It had to be the Natus that Xeromus kept referring to… and, by extension, the one in that chant from Runerigus. “How do you know that?” Yuna asked.

“Bahamut told me. Or, well, he told all the Sages.” Reshiram stroked his chin. “Because he’d seen Eternatus in action before. Wiping out planets and all the life that they carried.”

“… oh.” Yuna looked down. Sure, one of Bahamut’s teachings was that there were other worlds bearing life like Etherium did. But now Yuna wondered if Eternatus was the reason Bahamut had ever taught about such a thing.

Reshiram crossed his wings. “I think part of the reason he was so… obsessive about us Sages doing our best to preach harmony and cooperation was that he was terribly worried of Eternatus being drawn to the planet. He would always ramble about wicked hearts and maliciousness drawing Eternatus like a tauros to a miltank herd.” His brow furrowed. “And I guess he was right about that in the end.”

Yuna could’ve pressed that point, but there was something she was far more interested in. “What do you remember about the Darkest Day?”

Reshiram’s luminescent fur frazzled. “Well, I remember Bahamut crashing into a mountain after getting struck by a single attack from Eternatus.” He shuddered. “You were right about his light disappearing. All we found was a lump of black crystals condensed around this multicolored prism.” He wrapped his wings over his torso. “I can still hear his screams of agony. None of us had ever seen him like that. He always knew how to hide if he was in pain.”

Yuna’s ectoplasm quivered. Eternatus sounded truly terrifying.

“So, us Sages made a plan. We’d use the light Bahamut had given us in our Soul Dews.” Reshiram pointed to Yuna’s neck. “Bahamut tried to dissuade us. Said it would cost us our lives. But we were desperate. So, we sprang into action… heading to different parts of the continent. We linked our spirits together and, in tandem with Bahamut’s light, created a seal that trapped Eternatus.” He scratched the back of his neck. “The last thing I remember was the sensation that I was drifting off to sleep. And then I woke up in that Soul Dew.”

His face scrunched up. “But I don’t understand why I even woke up. Bahamut’s light was supposed to be too powerful for anyone to safely contact unless they were trained.” Reshiram shifted weight from one foot to the other. “I assumed, since you have one of his Soul Dews, he must’ve trained you. Except all the stuff you told me flies in the face of that idea.”

He looked Yuna in the eye. “So, how did you break the seal?”

“I mean, you heard what I said to Noctum on the train,” Yuna replied. The ‘how’ was obvious. It just happened. It was the ‘why’ that concerned her. And judging from what Reshiram had to say, he didn’t have any answers.

“Yeah.” Reshiram paced back and forth in front of the almanac. “Not only did you break my seal… you managed to access the space we trapped Eternatus in. Though I have no idea why my part of the seal ended up there to begin with.” He slumped onto his rear. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. This is a right fine mess we’ve fallen into. If we don’t take action, the whole planet will be in trouble. If we’re going to have any chance, we have to find the other Sages and break their seals, too.”

Yuna frowned. “Me?” She raised her hands. “Look, I have no intention of diving back into the Qliphoth or fighting any Phantoms or anything like that. I’m just a dreepy.”

Except that wasn’t entirely true and Yuna knew that. “I mean… yeah, I’m a princess. But, like, look at me! I’m not a battler. I can’t fight monsters if my life depended on it.” She turned to her window and the blackout curtains draped over it. “Several people got hurt today… all to protect me. And I…”

Her voice trailed off as her right hand tingled. She looked down and found inky black pooling in her hand. Yuna was reminded of the spectral wings she summoned in the cathedral. She cleared her throat. “Okay, maybe I’m not entirely defenseless. But I don’t think that’s enough.”

“Well, that’s where I come in.” Reshiram puffed his chest out. “Since I’m bonded to the Soul Dew, I can share my power with you.”

Yuna frowned. “Uh, well, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not looking for any sort of truth-seeing magic.” She couldn’t imagine life as a living lie detector was any fun.

Granted, she wasn’t exactly having fun now, but the point stood anyway.

“No, no. I mean like firepower.” Reshiram tilted his head and coughed up a fireball. His cheeks reddened. “I promise the real goods are cooler.” His expression blanked. “Err, okay, maybe not cooler. That’d be shameful for a fire-type. But, like, you get the idea.”

“Right.” Yuna had seen illustrations of Reshiram’s flames. They were so powerful they had a shimmering blue color that no dragons or fire-types could match. “But, like, even with that power, we still need a plan. If this is as big as you say it is, we can’t afford to fly blind. Or solo.”

“Then rope in those people that were with you,” Reshiram suggested. “They know the stakes. I’m sure they can help.” He paused and looked down. “Well, okay, I’m not sure. Or even confident. But they’re better than nothing.”

What an endorsement. Yuna didn’t like that idea one bit. “I can’t ask them to get involved like that on my behalf.” She looked down guiltily. “Certainly not after what happened to them today.”

“You have to!” Reshiram hopped onto the book. “We can’t afford to dilly-dally. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that some big putz with a bigger ego will come along and do something monumentally stupid!”

Vortex set his whiskey glass down with considerably more force than was necessary. He slumped back in his massive leather office chair, rubbing his brow. “How is it that one tiny dreepy can cause such a tyranitar-sized headache?” The charizard quickly held his free hand up. “Don’t answer that. It’s rhetorical.”

Opposite him, Arianna nudged her glasses. “Of course, Chancellor.”

“I swear, there must be a secret absol tribe stalking that girl,” Vortex continued. “No one can possibly get into this much trouble by sheer happenstance.” He stared at the two tiny ice cubes in his glass. “Maybe Vegna’s right. Maybe she is cursed.”

Arianna cleared her throat. “Apologies, Chancellor, but I feel I should mention that the salamence officer the Aeons left here to be the dragon-type Crowne Minister is talking to that dracozolt creature about the possibility someone’s forging his correspondences.”

Vortex rolled his eyes. “Delightful. And after this latest episode, it’s going to be even harder to sweep things under the rug.” He picked up the glass and swirled the ice cubes around. “Can anything else go wrong today?”

“Nrgk!”

Arianna jerked to her left, dropping her pen and notepad. Vortex’s tail flame sparked. “Arianna?”

The gardevoir righted herself, but there was a distant look in her eyes. She opened her mouth, but the voice that came out wasn’t hers.

“… congratulations, Chancellor. You got your wish.”

Vortex’s whiskey glass almost slipped right out of his hand. He managed to catch it at the last second. “Demerzel? What are you doing? Get out of my assistant’s head!”

“My sincere apologies. This was easier than trying to teleport to the school.” Demerzel stiffly swiveled Arianna’s head left and right. “I just wanted to tell you that after hearing the Radiant Guard’s briefing on the fiasco at Herbrides, Parliament decided to approve emergency funding for Project Icarus.”

“Is this your idea of a joke?” Vortex’s tail flame grew even brighter.

“Hardly. I’m not the pranking sort.” Demerzel clumsily stepped toward Vortex’s giant oak desk. “You will, however, have to provide updates to Parliament. Live updates.”

Ah, there was the catch. Vortex frowned. He was not about to go showing the Icarus facility off to the louts in Parliament. The charizard sighed. “Will pictures and video footage suffice?”

“Only if you can guarantee none of it is doctored,” Demerzel said.

Vortex raised his right hand. “On my honor as a charizard, you have my word.”

Another clumsy step. This time back from Vortex’s desk. Demerzel tilted his head. “I hope that counts for something.”

“Of course it does,” Vortex growled. “Now leave my assistant.”

Demerzel nodded. “Very well. Though we both know there’s nothing you can do to make me leave.” He stiffly bowed Arianna’s head. “Have a good night, Chancellor.”

Arianna suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Vortex rose from his chair and flew over his desk, landing at her side.

“Nngh. My head. What happened?”

“Demerzel possessed you to tell me Icarus’ funding got approved,” Vortex said. He draped a wing over her back. “Are you okay?”

“I think so?” Arianna rubbed her temple. “My head’s a bit fuzzy.”

The charizard sighed in relief. “I’ll get you a pain reliever.” He hoisted the gardevoir to her feet.

“No, I’ll be fine, Chancellor.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” Arianna levitated her glasses back onto her face. “Now that you have the funds, what’s your next move, sir?”

Vortex brought his wing back and stood up. “We get Minister Tessa—”

“It’s Tesla, sir.”

“Right, right.” Vortex dismissed her with a wave. “We call Minister Tesla and tell him to meet us at Citadark Isle ASAP.”

Arianna nodded. “Understood. I’ll get right on it.”