Chapter 19: Rolling Out the Unwelcome Wagon

Noctum was plenty familiar with pain. Headaches, hunger pains, belly aches, and broken bones, to name a few. However, none of his past experiences could help him describe what was going on with his belly when he woke up. It just felt… off. Was it the cold, damp crystal he was lying on?

… wait, why was he even lying on cold, damp crystal?! He was supposed to be in a field fighting Not-Zapdos with Seifer and Valkyrie!

“What hap— ngrgh!” The moment Noctum pushed himself up, intense vertigo threatened to make him throw up. He fell on his back and stared up. Through the haze he made out dark buildings with glowing pipes and signs. Crystal patches lay on some buildings like moss growing on rocks.

“Share an Eterna Cola with your special someone!” “Eternasweet Ice Cream: Now with real milk!” “Injured? Seeking compensation? Flex on the negligent. Call the law offices of Buzzwole & Buzzwole, QLP!”

Noctum’s vision went fuzzy. “Where… am I?”

Something sharp jabbed his shoulder. “You gonna lie there till that puddle douses your tail flame or try to help us find a way out of this place?” Valkyrie asked.

“Bwuh?” No wonder the ground was damp. But if his tail flame was in a puddle, why wasn’t there any searing pain? Noctum wasn’t that used to submerging it. “Well, I— urk!“

Again, the charizard collapsed when trying to get to his feet. This time Valkyrie planted a foot squarely between his shoulder blades. She rolled Noctum onto his back. He caught a glimpse of the shock on her face before realizing what had thrown her off.

A purple shard. From the crystal that had shattered. And it was wedged into his stomach. Noctum’s breaths grew ragged. He reached toward it with a trembling hand, struggling to find the words to express his astonishment.

“Idiot. Don’t touch it.” Valkyrie swatted his arm away.

“But—” A quick glance past it revealed his tail flame was now an off-violet instead of its usual orange. “That’s not supposed to be there!”

“And if you yank it out, you might die.” The garchomp loomed over him. “Your head okay? Thinking of going on a murder spree?”

“What?” Noctum blinked. “No! Why would I think that?”

Valkyrie shrugged. “It’s a pretty evil-looking shard. Makes me think of the weird energy that corrupted snorlax gave off.” She leaned over, wrapped an arm under Noctum’s left shoulder and hoisted him up. Surprisingly, his vertigo immediately subsided. Noctum stumbled forward a couple of steps. There was no belly pain. Only that weird feeling he couldn’t put words to.

“Yo, Keldeo. Our resident dumbass is in one piece.” Valkyrie tapped Noctum’s head.

“Dumbass?” His cheeks puffed up. “That’s uncalled for.”

“Pretty sure it’s your fault we’re in this place.” Valkyrie gestured around. “What did you do to that crystal?”

“Nothing!” Noctum fidgeted nervously. “I mean… I thought if I hit the zapdos lookalike with Cosmic Blessing that maybe he would stop attacking. But I missed and… maybe kinda sorta hit one of the crystals he brought?”

“Uh-huh.” Valkyrie squinted. “So, definitely your fault then.”

Noctum’s tail flame dimmed. The charizard stared at his rippling reflection in the pond. He didn’t mean for that to happen, and he was pretty sure Valkyrie knew that. Was she just giving him a hard time?

Seifer trudged over to them, hooves sloshing through the puddle. He looked even more downtrodden than he had earlier. And the culprit was plain as day: his horn was broken. There was nothing left but a jagged stump. Noctum winced. “Oh, Seifer…” He gestured to his forehead.

“This is… a bad dream.” The keldeo laughed. He sounded unhinged. “None of this is actually happening. I’m going to wake up in my bed, wrapped in my down blanket. No dragons. No Qliphoth. No sacking.” His right eye twitched. Seifer turned and kicked an empty beer can. It rolled right along the crystal ground until it came to a stop against metal guardrails several meters away.

“Yes. Everything is fine. Everything… is going… to be fine!”

Valkyrie jabbed Seifer in the chest with a claw. “I don’t care what the status of your job or your horn is. We’re alive. But I can’t guarantee that’ll stick if we don’t get a move on.” She slid Noctum’s arm off her back. “Either you’re coming with or not. Which is it?”

Seifer’s eye continued twitching. “Look at me.” A crooked smile spread across his snout. “My horn… was my blade. It was my Secret Sword. My strongest technique. What am I supposed to do without it?”

Noctum didn’t want to ask if it could grow back. He had a good guess what the answer was.

“Oh, please.” Valkyrie snorted dragonfire. “There’s nothing secret about that ‘sword’ of yours.”

Seifer produced another unhinged laugh. “Oh, a phallic joke! How original! Never heard that one before.”

“Good grief.” Valkyrie rubbed her temples with her arm. “Look, you can still shoot water from your hooves, right? So, you aren’t useless. But keep whining and we’re ditching you.”

“Wait, we?” Noctum stiffened.

“You got us into this mess.” Valkyrie wheeled on Noctum and jabbed his sternum. “So, you can bet I’m sticking to you like a gum on the underside of a desk.”

“Yes ma’am.” Noctum’s wings drooped. A large fence blocked the path left, leaving the charizard no other options but to proceed right. They passed by black, metal buildings with dim purple glows thanks to the purple fog sitting above them. Noctum squinted at metal stairways and ladders haphazardly stuck to the sides of the buildings. Were they escape routes, like for emergencies?

“Where even are we?” he wondered.

“A city, obviously.” Valkyrie stroked her chin. “Probably the back alleys, judging from how grungy it is.” She tilted her head. “Kinda strange the ground’s made of crystal. Hell, there are crystal trees just… sitting in pots. Also made of crystal. Freaky.”

“We’re in the Qliphoth,” Seifer said in monotone.

Valkyrie froze mid-step. “Like, inside the distortion?”

Seifer nodded.

“This is nothing like what Chiaki told me.” Valkyrie continued forward. More neon signs littered shabby crystal buildings with neon bars and pipe frames. Strange combinations of circles and swirls were on them that made no sense to Noctum, which only made him wonder why he could read some of the other ones. They were written in Unown, weren’t they?

“If we’re in the Qliphoth, we have to find a rift to have any hope of escaping,” Seifer said. “It was Yuna who bailed me out last time.” His right eye twitched again. “Where do we even start to look for one in a place like this?”

Noctum’s wings subconsciously spread. He looked left and right. “Well, at times like this, we go to higher ground.”

Valkyrie tugged Noctum’s right wing. His tail flame sparked. “Yeah, I don’t think that’ll work as well as you want it to,” she said.

“Why?”

The garchomp spun Noctum toward her and pointed to a neon sign with a red slash through outlines of white wings. “Looks to me like we’re in some kind of no-fly zone. And I don’t want to see what happens to whoever breaks that rule.” She crossed her arms. “Besides, you’re the only one who can actually fly and I doubt your little twig arms have the beef to carry the both of us.” Valkyrie jerked her head in Seifer’s direction.

“Then what do we do?” Noctum kicked a small black rock and watched it bounce along the ground. “It’s not like a solution will come flying out in front of us or anything!”

“Halt, rebel! Release the hostage!”

Two purple beams streaked through the air in front of the trio. Noctum hopped back, wings flared to hide his growing tail flame. Valkyrie also took a fighting stance. Nothing headed toward them, however. Instead, some sort of dark gray feline with a luminescent yellow tail flew right by them. Noctum immediately recognized Not-Zapdos’ limp body floating beside it… along with the other crystal it had brought to Horizon!

The feline glanced over its shoulder. Three floating metal discs with glass domes that each held a large eye pursued it. The discs shot more purple beams and the feline rolled right. It pointed its left hand back. Three Shadow Balls hit the glass domes, shattering them. The eyes exploded in bursts of blue light.

“Hey, wait!” Noctum dashed toward the feline, but it flew much too fast for him. He whirled on Valkyrie. “Did you see that? It had Fake Zapdos and the other crystal.”

“Forget that.” Valkyrie broke into a run. “It had a crystal jutting out of its shoulder like the one in your gut right now. It must know something about this shit.”

“Then we have to catch up to it!” Noctum ran after Valkyrie.

“Hey, wait up!” Seifer trotted after them. They didn’t get far before hearing sirens in the distance. Valkyrie pointed toward grated metal stairs on her left. When they climbed them, they found some sort of domed bridge crossing a hazy purple expanse.

“Why is the floor moving?” Noctum gripped his shoulder belt. “That’s not normal.”

“Haven’t you ever seen a conveyer belt?” Valkyrie stepped on the moving walkway. “Oh, right, they don’t have factories in Aeon. In any case, it’s not like it’ll eat you. Just keep your tail elevated.”

Noctum took the advice a bit too far, holding his tail up as high as he could as he cautiously stepped on the walkway. The dome turned from solid metal to glass, offering a panorama of metal and crystal buildings bathed in the purple and blue hues of giant neon signs. Noctum’s eyes were drawn far left, however, to a massive statue of what looked like a giant crystalline hand. Though he recognized the circle with five diamonds in its center. Just like how he’d seen the hand— no, the five-headed daemon depicted in Aeon scriptures.

“Eternatus,” he whispered. Noctum glanced above the statue. There was a huge sign with… an ovoid, orange head and OBEY printed beneath it in Unown. Noctum frowned. He’d seen that blue, mouthless face and sharp black eyes before in his readings. But what did the books call it? Though it was on the tip of his tongue, he couldn’t spit it out.

The dark cityscape disappeared as glass turned to metal once more. Speakers crackled, jolting Noctum stiff.

“Welcome to the Eterna City Bazaar! Please be sure to thank our glorious Archbishop before, during, and after your purchases. Thank you… and have an eternatastic day!”

“Bazaar? Like a shopping center?” Seifer looked around in confusion. There was a wall of blue light in front of them, but it didn’t look solid.

“I’m more concerned about the name.” Valkyrie kept her arms crossed and stood as far from the wall as she could manage. “Eternatus is the real name of World Ender, right?”

Noctum nodded. He wanted to dismiss it as a dream. An entire city that was dedicated to the daemon hardly sounded inviting. That explains the unpleasant vibes this place gives off. The charizard cautiously stepped toward the light wall. “Maybe someone there can point us in the right direction?” He reached toward the wall. Noctum’s eyes widened as his hand passed clean through it.

After moving it back and forth a few times, Noctum stepped through. The moment he did, the light shifted from blue to red. An exclamation mark flashed on the wall. Valkyrie dropped into a fighting stance. “Idiot. What did you do?”

Noctum looked back at the wall. “I don’t know. This was the only way forward, wasn’t it?”

“Halt! Where is your QN identification looplet, Charizard?”

A mechanical female voice made Noctum jump. He looked right and found a floating saucer, similar to the ones chasing that cat earlier. Only it was attached to a cube-shaped black body with two arms that looked like they were made of coiled black electrical wires. Each arm ended in a purple spiked mace brimming with the same distorted aura the crystal gave off before Noctum broke it.

The strange machine stomped toward Noctum on four long, black, metallic tentacles. It was easily two or three heads taller than Noctum. Its maces crackled like a freshly-lit fireplace. “Speak, lizard, or I will take you in for processing per our glorious Archbishop’s will.”

What was Noctum supposed to say? He had no idea what half the stuff this thing said even meant! “I, uh—” He tapped his claws together nervously.

The machine’s floating eye narrowed. “Hang on… you’re not from around here, are you?”

“Ha ha! Oh, there you are, you scamp! I can’t believe you ran off before I finished repairing your looplet!”

“Hmm?” The machine’s dome-like head rotated atop its square body. Noctum followed the eye and noticed a blue-white ninetales trotting toward him. His cloud-like, fluffy tails fluttered behind him and his yellow kerchief brushed against his chest ruff.

(Art by Kitsuakari.)

“My apologies, Trooper.” Ninetales weaved under the machine’s tentacle legs. He glanced at Noctum, then at the others. “These three have never gotten their looplets repaired before.” Ninetales smirked and shook his head. “I told you guys not to leave the workshop until I was done.”

The Trooper’s eye pressed against its glass dome. “You’re repairing their looplets?”

“Yup.” Ninetales lifted his right foreleg to show off a golden anklet. “Scan my ID if you don’t believe me.”

“I’m well aware what you do, Cyril.” The Trooper lowered its maces. “See to it that your clients don’t cause any more scenes. Next time, it’ll be a citation.”

“Understood.” Cyril beckoned Noctum toward him with his leftmost tails. “C’mon. Let’s get you guys back to the workshop before you cause any real problems.”

“Right.” It came out before Noctum even realized it. Part of him knew he should be cautious of this. He’d never even heard of a ninetales with such strange-looking pelt. They were supposed to have yellow-orange fur, weren’t they? Had the distortion mutated this Cyril guy?

The choice was made for him when Seifer and Valkyrie walked past him and stopped by Cyril’s side. “Yeah, sorry about that.” Valkyrie shook her head. “It was this genius’ idea.” She pointed a fin at Noctum.

The charizard wanted to protest, but didn’t want to deal with the Trooper anymore. Sighing, he shuffled after the others.

I hope this turns out okay.

Yuna didn’t think Aquardah could get colder than it was before. But as the wind surfer hovered above the ice bridge and the sinkhole beneath the team grew farther away, the air became even more frigid. Yuna’s gills shriveled up into her ectoplasmic neck. The dreepy had to consciously resist the urge to do the same thing with her arms. If that happened, she’d get left behind.

“What are you doing, Nikki?” Chiaki asked, his hook planted in the raft’s wooden base so he didn’t fall off. Ice particles plinked off his safety goggles.

The toxtricity looked up and flicked away globs of poison from her free hand’s fingers. “Laying a booby trap, of course.”

Razim was fully focused on the path ahead, with both hands grabbing the wind surfer’s rudder while the propellers whirred behind him. “What are you talking about?”

Nikki grinned wickedly. “If Ahemait tries to chase us down, he’ll have a nasty surprise waiting for him.”

Cid frowned. “Are you… laying a trail of poison on the ice bridge?”

“Maaaaaybe.”

“We’re on the bridge, dumbass,” Chiaki swatted at the air behind him, as if he could smack Nikki. “If you compromise its integrity, then we’ll go down with it!”

“Puh-lease. Give me some credit, Twiggy.” Nikki rolled her eyes. “You really think I didn’t consider that? I’d need bucketloads of acid to melt through this ice. Think of it more like… coating a tile floor in grease.”

So, Nikki was trying to get Ahemait… to slip on her poison trail? It sounded reasonable, but Yuna didn’t buy it. “Won’t your poison just freeze because of how cold it is?” Yuna’s breath blew into Nikki’s safety goggles, as if to emphasize the frigid atmosphere.

Nikki’s jaw slackened. “Well I— that is—”

“You didn’t think about that, did you?” Chiaki was exasperated.

Nikki’s face flushed and she looked away. “At least I tried something.“

“I suggest you all be quiet and hang on.” Razim tightened his grip on the rudder. “We’re approaching the big turn.”

Quiet was exactly what Yuna wanted. She was comfortable enough with her grip on the raft. Reshiram, we have to talk.

“About what?”

He was playing dumb. You know what. What happened back in the palace? You got really… dodgy when the Isfet thing came up. Yuna wanted to believe he was as in the dark as she was, but her gut told her otherwise. It wasn’t a thought she could drop.

“Because it caught me off guard.”

Why? Yuna didn’t like how vague Reshiram was being. It didn’t befit the Sage of Truth. What aren’t you telling me? Did Bahamut have a counterpart? He must have, right? There’s no way he’s actually Isfet.

Silence. The raft jerked right as Razim did his best to avoid veering too far left on the bridge. It was twisting slightly as it curved rightward. Yuna tightened her grip. Say something, Reshiram.

“I don’t know. It’s the truth, I swear!”

His voice crack caught Yuna off guard. Either that was honest or Reshiram was a better actor than Yuna thought.

“Bahamut didn’t like to talk about his past before Etherium,” he elaborated. “Neither did any of my predecessors’ spirits. As best I could tell, there was always a twinge of regret in his voice when he told me to drop it.”

That didn’t inspire a lot of confidence for Yuna. There’s no way he could total a city. He created Etherium! His teachings hold so many important values! It doesn’t make any—

A distorted roar echoed from down below. Yuna squeaked and wrapped her arms tightly around the rope. “Tell me that isn’t what I think it is.”

“Okay. It isn’t what you think it is.” Nikki leaned to her right. “I mean, I’m lying through my teeth. But, hey, whatever helps.”

Chiaki dug the Hooker deeper into the wooden panel it was wedged into. “Razim, can this thing go any faster?”

“We’re going to find out.” The gem on Razim’s crown glowed blue. The propellers sputtered momentarily, then spun even faster. Yuna yelped. Her tiny frame flapped about like a flag in a windstorm. The wind surfer veered right, forcing Razim to jiggle the rudder.

“Left! Go left!” Cid cried seconds before a massive Ice Beam struck the right side of the bridge. Ice chunks erupted in front of the wind surfer. A burst of pressure threatened to blow the wind surfer left. Yuna almost lost her grip when the raft slowed considerably.

“Sorry. I need better control.” Razim tucked his head down. Yuna’s teammates tried to swat ice chunks out of the air.

“Is Ahemait giving chase?” Nikki fired a small lightning burst from her free hand. It vaporized a few nearby ice chunks.

“No. I think it’s sniping at us from the ground,” Chiaki hissed. “How the hell can it even fire an attack with such range? It’s obscene!”

The air chilled considerably. Yuna’s chest burned. Reshiram burst out of the Soul Dew and let loose a gout of blue fire. It slammed against another incoming Ice Beam. A huge wall of steam spread out. Reshiram tumbled through the air with a yowl. Another roar echoed from below.

“Faster!” Chiaki spat a few Bullet Seed streams ahead of them to clear the remaining icy debris. “If it didn’t know where we were before, it sure does now!”

“Wa-ait, we don’t want to go careening off!” Yuna squealed, but Razim had already pressed a button on the console. There was another sputter from the propellers. The wind surfer lurched forward. They were level with the top of the inverted pyramid.

… or was it considered the bottom now? Gah, so confusing.

“Above you!” Reshiram cried. Yuna looked up and blue flames streaked overhead. Icicles shattered. Frigid water drenched Yuna and the rest of Team Bastion.

“Augh! Seriously, Crotch Fuzz?” Nikki looked at her leather jacket, dismayed. “Watch the merchandise!”

“I think staying alive is a bit more import— aiyee!” Cid’s spots flashed. He projected a pink barrier but a large ball of dirt and sand effortlessly shattered it. The lingering mud forced Nikki to scooch back, narrowly avoiding it.

“This isn’t working,” the toxtricity growled. “Sooner or later that beast’s gonna blast us.” She looked up. “Hey, Crotch Fuzz! Why don’t you try blowing open a hole in the pyramid?”

Reshiram stopped in midair. “Are you crazy? I won’t be able to fend off attacks from Ahemait, including any aimed at me!”

As if on cue, more icicles formed in midair. This time Reshiram swept a blue Dragon Pulse bolt through them. Chiaki blasted away the debris with Bullet Seed pellets. “Honestly? Just do it! We’ll take our chances with the damn pyramid.”

Reshiram flinched. “Oogh, dropping the word ‘honestly’ in there. My weakness.” He flew closer to the pyramid. “I don’t know if I’ve got the firepower to handle this, guys.”

More icicles were forming in the air ahead of the raft. “Go right!” Yuna cried. Razim jammed the rudder left. The wind surfer skittered, but managed to swivel around the Icicle Crashes as they shattered against the bridge.

Chiaki’s scowl deepened. “Then use this. Get us inside that thing or we’re hosed!” The grovyle had a seed in his hand. He tossed it toward Reshiram, who caught it with an outstretched wing.

“I don’t think a sudden turn toward green thumbism is the solution.” Reshiram watched the mist below the bridge nervously. Another roar echoed.

“Throw it at the pyramid and set it ablaze,” Chiaki snarled. “Quickly!”

Frowning, Reshiram did as instructed. Seconds before the seed struck the side of the pyramid, Reshiram blasted it with a jet of blue fire. A huge explosion enveloped the pyramid’s ice-crusted bricks. Yuna’s gills and ectoplasm rippled like a jostled plate of gelatin. Pieces of rubble struck the bridge, leaving cracks before skipping off and disappearing in the mist. Others fell right toward the sinkhole until an Ice Beam cut through the air to blast them into harmless clouds of blue dust.

Reshiram flew back, yowling. “What the heck was that?”

“Blast seed.” Nikki rolled her eyes. “Though I’ve never seen one make a blast that big.” She eyed Chiaki suspiciously. “Where’d you pull a trick like that from?”

“None of your business.” Chiaki turned to Razim. “Now, hard right and floor it!”

Razim was skeptical. However, the combination of the spreading cracks ahead of them and another roar from below was enough to make him jam the rudder right and press a maroon button on the control panel. There was a powerful roar from the propellers. Before Yuna could even scream, the wind surfer beelined toward the edge of the bridge.

“Are you crazy? There’s no way you’re going to clear that gap!” Reshiram cried. Another Ice Beam threatened to shoot him out of the sky. He met it with a fiery gout. The ensuing steam pushed him away from the group.

Chiaki grabbed hold of a startled Nikki. “I know. Professor, you’ve got to levitate Razim.”

Yuna realized she needed to fly moments before the wind surfer left the safety of the bridge. It managed to sail about halfway toward the dark hole blown into the pyramid before it began losing altitude. Chiaki leaped out and shot the Hooker toward the hole. Nikki yelped as they zipped toward it. Cid caught Razim in a telekinetic field and hovered after his students.

“It’s time to go, Reshiram,” Yuna called. He was busy rolling right to dodge multiple Mud Bombs. The globs splattered against the existing cracks on the ice bridge. This was enough to send chunks of the bridge tumbling down into the frosty abyss below it.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Sighing in relief, Reshiram dissolved into a light stream. He returned to Yuna just as another, considerably more pained roar echoed from below.

Did the falling bridge chunks hit it? Yuna had no desire to find out. She darted toward the presumed safety of the pyramid.

After flying through thick, cold mist, Yuna was greeted with a silver floor— or, rather, ceiling and walls. Scorch marks peppered the space around her teammates, who were gathering themselves after the perilous ride.

“So now what?” Nikki looked around. Behind her was an upside-down painting of a slowking with grayer skin than Razim’s. “I don’t suppose anyone’s got a map of this place?”

“Um, you guys?” Cid waved at the group.

“Well, we’re close to the top floors.” Razim stroked his chin. “I believe some of the family treasures and heirlooms are stored here.” He looked around. “Or they were. I don’t see anything treasure-like around here.”

“Maybe Ahemait gobbled up all the treasure as an appetizer?” Nikki shrugged.

“Seriously?” Chiaki swiped her shoulder. “Have some tact.”

“Guys!” Cid projected lights from his head spots, catching everyone’s attention.

“What is it, Professor?” Yuna asked.

Cid turned and pointed ahead. “I think I figured out what happened to the people Ahemait ‘ate.'”

One by one, Team Bastion slowly turned to where Cid was pointing. They glimpsed silver walls with tattered, upside-down blue and red cloaks. A turtonator’s shell was woven into them, but the image was so faded Yuna barely made it out in the dim lights provided by torches that… were also upside-down, to Yuna’s complete bewilderment.

But all that paled in comparison to what lay a dozen meters ahead of them. There, dangling from the floor by purple strings of ooze, were pairs of krokorok and sandile wrapped in sickly purple cocoons.