Chapter 9: Dude, What a Trip!

Vortex stood between two of the many cracks and splinters running through the ruined center of the courtyard. Broken fragments of the fountain lay scattered around the area which, thanks to the hasty work of some Polaris laborers, had a metal dome placed around it before any students could see the damage. That was, of course, the easy part. The hard part was getting to the bottom of this mess and making sure it didn’t happen again.

“Please tell me you were able to make some headway with Chef Tarte.” Vortex picked up a piece of rubble at his feet and tossed it to himself.

Opposite the charizard, Seifer pressed a forehoof against an upended stone slab. “I’m afraid his story hasn’t changed. The chef said he’d gone to fetch condiments from the pantry. He was accosted by a Mr. Rime wearing a mask. After that… it all goes blank.”

“And the pantry was investigated?”

Vortex turned toward the destroyed fountain. Arianna stood there, holding a handheld satellite device up above her head and looking down at a black cube by her feet. “Thoroughly. There were no traces of anything suspicious. The guards have all been questioned and the security footage reviewed. We found no evidence of the Mr. Rime that Tarte speaks of.”

“Then how the hell did this happen?” Vortex pinched his brow with his free hand.

“I told you, sir, Dynaforce was involved.” Seifer gestured to the ground with his left forehoof. “He leveled the courtyard with a Dynaquake.”

“But that shouldn’t be possible.” Vortex clenched the fist holding the rubble. His claws made cracks in the rock, which shattered when he then dropped it. “The barrier—”

“It failed, of course.”

Vortex turned right to glare at Demerzel, who was watching Arianna operate her scanner. “Is this not what happened at the late Minister Douglas’ estate? A Phantom eluded the protective shield and struck with Dynaforce.” He crossed his long, slender legs. “Perhaps you could’ve written the first attack off as a coincidence, but now that there’s been a second… it suggests a pattern.”

Demerzel rested a paw on his necklace. “Face it. Polaris’ barriers are no longer sufficient to protect the kingdom’s remaining cities. Which is why I would, again, like to emphasize stronger cooperation with the Aeons.”

Of course Demerzel would sound like the Aeon Queen. After all, how many months had he spent cozying up to the dragons for his precious treaty? “No, what this means is that I need to move Icarus forward,” Vortex countered. “What’s the hold up with Parliament?”

Demerzel facepalmed. “Nothing’s changed since I told you they needed more details.”

Vortex scowled. Details, details. Ridiculous. As if he wasn’t trying to act in the kingdom’s best interest. His company was bringing the kingdom into a new age. A golden age of science and technological marvel. And there was just one last hurdle to clear: the energy shortage. He’d found this wonderful energy source, but he couldn’t fully tap into it yet.

“What more is there to say?” the charizard asked. “Our available ether refineries will run dry. And if that happens, the kingdom’s grid goes down… including the barriers vital to our security. The preliminary funding Her Eminence granted allowed me to identify a seemingly unlimited source of proto-ether. I just need sufficient funding to finish constructing Icarus and the energy and distortion problems will be solved in one fell swoop!”

Demerzel levitated a piece of debris up and rotated it around with a curious look on his face. Vortex looked to the mutant for a response, then cleared his throat. When Demerzel still kept silent, he growled, “Well?”

“We’ve already been over this.” Demerzel dropped the rubble. It rolled into a small crevice. “You have to answer specific questions. What is the proto-ether source? How is it connected to the distortion? And what will Icarus do to access this source? If you can’t answer those with concrete details, you’re going to keep getting stonewalled.”

Vortex looked down at his feet and their immaculately polished claws. “The schematics are highly sensitive and I don’t just want to drag them out into the open for no good reason.”

Demerzel quirked a brow. “Is that so? Or, perhaps, is it because you know the answer to one of my questions contains information that may be damaging to the kingdom’s pride?”

The charizard met Demerzel’s eyes briefly and saw them glowing. “You—” He stopped himself and looked at Arianna and Seifer. The former was still focused on her device while the latter had a brow raised.

“What’s he talking about, Chancellor?” the keldeo said.

Accursed psychics. Now there was no sidestepping the issue. “The source… might be tied to the Darkest Day,” Vortex conceded.

Seifer stumbled. He quickly corrected himself. “What? But Her Benevolence defeated World Ender. We’ve taught that in our schools since before my grandmother was a filly!”

Vortex jammed his right hand in his pocket and bit his lip. “It’s only a theory. I don’t have definitive evidence.”

Demerzel shook his head. “And yet even the very notion that the government has been pushing lies for centuries could undermine the public’s confidence in it… and, by association, projects like Icarus. It could even give the Aeons leverage to gain concessions from the treaty.”

“Well, we— I— that is…” Seifer’s voice trailed off and he looked at the remains of Queen Calliope’s statue. “Could we not just hold a secret session of Parliament?”

“Do you really trust everything would stay secret?” Vortex growled. There had been leaks before of much smaller natures. And while they always managed to find the responsible party, it was never quick enough to prevent some degree of fallout. The charizard doubted he could erase such damage with a few Starlene songs this time.

Demerzel turned to the dome’s curved wall and chuckled into his paw. “My guess is that the good Chancellor was already aware of this conundrum. And he wanted to start from the top and work his way down… in a manner of speaking.”

“Beg your pardon?” Seifer tilted his head.

“Orbeetle Cid.” Demerzel pressed a hand to his temple. “You just hired him recently, no?”

Vortex’s tail flame shrank. “Where are you going with this?”

“I read his thesis.” Demerzel smiled at Vortex. “He’s a Darkest Day skeptic.”

Vortex had to bite the urge to reflexively scratch his head. If Demerzel had peered into his memories again, he’d done such a good job that, even with Arianna’s teachings, Vortex couldn’t tell.

“I thought people like that were charlatans who went to work for trash outlets like the Beacon,” Seifer said, snout turned up.

Demerzel shrugged. “If I had to guess, Vortex hired him to introduce the students to the idea that, perhaps, our kingdom’s version of the Darkest Day isn’t the truth.” He levitated up a jagged piece of rubble and pointed it at Seifer. “After all, the Aeon Kingdom tells a much different story. And now their princess is a student here.”

He leaned forward to rest his hand on his paws. “If these elite students can accept an alternative narrative for the Darkest Day, then perhaps the commoners can as well? That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it, Chancellor?”

Vortex wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of an answer. “Well, Arianna? Have you got anything?”

Arianna knelt and grabbed a small sheet of paper that emerged from the top of the black cube. “Multiple unrecognized distortion frequencies, sir.”

“Then get Minister Tessa on the phone and tell his team they’re crunching until the barriers can work against these frequencies,” Vortex said, small embers leaping from his tail flame and scorching the ground around him.

Arianna folded the satellite up and placed it into a small briefcase along with the device it was attached to. She walked up to Vortex and whispered to him, “What should he do about overtime payments?”

The charizard had to fight to hide another scowl, especially with Demerzel and Seifer eyeing him. “Pull the funds from the recycling division’s budget. They don’t need the money.”

“Understood.” Arianna nudged up her glasses and headed for a door carved into the metal dome.

“So, you’re ignoring me.” Sighing, Demerzel lay the rubble back on the ground. “At least answer me this: do you still intend to keep the Crowne Cup going with this very real threat present?”

“Of course,” Vortex growled. He was insulted Demerzel would even suggest that. “These students are our hope for the future. A future of unlimited prosperity bolstered by an infinite supply of proto-ether. The kingdom deserves to see them at their best. Cancelling the Cup would be tantamount to conceding to the distortion. That will not happen on my watch.”

Frowning, Demerzel slipped his paws under the robe draped over his torso. “If these students are truly that important… your priority should be protecting them.”

“They will be protected.”

“Not when the Phantoms can reach them at this academy,” Demerzel countered.

“As soon as the barriers get updated, everything will be fine.” Vortex turned toward the door Arianna had gone through.

“I respectfully—”

Vortex raised his right hand. “This is not open for further discussion. Stay in your lane, Counselor. You were hired to orchestrate the treaty. Focus on that.”

Before he could hear a retort, he glided toward the door and threw it open. Crisp evening air filled his lungs. Vortex shut the door behind him and rubbed the bags under his eyes. He reached into his coat’s breast pocket and produced a blue gemstone. The charizard touched it to his head and closed his eyes.

“Rare Candy Escorts. This is Chanelle.”

“Chanelle, it’s Hurricane. Tell me… is that incineroar available? You know, the one with the pink stripes on his tail?” Vortex pulled the gem away and looked at it. It pulsated while emitting soft clicking noises.

“He’s open.”

A relieved smile. “Wonderful. Have him meet me at Horizon Rail Station in thirty minutes.”

“Very good, sir.”

Vortex clicked a notch in the gem. He pocketed it the moment it stopped glowing. With a giddiness in his step, he loosened his tie and slowly flew away from the courtyard. It was time to put the day’s unpleasantness behind him.

“Princess? Time to wake up.”

Noctum’s voice made Yuna aware of warm, scaly arms wrapped around her. “Mmrgh.” She kept her eyes shut and squeezed her hands against her face. “F… five more minutes, Mom.”

“Sorry, Princess, but you have to get up. I already let you sleep through the train and omnibus rides.”

Somehow, Yuna managed to process Noctum’s statement. Her eyes shot open and her arms fell to her sides. She found herself staring at a pouch on Noctum’s utility belt. “Eep!” She pushed against his belly and rolled out of his arms. The dreepy shook herself out and looked around. Seifer stood on her right, looking ahead with a sharp, stern expression.

“I… I slept through the whole trip?” Yuna rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly. Though she didn’t have to worry about eye gunk like her servants, sudden sunlight still irritated her inner ectoplasm. She tried to remember if she’d taken another sleep seed, but couldn’t. Yuna hoped Noctum hadn’t carried her all this way. That would be beyond embarrassing.

“To be fair, Radiance’s railway system is really fast.” Noctum smiled at her. “It only took, like, twenty minutes to get to Herbrides. The fields were moving by so fast it reminded me of joy flights I used to take back home.” His tail flame crackled excitedly. “Well, minus all the sulfur plumes and lava rivers, of course.”

Seifer rolled his eyes. “Can we keep up with the group, please? I’d rather have you closer to the crowd.”

Yuna turned around and saw the rest of her class up a pebble-covered road by a cast-iron gate. Cid floated beside a wooden security kiosk with a bored pangoro leaning out a windowsill that barely seemed to accommodate her size. Unsurprisingly, her teammates sat on separate rocks lining the right side of the road. Nikki absentmindedly strummed her gills. Chiaki scribbled notes on a notepad, glancing up at Cid every so often.

“So, the place we’re going is on the other side of this gate?” Yuna floated between Noctum and Seifer as the trio caught up to the class. She hovered a bit higher for a better view. The pebble road continued and curved to the right. There was a large grassy hill in the distance, but trees left Yuna unable to make out further details.

“We’ve already climbed up a pretty large hill,” Noctum explained.

“Herbrides is a valley community,” Seifer elaborated. He turned his head right and threw open a saddlebag. The keldeo grabbed a map in his mouth and held it up to Yuna. There was a swathe of green encircled by neatly arranged brown mounds in its southwest corner. “While it’s not surrounded by mountains, per se, there are large hills in every direction.”

Hills that, if Yuna remembered her initial readings correctly, were used as farmland or livestock reserves. All things she missed by sleeping on the train and omnibus. Despite that, she couldn’t imagine Herbrides’ hills were steeper than the jagged passes back home. She recalled her father having to take multiple trips with the troops to carve out plateaus for commoners to use as potential farmland.

The creaking of the iron gates brought Yuna’s attention away from the map and back to her classmates. Cid floated up to the head of the group. The orbeetle brandished a white baton with purple stripes. “All right. Everyone, stay together and follow me to the observation site.”

Yuna did as instructed. Though a few aside glances from her classmates drove her to stay at the back.

“Finally awake, Princess?”

The dreepy sighed. What did Nikki want with her today? Bah, it didn’t matter. Yuna was interested in this place. She wasn’t about to let Nikki get under her ectoplasm. She could control the conversation. “Say, what’s with that big stick Professor Cid’s carrying?”

“Hmm?” Nikki moved in front of Yuna. “Oh, that’s just some dumb thing they make tour group leaders carry.” She stuck her hands in the pockets of her coat, yawning. “Don’t think too much on it.”

Yuna didn’t respond. She silently followed the group along the road. Bits and pieces of conversations melded together with the crinkling of pebbles underneath her classmates’ feet. After about ten minutes, the trees on either side of the path abruptly fell off. Yuna saw the road end in a large circle. A gray fence lined the outside of the viewing area, though it hardly looked like enough to keep someone from hopping over.

“Aww.” Noctum nudged Yuna’s side. “Look at that.” He pointed to a stone structure with fake hills carved into it. There were circular holes punched out in multiple spots. “I bet you could stick your head in one of those and take a picture.” The black charizard grinned at her. “Why don’t we send a photo home to your parents?”

The dreepy’s cheeks burned. “Let’s not and say we did.” Yuna hastily pivoted away from the kiddie attraction. “Besides, we’re here to look at the… the…”

Her voice trailed off as she looked across the grassy valley to an equally tall hill opposite the viewing platform. Amidst the fresh, bright-green grass were scorched, charcoal-gray marks. A circle with five diamonds around it sitting over a bunch of circles and squiggles that felt haphazardly placed.

“World Ender,” Yuna whispered. She had seen the same five-diamond sigil in countless books back home. However, it was always accompanied by the eight-pointed, compass-like star that represented Bahamut. None of the bits of scorched land looked anything like the symbol on her pendant. “Um, Seifer? Who made this, uh, monument?”

“I believe it was one of my clan’s ancestors.”

Yuna frowned. The keldeo didn’t sound certain… or like he really cared. Yuna brushed her pendant with her right hand and looked between Noctum and Seifer. Her servant had mentioned being told not to discuss Bahamut. Was He some sort of taboo in this kingdom?

“I’m sure many of you have seen the Herbrides Lines multiple times throughout your lives,” Cid said. The spots on his large orbeetle head glowed. Yuna figured he was using psychic power to bolster his voice. Otherwise, she doubted she’d hear him so clearly. “However, I would like to encourage you all to reframe your thinking.”

Beside Yuna, Seifer stiffened. He looked away when she glanced at him. She wasn’t sure if he was annoyed, bored, or some combination.

“Let’s start with the basics,” Cid continued. He floated higher and pointed the baton toward the other hill. “How did the Herbrides Lines come into existence?”

Hands, hooves, paws, and wings shot in the air. “Ah, wow. Aren’t we all eager?” Cid chuckled. “How about—”

“Some of the earliest Radiant Guardsmon carved the drawings into the hill so the world would remember the Darkest Day,” Shimmer declared. Yuna spotted the ponyta’s puffy pink mane toward the front of the group. A few groans sounded around him. Before Cid could chastise him for calling out, he continued, “Our planet fell under the threat of the titanic daemon, World Ender. That big circle with the diamonds was its symbol, projected across the sky as it blotted out light from the heavens.

“The two canine-looking circles depict Etherium’s saviors: Zacian Calliope and my ancestor, Rapidash Adelaide.” Shimmer moved his outstretched forehoof from his left to his right as he spoke.

The ponyta’s answer didn’t sit well with Yuna. She frowned, torn between voicing a question and showing off her ignorance… or holding her tongue while the thought festered in her mind like the gross boil rash Noctum had gotten on his belly last year.

Ultimately, she swallowed her pride and raised her hand. “Excuse me, Professor Cid?”

“What is it, Yuna?” The orbeetle pointed to her with his baton. Dozens of pairs of eyes fell on Yuna. Her tail crinkled up.

“I understand why Zacian would be depicted as a canine.” It was tough for Yuna to keep a steady voice. “But why would a rapidash be represented by one?”

The response was predictable. Some chuckles. An eyeroll from the sylveon that had joined Shimmer at lunch yesterday. The sirfetch’d beside him sighing and shaking his head. But the loudest one was, of course, Prince Shimmer. “Oh, come now. Surely you know that it’s my family’s crest?”

“No, I didn’t. That’s why I asked.” Yuna glanced at Noctum, who offered a sympathetic shrug.

Sneering, Shimmer swished his mane over his right shoulder. “Please. The armored breast plate Mother wears has a canine’s head carved into its central gemstone. Adelaide wore the armor into battle against World Ender. It’s been passed down through the generations ever since.”

Meaning Shimmer would eventually get it from Isola. Yuna found it ridiculous that a rapidash would choose to weigh themselves down in battle. Even scaleless Aeons like her and her mother didn’t bolster their defenses like that. In addition, there was never any mention of any rapidash with armor in her homeland’s version of the events. The more tidbits were dropped about Radiance, the more confused Yuna got. But it wasn’t like she could raise an objection over it. She was supposed to be a goodwill ambassador.

“Everything okay, Princess?” Noctum asked.

She wanted to say no, but nodded before the words could form in her mouth. However, she was caught off guard when Cid cleared his throat and said, “Actually, I’m glad you asked that question, Princess.”

Yuna blinked once. Twice. Yeah, she wasn’t imagining that. “Excuse me?”

“It’s a curious sight, don’t you think?” Cid stroked his chin with his free hand. “When you think of fairy-types, canines don’t spring to mind outside of Queen Calliope. And, depending on who you ask, swirlix and slurpuff.”

“Hey!” One of Sylveon’s ribbons shot into the air. “I’m a canine! Maybe Shimmy’s clan was founded by a sylveon?”

“Pfbt. You’re as much of a canine as Shimmer is a fairy-type.” A klefki jingled their keys in Sylveon’s general direction.

A sudden gust of wind made both fairy-types gasp and look to their right. Yuna followed them and spotted the corviknight that had interrupted Vegna’s class yesterday. “Shut your pieholes. Your disses are weaker than magikarp using Splash.”

“No, no, it’s all right.” Cid hovered closer to the group. “This is good, healthy discourse. I encourage this kind of thinking.”

“Pah. What’s there to think about?” Shimmer huffed.

Cid pointed his baton toward the Lines’ bottom left corner. “These symbols.” He also pointed to the bottom right of the hill. “Can anyone recognize them?”

Those were the ones that made no sense to Yuna. As far as she was concerned, they were nothing but a bunch of random squiggles. She waited for a classmate to offer an answer, but they were all silent, too.

Then the weavile that Nikki had a spat with raised a hand. “Maybe they’re words?”

Cid smiled. “Wonderful guess.”

Sylveon huffed. “If they’re words, then what do they say?”

“Well, that’s where things get complicated.” Cid laughed nervously. Yuna spotted a few unamused looks. “See, though our characters have changed slightly over the last millennium, the Kingdom of Radiance has always written in Unown.”

Yuna examined the scorched marks littering the grass. Try as she might, she couldn’t piece any Unown letters together from what was there. “How would you know they’re words, then?”

“Over time, pokémon that have been rescued from mystery dungeons have reported seeing these exact same rune patterns.” Cid gestured to the hill.

“Ridiculous!” Shimmer’s horn and mane lit up bright pink. “Are you implying the Lines predate the Darkest Day?”

Cid turned around. “According to rescued pokémon, the phrase on the left is ‘Nos vera Natus’ while the one on the right is ‘Qliphoth.’ While there’s been debate what these actually mean, Qliphoth is always used in conjunction with ‘dungeon’ or ‘mystery dungeon.'”

Yuna suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and gasped out a, “Qli… photh?”

Noctum put a wing in front of Yuna. “Everything all right, Princess?”

A pressure squeezed on her head, like how Noctum wrung out oranges to make fresh juice in the morning. White floaters crept in from her periphery. “Gnnh.” Yuna pressed her hands to her horns, but that did little good. She looked at the hill. Her vision flashed purple. A mound of red, chitinous branches under a purple sky replaced the grassy hill. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her horns. The hill went back to normal when Yuna opened her eyes again.

“Princess?”

Warm scales touched her shoulder. Yuna was about to scream, but followed the hand to Noctum’s shoulder. “I’m… lightheaded. Can we step off to the side?”

Noctum looked past Yuna. “Very well.” Seifer appeared at Yuna’s side. “Let’s go over by that photo spot.”

Seifer led them toward the fake rock structure. Yuna wrapped her hands around Noctum’s arm. Her head didn’t hurt as much, but the pressure was still there. And before she could try for a calming breath, a pair of familiar voices rattled around in her head.

“Just stop skulking around and rejoin the group. I don’t need you causing any problems here.”

“What does it matter, Twiggy? It’s only a problem because you hopped the fence to tail me.”

Yuna suppressed a groan while Seifer quickened his pace. “Oi, you two! What are you doing away from the group?” he barked. The keldeo shot jets of water from his hooves to clear the barrier fence. He dropped down next to a large oak tree. When Noctum and Yuna made it over, they found Chiaki leveling his right claws at Nikki’s chest while his left claws held a can of fluorescent-yellow spray paint.

Seifer looked over his shoulder. “Go back to the photo spot, Princess. You don’t have to get involved.”

He was technically right. Especially since neither of Yuna’s teammates cared that much for her. Still, they were her teammates. Maybe she could resolve this if she spoke up? “Um, what’s the matter, you two?”

“I caught Nikki breaking off from the group and followed her.” Chiaki held up the spray paint. “She was looking to tag the trees.”

Nikki flinched, then jammed her hands in her pockets and leaned back against the tree trunk. “That’s your interpretation.”

“Well, what was I supposed to make of it?” Chiaki rolled his eyes.

“I wanted to get away from Shimmer’s swell head. I found that bottle on the ground.” Nikki pointed to a patch of dirt a meter to her right.

Yuna wasn’t buying it. “What would a can of spray paint be doing in the middle of a forest?” She was going to gesture to the trees going downhill, but her pounding head made her lower her arms. “Nrrgh. My head.”

Noctum leaned over and whispered. “Princess, perhaps it’s best we let Sir Seifer deal with this?”

“What’s going on here? Why did you break off from the group, Yuna?”

Nikki pinched her brow. “Oh boy, the square’s here. Now it’s a party.”

Yuna blinked stars out of her vision. Cid floated behind Noctum, a concerned look on his chitinous face. “It’s nothing, Professor,” Seifer replied. “The princess needed some space and I found these hoodlums causing trouble.”

Shoulders sagging, Cid sighed. “I’m afraid it’s not nothing when it involves my whole Crowne Cup team.”

“Look, you’re all making a big deal over nothing,” Nikki growled. “Just give me my space. I’m not looking to cause any trouble.”

Chiaki took a step closer. “I would hope so. Because for someone who claims to want to do well in the Crowne Cup, you’re doing everything possible to shoot yourself in the foot.”

Nikki tried to step back, but hit the oak tree instead. “I… well…” She tugged at her jacket collar.

Yuna’s head continued to pound. She couldn’t stomach listening to this anymore. “Okay, Noctum, let’s—”

“Keh heh…”

Chiaki stiffened. “Did you guys hear that?”

Yuna’s head rang too much to know what Chiaki was talking about. However, the alarmed looks on Cid and Seifer’s faces sent a chill racing down her back.

“Keh heh heh… keh ha haaaaa!“

Now Yuna heard it. And the rasping wheezes that followed brought to mind an image of a cloaked, helmeted creature that she was hoping to forget. She tugged on Noctum’s arm. “Noctum, we have to—”

However, Yuna quickly realized she wasn’t grasping Noctum’s warm scales anymore. She looked up and, instead of a black-scaled charizard, found herself clutching a frayed edge of Xeromus’ tattered cloak. Despite her aching head, Yuna managed to scream and float away from him. She expected some sort of attack, but Xeromus remained standing there.

“You!” Seifer’s horn sparked to Yuna’s right. “You’re the one who assaulted one of my men!” He let loose a crescent of red energy.

“Yes, wonderful!” Xeromus hopped to his right, closer to Yuna. She hastily retreated behind Seifer. “No hesitation behind attacking a worthless omen like me. The depths of your false convictions are to be commended.”

“The hell is this thing?” Chiaki had his left hand on the brim of his cap.

“Me? I’m just a worthless nobody.” Xeromus shook his head, racked by coughs and shudders. “But I still appreciate that you were willing to accept my summons.”

His gray, beady eyes met Yuna’s. Now, it wasn’t just her head hurting. Her tiny torso was warm. And not the pleasant warmth she got from curling up against Noctum’s belly, either. “Wh… what did you do to Noctum?”

“Your charizard friend? He’s probably nursing a lump on his head somewhere in that general direction.” Xeromus stretched his left hind leg back. “But this isn’t about him. It’s about you.“

Seifer reared up and shot scalding hot water from his forehooves. This time, however, Xeromus dodged left. When Seifer readied another Scald, a pair of shadowy arms emerged from Xeromus’ cloak and grabbed hold of a still dumbfounded Nikki.

“What the— aggh!“

“Drop her!”

Over at the tree, Chiaki lunged for Nikki, right arm grabbing her leather jacket. Xeromus yanked her back with a startling amount of force. An audible crack rippled through the air. Yuna’s gills shriveled up. Though her vision was blurry, she still managed to see Chiaki’s right arm separate at the level of his elbow and drop to the ground in front of him. The grovyle’s eyes widened, but the pained expression Yuna expected didn’t appear. There wasn’t any blood or sap or whatever it was grovyle had inside them.

Xeromus dragged Nikki in front of him. The toxtricity kicked helplessly at the air. “Lemme go… you dick!”

“Ahh, look at this defiance! It’s simply beautiful. Marvelous. Lovely.” Xeromus panted heavily. His sign rattled against his chest. “And your friend… leaping into action. The length the ether drives him to…”

A slimy tendril burst out of one of the oak tree’s roots and shattered the detached part of Chiaki’s arm. “No!” He turned his scornful gaze on Xeromus. “Bastard! You have any idea how much that cost?”

“Such an interesting contradiction. Speaking of cost like a noble, but dropping foul language like a fellow nobody.” Xeromus took several sharp breaths. “There is so much to love about you all… and yet you let the ether nibble away at your individuality.”

“R… release my student!” Cid finally found his voice. His spots glowed with psychic power.

Xeromus swung Nikki in Cid’s line of sight. “Now, now. Don’t share any of your false bravado with your friend. I would hate for Natus to lose such a wonderful follower.”

This was bad. Yuna had to do something. But Noctum had her belongings. All she had was her pendant resting against her burning chest.

No, wait. That wasn’t right. Was it her chest burning… or was the pendant burning her chest? She looked down. The gem sparked with red light.

“You see it, don’t you?” Xeromus’ voice oozed a perverted glee. “The ether is trying to latch its tendrils into you. Make you a puppet to yank whichever direction it feels. But you will refuse it. You will accept Natus’ love… and the world will grow into something bigger!”

“Don’t listen to this loon,” Chiaki called. “He makes the craziest beggars sound reasonable!” He brought his remaining hand up to his face. “Hey! Hey! Somebody help us!”

Xeromus’ eyes lost some of their luster. “… right. Figures. A lowly omen like me can’t get Natus’ love across properly. You need the Qliphoth to see how He nurtures His followers.”

An unseen force pounded Yuna’s head. That word again. Now she saw luminescent, thorn-covered vines on the edges of her vision.

“In case it wasn’t clear,” Xeromus’ eyes darkened, “the choices you make don’t really matter.”

Before Yuna could even attempt to make sense of that, Xeromus leaped into the air. He landed several meters deeper into the forest. “But I can still try to steer you to Natus’ love!” Xeromus sprinted away while Nikki screamed for help.

Yuna looked at Seifer. Then Chiaki. Then Cid. All dumbfounded. Frozen in uncertainty. And her head. And her chest. Oh, god, her chest hurt so bad. She just had to… had to…

… had to scream.

“Put Nikki down!“

The moment the last word left Yuna’s mouth, the heat around her chest exploded outward, accompanied by a flurry of red and purple light. Yuna’s own screams drowned out those of her colleagues, until an intense pressure hammered her from above and made her whole world go dark.

Path of Valor Almanac
In the Hebrew mysticism practice of Kabbalah, “Qliphoth” is a term that serves as a representation for wicked or impure spiritual forces that stand in opposition to “Sefirot,” or holiness.