Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Namohysip]

"Oh, yes. It's not a detail known by a lot of people, but Nutmeg spoke of their battle at the top of the Tree of Life. Dark Matter had set up a trap, like he'd seen it coming. He'd turned Arceus to stone before he could warp them to the Tree himself, and it was Rayquaza that had flown the two to the Tree instead. Maybe he's making up for his mix-up against the meteor." Zekrom frowned. "Dark Matter had prepared more than we had anticipated. Void Shadows were with him at the top of the tree and they were cornered. But as they kept fighting back, Dark Matter... gave up. Stopped fighting. Apparently he also cried? That surprised me a little. Then again, Nutmeg is known for stretching the truth, and Pita doesn't really try to stop her..."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut frowned. "Was it actually, y'know, destroyed?"

 

[Namohysip]

Zekrom nodded. "Yes. While I don't think it was intentional, Nutmeg approached Dark Matter and fulfilled her purpose from ancient times. Dark Matter... accepted this, from what Nutmeg told us. He was grateful. And that feeling of gratitude, and the acceptance that Nutmeg gave him... was what killed him for good."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut looked up at the sun. "So, the Dark Matter of this world failed completely. But in Maple's world, it apparently succeeded."

Humming, he tucked his head down. "In the days before I lost my light, I would preach of something I called the 'will of causality.' The belief that nothing happens by pure chance. If one searches, they can always find a deeper meaning behind things." He looked skyward again. "Perhaps there is some sort of greater cosmic balance at play amongst planets of similar natures. For every Cibus equivalent, there may have been a Telum."

 

[Namohysip]

"Will of causality," mumbled Zekrom. "Hmm... I do wonder. I don't know what makes Telum and Cibus related aside from similar circumstances... but apparently, there are many worlds like ours. I do wonder what caused Telum to fail, and yet Cibus to thrive..." She tapped her chin. "And now that I think about it, Dark Matter in Balm's world--the future-offshoot of ours--didn't appear at all."

 

[Ambyssin]

"... hmph. How do you know it's not the other way around?" Bahamut wondered. "You said Dark Matter seemed prepared. What if what showed up was the one that was supposed to be from Balm's world... and the one tied to this planet is the one who never materialized?"

Perhaps Bahamut's teammates would've gotten headaches and given up this line of conversation, but this was tame compared to Eternatus. The Qliphoth had mirrors of cites serving as one another's skylines. Everything here was tame for him, blacklight or not.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmm... That's possible..." Zekrom trailed off. "But surely Arceus--either of them--would have noticed something like that, right? Or, hmm... Then again..." She shook her head. "I wonder if that possibility should be aired to Balm and Cepa at all... I'll send them a message!"

 

[Ambyssin]

Had no one else considered that possibility? Bahamut was used to it at this point. His thinking was warped. In any case, he was less suspicious of Zekrom than before.

“Well, I’ve taken enough of your time.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, none at all." Zekrom grinned, drifting away. "I'll send you a message if we found anything. Be seeing you!"

And with that, she flew for the rest of her walk, slowing down to pull out her badge and run a few messages through. If anything, she was dutiful...

Some time later, Bahamut would receive a message from Zekrom--indeed, Balm and Cepa had spoken to some Legends about their Dark Matter. There had been evidence of Dark Matter once being there, but had then disappeared. And, while it took a few days, Zekrom then said to Bahamut that it seemed their Dark Matter had disappeared, based on elemental residue, at least a decade ago, perhaps even earlier... That should have been just before, or perhaps during, the time when their own Cibus had gone through a Dark Matter crisis.

How curious.

<><><>

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv walked through the crossroads, leaf swaying in the breeze. It was so nice to have everyone back again. And Giovanni had even been captured!

Despite everything, though, they felt a bit weirdly sad. Thoughts of home rushed through their head, of Gen, of their family, of Burhalla.

How long has it been since they've seen them all?

 

[Namohysip]

So distracted by homesickness, Saltriv didn't quite notice another distracted traveler in the streets of Destiny Village. Buffet, the Hydreigon and Voice of Life, drifted just over Saltriv as their leaf and head bumped into the flying dragon's belly.

"Ah!" Buffet yipped and pumped his wings once, flying in the air and going for a sidewind maneuver, which accidentally knocked over a nearby botted plant. "Oh, dear!" He grasped at the pot with one of his smaller heads, narrowly catching it. A Charmander popped out from the pot and Buffet yelped again, placing it back. The Charmander disappeared. He sighed. "I'm sorry for--oh, Saltriv! Hello!" Buffet's heads all smiled.

 

[IFBench]

"Hi Buffet! Sorry for bumping into you," Saltriv said, waving their leaf. "I'm still getting used to being this tall."

They caught a brief glimpse of a Charmander popping out of the pot, and their eyes widened. "What's with the pot?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm... not sure," Buffet said. "It must be part of that... strange curse flowing around Dungeons and here and there in normal areas." He sighed. "It's been very strange, really... But also fun! In an odd way..." He giggled.

 

[IFBench]

"Curse?" Saltriv asked, their leaf drooping behind their head. "What's happening with mystery dungeons?"

They paused, and then added, "Speaking of mystery dungeons, you know about the Worldcore, right?"

 

[Namohysip]

"You haven't heard? It's been all over the news outlets!" Buffet nodded. "Dungeons all over the world have been having phantasms of Charmander appearing inside, all with the same description. Hollow or empty faces, disappearing and reappearing... But most of all, a dark, big smile that goes past their eyes..."

He drifted along, lowering in altitude. "Worldcore... Yes, I'm familiar. In a way, it and I are linked, as we're both facets of this world's reality. If something's wrong with it, I should certainly know!" Buffet giggled, prodding Saltriv with one of his heads. "It's all so exciting, isn't it?"

 

[IFBench]

"That's...really odd," Saltriv said, their leaf tilting. What could be up with the Charmander manifestations?

"In my world, the heroes of the Mist Continent used it to do...something with the human world," Saltriv continued. "I'm not sure what, since I haven't heard much about them. They're not nearly as famous as the other heroes. Anyways, I was thinking that if it's tied to the human world, maybe we could use it to deal with Giovanni?"

They paused, and then added, "Also, when I was looking at a map of the world, I noticed that it looks pretty much exactly the same as the map of my world, except the Thunder Continent is missing. I was hoping to take a visit there, to maybe see Overcast Village again, and it was really shocking to see it not being here when the rest of the world is the same. Do you know what's up with that?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm not sure. Perhaps your world is just different!" Buffet nodded. "As for using the Worldcore... asking for wishes there is a very difficult thing. It really strained itself with Pine a few decades ago. I'm not really sure if we'd be able to do something like that again for now! But Arceus... He might be able to help instead." Buffet nodded, drifting left and right, like he had too much energy. He giggled again. "Saltriv, I'm sorry, but isn't being here a little boring? Maybe we should go somewhere fun to play. Have you ever flown?"

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv stared at the dark dragon. He seemed a bit...odd, and not like what they heard that he was supposed to be like.

Maybe they were just misremembering things?

"It's at least worth a try! We don't really lose anything if it doesn't work I think, and maybe we'll even find out what's with all the Charmanders there, since I've heard it's supposed to be some sort of super mystery dungeon," they said. "And sure! I was going to check out my new home, but that can wait."

 

[Namohysip]

"Perfect!"

And, without warning, Buffet reached forward and plucked Saltriv off the ground with frightening ease, flinging the entire Bayleef into the air and onto his back before rocketing into the sky. In mere seconds, Destiny Village's entire perimeter was visible to Saltriv from all directions. Buffet laughed, making hard banks and loops in the air. "Things are a little dangerous right now... but that's all the more reason to have fun when we can! Uhuhu..."

 

[IFBench]

"Wh-" Saltriv began, before being quickly lifted into the air, and soaring forwards at high speeds. They immediately sprouted four vines, wrapping two around each of Buffet's side heads.

"Can...can you slow down please?" Saltriv said, their leaf straining from being blown back so hard. Something was definitely odd with the Hydreigon.