Diyem grumbled to himself, figuring that the team would eventually get thrown off by the slow and steady arrivals of the dead. Honestly, he thought they were going to be mature about it. He told them they were fine. This was far better than the usual finality of death. Yes, the Voidlands wasn't ideal, but frankly they should have been thanking him. Then again, that might have hurt. Perhaps they were being thoughtful after all. Disgusting.
Diyem listened in on the debates.
"I think Maple, the rest of God Squad and Arceus have a right to know,"
"We'd ruin what little trust we've built to this point if we start acting behind other people's back."
"You all came here to help Cibus, correct? Then our priority should be healing Arceus."
This was true, Diyem thought. But Diyem also found that any trust that Maple might build up toward them was a lost cause. Disposable. But if they thought otherwise, perhaps...
"Can't just tell them about Eternatus and let them decide what we should do? Maybe they can even think of something that doesn't involve attacking the tree."
No matter how much Diyem knew of the Tree, there were always hidden variables involved with Cibus' Tree specifically. Perhaps Pleo had a point...
Err, Joule. He owes his life to our team, and bears some responsibility for the deaths of those we are trying to recover. I would expect him to be much more receptive than Maple, and then it can be his job to tell her.
I think I'm leaning towards that suggestion of having Joule try to feel things out for us.
"Joule is still recovering and, outside of some reconnaissance thing in the Mist Continent, Maple has not left his side. We would be hard-pressed to approach him alone. And, even if we could, it would be a touch cruel to lay such a task at his feet while he's still recovering."
Would Maple listen to honor above her traumas, if it was sourced from Joule and what she owed them? Or would her judgement be clouded by her past? Diyem was less confident... The ire he felt from Maple was more than enough to dissuade him from trying to use Joule as a bargaining chip. "I do not think using Joule as leverage, even slightly, even as a 'you owe me' statement, will earn us favors. We shouldn't lean on this, even if we go the route of telling Joule first."
And despite Bahamut's objections... "You should also know that, yes, Eternatus is sapient. But I suspect Eternatus is also corrupted by the same Blacklight we are dealing with."
"Why do I get the feeling there's still something you're refusing to tell us?" Telepathy would have to do. Just one-on-one. "I don't think you're doing it maliciously. Perhaps it's your instinctual negativity getting in the way? I'm sure 'help' sounds like a painful concept to you, but we cannot help you or Cibus to the best of our abilities if we don't have the full picture."
Diyem glanced at Bahamut, frowning.
"What I am saying is the truth. The best way to save the Tree while striking Eternatus down is by infiltrating it and attacking from the inside. If we attacked from the outside, the Tree would die first, and then Eternatus, which would leave room for it to escape even more."
And what he said felt like the truth. Diyem's expertise on this... suggested the plan of
attack, should they go for it, was sound. Yet, indeed, it still felt like something was missing. Diyem was too confident...
What exactly will restoring your power do to help us right now, other than reviving us? And why are we worried about Cola?
"I need power to restore my own body to how you'd seen me against Giovanni," Diyem said, "...but if I expend my power into reviving your team, I won't be able to do that. Revival is... difficult. I would need even greater amounts of power to do both. And Cola... I do not know. Arceus had a plan, but he has been too weak to elaborate on it. And perhaps that plan is pointless now that he actually survived. We'd have to ask him ourselves."
Actually... what exactly do we know about this eternatus specifically?
How do you know about Eternatus being in the Tree? Feel like there's a lot going unsaid here.
"I do not think," Diyem said to them, "that Eternatus' corruption will be able to infiltrate the revived team as long as I do it from afar, and as long as I am monitoring the revival. Which I obviously must, as I would be performing it. I am familiar with the powers of Eternatus in general. However, going deeper, there is... risk. I still do not know why Xerneas hasn't reported it. Perhaps he did not sense it, himself.
"But in the end, Eternatus is a danger. We have to kill her to save Cibus."
Cal paused. She looked among the others, who had likely noticed the very same thing. And as one of the phantoms finally coalesced into a Charizard, Cal's heart skipped a beat. She thought Diyem had said something odd there, but that all went out of her head when she saw Owen return. She wanted to speak up, but didn't want to distract from the meeting. Instead, she and Owen shared what might have been shapeless grins.
