Shiny Phantump
Through Dream, I Travel
Altar of the Sunne:
It was at Nebby’s behest that Selene found herself at the Altar of the Moone once again. She wasn’t particularly thrilled about it. Anything that involved Lunala and the Altar of the Moone, though, was bound to be something worth not ignoring. Even if it meant climbing 205 stairs.
As she arrived, a voice echoed in her head. “Selene! Hiiii! There’s something I found, come check it out!”
Just as there had been once before, an ultra wormhole was open at the altar. “What? What is this? Don’t tell me you’re taking me on some kind of joyride?”
“No! This is important! At least, I think it is. It seems important.”
Selene approached the wormhole. “If it isn’t, you will be the one who has to explain to Lillie why I’ve been through another wormhole. Fair?”
“Fair…”
When Selene emerged from the wormhole, she was back at the altar at night. Odd, given she didn’t think travel by wormhole took long.
The sun decorations were the first clue that this really was a different place. Was she at some sort of… Altar of the Sun? (Or of the Sune? Sunne?)
The wormhole was still open behind her, but if she turned around now, she may as well have saved herself the risk of going through in the first place.
On a hunch, she pulled out her phone. No signal, but there was the option to place an emergency call, so there was at least a bit of reception here, she was just outside her network range. Given the circumstances, it would probably be weirder if she was in network.
She put through an emergency call to the only person she knew who she’d expect to be awake at this hour: Lillie. After a few moments, someone picked up.
“Hello?”
Selene recognized the speaker, it was actually Lillie. Somehow.
“Hey. This is Selene. I’m calling from the Altar of the… Sun?”
“What? What’re you doing at the Altar of the Sunne? It’s the middle of the night in Alola!”
Selene’s throat felt dry. ‘Lillie’ knew about this version of the Altar.
“N- Lunala sent me. It’s, uhh, a long story.”
“Okay?” ‘Lillie’ sounded baffled. If this ‘Lillie’ had a ‘Nebby,’ they were definitely a Solgaleo. “Why are you calling me, though? Who are you? How do you know a Lunala?”
The last of those questions had been the only one she’d expected. The others felt like a blow to the gut: Lillie didn’t know her here. ‘Lillie’ had still made it through everything, left for Kanto, all without her.
Selene was grateful this Lillie was alright, but finding out she was completely unnecessary to the story she’d been at the heart of stung.
She hadn’t realized how long she’d paused for until Lillie spoke again. “Hello? Are you still there?”
“Yes… I… Was wondering about the champion of Alola.”
“Oh! Elio, or Hau? They had a match, but they were asleep when I got up, so I haven’t heard how it went yet.”
“I…” She hadn’t planned this far. “Sorry, my phone battery’s about to die.”
Selene hung up, and looked back toward the portal. She decided she didn’t want to know anything else about this place.
Destroying the Mask:
Gladion is very worried right now. It’s because my helmet broke, and this is supposed to be very bad for me. I feel fine, though.
He is running his hand through my feathers. That’s something he can do now. And I can use my beak to fix his hair, like I always want to.
I coo to tell him it’s okay. This time, I think everyone can tell what sound I am making. They will not be being confused and thinking I am purring or making other sounds that are not cooing. This is because they can see me now. They can see that I am a bird. A good bird.
He starts to calm down, too. He can tell I know it will be okay. That I am not feeling bad. That I am, I think, actually feeling the best that anyone has ever felt. Or at least the best that I have ever felt.
Seeing Yourself:
I’ve learned to look straight ahead. Here, where the metal walls and floor are reflective, I find it strange not to do so. Seeing my reflection feels weird- Like I’m looking at Lillie, except that she’s not actually there, it’s just me.
I thought it was an identical twin thing, at first. When I asked Lillie about it, she didn’t know what I was talking about, but that was probably just because she looked so… Normal? We looked the same, but she just looks like Lillie. And I look like Lillie. I wonder if she finds it weird to look at me, instead of at her reflection.
It was only once Father prepared me for my first visit to the labs that I started to wonder. I had to change into appropriate lab attire. There was a poster on the wall of a stick figure getting pulled into a machine by her hair, which made me laugh. I put on overalls, then tied my hair behind my head, and also I tucked it down the back of my shirt too, just to be safe.
It was when I saw my reflection in the door that I started to wonder. It didn’t feel weird. With the clothes, the short-looking hair, I didn’t see Lillie staring back at me. I saw myself.
I hadn’t known that was possible before.
It was at Nebby’s behest that Selene found herself at the Altar of the Moone once again. She wasn’t particularly thrilled about it. Anything that involved Lunala and the Altar of the Moone, though, was bound to be something worth not ignoring. Even if it meant climbing 205 stairs.
As she arrived, a voice echoed in her head. “Selene! Hiiii! There’s something I found, come check it out!”
Just as there had been once before, an ultra wormhole was open at the altar. “What? What is this? Don’t tell me you’re taking me on some kind of joyride?”
“No! This is important! At least, I think it is. It seems important.”
Selene approached the wormhole. “If it isn’t, you will be the one who has to explain to Lillie why I’ve been through another wormhole. Fair?”
“Fair…”
When Selene emerged from the wormhole, she was back at the altar at night. Odd, given she didn’t think travel by wormhole took long.
The sun decorations were the first clue that this really was a different place. Was she at some sort of… Altar of the Sun? (Or of the Sune? Sunne?)
The wormhole was still open behind her, but if she turned around now, she may as well have saved herself the risk of going through in the first place.
On a hunch, she pulled out her phone. No signal, but there was the option to place an emergency call, so there was at least a bit of reception here, she was just outside her network range. Given the circumstances, it would probably be weirder if she was in network.
She put through an emergency call to the only person she knew who she’d expect to be awake at this hour: Lillie. After a few moments, someone picked up.
“Hello?”
Selene recognized the speaker, it was actually Lillie. Somehow.
“Hey. This is Selene. I’m calling from the Altar of the… Sun?”
“What? What’re you doing at the Altar of the Sunne? It’s the middle of the night in Alola!”
Selene’s throat felt dry. ‘Lillie’ knew about this version of the Altar.
“N- Lunala sent me. It’s, uhh, a long story.”
“Okay?” ‘Lillie’ sounded baffled. If this ‘Lillie’ had a ‘Nebby,’ they were definitely a Solgaleo. “Why are you calling me, though? Who are you? How do you know a Lunala?”
The last of those questions had been the only one she’d expected. The others felt like a blow to the gut: Lillie didn’t know her here. ‘Lillie’ had still made it through everything, left for Kanto, all without her.
Selene was grateful this Lillie was alright, but finding out she was completely unnecessary to the story she’d been at the heart of stung.
She hadn’t realized how long she’d paused for until Lillie spoke again. “Hello? Are you still there?”
“Yes… I… Was wondering about the champion of Alola.”
“Oh! Elio, or Hau? They had a match, but they were asleep when I got up, so I haven’t heard how it went yet.”
“I…” She hadn’t planned this far. “Sorry, my phone battery’s about to die.”
Selene hung up, and looked back toward the portal. She decided she didn’t want to know anything else about this place.
Destroying the Mask:
Gladion is very worried right now. It’s because my helmet broke, and this is supposed to be very bad for me. I feel fine, though.
He is running his hand through my feathers. That’s something he can do now. And I can use my beak to fix his hair, like I always want to.
I coo to tell him it’s okay. This time, I think everyone can tell what sound I am making. They will not be being confused and thinking I am purring or making other sounds that are not cooing. This is because they can see me now. They can see that I am a bird. A good bird.
He starts to calm down, too. He can tell I know it will be okay. That I am not feeling bad. That I am, I think, actually feeling the best that anyone has ever felt. Or at least the best that I have ever felt.
Seeing Yourself:
I’ve learned to look straight ahead. Here, where the metal walls and floor are reflective, I find it strange not to do so. Seeing my reflection feels weird- Like I’m looking at Lillie, except that she’s not actually there, it’s just me.
I thought it was an identical twin thing, at first. When I asked Lillie about it, she didn’t know what I was talking about, but that was probably just because she looked so… Normal? We looked the same, but she just looks like Lillie. And I look like Lillie. I wonder if she finds it weird to look at me, instead of at her reflection.
It was only once Father prepared me for my first visit to the labs that I started to wonder. I had to change into appropriate lab attire. There was a poster on the wall of a stick figure getting pulled into a machine by her hair, which made me laugh. I put on overalls, then tied my hair behind my head, and also I tucked it down the back of my shirt too, just to be safe.
It was when I saw my reflection in the door that I started to wonder. It didn’t feel weird. With the clothes, the short-looking hair, I didn’t see Lillie staring back at me. I saw myself.
I hadn’t known that was possible before.
