Tree of Life ~ Interior

[Namohysip]

Even after Dark Matter's crisis, the insides of the Tree of Life continued to be an internal labyrinth. The walls seemed to be straightforward for a while, with prismatic light flowing through the roots wherever they looked. The wood itself seemed healthy, greenish, and dark. Perhaps even fires wouldn't be able to put it out.

But the tree was not entirely harmless. There was a strange energy about it, too, that was oddly draining. Spending too much time inside could potentially cost a traveler's life... though clearly, travelers were not normally allowed inside. Along with that, some of the vines along the way had thorns that the group had to be careful about stepping over. Sometimes, it felt like they moved...

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Maple already had her blade drawn, moving cautiously through the tree with Team Spectrum just behind her. "Xerneas and Diyem weren't anywhere around the perimeter," she said. "Has he answered any of your calls?"

"Not a one," Owen said, "but he has to be alive. Otherwise, we'd be feeling it, and badly."

"Mm." Maple kept to her Smeargle form in case there was corruption in the air. She wasn't going to be able to do much in an Eterna environment anyway. "Then by that logic, he must be somewhere inside..."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"There's one thing I don't get though... Why didn't we try to separate Diyem away from the tree the moment we found out his head was getting field with eterna juice?" Cynthian asked. She watched her step to avoid any of the thorny vines strewn around the labyrinth, flinching when one nearly grazed her hip.

"Never thought we'd have to go on a Diyem rescue mission twice when we started this whole thing." Cynthian shook her head with a smile. She'd started to get used to their new routine.

 

[Virgil134]

Pleo looked around warily as he walked along with the rest of the group. Despite how pretty the outside looked like, the inside looked kinda... scary. Did it always look like this? Or had Eien changed things somehow?

"How come we haven't seen any phantoms yet like at the Worldcore?" the Lugia asked. "Didn't Raven encounter those when she tried to enter?"

 

[Fusion]

"Honestly... I don't think anyone wanted to deal with Xerneas," Vix groaned, currently on the back of Scrafty. She looked nauseous, and shinier than usual. Her flame had gold specks in it, her black-metal body was a silvery-grey, and the lavender of her glass head was a lot closer to yellow than purple. Other than a color scheme change, she was also a tad melty. She looked to Maple, grimacing slightly. "How the hell can you function with all that Radiance?"

"I mean, you know what you are, right? Radiance kinda fuckin' sucks for you," Scrafty scoffed. "Shouldn't've been a twat."

"Bite me."

Waddling in beside Scrafty was Puddle, a glare on its face, and its legs fully reformed again. There wasn't much else different about it. It looked to Pleo and shrugged. "Maybe all the phantoms fucked off to Xerneas and Diyem, better there than bein' annoyin' out here."

 

[Disco]

Mellow followed behind Owen and Maple, though she was closer to Vix than she was them. She glanced at the Chandelure. "Are you sure you're able to fight? I brought a bunch of my potions with me. I can give you one or two..."

 

[Fusion]

"Nah, I just need to get more of this radiance outta me," Vix chuckled, then sighed. "But... a potion or two would be fine."

Puddle paused for a moment, then face palmed. "That's the thing I was forgettin'! To take that radiance outta you!"

Vix shot the Scraggy familiar a glare. "You mean you haven't been doing that this entire time..."

"Let's, uh, say that I was?" the familiar tittered, melting under Vix's glare. "I-I mean, that just means you've gotten good at handlin' corruption yourself, right? Pretty soon you won't need me to do it for ya, you know?" Puddle paused again, then went quiet.

Vix didn't know what the sudden drop in Puddle was about, only able to guess it was upset, then floated the familiar onto her back. It didn't take long for her to start feeling better.

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa tread carefully as he made his way through the Tree, sticking close to the edge of the team. His thoughts kept straying to his own part of the mission. Check out the top left path. He couldn't help but wonder what might lay in wait for him there. No matter what, however, he knew he had to go. Soda had saved Cola, and whether that meant he tried to play them or genuinely cared, there was an element of usefulness to his advice.

At least Brisa promised to follow him down the path, so he wouldn't have to worry about going alone. Hopefully when the time came, he could slip away without being noticed.

His gaze shifted and he watched Maple, wondering if Soda's words were true. Was there truly something seriously wrong with Maple?

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave took a deep breath and moved to the front of the group, approaching the ‘Smeargle’, staying well on the other side of her blade. Brisa followed along with him. "Hey. Maple? Got a moment?"

 

[Namohysip]

As they walked through the Tree of Life, Maple did note the lack of phantoms this time around. She also noted that it probably meant there was something deeper inside waiting for them.

"Hm?" Maple glanced at Dave. "Yes?"

There was in general some odd tension that Maple had sensed. Still, she didn't acknowledge it directly; it could be anything. She was still mulling over what had happened to Soda... She didn't get the details, but she knew he was missing.

 

[Disco]

Mellow was keeping an eye on Vix after she'd given her the potions she'd offered, but tilted her head towards Dave and Maple...

 

[Dragonfree]

“I’ve been thinking about Soda. You know, with him having disappeared and all,” Dave began, watching her carefully for a reaction. “He told me about his past once. Said he joined the God Squad after his world’s Arceus killed him and locked him out of his universe forever, and you revived him...?”

 

[Namohysip]

"Ah." Maple's eyes seemed to change a little, from her inquisitiveness to one more somber. Whatever suspicion she may have had on Dave was gone for the time being. "Yes, that is true. Destroyed his soul within that world, such that the universe would no longer recognize him. In other words, a Lockout, as you called it." She nodded. "It was a very unfortunate set of events."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa padded along beside Dave, listening in on his exchange with Maple. More than most of the team, Brisa wanted to believe in Maple's integrity and good intentions. Still, it would be negligent to shy away from uncomfortable possibilities. She could only hope that Maple could account for herself with regard to Soda's allegations.

How long could she manage to stay silent about Soda's 'plan' without reason to trust his assessment...?

Brisa promised to follow him down the path, so he wouldn't have to worry about going alone.

Out at the edge of the party, Koa was pacing along, reminding Brisa of nothing so much as herself, months ago, during the journey to fight Lugia in her shadowed state. He'd be alright. The battles always melted such trepidation soon enough, and he'd feel truly part of the team before long. Just like her.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian eyed Maple and Dave having their talk. Though not up to that with events, she'd heard that Maple might be corrupted with the blacklight herself. She certainly didn't look it though. Hopefully it won't be a problem now, but Cynthian made sure to keep her guard up just in case anything went awry.

"Do we know if that loose blacklight Mewtwo isn't going to show up here while we're busy trying to get Diyem and his mate free?" Cynthian asked with a grimace. At least Giovanni and the other previously Giovanni but not anymore were still locked up...

 

[Dragonfree]

Unfortunate sure was a fucking way of putting it. "Right. The way he told it, his world's Arceus was a pretty huge douchebag, and he brainwashed Soda's partner into attacking him. Was there a reason you didn't get her out of there with him? I asked him about that, and why you didn't take down that Arceus or free people from his influence, or something, and he said he wasn't sure. Something about your power being limited in that universe so you couldn't fight him, but what about just, you know, evacuating people? Or at least her? Isn't saving worlds like that kind of what you do?"

 

[Namohysip]

Midway through Dave's explanation, Maple's expression seemed to change, first to surprise, and then to bewilderment.

"I don't understand," she said. "That isn't at all what happened. We investigated the world we'd found Soda from, yes, and we saw that Arceus and Soda's former mate, yes... but there wasn't any brainwashing involved. In fact, she was in tears, and Arceus was comforting her. Joule is a powerful Psychic; he would have noticed influence like that. We didn't interfere because..." Maple hesitated, like she didn't want to answer. "...Perhaps... Soda simply doesn't remember the outcome. It has been several decades, and I certainly won't bring it up..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa grit her teeth. There it was. Maple wasn't much of a dissembler.

"Can't tell if he's playin' up an angle or he's genuinely twisted his own accountin' fer what happened," she muttered.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave exhaled slowly, knot in his stomach. The worst part was he believed her, and wasn't quite even surprised. It'd always been a little weird, Soda's insistence that he didn't remember his exchange with her after the attack, the speculated brainwashing but not. He might not even have been lying about how he saw it. God fucking damn it.

"So what did your investigation find, then?" he asked, quiet. "How bad was that Arceus?"

 

[Namohysip]

Maple hummed, walking as everyone listened quietly. "We've been to many worlds so we know how they tend to operate. This Arceus was... tired. I think that is a good word to use. He was tired and ready to withdraw into a slumber, but was looking for someone to take over in the meantime. Soda was a candidate for that, but Arceus, perhaps due to fatigue, did not see that Soda had been part of a force meant to overthrow him. They suspected Arceus of negligent behavior... which can be devastating for someone of his stature. It was the reason I had decided to investigate at all--there was a sense of divine conflict, spikes of that type of energy, from within. But by the time I had gotten there, the battle was already over.

"It was all very... muddled. No side knew the full story at the time, which led to mistrust and miscommunication and heartbreak, but Soda was not fit to be his replacement. He'd gained Arceus' trust, but I..." Maple winced. "I... don't know if I'm at liberty to talk about this, Dave. I'm sorry. It's deeply personal to Soda, and I can't do that to him."

 

[Fusion]

Vix and Puddle went silent, close enough to Maple and Dave to hear their conversation. Neither of them really knew how to take it, the former was... confused. Soda had told Vix little bits and pieces of his past, but not that much about... any of this. Other than him having a girlfriend before... or currently, it was complicated from the sound of it.

Puddle was, instead, hurt. Either Soda was lying to them or lying to himself... and neither of those really vibed well with the familiar. Its glare softened into a saddened look, and it sighed.

"Puddle?" Vix asked, finishing one of Mellow's potions. That actually really hit the spot, and with Puddle doing its corruption absorbing thing, Vix's Radiance was leveling out quicker than she thought. "You alright?"

"It's nothing..." Puddle muttered. "Let's just keep goin'."

"You say that like either of you are walkin'. I ain't even got a real body, and I'm carryin' both of you," Scrafty huffed.