Tree of Life ~ Interior

[Namohysip]

"Maple, this is your last chance to get ahold of yourself before we seal you here," Diyem growled. "Then the way they're going to help you will only be a painful one."

He dodged and weaved between Maple's blows, but inevitably a handful of them struck his body. He was more sturdy on all fours, it seemed, his body rippling with dark flames in place of proper scales. The bright but corrupted Voice in front of him was evenly matched, but Diyem feared that she could get stronger.

Eien...

Diyem tried and struggled as much as he could to see what Eien was doing, but she was too far away. But the blasts had stopped. The tree's interior was softly prismatic again--where did all that energy go?

Maple wasn't listening. They had to retreat.

Eien... I'm sorry, Diyem thought. Please, hold on for a little while longer. You--

Diyem stiffened, taking a full blow from Maple's strike and skidding backwards. He didn't look too badly hurt. But someone had reached out to him. And then he looked behind...

Eien was there. She was corrupted more than anything he'd ever seen, to the point where the very walls twisted and warped just by being near her horrible form, but it was her, and Diyem almost smiled. He gripped his claws on the ground and crouched.

I promise, I will return.

Diyem fled, and when he did, Maple tried to stop him. But Eien lunged and grabbed Maple, pinning her to the ground. Radiance, Eterna, it all mixed together and tore apart the ground, but the ground itself was healing at the same time. The Tree was feeding off of their energy at the same rate they were putting it out.

"Diyem!" Xerneas shouted.

He ran out, and then Xerneas channeled some of his energy into the walls of the tree. Roots coalesced into thicker and thicker blockages, cutting off the tree's internals from the rest of the world. They passed through the Ultra Wormhole that Bahamut had set up, and Diyem confirmed that everyone had made it out.

Nighttime. They'd been fighting for so long that it had become nighttime. Everyone was exhausted beyond their limits; Owen was collapsed on the ground with Cal trying to keep him sitting upright. Diyem glanced at Xerneas, who eyed the Tree worriedly, and then looked down in shame.

But before any more words could be said, the night sky was alight with prismatic light. The top of the Tree of Life made it like the night had become day, the sun rising early. Pools of light swirled and spiraled, collecting into a great orb of light as the branches seemingly curled upward. And then...

Everything went white. The Tree shot a great energy upward, curving slightly, and then breaking past the lower atmosphere.

Chip had once remarked that he'd wanted to use the Tree for something like this, just because he could. A shame that someone beat him to it.

The beam's trajectory -- the moon.

 

[Disco]

Both Raven and Mellow watched, awed by the beam of light...

But something Diyem had said crossed her mind. He knew what happened to Maple and to Telum... So what was it?

"Hey... Diyem? You said you figured out what Maple was up too... What was it?", She asked, before looking down at the ground. "Oh, um... And, sorry about throwing your things out. I overreacted."

 

[Ambyssin]

“What the fuck happened? Where is Eternatus? And Maple?”

 

[Fusion]

After getting snuck up on by that fusion dragon of the yin, yang, and introvert dragons, the fight was kind of a blur. Yelling, growling, barking, screaming... and the explosions, god the fucking explosions... Some of them might've been from Vix herself, but that didn't shake away the splitting headache it all gave Vix when she was finally coming to. Fights were usually fun but like... goddamn. This was, what, the second or third fight in a row Vix herself was blasted unconscious?

Vix was mostly unconscious until the cold air outside the tree hit her on one side, which actually brought attention to the heat she felt on the other side. And also the fur. Whenever Vix briefly opened her eyes, and all she really saw was a blurred mess of red, grey, and black fur, her first thought was that Castiss or Soda came to her rescue... Funny, considering neither of them, to Vix's knowledge, was there.

"Mmmmmnn..." Vix muttered, her flame trying to spark back to life, but to no avail. Too tired, nothing to burn.

Puddle was right by Vix's side when she started making noises. It was worried to the core, with a slight frown on its face. "Hey, Vix! You finally gettin' back up?"

"...Nah, not exactly," Scrafty grumbled, appearing as just a wispy, shadowy figure. Luckily, his signature glare remained exactly where it always was. "My head feels like its on a damn pike, imagine what she's feelin' right now?"

"Warmmmmmm..." Vix muttered. She moved an arm to try and wrap it around whoever was holding her, but it fell right off. Luckily, into Puddle. "Soooooft...

"Apparently, exactly the same." Scrafty sighed, shifting his glare to Starr. "Sorry for the hassle, but do ya mind holdin' onto this waxy idiot for a bit longer? I ain't manifested enough to hold her, however the fuck I do it, and Puddle... is Puddle."

Puddle pouted and crossed its arms. "Dick."

"Twerp." Scrafty managed to conjure up a smug grin, but it faded seconds after.

 

[Dragonfree]

Maple was oozing Blacklight, eyes crazed as she rushed towards Eien. Soda'd been right, and Dave knew it. He felt hairs rising all along his back, looking frantically at Koa. This Maple lure had better fucking work, and they'd better be able to get the fuck out of here before it--

Hey, sorry for the wait, Soda said. Sooo sorry about this, but Maple's losing it. Told ya so. You might wanna get out ASAP. You got that lure set up yet? Now or never, bud. I've got a flight to catch.

Dave's ears perked. "Soda! Soda!" he hissed at the air, looking wildly around. "I talked to Maple and she--"

There was no point, was there? Soda was already gone. God fucking damn it.

Maple's voice was reverberating deafeningly throughout the tree, rambling insanely about how they were plotting to destroy Cibus. He looked back at Koa, just as the Manectric hit the bauble of light and they ran the fuck away.

Maple's mad stomping moved towards the lure, momentarily followed by the angry screech of her realizing it was a decoy. The stomping started up again, coming after them, and a shiver went down Dave's spine as he sprinted as fast as he could towards the exit.

She was intercepted by Diyem.

Retreat. I will follow. Tell Xerneas to seal the tree when he can. We need to regroup and return here later. I will explain. But I know what happened to Maple. And... I also found Telum.

"...Wait, what? The fuck?"

No matter. They could talk about exactly what the fuck kind of eldritch abomination Maple was later, when she was sealed beneath a maze of thick roots.

 

[Namohysip]

Diyem turned around, staring at the sky as it finally darkened. Everything was calm. Only the distant rumbling and roaring from Maple and Eien, muffled by layer upon layer of the Tree of Life, disturbed that silence.

"How long," Diyem said, "until the Tree breaks?"

"We have at least a few days," Xerneas said. "If I visit here often, we might be able to prolong it. Maybe they'll tire each other out..."

"Then it is time to recover," Diyem stated. He looked to the others. "I will explain everything later. For now, let's get ourselves checked at the Guild."

"Um, and are you okay?" Owen asked. "You look... kinda... um..."

"Nice haircut," Cal remarked.

Diyem stared. "I had to strike back. I will return to a more approachable form later."

"But... you said that you found Telum. Where? In the Tree of Life, somehow?" Owen asked.

"...Telum... Mm. Maple is a Voice of Life. The Voice of Telum. She should not be alive if Telum itself is destroyed. When Maple was fully corrupted... I sensed something within her and I do not know how to properly phrase what I saw.

"I sensed... another Dark Matter. And I sensed countless other energies flowing just within her. And the way she reacted to Eien in particular..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Aha ha ha..."

Bahamut's head tendrils shrank. He slowly turned to look at his shade. Its helmet was... melting away to leave a face much like Potluck's, but slimier.

"Aha ha ha haaaaaa!" The shade sucked in a sharp breath. "Ha ha ha ha haaaa!" A sickly purple spread over his hollow eyes. "So, the veritable leader has finally stumbled upon the truth, has he?"

"What are you blathering about?" Bahamut hissed.

"Don't act like you can't put two and two together." The shade's crest fanned out with sickening squelches. "Think of your home universe. How Eternatus has embraced countless planets in His love." Blue ripples pulsated through its purple eyes. "That same power... is in Maple's hands. Her love for Telum... it is as deep as Eternatus' love for the cosmos! It is only natural, then, that she could take the powers of a lesser specimen. How wonderful! How magnificent! Truly the omniverse is a sprawling canvas deserving of His breathtaking embrace!"

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa remained oddly quiet the whole time, though he listened carefully to all that was said. Finally, he spoke. "Maple... absorbed Telum." The words were halfway between a question and a statement. The idea had crossed his mind at some point, but he was too tired to know if it had been days ago or hours or if he'd literally just thought of it for the first time.

Had Maple fused with a Dark Matter to keep all the souls alive? The way the team had stayed alive in Diyem? "Is that what happened?" he asked, turning to Diyem.

 

[Ambyssin]

“What?!” Bahamut glared at his shade. He wrapped it around the neck with his tail and lifted it up. “Why didn’t you say something earlier you ignoramus?”

“Kh hhh.” The shade wheezed and snorted. “And deprive you the chance to witness it for yourselves? This new development... it’s far too interesting to spoil.”

 

[Disco]

"Of all the selfish things to do...", Raven growled at Xeromus. She knew she should ignore him but everything he said got under her skin...

 

[Namohysip]

"That seems to be the case," said Diyem, going into a sitting position not unlike Brisa on guard duty. A sentinel. His dark eyes drifted, taking one final head count. They had everyone, save Maple. They'd all come to save him. He glanced at Xerneas, who was prodding at some nearby roots.

"This is no place to discuss things," he said. "We shall return to the Guild. Get some rest. And tomorrow, we will discuss everything properly with the Guild, with Pop, and perhaps others. We sh--..."

Diyem went quiet just then.

"How did you get here."

"Well, like we usually do, through Ma--" Owen stopped.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Are we stuck here? How many of us know how to fly?" Cynthian asked, scratching her cheek nervously.

"Wait, does Joule have a badge? He can make portals too, can't he?!" Cynthian asked, and then she grimaced, conflicted. "But will it be too soon to tell him about Maple?"

 

[Namohysip]

A wave of awkwardness washed over them. "Joule... Oh, no." Cal looked down. "Who's... going to tell Joule?"

"We spent all this time trying to save Joule from the Blacklight for Maple, and now..." He paused, then snarled to himself. His great, shadowy tail slammed on the ground. "That was why. That was why Maple was able to harm Joule, at the very least. They resonated strongly enough that..." He snarled again. "She was wise not to unleash herself before him. That could have been catastrophic."

"W-well, uh, what about Palkia?" Owen said. "I heard that a few weeks ago, they finally separated. Maybe if we called him, we could..."

"That doesn't change the fact that Joule is undoubtedly waiting for us. Someone... needs to tell him. Then, this evening, we can reconvene. He will not take it well. We will no doubt need to come up with a plan to rescue her before he tries it himself. I know his sort. He will not wait if we say it is not our plan."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"If we're going to tell Dad, I'm coming too!" Ivy chirped, flailing her paw. She looked anxious as she glanced back the way they left the tree.

"I don't want him to be too upset..."

"It's going to be okay, Ivy," Cynthian said, patting the rosemew.

 

[Ambyssin]

“Just leave it to me,” Bahamut growled. “I’ve seen the inside of the guy’s soul. As for getting back...”

Bahamut slammed his shade into the ground and stomped it into submission with his right leg. He clapped his upper wings together and a single ultra wormhole opened in front of the team.

“I can’t have more than one open and only for a limited time. So file through now or you’re staying here until we contact someone else.”

 

[Namohysip]

"It won't be too much of a strain?" Diyem said, frowning. "It was difficult enough from where you were in the Tree to here. Going from here to across the world is a completely different tale. Rrgh... but it may be our best choice for now. Allow me to power them."

And after a bit of work and a lot of strain, as well as a few misfires due to distance and strain, they were able to get a working Wormhole going. Diyem let them all shuffle through, using the time to compose his body back into a Charizard form. The excess shadows of his body trailed off of his scales and concentrated themselves into his hammer once more. He nodded at Bahamut and passed through.

Aside from the distant tremors that came from within the Tree, all became silent...

<><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

Most of Team Spectrum and their Ultra Shades floated behind Diyem as dark phantoms. As nothing but silhouettes, similar to Wishkeeper, they were both weightless and bodiless, but still audible to one another and to, of course, their host. A few, such as Bahamut, were still taking on physical forms and lined up on either side of Diyem like bodyguards, prepared for whatever awaited them in the Tree.

Ahead was the entrance, radiating an ominous air. The Tree itself was dim and cracked in a few places, a shadow of its former self, though thankfully not as dead as it had been during the Dark Matter crisis. At least, not yet... Diyem feared what would happen soon.

"I will enter the Tree," Diyem said, "and the moment we can, I shall strike Maple with the point of my weapon. From there, it will be up to you all while the rest of us hold Maple off."

Next to Diyem was Xernatus, who nodded uneasily. "I will do my part as well," he said. "We must also be careful of Eien and Blacklight Mewtwo. They will likely be fighting each other, but..."

"Mm." Diyem nodded. "This will be difficult no matter how we look at it. Hopefully our preparation will be enough..."

 

[Ambyssin]

In the end, it appeared that it was just going to be Bahamut. Because of course it would. The one the whole team (sans a few shades) hated defending the one this planet had a good reason to hate. If Bahamut were actually ticklish, the irony might have gotten him.

Except then Owen decided to volunteer to stay. Or he was going to split himself and send his shadow with the others. Because that made perfect sense and didn't defy any conceivably notions Bahamut had of the way spirits were supposed to work.

"Are you quite sure you're up for this?" His mismatched eyes cast a multicolored glow on one of the giant roots. "Your weird little tree trick might be harmful to Dark Matter if it's based in radiance." He looked to his right. "And I sure hope this sentient tree doesn't take offence at your imitation of it."

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, it already knows what it looks like from last time," Owen explained to Bahamut, though he did consider it again regardless. "Diyem and I tested it out. As long as I don't funnel that energy to him directly, he should be fine. I think we're going to try to get in the way of Maple more than anything... And Eien and that Blacklight Mewtwo, we'll need to be careful about them, too."

"They're in the same place as before," Xernatus added. "This means that we at least know what the battlefield looks like. I'm going to go in with you to... try to slow Maple down. I can manipulate the walls and the phantoms a little, even if it's not truly my right..."

"I think between the four of us, we should be able to stall Maple while the others do their thing. And with Wishkeeper and I communicating through Diyem, we can keep each other informed."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut frowned. "Do you mean we'll have to chase them around like hatchlings playing hide and seek?"