Destiny Tower

[Cresselia92]

“Aah! Now I get it! You’re like a living insurance policy: if something’s broken, you fix or refund it!” chirped Petram, feeling suddenly very smart. He paused for a moment, looking momentarily alarmed. “Oh, erm, perhaps something more complicated that this, but that’s the closest comparison I could find.”

Petram closed momentarily his eyes, then reopened them again. Somehow, they seemed to have suddenly become… colder and more perceptive.

“No, wait. I thought of a better one. You’re like the remains of a star, with enough power to become a new light in the cosmos and offer all life light after absorbing more star matter and all that cosmic nonsense! Though,” he drifted toward the small Arceus, “why can’t you go claim that power now? Like, I think it would be sick as heck to have two big guys who can do all that creation stuff! Why wait for… something that might not happen any time soon?”

 

[Namohysip]

"You know... You're right!" He nodded again, and then tapped his ethereal hoof on the ground. "I think it's about time I go to that Tree of Life and get my power back! Maybe I'll even get to replace Pop! I'll need a better name, though, maybe... hmmm... Cola. That seems like a good name!"

"Cola?" Cal asked. "Something about that name feels... similar to Pop, for some reason."

"I dunno, but it seems like it fits. And it's better, too. This weird Zoroark suggested it to me and I really like it."

"How did--" Palkia flinched.

Dialga continued, "Only Maple was allowed in here from God Squad."

"Well, he said something about being curious. He gave me these, too!" Cola nudged over several magazines with Pokemon in odd poses on the front. "They're awesome."

Giratina looked horrified.

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram glanced at those magazines and sent a copy of their covers through the telepathic link with Icetales. Just the time for the Ninetales to receive the mental image that the Vulpix’s head was filled with all kinds of panicky and horrified shouts, and he suddenly felt… very dirty.

“…Never accept gifts from strangers. And absolutely under no circumstance accept them from strangers who can copy the face of someone else,” muttered Petram, massaging his forehead.

 

[Namohysip]

"But Soda's cool," Cola said, frowning. "He doesn't follow the rules."

"Oh, no, Soda's corrupted Cola..." Giratina fretted, then looked at the others. "I--I think we should be more careful about who sees him. And I'm going to have a talk with Soda next time I see him..."

"So, when do I get to go to the Tree of Life?" Cola asked.

"We'll need you to get a little stronger on your own, first," Giratina said. "And maybe set up for an escort group, too. We don't want Giovanni or someone else stealing you away..."

"Is Giovanni a bad guy?" Cola asked. "I didn't read that in Pop's notes yet..."

 

[Cresselia92]

"Is Giovanni a bad guy?" Cola asked. "I didn't read that in Pop's notes yet..."

“Oh, no! Don’t worry about that. Giovanni is just, what, the worst scum of the entire cosmos! He’s no big deal, really!” deadpanned Petram, crossing his paws. “I will never forgive him for hurting Daddy and I will kick that psychic butt of his the next time we meet him!”

Petram started musing and rubbing his chin. “I really wonder what he’s up to, and if he survived the blast of that Joule guy. I mean, can a psychic survive a beam of death that can obliterate an entire city, if not an entire continent?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz arrived a little after everyone else, and listened rather than speak. Mostly she was concerned with the correct way to act and speak so as not to make people uncomfortable. Brisa had been telling her of late (Brisa was gone) that endless cheeriness could be more offputting than negativity. She was learning!

Petram's commentary seemed pretty negative even by those standards, though. Things should be interesting, and fun, and full of life!

"Howdy, lil' god," Luz drawled, at last. "Welcome to existence, fella. I hope it treats ya right! Tell me, d'ya plan on bein' a certain kinda person yet, or are y'still cogitatin' upon the subject of yer identity?"

 

[Namohysip]

Cola had a spring in his step as he hopped toward Luz. "Y'know? Ain't really sure what kinda identity'm lookin' fer. Learnin' the ropes still, gotta see what all these... Cibus? Cibus, right?"

"Yes, Cibus," Giratina said.

"Why is he so impressionable?" Dialga asked to himself.

"Well, Pop did say he learned from mortals when he was first seeing intelligent life... Is this the same?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram glanced at the dragons and tilted his head, before looking again at the small deity. “Well, he has talent! I bet he would be a really good actor. He wouldn’t even need to pay for the choreography guys — he could create his own choreography!”

The small Shade clapped his paws and wagged his tails, wondering what kinds of shows Cola could pull off, before looking at the various books and notes.

“Huh, just curious. What are those books and notes about? Is there some good secret we could use to… I dunno, save ‘mons and stuff?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well now, there ain't a thing wrong with takin' after folks an' tryin' on new presentation," said Luz, grinning toothily.

This was so interesting and fun! A new creator-entity, and one that mimicked her accent! And heavens above, that sure reminded her of Brisa, oh stars.

"How far up on yer studies are ya, lil' fella?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, fer now, just started. I only read up ter that." He motioned to the small pile of books to the left. "Talk about losin' my childhood, am I right? I've still got shell on my back'n here I am doin' homework!"

"I guess Arceus matures differently," Palkia guessed, to which the heads of Dialga and Giratina nodded.

"Didn't think he planned this far ahead. Are we sure this is the same Pop?" Cal hummed, looking left. "I hope this is what he planned..."

"We should probably leave, um, Cola to his studies," Giratina said.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Sure seems like a lil' Pop t'me," said Luz, smiling fondly. "Maybe y'all can't see it 'cause of yer history t'gether, but I reckon this tracks."

She offered Cola one of her massive paws and beamed. "Hope y'find yer pa's journals plenty int'restin', Arceus Cola! I'm Zeraora Luz, and it's a real pleasure t'make yer acquaintance."

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram pouted at the dragons, his tails burning as everyone fawned over the small legendary. It seemed like legends of a feather (scale?) flocked together, or something like that.

‘I guess nobody wants to pay attention to a kid…’

He hung his head and descended toward the floor, then his shoulders slumped and his tails drooped.

‘Perhaps, if I became Sir Jirachi or I was an adult, everyone would take me more seriously…’ He sighed somberly. ‘But I… can’t change. This is… what I have become…’

 

[Namohysip]

Giratina sighed. "Well, I guess that means Cola should--where did he go?" Her tone was even but the lilt of panic in her voice was palpable. In an instant, Cola had been there, and in the next, nothing but a golden wisp of energy had remained.

"What's happening to this one?" Cola asked, poking at Petram's thigh. Had he suddenly appeared there? "Is he dying? I read about dying... I don't think I like it."

"Um, no, he's not..." Giratina frowned.

 

[Cresselia92]

“…Eh?”

Petram looked up as he was poked by Cola. His thigh wobbled like jello with each poke, and the small Vulpix was somewhat amused by that.

“Oh, huh, no. I’m not dying!” Petram blinked and rubbed his chin. “At least, I don’t think I am. But I am something else.” He glanced into Cola’s eyes, while his own purple eyes narrowed. “Sad.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Sad... I've read about that, too. What's the difference, again?" Cola looked at Giratina.

"Um, well, sad is an emotion where you are... oh, I don't really know how to explain sad..."

"Well, what's dying?"

"It's when you can't live anymore."

"Right... Okay. And sad. That's when something isn't going well, but you can't do anything about it, right?"

"Well, that's one way to feel sad."

Cola stared, the red circles for eyes wide with intrigue, but when Giratina didn't elaborate, he went back to looking at Petram. "Well, how often do Pokemon feel sad? Because I don't like it. I don't think Pokemon should feel that way. How does it stop?"

 

[Cresselia92]

…Huh. So the little deity didn’t know the concept of sadness. However, how to explain something that you just… feel?

“Well… Yeah, you’re right. ‘Mons shouldn’t feel sad, but you shouldn’t shun sadness, either.”

Petram started twiddling his paws.

“How to explain… Sadness is basically your internal alarm that there is something wrong. Something… broken inside of you.” He paused and waved his paws in alarm. “Ah! Not physically, of course! That is called ‘pain’. Sadness is connected to your mind, I suppose. And, um… ah! Well, you don’t feel sad anymore when this broken thing is fixed, entirely or partially.”

Petram sighed.

“I guess that means that there is something broken inside of me, and it isn’t my stone. And, well, I should be looking for a way to fix it.”

 

[Namohysip]

"Can I help?" Cola asked, leaning forward a little more.

Cal shifted uncomfortably. "Sometimes you can't really fix the reason you're sad," she said. "You have to find a way to deal with it and go on anyway..."

Cola stared at Cal next. "...You have the same feeling."

"I--y-yeah. We went through something recently."

"What was it? Is it because Pop almost died? He was supposed to die. So you shouldn't be sad about that. Right?"

He trotted to Cal, but then disappeared midway, reappearing in front of her, as if walking the whole way was cumbersome.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz fidgeted with her paws, as restless as her mind.

"Most folks take it hard when they lose people they care about," she said, without her usual easy certainty. "We all just lost a number of pals. Things're gonna be different now. That's hard."

She scratched her cheek fur and tilted her head. Gods, this wasn't her thing. What would Brisa have said, if she wasn't gone?

"Don't you ever get blue? Not ever? Don't you understand hard feelings?"

"Well, I ain't felt much of 'em myself, no! But I sure as breathin' still got yer memories of bein' mad, afeared or otherwise down. I know what those feelings are."

"I know y'ain't that fuckin' clueless, Luz. What I mean is... D'you know why people feel like shit sometimes? What it means?"

"You make it sound like you're gonna tell me."

"It means we need things t'be made right, and if they can't, it means we need comfort. That's what cryin' is, Luz. It's a call fer help."

"We get blue fer a reason," she said, echoing something else her host had once told her. "Things ain't good or bad 'less y'can feel all kinds of ways about 'em. And if things ain't right... We try t'put 'em right, or else we show each other what we need. Could be we need to feel like we matter, could be we need to have fun, could be we need to feel unalone."

She bit her lip.

"At times like this, we gotta help each other."

She just . . . wasn't sure how.

 

[Namohysip]

"Help each other. That all we gotta do?" Cola tilted his ethereal head. "Makes sense. Real simple. So how come it sounds so hard 'n complex? Seems t' me that it's easier said than done."

"That's a good way to put it," Cal admitted. "The goal's there, but..." She sighed. "Well. I guess, we just..." She shook her head. "I--I'm sorry," she added, her flames sputtering in her head. "I c-can't... I'm sorry. Can we t-talk about something else?"

 

[Cresselia92]

"What was it? Is it because Pop almost died? He was supposed to die. So you shouldn't be sad about that. Right?"

Petram sighed softly. “I know you’re new to this, but just because something is supposed to happen it doesn’t mean it has to happen. And,” he scratched the back of his head, “unfortunately, far too often things aren’t supposed to happen… happen.”

"At times like this, we gotta help each other."

Petram glanced at his fellow Shade and tilted his head. Something about what she said reminded him a vague memory of his inter-dimensional counterpart, which he had seeped a long time ago.

He remembered about what Icetales felt during the battle and the last conversation he had with Firetales. Those last words…

“…Yeah. I think that now, more than ever, it’s when we need to do something about the situation. Anything!”

Petram stomped his forepaws on the floor and his tails caught fire. They spread out, making them look like an orange star.

“We gotta stand up! We gotta gather ourselves and go forward for them. We gotta continue for their sake!”

He clenched up his forepaws and lifted them toward the sky.

“By the heavens, we managed to go so far! We can’t stop and mope just because we’ve hit a roadblock, right? It’s painful, yeah, but we must comfort each other, take our respective paws and march forward. We won’t be doing any justice by only crying and staying stuck in the past.”

A determined expression flashed on his face.

“I dunno about you, but I wanna honor them in some way and go forward! I wanna save this world, because this is what they wanted as well!” He glanced at the others. “Who’s with me?”