Destiny Tower

[Namohysip]

After Pop went into the circle of light again, and after allowing Bahamut to follow, they entered a large chamber that overflowed with light. Most normal Pokemon would have to keep their eyes closed to evade the sheer brightness, but Arceus withstood it.

Soda was not, and was wearing a pair of thick-looking black glasses with Truffle, who wore something similar, while setting up what appeared to be countless Luminous Orbs lining a medium-sized chamber, just large enough for Bahamut to comfortably walk within.

In the center of the chamber was Maple, still a Smeargle, surrounded in a pool of golden blood. Based on the towels nearby, they had tried to clean it, but between the maintenance of the chamber and everything else, they had fallen behind. Not to mention, getting towels was difficult when too much of the golden fluid caused the towels to spontaneously combust.

Maple didn't seem fully conscious, occasionally moving and shifting.

"I believe I understand some of Maple's properties more," Pop explained to Bahamut. "She is not merely a Voice. Her time with Joule has caused her to gain some of his properties. Voice of Light, perhaps?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"You're preaching to the choir." Bahamut looked all of this over. It gave him vaguely ritualistic vibes. He'd led similar things before with bright lights. Always for healing or meditative purposes. Yet the golden fluid gave Bahamut the sense something about this was... twisted. A blight against the cosmos. But it wasn't his universe. Nature was not the guiding force here. Said guiding force stood opposite him.

"This type of power... is not something I'm familiar with. Pokémon moves can manipulate nature back home, but only on much smaller scales." His eyes pulsed pink. "And, from a healing standpoint, there was only so much I was capable of. This is... beyond that."

 

[Namohysip]

"Indeed. I learned from... cultural osmosis what worlds you came from were like. In your world, gods hardly existed at all. Here, that is less so. We hold great powers over the forces of nature as a whole. The fabric of reality is something we can weave if necessary. And that is not necessarily limited to my immediate creations, or their successors. I assisted in the restoration of an entire world to prevent a calamity from rippling back to this one.

"And yet, Maple's body... is something that I have not been able to easily repair. So, I am using the methods that Truffle and Soda are aware of to assist, instead, until she can recover faster on her own."

"She'll be fine," Soda said dismissively. "We're just speeding things up. She's been through worse, I... think."

"In my recent memory, she has not," Truffle replied gravely. "But I have faith in her. She will pull through."

One of the towels that had been cleaning after Maple exploded in a flash of Radiant energy, leaving nothing behind. Maple shifted where she rested, barely disturbed.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Mmm-hmm. Is incendiary body fluids part of the process?" Jeez, that felt weird to say out loud. And stupid because he wasn't going to remember saying it in the first place. "It's so very odd. I can't help but wonder... if my universe had such deities, would the humans not have tried to play God... or would they have been encouraged to do so even quicker? Would Eternatus have come into existence sooner? Been more powerful than it was when it broke me?"

 

[Namohysip]

"There are many things to wonder," Pop said, "but I do not think it is something worth dwelling over when it is whole realities away. Perhaps Eternatus could have come sooner. Perhaps you could have rallied more power to thwart it... But I am more focused on what can happen later than what could have happened before. Protecting this world is my purpose." Pop looked back at Maple as Truffle replaced her towels. Thankfully, she was bleeding a lot less. "If Maple is being truthful about her status as a Voice, I do wonder what her purpose is now. She is not in the world that is her domain, after all... That's very abnormal. When she told me she was a Voice, it would be too brazen to be a lie. I would have known if it was by logic alone... That is why I believed her. Well, and her other properties still check out, as a Voice."

 

[Ambyssin]

"If only my teammates would believe that." He shook his head. "Most of them seem convinced you lot are not to be trusted. That you're just waiting for the right opportunity to off us or something like that." Bahamut shook his mane out. "I think some of it revolves around concealing information. I was antagonistic toward our boss because he withheld vital details from us."

 

[Namohysip]

"Of course," Arceus said, nodding. "There is little I can do about that for the time being, unfortunately. I still feel that it is not my place to speak of her past until I find it to be something relevant. It is for her to share... But their suspicions are warranted."

"Pfft, yeah," Soda shrugged, finishing the installation of the final Luminous Orb. "I wouldn't trust someone who always hides."

Truffle gave Soda a deadpan look, but said nothing.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut frowned. He couldn't befriend his teammates or the authority figured. All he was good for now was some on-the-spot healing. "Well, I'm supposed to be a creature of light. Perhaps I can help this process out in some way?"

 

[Namohysip]

"That, you could, potentially," Arceus said, though he seemed to linger his gaze on Bahamut for a while longer. But whatever was on his mind, he held his tongue and instead gestured toward Maple. "Do be careful. Her blood is highly Radiant."

"Don't go all Leech Life on us," Soda quipped.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Perhaps if this world-saving venture fails, you can try your hand at stand-up comedy," Bahamut deadpanned. "So, exactly how does this ritual work?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well, we're more or less done now," Soda said. "Just gotta wait. All we did was maximize how much light can hit Maple all at once."

Arceus nodded. "She is able to draw energy from light. Not unlike you, Bahamut, though she seems less... peculiar about where the light comes from."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Don't you mean 'particular?' Which I'm not." Bahamut's nose twitched. "I just find natural light better. It's like... would you rather eat fresh, organic fruit or an apple someone conjured up with an itemizer orb?"

 

[Namohysip]

"What's the difference?" Arceus said. "All an Itemizer Orb does is swap locations of a faraway object with a target. Though, they don't always get apples..."

"Oh, was wondering how those worked here," Soda said. "Another world we visited turned Truffle into a Geo Pebble a while back."

Truffle fluffed up his feathers. "You said you wouldn't speak of that."

"Oh, whoops." Soda shrugged. "Hey, you still got to fly."

Maple groaned, shifting her weight again, and both Truffle and Soda quieted down.

"Is she well?" Arceus asked.

"She's coming to," Soda reported.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Seems your bickering brought her back to life," Bahamut quipped, though he kept his distance. He didn't need any part of him to catch on fire... because apparently now fire was bad for him. Cursed cat body.

 

[Namohysip]

"Where... am I?" Maple said weakly.

"You are recovering in Destiny Tower still," Truffle said.

"Of course. Then how long has...?" Maple was thankfully composed enough to not fly into a panic. She probably still remembered the aftermath being calmer.

"Only a few days," Truffle said. "We have been managing things well with the help of S'more and the others at the guild."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I came to check on you." Bahamut declined to mention the part where he was the only one on his team interested in her condition.

 

[Namohysip]

Maple sighed weakly. "I see..."

"All things considered, I've heard mumblings about your condition," Truffle said. "Unfortunately, I've had little to tell them... Until now, I suppose."

"Thank you for checking on me, Bahamut. I... will be fine." Perhaps physically, it was not a lie.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Mmm. I have doubts." Of course he did. Bahamut always had doubts. "You were out cold when I said it to the others, but even if the physical wounds from that battle heal... the mental ones may prove difficult to deal with." His eyes shifted pink. "Also, I heard that last bit of hesitation." He bent his head over. "These antennae are like noivern ears. I'm hearing everything I don't want to hear. This must be how lucario felt around human partners."

 

[Namohysip]

Maple didn't react much more than by clenching her fists. "Of course the emotional wounds will remain. How could they not?" That took a lot out of her, so she had to stop talking for a few seconds. She held a hand up, though, to indicate she wasn't done. "...Joule... We finally found him, and he's..."

Truffle looked down, solemn.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Why do I get the feeling this Joule isn't just some work partner?" Bahamut prism arms flexed their claws.