Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Negrek]

Nate clenched his hands, swallowing down a hot ball of anger. Still going on like the only options were "let Dark Matters take over worlds all over the place" or "torture therapy and conscription with the Overseers." Sure. Two great options. Why even consider anything else?

It wasn't his choice. It wasn't his problem. He wasn't even going to be here in two weeks, and it wasn't like he knew any of these people anyway. Who cared what he thought about any of this?

"Then that's how it's gonna be," Nate said tightly. "But if making your world run on hope and friendship and rainbow shit means you always also make some kind of creature that tries to blow the place up and does its best to eat, like, all of fucking reality, maybe the Overseers should be all up the asses of all the fucking smiley arceus who think this time they aren't going to make a being of ultimate darkness, instead of the person who never even asked to exist or be what they ended up being. That's the last thing I'll say about it."

 

[Namohysip]

Diyem snorted, shaking his head. "Perhaps this treatment is what can lead to that," he stated flatly, glancing at Zygarde, then at Eien.

"It's... at least a relief that you won't be in any trouble," Eien said as Zygarde approached Diyem.

The Overseer produced something again, this time a small bag that contained what seemed to be small goodies. "Happy 250th anniversary. We look forward to your next visit."

"Mmf." Diyem took it warily, glancing inside.

Just then, a distinct growling became louder from Diyem's home. Eien glanced back. "Wait--Toast, no!"

"Grrah!"

The loaf of evil bread leapt into the air and clamped onto Zygarde's ear, gnawing on it.

Zygarde produced another bag. This one seemed to be a larger package--a giant cupcake speckled with an ominous-looking... frosting of some kind.

"And happy belated birthday,." Zygarde added as Toast snarled and shook his body to deal more minimal damage.

 

[IFBench]

As things seemed to finally calm down for the most part, Saltriv took a step towards Zygarde. They still needed to help save Dill.

"Zygarde, me and Dill need your help!" they said.

 

[Sudmensch]

"Uh, Sal, sh-should we be asking this guy about-?" Dill asked.

 

[IFBench]

"They're an Overseer, so we have to try!" Saltriv replied.

 

[Sudmensch]

"...alright, sure," Dill nodded. "D-do you have a moment, Zygarde?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate wasn't in a laughing mood, but he did smile darkly when Diyem's evil bread attached itself to the Overseer's ear.

What the hell was going on with the feraligatr?

 

[Namohysip]

"Yes?" Zygarde asked. His head movement caused Toast to growl a little more, nearly being thrown off. He valiantly clung on and tried to bite deeper, but that only caused his wheat-based fangs to crumble against tough scales.

Diyem watched closely, not interjecting.

 

[IFBench]

"Dill...Dill's dead back in his world, and...if he gets sent back normally, he's going to die again," Saltriv said, their leaf drooping as they laid a vine on their Feraligatr friend.

 

[Namohysip]

Zygarde nodded. "Yes, that is usually how death works," he said.

 

[Sudmensch]

"Th-there's no Voidlands back home. You just... you're just gone, I think," Dill said. "So, is... there any way I could, uh... not just die when I come back?"

 

[IFBench]

"Is there any way you could prevent...that from happening to Dill?" Saltriv asked. "I...he doesn't deserve to die. Not like that, after all this."

 

[Namohysip]

"A world with no spirit retention is quite common," Zygarde said. "Under circumstances like those, you will drift into the Overworld. This is easy to check."

Zygarde produced his strange badge again, pointing it at Dill...

 

[Sudmensch]

Dill tensed up as he watched the strange badge.

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv watched the badge intently, hoping dearly that this would lead to something good.

 

[Namohysip]

Zygarde looked through the badge a little longer, then looked at Diyem. "Are you aware of the classification of Dill's homeworld's spirit flow management system?"

"Class-V ED E was my guess."

"That seems to be accurate," Zygarde agreed. "This is not something that we would normally intervene with, because there is nothing problematic about the system in place. It is a standard approach. We are free to investigate if it might be cause for alarm, but it is common to fear death."

"Um, excuse me, but what does that mean?" Owen asked, speaking up quietly. "Class what?"

"Class V," Diyem drawled on. "That means the scope is the universe as a whole. ED means Eternal Dormancy; death in Dill's world appears to send spirits to a realm where they are unconscious until that universe comes to an end. E means 'with exception' since, as you can see, I can still access them myself."

"W-wait, so if Dill goes back, he'll... be unconscious forever?!"

"What do you think death is," Diyem growled.

"Not where I'm from!"

"What is that one's classification?" Zygarde asked Diyem.

"Class-IV CD."

"I see..."

Cal pointed accusatorily at Diyem. "Enough with the damn jargon, the hell does that mean?!"

"Class IV means the spirit domains are typically local to a specific region of the reality in question. CD means Chosen Dormancy, or spirits can go dormant as they wish. They usually do." Diyem waved his hand dismissively. "The bottom line is, Dill's presence here is just an extension of his life. When he returns, he will get to rest once more, until his universe comes to its eventual end. Afterward, all spirits are released into the Overworld, which makes things very predictable and easy to manage. They're like bureaucratic welcoming parties as far as that one is concerned." He jabbed a thumb in Zygarde's direction. "To Dill, it will be like no time had passed at all. There is nothing to perceive when you are not thinking, until you start again. It really is not a big thing to worry about."

"But... by then, Saltriv would also be dead, or, like, he'd not have seen Dill for... h-how many years does it take for a universe to stop being, um... to stop?"

"It depends. Usually many more zeroes than you have fingers." Diyem paused. "Base ten."

"So Saltriv and all of us just have to... let that happen?"

"That was the agreement when you all came here, yes," Diyem said, narrowing his eyes.

 

[Sudmensch]

"N-nonono, th-that... I-I don't... nono, c-can't I be, like, reassigned?! Can't I be sent back to another universe? Please, I-I can't just...!" Dill pleaded.

 

[IFBench]

No. No no no no no!

Saltriv suppressed the shadowy wisps around them before they could form into a Shadow Panic, as all their limbs tensed up.

"There...there has to be something, right? If that happens...Dill will...and...we'll never see each other again," they pleaded.

 

[Namohysip]

"Reassigned?" Zygarde asked. "Ah. You mean transferring realities, like what happened here, but more permanently."

"Are you aware of the ramifications behind such a decision?" Diyem chided. "That's even to assume such things are going to be allowed. I'm on thin ice as it is for this crisis. The only reason I'm not in huge trouble, I imagine, is because you all will be returned when this is over."

"This is true. Particularly with Hero's Aura Pokemon, they often have a purpose related to an important event in their world. To remove them from that reality could strongly upset the balance of that universe, just as they can counteract an imbalance in other worlds, such as here." Zygarde nodded. "Unfortunately, we do not know what causes this phenomenon, as there is rarely a pattern to be found."

"Then there is nothing to be done," Diyem stated flatly. "I thought Dill came from a world of suffering, but if this is only a standard tale..."

Diyem looked between Dill and Saltriv, looking so small despite their fully evolved size. Zygarde studied them as well, expressionless like usual. His eyes flickered.

"ED-E worlds do have flexibility," Zygarde remarked, and then he glanced at Saltriv, pointing the badge at them. He looked at this one for a while longer. "Neighbors," he said to himself.

Toast finally got bored and flopped toward Diyem's feet.

 

[Sudmensch]

"Flexibility? N-neighbors? What's that mean?" Dill asked.