Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[Ambyssin]

Finally, there would be no more distractions. Frankly, Bahamut viewed Esper staying back to annoy Saltriv and BurhallaOwen Seven as a good thing. Now the poipole wouldn't get in the way.

Bahamut followed the instructions Bean had given him. He paused in front of the house door, however. Maybe he should've sent a summons first? Bah, nobody did that for him in his world. Bahamut could just shrug it off as a culture gap. He reached a crystal hand forward and knocked on the door.

"Kyurem. I wish to speak with you."

There. Simple, concise, and to the point.

 

[Namohysip]

There was no answer at first, and only the wind accompanied the pair. Before Bahamut could try for another knock, or walk away for that matter, someone else called his name.

"Bahamut?"

And there came Owen One, along with his hellspawn, Cal.

"I was wondering where you were," the Charmeleon said. "We were planning on getting some sparring down out in the fields. Thought you could get some practice in, too. you know, endurance healing and stuff, if that's something you can do..."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut gnashed his metal teeth together. He'd ditched Owen Seven for Owens One through Three. "You know full well I do not spar. And the team doesn't want me around anyway." He knocked on the door again with a bit more force. "Unless you've all decided to shift your priorities toward rescuing Dark Matter, leave me out of it. I've made my thoughts on everything clear."

 

[Namohysip]

"We have no idea where Darkwhite or Giovanni are," Owen said, "but we might have an idea where Diyem is. That new Team Spectrum member, she might have seen something or had more information. At this point, I think we're going to try to find the first of the three... They're all related anyway. If we find one we might find the rest... or clues to the rest."

Heavy footsteps shook the ground, coming from inside the building. Someone was actually coming.

 

[Ambyssin]

"A new member?" Bahamut turned his neck right until a crick sounded. "Delightful. They can have my spot." He heard the footsteps. Heavy, thudding. Made sense if the information in that children's book was to be believed.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen sighed silently, deciding not to humor it this time. He turned his attention to the doorway, wondering who Bahamut was looking up this time. Hopefully someone with a little cheer to convince him to stay with the team. He wondered, idly, if the Blacklight avoided Bahamut because it didn't need to bring him any lower. Cal looked like she was ready to say something, but Owen held her by the hand and shook his head.

The door creaked open, and, instantly, Owen was struck by a wave of cold and stale bread-smell. Yellow eyes with no pupils stared at the four within an aura of gloom and darkness. The lights weren't on.

She spoke in a frigid, whispery voice with a hint of depth, if only due to her size. "...Team Spectrum... Bahamut... and one of those fiery ones..."

"Um, Owen," the Charmeleon clarified.

"Mmm."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Kyurem, correct?" It looked like introductions wouldn't be necessary. "Arceus had suggested I seek you out. I had asked him if there was anyone on this saccharine planet who has a similar mindset as me."

 

[Namohysip]

"Similar mindset..." Kyurem hummed in response, and Owen, suddenly filled with a sense of cold dread, glanced worriedly at Cal. She shrugged. "You must be as cheerful in general as you are in the arena."

Owen winced. With an address like that, there was no way she would want to speak with them for--

"Come in if you like." The eyes drifted away. "I was making oatmeal cookies. You may have some to pass the time, or not."

The inside of the home lit up, revealing a modest living space for someone of Kyurem's size. One that was actually serviceable to Bahamut, at that. Basic furniture built for Kyurem's strange body type--mostly beanbags or something similar--lined the walls, several of them encased in ice. Opened and discarded letters littered the floor around a desk in the living room, most of them apparently from Pine, Nanab, and Buffet, among a few others. There were a few encased in ice and frozen to the wall, as well as a half-written letter on the table,

There were decorations for the year's Harvest Moon pinned to the wall (according to basic research, the Harvest Moon had resolved months ago.) In the other room, the faint smell of fresh cookies and more of that stale bread wafted in.

"It's a little messy," Kyurem added, waddling toward the kitchen. "I don't carry myself like all the other gods like to. There's no point."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Well, it's better than lying down in caves or against rocks." Bahamut padded his way through the house. "Yes, you're correct. I'm not exactly a cheerful individual. Life circumstances have hammered such feelings out of me." He lifted his right hand, which sparked with a bid of radiance. "I thought that, perhaps, this different world with different people might be able to bring me back to a time when I... had a brighter outlook on things. But such is not this case."

His core and eyes darkened. "Every day I'm here, I'm just reminded of what Etherium's universe doesn't have. Will likely never have. And it just makes me so... tired."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen stepped in next, along with Cal. "Weren't you the one who said to hang your old world's coat at the door of this world?" she asked.

"Cal," Owen hissed.

Cal shrugged openly.

"It's a heavy coat," Kyurem replied for Bahamut. "You mortals have such light pasts. If I had to guess for Bahamut, to leave one's past behind for this mission would be like shedding a thousand Aggron's worth of armor." Kyurem returned from the kitchen with a tray of oversized cookies. "Would you like one?"

"Oh, thank you," Owen said, taking one for himself and Cal--just one was the size of his head, and then some.

Kyurem offered to Bahamut next.

"The world has gone on without me," Kyurem said leisurely to Bahamut, whether he accepted one or not. "I am the harbinger of the end. I saw into the future, saw the world's destruction just a few decades ago, and was denied for it. Now my purpose has been fulfilled and I have little else to do. I can only watch as the mortals toil in a world they were not supposed to live in, happily, as I am quietly jeered at for only following my duty. The world is entering an era of peace... And they happily blind themselves to inevitabilities they only delayed. Would you like a drink as well?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut accepted a cookie. "Water is fine. Hydration is... still somewhat foreign to me." He ate half the cookie with a single bite and swallowed before continuing. "So, you were some sort apocalypse seer, then?"

His toes curled and he tensed up. Bahamut's core flickered erratically.

 

[Namohysip]

"I see the future in some sort of clarity, more than Psychics typically do. I am geared toward seeing Ends, yes, but that is not all. The Bittercold Omen was my first true sight in a long, long time. I was certain it would be the proper end to this place, and so I did everything I could to ensure its success while Arceus slumbered. Then that Voice showed up and ruined everything..."

Kyurem placed the tray down. "Countless humans were summoned here to stop the end. I killed most of them, of course. But some were... more persistent. One in particular, the Haxorus you know today. And in a moment of weakness... I complied with them. And so, the world was spared, for now."

"You... killed humans?" Owen asked. "Why?"

"Well. Killing is a strong term. Kill them here, they return to their world." Kyurem shrugged. "As far as this world is concerned, it is killing."

"But... why?" Owen asked. "Why are you bringing the end? Or--why did you want to?"

"Usually," Kyurem said, "when I see an End, it is because if it goes any longer, it will get worse. And indeed, only a little while later, Dark Matter himself arose and threatened to plunge us into something much worse than a normal, cold death. So perhaps, then, I was merely a test for this world's resilience. I have never asked Arceus this. I see little point in what the golden wheel has to say."

 

[Ambyssin]

Ejecting spirits and returning them back to their worlds? Well, that sounded like how Dark Matter had created Team Spectrum's whole arrangement. "This spirit ejection... I'm not sure we have such a concept back home. I was hoping that, because Dark Matter was missing, if someone killed me I could finally be laid to rest. Arceus refused. I should've expected as much.

"When I came to your world, I ended up tuning my aura to defense and healing." Bahamut's core still flickered, but now it was red. "But the... frustrations I feel toward this world and some folks' relentless optimism has been dragging that killer mindset back out." He turned his head and looked at Owen. "The only thing actively suppressing that drive at this point is the way my aura is tuned. I suppose I could crush someone with my weight, but it's very different from how things worked in the past."

While Bahamut smoke, his flickering core projected a dim image of sorts. Anyone who looked closely would find a quadruped obscured by a tattered cloak, with chains wrapped around green, avian forelegs and black, canid hindlegs.

 

[Namohysip]

Cal stared at the projection, tilting her head. "Looks kinda like..." she mumbled to herself.

"Mm. Anger." Kyurem munched on the first quarter of her cookie. "I remember anger."

"Do you... not feel angry anymore?" Owen asked.

"I feel anger. Petty anger. But I have moved past deep resentment a short while ago... which, to you, is probably a long time."

"I'm pretty old, too, you know," Owen said, frowning.

"Mm. When you get old enough, you judge on behavior, not numbers. You are young. Perhaps younger than the ones who are younger than you. Wouldn't you agree?" Kyurem looked to Bahamut.

Owen looked like he had something to say, but decided against it. He was outnumbered.

 

[Ambyssin]

"His memories were supposedly scrambled when he first showed up here," Bahamut explained. Owen had gotten flattened by a magikarp dripping with Eternatus corruption. He was lucky he didn't get turned into a magikarp. "Regardless, mine was less interpersonal anger and more anger toward entities. Far too many planets rejecting my attempts at kindness. People trying to capture me. Abuse my light manipulation." His eyes reddened. "So many cities with craters left in them. Later wiped out by Eternatus.

"Even on Etherium. I just wanted to try and heal the desolate planet. But some pokémon wouldn't evolve past their most basic survival instincts." Bahamut looked scornfully at the ground. It seemed he was completely unaware his core was projecting of its own volition. It briefly shifted from the hooded to figure to a cluster of pokémon. Things like aerodactyle, omanyte, cranidos, and archeops. The figure then reappeared. "But whenever I talk about Etherium, it just earns me more scorn from everyone around me. I'm sick of it. I've been so sorely tempted to project exactly what I've seen into their minds so they can know that there are universes where the best outcomes are almost never guaranteed, but I'd rather just fade out from existence.

"I've done this all too long. I'm sick of it. What's the point in being here when I'm the odd one out who won't even remember any of this?" Even now, he still didn't buy the hero's aura nonsense. He was about the team's farthest thing from a hero. "One day I'll be back in my broken body... waiting until Etherium is finally razed by Eternatus and it moves onto its next planet."

 

[Namohysip]

"I wonder if Joule had faced similar abuses... or if he simply left those worlds earlier. Perhaps, in that sense, you had more hope than he did... before they stamped it out." Kyurem munched on the second quarter. "What was it those mortals say... This is why we can't have nice things."

Owen's tail dimmed. "And we've just been another step in people who ignored what Bahamut had to say?" he asked.

"I imagine so," Kyurem said. "Those who have not so frequently faced failure tend to reject predictions of it. Just as you do not truly understand death until you've witnessed it... As being of life, it is hard to know death naturally."

"Right..." Owen's tail drooped a little. "Still... Kyurem, you said all these things about the End and all that, but you're still here, right?"

"Of course. I am tied to Zekrom and Reshiram. I cannot leave while they persist. They have duties that I am required to be present for, and so, I am stuck."

"That's... not the answer I was looking for," Owen said.

"Mmm."

"What I mean is," he clarified, "do you... what helps you get by? Or is it just... it can't just be hopeless for you, can it? Can we help at all?"

"Mmm." Kyurem ate the third quarter. "always trying to help. No wonder you seem so young."

Owen's flame sparked. Kyurem's expression did not change.

"Still... you misunderstand me. And perhaps that is where Bahamut and I differ." Munch, munch. "Inevitably, everything on this material plane is destined to come to an end, quietly, violently, however it wishes. I'm sure this is not the first world that Arceus watched over. And this is not the first civilization I have seen. Countless more in the past have risen, fallen, imploded, burned, and have in general been lost to time. That is life. That is the indifference and chaos of mortal existence. None of it truly matters."

Kyurem looked down at the final portion of her cookie. "I no longer have a future to live for. I am largely pointless and redundant. And yet I am surrounded by happy faces moving about with purpose. People that want to... invite me to parties, or 'hang out' at my home... I get letters from old foes, asking when I'd visit Paradise again. Mmm. I do need to write back eventually..."

She trailed off, but gave no time for neither Owen nor Bahamut to get a word in edge wise. She was lost in her thoughts; she must have been thinking about this often.

"But if, in the end, it's all for nothing," Kyurem said, "then that means I am free to enjoy myself today. Just because we're destined to die doesn't mean we can make the path along the way more pleasant." Munch, munch. "A shame not many people like oatmeal. That's one thing to die for."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut had been taking in Kyurem's words. The silhouette abruptly faded, however, when she talked about their differences. "Not... the first..."

Tiny slivers of different-colored light projected from his forehead. Without Bahamut realizing, they coalesced into... an outline of a butterfree?

 

[Namohysip]

"Bahamut?" Owen asked, leaning closer.

"More of the past," Kyurem said absently, tilting her head. "Well. I do not know how much of this applies to you. But perhaps the outlook can be a help. You are plagued by your past... but you do not have to be. The curse of immortality makes it harder... Perhaps it is better to live in the moment." Munch, munch. "Were the cookies good?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut's expression darkened. "My universe... the prevailing theory has always been that it's the result of a cataclysmic explosion of energy from a singularity. I never thought much of it... until I was broken by Eternatus.

"Since I've taken on this bizarre form and have had to sleep... I've been plagued by a recurring thought. Or, perhaps, a dream. If the universe came from a singularity, then where did that singularity come from?" The butterfree silhouette grew brighter. "And I hear these whispers. 'Paradox' and 'Butterfree Effect' and other things I can't quite make out."

He lowered his head. "I can't just live in the moment. Because every moment just reminds me of what awaits me when this is all done."

 

[Namohysip]

"...Interesting..." Kyurem looked at Bahamut, more directly this time. While she did not understand much of what he was saying before, that last statement... "What you just said... I would have expected that from someone going through a mid-life crisis. Mmm... Yes. It is perhaps the most mortal thing I ever heard from you. I hear it all the time from civilians... when they speak with me."

"You must be great at parties," Cal murmured. Owen lightly elbowed her.

"Not really."