Nida leaned her forearms against a battered chunk of railing on the Siglo Swellow's rear deck, looking off towards the east as the wind and the waves pricked her ears. It had only been a few minutes since Vollezee Island and its ramparts finally slipped over the horizon, but even so, the Nidorina couldn't bring herself to look away.
Shouting and the pounding of mallets on wood rang out from towards the bow. Maybe it was from the crew trying to somehow patch the front mast's yards back together well enough to sail with it. Or them trying to fix any of the thousand other things with the ship that needed repairs after Lyn, Zorn, and their underlings tore them up on their way out of Vollezee's lagoon.
Nida looked at the waves below. Normally Crom would be at her side at a moment like this and they'd try to cheer each other up, but he'd been beside himself and dissolved into tears not long after they cleared the sea walls, with Pladur having spent much of the time since then trying to console him.
… She couldn't imagine the rest of her teammates felt much better right now either. Not when she herself had found herself blinking back tears at times since then.
They'd gone into Vollezee with high hopes—of getting the second piece of the Ledger they needed to force the Company and the Empire to leave Pleo alone. To leave
them alone. And all they'd managed was simply to trade one volume for the other, and get Kiran and a bunch of their allies captured for their trouble. All the while, one question just kept lingering and gnawing at her mind:
… Was there anything they could have done differently?
Nida hung her head and closed her eyes, brushing at them as she started to feel droplets well up once more, when something hard and metallic brush up against her hide.
"Nida?"
The Nidorina stiffened up and hopped aside out of reflex, whirling around to see Trizano looking at her. The Skarmory hesitated briefly, before he motioned off with a wing towards the center of the deck.
"Captain Beatrix called for an all-hands meeting," he insisted. "I don't think you should miss this."
Nida pulled herself away from the railing and dropped to all fours, pinning her ears and shaking her head back with a quiet, glum sigh.
"Right, sorry to keep you waiting."
Trizano paced along the deck with Nida in tow for the gathering place, the Skarmory stopping every now and then after almost bumping into a passing sailor. Trizano's problems with his vision were less severe than she'd remembered Kiran and Pladur mentioning from prior days, but evidently his eyesight had yet to fully recover from the injuries Aldrich had inflicted on him.
The pair made their way down to the center deck, where the ship's various scars came back into view: the damaged front mast, the hole in the deck that had been hastily covered by makeshift grating being wedged in place, and various gouges and burn marks left behind on different chunks of wood.
At much the same time, she could also see the crew… or rather, what was left of it. A sorry, still-soaked group of dazed and frightened-looking Pokémon gathered around Beatrix and Vicente under the shadow of the main mast. The rest of Team Traveller was already there, and while some like Dimitri tried to keep on a brave face, they clearly weren't in high spirits. Pleo, Elty, and Guardia all looked visibly downcast, while Crom had his head buried into his father's shoulder as the Fraxure tried to comfort him. Ander had avoided the rest of the group entirely, opting to stay at the opposite edge of the crowd as he occasionally cast nervous glances at Pleo.
Nida stood there dumbly for a moment as she took her place alongside her teammates with Trizano. Among the sailors, a Golduck looked up at the damaged front mast and lingered on it. After a moment of hesitation, the Water-Type turned over at Beatrix and raised a question that had clearly been on much of the gathering's mind.
"… What do we even do right now?" the Golduck asked.
Beatrix had no response as her eyes drifted down towards the deck in thought. Her Hitmontop first mate was less reserved, as he glanced around at the Siglo Swellow's damage, before he spoke up with a sharp harrumph.
"We turn around and sail back to Tromba, that's what," Vicente scoffed.
Nida and her companions stared slack-jawed at the Fighting-Type. After everything that had happened, the ship's first mate was seriously suggesting they just give up? An annoyed buzz cut through the air, as Beatrix flitted up, glaring daggers at the Hitmontop.
"
Vicente!"
"Captain, I'm serious," Vicente insisted. "You saw what we had to deal with back there! We're lucky to still be afloat right now!"
The Illumise stared at her Hitmontop first mate visibly taken aback. She gave a brief, flustered bat of her wings, before raising a tarsus to motion for calm.
"Vicente,
cálmate un poco…"
The Bug-Type's appeal was interrupted by a stammering protest from the crowd, as Pladur cut into the conversation, visibly quailing.
"C-Captain, isn't there any other way for us to do all of this?" he pleaded.
The Fraxure was clinging tight to his child, who still let out occasional sniffles and wiped at his eyes. Pladur looked over at Beatrix, his red eyes sporting a pleading expression.
"I-I don't think that I can take much more of this," he said. "I don't want to see
mi hijo get hurt."
Beatrix looked at the ship's cook and blanched. Pladur had never been a braveheart, but seeing him so rattled still took her aback. The Illumise weighed her words carefully, before flitting over and leaning in to speak up.
"Pladur, I understand that you're scared. We all are," she explained. "But we all need to take a step backwards for a moment and-"
"B-But we
can't give up now!" Nida insisted. "We just got the Company's Ledger and-!"
"Yeah, and lost the one
we had," a Sliggoo shot back. "Just how easily do you think we're going to get it back again from the likes of that Ketu 'mon?"
"And we left a full fifth of the crew behind on the way out!" a Dwebble added. "We don't even have a proper Tailwind team right now!"
A few of the former pirates on the crew grumbled in agreement, a Quilava muttering about how even Alice wasn't able to get away in their retreat. Crom wiped away a few tears as he looked up from his father's scales, the young Druddigon's voice coming out choking and haltingly as he too raised his voice in objection.
"A-And Kiran got taken too, and…"
Crom hitched and he began to cry again. Nida went up to him and nuzzled at him with an insistent "
S-Saldrá bien. T-Todo saldrá bien." that from her tone of voice, she didn't fully believe herself. Guardia looked on and hesitated a moment, before shaking her head and batting her club against the deck for attention as she tried to appeal to her fellows on the ship.
"Look, if we just slink off here, then everything that we've done will have been for nothing-"
"Everything we've done might've already
been for nothing."
Guardia bit her tongue and turned to see a Bayleef looking away with a defeated-sounding murmur.
"We have no idea of where Kline or Nerea are or if they're even alright. Or if anyone
with them is alright," the Grass-Type said. "We're on a damaged ship in the middle of the sea. Just what on earth did we accomplish back there?!"
Pleo turned as Nida objected with a sharp "But it
wasn't for nothing!". A Nosepass interjected back in protest, as the nearby Pokémon sorted themselves into camps between the arguing sides and the gathering devolved into a confused mass of conflicting arguments and shouts over each other. Pleo raised a wing and cried for attention, only to be drowned out and for him to pause and droop his head.
… Just what
could he say right now? They'd gone into Vollezee, and like Nerea so many years before, had arguably left it worse off for their trouble. How was he supposed to reassure his friends and allies when he, as
their Protector, hadn't been able to give them the aid they needed even with his powers?
"Everyone, just simmer down!"
A loud buzz cut through the air as the gathered Pokémon looked up and saw Beatrix had flit up and was training an impatient scowl down at them. Slowly but surely, the murmurs and arguing died down, as Beatrix descended back down to the ship's deck, and pinched at her brow with an audible, sharp breath.
"Look, I know that we're not in a good situation right now, but dwelling on everything that went wrong like this isn't helping," the Illumise began. "It's best to just take a few wingbeats back and examine the situation soberly."
She glanced over at the patched hole in the deck not far from the crowd's edge and then up at the burned and tattered sails attached to the forward mast above. The Bug-Type let her gaze linger for a moment, before lowering her head with an audible sigh.
"We… obviously need to make repairs soon, and we didn't get a chance to reprovision properly," Beatrix continued. "But Kline and Nerea aren't pushovers, and neither is that ocean clan with them. They could've very well helped our friends who got stranded get away."
A few low mutters went about the assembled Pokémon. The former pirates present didn't think much of the Illumise's reassurance… though neither did much of her more regular subordinates for that matter. A Dwebble from the crowd clicked his claws, giving a sharp, skeptical frown in reply.
"Or knowing our luck, they got captured," the Dwebble grumbled. "For all we know they're rotting in a cell right now. Or about to be put to work picking Apricorns, or to get shipped out to some hellhole like Nagrobek."
Beatrix looked back but didn't say anything in response. It… was hard to argue her subordinate's point, but there was precious little they could do to come to their friends' aid in their current condition. The Dwebble's words seemed to make much of the gathered Pokémon hesitate, including Vicente, who shot a doubtful glance at Beatrix before speaking up.
"Captain, I… understand you're trying to lift the mood, and I
appreciate it, but… I just don't see what hope we have to go on right now."
Team Traveller's members froze as Beatrix seemed to have no counter to her first mate's remarks. There was no hope for Pleo to finally have peace and be able to return to Tromba without the Knight's Ledger, to say nothing about Elilan's schemes or anything else the Company or Empire might do in the future to the next Protector to hatch in Anyilla. But… if the Siglo Swellow's crew just genuinely had no further appetite for their present mission, just what were they to do?
Crom glanced aside with a glum hang of his head, when suddenly, on the front mast, he spotted movement. The Druddigon turned his head up and saw that there, latched against the wood was a green, serpentine figure moving down—one which a quick examination revealed was one of Kline's Cells.
"Ah! Kline!"
Team Traveller reflexively bolted over for the mast as the Cell inched down towards them. The other sailors gaped at it curiously and murmured over whether or not it was a good omen. Pleo didn't wait to try and puzzle out a meaning, and walked up to the Cell just as it settled at about his eye level and he raised his voice with breathless surprise.
"Are you okay?" the Lugia asked. "Did you guys make it out alright?"
The Zygarde Cell squirmed and inched around on the mast in reply. Pleo and his companions blinked and traded worried looks with one another. Were the movements there supposed to mean anything? Elty clicked his tongue and pinned his ears back briefly, before raising a paw and speaking up to the Cell on the mast.
"… Try wiggling to say 'yes', and staying still to say 'no'," he said. "But you're okay, right? You and your teammates?"
The Cell wiggled back and forth at the Growlithe's question, stopping briefly before repeating the same process to answer the second, which drew a collective sigh of relief. Travellers Above, at least
something had gone right from their entire mission. If Kline and the rest of Team Zephyr had managed to slip Team Sentinel's grasp, then they still had a hope of getting the last part of Knights' Ledger from Conntow, and however difficult, still had a hope for recovering the one that had been stolen from them. Crom stepped forward towards the Cell, giving an anxious glance as he spoke up with a stammering query.
"W-Wait, but what about the others?" the Druddigon asked. "Are they alright? Is Kiran with you right now?"
Kline's Cell remained still. After a few seconds, Crom grimaced, realizing that Kline was telling them Kiran
wasn't with him. The Druddigon hesitated a moment, as he tried to find
some ray of hope.
"Or the sailors…? Or anyone from Dimitri's clan…? Or anyone else?"
Again, no response came to any of the questions. Team Traveller's members hung their heads, their spirits dampened at the realization that as far as Kline knew, he and his teammates were the only ones to escape. Perhaps there were others Kline hadn't been able to see through one of his Cells, but…
"That… wasn't what we were hoping to hear," Nida murmured. "But are you safe right now? Can you still move around?"
At last, the Zygarde Cell shook back in reply—to both questions, even—bringing a faint sense of relief to Team Traveller's members. They didn't have much to go on, but once they got their present predicament sorted out and Kline was there to help them…
Then there was still hope. Trizano sucked in a sharp breath, before looking over at Beatrix with a pleading expression.
"Captain Beatrix, I… know that this is a lot to ask of you and everyone else right now, but I don't think that all is lost right now," the Skarmory said. "We
needed Kline's help in order to go to Conntow anyways to protect us from Yveltal's powers, and he's still able to help us."
The Illumise Captain turned and brought a tarsus up to her mouth in thought. Vicente cocked a brow at his superior for a moment, before shooting a dubious frown at Team Traveller's members.
"… How does that solve the issue of a third of the Ledger being stuck in the hands of a 'mon that you had to cut and run from?" the Hitmontop asked.
"We
might have a workaround to it. Duke Valter and the others in Darkwood Square made a copy of the volume that Coil left behind," Trizano explained. "It's not the same as having the original, but the volumes of the Ledger are supposed to interconnect with one another. I can't
guarantee it will work, but if we find the others, it might turn out that there's enough in them to make it obvious that our copy's contents weren't changed around."
Beatrix visibly hesitated for a moment and inhaled sharply as she warily answered the Skarmory.
"I suppose it'd make sense as
long as we get the last ledger," she murmured.
A few sailors' eyes at once widened with alarm. After everything that they'd been through, was she seriously suggesting that they go off to…
"C-Captain Beatrix?! W-We're not seriously sailing to
Conntow like this, are we?!" a Sliggoo exclaimed.
"
Por todos los cielos! There's a hole in the middle of the deck right now!" a Nosepass protested. "How long do you expect this ship to last out in the Dead Zone in this state?!"
Beatrix looked back, before giving a sharp buzz and giving a stern glance in reply.
"I wouldn't dream of it in our present circumstances, especially without Kline here to help protect us," the Illumise insisted. "And… it's honestly a decision that I'd need time to think things through even if we were in a position to press on."
Team Traveller's members stiffened up as Beatrix mentioned she needed time to think things through. She had to understand what would happen if they all gave up, didn't she?
Pleo and Guardia stepped up to try and protest, only to be cut off as the Illumise captain raised her tarsus for silence, and shook her head.
"Look, as it stands, we can't make it to Conntow like this, but we can't make it home either," she said. "A good portion of the crew is on bedrest, and with the state the ship's in we'll be lucky to make it home in two days. We only have enough supplies right now for
one."
Beatrix fell silent with a noticeable pause, before looking away and pawing at her shoulder with a low, tired buzz.
"To be clear, it's not so much the food I'm worried about. While going hungry for a couple days would be unpleasant, we could survive it," the Illumise explained. "However, going one day without water to drink would already be brutal on the crew. If we then got held up for whatever reason at sea…"
Beatrix didn't finish the sentence, but the sailors already began to whisper and trade alarmed glances with each other, including Elty, who set his teeth on edge with a quiet gulp. Even a crew like the
Iron Fleet knew how dangerous it was to be stuck at sea without drinking water. After all, a ship could have all the Cradle's treasures in its hull, and it'd all be for naught if its crew died of thirst before they could enjoy it.
The Growlithe looked around at the other Pokémon on the deck and pinned his ears back. Between their species, he'd be shocked if there was a skeleton crew left to man this schooner after three days without water. Less if the sun was particularly harsh. It wasn't terribly hard to imagine scenarios where a trip back to Tromba would take
longer from the state the ship was in. If the winds were sufficiently unfavorable or they hit an unmarked sandbar…
Beatrix obviously understood those risks herself, as the Illumise cleared her throat and continued on.
"That's why we should be focusing on making it to any port we can and lick our wounds there," she said. "Valter's sails should hopefully buy us enough time to reprovision and make spot repairs."
"To Otvaga?" Vicente asked.
"When it's neutral waters and in spitting distance to Vollezee?" the Illumise asked. "I wouldn't count on it being a safe harbor for us. We'll need to look further afield."
Vicente blanched and visibly recoiled at his Captain's orders. The Hitmontop reflexively opened his mouth to protest, only to catch himself. The Fighting-Type hesitated and visibly seemed to be weighing his words, before he broke the silence and spoke up.
"… Captain, you
are aware that the nearest islands after Otvaga are Conntow, Nagrobek, and Orleigh, right?"
"Followed by Gestirn and Giotto," Beatrix replied. "Of those, Gestirn is the only one I'd feel like trying my luck with since we need a place to lay low outside of Company waters where we're not already known. If Team Zephyr is able to, they should be able to catch up with us while we're there and we can make a firmer decision then on how to handle the last Ledger."
The gathered Pokémon on deck traded hesitant glances with each other. Trying to sneak back into Imperial waters was… a gamble, to say the least. It was hard to argue Beatrix's point about them being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but the proposal was hardly reassuring…
"Is it
safe for us to go there?" a Bergmite asked. "I'm pretty sure that we didn't
stop being wanted in Imperial waters, and we already got into trouble once while flying Valter's colors…"
A lingering pause filled the air among Team Traveller's members, before Nida broke the silence by raising her voice.
"No, but if Nagant kept her word… she
might've not passed on a description of Valter's colors to other islands?" Nida offered. "It's a risk as to whether or not she
did, but…"
The Nidorina trailed off mid-sentence and motioned about the ship, pointing at the damage left behind. She sighed, flattening her ears back at the Bergmite.
"I'm not sure if we have a choice right now."
The sailors glanced about the stricken ship and one by one grudgingly murmured in agreement. Even Elty's former crewmates, who'd had the fight sucked out of them from the hostile encounter, seemed convinced that Gestirn represented their best of several bad options. Beatrix paused briefly, before shaking her head and turning back to Nida and her companions.
"Seems like we're all in agreement then," she said, prompting Pleo to turn his head over towards Kline's Cell clinging to the mast.
"Did you get all of that, Kline? Would you be able to make your way over to Gestirn?"
The Cell once again wiggled back twice in response, an affirmation to each of Pleo's questions. After taking a moment to glance up at the tattered sails on the masts, Beatrix turned back to her crew, taking a quiet, but serious tone with her crew.
"Go and fetch Valter's sails from storage and hoist them onto the masts and chart a course southwest for Gestirn," the Bug-Type ordered. "I'll check the barometer with Vicente to get an idea of what we're facing ahead of us, since we don't have many other options to work with right now."
The gathered Pokémon lingered a moment, before one by one, the sailors dispersed, uneasily returning to their stations. As the crowd thinned, Nida began to drift off back for the stern, when she noticed Pleo waddling off with patches of his back showing silvery white and a trail of purple liquid dribbling off of him in his wake.
"Pleo? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, or at least as much as everyone else," the Lugia murmured. "But these colors keep coming off my feathers."
The Nidorina blinked and ran a paw over Pleo's plumage, only for her digits to at once get stained with purple dye and reveal silvery-white plumes underneath. Nida looked down at her paw, before shaking her head and giving a reassuring pat at his shoulder.
"Right. Hatteras said to not get your disguise too wet…" Nida said. "I… don't think there's a lot we can do to fix it, so let's just try and get you cleaned up."
Pleo held out his wings and looked down at them, before turning to Nida with a worried murmur.
"… How do we do that though?"
"Well, the fastest place to start would be by getting your feathers wet," the Nidorina explained. "Why don't you swim along with the boat for a bit? I need to get some equipment to help clean you off, and a few dives ought to help make things easier for when I'm back."
The Lugia nodded and hopped up onto the railing with a beat of his wings, steadying himself briefly before diving off into the sea. It'd surely be enough to take care of most of the dye, but even so, there were bound to be some stubborn spots that would need a more thorough scrubbing to get out once he got back on deck. There were some buckets and some rags the crew kept around for cleaning purposes, Nida supposed that now was as good a time as any to fetch them.
The Nidorina made her way off below the Siglo Swellow's deck, the sunlight giving way to the interior dimly lit up by glowmoss lanterns as the waves and chatter from the deck faded away into the creaking of the timbers. She made it a few paces, only to hang her head and pinch her brow with a low sigh.
… Just how were they supposed to go on after all of this?
"… and that's what happened after the schooner sailed away."
A thick, tense silence hung in the Board's chamber on top of the Company's Headquarters. The Director and all four Administrators had hastily gathered for the occasion about their stone meeting table, even Zorn and Darzin, who'd come in with freshly-applied bandages and still-lingering bruises from their recent battles.
At the other end of the table, Sorge, Zelle, and Aldrich waited by the door, sporting stray scrapes and scuffs themselves. Meanwhile, at the front of the table was the speaker: Lyn. The Samurott sucked in a sharp breath, looking about worriedly as he tried to read any hint of the Director or his Administrators' thoughts from their expressions. He'd already been warned once not to come back empty handed, and depending on what they made of his attempted ambush with Administrator Zorn, he'd arguably fallen short already.
After a long silence, Zorn spoke up with a low growl, giving a grumbling shake of his head as he continued on from the Samurott's account.
"The ocean clan with Manaphy tried to come to their stragglers' aid," the Gyarados explained. "We attempted to encircle them and were able to cut their efforts short, but Manaphy and most of their numbers were able to successfully elude us."
Zorn sank deeper into the water, lowering his head with a sulking frown as he turned over to the Nidoking Director seated at the head of the table.
"I was
hoping that we would have been able to pre-empt the Protector's powers and just shoot out his hull from under him," he muttered. "But even after Lugia used his powers, I wasn't expecting that there'd be two other Protectors along with him who would both do the same right afterwards."
"I assure you, that if it weren't for that, I'd have the Guardian here before you right now," Lyn added. "Even so, in spite of Lugia and Manaphy eluding us, we managed to take some of their allies prisoner. Perhaps we could use them to lure Lugia or the other Protectors to try and rescue them."
The Samurott glanced across the table nervously, seeing Inler level a gaze at him that seemed to bore into his hide. He fought the urge to visibly squirm under the Nidoking's stare, when he saw the Director flatten his ears and with a low sigh.
"We'll consider it.
You should focus on your mission and make any adjustments you need to in light of this whole episode," Inler huffed. "After all, based off the reports of what happened during the attempt to accost the Guardian's ship in the military harbor, we should seriously consider whether or not we're worrying too much about conducting this mission
quietly…"
Lyn looked away and quietly breathed a sigh of relief, as he felt his heart still pounding in his chest. So the Director
wouldn't hold that debacle in the lagoon against him. It wasn't much of a reprieve, but still enough of one to mean that he'd still hold his job to sail and hunt for the Guardian of the Seas. The Samurott hastily composed himself, looking back across the table as a firm, unyielding scowl came over Inler's face, and the Nidoking turned his attention over to his Dragonite peer to his left, who seemed to be nervously fidgeting in his seat.
"Though what is
your explanation for all of this, Darzin?" Inler asked. "It's not every day that I receive reports from a dozen guards of you being overpowered and thrown from the deck of a ship."
The Dragonite stiffened up slightly and visibly hesitated for a moment, before shaking his head and narrowing his eyes in reply.
"I had come across a chance lead on the Protector's ship and was forced to act on it on the spot before they could slip away," Darzin harrumphed. "I merely underestimated how prepared they'd be for my attempt to intervene."
The Dragonite's held his breath for a moment as his explanation drew dismissive scoffs from the others at the table, as even Team Sentinel couldn't help but quietly narrow their eyes at the Dragon-Type. Darzin briefly glimpsed at them out of the corner of his eye, when a sharp huff turned his attention back to the seat across from his, where Elilan folded his arms.
"Still, it's truly remarkable that Lugia managed to elude us yet again," the Zoroark said. "One can't help but wonder how he managed to escape when
four members of the Board had a chance to stop him, including its own Director."
Elilan's remark at once prompted Zorn to grit his teeth, as the water from the pool he rested in churned as he shifted in place and craned his head across the table with an offended scowl.
"And where were
you during all of this, huh?" the Gyarados snarled. "Easy for you to criticize us when you were off doing paperwork! Like you'd have done a better job!"
Elilan unfolded his arms and rested his chin against the back of his left claw, as a faint smile crept up from the corners of his muzzle.
"Why, are you proposing to everyone that I take over this mission, Zorn?" the Zoroark asked. "If so, I'd be more than happy to oblige."
A sharp
thump rang out in the room, as Elilan turned his head towards Inler's place at the table. There, the Nidoking pulled his tail back from a slap against the marbled floor, as he fixed a sharp, piercing glare at the Zoroark Administrator.
"I have no interest in making any reassignments at this point, Administrator Elilan, and especially not to you or any candidates you may have in mind," Inler growled. "Kindly drop the topic."
Elilan curled his muzzle into a visible frown, but said nothing further about the matter. Inler flicked his ears briefly and turned his attention over to Team Sentinel with a low grunt.
"Besides, I was under the impression that our operatives from the Intelligence Division had additional information to share with us."
The Nidoking motioned for the three to come forward and Team Sentinel approached, with Sorge at the head. Lyn quietly stepped aside as the three took his place at the table, with the Company Director eyeing them carefully.
"I've already taken the liberty of looking over your dossiers, so let's get straight down to business," he insisted. What exactly happened out there?"
Team Sentinel's members traded glances with one another briefly, before Sorge spoke up before the gathered Pokémon.
"A lucky break, really," the Kommo-o answered. "We were on shore leave and happened to encounter Lugia's companions while Aldrich was visiting some places about the city for old times' sake. We tried digging in deeper to get a better feel for what they were up to to help the guards apprehend them, but they caught us off-guard."
From the left of Sorge, a low growl and faint electrical crackle rang out. The Kommo-o looked over and saw Farn narrowing her eyes in frustration.
"
I'll say," the Luxray snapped. "It just makes my fur bristle knowing that they were using my own
son as part of a plotted heist!"
"And it was a mistake on our part to allow things to get to such a point," Zelle apologized. "If we knew your children were in such danger, we'd have notified the guards immediately even if it meant risking a more difficult apprehension."
"Or Lyn if we'd known sooner that he came back into port," Sorge added. "It might have kept the Vault from being breached if we had."
"We… were sabotaged by an unknown party who appears to have misled Administrator Darzin and prompted him to call in a raid on us. It led to us getting into a fight with some lower-ranked guards," Aldrich explained. "We're sorry about the whole incident. Our understanding was that those guards are presently on bedrest from the whole episode."
The Noivern and his companions' eyes drifted over towards Darzin, the Dragonite quietly blinking in confusion as they shot brief glares at him, before the Administrator responded in kind. Lyn cleared his throat from off to the side, prompting Team Sentinel to turn to him as the Samurott began to speak up.
"But where does Zygarde come into all of this?" Lyn asked. "You three, Ketu, and Ellsberg were seen engaging him. How did you know he would be there?"
"We didn't, actually," Aldrich explained. "We went in well-prepared for an encounter with Lugia, which allowed us to hold up against Zygarde reasonably well, even if it took us some time to get myself and Ellsberg treated afterwards."
"We'd like to think that we put him and his companions up against the wall, but they escaped us after Zygarde unleashed his full powers," Sorge sighed. "His blow left us reeling and it was hard to see anything from the amount of dust and debris in the air. By the time things settled down, they were gone and we'd lost their trail."
Lyn tilted his head. Just from the deck of his ship, Zygarde's power had looked overwhelming from a distance. The swim over to Headquarters had taken him past some of the damage, with the canals choked with Pokémon seeking shelter in a panic and entire lengths of streets scarred with torn-up chunks of earth and mangled buildings. Considering how they'd been there right in front of Zygarde during such an attack, it was a small miracle they were well enough to stand and report right now.
From the head of the table, Inler grunted and turned to Team Sentinel with a firm nod.
"I understand," the Nidoking Director said. "Thank you for your briefing, you are dismissed."
Sorge, Aldrich, and Zelle bowed, before taking their leave for the chamber's double-doors, where the honor guards showed them out. As the doors creaked shut, Lyn took his place back at the speaker's end of the stone table, right as Inler pinched his brow with a sigh and turned to his Administrators.
"We're fortunate that in spite of such damage that there don't appear to be any casualties that can't be treated," he said, as his expression took on a dark tinge. "I've received reports of unrest already starting in some sectors of the city. I passed word out for a pre-emptive curfew to be enforced after dusk tonight, but we don't have much time to work with."
Inler turned his attention back to Lyn, and brought his claws together before speaking up.
"That's why I gathered everyone here," the Nidoking insisted. "To decide if anything with our present course of action needs to change."
There was a noticeable silence that lingered in the air after the Director's words, as nobody had any suggestions to volunteer. After a moment of visible hesitation, Lyn opened his mouth to reply.
"Beyond some greater urgency, I'm… not sure there's
that much that needs to change," the Samurott said. "The smugglers' ship was last spotted on a course for Imperial waters. One possibility is that they're attempting to fake us out by changing course to Otvaga some distance away from shore. I already took the liberty of dispatching the fleet that went with me to Tromba out to Otvaga… just in case."
Lyn brought a paw to his chin briefly, before continuing on with a low grunt.
"That's not to say I staked
everything on them going there, especially when they've had such a long streak of feints in the past month," he added. "If those smugglers continued on into Imperial waters proper, they're bound to stumble across one of the traps my contact within Orleigh's Council has set up. If they tripped one of them, it'd be a simple manner of extracting Lugia afterwards."
Lyn paused and weighed his words for a moment as he thought over how to best continue on. With how precarious the Company's position in their race for Lugia was, if there was a time to press the Board for further support, it was now.
"I was planning to set sail and coordinate with my contact to prepare for that extraction, since it'd need force of numbers to be effective."
And he knew
exactly what he needed to ask for. He just didn't know how the members of the Board would react to it. The Samurott steeled himself, looking the Director and gathered Administrators square in the eyes as he spoke up to raise his appeal.
"Which is why I wish to make one final request for requisitioning resources."
Inler stared back unmoved at Lyn as the Administrators traded dubious glances with one another. Elilan was particularly unimpressed with the appeal, as he folded his arms and shot a sharp frown back.
"Tch, weren't you just at the head of a fleet of five ships just last week?" the Zoroark harrumphed. "What on earth could you possibly still need at this stage?
There was no turning back here. No time to question his moves, to just stick to the path that he chose. With the request that in all likelihood would make or break his mission.
"I need an ironclad, enough 'monpower to staff both it and my Argent Aviso with at least a skeleton crew, and enough Poké to staff a galleon for a month," Lyn insisted. "For my trap to work, my contact needs to be a bit better equipped than the solitary caravel he captains."
The Administrators stared back in stunned silence. Elilan narrowed his eyes and let out an incredulous scoff, only to hesitate after seeing Inler keep a stony, unmoving face. The Director kept his gaze focused on Lyn for a noticeable moment, before the Nidoking closed his eyes with a low huff.
"Granted," Inler said. "Darzin's should still be in drydock right now. It will be assigned to you with appropriate reinforcements for your mission."
Farn and Zorn blinked at the Nidoking's answer as Elilan looked at Inler with a raise of his brow. Loud spluttering followed from Darzin's end of the table, as the Dragonite got up with a frustrated growl.
"What?! Inler, that's
my ship!" he exclaimed. "You can't just give that away to some Third-!"
A loud stomp rang out as Inler rose from his seat. Darzin abruptly bit his tongue and fell quiet as the Nidoking turned to him, baring his fangs with a piercing glare.
"I'm
entitled to allocate resources as I see fit in a time of crisis, Darzin," Inler snarled. "Am I to just let that ship sit unused in the docks if it could tip the balance of our efforts to secure a Protector?"
The Nidoking turned his attention back across the far end of the table and hardened his features into a sharp frown.
"It should go without reminding, Commissioner Lyn," Inler began "But you don't have any further margin for error with this mission. Don't come back to us empty-handed."
That time, Lyn didn't flinch at the charge. He'd understood the stakes of his request, and at least for now, it had paid off. All that was left was to press on and plunge ahead with his gamble, and let the cards fall where they may. The Samurott nodded his head in reply, answering with a determined growl.
"Understood, Director. And I
won't."
The process of cleaning Pleo's plumage proved to be a more stubborn task than Nida had expected. Scrubbing the dye out of his feathers' vanes was simple enough when they were easy to reach, but there would always be a patch or corner here or there that the two would find they overlooked. Eventually it was time to dry off Pleo's down feathers, which had grown soaked from the thorough cleaning, and then help preen his feathers' vanes back into shape. Nida wasn't sure how Pleo and Kiran made it look so easy, but even if her paws weren't built for it, in the end she managed to help get his plumage looking as good as new.
That had been a few hours ago, with the time since then taken up by Nida changing back into her normal colors along with the rest of the crew, with Nida taking a small hint of pride after seeing Ander, Trizano, Pladur, and Dimitri wear her same blue-and-whites for the first time. That moment came and went quickly, as Nida was kept busy with helping her teammates tend to the battered ship or their injured comrades. Every now and then, a part of their team would split off to go and document part of the volume of the Knights' Ledger they'd recovered from Vollezee. After all, in the wake of losing the blue volume to Ketu, nobody was particularly keen on taking the possession of the volume they
did have for granted.
Tap tap tap…
Not least of all Nida, as she heard her own footsteps fall against the timbers of the ship's corridors. She followed the dimly lit lanterns along the walls for the sleeping quarters where they kept the Ledger for readings and where she was due to take over from Elty and Guardia for the next shift documenting it.
Nida was a bit uneasy about how Beatrix and the others had yet to find a new hiding place for the Ledger, but she supposed that with the crew worried about simply making it to another port to lick their wounds, they could be forgiven for not settling on another location for it just yet. After all, it wasn't as if Team Sentinel was going to ambush them at
sea for their current volume…
Right?
She decided that she didn't want to think too hard about that possibility and brushed her way past the room's door. There, she saw the bluish light of a glowmoss lantern on the floor, with Elty and Guardia resting on the ground in front of a book laying open on its spine, the pair looking at the tome's pages in rapt attention.
"Hey, how's the reading been going?" Nida asked.
Elty and Guardia glanced up from their book and spotted Nida at the doorway, the Growlithe of the pair pinning his ears back and shaking his head with a low sigh.
"
Dobrze. Even if it's been
me doing all the reading," Elty answered. "Guardia just insisted that she wanted to be there to hear things this time."
"I think that I'm actually starting to recognize some of your hut runes," the Cubone remarked. "Now I can make out your numbers, at least."
Nida looked over at Guardia and blinked for a moment. It'd been less than a month since they'd left Kenobi, and Guardia had already noticeably changed from the fight-seeking 'mon who never seemed to miss an opportunity to put down civilization. She wasn't sure if Guardia's opinion on it had changed enough to not want to go back to her colony, but the Cubone definitely felt more open and appreciative of it than she remembered.
It was hard to imagine that back on Kenobi, Guardia had been firmly skeptical of being able to work with Pokémon like them… even if it still felt like Guardia was looking from the outside in on their way of life at times. Was her change in attitude because she'd seen signs that civilization could be different? Or was it because she'd grown attached to them?
… Nida didn't have an answer to those questions. Though she supposed that Guardia would give them of her own accord whenever she felt she was ready to. Besides, there were some other questions that were more relevant for them to worry about right then and there…
"Well at least you two have been managing to get through things," the Nidorina said. "What did you read on your turn anyways?"
Elty and Guardia traded uneasy looks with one another, as the Growlithe of the pair shifted his body against the timbered floor.
"There… wasn't much that was different from the blue ledger, really. Or at least not yet," Elty replied. "The beginning's pretty similar to it."
Guardia turned her head at her Growlithe companion and cocked a brow puzzledly. At once, Nida wondered whether Elty had said something wrong, but before she could press the matter, the Cubone cut her off and spoke up.
"Eh? There were still
some things that were different," she insisted. "What about the bits about all the
Windie from your island?"
Elty pinned his ears back and abruptly fell silent, looking off towards the floor with an uncomfortable grimace. Nida blinked a moment and quirked an ear. Just what had Guardia meant with her remark about…
"… '
Windie'?"
"It's what she calls 'Arcanine'," Elty explained. "There were a few passages talking about ferals on Nagrobek attacking Pokémon after Yveltal's egg was taken."
"I'd imagine it was probably for the same reasons why others like them did on Mengir, or what my colony sometimes does with defilers at home," Guardia added, shaking her head. "There were a lot of mentions of packs of
Gardie and
Windie being frequent attackers."
Nida fell silent as a cloud seemed to settle over the Growlithe's mood.
Right, Elty had mentioned during an earlier day at sea that he'd grown up with his mother on Nagrobek Island and lived as ferals until the local guards snatched her and took her away. He hadn't gone into much detail about what had happened other than that they were separated shortly before he ran into the Iron Fleet and left the wilds, but between Guardia's comments and the way he was reacting right now…
"… So it stirred up some bad memories, huh?" she asked.
Elty squirmed a moment, as he avoided Nida's glance and answered with a low, glum, murmur.
"You could say that, yeah," the Growlithe said.
Elty shook his head and looked back at Nida and Guardia. After a moment's hesitation, he continued, giving a nervous glance at the door as if expecting an attacker to barge in at a moment's notice.
"When I was growing up, Arcanine and Growlithe like me on Nagrobek usually lived alone or in small groups. Normally just
rodzice and their pups," he explained. "My mom used to tell me stories of packs of them that would run the plains together and how she grew up in one, but…"
The Growlithe trailed off and pinned his ears back. He sucked in a sharp breath, before speaking up with a low whine, apparently struggling with the topic of conversation.
"She never told me what happened to them. The topic always made her uncomfortable," Elty said. "The furthest she'd go would be to tell me that they just weren't around anymore and to not get too close to knot-necks. For a time, I thought they were just stories, but…"
A long silence followed as Nida wondered what on earth could've happened. Elty wasn't
that old, while this Ledger had been written before the time of the Great Calamity. Then… did this mean that the
Company had done something to those packs? Relatively recently at that?
Nida flicked her ears and shook her head. She wasn't sure if she liked the implications of that train of thought, but perhaps it was best not to dig up old wounds with Elty right here and now. Not after a day like today, and especially not when they already had their paws full with other things to worry about.
"It's getting a bit late and the weather's picking up," Nida said. "Why don't you two get some rest and let me take over before going to sleep?"
Elty and Guardia traded looks with each other, when the Cubone of the pair moved a hand over her mouth as a yawn came over her. Guardia blinked out of realization of her present tiredness and let out a quiet sigh in reply.
"… I suppose that we
have been doing this for a while," she admitted.
"Yeah, after a day like today, I could get behind conking out for a while," Elty sighed.
"Rest well," Nida said. "Just take care of yourselves, alright?"
Elty and Guardia drifted out the door as Nida scooped up the Ledger and the lantern on the floor, before making her way over to a desk fashioned from an old wooden crate set up near one of the walls. The Nidorina set the lantern on the desk and sat down. She paused to let her eyes adjust to the lighting and after finding her place in the ledger and setting aside a slip of paper and charcoal nub for note-taking, began to read from the book's pages.
The text was dense with tightly-packed runes, some of it filled with details that didn't seem to matter at first glance, though a few details stood out as the pages went by. The Pokémon from the Company who had kept this volume had noted that the journey with Yveltal's egg at sea had gone by smoothly, with said egg being taken to the Empire's secure site built into Conntow's Mystery Dungeon. Then, not long after all three of the eggs began showing signs of activity, they were transferred out to a facility not far from the outskirts of Middleguard City—the Imperial capital back then.
The Nidorina turned the page, when her eyes drifted to a passage on it that made her blink as she stopped and read it aloud to herself:
"Yveltal's egg moved again today. All of the eggs have been responding well to the new experimental regimens, but its development in particular has been truly remarkable. When the eggs were first brought to this facility, it was Zygarde's egg that had shown the most potential, but in a scant few weeks, this one has surpassed them all.
Queen Erna was pleased to hear the news, and requested that we reprioritize our testing schedules accordingly. She is of the opinion that Yveltal's egg holds the most promise for meeting the needs of the realm, and as the Protector presently closest to hatching, she concluded that it was all the more reason to focus on awakening it.
I relayed this news to the research team at the site. Most of the staff approved of the new direction and were ready to proceed with it, though there were a few particularly outspoken dissenters, a couple of whom have even threatened to tender their resignations. The specifics of their objections vary, but the general commonality between them was that they felt the requested regimen was progressing too far too fast, with insufficient time to fully confirm the results of their research.
The Queen ordered us to find replacements for those objectors should they be unable to make their peace with her requests, and I for one cannot say that I don't agree with her rationale. The most pressing need for the realm at the moment is to have a living Protector to call our own and stand guard on its behalf.
What Protector would be more effective at that role than one with the power to lay waste to Anyilla's enemies and those who would do her harm?"
Nida felt a shiver run up her spine as she read the passage about 'the power to lay waste to Anyilla's enemies'. Were these Pokémon trying to hatch a Protector, or a
weapon? On top of it all, the whole time she noticed that the volume of the Ledger had been evasive about just
what these experiments with Yveltal's egg entailed. Had the writer known that there was something wrong with them? That they were doing something dangerous?
She frankly didn't know whether or not she wanted to know the answer.
"… Nida?"
Nida's ears flicked and she perked up to attention at the sound of Pleo's voice to the side. She turned to her right, where there at the doorway was her teammate shuffling in.
"Huh? Pleo? What are you doing up right now?" she asked. "And how come Crom's not with you?"
"He went to bed about half an hour ago, but…"
The Lugia fell silent, his head and wings drooping as he looked down at the floor with a low murmur.
"I can't sleep right now."
Nida tilted her head, when she noticed whistling noises coming through the ship's timbers. Those… didn't sound good. Beatrix and Vicente had passed along word about an hour ago that their readings of the ship's barometer portended choppy sailing overnight, but she hadn't expected the weather outside to be this loud.
No
wonder why Pleo had had trouble falling asleep. She just hoped that wasn't an omen of things to come.
"… Because of the wind?" the Nidorina asked. "I guess that's understandable, it's just that I wouldn't have expected you to-"
"It's because of Kiran."
Pleo glanced away as soon as the words left his mouth, making Nida stand up with a worried look. The Nidorina made her way forward, seeing Pleo raise his head as small droplets began to bead up at the corner of his eyes.
"I… just wish he was here with us right now," the Lugia said. "Are- Are we ever going to see him again?"
Nida paused, before going up and slinging a forepaw around Pleo's back and nuzzling at the top of his beak with a small sigh.
"… I'm sure we will, Pleo. And I know how much you want to see him again. All of us feel that way," she reassured. "But you need to at least
try to get some rest."
Pleo stood there for a moment, before looking away again with his head held heavy and low.
"… But
how?"
Nida bit her tongue as she looked over Pleo. Why, she hadn't seen him look this miserable since the Empire kept him penned up in that stadium on Giotto! The Nidorina glanced back at the Ledger still laying open on its spine, before shaking her head and turning back to Pleo.
Right here, right now, her friend needed a helping paw. Perhaps it was best to just take a break for a while and focus on getting Pleo to bed. The Ledger would still be there for her afterwards.
"How about I tell you a bedtime story to help you fall asleep?" Nida offered. "That journal's not going anywhere fast."
Nida motioned for Pleo to follow after her as she snagged the lantern off her crate-desk and made her way over towards a set of bedding under the rafters. She heard Pleo rustle his feathers as she neared, and looked over her shoulder to see him settling on the straw, craning his head up expectantly.
"… What story are you going to tell me?" he asked.
Nida paused and brought a paw to her mouth. It'd make the most sense to try and tell Pleo something that would lift his spirits a bit, and there were certainly no shortage of stories she'd heard that could do that. She mulled a few options over her mind, before seeing Pleo start to fidget restlessly. Perhaps it made sense just to stick to something they both already knew he'd like.
"Well, I could tell you one about the Prince of a Thousand Enemies again," the Nidorina said. "His stories always help you fall asleep, and it feels like it's been a while since I've told you one."
Nida stretched her limbs in place before making herself comfortable in her bedding. She opened her mouth to tell the tale of the Prince and his blessing from the old gods, only to catch herself. She'd told that particular story from beginning to end a couple times now for Pleo, including times when Kiran was present alongside them.
The Nidorina hesitated a moment as her mind drifted to her Swellow teammate. She hoped he was doing alright right now. Though if
she started thinking of him from that one story, wouldn't Pleo be bound to do the same…?
… That was probably a sign that it was best to tell him a different story tonight. There were supposed to be a number of stories of the Prince of a Thousand Enemies outsmarting various foes through his cunning, though there was always one in particular that
Mami was fond of since she said it reminded her of how she herself was able to get the better of Darzin so many years ago…
"How about I tell you the story of the Prince of a Thousand Enemies and the King's Lettuce?" Nida offered.
"'The King's… Lettuce'?" Pleo wondered, tilting his head. "How does that one go?"
"Well, once upon a time, after the Prince received his blessing from the old gods, he began to go on adventures with a partner," the Nidorina began. "A partner who was so brave and loyal that he even would have given his life for the Prince."
A brief flash came over Pleo's eyes at Nida's mention of the Prince's partner, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow come over herself. That… was more like Kiran than she cared to admit, but for the sake of Pleo's mood, it was perhaps best to give him some reassurance and move along.
"Pleo, don't worry, it'll be a happy story, I promise," she insisted. "… Even if the beginning isn't all that happy."
"Oh? Why isn't it happy?" he asked.
"Well, as it had happened, the Prince of a Thousand Enemies had offended the old gods with one of his tricks, and in punishment they penned him and his children up in unfavorable lands," Nida explained. "Lands where food was scarce and it was hard for his children to have children of their own."
Pleo stiffened up and had his eyes widen with a start.
"Ah, that's awful!" the Lugia cried.
"Indeed, not least of all because the Prince and his partner had grown known among the old gods for being wily and cunning," Nida said, nodding her head back. "So they assigned a messenger from their ranks,
Lord Rainbow with his seven-colored wings, to enforce that punishment and keep a close eye on the Prince and his partner."
Pleo blinked and raised a brow with a puzzled frown.
"… But aren't rainbows
good things, Nida?" he questioned. "This 'Lord Rainbow' sounds mean and scary!"
Nida paused and pawed at the back of her head with a sheepish smile.
"I mean, 'Lord Rainbow' is just a name, and just about any Pokémon can get a bit scary if they're annoyed with you," Nida answered. "But even so, that didn't stop the Prince of a Thousand Enemies. He saw the plight of his children, and with flared ears and upturned head, went with his partner before Lord Rainbow to try and bargain for his children's sake to end the old gods' punishment…"
"Nida? Was the Prince of a Thousand Enemies like Inler?" Pleo asked.
At once, Nida blanched and contorted her face into an incredulous frown. The Prince of a Thousand Enemies? Like
Inler of all 'mons?
"What?! No!" she exclaimed. "What on earth would make you
think that?!"
Pleo fidgeted his wings and pulled his head in against his body with an uneasy murmur.
"Well, Inler is a Nidoking, and the Prince of a Thousand Enemies was supposed to be a champion for Nidoran…" the Lugia mused. "So wouldn't
he have been a Nidoking too?"
Nida stiffened up and grimaced. Now that Pleo mentioned it, she supposed that even in the stories that
Mami and
Papi had told her, the Prince of a Thousand Enemies
was said to have become a Nidoking at some point during his adventures…
"I… suppose that's true, but…"
Nida trailed off, when it dawned on her. There was no reason for her to be worried at all even if the Prince of a Thousand Enemies were a Nidoking. Why, they'd even
seen the proof she needed during their travels!
"But that doesn't mean anything. It's what a Pokémon
does that makes him who he is, not what sort of body he has," the Nidorina insisted. "Just think of how different Roteck and Hess are despite both being Aggron. Even if the Prince of a Thousand Enemies was definitely a Nidoking, I can't imagine a hero like him would be anything like
Inler."
Pleo remained quiet for a moment, as he brought a wing up to his mouth with a quiet murmur.
"I… suppose that makes sense…"
Nida smiled back, expecting to see the Lugia perk up and eagerly await her continued storytelling, only for him to remain as listless and deflated as he'd been since he first entered the room.
Clearly he had more on his mind than just who the Prince of a Thousand Enemies was as a Pokémon. In that case… maybe it was best to just try and get his mind off of his present worries. The Nidorina leaned in, raising a paw as she patted Pleo's head, looking up with a pleading expression.
"Pleo, it's okay to be worried and upset over what happened today," she said. "But right now, just try to put that behind you. We're
friends. We'll get through it together, like we always do."
Pleo paused and thought back to everything that had happened since he'd met Nida, along with the moments they'd spent together alongside their other friends. There were more times than he could count when things seemed scary or impossible, but every time, he and his friends had dug in spite of them and managed to still pull through.
With how much Nida and everyone else trusted him to be their Protector… wasn't it only fair to trust her reassurances in return?
"Well, alright. If you're sure everything will work out…" Pleo said. "Though what was this bargain that the Prince of a Thousand Enemies made?"
The Nidorina smiled for a moment, before leaning in against Pleo and continuing on.
"Well, Lord Rainbow naturally didn't
want the Prince or his partner to succeed, so he gave them the hardest task he could think of," Nida explained. "There had been a king that had displeased Lord Rainbow, one who kept a garden planted with the freshest and most delicious lettuce in all the land, watched over by fearsome guards that wouldn't hesitate to strike thieves down. And so, confident that they'd never succeed, Lord Rainbow declared he would remove the punishment over the Prince and his children
if he and his partner could bring him the king's lettuce."
Pleo listened as Nida continued on with her story and how even in spite of being given an impossible task, the Prince of a Thousand Enemies and his friend didn't back down from it. A story that as Nida went on with it, seemed to remind him of themselves in a way.
The young Lugia craned his head against his storyteller and gave a small, tired smile. Even if he was still sad about Kiran and the others… even if he wasn't fully sure
how they would make things right…
There was still a chance to help them, and he'd move the sea and skies for it.
Author's Notes:
-
cálmate un poco - Spanish: "calm down a moment", lit. "calm down a bit/little"
-
mi hijo - Spanish: "my son"
-
Saldrá bien. Todo saldrá bien. - Spanish: "It'll be alright. Everything will work out."
-
Dobrze - Polish: "Alright", "Good". Used here as an interjection.
-
Windie (ウインディ) - Japanese: "Arcanine" (Official Romanization)
-
rodzice - Polish: "parents"
as salt in the wound, but we’ll let Review!Alvise and the gang have a bit of a break here.
and tearing it to shreds à la Nia in XC2.
