Marowak Dojo ~ Living Quarters

[Disco]

Mellow slipped back inside with a teapot and a cup just as Diyem was finished. She said nothing as she filled the teacup almost to the brim, and gently held it to Cynthian before speaking in a soft and quiet voice so he wouldn't get any more agitated.

"This has high amounts of Oran and Lum in it... It should ease your stomach."

 

[Adamhuarts]

Diyem's arguments were sound. Of course, Cynthian never realized he was controlled by Dark Matter for most of his childhood until after the fact. Until Dark Matter had been banished from his world. Yet, Cynthian didn't believe Diyem, he simply couldn't. His mother's burning face flashed in his mind again, and Cynthian uttered a whimper.

Cynthian clung to Owen beside him, wrapping his vines around the Charmander as if hanging onto dear life.

"Why then... Why would someone like you want to save a world after you almost destroyed one? Is it because you think saving another world will wash away your past? The lives you've stolen will forever remain lost. My mother... she's not coming back."

Cynthian wanted to tell Diyem it took everything from him, but no, Diyem was a different Dark Matter... Or perhaps it was the same one that escaped obliteration and is now a multiversal blight. He shook the thought. It didn't make any sense.

"This has high amounts of Oran and Lum in it... It should ease your stomach."

Cynthian would've appreciated the offer wholeheartedly any time, but he didn't have the appetite for tea. He shook his head at the offer and remained hanging on to Owen.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen did not resist, and in fact held his breath and tried to tap into an old, old skill of his. He didn't know if it would work all that well, but he did try to keep himself calm and quelled his flame until it was a gentle ember, at no risk of burning Cynthian. Granted, his flame was always ethereal, only hot when he was excited or in battle... but it was temperamental. He had always struggled to control it.

Nothing will erase what I have done. I could go out of my way to revive every single person I had killed, return them to the world I tore them away from, and it would not erase the fact that I had done it in the first place. I am doing this because I want to. Because I can. Because nobody else will do it on time. That is my only reason. If you do not believe me... There was a long pause then, and Owen and others were about to speak up before he continued. Then I forgive you.

 

[windskull]

Nip looked away from Cynthain. There was nothing he could do to help there, so he chose to keep his distance.

"Diyem has a point," Nip admitted. "He has no reason to make this up. If anything he'd benefit more by continuing to hide this from us." He stood up and looked upwards before addressing everyone else. "I'll admit I still have my suspicions. But this, at least, seems to be truthful. Whether or not any of you trust him, I think we should at least listen to what he has to say."

He tilted his head up again. "So, Diyem, what changed? What made you decide that now was the time to tell all of us?"

Dave's words rang in the back of Nip's head. He stole a glance at the poochyena, but elected not to address his statement for now. It concerned him, but... he didn't quite know how to put his response into words. After all, his tribe would have reacted similarly, had strangers shown up in their territory and threatened their safety.

 

[Disco]

Mellow was silent and listened to the conversation, while sitting near Owen and Cynthian with the cup of tea on hand in case he decided to take it after all.

 

[Namohysip]

It is as I said, Diyem said. I did not expect Shades to appear here, as you call them. I still do not know what they are, in fact. They have properties akin to Void Shadows--creatures I can summon, not important--but there is something else about them. Void Shadows do not... possess people, nor mutate them. They attack and seize, not corrupt on their own. It does not make sense. But their properties remind me of myself, and therefore I feel I should inform you of that.

Lugia being corrupted in that way... It was Shadows. A very similar power to what I create, manifested and concentrated within a powerful spirit.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian didn't argue any further. He sat quietly while Owen's gentle warmth soothed him. He... wasn't going to trust Diyem any time soon, even though he somewhat believed him.

Even then, what would Mama Zahra think of him if he went back home and told her he worked for another Dark Matter? Would she feel betrayed, considering their world's Dark Matter took away the love of her life? Cynthian's mind remained in turmoil for the rest of the conversation.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Skara had honestly only been half-listening to the early parts of the discussion, her mind on other ways to try and retrieve the lost teammates—maybe there were natural portals to this "Giratina's" realm that popped up from time to time, maybe Maple could open her own portal if they could find something attuned to that world—but the Dark Matter business was a pretty solid distraction.

She'd heard the history lesson second-hand, unfortunately; there was definitely nuance she was missing. Negative emotions coalescing into an actual being? Destroying the world, or at least trying to? It sounded terrifying, but it was a little hard for the grubbin to wrap her head around. How was that a thing that someone or something could just... do?

She glanced around at the others, unsure of how to react beyond "confused" and "ill at ease". Most of them seemed to be taking the whole "destroyer of worlds" thing rather in stride, or were at least nonplussed. Cynthian, on the other hand...

But if there were multiple Dark Matters, then how was that different from there being multiples of any sort of pokémon? She wasn't the same as other grubbin, and Paldros wasn't the same as other corviknight (hopefully), and based on what little she knew about them, Kyogre was nothing like the Admiral.

(And the Admiral was nothing like her. And if she could be different, if she could be trusted, if not all of them were...)

If Diyem was different—making an effort to be different, at least—then continuing to trust him was at least worth a shot, right?

She glanced at Cynthian again. Still shaken, still lost in thought, still miserable.

...right?

 

[Namohysip]

There is one final qualm I have with our entire situation, Diyem said after a long silence so Cynthian could at least recover, and the others could digest the rest of the information. The first foe we battled. Sushi and Sashimi, enlarged to impossible proportions. That is another power entirely, the original power I thought was a blight to this land. Typically, this power is associated with a being known commonly as Eternatus--a truly gigantic creature overflowing with power. It can also absorb great amounts of energy, and can also distort the world around it.

Does this all sound familiar? It should. It is the unstoppable force that you had thwarted, when the denizens of Cibus could not. I do not know how these Shades fall into the picture... but the power of an Eternatus as well as the power of darkness is at play here. It must be destroyed. Diyem's voice was firmer than usual, perhaps too firm, but his words felt as true as the rest--whatever that meant, depending on the audience.

In any case... Diyem sighed. That is everything you must know. It is not useful now... but perhaps it can be useful when something comes up later.

But be careful... if Maple catches any word of this... I do not know what will happen.

 

[Cresselia92]

A myriad of thoughts were floating in Icetales’ mind, his brain working non-stop to assimilate all the information.

So, Diyem was some entity called Dark Matter. He had heard that name floating around in this brave new world, but was an unknown threat in his own world. If there was truly a Dark Matter or something, Keo’Keo I would have told him about that. History and myths of the world were his specialty as ‘The Historian’. Unless Dark Matter in their world had another name?

He glanced around the room and spotted the distressed Cynthian being comforted by the two Charmander. He considered joining in to help, but he could see he was already in good paws. Nonetheless, he made a mental note to check on him later. The poor fellow… he recognized that state of mind. Nobody should be left alone while they are like that.

And then, there was a name he knew: Eternatus.

“…Eternatus, the Star Killer… could be here?” he muttered, his eyes wider. “…Of course. Everything tracks now. How did I not think about that earlier?”

He stared at the ceiling, his tails flailing with a sense of dread. The chronicles he had heard from his not-so-dear brother… were haunting, to say the least.

So many souls succumbed to the darkness, twisted into sickly and overgrown daemons with an insatiable hunger. Yveltal joining that entity’s side to reap as many souls as they could, leading an army of Hydreigon to slice the tails of the Ninetales who were brave enough to rebel, cutting their powers and lives short. And Sir Jirachi… oh, what unspeakable tortures he had to endure!

“…If there is truly a Star Killer here, it must be stopped. Here, absolutely,” said Icetales, his eyes cold and his voice firm. “There is no telling of what might occur if it were to have free reign here. That entity can warp across dimensions. Who can tell if it will not go feast on one of our worlds after ending this one?”

He narrowed his eyes. “And that God Squad… it might appear we should keep our eyes peeled on them, too. What if they are secretly in cahoots with that daemon and are merely fooling us? Who can we truly trust?”

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot gave Cynthian a look of sympathy and felt a knot form in his stomach. Cynthian was someone who he considered a friend, so seeing him this distressed felt... heartbreaking, to say the least. The idea of Dark Matter had always felt distant to him, but to Cynthian it was as real as any threat back home. Even if he trusted Diyem himself, if a different version of him had killed his own mother he instead might have felt just like Cynthian did right now. He reflexively took a step forward to comfort Cynthian, but paused as Owen and the other Charmander already beat him to the punch, instead opting to just listen to what else Diyem had to say.

When the new Vulpix of the group eventually expressed his concerns about the God Squad, he was reminded of what Meringue had told him a few days ago, prompting him to speak up.

"Right, there is something else I think all of you should know about Maple and her team," Cabot began. "I talked to Meringue the day after Darkwhite attacked Celeste on the beach and it turns out not everyone here is as familiar with them as we think. Apparently they just showed up in Cibus one day and... 'asserted' themselves, as Meringue described."

The Cranidos shifted a little, before continuing on. "That said... he also mentioned that Arceus himself told everyone that Maple and the others work for him, so I don't think they're lying about that part at least. Maybe they're not telling us everything and they really are from another world, but I don't think their intentions are malicious if Arceus is actually okay with them being here."

 

[Namohysip]

"A-Arcues... wouldn't be bad, too, would he?" Owen asked in a squeak. "Well, not bad, but, er, I mean--forget I said anything, not important..."

I think it's very important, Diyem harrumphed. There is a very strong chance that Arceus is in on this somehow, and that can either be very good or very bad for us. We will need to be very careful.

 

[Virgil134]

"Huh?" Cabot tilted his head and put a claw to his mouth. "But of course Arceus is good! I mean, it's Arceus we're talking about after all."

The Cranidos tried giving Owen a reassuring smile. "I know not every world is the same and there are different Arceus out there, but he still created this one, so there's no way he'd wanna try to destroy it."

 

[Ambyssin]

And there it was... straight from the figurative rapidash's mouth. Natus Aeterna. World Ender existed in the universe and was setting its sights on this planet. Radiance slowly flooded back into Bahamut's core as he laughed bitterly to himself. He shifted back into his dragon form. Crossing his legs and wings, he sat back against the wall.

"You think he is in on this? If anything... he's probably in the same boat as all the other denizens of this world: absolutely useless against these Shades." Bahamut rested his head on his upper wings. "It seems you've had a change of heart since we last spoke, O Darkness Mine. Did I not tell you that sitting on such lies would only make them snowball into something worse? If we continue to deceive Maple and the others... we are risking an explosive outburst if she finds out through means we do not control.

"I believe we have to tell her. Sooner rather than later. The key is that we have to leverage our strength: that we are the only ones who can do anything to the Shades." He cracked a grin on his beak. "If she truly wants to preserve Cibus, then she has to swallow whatever grudges she's holding... because if she smites us, she dooms this planet to death by Natus' five heads."

 

[Namohysip]

The change of heart, Diyem said lowly, is something that Dave can probably enlighten you about. I overheard the conversation myself. I was tempted to agree with you... until I realized how irrationally hostile Maple appears to be toward us already. You are speaking with leverage, reason, and logic. I do not know if Maple will follow the same. Do any of you?

 

[Ambyssin]

“Would you rather wait for Darkwhite or this Arceus character to tell her instead and significantly compromise us? Honesty is a point in our basket. Deception only furthers her preconceived notions that we are not to be trusted,”

 

[Cresselia92]

“…I cannot deny that there is some truth in that. Howbeit, we must use the upmost tact and be extremely cautious in relaying the news to them. The very fact that they showed — or at least, one of them did — some signs of hostility should be our forewarning. There is no telling of how they would react if we just… well, unloaded everything on them. That is plenty to unpack and assimilate, I reckon.”

Icetales took a gaze around, wondering if the other comrades were following him. He kept his eyes narrowed and focused, aware that they were treading in dangerous territories with the God Squad.

“So! My humble opinion is that we should distillate the information we feed them. Some enlightenments here, some elucidations there, to show them our openness to share information and gain their trust. And who knows? Perhaps they would become more willing to share some information of them, too, if we prove to be trustworthy.”

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste pressed a paw to his forehead, as if he had a headache. This was getting complicated. “What if we tell Potluck first? He seems more trustworthy than Maple, if what I’ve heard about her is to be believed.”

 

[Fusion]

With all the bickering earlier, Vix took it upon herself to turn into a quiet puddle in the corner, only reforming as things calmed back down.

"Potluck might be the best choice, but I don't think we should tell anyone so soon. I'm not entirely sure how they see us, but we might want to gain their trust a bit more," Vix said. "Like Icetales said."

 

[Disco]

"...But...didn't all of you just rescue Lugia?", Mellow replied, looking a bit exasperated. "And all those other Pokémon? That has to mean something..."