Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

[Namohysip]

It was a long flight, but Joule had taken Owen, Icetales, and a few others all the way to the northern pine forest outside of Destiny Village. The air was bitter and the winter cold was harsh on their bodies, but thankfully for Icetales, that was just his environment, and for Owen, his fiery aura was a natural repellent for the cold.

"Ah! And there she is!" Joule declared, abruptly flying downward. His core bobbled within his chest, hidden behind his chest plate.

The Smeargle was standing behind a tree; it was only when Wishkeeper confirmed her location that they knew where she actually was. Joule must have 'seen' her by his sixth sense of where his host had gone. When he landed, he let his passengers off.

 

[Cresselia92]

Okay, even after evolving, Icetales still didn’t like flying. And of course, destiny had to make him go through that lovely experience twice and with two dragons of light, too.

He wobbled a bit when he touched the floor, but after taking a deep breath and flicking his tails, he managed to brush off his vertigo.

“Um… Much appreciated, Sir New Joule,” said Icetales, before sniffing the air. While he was far from a trained sleuth, he detected the faint trace of Maple’s scent. “So, she is nearby…”

And then, Wishkeeper drifted toward a tree, and upon following him, he spotted the silhouette of the Smeargle. He didn’t need to be a psychic to understand that her spirit was in turmoil. However, what was the better way to approach her while in such emotional torment?

For the time being, he opted to be as delicate as possible.

“…Miss Maple? It is us, Team Spectrum,” he said, his voice soft and gentle. “We are here because we are concerned about thee. Thy heart… is in shambles, and it is understandable why it is in such way.” His tails started waving, their tufts following the winter winds. “If there is anything we can do to assist, or if thou need some friendly ears to listen to thy plight… we are here.”

He sat down besides her, keeping a dignified yet welcoming stance.

 

[Ambyssin]

Nobody had told Bahamut anything, as per usual. It was like some sort of sick, recurring cosmic joke. He was trying to get work done, but had a tendency to fly blind. But a shade daring to impersonate that doppelganger of his was enough to draw his attention. Bahamut followed by running through the air; couldn't have been that strange a sight in a city where so-called gods casually mingled with denizens.

Eventually he wound up in the same forest he'd done some damage in previously. His impostor settled down and not too far away Maple was... hiding behind a tree? Really? Was she one of these Voices or a hatchling who had their toy taken away for misbehaving?

"What's all this about, hmm?" Bahamut kept a disapproving gaze on the new shade. Was it judgmental, jealousy, or some combination?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

It had been quite the flight from the Guild.

Luz let Icetales approach Maple first. She wasn't sure another shade was the best person to help first thing. Maybe once she'd calmed down. Instead, Luz put herself in front of Joule. Or Millijoule, as she was starting to think of him.

"Howdy, fella. Guess yer my siblin', huh? Zeraora Luz, 'ultra shade' or whatever. Pleasure to meet ya, reckon you oughta give yer host a minute before you go chargin' in, huh?"

 

[Namohysip]

"A fine meeting to you, Luz! Something about your name shines bright to me!" Millijoule bowed, but then addressed Bahamut. "Well, you see, I recently manifested my full projection in an effort to assist my host! The memories strongest within her were also ones that caused her great pain, and in a wave of empathy and longing, I wished to make things better for her. And how appropriate is it that I became something that I had been sourced from to begin with! Perhaps that is why I can already feel great strength flowing through me..."

It seemed to pain Maple just to hear him, but she stepped out from the shadows regardless, eyes downcast, though her shoulders were still form. She was trying to keep up an image of strength, even now. "...And so you became my mate... whom I just learned had been severely injured and is still missing, at best."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Wounded?" Bahamut's eyes flickered purple. Because of that hunk of prism armor? "Are you sure about that?"

 

[Namohysip]

"His armor was discovered in pieces," Maple explained. "To sustain such injuries and to leave behind so much of his prism behind..."

"Indeed, those would be severe injuries," Millijoule said, "but I'm sure you also know that I am much stronger than that, and surely I would not die so easily!"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut stepped between Maple and the shade. "Meaningless platitudes are not what this situation calls for." His hollow, red eyes stared down his doppelganger's doppelganger. Stars, that was going to be a headache and a half. Bahamut regained a more neutral expression and looked at Maple. He could explain things from his perspective, but Maple wasn't the type of person who liked to be talked to in such a way. At least, that's what Bahamut figured.

"Has something like this ever happened to him before?"

 

[Namohysip]

Maple steadied her breathing, trying to look at things rationally and from Bahamut's perspective. "Oh, a... few times, but not in the same way. We once had to do some stealthy moves since our power alone wasn't enough to quell some... issues in another world. Joule broke his body apart and let himself be salvaged. But he was never... broken apart forcibly, or shattered, or... He was simply too strong for that..."

"Indeed," said Millijoule. "A little shattering here and there is no problem for me! I am a Voice of Light, after all! Well, Joule is."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Yet you think this circumstance is different?" Bahamut stared off into space. "From what I saw in the guild, there was a distinct lack of anything I would call a core." He lifted his right arm and flexed his claws. "My body has been shattered so many times I lost count millennia ago, yet the lost crystals could regenerate with time and light. If your mate and I are truly the same, that should be the case for him too, no?"

 

[Namohysip]

"That's... that's true," Maple said slowly. "But, do we truly know if his core had been damaged?"

"Based on my knowledge, you know that the Charmeleon among them knows enough about Necrozma to recognize a core when he sees one," Millijoule said. "He said nothing of it. There was no core. Joule himself must be safe."

"It's true," Owen added quickly. "He, that, um, we just saw his armor and pieces of it, too. The rest of it could be somewhere else."

Maple seemed less sure. She looked to the others. "Is... Did you never see anything like that?" she asked. "It looks like a... rainbow prism of sorts. Bahamut, is there a way you can illustrate...?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut bent his head down. The triangle on his forehead flared up and projected an image of his brain prism. "If your mate is like me... he stores his light here. But his true form is mostly ethereal. Only striking this would register any sort of pain."

The image flickered out as Bahamut shook his head. "And even then... after Eternatus, my core was cursed. No matter what I do to try and shatter it, it always pulls itself back together."

 

[Namohysip]

"So he must still be out there somewhere," Owen said gently. "And until we know for sure, we have to keep fighting, right?"

"We," Maple repeated with a dry laugh. Her smile was empty. "What do you care? Joule isn't someone you want to save. If Joule is dead... then that's one less problem for you all, isn't it?"

 

[Cresselia92]

“…‘If Joule is dead?’ Golly, this defeatist mindset should not even be crossing the antechamber of thy brain!”

Icetales stepped toward the group, his expression serious and his tails still.

“We have to keep hoping that he is swell — regardless of his missing pieces and evidence — and that we can rescue him from that malicious fellow. Whether thou believe it or not, Miss Maple, we are comrades, and comrades cover each other’s back. So even though none of us has such a strong attachment toward Sir Joule as thou do,” he flashed a small smile, “that does not mean that we don’t care, nor that we should just stay here and twiddle our tails. If there is a time in which we should keep our spirits up and have faith that he can be saved, it is now.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz cocked her head.

"Howdy, Blade," she said. "We ain't met yet, but I'm Luz. One of yer fella's spawn. Not sure exactly how to take yer meanin', but I'm guessin' ya don't have it on faith that Team Spectrum are genuinely well-intentioned. That's fine an' all, but the way things've been goin', we're also yer best bet at gettin' yer guy back in one piece, and we're tellin' ya, we're up fer it."

The zeraora-shade pumped one arm. "I'm bettin' on us. You should too."

Luz looked at Millijoule again, thoughtfully. "Hey pal. Y'said Joule was a 'Voice of Light'. That a fancy name fer the necrozma species, or some other thing?"

 

[Namohysip]

Maple looked between Icetales and Luz, then to Bahamut and Owen. Even Bahamut, perhaps the most cynical of the team by leaps and bounds, was trying to assure her in his own way that Joule was fine. And he was right, he was practical, they didn't find evidence of Joule's core being at all damaged here. There was still hope.

"Voice of Light," Maple repeated, and Millijoule ceded to her the explanation. She laughed a little, leaning against a tree. "It was a pun of sorts that Joule made over... essentially what the two of us became. After spending so much time together, constant and close interactions, you could say that our powers... intertwined a great deal. His power over light and my power over life..."

"Wait--is that why you can warp around so easily?" Owen asked.. "They're just tiny Ultra Wormholes?"

"In a sense," Maple replied. "I have a hint of the powers of light, and Joule has the hint of the powers of life. Light and life, together, make Radiance."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Fascinatin'!" breathed Luz. "Is it a phenomemon totally unique to the pair of ya? Y'ever find Radiance anywhere besides you 'n' yours?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"I'm sure there's a comparable power in some dimension," Bahamut said. His expression was stoic, but inside he was fuming. Ultra Wormholes were not a power meant to be shared... gods or not. And yet Joule so just so casually passed the power off to Maple? If that was the case, he wasn't sure he wanted to meet any other necrozma.

 

[Namohysip]

"Is it a phenomemon totally unique to the pair of ya? Y'ever find Radiance anywhere besides you 'n' yours?"

"As far as I'm aware," Maple said, "no. Voices... usually keep to their own worlds, and Necrozma tend to live in worlds without a Voice. And we only gained this mutual power after... a great deal of togetherness."

"So, like, a special hug?" Owen asked.

Maple stared at Owen, trying, very strongly trying, to figure out if that was a joke, genuine, or if he truly was that unaware.

When Owen tilted his head, eyes wide with curiosity, Maple realized the truth.

"I suppose that could have been a contributing factor," Maple finally admitted.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut, on the other hand, shook his head. "You really do have the mind of a child."