Tree of Life ~ Exterior

[Phoenixsong]

The cozy little forest scene made Skara quite conscious of the buzzing of her wings. (Well, first it made her a little dumbfounded. Diyem was about the last person she'd expected to see in an idyllic little hatchling's-fairy-tale scene. Was this bad? This was probably bad.) Maybe the droning blended in with the other quiet forest sounds? ...eh. Even with Mellow's suggestion, it seemed prudent to be absolutely certain nothing else was going on before interrupting the sleepy-deepy snuggletimes of two very powerful and very irritable people. The vikavolt cast a quick glance around the clearing beyond... that... watching for any signs of strange energy or anything else that seemed out of the ordinary, before landing as quietly as she could and tucking her wings away.

(She wasn't entirely sure whether something dangerous-looking or something fuzzy and adorable would be more "out of the ordinary" right now.)

 

[ntmymike]

Miles followed them towards the tree of life, looking around to observe the scenery and... also the scene right in front of their eye. He took a step back near the squad, slightly away from the two powerful beings sleeping peacefully...maybe.

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa stared at the sight, agast. He'd heard that Diyem was acting weird, sure. And he knew Xerneas might have something to do with it, but between everything else going on, he'd pushed that to the back of his mind. But now that it was here in front of him, it was hard to ignore.

"Okay, what the heck is going on?" Koa hissed in a low voice, looking expectantly at Owen. "I thought Diyem was like... I don't know, darkness and grumpiness incarnate. Why's he acting like a...." he struggled to find the words to express his bewilderment, and failed. "This doesn't seem normal," he finally said.

 

[Namohysip]

"He's..." Owen didn't have the words, either. "Um... Diyem? Xerneas?"

No response from either.

"Diyem... hey! Diyem?"

Xerneas opened one eye, frowning. Diyem followed, groaning as he nestled up against Xerneas' chest. He blinked awake, then jolted upright. "Rrgh--what? Who dares--oh. You." Diyem scowled and sat up while Xerneas said nothing. "What do you want? We were having a nap."

 

[Disco]

"Nice to see that you're enjoying your new life on Cibus...", Mellow grumbled, going back to crossing her arms and glaring.

"...We came to check on you. We're all worried.", Raven began, and then looked between the two of them, contemplating something. She then continued, "Would you mind talking to us? Privately?"

 

[Namohysip]

"...Anything you say to me can be said to Xerneas," Diyem said simply, pressing into the Lifebringer's chest with a leathery pomf noise as his wings ruffled behind him. "Don't you have a mission to be preparing for?"

"I don't see how being here will do anything for that mission," Xerneas said. "Diyem says you still need to hunt for spies. Go away."

 

[Disco]

Raven glanced at Owen.

"I should have thrown your things into the sea instead.", Mellow stated plainly.

 

[Namohysip]

Xerneas was starting to curl around Diyem in an odd way. His body bent and creaked and they were positive that they heard a few of Xerneas' bones breaking as he did so, moving like a serpent as his hooves wrapped around his shoulders.

"I don't think you should be here," Xerneas said in a low hiss, wrapped around Diyem two times.

 

[Flyg0n]

"Oh sure, we'll be leaving in just a second," Koa retorted glaring. He tensed eyes scanning for any dangerous. Inside, his fear rose, a voice screaming in his head that this was wrong, so wrong. This wasn't right. His heart stuttered in his chest, but he didn't show it, staying focused.

What was that thing? It definitely wasn't a Xerneas.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Was now really the time for Mellow to be airing whatever spat she had with Diyem? Although... maybe it'd get some kind of telling reaction out of him. Might as well just... let that happen, Skara supposed.

"We're very sorry to bother you," she said, turning to the happy(?) couple(??). "But I do hope you understand that we just want to make sure everything's okay. Diyem is the primary source of our power, and our connection to one another, and someone I think we've all come to rely on in general, so if his behavior is changing... I mean, if you're happy, that's good! I think? From our perspective it's good, I mean. Or from the perspective of... normal pokémon? I thought you weren't supposed to... this whole 'Dark Matter' business doesn't exist where I come from as far as I know but... uh..."

Fog damn it. Why couldn't Diyem just complain about lovey-dovey stuff the way he'd used to and make this much simpler? The snapping, cracking noises around them weren't helping her focus, either. "What I mean to say is..."

It occurred to Skara that snapping and cracking didn't seem like the Tree of Life's typical background ambiance. Then it occurred to her that those sounds' source was not exactly in the background.

"Diyem," Skara said carefully, eyes peeled for any sort of sign from the not-charizard as hooves and antlers snaked their way around his body, "are you one hundred percent certain that this is what you want? That you feel absolutely comfortable right now?"

 

[Namohysip]

Three wraps around, now, and Diyem didn't look like he would be able to move without some serious maneuvers.

"I am fine just where I am," Diyem said slowly, looking down. "...I... should not leave the Tree of Life. I cannot leave it. I am... making amends with the Tree by doing this..." His flame, once orange and black, was sparking with red.

"And so you should leave," Xerneas said. "Find the spies and defeat them, why don't you? Diyem and I just need to rest."

It didn't look like they were going to be able to get Diyem out... and Xerneas was hostile if they tried anything. They didn't have enough of the team with them to do anything properly by force.

But maybe they could try to help for now, or get more information about the Tree...? Owen mulled this over, then tried to relay this to the team.

We should try to get information for now. I think Diyem is under some kind of... control.

 

[Disco]

He's been corrupted. Heavily., Raven answered. When he took power from the tree, and when Xerneas gave him energy... If we don't get to him here and now, we are going to have to fight him later.

Mellow blinked and looked up at Raven. Fight him? But...
She looked back at Diyem and Xerneas, then spoke up. "H-hey... Diyem, you don't look so great. Maybe you should go back to the infirmary?"

 

[Phoenixsong]

It certainly looks that way... though I can't help but wonder whose control. Xerneas's? Eien's? Skara glanced at the decidedly-non-serpentine Xerneas and the horrible, snakelike way his extremities were coiling and twisting. Someone else's? For all we know, there's spy hunting to do right here.

But they didn't know. (There wasn't any "knowing" with this mist-taken place. Stop worrying about it and think of something useful to do.) "We've definitely got the team hard at work investigating the spies," she said, trying to keep her tone casual and probably not quite managing it. "Some of us just thought we'd take a brief break to be certain that you're all right. And now that we've established that you are both in fact perfectly normal and content, I was hoping that maybe we could chat for a bit before we head back. Quick and casual, just so we can pass a bit of time and be nice and fresh when we're back to all that stressful spy-hunting stuff, and so we've got plenty of good news to share with the others when we reconvene.

"I assume everything's been nice and quiet here around the Tree?" Skara asked. "No disturbances, no other visitors between Bahamut and Raven's usual watches and our little... social call?"

 

[ntmymike]

"D-diyem, you said you are Dark Matter right? " Miles finally decided to speak up. "Xerneas and you emit opposite power to each other so... are you sure you feel fine staying that close to each other?"

The Lifebringer warping around Diyem like that reminded the shinx of something disturbing. Like a shadow about to envelope and consume its prey but... opposite? Where did that thought come from anyway?

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa forced himself to relax. "You're right, Xerneas," he said, dipping his head.
"We do need to stop the spies. A lot of us are pretty stressed about it. That's why we came to see you, actually. One of the reasons. Do you have any ideas about who the spy could be? Maybe someone you've seen that seems strange or untrustworthy?" he forced his voice to sound as calm and composed as he was able to, which he was pretty good at. All those times sound composes to others came in handy, huh?

 

[Namohysip]

"H-hey... Diyem, you don't look so great. Maybe you should go back to the infirmary?"

"D-diyem, you said you are Dark Matter right? " Miles finally decided to speak up. "Xerneas and you emit opposite power to each other so... are you sure you feel fine staying that close to each other?"

"...I have no need," Diyem replied, nestling into Xerneas' coils. "Xerneas can grant life, after all. I am more than healthy."

"I assume everything's been nice and quiet here around the Tree?" Skara asked. "No disturbances, no other visitors between Bahamut and Raven's usual watches and our little... social call?"

Do you have any ideas about who the spy could be? Maybe someone you've seen that seems strange or untrustworthy?

"Well... all things considered, I do have one suspected spy, and it does have to do with the spy. It was someone I saw as they fled, after trying to enter the Tree... disturbing the Tree's natural defenses..." Xerneas pointed a twisted hoof at Raven. "YOU... how DARE you show your face here again. YOU are the spy..."

 

[Disco]

Raven didn't flinch. "I simply wished to see what we might be facing. There is something corrupting the Tree, and you refuse to acknowledge it. ...It's because both of you are as corrupted as the Tree. It seems Soda was right. We'll just have to be ready..."

"Soda was right? Hey- Raven, wait!", Mellow called out, but her sister had already taken flight and left. She looked over at Owen and the others at the team with a worried expression, then briefly at Xerneas and Diyem, before going after Raven without another word.

 

[Flyg0n]

"Ah right," Koa replied. He'd already heard about the incident with Raven. "Has anything else unusual happened, maybe before that? Do you remember a strange dark red storm or anything like that even?" He paused, then added. "You know, I heard there's more than one spy, maybe you saw something that could help us find the other? That way they don't mess with the Tree or you and Diyem."

 

[Phoenixsong]

YOU are the spy...

"Let's not be hasty, now," Skara said as Raven made a hasty departure. Well, that was helpful. Leave the rest of them to scramble and figure this out before Xerneas attacked. Sure. Fine. She wasn't struggling not to freak out or anything, not at all. "We're all concerned about what's been going on lately. If Raven got a little too close, I'm sure she was just doing her best to check on things. No need to jump to conclusions about sabotage.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure we've cleared up the majority of the spies already." (Insofar as she could be sure of anything. Not remotely, then.) "It doesn't seem, at least to me, like Raven matches what we know about the remaining one. But we do suspect that this other spy is good at creating projections of some kind; that might be how they taunted us at the Worldcore. And Raven warned us that she'd seen strange projections when she investigated. Do you know anything about entities or phantasms that are inside the Tree, right now, that aren't supposed to be there?

"Or are those normal? Are there meant to be additional guardians helping protect the Tree from the inside? Or," and here Skara glanced at Diyem again, hoping he could still think at least slightly reasonably, "is that something that Eien might do? Do you think she would create these projections due to her corruption, or maybe as an attempt to keep people from getting to close to her while she feels she's unsafe?"

 

[Namohysip]

"The Tree..." Xerneas looked down, humming, as her body twisted and turned around Diyem, not quite lengthening, only bending more. There was no telling what state his bones were in at this point... "You will never be able to harm the Tree or free Eien while she is meditating. That is what I have concluded. The 'phantoms' you saw... are the memories the Tree holds of heroes alive and dead. Great forces recorded forever should Arceus ever need to draw upon their energies to revive a hero. Arceus needs their signature to find them in the cosmic plane, after all... so the Tree records it."

"...So in other words... if someone tried to attack the Tree from the inside... the Tree would defend itself by manifesting memories of heroes?" That explained why Pine and Nanab were there. That wasn't really them--just a memory of them.

But that also meant...

"Yes," Xerneas said. "Anybody who battled the tree... would face the wrath of the whole world."