Chapter 10: Acceptance
It is sunset and Chestnut, Loggerhead, Ice Kacang and Aura kept on searching for Eterna. They did not know why she went. All of a sudden, a light ball approached Chestnut and it bobbed up and down; like it was signalling to him something. Then, it flew away into the mist. The team chased after it and it stopped before a group of Delphoxes forming a big magic circle in a dead forest clearing and chanting. At the centre was the unconscious Eterna being levitated above the ground. The team was horrified that she was Pokénapped and quickly leapt into action to knock down some Delphoxes from behind; destroying the formation of the magic circle. The foxes were fuming and attacked the team using Mystical Fires. Aura instinctively protected the team from the powerful combination attack. Also, it spotted five Delphoxes moving Eterna towards the east into the dead forest. It alerted its friends and so, Loggerhead Mega Evolved Ice Kacang and once Aura lowered down the barrier, the pine tree Pokémon blasted the foxes with Blizzard. Chestnut and Loggerhead used this chance to follow Shining Sphere that would lead them to Eterna and endured the blistering cold of Ice Kacang's attack.
The five foxes stopped at another forest opening. This time they managed to create the magic circle quicker. Chestnut and Loggerhead surprised them with their combination attack of Pin Needles and Rock Slide. Loggerhead's Rock Slide was created by him stomping on the ground. The force was transferred to where the foxes were and rocks erupted high up in the air. The five foxes stopped their chanting and used Psychic to push the rocks and pins towards Chestnut and Loggerhead. The duo evaded the reflected attacks and continued to use the same attacks to distract the foxes. Then, one of the foxes knew their tactics and clung on to Eterna. She told the other four to buy her some time. They nodded and they did their best to prevent Chestnut and Loggerhead from coming any closer.
The duo noticed the change in their tactics and Chestnut used Switcher Orb on one of the four foxes and changed sides. That broke their attack formations and he was free to approach the fifth fox. By the time Chestnut reached there, Delphox had finished chanting within her conjured magic circle.
She smiled at him and said, "You are too late! Farewell!"
She warped away with Eterna by her side.
"No!" cried Chestnut. Again he had failed to protect Eterna once more. In desperation, he headed back to the four foxes and demanded them to take him to where she was; and of course, they would not help him. With their mission completed, they knocked him back using Psychic and fleed from battle. Loggerhead could not keep up with their speed and gave up chasing them. To him, tending to Chestnut was the wiser option.
As he offered him an Oran Berry, Chestnut brushed it away and lectured him, "Why didn't you chase them down? Now we cannot even rescue her!"
Loggerhead picked up the berry and put it back into his bag and replied, "There is no need to as her Shining Sphere is still here. That means she is alright."
"That is not what I meant! If they warped her to Magica Settlement, it is far away from where we are so it takes us probably two days to reach there by flight! Who knows what will happen before we arrive there!"
Before Loggerhead could response, Ice Kacang in his normal form and Aura managed to find them, but Ice Kacang was dismayed to see that Eterna was not there.
Loggerhead explained, "I wanted to say that we can use Reunion Cape to get to where she is now, though since the Delphoxes wanted to train her, we should give her some time to learn. But if Eterna's light ball beginning to dim, we will warp there at once."
"Argh! Why didn't I think of using the cape I have? I will go there now!" Chestnut had suddenly teleported away.
Loggerhead shook his head, "Oh well, he could use the cape earlier on but he did not have time to focus on Eterna. Even so, he will be in trouble just appearing there."
"So should warp there as well?" asked Ice Kacang.
"Yeah. To make sure he is safe."
Eterna opened her eyes. Her view was still hazy due to the sleep spell gradually wearing off but she could feel she was on something soft. She shook her head to get rid of the spell quicker and was stunned by the sight that she was on a round mattress! It was covered with a brownish flower designs. And there was more in this clay house; a round transparent lamp with fire burning in it hanging on the centre of the house, a wooden table and chair at the top left of her, a barrel of water and a bowl near the door. The wooden windows were made to slide and the floor was made up of smooth hardwood tiles.
She got up and took a huge yawn. She peeked outside the window to find out that it was night time and there was no light in the houses except the one she was in. She got back up to the bed and tried to use her powers but she could not. She was not surprised that her powers were disabled. Nothing else to do, she pondered what would the foxes do to her here.
Without warning, Chestnut suddenly appeared in front of her, followed by the rest of her friends.
Chestnut hugged her, "Eterna! You are alright!"
"Omph! Spikey hug no more please, and when do you like to hug me?" Then, she looked at Loggerhead and Ice Kacang and said, "Where is Aura?"
"I asked it to go towards Thorn Fortress so that we won't waste much time when we warped back to it." replied Loggerhead.
"Yeah! Actually we are here because of a certain someone." Ice Kacang narrowed eyed at Chestnut.
"Haha, I see. You know I could warp to where you lots were but I couldn't because of…oh?"
Her Shining Sphere appeared behind Ice Kacang and moved towards her.
"Oh! It is still here! Come on, break the binding spell."
The light ball entered her body and the group heard a magical echo of a chain shattered from her. Even though she was slightly hurt from the light, she was grinning.
She continued, "Hehehe. Now I am unsilenced from using my powers!"
"Is the seal was the reason you couldn't warp away?" questioned Chestnut.
"Yes, and now I can do whatever I want. But first, I shall hear what the foxes have to say tomorrow. I suggest you dudes go somewhere to hide now since they will not find you all easily in the dark. I will come to you all when I am done."
Loggerhead nodded, "Okay, we will find a place for our safety. Let's go."
Chestnut was disappointed, "Oh…okay."
Ice Kacang waved at her, "We shall see you soon then Miss Eterna!"
They went out of the house and he closed the door gently. Eterna could not help but smile as she did not expect them to come for her so soon. It was great having friends that she could depend on. Since it was still night time, she went back to sleep.
She was having such a good rest until someone banged on the house door to wake her up. It was morning now and she noticed that the fire in the lamp had extinguished. She eyed at the door and went back to bed, ignoring the banging. Then, she heard whispers outside stating that maybe they had put powerful sleeping spell on her. Soon, one of them opened the door to find her 'sleeping' on the bed. It gave her a gentle nudge but she pretended not to stir. It had no choice but to carry her out into the opening. Eterna heard many conversations and mostly were directed at her. Then, she heard the one who carried her spoke in a low tone to another Pokémon:
"Your queen, we tried to wake her up but she is still asleep."
"Hohoho. She is actually wide awake, aren't you Miss Eterna?"
Eterna opened one eye at her. The queen was a Delphox as well. She held a long aged staff on her left and wore a golden crown on her head.
"Welcome to Magica Settlement Eterna. You may call me Queen Lilla and I am the ruler of this island. Though we are situated in The End's territory, we had elected a barrier to prevent him from prying and affecting us. I had foreseen you would arrive in this world and my foxes had brought you here by my request to help you to tame your powers. I am sorry that we have interrupted your journey to do what you need to do."
Eterna leapt out of the male Delphox. She looked up to her and replied, "Well Queen Lilla, I already knew how to control my powers. What else can you help me?"
"I believe you want to get rid your true self am I not?"
Eterna's eye widened. She was appalled that she knew that much about her.
"I guess I am right about this. We all have outer personalities and inner personalities. There are times we hate our true self but by hating ourselves, it will affect more of our outer personalities. As for you, your true self is holding immense negative power. It is not easy to keep it under control but I knew that you managed to do it recently with sheer force of trying not to harm your friends. I will help you to accept your true self so that you won't go insane."
Eterna tilted her head and said, "Hmm…okay. Must we start before breakfast?
"Unfortunately, yes. It is easier to go communicate with your true self this way. I shall lead you to the arena where my foxes will create a barrier to contain you as a safeguard for us. And I will remove your bindings."
They walked to a wide sandy field with elaborated blue magic circle drawn using an unknown substance to her. Eterna stood at the centre of it and the other foxes surrounded her like a tight circle chanted to create a strong barrier. Then, Queen Lilla tried to do the unbinding, only to realise there was nothing for her to break.
She was surprised, "Oh? How did you managed to…Oh well, you are free to do it now."
Eterna sat down on the ground and closed her eyes to seek the rage within her. It did not take her long to find it and allowed it to overwhelm her. She changed into what she called Obliterate Form and her body turned into white and her eyes were flashing red. The Inundation Flames appeared and surrounded her, and it was increasing its range quickly. Eterna's last logical thought was that she hoped that the barrier could resist her power.
The queen had been expecting this. She charged into the barrier and into the flames with the head of the staff facing at Eterna. The queen was too fast for her to react and she managed to land her staff on her forehead. The next thing Eterna knew, she was facing a huge seemingly endless black lake with starless sky.
She put her right paw into the water and felt a surge of rage entered her. She immediately retracted her paw out of the water and panted. She concluded the giant lake she was facing was a collection of hatred during her previous life's lifetime. Then, she felt something within her telling her something. If she wanted to fully embrace her true self, she had to dive into the lake. To her astonishment, she felt no fear of doing it. She took a deep breath and jumped into the lake. The current pulled her into the light and she found herself in a place with floating islands and demons attacking a black dragon. She could not believe she was observing the Netherworld of the past.
The black dragon roared in pain as the winged humanoid demons managed to pierce their demon spears into its hide. It had no choice but to flee, but the leader of the demon gang sliced its wings, making him flightless.
"Hahaha! You shall die dragon! And then, we sell your corpse for a fortune!"
"Argh! You will not!" the dragon shot a black flame at the leader, only to be shield off by his ally.
He raised his hands in supination position and sighed, "Give it up will ya? You are no match for our demon weapons. Our magic is more superior to you."
"Hoho? If that is the case…"
The dragon managed to chomp a demon and swallowed him. Then, a black smoke emerged out of his snout. He laughed, "I see! You were all humans before but were banished in this realm, yet you all seek the power to kill other native creatures instead of redeeming yourself. Well well, I should be the one wiping you all up!"
With its power increased due to demon magic, he shot black flames with white tips and it penetrated the shield; consuming the leader. The other demons tried to rescue him, but their magic could not work this time.
He bellowed, "Hahaha! Your memories flowed into me! Oh how despicable humans are! Once I managed to get out of here, I swear I will make them extinct! Hahahaha!"
The increase in dark power allowed him to regenerate his body. Within minutes, he was able to fly again. He flew off and let the flames continued to spread. Eterna saw that the flames did not move like wildfire, instead they were moving towards a town in the distance to devour them. She closed her eyes and was disgusted of how the dragon had concluded that humans were sinful creatures. She had no doubt that she had thoughts of wiping them off, but that was probably due to the dragon's hatred influenced her. She knew better that there were humans doing anything they could to save the habitat by recycling and reducing their consumption needs. If only the world was free from something that fuelled greed in humans.
Then, she thought to herself, "Hold on, that's it! Why don't I remove the source of their evil? But how? I can't use my powers in my homeland isn't it? And even if I do manage to remove it, I worry the sanity of most of them. Well, if they learn to share, that shouldn't be a problem."
Eventually, she was brought back to the surface of the lake. She realised that the lake had subsided a little and she could see something at other end of the lake. She swam across it using dog paddling stroke. She did not feel tired and resisting against the hatred entering her. Eventually, she arrived on a shore where the black dragon awaited.
It looked at Eterna and spoke, "You who bear my name and understood my pain and hatred, I am thankful of you. For a millennium, I only seen a few humans, and even read the memories of the human demons. Based on that, I rashly concluded that they were born evil; therefore they should not have roam on the face of the planet. But you have shown me that there are humans indeed capable saving the planet and making it a better place to live. It is just that the majority of them need guidance to do what is right for the world. Eradicating them will not solve anything for they may arrive in Netherworld and repeat the same mistake again. And so, the power of hatred I possess shall be renewed to become yours to utilise. And because of that, I shall disappear for good."
"You will disappear? Why?"
It explained, "I am your true self, but I still hold the resentment of the past. That means I am not exactly your real self and there is no way for the two of us live together for long without complication as our minds sharing the same soul. For some reason, someone allowed me to have my memories intact during the next soul cycle. But the catch is, I cannot interfere with the new bearer of the soul too much unless the bearer allows me to show up. I don't know why I am given this chance but maybe, it is for me to see the world in new light and I shouldn't be holding grudges on humans forever."
"This is complicated…"
"Indeed. Well we are complicated after all." Then, he stroked Eterna's head with his snout and continued, "I hope that you can use the power for the better good. If so, your world may allow you to use your powers. Well then, farewell Eterna!"
He vanished into white sparkles and they flew up into the sky. Then, a blinding light dazzled her and she woke up in the real world to find Queen Lilla looking at her exhausted and heard the applauses from the other fox Pokémons.
"So how is it Miss Eterna? It seems you managed to accept your true self and erased the hatred within. And also, you have taken a new form."
Eterna did not comprehend what she meant until she looked at herself having arms and wearing like a yellow dress with white fluffy sleeves. Her limbs are black and her tail was longer than before. She felt that her ears did not have much fluffiness but at least she could see behind her better. She had finally evolved!
She was jubilant of her evolution and said, "Oh I have hands! Finally, I can hold a bowl now! And yup, I can finally control my immense power from now on."
"Good to hear. You can channel your power better if you have a wand. I will inform the craftfox to make one for you. You can test it with your power later. For now, let's have breakfast shall we?"
The queen instructed the foxes to lower down the barrier and joined them for breakfast. They walked into the forest and they were other residents having their meals under the shade of the berry trees.
Eterna was puzzled of the appearance of the trees and asked Queen Lilla for answers, "Why the berry trees are still alive here?"
"The barrier shields us from The End's power; so that means plants and Pokémons can flourish well here. The barrier also protected the sea surrounding this area but only about 1km radius from the ends of the island."
"Oh! It is nice to see a vibrant life here than seeing only gloomy Pokémons and dead plants…"
"Indeed. If you managed to defeat The End, there will be more healthy Pokémons roaming there. The End has been draining the life force of Pokémons in his territory more than usual. That means that the Pokémons either than Ghost and Dark Types will die earlier than they live in Xerneas's territory so make sure you protect them from his ability. From what I can see, The End hasn't made a move of destroying Segment Ridge, but holding on to Xernea's power is enough to make Nature go violent in less than three weeks."
"What? My friends did not tell me that they feel weaker or anything!" replied Eterna.
"Life force, or life energy is not the same as your body generating energy or the aging of the body; it is your spirit. There is nothing to feel from your life force sapping away. Those who aren't affected by The End's ability can still die normally. There is no body that can contain the spirit energy for long, and thus this is the cycle of life." Then, the queen plucked a Cornn Berry for herself and a Bluk Berry for Eterna and continued, "I think this sweet berry is to your liking Miss Eterna."
"Thanks Queen Lilla. So what are we gonna do later?"
"I will be in my quarters so you can do whatever you want now. The craftfox will tell me when it is done."
"Okay. Thanks for the teachings Queen Lilla."
"You are welcome, though I should be thanking you for putting up with us. It is not pleasant for us to abduct you from your friends…"
Eterna smiled, "Oh well. I can go back to them soon anyway so it is not a big deal."
"If you say so…I am glad to hear it from you." the queen took a sigh of relief.
They had their breakfast and after Queen Lilla had left, Eterna made the effort the chat with the other Delphoxes. Usually she was shy to strangers but ever since she arrived here, she had been more courageous to speak to anyone. She also asked them why they worshipped her. One of them explained as firstly, she looked like their god. And secondly, her powers were god-like tier and able to unbalance the power shift in the world. That was why she was called World Disequilibrium. And since they saw her Obliterate Form, they were overwhelmed in joy and willing to die under her hands. Eterna just could not understand how weird their religion could be as no one would like to die willing to her even if she was a god. Even so, addressing her as god was too privilege for her and no mortal could be a god at all.
Once she was done talking, she walked back towards the house she was in. She closed the door and extended her mind to search for her friends. They were in the woods in the south. She used Abyss's Door to warp to where they were. Upon arrival, she saw her friends were also having their berry breakfast and were surprised to see her suddenly appeared in front of them.
Ice Kacang spoke excitedly, "Miss Eterna? You have evolved!"
She boasted, "Yup! Now we are a team of evolved Pokémons!"
Chestnut swallowed his berry and said, "Does that mean your stay in this island is done?"
"Nope. I will receive a wand that enables me to channel my powers better soon. So how is the scenery here? Even though I was Pokénapped and had a rough start here, the liveliness in this place makes me not want to leave this place."
Loggerhead responded, "Yeah, it is splendid. I was told that about four months ago, there were plenty of greens in The End's territory as well."
"Hmm. I really need to knock some sense into that jerk. But I wonder why he isn't aiming to take over Xerneas's territory? And I believe he knows the consequences of Nature being uncontrolled by her isn't it?"
"Very likely he is aware of it. I don't know what his plan is but we need to stop him for killing even more lives on this land."
"Yeah. And dudes, when we leave this place, I need to put up a wall to protect all of you. The queen had told me that once we are in his realm, he has quickened his rate of absorption of your life energy. Being Mega Evolved can protect you from this but that's it. I am sorry that I found out about this recently…"
Her friends were flabbergasted.
"What?" exclaimed Chestnut, "How many years have we lost?"
Eterna swung her hands as a gesture for him to calm down and replied, "Don't fret! He might be able to give you back when I defeated him. If he doesn't, I will find a way."
"I didn't expect this to happen! The life drain part that is. But…I guess it is good that you found out about this and told us about it. Now we have to be more cautious of our journey. It will be tiring for you to keep putting up the barrier isn't it?"
"It doesn't matter. I will not let you all die unnaturally. Though I wonder since The End has been draining life energy, who wants to stay in his realm?"
Ice Kacang made his point, "I think that it isn't an issue if The End drains their life energy slowly and they can still die at old age. But of course, I guess this realm is more suited for Dark and Ghost Types."
Loggerhead continued, "As for Xerneas, she can create life but life can blossom on its own without her. In terms of roles, Xerneas has more than The End as she has to monitor Nature. Actually, I wonder why Worldcore let a Legendary controlling it while it should be happening naturally."
Eterna's eyes widened, "Worldcore? You mean this planet has a mind of its own?"
"Yes. It can grant a wish from a Pokémon as well, but it must be in good intention."
"This is the first time I heard how it." said Chestnut.
Ice Kacang answered, "This is because we come from another continent; and the entrance to Worldcore is there."
"Oh? No wonder you two were the species I didn't seen before."
Eterna was impressed, "This is so cool! If only my world has a mind of its own; then we humans won't be doing stupid things like clearing the best air condition of the world."
"Miss Eterna, we have been wanted to ask you this. Are there any Pokémons in your world?" asked Loggerhead.
Eterna instantly replied, "No. Why you ask?"
"This is weird. Maginvade said there are Pokémon in her world thanks to the effort done by Evil's Bane."
She was stunned, "Hold on. Does that mean alternate universe existed? My mind is blown now."
"Hmm…it seems like it."
"You know, maybe you two should not have told me this. Now I am hyped to visit an alternated world even though it can be a dream I will never be able to."
"We should bring you to Worldcore and ask whether it will let you!" suggested Ice Kacang.
"Haha thanks."
Chestnut said it otherwise, "I would want to go to your world instead Eterna."
"Chestnut, when do you suddenly pay so much attention to me?" She suddenly covered her mouth and continued to speak, "Oh…I'm sorry I said it abruptly. What I meant is it is too sudden to me that you umm…"
He blushed, "You know Eterna, I realised I care for you a lot ever since Aura took you away. I just want to be with you."
"Chestnut, I can be your friend but we cannot be together forever. You know that aren't you?"
He knew. But ever since he met her, he had grown to like her for her willingness to help her friends and being a little rebelling. She did not object to any suggestions, including him. Because of that, he could not stop worrying about her for facing many dangerous. She was forcefully pulled into this world and had to save to world was no easy task for visitor.
He waved his hands at her and stuttered, "Oh…I… I didn't mean of being together forever; I just want to be a friend that you can trust."
"Good, I'm okay with that." She smiled with a sad look on her face. "Well then, I shall warp back to the house. I will seek you all later. Bye!"
She went away and Chestnut did not understand why she was disheartened when he said so. As for Loggerhead and Ice Kacang, they petted his back to lighten him up.