The priestesses' home had two spare rooms now that Orica and Demyse had moved on. The champions shared Orica's master bedroom while Mirami, Kalai, and Haixing squeezed into Demyse's modest chamber. Mimi claimed the bed before the boys could. She regretted it when she inhaled Demyse's scent, seaweed and deep oceans, from the pillow.
"Are you offering me the cushions because I'm crippled?" Haixing demanded, prodding Demyse's fir-green cushion with his cane. "Do you know why my leg is broken and the Cog fired me—oh, right, it's because you used me to escape." Mimi peeked from under the covers as Haixing complained in an acerbic tone. She wondered if Gladion and the others could hear from the master room.
"Do you want an apology or do you just want to complain?"
Haixing growled. "I'd rather complain than hear a half-assed excuse."
"I wasn't going to make excuses."
"That's because nothing in all the realms in existence can excuse my pain and sorrow. My knee is creaking like an old man's but I'm only turning twenty in eight months. I should have had at least eight more months before I felt old!"
"Twenty isn't that old."
"My bones are brittle! I can't walk properly! I used to be the Cog's most beautiful dancer—even you were admiring me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Mimi stifled a groan as she realized she'd have to put up with this all night. Part of her missed the City of Gold, where at least no one wanted to speak, since most interactions with hosts were purely physical. I'm with my brother, champions, and priestesses, she reminded herself. And Haixing, but nothing can be perfect.
Nothing in Alola was perfect. Kukui hired legends to train their generation's champions, but one of them got killed, anyway. The champions defeated the Tapu once and for all, and the fairy protectors' absence left Alola vulnerable to the ultra beasts. If—no, when—the champions defeated the ultra beasts in the morning, what would be next for Alola?
There was no point in speculating about the future, especially without fully understanding the past. By forsaking their traditions, Alola forgot why they'd ever worshiped the Tapu. Koko, Lele, Bulu, and Fini demanded offerings and praise in return for defending Alola's dignity from the ultra beasts, who sought a primordial world where the strong reigned supreme. Somehow, the story got twisted throughout the ages so the people believed the Tapu were robbing them of their dignity rather than trying to preserve it. If Mimi had learned anything in the Cog, where patrons came for impermanent pleasure, then it was that worrying about the distant future was pointless. She focused instead on what tomorrow would bring. She envisioned the battles—Val's water overpowering Cephalus's fire, Jun's plants trapping Viole, Gladion and Sin conquering Tzwol, Mimi and Kalai handling Kartana. Her vivid imagination played with her senses so it seemed like she could hear shouting and smell fire—
"We're under attack!" Lura hollered, slamming their door open.
Behind her, fire consumed the priestesses' vibrant tapestries. The rich, burgundy walls peeled in the heat, and Lura's precious display of weapons melted. Shiina lifted her skirts but still tripped over the burning table, and Reena blinked furiously in the smoke as she grasped for her sister.
"I'll take care of them," Mimi told Lura before the priestess could go after her younger sisters. "Don't leave Kalai and Haixing." Mimi rummaged in her pocket until her fingers brushed against scaly fruit, while Lura stabbed her pins through Haixing's sleeves and wove grass around them like a pulley system. As Lura and Kalai supported Haixing between them, Mimi popped the rawst berry into her mouth and ran into the flames.
The burning wood seared through Mimi's slippers when she landed beside Shiina. She grunted as she lifted the priestess and balanced her in one arm, reaching for Reena with her free hand.
Wooden supports collapsed around the young women, and fire surrounded them. Mimi glanced around wildly, and then water soaked through her sweater. She spluttered and dropped Shiina to adjust her mask, which trapped the water. A tidal wave carried her and the younger priestesses over the flickering flames of the debris. Her first thought was that Haixing had returned for her, but the former host's water magic was not this strong. Then Val picked Shiina up and held Mimi's hand as they surfed through the priestesses' home, dodging sparks and debris.
"My sister!" Reena cried and hopped off the tidal wave. "Lura!"
Mimi tugged on Val's velvet sleeve. "We have to go back for Reena."
The two of them glanced back. Haixing's group moved slowly, and Reena and a muscular man with pecs for days converged toward them. That must be Tzwol, Mimi realized. He was nowhere near as ugly as Kalai had described; actually, Mimi thought Tzwol was good-looking—more than good-looking, he was more handsome than any host; he was the epitome of masculinity.
Kalai released Haixing, and Lura slumped under the host's weight. Mimi's brother unsheathed his khukuri blades and pointed the curved tips at Tzwol's fists as though preparing to insert them under the ultra beast's fingerless gloves.
Haixing created a translucent purple screen just as Reena tackled him and Lura away from Tzwol. The manly ultra beast's fist rebounded from Haixing's baneful bunker with a hiss, and Kalai's knife missed.
Val sighed and dropped Shiina into Mimi's arms. "Run at least a full yard from the house and wait for us, okay, Mimi? Don't return to a burning building."
An arrow sailed past Mimi and Shiina, beating Val to Tzwol. Gladion's heavy footsteps and Sin's war cry approached as all four champions charged toward the muscular ultra beast.
Mimi bit the inside of her cheek in frustration as she was forced to retreat. She followed Val's order and ran a safe distance from the priestesses' home. She set Shiina down on soft, frost-covered grass and turned back to help the others.
Shiina grabbed Mimi's ankle. The smaller girl could feel the priestess's warmth through her leggings. "Primeval warned you not to return to a burning building."
"She's still inside," Mimi retorted. "Also, Haixing will give me an earache if I leave him behind, too."
She sprinted back to the burning house, dodging debris and flames. After the fresh, cold air outside, the smoke threatened to suffocate her. Her eyes flitted around the first floor. Val and Lura chased Kartana around the kitchen. Gladion and Reena cornered Cephalus at the stairs. One of Kalai's khukuri knives clattered to her feet, and she picked it up. Tzwol loomed over Kalai and Haixing; behind, Jun sprinted toward them, his shadow wings fluttering as he tried to move faster.
His quiver had run out of arrows, and Lura's supply was destroyed in the fire. Unlike Sin, Jun hadn't trained to use his power in an elemental disadvantage. Fire burned his plants as soon as he summoned them.
Mimi raced from the other side of the house, but neither of them would make it in time. Kalai kicked Haixing toward Gladion. Haixing shouted a protest at "the indignity of getting the boot" as Kalai dodged Tzwol's punch and dug his fingers into the ultra beast's arm.
Mimi exhaled in relief. Her brother would recharge using Tzwol's energy, and the muscular ultra beast would be easier for her and Jun to defeat.
Tzwol roared in fury and threw Kalai into Lura's weapon wall. Her brother didn't get up. Jun nodded at Mimi and changed course to help Kalai while she threw herself against Tzwol.
The ultra beast's energy-filled fist bounced off Mimi's head without leaving a mark, while her dao slashed his arm open and her foot jammed into his eye.
"Oh," Tzwol exclaimed as he rubbed his injured eye.
Mimi clapped a hand over her forearm. Only magic could bust through her disguise. Apparently, Kalai could fall asleep in the middle of a battle, after all. When Jun was done healing him, she'd hold this over her brother for weeks.
"Stop fighting!" A boy with ombre dreadlocks threw himself between Tzwol and Mirami. "Tzwol, have you forgotten? Kalai and Mirami are like us. They have ultra powers." He looked at Mirami with kind, pale blue eyes that softened her resolve to fight.
"Get back here, Viole!" Sin bellowed, barreling through crumbling furniture that clung to him. "You can't just glue me to the leaden vase and then run away!"
The aforementioned vase swung at his shoulders, and Mimi winced as she thought about how heavy it must be.
Viole grabbed Mimi and pulled her away as Tzwol thrust his fist into Sin's sternum. The fire champion's eyes widened and he struggled to breathe. As soon as Viole's grip loosened, Mimi launched herself onto Tzwol and drove her nails into the eye she'd kicked earlier.
Tzwol howled in rage and spasmed, trying to throw her off. Viole's voice made her lose focus. "You're not helping him, so move out of the way. What's a healer without plants—or a first-aid kit, for that matter."
Sin whimpered near Mimi as Tzwol drained more of his energy. She unsheathed her dao but hesitated. Viole carried Kalai while Jun struggled to break free from the adhesive substance that glued him to the wall. The ultra beast's ice-blue eyes glowed, and a portal appeared in the middle of the room.
Mimi made her decision. I can save them both, if I move fast enough. She swung her dao at Tzwol, who caught it. His hand trembled, blood dripping, and then his fingers snapped her sword in half. Mimi didn't hesitate. She thrust the broken dao into her opponent's arm and then ran for her brother.
A flicker of a shadow, and a glimpse of a star-shaped scar, and then Mimi tripped and fell on her face. Her shoulder stung where Kartana had cut her. Tzwol followed Kartana, Viole, and Kalai through the portal. "The age of anarchy has come, and we will reign supreme!"
Cephalus faced the burning house and extended his fist. Energy sizzled and fire gathered around his fingers.
"Nullify it!" Reena screeched.
"I did!" Gladion shouted back, but he must have been wrong—or Kalai was mistaken, and Cephalus was not an ordinary fire type.
Mimi pressed a hand to her throbbing shoulder. Gladion and Reena stood on either side of her, and Jun and Sin lay at their feet. Haixing limped over to them and raised a baneful bunker as Cephalus shot an overwhelming fire attack from a glowing red ring on his finger.