Chapter 107 – Dark Addiction
"What do you mean you lost sight of the power source?"
Alexander stood in his office, opposite his table. He stared at the empty space, his thinking spot. The open area was good for leisurely flying under the high ceilings to keep his wings stretched and not make him feel so trapped, even if the furniture was therefore sparse. The wall had been mostly repaired by now, with the repair crew retiring for the day. For some reason a Swampert from the observational division had been among them under related orders from Mhynt, but Alexander decided that wasn't worth questioning.
What was? That Aster failed in his mission after being attacked by Dark Matter. And not only that, but finding it, then losing it, when it was supposed to be trivial.
"I, um, I didn't find it. I thought I did but I didn't, because it died too easily. Um, so it wasn't what we were looking for."
"You KILLED the potential power source?!" Alexander yelled into the receiver.
"No, no, no, I didn't kill anyone! I, um, I just blew him—uh, it away! But when I went to investigate, he ran off, and, um—"
"Who? Who was he? Search for him now."
"No, he's gone now. And he wasn't what I was looking for. Um—"
"WHO?!"
"Ummmmm Leph! Someone who looked like Leph."
He was shaking. He could hear the blood rushing through his head. Seeing red. Seeing black. He was so mad he could destroy the whole city. "You're lying to me."
"No, no, I'm not! I'm not! I wouldn't lie to you, I just got out of the fight, I don't remember it that well!"
"Then tell me the truth. Who was it, and why? What REALLY happened?"
He heard sniffling on the other side of the receiver. A sick grin crossed Alexander's face. Good, he was scared. He'd actually answer soon. Aster deserved a little terror after failing so miserably. Dark Matter might have taken the source instead, and then he'd have to find another way to fix the setback.
"Well?" Alexander pressed on, trying to hide the grin in his tone. "What did you do? If you're honest with me, I won't punish you as harshly. And you know what the harsh punishment is…"
Aster gasped on the other side of the receiver. Alexander's heart pumped more. Just a little more terror and he'd be satisfied. The Hydreigon was breathing heavier. Couldn't let that get across to Aster, so he held his breath, waited for a few more sniffles, and then said, "Answer me, Aster. Now."
"It was Owen," Aster sobbed. "I'm sorry! I couldn't do it!"
Whatever thrills he was getting evaporated instantly. "It was what?"
"Owen. He's alive! And he has Necrozma's light! But I couldn't do it, I—I… I'M SORRY!"
"So you killed him instead?"
"N-no, I… I used one of Leph's Orbs and… turned him into something else. So now he's just like that."
"Turned him into what? Get him and bring him back."
"I dunno where he went. I ran away, they took him, he's an apple, I—"
"Is he dead?"
"No, I felt his presence inside. S-so he's alive, um…"
He could thank Mhynt later. "Come back to Cipher City, Aster. You're done for now. Mhynt is going to see Owen instead."
"I'm sorry."
"You will be. Now return."
Aster's whimper as the call ended gave Alexander no pleasure.
Still shaking, the Void King looked at his papers, his reports, and then the rest of his empty office. Owen was here. Alive. He could have had him. But Aster ruined it. And Leph… Leph was responsible, too.
Where was she?
He needed to make up for this travesty.
Alexander flew down the halls with his spectral wings outstretched, making leisurely curves around the corners. He considered knocking over a few tables to give the cleaning staff something to get busy with. He decided against it. While he was in an irritable mood, he could at least direct it at the proper offenders.
He made it up one of the upper floors of the castle, passing by a window. It overlooked Cipher City, a twinkling network of buildings tens of stories high amid a cleared-out portion of the Void Forest, like an island of stars dropped in an ocean of darkness. The watchtowers were active and several Titans under his control loomed in the horizon.
Just ahead was Leph's door at the end an ornate and shimmering passageway of silver and gold. Her name was embedded into the center, and Alexander wondered if he could blast it open for an entrance. He had half a mind to. But he'd see if she'd open it first. He could sense her inside.
"Leph!" Alexander barked, pounding the side of his left, smaller head against the wall. It, too, was snarling to suit his mood. "Open the door, now!"
"It's unlocked!" she called back, indignance in her voice.
"I said open it!"
She was mumbling something but he couldn't hear it. That throbbing anger knocked against his temples. The door clicked and slid open.
Leph's room was filled with little, round, multicolored baubles like stars that infested the air like dust in an old library. All the bright colors annoyed him, reminded him of the Fae, and wondered if that was done on purpose.
The younger Arceus herself, meanwhile, sat at the far end of the squarish room, curled up in a round, soft bed on the floor. She had a thick blanket over everything but her head, with the wheel around her abdomen shrunken down for comfort. In front of her, a book.
So, she didn't even get out of bed to open the door?
"Why did you give Aster your power?" Alexander demanded.
"He asked." A soft glow overtook a bookmark, which slipped into the pages before they closed. "He said he needed it for the mission."
"I didn't approve of this," Alexander said. "And what you gave him ruined the mission entirely!"
"What do you mean? How did I ruin this?"
"You know Aster doesn't work well with any toys he wants," Alexander hissed back, drifting forward threateningly. He made sure the darkness in his body coursed visibly through his already blackened wings, giving off a menacing, dark haze.
Leph tensed, avoiding looking at them. "He wouldn't leave me alone, and I figured it was important enough. That's all."
Not good enough. Alexander leaned forward again and said, "You simply didn't care. You know well enough by now, and do you know what he messed up this time?"
"Wasn't it just a potential power source again?" Gaining her interest, she glanced at Alexander.
"Not just any power source," Alexander said. "Necrozma's prized disciple."
Leph tried to hide it, but Alexander saw that disgusting glint of hope in her eyes. "What?" she asked. "Owen's alive?"
"And Aster turned him into nothing but an edible fruit." Alexander snarled at Leph. "And then left him to the rest of his team instead of bringing him back. I lost my best opportunity at taking that stubborn flame here for good, all because you sabotaged the mission."
"Sabotaged?" Leph stood on her bed and hopped down. "How would I have known Owen was alive?"
Alexander flared his wings again, but this time Leph didn't back down. He drifted closer, but Leph didn't even step back.
"Well, what are you going to do next? Why are you in my room?" Leph tapped her hoof on the ground, making an ethereal ringing noise. "I was ready to take a nap."
"Do not take this lightly," Alexander rumbled, feeling his anger tipping again. He was here to blow off some steam. And this… this insolence. Why? She was supposed to be cowering, showing respect.
"I won't," Leph said, then gave a respectful bow. She had no fear. He couldn't sense any. He was hungry for it. Starved. Ravenous.
"What are you doing?" Alexander growled.
"Whatever do you mean?" Leph asked, her near-featureless face staring at him.
"You aren't taking this seriously." Alexander's mouths leaked a bit of dark haze.
"Are you going to send me to see Owen next?" Leph asked. "Because if not, I want to get some sleep."
"How dare you disrespect me." Alexander rose higher, so much that Leph had to tilt her head. He was smaller, but she was weaker, and they both knew it. She'd better know it.
"I would never," Leph replied, closing her eyes. "You are the Void King, true ruler of the Voidlands and the rightful heir, by might alone, to its full powers." She turned around, stepping toward her bed. "For now."
Defiance. Did she just—did she just—do that? Why? Since when did she have the gall to—
Before Alexander could stop himself, he shot toward her and loomed over her shoulder. "What was that?" he spat, black smog sticking to the back of her neck.
"I said"—she coolly turned her head back—"for now."
That throbbing, seething anger was back and stronger than ever. Darkness wormed its way into the corners of his vision.
"You should be more careful if you want to keep your power," Leph went on, like she could save face. "I wouldn't want to see you fall because a light source is out of your control."
Like she was trying to be helpful.
Leph continued, "If you want me to help, I can, if you'd trust me."
He knew what she meant. That slip-up when she'd felt emboldened. She was hoping that Owen would be coming for her. That was it, wasn't it?
The Creator's daughter took another step away. "So, that's all I meant."
For just a second, he sensed a flash of fear from her, and that was his tipping point. He needed more.
The left diminutive head clamped down on the back of her neck and she froze.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice stiff and composed, but by now her fear was growing.
"Do you really think"—Alexander squeezed harder and she winced, but refused to crouch—"I'll allow you to say something like that to me?"
"I didn't mean—"
"LIAR!"
In one fell swoop, Alexander hurled her into the wall, smashing several fixtures that had been in the way with a loud, silence-splitting clatter. Crimson mixed with black on the fur around Leph's neck.
"It seems that you've forgotten who's in charge here." Alexander formed a ball of darkness in his right head. The jaws widened, and he made sure Leph saw it before he fired into her side.
She cried out, all of the fur incinerated, leaving gray, burned skin in its place. Black electricity and haze rose from the impact site. Alexander fired again, this blast even stronger than the last. The blast split the air and deafened them both; the shock rumbled through his chest, which meant it would be even worse for Leph, who was now gasping and curling away around a now bleeding, open wound where the blast had struck exposed skin.
"St-stop!" Leph shouted, but that fierceness in her voice had all but evaporated.
Now he was getting somewhere. Alexander moved closer until his shadow cast over her body. He readied another blast, a spiral of black energy coalescing in front of his left head's jaws. This time, Leph deflected it with a tendril of light from the very wound that the Hydreigon had inflicted. The blast left a crater in the wall, destroying even more baubles in a harsh clatter.
It flickered and faded; that was the extent of her strength against him. His dark energy, flowing through her, inhibited her too much. This time, he wasn't allowing her the liberty of channeling her energy on her own accord.
"You should remember who really controls your power, Leph." He drifted closer and her fear grew, feeding him. His heart thumped in his head and his breathing deepened, more black haze pouring into the room, sticking to her fur like dust. "Let me remind you."
"N—"
Another beam slammed into Leph, but this time it stuck, like it was solid. Leph couldn't even scream; the spear broke something in her chest, then glowed, sucking the light out of the air. Leph's eyes darted this way and that, at her hooves, her fur, her body, as it darkened and lost its shape. Her whole chest lost its fur; her hind legs looked more like black tendrils than limbs.
And finally, she found her voice, and she used it to scream. "ST-STOP! PLEASE!"
More of her body lost its definition, looking more and more like a common Void Shadow. Alexander made sure it was slow, until nothing but her upper body remained vaguely like what she used to be. All the while, she writhed and tried to crawl away, but it was all useless.
And there, he stopped, by the time he had gone right up to her side.
"Stop?" Alexander repeated. "Will you listen?"
"I will, I will." Black tar oozed from what had once been her eyes. "P-please…"
Complete despair and hopelessness, just as he wanted. He was tempted, oh so tempted, to leave her this way, but she'd be of no use as a Void Shadow. He pulled the darkness from her core, draining it until just that usual filament remained in the center so he could maintain his hold. Her body became solid; her fur came back. In a much better mood, Alexander also restored the parts he'd wounded.
She was sobbing, and Alexander ran his right head across her back as he rose above her. Leph stood, too, though she couldn't look at him. To think that a failed god's face could be so satisfyingly ugly when crying. An ecstatic grin spread across all three of his faces.
"I'll do what you want," Leph finally said, sniffing. "I…" She looked like she wanted to ask to rest. She was tired. Perhaps she was telling the truth when she said she was going to sleep. And maybe he'd allow it. But there was one last thing he had to make sure of, first. He needed to see it. Just a little.
"Kneel."
Leph tensed, letting in one last sniffle. And then, she did, golden hooves and forelegs pressed on the ground. She lifted her head, her teary eyes staring at his.
And there it was. Amid all that sorrow and hopelessness, he saw boiling, bubbling, pure hatred. That, above all, was better than any feeling Alexander could hope for. He held his shuddering breaths for later, gestured with his left head for her to rise, and she did so.
"You may rest," Alexander replied sweetly.
Leph nodded and walked shakily to her bed, though she put every effort into feigning composure. Alexander left the room and waited by the closed door, listening.
A little longer…
Muffled by the walls, Leph screamed into her blankets, pounding her hooves into the fabric. Alexander drifted down the halls with a long, deep sigh, ready to take on the rest of the day.
Anam said that Dark Matter was far away from Null Village, but he wasn't going away. He also wasn't coming closer, which suggested he was waiting for something. But that would be the best they were going to get for now, so the team headed for Dialga's room. Seeing Palkia had, understandably, put the town in a mild uproar. With some shouts from Jerry to lay off, they were allowed through. They had to repeatedly stop Palkia from getting sidetracked talking to the locals.
"Then it's Marshadow and a handful of guards who are still missing?" Dialga summarized.
"As far as we can tell," Jerry said. "I went and tried to send a message over to Hakk and Xypher, those two who were assigned to us as, like, escorts or something, to see if they knew where he might've gone. But they might take a while to get here."
"Dark Matter must have gotten control of him," Anam said, frowning. "Marshadow isn't a higher Legend, so his spirit must not have been strong enough to resist Dark Matter… that's too bad."
"Higher Legends," Dialga repeated. "So, essentially myself, Palkia, Giratina… Rayquaza, Xerneas, Yveltal… as opposed to the lower gods."
"How do you guys know which ones are which?" Jerry asked. "I'm not really all too familiar with that pantheon junk."
"It's mostly cognitive knowledge," Palkia said. "There isn't quite a pattern otherwise. Still, alright. What do we do?" Palkia tilted his head. "My powers over space need… work. Dialga, how are you feeling?"
"I've only been able to pause local areas and not much more." Dialga tapped a hoof on the ground, grumbling. "I'm far from my best. I feel as though I'm missing something…"
"Hmm…" Latias looked to Anam. "Is there a way to stop Dark Matter? What does he want?"
Anam winced, poking his claws together. "Dark Matter, um… he wants… he wants the Hands of Creation. Because he wants to use it to rewrite reality in a way where he can be happy."
"Happy?" Latias chirped.
"Dark Matter can feel every negative emotion of everyone in all of Kilo, and probably here." Anam clasped his hands. "He just wants that to stop! That's all he wants… but…"
"But he's trying to flip the world upside-down to get it," Jerry concluded. "So, these Hands or whatever. How many do you think he needs?"
"I don't know." Anam toyed with his fingers. "But… if Dark Matter wants to rewrite something like that… something so fundamental to the whole world's creation like him… He'd need at least half of them."
"Half." Jerry looked back. "Let me guess. Star has half?"
"Star has a third-ish," Anam said. "Barky has another third-ish… and the rest are in Hunters and Guardians."
"So, he just needs to grab two of the three." Jerry rolled his eyes. "Great. Cool. Who'd he already get?"
"Mew is somewhere here," Anam said. "And a bunch of Guardians. But… I dunno where Mew is… She's been missing."
"Safe to assume Dark Matter's already got her?"
Anam shrugged.
Jerry's eyes trailed over to Gahi, who had been pressing his head against an apple. "Okay, Gahi, c'mon. What're you doing?"
"Talkin' ter Owen. He's askin' why Necrozma doesn't have any Hands if he's supposed ter be more important than Star 'n Barky."
Jerry glared. That had more questions than answers.
"Oh, that's right." Demitri nodded. "Necrozma was supposed to be a god above Barky and Star for some reason. But that doesn't really add up. Between Star, Barky, and the Guardians, that's already supposed to be a thousand Hands. Where'd Necrozma's go?"
"Owen says the Orbs might be Necrozma's power," Gahi relayed. "Weird."
"Okay, no, hang on." Jerry pointed at Gahi. "Is that apple seriously Owen? How? Why? I could accept the whole Florizard thing, but turning into an apple is where I'm drawing the line."
"Aster did it with Leph's loaned power," Latias said. "It's… it's blank magic. Raw divine power. Leph is Arceus' daughter."
"Oh, well, excuse me," Jerry said, followed by muttering various curses under his breath. "How is that even possible? Not even the Book of Arceus mentions a daughter."
"The more we hear about the outside world, the more it seems like we were somehow… forgotten, or erased completely from history." Latias floated a little lower. "Even Necrozma…"
"Where is Necrozma?" Gahi asked. "Y'keep talkin' about the guy but never where he is."
"Far north," Latias said. "That's where everyone says he is. They call it 'north' but it's just a general direction people feel his presence. Almost like he's calling out to them… But the problem is, it's far, far north, across the Abyssal Ocean. Anybody who's tried to cross it either turns back half-Voided, or not at all."
"Sounds like a great place ter fly," Gahi pointed out, smirking.
"Not even Aster tries to go there," Latias cautioned. "You'd need another way to get across. And if you tried, I'd bet money Alexander would try to stop you. He wants Necrozma, too, but not if someone else goes with him."
"Wants?" Gahi asked.
"Let me guess," Jerry said. "Necrozma's the key to more power here, right? This Alexander guy and Dark Matter are competing for control over the Voidlands, and Necrozma is there holding down the fort."
"That's… exactly it. H-how did you—"
"Same thing is apparently happening in Kilo, except between Arceus, Mew, and their disciples." Jerry snorted. "Except this time, they aren't even trying to look trustworthy."
Eon tapped at the doorway before walking inside. He was still a Charizard.
"Late," Mispy said with a frown.
"Sorry, sorry," the transformed Ditto said, waving them down. "I wasn't sure if it was safe yet, and—excuse me?"
Anam held Eon by the cheeks. After a moment of stunned silence, Eon pulled away and winced. "Not interested," he growled, wiping slime off his face.
"He's safe," Anam reported.
"Good to see you, too, I guess," Eon growled, tense. His body shifted pink and lost some definition, but extra focus brought him back to normal.
"We don't have to be enemies anymore," Anam said. "Mom thinks there are bigger things to deal with."
"M—wait, Madeline?" Eon asked, a hopeful uptick in his voice.
"Mhm! She's in my head right now."
"H-how is she doing?" Eon asked. "Er, aside from…"
"She's been better."
"Right…" Eon shuffled in place. "Right…"
"Cool. So now that we're nice and awkward," Jerry said, "what's our plan from here?"
Demitri held up a hand. "Dark Matter might have Marshadow. Can we rescue him?"
"If we get close enough…" Anam frowned. "But now that Dark Matter knows I'm here, and Owen's here, and stuff, he might not want to come in…"
"What, we can beat him here?" Jerry asked.
"Not alone," Anam said. "Which means… maybe someone else is making him worry? Do you think someone else is trying to fight him?"
"Maybe Kilo is still fighting Dark Matter in the living world," Demitri proposed.
"Both sides," Mispy added.
"Just like when Starr took over Owen," Gahi remarked. "She could beat us from one side, but if we're fightin' in the livin' world and the spirit world, she can't do both. What if it's the same way here?"
"Perhaps we can defeat him the same way," Dialga said. "This is an unprecedented change in the tides."
"Ahh, but if we defeat Dark Matter, that may give Alexander some relative power." Palkia glanced at Latias. "That's what you told me, yes?"
She hummed worriedly. "My brother is warning North and West Null Village. East Null evacuated a while ago… Anam! Is—is—"
"Everyone's fine," Anam said, and the brief panic Latias had worn immediately disappeared. "Dark Matter skipped the town and tried to throw me off. That's why I was late to get to this one… It's kind of a good thing you were able to get away. I dunno what he wants with Owen or the others here, but…"
"Orbs?" Mispy asked.
"Oh, maybe…" Anam nodded.
"Orbs? That's the Guardian stuff, right?" Latias asked. "Hmm, if Alexander finds out, he might try to gather them, too. That's the source of all that light crystal energy, isn't it?"
"…Oh, that reminds me," Eon added, coughing. "I, er, I probably should have opened with this. The scouts told me to find Marshadow and let him know that Mhynt was coming, but if he's not here—"
Latias gasped. "Mhynt? Here? Now? How soon?"
"They said she'd be here in an hour, about half an hour ago."
Latias bolted toward Gahi and shook him violently. "You need to hide."
"E-eh? Who's Mhynt again?"
"Treecko Mhynt—I—I know this sounds silly, but you absolutely need to stay away from her. No matter what. Okay? If you see Mhynt, run. Immediately. Maybe she won't try to chase you."
Gahi narrowed his eyes. "I ain't running from a freakin' Treecko."
"Please," Latias begged. "Mhynt isn't any normal Pokémon. There's… there's just something more to her. She's too strong. I had a brush with her once, and I do not remember what happened. B-but I know what she's capable of. She can absorb spirits, just like that. Like it's nothing! And then… and then I don't know where she takes them, i-if she takes them anywhere at all!"
"How strong can she be?" Gahi asked.
"Flygon, do not test this." Latias' expression was fierce, to the point where even Dialga and Palkia looked unsettled.
"Why a Treecko?" Dialga asked. "Of all Pokémon?"
"The rumor is that she was one of Dark Matter's corrupt, but then stole some of Necrozma's light for herself," Latias explained. "So she has both. Nobody knows for sure. They say that anybody who finds out the truth gets Voided. Don't. Fight. Her. Okay?"
"Ehhh, I'll think about it."
Latias clenched her fists and shook them at Gahi, but Mispy placed a vine on her shoulder and shook her head.
"Can't fix stupid," Mispy explained.
"Oi!"
"Where can we hide? Do we distract her?" Eon asked.
"I'm gonna take Owen someplace they won't think ter find," Gahi said, speeding away.
"Um, where?" Demitri asked.
"I ain't tellin'!"
And he was gone.
Mispy sighed. "Hakk's," she predicted.
"Oi, Hakk!" Gahi pounded on the door. "Open up!"
"Screw off!"
"I'm gonna Teleport!"
"Oh, for the love of—" The door opened, but by the time it did, Gahi had already disappeared inside. Hakk swung around and flicked a dull ice shard at the Flygon's back. "Do that again and I'll draw blood!"
Xypher squawked loudly; Gahi shouted back; Xypher squawked louder, and Hakk waved his arms around to calm him down. Xypher beat his steely wings in response, then made a few chirps, and finally settled down.
"What do you want?" Hakk said, collapsing into a bed that had near-perfect imprints of his spikes. Xypher eyed the apple Gahi was holding.
"We gotta hide here fer a bit," Gahi said.
"…We?"
Gahi held out the apple.
"Oh, you've finally cracked."
"It's Owen."
Xypher looked concerned. Hakk, sighing, said, "Alright, fine, sure. Keep 'Owen' nice and safe, alright? And make sure he's not in the fridge because I might mistake him for food. That apple looks really good, actually, where'd you get it?"
"I'm tellin´ you, it's Owen! Aster did somethin' and turned him into an apple."
"Aster—right, he was after you… Wait, how'd you escape Aster?!"
"Teleported and fought a bunch."
"R-right…" This, of all things, shook Hakk. "You actually fought Aster and escaped alive."
"Yeah. And Owen's an apple. But we're gonna figure out how ter fix'm."
"An effect like that sounds like something Leph gave him."
"Leph?" Gahi had a feeling that name had been said before, but he hadn't paid attention during their talking. It was all boring. In fact, he was getting bored now, and he'd realized that if he had to hide with Owen, that meant he was going to be cooped up in a little house again. Annoying.
"Forget Leph—Aster's still chasing you? Because he's already been here. He might check again."
"Nah, Latias said ter hide from Mhynt."
Hakk audibly gasped, then looked at Xypher, who had gone stiff as a statue.
"Get out."
"Eh?"
"Nope. Out. That's the line. I'm not harboring you from Mhynt. I like my soul right where it is, thanks!"
"No yeh don't, we're in the Voidlands!"
"Shut up and get out! I didn't see you here!"
"Explain why! What's so scary about a Treecko?"
"That's not just some Treecko," Hakk said. "She is the one person under Alexander who's got power over light and dark. She not only has Alexander's darkness, but she also absorbed the spirit of a creature of light."
"What does that even mean?" Gahi said, exasperated. "And I'm stayin' until you do."
"It means," Hakk said, "that she has the power of a Legend inside her."
"Careful. You're going to fall." Mhynt leaned forward, holding Enet's lower back.
"Won't fall," Enet replied with a growl, adjusting her position atop her ride—a shadowy, winged creature with two great crescents at the edges of her large wings.
"If you say so, but if you fall, I'll be carrying you in rope."
"Hmph!" She flicked her head, making sure some of her mane got in Mhynt's face.
The Treecko sighed, brushing it away before pulling on the shadowy tendrils wrapped around her hands. Lunala, below her, stretched her wings and went into a gentle glide, wordlessly staring forward. Enet looked down at the shadowy creature, then at Mhynt with concern.
"Hm?"
"Hurts?"
"Hurts? What hurts?"
Enet pulled at one of the ropes that went from Mhynt's wrists to Lunala's body.
"Oh. No, it does not."
Enet's gaze narrowed, but then she turned ahead again. "Plan?"
"You want me to go over the plan again?" Mhynt leaned left, trying to get a closer look at Enet's face, but she was hiding it deliberately. "Well, yes. The plan is that you will help me find Owen and your friends so we can have a talk. After that, I plan to leave you there to stay near them."
"To spy."
"Yes, to spy."
Enet's claws squeezed into her fur. "Don't like that."
"You can tell them if you like," Mhynt said. "How do you think Owen will react?"
Enet looked away.
"Oh? He won't be happy?"
"Don't know."
"Well, it's up to you what you say," Mhynt said. "But you do want to see them again, don't you?"
"…Using me."
"I am." Mhynt tilted her head. "Was that ever in question?"
"Mean."
Mhynt smiled a little, looking down. "I suppose I am. But this is necessary. You have no choice. You want to see Owen."
"Maybe not."
"But you do."
"I don't like you."
"You're free to feel that way." Mhynt tilted her head left, leisurely but narrowly dodging an arc of electricity. "We're close to Null Village, by the way."
Enet growled lowly, crinkling her muzzle, and then looked forward with a huff. She made sure to brush her mane against Mhynt's face again, and then draped it over her so she didn't have to hear her at all. Mhynt tried to say a few things, but Enet didn't respond.
Mhynt reached for her blade carefully, but the moment she did, Enet spun around and hissed at her.
"I'm only preparing for the landing." Mhynt pulled it closer and brushed Enet's fur away. "You wouldn't want that clattering on someone, would you?"
"Why?" She pointed at the sword.
"Why? Well, it's dangerous to leave a blade unattended."
"No. Why blade?" She poked at the lifeless eye of the Honedge, which of course did not respond.
"It is a container for those that I vanquish," Mhynt replied. "It's convenient."
Enet frowned. "Who was it?"
"The blade?" Mhynt turned the blade over, noticing a small nick in the edge. She'd have to fix that later. "Merely a shell."
Enet looked skeptical. "Lying?"
"I am not in a position where I need to lie."
Enet leaned forward, sniffing Mhynt's face. The Treecko narrowed her eyes and reeled back, suppressing the urge to sneeze.
"…Mint."
"Yes, that's my name."
"No." Enet sniffed Mhynt's face again, which was starting to disturb Mhynt. "Smell. Mint."
"Oh." Mhynt sighed. "Yes. That was why my father named me Mhynt. It was because of the natural scent of my Grass attributes."
"So… if you smelled like… Lemon, you'd be… Lymn?"
"…Yes."
"Weird."
She wondered how Owen dealt with this. "It was a bit of a family tradition," she conceded.
"Still weird."
"Well, I didn't have an intention of following it with my own child." Mhynt held her blade a little tighter.
"Child?" Enet asked, tilting her head.
"We're done talking. It's time to land."
Lunala disappeared in a sudden, black haze just as South Null Village came into view, and Enet yipped in surprise. She flailed and tried to grab something, eventually reaching for Mhynt, pulling her close.
"Let go! You'll hurt yourself on my blade!"
Enet didn't listen, squeezing her tighter.
"Unbelievable." Mhynt growled and freed one of her arms as the ground rapidly came closer. Their fall slowed, though Enet still clutched onto Mhynt for dear life until the Treecko found a way to squeeze through her arms and onto the ground.
"There." Mhynt frowned at Enet, who was trying to figure out why the fall had been so soft. "I have some of Necrozma's power, just like you do, Enet. That includes levitation. Don't you know you can fly?"
Enet stood up, looking around uncertainly. "I forgot."
"Mm. Guardians all have the power of Necrozma, Enet. Light, levitation, some Psychic abilities, and all-around power. That you didn't know this means perhaps even Necrozma's fragments' true origins are still lost to the living world."
Enet's blank stare suggested she understood perhaps two of her words. Mhynt, exasperated, gestured forward. "Just help me find Owen. I'll help."
The feral Zoroark sniffed the air, which Mhynt, by now, had realized was her means of sensing Pokémon energy. She led her down one of the roads speckled with light crystals and clay tiles. Enet scampered forward, waiting impatiently for Mhynt to catch up, and she tried, but her stride wasn't the best.
Several passerby Pokémon yelped and ran away when Mhynt passed, to which the Treecko rolled her eyes and wondered if the floating blade behind her was what frightened them. She could make it disappear, she supposed, but she also wasn't in the mood to socialize. She'd rather get frightened looks than cooing or funny looks.
Mhynt had a strange sense of familiarity, like the air was a little thicker. Many, many familiar energy signatures nearby, so much that it made her scales feel like they were brushing past thin water.
Unown. Why did she sense Unown? And in such large numbers, all concentrated into a single—
"Gahi!" Enet clawed at the door to one of the residential rooms.
A muffled, hissed curse came from inside.
"Gahi?" Mhynt repeated.
"Owen's friend!"
"No, I know that," Mhynt said, stepping toward the doorway. She knocked the hilt of her blade on the entrance. "Gahi? Are you in there?"
"Who're you?" Gahi called back.
"Open the door, please," Mhynt said, holding her blade in preparation, because she knew he wouldn't.
Someone else was talking, shouting in an angry hiss, and Mhynt tapped her blade on the door. "One." Nothing. "Two?" And again, nothing. She sighed. "Three."
Silence. Well, she'd said three. She flipped her blade and made an upward, diagonal slash. With her free hand, she pushed forward, and a black gust of wind pushed the bisected door into the home.
Before her was a Flygon, an icy Sandslash, and a Corviknight. The latter two looked frozen with fear, while the Flygon looked down at her with an impressed smirk.
"Hey, ain't that somethin'," Gahi said. "Cool sword."
Mhynt weighed her options. It wasn't Owen, but it was close…
"And hello to you, too," Mhynt replied, rotating her blade as it floated behind her. "Where's Owen?"
"I dunno," he clearly lied, bringing his arms behind his head.
Mhynt made sure the gleam of her blade flashed in Gahi's eyes. "I don't ask twice."
"An' I don't answer twice."
That gave her pause. She squinted. "You didn't answer once."
"Guess that means I ain't gonna do it twice neither."
The Sandslash looked like he was going to suffer an aneurysm. The Corviknight might have passed out upright.
Mhynt chuckled. "You haven't changed much."
"Eh?"
In a deft motion, Mhynt grabbed her blade and sped toward Gahi in a blink.