Kapun took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm his nerves. The promotion exam had finally come, and he was one of the few remaining that hadn't managed to unlock a talent to wield. There wasn't much he could do about it now, though. Kapun just had to hope that his other abilities would be enough.
Helios stretched on the seat next to him, a stupidly confident smile on his face. It was grating to hear of his improvements, though Kapun kept that sentiment strictly under lock-and-key. Jealousy wasn't going to help him if he was already trying his hardest to improve.
The written exam already finished thirty minutes or so ago, and it had pushed Kapun's brain to the limits, as he had to remember all of the rules and regulations involved. Eventually, he resorted to thinking about what Culus or Rowan would do - remembering the authorities hated their decision-making processes and changing the subject of that to whatever Brylle would do.
The air in the exam room had been oppressive enough, and the anxiety from the test hadn't disappeared for most of them. Kapun took a deep breath. He only had the practical portion left, so once he completed that, he could relax and go back to practicing the Aspects. Surely, he'd hit his breakthrough sooner or later.
Lady Pandora stepped into the dream room, and all of the conversations in the room came to a halt. Strangely, Kapun noted that Sable and Thilia took a glance at each other, sharing an odd look. That little observation left his mind as he soon paid attention to Lady Pandora again, though.
"If someone isn't ready, then say so now." No one said anything, not now. "Take your seats." Kapun laid down on his cushion, as did everyone else. "The rest of the exam will be split into two portions - group action, and battle prowess. When you return, you will find out how well you did on the theoretical portion."
Kapun had thought that he had done pretty well on the theoretical portion regardless, but there was always a chance that he had remembered the rules wrong. He took another steadying breath. Now wasn't the time for that. Right now, he needed to ace the practical portions.
Slowly, he laid his head on the ground. Praying for good luck one last time, he let himself fall into Pandora's dream world.
...
When he felt the soft morning dew under his toes, a humid wind blowing through his fur, Kapun knew he'd regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and surveyed the land as quickly as possible before Pandora started the exam.
A hilly moor, with sparse feral Pokemon. Cloudy sky and many trees, so there were plenty of places to hide if the mission called for it. And off in the distance, Kapun spied an odd-looking castle. It looked vaguely old-fashioned with a distinct architectural style, though he had no idea about which kind. Above the castle's parapets, patrolling the walls for intruders and enemies, were guards in tight red uniforms and scowls on their faces, as though they didn't want to be there. Though, since they were just figments of a dream, Kapun knew that there wasn't a 'they' at all.
He looked at his nearby surroundings as well. There were three other people on his team. Sable was one, already sitting up and looking at everything just as he had been. Thilia was another, trying to wake their last member, a drowsing Helios. Kapun bit his lip — this was hardly his best team to work with.
They were all people that he was unfamiliar with at best - and everyone else had likely been thrown together as well, meaning Culus, Slate, Rowan, and Brylle would have to be working together for the test.
He hadn't gotten the worst possible team then. He would have no trouble keeping the peace, at the very least.
The wind rustled a little, and Kapun heard Pandora's voice, kind but sharp with command, speak to them all. "Your exam will be to infiltrate this base. There may be Shadow Workers hidden inside, but for the purposes of the exam, they will be indistinguishable to normal people." An image of a scroll, flickering transparently every few seconds, appeared in front of them. "This is your objective. You have thirty minutes to enact a plan and return with the scroll."
The image of the scroll disappeared, and Kapun gulped. This was stupid, utterly stupid. It had to be. There had to be more, some angle he had yet to see. He had to think, this was his chance…
"That's all the information your four need for the exam." Kapun paled. It couldn't be…! "Good luck with your infiltrations." With that, Pandora went silent, and a phantom timer appeared above them, ticking down every second and pressuring them with their lack of time.
Kapun took a breath. Okay, so they had to find some sort of scroll inside a heavily fortified base. Specifically, by creating a plan to infiltrate, find, and return with the scroll, and enacting it, all within the span of thirty minutes - twenty-nine minutes now.
This was impossible. This was impossible. They'd fail, they'd fail, they'd… wait…
Kapun figured out the gimmick of the exam - it was that they couldn't actually do it. It was impossible to reasonably stage and complete both the infiltration and an extraction, since they didn't know where the scroll actually was, and they only had thirty minutes regardless.
"The task is impossible," he stated outright. "We don't have enough time to pull off an infiltration, nor the manpower to pull it off correctly."
Then, absolutely idiotically, Sable shook her head. "They wouldn't give us an impossible task, would they? It wouldn't be much of an exam if we just stayed here." She sported an unsettling grin. "Let's give it a shot!"
Helios looked at Kapun, and Kapun mouthed a silent 'please' in response. Helios frowned, before nodding and turning to Sable as well. "Getting no points for doing nothing is better than losing points for failing deliberately," Helios argued back. "None of this is real, but we have to act like it is, and that means doing what makes sense."
Thilia hummed, smiling a little. "Well, I think that we should give it a try anyway." Kapun blinked, before checking in with an equally confused Helios. Had they heard that correctly? "We might not get the chance to have this conversation in the real world if this would be an important mission. Let's spend a few minutes thinking of an infiltration plan."
Was she being serious?
Kapun growled, almost unconsciously forming draconic energy in his chest. "Infiltration plan? What would we do? At best, we would need to perform reconnaissance first, plan out an escape route too, think of a way we could-"
Sable was making 'talking-head' gestures with her hand - she was mocking him. Kapun's cheeks began to burn, the draconic energy in his chest burning tighter. Once he stopped talking, she spoke instead. "If you're going to give up the exam, then that's fine. I don't care, either way, and I want to give this a shot." She looked over at Thilia. "Are you with me, Thilia?"
Thilia nodded enthusiastically, and Kapun just looked at Helios, who was as confused as he was. He tried desperately to control the burning in his chest.
"Guys, this is a bad idea," Kapun repeated. "We aren't going to succeed in the plan, so the proper thing to do to pass is to just wait here! At best, we should perform some reconnaissance! Come on!"
Sable rolled her eyes. She was dismissing him entirely, how could she?! Kapun had thought that she respected him, but now he wasn't sure anymore. "You said it yourself, the mission is doomed anyway. Since this is just a dream. I want to see what the inside of this building is." She turned to the building, a strange gleam entering her eyes.
Thilia nodded as well. "Just waiting here for Lady Pandora to fail us sounds kind of boring. If we're going to fail anyway, let's do it in a fun way."
This all seemed wrong, but aside from the obvious, Kapun couldn't quite place exactly why. He looked at Helios, who looked as unsure as he did for the first time in days. Sable and Thilia were making such little sense that it was astounding.
Then Sable knelt down, and Thilia hopped onto her. Kapun tensed a little as he faced the joined pair. "We won't be waiting for you two slowpokes, by the way. Come with us or not, we'll see what my mother has in store for us." The two of them then left for the castle, Sable skipping through the morning dew. The guards had gone away temporarily, probably from a shift in rotation or something, so they wouldn't be caught in the next few seconds.
Kapun turned to Helios, who looked as conflicted as Helios felt. "What do we do?"
Helios crossed his arms, a concerned frown flitting across his face. "Procedure says that if it's imminent that our allies will fall, then it's better to ensure our own safety, but if it's the anonymity of Key…"
Kapun sighed, then turned to see Sable and Thilia walking straight into the fortress. "Let's go stop them."
...
"This is going perfectly," Kapun snarked, the verbal acid he'd built up over the last half a year rearing its head after a month of quietly simmering. "An impossible task and teammates that don't listen to a word we say."
The guards had returned, and the two of them were trying their best to both stay out of sight and keep track of the wayward Sable and Thilia. Slipping through the view of the guards was many times more difficult than it was back in Pinnaleis, Regilia, and Fylak since he didn't have Rowan to weave protective illusions around him.
Next to him, Helios was having similar troubles. He had made a few stumbles earlier, and the brash confidence that Helios had been displaying for the last few days or so had faded away. He felt normal, though much less annoying. "Do you think that there's some sort of trick to the exam that we're missing?" Helios asked softly as they rounded a corner, trying to keep up with the reckless Sable and Thilia.
"Obviously, since this definitely isn't what we're supposed to do, and I doubt that Pandora's goal was to test whether we could sit around and waggle our tails for thirty minutes," he hissed. "And maybe we'd be able to find out what it was if Sable and Thilia hadn't gone insane twenty minutes ago."
"Twenty minutes?" Helios paled. In response to his words, the phantom timer from earlier reappeared - 8:23, and still ticking down. A little under eight-and-a-half minutes left to finish the exam. They were bound to fail no matter what they did now.
"Thilia, come look!" Kapun and Helios turned to the sound of the Sable in another room. They hurriedly ran to find Sable holding a map, Thilia bouncing excitedly next to her. "I found the location of the scroll!"
Thilia hopped over to Sable's side, and her eyes widened. "Really?" She then gasped. "We're so lucky! Let's go get it!" There was something a bit unnatural with Thilia's speech that he couldn't quite place, but he pushed that thought to the side quickly enough.
"You two have to stop!" Helios said, walking into the room imposingly. Kapun was right behind him, doing his best to mirror Helios's appearance. "We have to leave before we're found out, now."
Sable shook her head, turning to Helios. "While you two were busy worrying your heads off, we were actually doing something." She shook the map in their faces. "Don't you see? It is possible."
"A map doesn't mean that it's possible," Kapun countered, coming to Helios's aid. "Maybe if we had more time, then we could try it, but there's no point in doing it now. We have less than a quarter of the time left, and we have to get in, grab the scroll, and get out, all without getting found out by Shadow Workers - it's impossible." Kapun pointed to the map. "A map means little."
Strange… why was there a map of the scroll in the first place? Wasn't it something that they were trying to keep hidden? Maybe Pandora did want them to find it - no, it was impossible, simply impossible.
Sable stood up, anger and irritation blazing in her eyes. She stood opposite them, hands glowing a soft pink. "You guys have been trying to make us fail, and now you want us to self-sabotage?! Even though we have a way forward?! Are you guys really this cowardly?!"
Each word burned at him, particularly the last. "I'd rather be cowardly than acting like an idiot! We're going to fail, there's nothing else to it!" The truth was uncomfortable to face, but Kapun took the smallest consolation in the fact that he was facing the truth, not denying reality as Sable and Thilia were.
Sable's hands grew brighter, and Kapun felt the tension in the air thicken. "If you're intent on getting in our way, then we'll have to stop you," she challenged, before looking at Thilia. "Are you ready?"
Thilia hopped up and down. "Yeah! You're not getting in our way!"
"You - have you two gone insane?!" Kapun hissed. "This is pointless! We need to leave, now!"
Sable waved her hands in the air. "I think it's bedtime for you two!" Hypnotic rings began to fly through the air. Not wanting to know what it was like to fall asleep in the middle of a dream, the two of them dodged - and then Kapun barely had enough time to dodge a Disarming Voice from Thilia.
"Don't lose!" Kapun shouted at Helios, who had taken a battling stance against Sable, before turning to a smiling Thilia. "Thilia, why?! This is all nonsense!" Why was Thilia breaking their friendship over something this trivial?! Why was she being so stupid?! Why was she attacking him? WHY?!
Thilia tilted her head quizzically. "To pass, obviously. Take opportunity by its horns and don't be afraid - didn't Culus teach you these things?"
Kapun hesitated for a second, before shaking his head. This wasn't the sort of thing Culus approved of. He'd had to prepare for at least a week before their assault on the base. "There was preparation involved, not this stupidly suicidal attempt at passing. This isn't worth it, Thilia."
She shrugged. "Then I guess you'll fail, but my Mom is counting on me to pass!" She shot another Disarming Voice at him, cutting off his next attempt at pacifying her. Instead, he was forced to weave out of the way of the attack, and the following Disarming Voice as well.
"Thilia, please-" Another Disarming Voice. "We should just go-" This time, she threw pebbles into his snout with her powers. "Thilia, come on!"
Thilia's fifth Disarming Voice clipped him, burning a hole into his legs. "We're not going to fail because of you, Kapun!" Thilia declared.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?!" Kapun shouted, his grip on his temper breaking. "We're trying to pass too, but you're acting selfishly!"
"Selfishly?!" Thilia asked incredulously. "You're the ones not letting us-"
Kapun took the opportunity Thilia gave him, applying a Focus Energy on himself. By the time she started charging up another Disarming Voice, Kapun was already running at her head-first. With a soft thump, his head smashed into Thilia, flinging her away.
Thilia rolled head over feet for a few seconds, before getting on her feet. "Hey, what was that for-"
"Shut up!" he roared, before grabbing the side of her hat in his maw and tossing her into the wall. "I don't want to hear any of it! You started this!" He let her go and began charging a Bite.
Thilia wobbled to her feet, and as she did, tiny little tears began to form in the corner of her eyes. As it did, Kapun's resolve began to falter, as did his Bite. And once it did, his head started working again.
Why, exactly, did she make a 'thump' when he headbutted her? And for that matter, they were being insanely loud - why weren't the guards alerted and trying to capture them? Wasn't this supposed to be realistic?
But then, none of this was realistic. They were given an impossible task, one that Thilia and Sable simply didn't understand was impossible, and the aforementioned two were acting beyond stupidly and… strangely…
Thilia fired a Disarming Voice at him, but he dodged once more. "Aren't you going to hit me again?" Thilia asked, charging another Disarming Voice.
"No," Kapun answered. "Instead, Lady Pandora's going to end this farce of an exam." He looked up. "Isn't that right?" The world didn't answer, and Thilia fired another Disarming Voice at him. It burned into his shoulder, but he ignored it.
"I'm not going to fight her if that's what you had planned on." Kapun continued, drawing Helios and Sable's attention and pausing their fight (it was nothing more than a slugfest, anyway). "I can't tell if you never brought Thilia and Sable here, or if they're just acting, but you forgot to give them injuries."
Thilia continued charging another Disarming Voice - but as she did so, Pandora's voice echoed through the dream world, breaking their immersion. "Thilia, Sable, you two can stop now."
Thilia immediately stopped charging her Disarming Voice. "I'msorrypleaseforgiveme!" She rushed out, bowing her head, tears forming - actual tears.
Kapun held up a paw. "No… no, I get it." He looked over at Sable, who immediately used psychic power to push her and Helios apart. Helios got back into a fighting stance, but Sable just walked away, before sitting on the wall.
"Helios, the exam's over," Kapun said. "There's no point in fighting."
"But they betrayed us-"
Kapun shook his head. "They pretended to betray us. The actual exam was whether we were willing, and capable, of stopping their 'betrayal' - the scroll was utterly pointless."
Helios relaxed - and as he did so, the room, castle, and world faded away to a white void, revealing Pandora with a tired smile on her face.
"Aside from the injuries, what gave it away, Kapun? Surely, that wasn't enough for you."
"Other than the fact that you were dampening their injuries?" He looked over at Thilia and the lack of bruising. "I noticed when she pretended to cry, but I got the feeling something was off when all my Headbutt did was a soft push instead of… you know, damage. That, and Sable and Thilia aren't stupid or malicious."
He then paused for a second. "Also, the scenario you gave us made no sense. You gave us an arbitrary timer without something to match the urgency other than the fact that it was a 'test', and the guards didn't really seem to care that we were fighting incredibly loudly here. That, and the fact that Sable conveniently found a map to a secret scroll, a map that shouldn't exist…"
Sable snorted a little, and Helios slapped his forehead. "Ugh, now that you're mentioning it…"
Pandora frowned. "While making that kind of snap judgment on character isn't the best way to judge intentions," she started. "Your observational skills are keen."
Helios dragged his claws down his face, before bowing his head in disappointment. "So… we failed?" he asked.
"With the short notice of the betrayal, you two did as well as could be hoped," Pandora nodded. "Though, I would have been happier if you had continued under the ruse, Kapun."
Kapun scoffed. "What kind of person would I be if I accepted that kind of lie?" He paused. "But thank you for stopping it early anyway."
Helios crossed his arms and grumbled, while Sable just yawned. Thilia, meanwhile, kept on bowing.
"I'm sorry!" She repeated. "I didn't want to say those awful things, I just…" She bit her lip.
"I'm not going to take offense." The sting of Thilia's earlier words had already faded. "Can you just tell me why? And what about your exams?"
"I had them take theirs last night," Pandora answered in Thilia's stead. "And I helped shape their caustic words for them. It took a long time to convince them to do it-"
"Why didn't you just make copies of them?" he asked, interrupting her. "Then there wouldn't be an issue."
Pandora sighed. "Because my copies don't have perfect micro-expressions, and they would easily be found out." Pandora's words now held a note of crabbiness to them. "Regardless, you two got far enough into the fight that you passed."
Kapun took a deep breath, trying to ignore the feeling of emptiness in the pit of his stomach. He had passed, but it felt nowhere near as rewarding as he wanted it to. Instead, it felt like he had peeled away some wallpaper to reveal an infestation of ants, cockroaches, and mold. Sure, he could burn it all down and there weren't issues, but the problem itself had been truly disgusting.
Soon, the world faded away around him, and Kapun felt his upper level of consciousness rising. The dream was ending - time for the next exam, then.
He just hoped it went better than this one.
...
"Pfft… pahahaha!" Helios tried desperately to hide a grin, but Kapun and everyone else could see it on his face. "You actually fell for it?!"
Rowan growled. "Shut up. We actually succeeded in getting the scroll-"
"You weren't supposed to!" Helios's eyes were filled with glee. "You were supposed to actually try and stop… er…"
Kapun sighed. Mica was off getting ready for the exam, so they were all off sitting to the side. Brylle, Thilia, and Sable were just idly chatting, Slate was just sleeping (he was tired for some strange reason) while Culus sat there, hanging his head in shame. He, Rowan, and Helios, meanwhile, were talking about the exam.
Apparently, they had all taken the exact same exam, except that they didn't have any traitors. Their exam had been testing something completely different - specifically, for Culus, 'can you spot an impossible mission', and for everyone else, 'can you actually stop Culus'?
And every single one of them failed. Culus had recognized the difficulty of the mission but said that giving up because it was an exam wouldn't work in the field. Slate and Brylle had tried to convince him, but Culus had apparently just soldiered on and took the scroll, barely escaping with it before time was over.
"We didn't have traitors, and it clearly was possible!" Rowan countered, stewing a little. "Since Culus pulled it off!"
Helios just snorted haughtily at Rowan. Rowan's eyes burned, and Kapun felt his Aspect twinge a little. Before Rowan could say anything truly damaging, which he could do with consummate ease now, Kapun forcibly leaned over and closed Rowan's jaw.
"Not. Now," he whispered. "Leave it for after the exam."
Rowan pushed Kapun away and opened his mouth - and then closed it. "You're just not worth it," he muttered at Helios.
Helios's claws balled into fists, burning with a soft fire, and Kapun wanted to bang his skull against a wall. Even when Rowan tried 'diplomacy', he was as caustic as a bottle of acid.
"Listen up, kids!" Mica shouted, grabbing their attention while he walked in. Quickly, they all fell into position.
"We'll be having a round-robin tournament - everyone will face each other at some point, and the person who gets the most victories gets to go up against me. First up is…"
...
The first round went by quickly. The first fight was Culus vs. Sable, and as Sable didn't have the capability to keep up with Culus's speed, she fell to some quick Bites. Next was Helios vs. Thilia, which lasted about as long as a minute once Helios managed to corner Thilia and proceeded to use his Aspect. Then was Brylle vs. Slate, which was similarly unfair since Slate couldn't use the Aspects.
Finally came the match between Kapun andRowan. It went by slower since they were incredibly even, but eventually, Rowan's illusions were too much for him to handle, and he fell after a minute.
The second round took a bit more time. Culus beat Thilia just as easily as he beat Sable, mopping the floor with her in about thirty seconds. Sable vs. Brylle was even until Brylle clipped Sable with a few Rock Tombs, cementing the victory soon afterward. After that was Helios vs. Rowan, which went much better than last time, but ended with Helios's loss again - he still had no answer to Rowan's illusions.
The final match of the round was him vs. Slate, and once Kapun decided that he wasn't going to use the Aspect to give Slate a fair shot, the match was over. While they could hurt each other easily with Dragon-type moves, Slate was much less reserved and much more experienced. Another loss for Kapun, then.
He'd have to win the next one.
The third round started off with Rowan vs. Thilia, another surprisingly even match. Rowan's cloaking illusions were ineffective on Thilia since she could use her telepathy to find her blindspots. Illusioned or not, Rowan had no idea how to cloak his mental presence, so Thilia could always strike him with a Fairy-type move even if she couldn't read his mind.
The match ended with Thilia's victory, but it wasn't a clean sweep - even though Rowan was practically declawed without his illusions, Thilia wasn't strong enough enough to finish off Rowan. Eventually, their allotted time ran out, with Mica declaring Thilia to be the winner.
Then was Helios vs. Slate, which was much closer than Kapun had thought it would be. Helios's training over the past few days had really paid off - even without using his Aspects, Helios was able to keep up with Slate a little. It looked like Slate was going to win, though, thanks to the raw experience and type advantage - and then, Helios finally unveiled his talent of 'Egotism' (as Rowan liked to call it) and proceeded to mop the floor with Slate in seconds. It really wasn't much of a fight when Slate couldn't even touch Helios.
After that was himself against Sable, which was a decisive victory on his part. At this point, Sable started to resort to her talent to try and fight him. It… didn't go well for her.
…
Sable breathed heavily, psychic energy wafting off her arms. Kapun, meanwhile, was feeling as strong as he'd ever been. Dark energy burned at his maws, and he lunged at her for another bite.
Sable clenched her teeth and dived to the side, but he expected a move like that - it was her only real option. He pivoted after his lunge, snapping at her. She was too slow to protect herself and fell to the wayside, the darkness making her gasp.
He then went for a Dragon Rage - enough to incapacitate, but not enough to seriously hurt. Finally, he would win.
The Dragon Rage slowed to a crawl as it neared her, though, before almost crystallizing in the air. Sable's breathing stabilized, and she walked slowly, lackadaisically, out of the way.
"Your 'Passivity'?" he bit out, feeling the exhaustion creep upon him. "Not really fair, is it?"
Sable shrugged. "None of this is 'fair', is it?"
She was right, wasn't she? Type advantage didn't leave things even at the gate unless the types were equal, and the types of Dragon and Dark fully outweighed Psychic. He was also more experienced in combat than she was.
And there was always something he could do to even the odds in his favor.
Sable gasped, before falling to a knee as Kapun's Stifling pushed her down. She grimaced as Kapun slowly plodded near her. Kapun knew that she could resist, but he also knew that she was too exhausted to do so. And the fact that there would be four more rounds after this…
She finally sighed as Kapun stood over her. "I concede."
...
The final match of the round started with Culus and Brylle, which was Brylle's victory. Culus simply didn't have the tools to combat her raw defense without tapping into his 'Creativity' talent (which, if he used to a level that could hurt Brylle, would put everyone else in danger), so he only fought for a few seconds before conceding.
Then the fourth round began. Kapun was up again, against Brylle. It was another even fight, and he managed to barely come out on top. Brylle was good, but so was he, and unlike Culus, he had the tools to properly hurt her. After a few minutes, it devolved from a proper match into a real slugfest, and by the end of it, Kapun had finally won, an exhausted smile on his face.
After that was Slate against Thilia, which was Slate's victory. While Thilia had the type advantage and telepathy, Slate's experience and higher mobility managed to bring him the victory. Then was Culus vs. Rowan, which was Culus's victory once he managed to get Rowan to think he had won (thus getting him to lower his guard). A quick strike and submission hold later, Rowan conceded.
Somehow, Culus managed to figure out where Rowan hid among the illusions. Kapun asked Culus during Helios's rematch with Sable (Sable's loss, she really wasn't doing well by any means), and learned that he had followed Thilia's gaze, which tracked Rowan to perfection. Thilia, upon hearing that, flushed and looked away.
The fifth round started with Rowan against Slate, which ended with Slate's victory as he could sense Rowan's weight on the ground with his geolocation - another sense that Rowan couldn't mess with, as he didn't know how it worked. Since Rowan's claws weren't sharp enough to cut into Slate's scales, it was only a matter of time.
The match after that was Kapun's match against Culus, which ended with another loss on his part. Culus's electricity wasn't really effective, but he was too crafty and fast for Kapun to land a hit on. Halfway through the match, Kapun had found himself wishing for a way to slow Culus down - and unfortunately, he didn't have one.
Then was Helios against Brylle, which ended up in another tie - Helios was on the backfoot constantly during the match, Brylle's geokinesis forcing him back and preventing him from approaching. Eventually, Helios threw caution to the wind and called on his Aspect once more, breaking through Brylle's defenses and landing hit after hit on her - and then, he collapsed, just as Brylle did as well under the weight of her injuries.
The final match of the fifth round was Thilia against Sable, which was actually a nice breather since the type match-up was purely neutral and both could counter each other's natural ability. The match went to a tie, with neither able to push a real advantage against the other.
Everyone's stamina (barring Culus, a true machine) had long since faded. Kapun's chest was burning, having tried to keep up with Culus, and he saw Helios's eyes bloodshot. He had been doing well, but it was clear that he wasn't anymore.
The sixth round started with Rowan against Sable - and Sable had, once again, lost, type advantage tearing her defenses to pieces. At this point, she was looking absolutely miserable. Kapun couldn't blame her, since she had either lost every match she had been in or had barely managed to tie with Thilia. Then was Brylle against Thilia, which was another victory for Brylle, but it was closer than anyone had expected. It was clear that she was flagging after her battle with Helios, and Thilia wasn't anywhere near as exhausted.
Then was Culus's match with Slate, which was intense. Slate's defense was nowhere near as strong as Brylle's, but it was still a challenge for Culus to work through. Culus had weaved through boulders, waves of sand and rocks, and large bursts of draconic flame, all to land small wounds on Slate - but they were still wounds, and Slate wasn't able to land anything on Culus. It, barely, ended with Culus's victory, but he left the battlefield with a small limp.
The final match of the round was Kapun against Helios… and it wasn't a kind match. Helios had barely enough sense to prevent himself from using his Egotism, but it wasn't enough to keep up with Kapun, who had more stamina than him. Worse, near the end, he saw Helios's strength waver. His flames began to sputter, and his swipes were weaker. With a Tackle, Kapun managed to push Helios out of bounds… and saw small tears drop as he did so.
Kapun couldn't help but feel sorry for Helios - he had definitely improved and was now on the stronger side of the fighters of their little friend group, but even though his offense had practically multiplied in strength, his stamina had yet to truly develop to a point that he could keep up with heavyweights like Culus and Slate.
And then, finally, was the seventh, and final round, with only four matchups left. The first match was Sable against Slate, which went about as well for Sable as you'd expect… except, it wasn't, as Sable went all-out, using her Stifling to her full advantage. Every time Slate tried to pull the advantage, Sable simply took a second to use her Stifling and take a small break while Slate struggled, locked into place.
Sable, incredibly, won the fight.
The next match was Rowan against Brylle. At first, it had looked like Rowan's illusions were wavering, weakened from his previous matches. Thirty seconds after the start of the match, Brylle had Rowan pinned to the ground, ready to finish it off.
And then, somehow, she had figured that the Rowan that she had pinned down, which had looked like Rowan in every way, was an illusion, and managed to dodge a claw to her eyes. After that, the match exploded in energy, the fake copies becoming fully formed and weaving into each other to try and trick Brylle.
And Brylle didn't fall for it once. Her punches hit with perfect accuracy, and Rowan soon fell on the defensive, hiding among copies (Double Teams or illusions, Kapun couldn't tell). Brylle's thrown boulders managed to root him out, though, and Rowan was eventually forced to concede as there was nothing he could have done without using his talent and becoming unnecessarily cruel.
(Later, he had asked Brylle exactly how she was able to do that, and she revealed that she had unlocked her talent last night - his conversation with Dad had unlocked it for her. He had no idea how to feel about that.)
The third match was him against Thilia, which was, thankfully, quick with his loss. She had Fairy-type moves and could resist his stifling - it was obvious to him that she had been going easy on him in the dream, and his cheeks burned as he hobbled back to the stands along with her.
"Sorry," she whispered.
Kapun shook his head. "I hope that I never have to fight you again," he said sincerely. "You are a true nightmare for me to fight." Thilia patted him consolingly, which didn't make things much better. There wasn't much to the battle other than him failing and Thilia proving that type of advantage wasn't something that can be easily overpowered.
And then came the final match of the tournament.
Culus vs. Helios.
Eve slowly walked through the streets of the Citadel. Her stomach rumbled, but she found it hard to pay attention to it. She knew that if she really wanted, she could go back to Penny's mansion and get something to eat, but she really didn't want to.
She didn't want to do anything, for that matter. Ever since Negisa's concert, she found it harder and harder to get the motivation to do things. Planning for an escape had gotten slower and slower, and though things always got easier when Selene was in the room, it still helped very little when she was on her own again.
All she had done, ever since the concert, was basic reconnaissance on the Citadel and the Moat, to figure out exactly what she had left to do to perform an escape. The more she found out, the more she despaired.
She had no idea whether the guards were Shadow Workers or not - so if they saw her leave, she might be alerting Chain to her departure and escape before she even left Nucifera's outer walls. She had no idea about Chain's weaknesses or ways to distinguish Shadow Workers from normal people, and she had no way to figure it out, either.
That left sneaking through the patrols, but that wasn't easy either. Thinking about it in retrospect, it would be obvious that the Citadel had strong security mechanisms, but she had never thought it would be this dismal.
On trips to the Moat, to help Anna out with her cleaning, she had collected a lot of the hallucinogenic moss, but there wasn't any real plan she could make with it. The moss, if it would be a part of a plan, was only a small element. Her idea of bringing it to the Citadel had a few small issues.
For starters, how, exactly, to sneak it in? The guards weren't dumb, and they could probably smell or sense the moss she would bring with her. Then, even if she did have the moss, how to use it? There was nowhere near enough moss in the Moat to fully saturate the air of the Citadel, and even if she managed, she would be affected by the moss as well.
There wasn't anyone she could really talk about this to, either. It was harder and harder being honest with Selene when Eve talked to her about anything. The strong friendship they once had was falling to dust in the wind - with the guards that Selene had at her side, talking to her without ears listening was impossible. Even if Selene ordered the guards away (and neither of them knew if the guards simply hid to make Selene feel better), there was no stopping the four other voices in Selene's head that simply couldn't leave.
One, Two, Three, and Four. Eve had met them - One was a bit stupid but nice overall, Two was responsible and intelligent, Three was… (honestly, if Eve was honest, Three was a little boring), and Four was caustic most of the time, though she could tell the Four was doing her best to be nice.
According to Selene, they were separate souls, not personalities. They had their own opinions, their own goals, their own ambitions. They shared their memories, but they weren't the same, and that was what it felt like - four people stuffed into Selene's body alongside her, all vying for control.
It was hard to speak heart-to-heart when a person Eve barely knew could butt in at any time and hijack the conversation, or at the very least, break its flow. Selene seemed to be having issues as well - she had talked to Phosophor, the boss of Chain. Eve pressed her for details, but Selene kept a tight lip and wouldn't tell her much about him - or about why she couldn't say anything.
Maybe that hurt the most.
Eve wanted to talk to Anna about this too, but she didn't really know how to breach the topic. She had told Anna about her life as a Princess, but when Anna asked why she was here, instead of inside the castle, Eve… Eve wasn't able to say much.
Anna couldn't be involved in Chain. Eve had already gone too deep, and it was tearing at who Eve thought she was. She could no longer go to Selene for it since Selene was now one of the things chaining her to Chain, that friendship forcing her to be among people with moralities that she despised. It was bad enough that Anna knew who she was now, but she couldn't involve Anna with Chain.
Eventually, she wandered to the gates of the Citadel. As always, the guards were vigilant - they let her through, but they kept a sharp eye on her as she passed. She felt their gazes on her and shivered, as she knew that there was no way for her to avoid them if she wanted to. Still, could she throw caution to the wind and…
…
… no. She couldn't be stupid enough for that.
She slipped across the filthy streets, walking to Anna's house. She had long since learned Anna's schedule and knew that she would be asleep right now, but… in case she wasn't, she just wanted someone to talk to.
The Moat stank to high heaven, but the sad part was that Eve started to get used to it. There wasn't a single sanitary part, but it felt more comfortable than the riches in the Citadel. Everything felt more honest because it wasn't trying to hide a corrupt heart behind glamorous riches - it just stank.
Then, she stepped into literal shite and revised her opinion. The truth was nice, but it wasn't that nice.
Once she cleaned her paw in a (relatively sanitary) river, she continued walking through the Moat, ignoring the pathetic people who begged her for money. They saw her lavender eyes and thought she was another one of those rich copycats, and they believed that she was stupid enough to donate to them (there weren't any shops, funnily enough, so she had no idea why they would think they could trick her into thinking that they have an honest reason for her to open her pocket).
Soon enough, she had made her way to Anna's house, before walking to the backdoor. Just as she had thought, the bags of moss she had left there were still there. Just by standing there, she could feel her head hurt.
"Eve?" she heard Anna ask behind her. She turned around to see her friend standing there, concern writ across her face. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm…" She wanted to say 'tired', the word coming to her lips, but she stopped herself. The obvious answer to that would be 'go to sleep', which was definitely not the solution she wanted. "I wanted to talk to you," she eventually said.
"Okay…" Anna said, slowly enunciating the words. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Well… anything, really," Eve shrugged. "Can you let me in?"
Anna brightened. "Sure thing!" She opened the door, letting Eve in. Eve took a quick second to clean herself so that she didn't smell bad, then turned to Anna. "So, do you mind if I ask you a few more things about being a Princess?"
Eve shrugged again. "Sure, go ahead."
Anna grinned. "Okay, do you have gold hangings?"
"... no? That's for royalty - royalty that's really pretentious," she corrected. "Like, my old fiance Prince Yurime." Dear Darkrai, when her problems were just Yurime. It still was a problem, but it was a problem that would go away if she managed to stay away from him long enough. Chain wasn't something that would go away with time.
"Oh god, right, you were engaged," Anna whispered. "Is it… weird, being engaged to a prince?"
"I mean, I was engaged since I was a kid-"
"Seriously?"
Eve looked at her oddly. "Yes, seriously."
"That's so… ugh…" She shook her head. "No offense, but that's disgusting."
Eve considered it. "I guess it is?" she eventually said. Eve was used to the idea since she had no choice and had to deal with that reality for most of her life. Marrying for politics was common, but it usually wasn't since childhood.
"Ugh… so, did you ever meet Prince Helios? I heard that he was a bit of a loser."
"Oh, tell me about it…"
The conversation went on for a while. Talking to Anna wasn't quite like talking to Selene, but that was a given; while they were similar enough in their interests, their personalities were a little different. Anna was more down-to-earth and emotional than the reserved and serious Selene.
Eventually, as the night wore on, Eve slowly grew more comfortable. A small bit of guilt started to creep on her, as she realized that for her selfishness, Anna would suffer. She got up - and then, Anna stopped her in her tracks with a single word.
"Eve… what was the 'them' that you were talking about with Negisa?" Anna asked, just as Eve was about to excuse herself.
Eve felt her blood chill. "What are you talking about?" she tried to counter. "What's 'them'?"
Anna shook her head. "You asked Negisa whether she was with 'them' or not. Who were you talking about?"
Eve bit her lip. "Anna, it doesn't have anything to do with you," she said slowly. "'They' aren't someone you want to mess with, or even know about. They're… 'awful' isn't enough to describe them. They…" Eve groaned. "I've said too much-"
"No, you haven't!" Anna fervently shook her head. "I'm worried about you, Eve. Every day, you show up even sadder. There's something dragging you down, and I want to help you!"
"I… no. There's no chance that I can-"
"Please!" Anna said, standing up so that they were looking at each other eye-to-eye. "If there's anything I can do to help, please!"
"... Chain." It was a moment of weakness, but it opened the floodgates wide enough that the rest of the story began to tumble out. "The ones behind everything - they're called 'Chain'. They don't destroy, but they conquer and conquer and conquer, and there isn't a soul in the world that they can't take."
"I… huh?"
Eve began to explain everything to Anna - everything. From the moment she and Selene had left Ascendance Palace, to the moment she and Anna had met. Shadow Workers, Collared, the Illicity, Kyogre's Nightmare, everything came tumbling out in a rush. The more she spoke, the more her heart burned.
And as she spoke, Anna just listened patiently, barely managing to hide her reactions as Eve spoke. She was in awe of Illicity, amazed by the tale of Eve in Kyogre's Nightmare, and terrified of what happened on Mount Polymus. When Eve finally finished the tale, she sat back and saw Anna's reaction.
"So… you're with them, now?" Anna finally asked.
"With them?" Eve snorted. "Saying that I'm with them is an insult. I never really had a choice." She would probably stay anyway, as long as it took for Selene to get a grasp on her powers, but once that had changed, they would leave as fast as possible. The glamour of the city was beautiful, but she just wanted… freedom. Just as she had always desired.
"Then… do you want to leave?"
Eve paused - then nodded. "Yes. I, absolutely, want to leave - but I don't want to leave without Selene." She owed it to Selene, as her friend, to help her out of this hellhole.
"Then what's your plan to leave?" Anna asked.
Eve bit her lip. "I have… something," she said. "That hallucinogenic moss that's in the Moat… maybe I could use it to…"
"... no," Anna shook her head. "That won't work. Even if there was enough to affect people in the Citadel, it would also affect you, and wearing a facemask would make it obvious to everyone else what was happening."
"Then I have nothing," Eve said, sighing. "It's not that easy to figure out how to get through an entire secret organization that controls everything." Her claws unsheathed themself. "It's… it's not fair…"
Anna's tail turned around to rub against Eve's back, and despite herself, Eve found herself relaxing. "It's okay - we'll find something out." Anna paused. "How much do you actually know about Chain?"
"I… not that much," Eve admitted. "I'd even be happy if I knew just who was a Shadow Worker and who wasn't."
Anna hummed contemplatively. "That… might be possible?" Anna said. "If we collect more moss - especially by taking it from other Moat residents - we might have enough hallucinogens for a single building. And, if we do that, we can…"
Eve caught Anna's plan, and her eyes began to shine with plans. "Moss… storage… that's it!" She slammed her paw into her other paw. "That's what we can do! If we find records on who is a Shadow Worker and who isn't, then we can root out the traitors in organizations across the world! And I can avoid the guards that are Shadow Workers if I know who they are!"
The building where the records were kept… she could find out which building that was with ease even if it wasn't the building that Selene now lived in.
But then, that left another issue.
"How are we going to get the moss past the guards?" she asked, a measure of despair crawling back into her voice.
Anna hummed. "I think that I can sneak some into the Citadel as medical supplies," she slowly said. "But I can't do it alone, definitely. We might need to get some help…"
And then, as the night waxed on, they continued to plan.
...
The next morning, Eve could barely pay attention to Thorn's jabbering as he talked about the people he met in the Citadel, while Penny listened in politely. The planning for their 'operation' hadn't gone too well, but they had something in the works.
For starters, Anna knew a Zoroark thief that could help them sneak in more of the moss. Apparently, he was an expert that knew the ins and outs of the Citadel and could help her move the moss through the guard station without their notice.
Eve had asked whether the Zoroark could help her sneak into the building itself, but Anna had said that the only reason she could get the Zoroark's help was that the Zoroark owed her a favor for treating him. Eve had then reminded her that the guard at Negisa's concert had owed her a favor as well, and had bailed on it. Anna had laughed nervously, before telling Eve to trust her.
It was a bit weird, though Eve couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was because of her exhaustion ratcheting up her nerves…
"Eve, dear," Penny said, drawing Eve's attention. "Relm has invited you and Thorn over for tea. Please be a dear and accompany Thorn."
Eve stifled a groan. "S-Sure thing," she half-yawned. Relm was fine enough if you could ignore his pretentious attitude toward a lot of things. He definitely needed to calm down every now and again when it came to his ego, but once he did, he was much more pleasant to be around.
After finishing their meal, Thorn hopped onto Eve's back, and Eve began to walk through the Citadel once more. The air above the Citadel was clear as a pool of water, while the surrounding air (of the Moat) was filled with dense polluted fog, the filtration systems clearly at work.
It took around half an hour to walk across the Citadel to Relm's 'house' - though, it was about as much a house as the Moat was dirty. It towered over the manors and penthouses around it, a true testament to the favor the 'Red Wind' had accrued over the last few years.
The guards took one look at Eve and Thorn before the badge on their chests gave them a signal. A few minutes of excruciating boredom later, the two of them were allowed inside, though not without an escort.
The manor was beautiful, with paintings and art pieces from various maestros across the world, yet Eve felt no true spirit from all of them. None of the pieces had any sort of theme to them, and they all looked to be spotlessly clean - things put there to impress, rather than create any sort of innate beauty divorced from expensive clothes and renowned artists.
The guards led them to a small chamber. Inside, Relm was taking a nap - and when they walked in, his eye cracked open.
"Oh, hi," he said, yawning a little. "Welcome."
Eve let Thorn down, who immediately ran across the room to sit on a chair, before stuffing himself with biscuits. "I didn't think you were that posh," she said eventually. "To invite us over for tea."
Relm rolled his eyes. "I didn't," he muttered, before coughing a little. "My mother did, though. She, uh… wanted to meet you two," he finished lamely, a soft blush appearing on his face.
Eve arched one of her brows. "Your mother?"
"Me." Eve turned around to see a female Umbreon wearing fineries and jewels. Eve's breath caught as the Umbreon pinned Eve down with an inscrutable glance. "You've been in the Citadel for two weeks now, and I've yet to properly speak to you, Princess."
Eve gulped, before falling into a well-practiced curtsy. "It's nice to meet you…"
"Madam Necrine," the Umbreon said stiffly. "And it would do you well to remember it."
Eve instantly committed the name to memory. "Hello, Madam Necrine. It's a pleasant day, isn't it?" Eve's mouth began to run automatically as she thought about who she was talking to.
Madam Necrine clearly had an upbringing in a wealthy family, if not a noble one. She was completely comfortable in this house and had raised Relm to be just like her. More than that, Relm had colored eyes, their hallmark of high Eonian nobility, almost all royalty. It was highly likely that she was one of the nobles, and if she wasn't, then she had a husband that was one.
Regardless, Eve should have heard of her before. She wasn't the foremost expert on nobility - 'nobility', as a social class, was far too expansive for a single person to know everything about. There must have been thousands upon thousands of nobles in Regilia alone, heaven forbid Eonia.
But royalty? Eonian royalty was far more exclusive, the number of its members resting in the double-digits. At the very least, Eve should have heard of Madam Necrine. It burned at her - how could she not know of her?
"The bathroom is over by the hall," Relm said, pointing to the door.
What was he talking about… Eve blinked, before flushing. "I don't have to go to the bathroom!" she snapped. "I was just thinking!"
"A gold for your thoughts, then?" Madam Necrine asked.
"... why have I never heard of you?" Eve asked slowly. "You're a member of Eonian nobility, aren't you? Shouldn't you be known…"
Relm scoffed. "As if you'd know. You're just some lame old princess that left the family a long time ago, you know nothing about Eonian royalty and nobility."
"I am Eonian royalty," Eve hissed. "And I know my way around the political systems of Regilia's allies, thank you very much."
Madam Necrine coughed. "Perhaps you didn't look long enough, Princess, or you just weren't told," Madam Necrine said. "I'm very well known among higher circles."
Eve shot her a scathing look, ignoring Relm's look of superiority. There was just no way that Madam Necrine was known among the royals, because if she was, then Eve would have heard about her. Madam Necrine's attempts to lie to her were ridiculously poor, and it spoke low of Relm's intelligence that he ate the mulch his mother fed him.
Madam Necrine stood up. "It's been very pleasant, Eve," she said somewhat stiffly. "But I have work I need to attend to. Please excuse me."
With that, Madam Necrine left, accompanied by a butler. Eve kneaded her claws on the carpet (being careful not to puncture it), trying to relieve herself of her frustrations. Relm's smugness had abated only slightly, as Thorn started distracting him with questions about what he did and other trivialities.
Then an idea came to her. "Excuse me, Relm, but I need to go to the bathroom. Exactly where is it?"
Relm turned away from Thorn for a second. "Down the hall, take a left, second door on the right." He turned back to Thorn. "Okay, so you want to know how I would balance a Budew's choreography?"
"Yep!"
"Well, the first thing you would have to consider is the Budew's center of mass - in your case, Thorn, since you're so…"
She ignored the conversation and slipped out of the room, not looking back. As she entered the gaudy hall, a Gengar wearing a butler's suit materialized in front of her.
"Would you like me to guide you to the bathroom, Princess Eve?" It rasped, its eyes shining blood-red.
"No," Eve said, shaking her head. "Show me where Madam Necrine is."
The Gengar's eternal smile flattened. "She is busy-"
"Show. Me. Where. She. Is." Eve repeated, narrowing her eyes. "I'm not playing games, I must talk to her."
The Gengar's smile disappeared completely, and he began to float around Eve, studying her. "If you insist," he said at last. "But I believe you will lose all favor you hold with her if you do so."
"I don't care," Eve said, cross. "She said something that, at the very least, offended me. She must explain herself."
The Gengar paused, then nodded. "Very well - follow me, Princess."
She followed him through the various hallways, eventually coming to the ground floor. They entered a dark hallway, lit only by candles several meters across from each other. They eventually stopped at a door without many furnishings - and as they did so, Eve's suspicions grew. Did the Gengar want to get rid of her…?
"Please wait, Princess," the Gengar requested, before slipping into the door. As she waited, her anxiety began to grow again. This probably hadn't been a good idea - why didn't she just take the insult lying down? There was no reason to push this far-
"Come in," came Madam Necrine's voice. The Gengar floated out, a stoic look back on his face. Eve took only a brief second to steel herself - okay, so it wasn't a trap - before walking in.
The study was only slightly more lit than the surrounding hallway, the only light source being a single lamp made out of Moon Stone. There were no paintings, none of the gaudy paintings, statues, or other furnishings - rather, the only thing of note was a single desk where several files rested, and a single plain wooden chair, upon which sat Madam Necrine.
There wasn't even a carpet or rug, so Eve felt cold, polished stone on her paw pads, almost making her shiver. She resisted, though, and resolutely faced Madam Necrine. "Madam Necrine," she said at last. "Why did you lie to me?"
Madam Necrine didn't say anything. As the silence waxed on, her luminescent yellow rings shining in her darkness and her blood-eyes burning into Eve's soul, Eve took the chance to steady her breath.
"What lie do you speak of?" Madam Necrine asked in reply after a few more seconds had passed.
"The lie that you're known among the nobility," she said eventually. "You're not a member of royalty, and you're nowhere near high enough to have colored eyes. I know every single member of the Eonian nobility that has colored eyes, I made sure of it. You aren't one of them."
"And have you told this to Relm," she asked eventually.
Eve blinked. "I - you were present," she said. "What are you talking about?"
Madam Necrine hummed. "So you haven't said anything after what we spoke about?"
"No?"
"Excellent," Madam Necrine stood up. "Relm shouldn't know anything about the truth."
A thrum of excitement. "So the lie wasn't for me, it was for him," she said slowly. "And if it isn't…"
Her thoughts went into overdrive. The lie was that Madam Necrine was part of the nobility, so she wasn't. But the point of the lie existing was because Relm was a part of the nobility since he did have colored eyes. That meant…
… wait…
"... are you his mother out of wedlock?" she asked, a little hesitantly. "Because if you were married to an Eonian noble, then his father would have to be, and you'd be promoted to noble status…" But that felt wrong, too, since Eve didn't remember any male high nobility or royalty in Illusuria.
Madam Necrine shook her head. "I'm not his mother at all," she said somewhat casually.
Then Eve recognized what she said.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" she asked slowly.
"I'm not his mother," Madam Necrine repeated. "I have no biological relation to him whatsoever. I was simply hired to raise him by Chain."
Eve blinked, trying to understand. "Can you - can you explain a bit more?"
Madam Necrine nodded. "His mother was an Eonian noble carrying a child, and she was a target that Chain had their eyes on. Once Chain took his mother and converted her, they had the issue of dealing with the egg she left behind."
"I - why? Couldn't she have continued being his mother, even while being a Shadow Worker?" Eve asked. She couldn't help but wonder when she became used to all this insanity - when her reaction to her family becoming brainwashed and turned into an evil drone turned to mere morbid fascination.
She hated her life.
"Her death afterward was required for the sponsor's wishes, and Chain had use for him before he was known to be a choreographic prodigy."
"And they hired you?" Eve asked. "They didn't turn you into a Shadow Worker or whatever?"
"They didn't want to waste too many resources," she said after a few seconds. "The amount of materials Chain has had for more conversions has been running out for a little over a decade now. Something comparably trivial like this doesn't need a Shadow Worker." Madam Necrine then grinned. "They pushed requisite knowledge into my head, making me exactly the way they wanted me to be."
"Exactly the way…" Eve closed her eyes. "I - I think I've heard enough," she finally said. "You're not an Eonian noble or Eonian royal, and I'm satisfied with that."
Without pausing to see what expression Madam Necrine was making, Eve left for the door. As she walked through the door, though, her head began to ask questions.
The most pressing among them - who were Relm's actual parents? If his mother was kidnapped and made into a Shadow Worker, then Eve surely would have heard about a disappearance in the past decade or so.
Exactly how old was Relm?
A few minutes later, she made it back to the room, the Gengar reappearing to guide her (not that she needed it). Thorn was jabbering on about the plants that Penny had gotten for him and taught him to cultivate (none were Nip, thankfully). Relm listened but looked bored to tears.
Eve silently sat back in her seat, drawing both Relm and Thorn's attention. "You should probably eat more fruits," Relm commented. "I heard the fiber will-"
Eve flushed, the implication not lost on her. "I was not constipated," she spat. She then took a second to collect herself. "Anyway, Relm, when's your birthday?"
"My… birthday?" Relm asked slowly.
"Well, I don't know when it is, don't I? And if I don't know, then how can I plan my gifts?" Eve asked in return. "I'll be turning twelve on the seventh of Apricole - what about yours?"
Thorn's eyes shone. "Oh, my birthday is on the nineteenth of Sepultura! I'll be nine!"
Relm hummed. "I think I'll be nine too," he said, smirking a little. "On the fourteenth of Octolyr."
"Really? Then our birthdays are only a month apart!" Thorn turned to Eve. "Hey, Eve, isn't that… Eve?"
Eve had frozen, the calculations in her head going by far too quickly for her to formulate a response. Nine - that meant that, right now, Relm was eight. She was eleven, so subtracting that meant that she was around three when Relm's egg was laid - when his mother was turned into a Shadow Worker.
There were no disappearances of high Eonian nobility when she was three, and she knew that for an absolute fact. The reason she knew that is that that time period was a very, very crucial one - after all, people were scared if the Eonian Queen Bath had killed, or would kill, anyone else at that time.
Queen Bath, the perpetrator of the Shower Affair that left Regilia queenless, Hovete princeless and heirless (breaking the alliance), and the ultimate reason that Eve was sent to Regilia, had completely disappeared.
"Eve?" Relm asked, the smug attitude fading away. "Eve, are you okay?"
"I'm…" She couldn't say she was fine, because everything fit - but in the worst way imaginable. She began to construct the timeline of events.
The sponsor of Chain wanted to destabilize the Naixian alliance. They contracted Chain to kidnap Queen Bath and turn her into a Shadow Worker - how they did that was beyond her, but she had long since abandoned trying to figure out how Phosophor pulled off the impossible. Chain succeeded, and brought Queen Bath to be converted - and as she did so, she laid an egg.
Once Queen Bath had been converted into a Shadow Worker, they sent her off to kill the Regilian Queen Pasiphae and the Hovetian Prince Thespi. She did so, setting off the chain of events that forced her into the arranged marriage with Yurime. Then, before she could be caught (and found out to be a Shadow Worker, her mind whispered), Chain killed her.
And they took care of Queen (... aunt… ) Bath's egg, raising it to be the Eevee Eonian noble - no, Eevee Eonian prince - in front of her.
She gulped. "I'm… I'm fine," she lied to Relm. "I'm just… a little surprised, that's all."
Relm raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
'Because I just discovered I have another cousin, and he's standing right in front of me.' Part of Eve wanted to scream that in Relm's face. But then, Thorn was here too…
"... say, Relm?" she finally asked. "How much do you know about Eonian history?"
Relm rolled his eyes. "Oh, believe me, I know more than I'd like. Mother always goes on about 'tapping into my roots' - but even with 'high noble' blood, I'm about as Illusurian as it gets."
Eve wanted to laugh at how wrong Relm was being but pushed that hysteria down deep. She'd talk about it with Anna, oh boy. "Our eyes tell a different story, Relm." She'd eventually get down into recent history - and maybe even the Shower Affair, if she was suicidally bold - with Relm, but until then… "What do you know?"
Relm hummed. "Mostly legends and myths - stuff like how our ancestor sacrificed himself to stop an ancient evil demon, or how the valiant Prince Culus died sacrificing himself during the Venitex-Regilian war. You know, cool stuff."
Eve sighed. "Relm, I swear to Cresselia, there are so many things you have to know…"
And thus, she began to teach.
"And now, for the final match - Culus vs. Helios!"
Culus stretched, working out the kinks in his muscles. Most of the fights up until now were easy, but some of them really took their toll on him. His match with Slate had taken a lot out of him, for sure, but it was nothing compared to the fight against Brylle. At the very least, he won against Slate.
Honestly, it was a bit humbling. Collared or not, Aspects or not, type advantage was a serious factor in fights. When up against an opponent as skilled as you, it could be the deciding factor.
The others, comparatively, were easy. Thilia and Sable were too weak to even come close to scratching him, they had comparative type disadvantage and had nowhere near the experience or skill he had. Rowan was a bit of a challenge until he noticed how Thilia was inattentively tracking Rowan - simply following her gaze and coordinating Rowan's attack with a false fall let him sneak the victory. Rowan's soul sense wasn't that good, then.
Kapun, beyond everything, was fun. Brylle was, without being able to use his talent, an insurmountable wall, and Slate's defenses were tedious to get through. Kapun, though, hit hard, and he could tank Culus's hits well with his typing. That was, Kapun hit him hard when he could hit him since Culus defaulted to a bait-and-punish style of fighting once he learned Kapun could dish out hurt quickly.
With it, the match was in Culus's favor, but it was only in his favor. Well within his abilities to win, but not a cakewalk.
He could only hope Helios would be as much fun to fight. Helios didn't have any type-advantage, he had no innate durability, but he did have his talent to make battle difficult, and Culus's spars with him had been getting more difficult as the days went by. It wasn't anything terribly hard still, Helios was still weak and uncoordinated, but beating him took more effort than before.
Helios flexed his claws, looking at them while deep in thought. Culus could only wonder what Helios was thinking about as well. Either way, this was the last part of the exam; if there was ever any time to put on a show, it was now.
"Three… two… one…"
His muscles tensed, and a grin wormed its way onto Culus's face.
"Go!"
Helios dashed forward - relatively slowly, unfortunately. Culus retreated, just as Helios made for an attack, then dodged it as Helios revealed that his attack was a feint. Excellent, but it was still too slow.
Helios growled, the tip of his tail burning brighter than it had before. His fists coated themselves in flames, practically his signature, at this point.
The corner of Culus's mouth pulled up. It was time to see how Helios dealt with ranged attacks. With a flick of his star-ended tail, Culus sent a small shock of electricity at Helios.
Helios, for his part, reacted about as well as Culus could have hoped, dodging the electricity as quickly as he could when it came close to him. Culus sighed as he saw Helios's attention turn from Culus to the dissipating bolt on the ground. There wasn't that much improvement, unfortunately.
Before Helios could reorient himself, Culus took advantage of the opening, using Quick Attack to appear behind Helios and sweep his legs out from under him. Helios didn't manage to control his fall, his tail getting in the way of his fall and making it unpredictable. As he fell, Culus began to charge a Spark.
Helios turned his head and saw the crackling electricity - and as Culus charged, he saw a small amount of fear written across Helios's face. Regardless, it was too late to stop him - the arms crossed over his face would have only little effect.
And true to Culus's predictions, when he released the Spark (a move he was still unfamiliar with, it was something he still hard to practice with), Helios's defenses did little to protect him. The force of the blow shot Helios back, and he tumbled far along the ground. Culus rotated his neck a little as Helios slowly forced himself up once more.
"You'll have to try harder, Helios," Culus said casually. The flame on Helios's tail grew brighter, and Helios began to glow…
… and then he stopped.
"I… I'll beat you with what I have now," Helios whispered, soft enough that Culus was the only one able to hear it. "I'm stronger than I was before."
Helios shot forward, having dug his claws into the soft ground to steady himself. Culus slid off to the side - in the end, it looked like Helios hadn't learned anything-
And then, Helios's burning arm extended, and Culus had barely any time to react before it smashed into him, sending him flying. Tumbling head over heels, Culus managed to dig his claws into the dirt to stop him from flying too far away.
Despite the pain, Culus couldn't stop the smile. A lariat, an actual lariat. Did Helios have Incineroar blood in him, somewhere?
But it wasn't enough for him. Helios ran toward him again, and Culus dodged to the side once more - and when Helios tried his lariat again, Culus twisted and smashed Helios's arm with a horse kick, one charged with electricity while Helios wasn't looking.
The attack was more devastating than his others, and Helios tumbled to the ground, his arm flopping at an unnatural angle. Culus winced as Helios bit the ground, tasting the dirt, to force himself not to scream.
"You fought well, Helios," Culus said after a second of waiting, watching Helios's sprained arm twitch awkwardly. Helios's tail blazed - the ability finally activating, after all of these battles - but it was too late regardless. Even with a power boost, Helios was now crippled and would be so until he got proper medical treatment.
Helios swayed to his feet, almost falling over once more. Culus pursed his lips - and then nodded.
That was a mistake he had made, then - he had thought that Helios wasn't as willing to push himself as he had before, in Fylak. A small kernel of pride blossomed in his heart.
"If you can't hurt me with the next attack," Culus declared after a few seconds. "I'll throw you out of bounds."
Helios growled, draconic energy forming inside his mouth. Culus whistled, before quickly running out of the way as the Charmander fired his Dragon Breath at him. Helios watched the draconic flames with a sense of pride, ducking as Helios brought it around to attack Culus after he had dodged.
It was still too slow, still too weak. In the end, Culus was proud, but Helios had finally reached his limit. He charged one last Spark, even as Helios twisted the continuous Dragon Breath around to attack once more, and smashed into Helios, cutting off the attack and sending Helios tumbling head-over-heels across the ground.
"I never said I wouldn't dodge or counter," Culus said matter-of-factly as Helios struggled to get to his feet. "You've improved a lot, Helios, and you have reason to be proud. But I'm just better."
With that, and one last kick in the back while Helios was down. Culus walked away. Even if Helios struggled, the match was over-
Behind Culus, a light shone. He turned to see Helios forcing himself to his feet, as a light began to shine. Culus sighed. "Your talent is good, but you've already exhausted it, Helios. Even if you use it, it wouldn't be enough to… win…"
Culus trailed off as he saw that glow, that shine, grow brighter than it ever had before. This felt… strange. This didn't feel like Helios's 'Egotism' in the slightest… this felt completely different…
Culus could only watch as Helios's silhouetted form began to grow. His claws began to grow large, quickly, and a thick horn began to grow on the back of Helios's skull. The distribution of muscles in Helios's arms began to shift, heading toward his hands instead of the shoulders. A full foot taller, a Charmeleon revealed itself before Culus, the once injured arm good as new.
'Growth', was the word that ran through his mind as he saw Helios in front of him. Helios's glare held a strange weight to it that it hadn't held before.
"'Reason to be proud'?" Helios parroted softly. "Don't even try it. How does mopping the floor with your fur sound for 'a reason to be proud'."
That was the last thing Helios said before he dashed forward, almost twice as fast as before, and near-instantly, a flame-coated fist barreled straight for his face, filling his vision.
His mouth went dry, and in the seconds before he lost consciousness, he only had a single thought.
'Fuck…'
...
Culus's eyes broke open. Lady Pandora was sitting next to him, idly reading through a book on history. She looked up as he pulled himself into a sitting position, his muscles recovered enough to do little movements like that.
"Good morning, Culus," Pandora said.
"Morning?" Culus asked. "How long have I been out?"
"Two days," Pandora said. "You would have likely recovered sooner, but Angira insisted I extend your sleeping time so that your body recovers properly and strengthens itself. She still believes that you haven't recovered from your travels."
Culus winced as he felt the stiffness in his muscles. "Great…" he muttered. "What have I missed, then?"
"The team placements for the missions have been decided, and the scores have been given," Pandora said, before handing him a small piece of paper. "I wouldn't be too proud."
Culus looked over his score. He got most of the questions right on the written test - that was just seeing how well he could memorize the manual - and tied with Brylle for first place for the battles. That made sense, considering the limitations he had and Brylle's type advantage.
Then Culus took note of his 'practical mission' score - a note that said, 'Failure'. His mouth went dry.
"You're competent, Culus," Pandora said. "But you have survived on luck so far, incredible luck. During your test, I could have reasonably raised the difficulty past what you were expecting."
"The mission wasn't impossible, and I proved it-"
"It wasn't, but it was while keeping Key a secret and its members safe!" Pandora said, some of that calm gentleness fading away for a harsher tone. "You're reckless, Kite, and you underestimate everyone but yourself."
"I believe that they can succeed!"
"But you only rarely actually expect them to succeed. Did you think that Helios was going to beat you?"
Culus clenched his claws, his chest growing hotter with each passing second. "No," he admitted. "But how could I? I had only trained him for a few days-"
"The world doesn't revolve around you, Culus. I trained him as well, and I pointed out mistakes that you seemed to overlook." Culus growled. "More than that, you simply forgot that Helios was ripe for evolution."
"Evolution occurs only once or twice in a Pokemon's life, who could predict something like that?!" Culus practically shouted.
"Excuses. You taunted him, challenged him to overcome his limits, and by doing so, he beat you. The impact was overall positive, but not for you, Culus. Only for him. I doubt you were taunting him with the express purpose of pushing him, did you?"
Only silence remained.
Pandora got up. "Lady Angira will be waiting for you in her office," she continued. "And you should be a bit more polite. You will have to give an extremely good case as to why you should join the missions, and quickly at that. They're finalizing the teams as we speak."
Culus pushed himself once more, this time to stand. He flexed his muscles, trying to push as much stiffness out of them as he could. Once more, he thanked that the collar gave him a strong body (at least, that's what he thought, since that's what other people said about the Collared). "She's in her office?" he parroted.
"Yes, now hurry." Pandora waved him off. "When you come back, you'd better give me some interesting news, alright?" She gave him a fun little wink.
Culus stopped paying attention to her, and instead left the medical bay. After he did, he took a small breath, and then screamed silently.
"How?!" he whispered to himself, harsh enough to tinge his throat with pain. "How could I… could I…"
… lose…
…
...
… Culus stared at Lady Angira's door. He had walked through the halls of the base in a haze, and before he knew it, he was right where he was supposed to be… and he had no idea what to say.
He took a deep breath and threw out another silent scream to release the rest of his emotions (rather unsuccessfully), before finally knocking on the door.
As he waited for Lady Angira to respond, he couldn't help but wonder exactly what he was going to have to do to get on her good side-
"Come in."
Not wanting to waste any more time, he pushed the door open, the weight of the door making his muscles ache. In front of him, at her desk, Lady Angira mulled over documents, twirling a pen in her forepaws. Culus walked inside. "May I take a seat?"
Lady Angira rapped her fingers on her earthen desk, and a primeval chair rose from the ground. Culus clambered onto it and waited as Lady Angira pushed her materials to the side.
"So, Culus," Lady Angira started. "Congratulations - you came in first place for the round-robin tournament, tied with Brylle for five victories." Tied for first. About as well as he could have hoped, but a part of him wished that he was just first place, not tied for first place. "Unfortunately, while your theoreticals were excellent, your practicals left too much to be desired."
Culus growled. "It's… it's not fair…" Even as he spoke, he just sounded like a whiny brat. "If I succeed, that means that I should-"
"There are more important things at stake than whether you can accomplish a mission, Culus, but how you accomplish a mission."
"... I'm not going to take this lying down," he said, trying to give off a threat. It sounded weak to him, however. "I'll… I'll find a way to escape, and I'll go after Chain-"
"You won't," Lady Angira shook her head. "Not if you don't want them to use the keyword and instantly disable you. You have shown, in the exercises, that your subtlety has decayed to the point where your recklessness overpowers it, and if a single Shadow Worker uses their brain, that recklessness will end you."
Culus looked down. "... why do you have to insult…" He winced. "N-Never mind."
Lady Angira sighed. "I understand, Culus. Even with a chip on your shoulders, you have talents in spades. It must be aggravating to hear all of this, to have a critical weakness you have no way of stopping."
"Then… then what should I do?!" he shouted, frustration leaking in despite his previous attempts to show decorum. "I can't just - just wait for everyone to solve my problems for me!"
"You have to, Culus. If you don't, you, and Key, will suffer for it. You're too infamous, too well-known, and too reckless to go undercover anymore, and a Collared can only fight against Chain in the open while undercover."
"... I… yeah." Lady Angira's logic, as much as he hated it, was sound. That 'jurentia' phrase, whatever its complete version was, made him a liability, not to mention other modes he might have that the Shadow Workers had yet to exploit. He was at his most useful when he had control of himself, and that was when he was nowhere near Shadow Workers.
Then he caught something in Lady Angira's words. "You said, 'in the open'. Does that mean…"
Lady Angira interlaced her fingers. "Your plans, while reckless, are remarkably successful. While you can't personally enact them, no matter what, you are a valued asset, and your mind is as strong as I could reasonably want it to be."
"... you want me to be a tactician," Culus surmised.
"Precisely. As long as that Collar inhibits your free will, work in the field is unacceptable - but where there are no Shadow Workers, your free will is unbounded. While your plans are reckless, recklessness is something that can be curtailed with time. More than that, when your back is against the wall, you show impressive creativity.
And if he was held back, he'd have time to train even more - he'd been complacent if evolution could completely turn the tide of battle. He had to evolve, sooner than later. He'd hit his limits, more or less, as a Shinx. A Luxio would be much more dangerous on the battlefield.
Her eyes then narrowed. "Don't misunderstand, Culus. This isn't a reward. If I see you make rash, reckless decisions in the commander's seat, I will find a way to bring Undeath here. Every decision you make will be ratified by me, at all times. Understand?"
"... of course, ma'am." It was irritating, but he would adapt, like always. "When do we start?"
"One and a half weeks," she answered. "Tell your friends of your arrangement, and enjoy the rest of your break. I want you working at 250% efficiency when the missions start."
Culus looked down, closed his eyes, then nodded. "Of course, ma'am." He stepped out of his chair. "Should I leave?"
"Feel free." Lady Angira got back to work, and the chair she had created for him sunk back into the ground. Culus stretched once more, before walking out the door.
Once he was out, he sat on the ground to think.
To become a tactician wasn't the offer he expected, but in retrospect, it was a good use of his proven talents. Back-seating operations wasn't his cup of tea, but if it meant he was able to help the effort in any meaningful way…
… then he'd have to pull it off, and excellently at that. No matter what.
Prometheus shook Phosophor's tentacles. The man was amicable enough, even if a bit creepy at the outset.
"Then we meet tomorrow," he promised to the 'Epsilon Fusion'. "I hope this is the start of an excellent partnership."
Phosophor nodded, before leaving. Prometheus watched him fly away, a strange feeling settling in his stomach.
He had been… surprised, for lack of a better word, when Princess(Queen, he mentally corrected) Arya introduced him to the mutant. Forget an entirely new species, Phosophor was a different kind of Pokemon altogether! He had no idea how Epsilon Fusions fit into the whole thing, and he'd set some researchers to work on it if he could get Phosophor's cooperation later.
More than that, it clarified things he was confused about. Namely, why the Tapestry had changed.
Shortly after the jailbreak in Fylak, Prometheus had decided to check the Tapestry once more - and on it showed Helios freeing Kite from Undeath. He had spoken of it to no one, of course. The shame of seeing such a thing, coming from a Dragnian royal, was too much to bear. More than that, it had confused him. Helios was foolish at times, but not malicious.
But if Kite's organization, bearing a mind-controller like Selene, brainwashed Helios into becoming Kite's ally, then the question answered itself in the worst way possible. More than that, it impressed on Prometheus how badly he had failed Helios.
Now, even if Prometheus were to save Helios, there was no telling that he'd be getting his nephew back instead of a stranger wearing his skin. The Tapestry would likely stay like that for a long, long time, and Dragnis would suffer as a result.
"My king! My king!" A messenger came up to him, a little Goomy wearing a uniform. "Queen Hesione has requested you come to her at once!"
He tutted. "She needs to know when to sp-"
"It's hatching, sir!"
Prometheus' remarks were cut off as he processed what his servant just said. "It's… hatching?" His egg - his egg was hatching?! "Teleport me at once!"
"Yes, sir!"
...
Three hours later, Prometheus watched with awe as Hesione cradled a tiny Charmander - a shiny Charmander. His claws itched to hold his new child, his new lovely child, but he stopped himself.
Hesione had eyes for none but their child Calion, who yawned and mewled. Theus desperately wanted to hold him, but he had to make sure of one thing.
"I'll be right back," he whispered. Hesione turned to him for a brief second, before nodding. She had to feed Calion since being born took a lot of energy out of infant Pokemon. Prometheus swept out of the medical chamber and walked through the halls of his castle.
There were cases when a royal was born, but their portrait didn't appear on the Tapestry and instead appeared as a large black spot. When that happened, there was usually a large threat, such that the Dragnian house was in danger. Now, it didn't happen often (usually only before a large, threatening war), but with what happened to Helios, one could never be too sure.
The night was dark, and as Prometheus walked, he felt a chill go down his spine. Perhaps the air was still cold, but as Prometheus walked, his nerves nonetheless grew more fraught. He sped up slightly.
With very little time having passed, he made his way to the Tapestry. Beholding it, he gasped, his chest tightening. It had only been intuition before, but now, the evidence was in front of him - a large black spot where Calion was supposed to be.
Theus balled his claws into a fist. This wasn't how things were supposed to be at all. This was… this was evil…
Then he noticed something else. Helios's portion of the Tapestry no longer had a silver border - instead, the black spot that was supposed to be his son had the silver border. Helios was now adorned as every other non-rejected royal was - just normal.
Did that mean that Prometheus failed Helios? Did that mean…?
…
… no. No, all that it meant was that the Tapestry now viewed Calion as the next king of Dragnis - the rightful next king. Calion was the Crown Prince, and if Helios were to ascend, that would be against its will.
A weight lifted from his shoulders. While he still owed it to Hyperion to bring Helios back, there would be no need to push for it as hard. Helios wasn't needed for Dragnis's safety anymore - in fact, as it stood, brainwashed under Kite's organization, he was… a threat…
… and even if he wasn't brainwashed, he had been enamored with the idea of becoming a king. To have that taken away from him…
… Prometheus growled. A spark of intuition told him who would be threatening his son - and Prometheus had shown enough magnanimity to Hyperion as it was. He had been worried for Helios for years, and now Helios belonged to Dragnis's enemies and existed as a possible threat to his son.
He swept out of the room containing the Tapestry. He had to spend time with his new son - and then, once he did so, find a way to take care of Helios.
Once, and for all.
Wow, my punctuality is fantastic, isn't it?
