Ears, Book II: The Marriage of Mew

by Mimiga

Finally, after years of hard work and tribulation, the Expedition Society has managed to map out every little nook and cranny in the known world. With their primary goal complete, an uncertain but bright future rests on the horizon. Sometimes dreams do come true. Be wary, for the same can be said about the nightmares.

3. Concepts and Compassion

"Oh geez. You're serious, aren't you?" Panne leaned over the table while the Servine rummaged through his backpack. He bagged up a few of the leftover rolls from last night and shoved them deep into the pack, murmuring thoughtfully to himself. The evening sun poked through the window and brightened only half of his face.

"I am. Even with the whole village's help, nobody's found those two kids. I don't think they're even in the general area of the town anymore. And this is happening right after a lecture that Watchog gave about Revelation Mountain a few days ago. You know how much he loves to twist that story, Panne! They probably got curious and wanted to see the all the amazing things Watchog prattled on about in class, and now they're lost out in the wilderness." Having packed as much as the bag could hold, Vallion got to stuffing the second one.

The Braixen slumped over in her seat, leaning her head on her arm. "So much for that vacation thing. I thought we were going to be done with missions for a while, but I guess this kind of thing just falls into our laps anyways. We don't even have our emera braces with us. Do we got enough medical supplies in case any of us get hurt? Or if the kids did?"

"There's probably enough," Vallion said without looking up. In the blink of an eye, he shot into their room and came out with the two Expedition Gadgets they had brought with them. The first he tossed into a pack, and the other was handed to an overwhelmed Carracosta, who had been observing from the sidelines. "You can be out contact with the village while we're out. At some point tonight we'll call in a report, whether we find the children or not. You call us if they turn up back here without our help, alright?"

Pops looked positively bewildered as he looked down at the device in his hands, but nodded regardless. "Understood. To be honest, I don't know much about how these rescue things work, but I'll do my best on my end. Speaking of which, I sure hope I can remember how to use this. It's been quite a while since I last handled one."

"Don't worry. It hasn't changed too much," Panne reassured him. As she grabbed her backpack and threw it over her shoulders, her irritation started to give way to excitement. With all of the confusing things that have been happening since they got here, this was a simple mission. She knew how to do it, and she could do it well.

Vallion did his routine of double and triple-checking everything so that they wouldn't have failed the moment they stepped out the door. Even after making sure everything was there, his brow furrowed with discontent. In some burst of decisive energy, he rushed into their room one last time and came out with the precious woven sack he'd stashed away yesterday. He clutched to his chest for a moment before he gingerly placed it among the essentials of his own bag.

"Where do you think you're going with that?" Panne chimed in, craning her head to see him zip the object away. "You really bringing that thing up with us? We're going to Revelation Mountain, Val. You might lose it."

"I...Hmm." He stared off into space at a random corner of the room. "I'm not going to let it out of my sight until it's time. If all goes well, maybe I'll..." His eyes sharpened once more. He fastened the last few inches of fabric and slung the bulging pack over his shoulder, securing it to his back with one of his vines just in case the horizontal straps wouldn't be enough. "Let's go. Every second we waste could be the one that decides whether we're too late."

Vallion quickly pressed out into the waning afternoon. Panne stopped just before she stepped out the door, waving to her father. "See you soon, Pops! We'll be right back, okay? Just wait for that call!"

Carracosta gave her a slight nod. "Stay safe."

At the angle the sun was setting at, Panne had to tilt her head towards the ground and shield her eyes. The wooden bridge she had slowly reminisced over earlier that day passed beneath their feet in a single fleeting moment. They charged through the center of town, hardly even glancing at the stalls and shops that were busy packing up for the day. If any of their friends were around, she certainly didn't see them.

The only thing that brought them to a halt was the Arcanine who waited at the edge of town. Their grim expression was made even deeper by the shadows of a sinking sun. They stood at odds for a few seconds, but the Arcanine was the first to speak up. "Are you the two going out to find my son?" When Panne nodded, she exhaled a puff of smoke from her nostrils. "I'm coming with you."

Vallion exchanged a cautious glance with the Braixen, then turned back to the Arcanine. "I understand your concern, but I'm afraid you can't come with us."

"And why not?" The mother was on the verge of shouting. "I am more than capable of handling myself. Why shouldn't I be out there and looking for my own son?! I'm probably faster than the both of you!"

It was a hard claim to follow up on, which was why Panne was very glad that Val was there to answer. "Normally I would agree, but at this distance it won't be light out by the time we make it to the mountain. A smaller party is going to be the easiest way to get around, and a mystery dungeon like that is no place to be wandering around after dark. You're better off leaving the job to us."

"Why does that matter?" the mother snarled, barely holding down the tears of frustration that have been welled up behind her eyes all day. "I don't care what happens to me. I don't care if I have to go through hell and back. You can't expect me to just sit here doing nothing! My boy is coming back home. Now."

"And when he is home, he will still need a mother. An accident in the wilderness could easily take that from him. Look, you can search the foothills around the town more if that's what you need to do, but please leave the mountain to us. We don't really have a way to help you if you get hurt out there. Don't be selfish."

The fire type exploded. "I'm not being selfish! Who the hell are you to tell me I'm being selfish? You've never had a child! You don't know what it's like to lose them-to look for them for hours and hours and hours and find NOTHING! I don't even get to know if he's still alive right now! You have absolutely no goddamn clue how I feel!"

A softer voice cut through the tension like a hot knife through butter. "Arcanine. Stop." They all turned to the Ledian, who had been perched up on a post just nearby the edge of town. It's just Panne hadn't noticed her until now. "Let them go. They're a rescue team, it's their job to go. Everything will be fine."

The Arcanine's face drained of anger and contorted into despair. "What... What am I supposed to do, then?! There's nothing in the forests! I already searched them all!"

"Just stop already," Ledian insisted. "There's nothing we can do but wait. Let them do their thing, and we'll get our children back. Don't slow them down just because you're worried. I'm worried, too."

After that, the Arcanine lowered her head and growled before she begrudgingly stepped off to the side. "If he comes back with one hair out of place, I will gnaw your legs off. Understand?"

It was definitely understood. The two of them continued their brisk march down the path without a glance behind them. The winding road that stretched out into the countryside was already half-buried in evening shadows. Once they were far enough from the village, Panne spoke up. "She could have come along, you know. You were right about everything you said, but still. We've definitely escorted weaker pokemon in worse places."

"I want as few people as possible up on that mountain," he said, then added shortly after, "I hate that place." And that was that.

The sharp left they took followed a fork in the road that was almost completely obscured by overgrowth and negligence. A bit further down the hidden path was the decrepit little checkpoint where the village-folk used to stand guard over the passage to Revelation Mountain. It had been reduced to a rotting husk of wood and nails these days, as there were no thousand year legacies left to protect. That ship had already sailed, and all those memories were starting to fade away like the path they were walking on. What was the point of holding onto this tradition for all those hundreds of years if nobody was going to care in the eight more that followed afterwards?

"Is your throat doing okay?" Panne found the room to speak up in spite of their brisk pace. "Did you remember to bring some of Pops' medicine before we left? We're not going to find the right stuff growing up on the mountain, that's for sure."

The Servine cleared his throat, which was already a good indicator as to how he was doing. "It's nothing, honest. Just a little cough. It won't get in the way at all."

"It better not," she muttered, unsure of whether to completely believe him. "Just let me know if it gets any worse, alright?"

Eventually the trail had become too overgrown for them to continue at the same pace. They were trudging through whole bushes and climbing up dirt cliffs by grasping at roots. Although Vallion didn't need much help getting around with his dexterous vines, she still pulled him along with small jolts of telekinesis from time to time, though mostly by his bag. Telekinesis on living, breathing things was exceptionally difficult to grasp. Inanimate objects, sure. Those were typically rigid and easy to wrap a mind around. Moving other pokemon was like trying to cup her hands in sand and without closing her fingers all the way.

As twilight turned to dusk, the Braixen lit a fire in her palm for them to see by. The flames lapped between her claws and flicked up into the air, reaching up towards the violet sky. They continued once their eyes adjusted to the new light. Compared to the average traveler, they had covered a great deal of distance in a very short stretch of time. Personally, Panne could traverse this kind of terrain in her sleep at this point. Still, the worst was yet to come. They hadn't even hit the mystery dungeon yet. Getting there wasn't the problem, regardless. The hard part was searching for two small kids on a treacherous mountainside that was constantly shifting around whenever nobody was looking.

Vallion was deathly silent the whole way. Not that he was ever particularly talkative, but he had that look on his face like there was some big decision to ponder over. If there was ever a time to prod, it was now.

"Hey, Val."

"...Hm?" he hummed in response after a few seconds, barely noticing that she had said anything at all.

"So when I checked up on Meowstic this morning, I got her talking about some of the dreams she's been having. She didn't remember much about them, either, but apparently one of the few things she could recall about them is the smell of pine. Now there's not many pine trees down by the village, but there's a lot up here, right?"

The only thing he said in response was a nearly inaudible "I see."

She shot a glare at the back of his head and continued. "And the other consistent thing she remembered was a yellow flash always happened at the end, after all the incomprehensible horror stuff. I guess you could write it off as a hallucination from waking up so quickly, but it seems pretty sketchy to me. I dunno. Do you think it means something?"

Vallion glanced back at her with a perplexed look, like she had just said a line of random gibberish. "Maybe. I suppose it might."

"...So are you gonna tell me what's on your mind or what? Cuz it ain't about the two kids. I can tell that much already."

"Panne." The Servine's voice was cold and distant. "Do you remember that Hydreigon I met back at Lively City a few years ago? The one you got angry at because he wouldn't talk while you were in the room?"

The memory was vague, but she managed to recall something similar to that happening. "Kinda, yeah. What about?"

"If something ever happens to me, I need you to find that Hydreigon. Get the Society's help if you need it. I don't know where they are or how you'd ever find them, but you have to. Promise me you'll remember that."

"Val..." The only reason Panne didn't stop in place was because Vallion would have kept going. Her ears bent backwards in distress. "Why are you talking like that now? You're seriously making me really worried."

The Servine glared at his feet with a vicious intensity, but he never stopped moving. "I lied, Panne. The dream I had last night was very clear, and I remember it almost fully. I was a human in it. Not spiritually, not like I am now, but with human hands and legs and- and a human face that I could touch. I've had vague sorts of dreams like that before, but this one was clearly different! I wasn't just imagining what being in a human body would feel like, I was a human. How the hell is that even possible?"

Her heart started to race. Something really bad was about to happen. "I'm sure it was just a nightmare. Our minds can make us believe some pretty weird stuff while we're asleep, right? Maybe your brain just took what you thought it would feel like and forced you to believe it was real?"

"It was my old body," Vallion said without a moment's hesitation. "It wasn't a hallucination, and it definitely wasn't a coincidence. I think something's out there, and it knows that I'm a human. It knows how to bring that part out of me and put me back into a shape even I don't recognize anymore. Just remember that Hydreigon, okay? Please?"

"I won't need to!" her shout reverberated past the trees and echoed off the hills. She didn't realize how horribly quiet it had been until that point. "I won't need to because nothing's gonna happen to you. I would never let anything happen to you! If there really is something like that that's causing all these nightmares, I'm gonna beat it so hard it's gonna have to collect its own pieces in the Voidlands!"

Vallion didn't respond.

It wasn't too much longer before they reached the bottom of the mountain, its looming silhouette barely visible against the night sky. They passed the threshold of the mystery dungeon with a gasp. Much more kick-back than the little forest south of the village. Much more dangerous for kids to be up on, too. She gave the flame on her hand a bit more fuel and as she pushed ahead and started taking diagonal paths up the endless slopes. The thought that something was stalking them didn't help her nerves in the slightest. Something that was after Val, no less. Panne almost hoped that some wildlings would be attracted to her light and come pose a threat so that she could take her mind off of things.

However, just like before, the journey was uninterrupted and uneventful. This was supposed to be a dangerous hike for even seasoned rescue teams, and yet the hardest thing Panne had to deal with was pacing her breathing. Where were the wildlings? She was a trespasser, waltzing around in someone's strictly-kept territory with the gall to light herself up like a moving target, and yet she suffered no consequences! What did a girl have to do to get brutally assaulted around here? Come on, at least give her some sense of normalcy!

The Braixen got tired of holding her arm in the air before long. She scooped up a decently-sized branch to use as kindling for the time being. It burned a little brighter, used a bit less of her energy, and if anything finally did come at them, she could bash it over their heads. The both of them started to call out for the kids, but only their echoes ever came back in response. At least they finally started getting on the nerves of a few locals. A few Noctowl began to take warning swipes at them from the branches, but after a few passes Vallion caught them mid-flight with his vines and threw them to the ground. There was a Drapion at one point as well, but it was so weak and sluggish that it couldn't even keep up with the two of them. They just left it alone and kept on their way.

The first actual threat came with a screech that shook the treetops. Its streamlined form was a blur against the dark sky, impossible to spot when it wasn't directly above them. After a few very loud passes, the Noivern crashed through the leaves and perched itself atop a nearby cliff. The dragon screamed its indisputable dominance at the top of its lungs, furious that invaders would dare enter its territory.

Panne was already mentally grasping her flame before the thing even touched ground. In the wake of the Noivern's guttural cry, she pointed the torch forward and sucked in as deep of a breath as she could. The fire intensified twicefold and launched forward as a continuous stream, but remained in her control the whole length. She molded the flames like clay in her claws, visualizing the head of a beast and giving those contours shape. The Noivern barely had time to react before a flaming pair of jaws washed over it and exploded into a massive flash of glittering smoke. Glitterfang, she called it. It was much more useful for intimidation than it was for actual combat. The dragon sustained minimal burns at worst as it screeched and took off into the sky once more.

"Ha! Too easy!" the Braixen shouted with glee, swinging around the half of the torch that hadn't burned up from the attack. Then she slowed down, the pride on her face melting into somber realization. "Wait, that was too easy. I barely even touched it. Why was it so skittish?"

"Probably the same reason there's hardly anything out here," Vallion commented before he started to march up the hill again.

Their throats started to ache from calling. Panne started to wonder if the Ledyba and Growlithe were here at all. Or worse, what if something got to the kids before they could arrive? That definitely wasn't something she would've wanted to report back to Pops with. They were starting to run out of area to search, however. This was a big mystery dungeon, sure. Anyone could attest to that. The air was getting thinner, though, and a nasty chill had crept up on them in spite of how pleasant the weather was earlier. They were nearing the peak.

"Growlithe!" Panne screamed into the blackness for what felt like the thousandth time, her throat raw and unbearably dry. Her legs had started to feel stiff, a soreness spreading up from her hips and consolidating in the small of her back. The mountain was taking its toll. "Ledyba!" No reply. Who would expect one at this point? "Growlithe! Ledyba!"

Then, a sound echoed back that neither of them had made. They both froze in place, stuck with a twisted mixture of hope and caution. It could have been anything. Maybe the kids, or maybe something clever enough to know how to sound like one. Vallion spoke up in the hopes that the sound would replicate itself, and this time two voices called back from beyond the emptiness. A flood of relief had already started to rush through Panne's chest as they attempted to track the direction of the noise.

They ended up coming to a narrow section of mountainside that would've been too dangerous to check otherwise. Vallion shimmied along the edge first, then beckoned her along with a slight jerk of his head. It went on for around ten more feet before the voices were directly in earshot. Eventually the ledge curved inwards to an open alcove, hidden away behind some brush and vines. Within the dense patch of vegetation were two small figures, the red and orange of their bodies dangerously obvious against the earthly greens and browns.

"See? I told you someone would come!" the Growlithe proudly exclaimed.

"B-but are you sure they aren't bandits?!" Ledyba called out, sheepishly glaring out from behind a fern's leaf. "What if they're gonna kill us? How would anyone know?!"

"I'm pretty sure we're not bandits," Vallion promptly replied before he slumped down into the vegetation for a quick rest. "Are either of you hurt? Even if it's just a scrape, tell us so we can patch it up before it gets infected. Your mothers would rip us apart if anything happened to you."

At the mention of his mother, Growlithe slunk back into the burrow. "Oh. Mom. Right. I actually think that we should maybe probably stay here for- Maybe a little while longer. Yeah."

"You're not getting out of this one, dude," Panne said with a shake of her head.

A quick check made certain that the kids were more or less uninjured. Dirty and tired, definitely, but uninjured nonetheless. After a breather, they managed to get the kids out and started to guide them along the ledge. It was a slow and tedious task, but not one they could afford to rush. Vallion explained how they would have to camp out on the peak until sunrise once their was sturdy ground beneath their feet. Nobody was particularly thrilled about that reality. With the summit so close, there wasn't really a better choice. It was either wait out the night or try to descend in pitch-blackness.

Even with some slower party members in tow, it only took another half-hour for them to reach the peak. The moonlight shined down on the clearing with a reverent glow. A stone tablet stuck out of the ground like a gravestone, covered in an ancient language Panne had to squint to read. Behind it was a swampy pond that once held the mystical water which could cure Yveltal's petrification. After it had emptied, rain water probably filled the space and gave way to a flourishing little ecosystem of aquatic bushes and lilies. There was nothing special about the spot anymore, but it still radiated such a mysterious energy.

The task of setting up of camp was such a routine activity that Panne and Vallion needed only muscle memory to get it done. In the matter of minutes, there was a fire pit full of dry kindling and a section of grass free of stones and lumps. The kids almost looked bewildered at the efficiency of their motions, but it was nothing but the bare minimum of effort of their part. Starting the fire was as simple as blasting a few puffs of heat into some specific places beneath the kindling and watching the smoke start to unfurl. In the time she took to do that, Val was already digging in his pack for dinner.

"What are you guys even doing up here?" Vallion began, setting the expedition gadget off to the side for later in his search. "I mean, it's one thing to ditch school and run off on your own, but what made the most dangerous mystery dungeon in the region your first choice? I'm sure you don't need to be told that this was a bad idea."

The Growlithe's mumbles were swallowed up by the crackling of the fire, but Ledyba had finally calmed down enough to speak clearly. "We...we wanted to see what was up here. We learned about Dark Matter in class and Growlithe said he didn't really believe that there was anything on top of the mountain. He was still too scared to go up here and check for himself, but he just kept saying that there was nothing."

"It's your fault we're stuck up here to begin with..." the Growlithe grumbled just a little louder.

"No it's not! You're the one that kept saying you didn't think this place was real! Everyone in the village even said it was true and you still didn't believe them!"

Vallion extended his two vines and scooped them away from one another. "Stop. This is a serious situation you're in. Don't waste precious energy fighting like that. Try not to give the wildlings something to inspect, would you?" That shut the two of them up. Afterwards, the Servine happily took a bite out of an apple.

The kids were far too hungry to keep bickering. Panne took advantage of the silence to reminisce about the past between bites. "Well? Does it look like what you imagined it to? The peak of the mountain, I mean. I know Watchog probably fluffed up a lot of the story, but that might be because I kinda gave it to him already fluffed. I mean, it was a pretty traumatic experience! The two of us worked our butts off to get to this stupid pool and it just got destroyed right in front of us! So lame."

Ledyba quickly swallowed what was in their mouth to respond. "What? There's no way you guys were here when it happened! It was a Snivy and a Fennekin that... that..." The Ledyba's eyes lit up like fireworks. They stared in complete awe, the realization visibly dawning on their face. "Oh my heck, wait! You- and- and you both- Oh my gosh! I didn't even think-!"

"Didn't think we were real, huh?" Vallion chuckled before he took a swig out of his canteen. "I don't blame you. I lived through the whole thing and it still feels like it was all just a dream. Sometimes I wonder if it even happened at all. Though if this place still exists, then I guess that's proof enough."

A few minutes ago, these two children were cowering in fear at every little noise. Now they were practically beaming with excitement, stumbling over themselves to ask about the events of eight years ago. It was difficult to eat while being pelted with questions, but Panne managed well enough between bites. Her and Vallion managed to dodge around the role that Nuzleaf played, roughly explained the feverish blur of memories that came from their stay in the void, and even regaled the kids about the final battle in the mythical Tree of Life. A lot of the topics were things she hardly ever thought about anymore. It's weird how the past can mean everything in the moment, then just kind of fade away without any notice.

Time got away from them. Despite the intentions to ration out what they had, they ran out of food. It had gotten to the point that Vallion had to physically turn himself away from the conversation just so that he could even attempt to call Pops. He offered a question of his own to take the pressure off. "So what gave the two of you the confidence to try and brave a dungeon like this? I know you wanted answers, but don't you think it was a little extreme to come up here by yourselves?"

"Well, uh." Growlithe locked up like a spotlight had just passed over him. "I don't really have a good excuse. I guess I had a weird dream about the mountain the night before this. It was so...I don't remember what was in it at all, but I just know that I really wanted to come here after it."

"Hey! I had that dream, too!" the Ledyba exclaimed excitedly. "That's why I was already awake when you came to my window! Even though I felt all sick and tired, I just really wanted to see if the story was true!"

Vallion's expression went dark. Panne's ears shot up like they did when she was alert for danger. A collective shiver ran down both of their spines. In the dreadful quiet that followed, the Servine picked up the gadget. "I'm going to call the village and report that you're both safe." He then picked himself up, walked a good distance away, and sat himself down in the grass. The glow of the Connection Orb radiated from his hands shortly after.

As he started to give his report, Panne shortly followed him over. Pops' deep voice boomed through the speaker. A more vicious voice followed, asking-no, demanding-that they see their child. The Servine lifted the Gadget over his shoulder so that it faced the fire, the two children in full view of the receiver. There was a satisfied growl and a belated sigh of relief. The only person who was left dissatisfied was Carracosta, who asked where Panne had gone.

Right on cue, the Braixen put herself in front of the orb. "Hey, Pops." She apparently looked much too stressed out, as Carracosta anxiously put. After a bit of fuss and a lot of pretending to be okay, Pops finally felt satisfied with the call and wished them a safe return tomorrow. The transmission ended and the blue glow of the orb disappeared. The darkness around them felt claustrophobic without it.

For what seemed like a minute, the two of them just sat there. There was a lot to say, but neither of them really wanted to say it. When the tension became too much for Panne to bear, she mustered something up from the bottom of her dry throat. "Something wanted us up here. It can't all be a coincidence, right? I'm not just imagining things?"

Vallion coughed in response, glowering at the ground. "I knew it felt wrong. Everything feels wrong. Ever since last night I haven't been able to shake the feeling I was in trouble. I've been suspicious up until this point, but now? I don't even know what to do. It's not a coincidence. It never was."

"Sleep's out of the question, I guess. We can take watch together," Panne said as she scooted closer and wrapped her arms around him-a gesture meant to be more defensive than comforting. If she couldn't alleviate any of his stresses earlier in the day, what difference could she possibly make now? "If it has to screw with dreams to get its way, it's probably not that tough. There's no way it'll be able to take us both on. I've taken so many all-nighters in the last few months, it's like I've been training for this exact scenario."

The Servine hummed in acknowledgement, but not affirmation. It was practically the exact opposite thing she wanted to hear. Apathy meant he wasn't trying to solve the problem. Val was always either confident in his plans or on the verge of panic, but never neutral. Whatever brought them out here was threatening enough that he apparently didn't think they could even take it on. It had scared him to the point that he was ready to surrender, and that was the most infuriating thing of all. Absolutely nobody was allowed to scare him like that. Ever.

"Hey Panne," Vallion began in a soft, unassuming tone. "You think I should bring it out now? I mean, just in case I don't get the chance to do it later."

"There will always be a later! I'll make sure of it! Don't talk like that!" Panne tried to sock him in the shoulder for being pessimistic, but couldn't muster enough force to do anything but place a hand on him. Just the notion that he was hopeless nearly brought tears to her eyes.

"I know. It's just that, if I don't-"

"You will!"

"Is there really ever a better time than the present?" he continued, ignoring her glare of disapproval. "I mean, I kinda wanted to do this on the hill to make it a little more symbolic, you know? But why does everything have to happen there? This place is probably even more symbolic when you think about it. The both of us died right over there, it's actually kinda funny how topical that is."

"Knock it off!" Panne pleaded. "Val, please! Don't settle for less just because you're scared. I don't know why you're getting so worked up but just try to keep calm. "

The Servine's eyes sharpened, but his features went soft. "It's okay. I'm calm. I'm really calm, actually. This is starting to feel very right. Just wait there a second, I'll be right back." He pushed himself to a stand and sauntered over to his bag. The sound of cloth against cloth pierced through the silence like a scream. Meanwhile, the two children were already starting to doze off in the background, their stomachs full and their guards down. They didn't know how dire things really were. As far as they were aware, the nightmare was over.

When Vallion sat back down next to her, he was clutching that stupid bag to his chest. He took a deep breath and began to undo the knot that held it closed. "This might take a little bit of explanation. Or, uh, maybe a lot of explanation. Most of this is going to be me explaining something, but just keep with it until the end." A nervous laugh escaped him as he pushed a vine into the bag. His breathing faltered, so he decided to hold his breath instead, slowly withdrawing something and handing it off to her. "Panne, will you marry me?"

"Huh? What?" the Braixen squinted at the limp object in his vine. It took several seconds to even process what it looked like, and another few seconds passed dedicated just to disbelief The little cloth had alternating green lines running in a chevron up its length. Panne gently took the scarf into her own hands and ran her fingertips across its fabric, almost certain that it was a reproduction, but there were no woven threads or silk. Only the smooth, uniform texture of the originals. Just like a leaf, she wordlessly mouthed to herself. "How did you... How did you get this? What..?"

"It's real. Look." Vallion pulled a second scarf from the sack and tossed the burlap container aside. "These leaves didn't come from quite as high up on the tree as the first ones, so don't expect any supernatural powers to pour out of them anytime soon, but they are real. It took three years of work to get them. It wasn't until a few months ago that Xerneas finally agreed to strike a deal, but I think it was more than worth it. And these things are still just as indestructible as the originals."

She was speechless. It felt like the scarf would blow away in the wind if she so much as blinked, but it never did. The thing she was holding in her hands was physical and real. It was a texture she never thought she would feel ever again. It seemed fragile, like tugging just a little too hard would split it in two, but nothing's ever managed to do so in the past. Here was a Harmony Scarf-a part of a leaf from the Tree of Life itself. The whole world owed its life to just a pair of these things, Panne herself most of all. Without those old scarves, she would've never had a new body to return to, and would have been trapped inside of Mew forever.

"I..." the Braixen started to say, her fingers closed tight around the scarf. "I- hah. I suppose I should ask you why you went so far out of your way to get these. I mean, the Tree of Life is a place nobody on the planet is allowed to see. Even we aren't really allowed to go back there, and we were the ones that saved it in the first place. So why...?"

Vallion's eyes flitted all over the place, a nervous red beneath his scales. He exhaled. "I've told you about this before, but I sometimes I have strange visions in my dreams. They're almost never substantial-just snippets of things I'm not supposed to know anymore. I've only had it happen a handful of times over the years, too. I feel like it's too complicated a process to completely and utterly wipe a human's memory. Anyways, most of those really don't make it that far, but there was one time where the dream stuck. I just kept thinking about it more and more, so much that I tried to ask Mawile for help in figuring out what it all meant. Didn't really do much good, though."

The Servine put a vine to his chin. "Okay. So. Marriage is, um. From what I managed to gather, it's a ritual you perform when you wanted to be with someone forever. The dream I had was so white and clean, and there was a bunch of people gathered all watching two more. I could tell they were together-I don't know how, but I just knew for some reason. The air was heavy and quiet, like an intense performance where everyone was on the edge of their seat. Then the two humans gave each other something small. Or traded two of the same something. I remember being reminded of our old scarves, and almost immediately afterwards I felt the dream slip away. I woke up knowing that it was called marriage and nothing else."

He swallowed at a lump in his throat, then struggled to suppress a coughing fit. "It was the most vivid one of those dreams I ever had. The more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of the feeling I got when you first gave me that scarf. I wanted to bring that feeling back. I've always loved you, and this isn't really bring anything new to the table, but I finally had something strictly human that described how I felt. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And then after we're gone, I want to go to the pokemon afterlife you're going to, and keep spending time with you then. I want us to be forever."

"Val..." Panne held the Harmony Scarf to her mouth and sighed into the cloth. She didn't forget about the looming danger in the forest surrounding them, but it seemed so far away now. This tiny object in her hands was the product of years of deliberation and work-a gesture meant to be as absolutely timeless as the source it came from-and all of it happened right under her nose. It really did feel like back then, didn't it? Just the two of them and some stupid little scarves. It took all her effort to hold back the tears.

Vallion chuckled awkwardly to himself, fidgeting with his own scarf while trying not to look flustered at the same time. "I dunno. You can really tell that I was supposed to do this on the hill, huh? Maybe it was a mistake to do it up here. Probably should have waited. I handed these things off to Nuzleaf so that I wouldn't feel tempted to try this too early, but even after waiting I still messed it up. There's nobody here to even watch it like in the dream."

The Braixen shot forward and took him into a bit too forceful of an embrace. She proceeded to squeeze him as hard as she could. "You didn't mess it up! Don't think that! I just- I don't even know what to say. I had no idea what your surprise was going to be, but I would have never imagined something like this! God, I just..." Panne sniffled into his neck, unable to keep her cheeks dry any longer. "I'm so happy. I didn't know I could be this happy. Don't you dare beat yourself up over anything. I love you."

That one moment lasted for a very, very long time. Long enough that the cold scales she had pressed so deeply against became warm again. Ever after she stopped crying, the ache in her throat didn't go away. The urge to cough was quickly starting to build up in the both of them, but it was hard to care. None of it was scary anymore. Why be afraid when Val was right here? Panne simply ignored the strange fever that had come over her and held onto him for dear life. Minutes must have passed before Vallion finally admitted that he was being crushed.

As soon as they returned to the dying fire, they put on their scarves. Vallion's rested just above the crests on his shoulders, perfectly filling in the 'V' that split up from the center of his chest. It was difficult to recall a time when he had worn anything that fit nearly as flawlessly as this. It was such a stunning look that Panne had trouble sitting still when it was her turn. The scarf felt so natural to wear, and yet its presence around her neck was impossible to ignore. As soon as she spun around, the Servine's lips met with hers.

Even though it felt as though time had frozen in place, their worsening symptoms reassured Panne that it was definitely still moving. Even the children had started to toss and turn in their sleep. She greedily clutched Vallion in her grasp, shooting scowls at the darkness for threatening her lover. Whoever the monster was, they were taking their sweet time coming over. Within the span of minutes she felt feverish and weak, and a few more after that they were both having a hard time staying awake. A cold sensation spread through her body like a venom in her veins. The danger was very real-even the utter bliss that came with Val's proposal couldn't distract from that.

Thing is, Panne expected that she would have to confront whatever it was that weakened them. And yet, nothing ever came, and the poison it kept pumping into their bodies from afar never got any better. The constant sound of wheezing coughs filled the air. They had made a horrible mistake. The opponent had already made its move while she sat and waited for something to retaliate against. Panne tried to shake the Servine awake, but to no avail. Vallion drifted off with a gentle smile on his face, leaning into her like everything was going to be okay.

"I love you," was the last thing he managed to say.

Panne tried to stand, but a fist of nausea instantly smashed into her guts, and her legs felt like twigs ready to snap. Everything had gone cold and numb without her notice, her body shuddering from the supernatural ailment. There was something in the woods. Her half-lidded eyes kept training onto a single point in the blackness, where the sheer emptiness seemed to shift and distort. The raw malice that bled from that one spot tore into her like jagged knives. She could do nothing but watch as the shadows themselves somehow started to creep out from behind the bushes and crawl along the grass towards them.

It was much too difficult to even stay upright. The Braixen used the last of her energy to shield Vallion's body with her own, all the while praying for a chance to do something more. Reality had devolved into a broad sense of terror and desperation. Any hope for outside sensation was swallowed up into a living nightmare. They were going to get married and... and they were going to... they...