Chapter 32 – Arc 3 (Ula'Ula Island) Sound the Bugle

It was disturbingly silent in that motel room. Well, save for the idle, dull patter of the rain outside—but that might as well have been silence, too. Ula'Ula did nothing but rain. He hadn't been there for long, but Gladion had grown used to the constant droning. Null was curled up in the far corner of the room; he still occasionally scratched at the mask hindering him, but it was as if he were making a concerted effort to stay as physically far from Gladion as he could. For Gladion, who was hauntedly staring at the tiny, dingy television in the caddy-cornered dresser of his motel room, that was just fine. He didn't want to look at Null. He didn't want to look at or think about any of his pokémon, or anybody, for that matter.

He had thought he had wanted Lillie to suffer. Yet all he could think about was that genuine, petrified scream she had issued when Null had attacked her… and that wasn't even to begin to mention the terrifying ferocity with which Null had descended on her. Then, there had been that damned helpless feeling as he had desperately tried to recall Null, just for the pokémon to whirl and snarl at him, dodging the beam of his Ultra Ball almost effortlessly. In a whirlwind of seconds, he had discovered he did not hate his sister, he did not want her to be in pain, that he was only angry—but then, he had realized immediately after that it had been too late. Just far, far too little, too late.

In the aftermath of Mohn's disappearance, Gladion had licked his wounds in silence, enduring his mother's growing discontent and waning grasp on reality with cold indifference, but that was the front he just gave the rest of the world. Truth be told, when he was alone, he was alive with turbulent feelings he didn't know what to do with, manifesting itself as tearing out clumps of hair, writing furious letters then shredding them to tatters in his bare hands, watching the most needlessly graphic films he could find for free, and, yes, sometimes, even… Well, suffice to say, all the horizontal slits through his clothes' forearms weren't always from Null.

Finding out about Null and witnessing the callous, oftentimes brutal experiments and restructuring the pokémon underwent had filled Gladion with a newfound vigor for life, newfound fire to combat the situation he'd found himself in. Null had given him something to work for; before Lillie had vanished, Null had given him hope that they weren't all destined to walk the path Lusamine had laid before them. Now, however, Null had reminded him that there was no such thing as escaping Lusamine's influence. There was a reason Gladion had kept his dark jacket on whenever he had gotten too unstable with a knife available to him for personal use. He didn't handle the sight of blood well, not ever since finding Lusamine yowling her grief to the heavens and clutching a blood-stained green handkerchief as he had in the lab back when Mohn had disappeared, so it offered some barrier between his eyes and the wounds. As such, watching Null slash a claw through Lillie's leg effortlessly, spilling her blood so freely, thrashing her bag as if it were nothing, so aggressively hunting her down like a beast possessed…

He felt so sick and he wanted to be angry and spiteful at the world, but that just took more energy than he had. That hope Null had once given was long gone. Mohn was gone, Lusamine had lost her mind, Lillie might as well have been worlds away, Null wasn't nearly his friend as much as he would have liked to believe, and Skull life was every bit as dreary and then some as he had heard. Sure, he was only twenty, it wasn't as if he should have had his life mapped perfectly out, but this… Surely, he was supposed to have had it more figured out than this? He had driven so far down deep, dark Scorbunny holes that he didn't know where to go to leave them anymore.

Life was an enormous puzzle, and somehow, Gladion had gone from having the corner and outlying pieces connected, to having it strewn all over the table all over again. That thought had him curling into himself on the bed and plucking harshly at his hair, making his scalp sore, as he ignored the TV (even though he was staring at it), and the dark trance meant that when there was a knock at his door, he all but flailed. Without thinking, he scrambled off the bed and leapt to his feet, staring at the back of the door with his heart pounding. Null raised his head from the corner of the room and growled, getting up as if to approach the door, but at Gladion's momentary glance, he retreated and curled back into a ball. A new wave of despair washed over him as Gladion realized he was glad for Null's exercise of self-control—as he realized that he was somewhat afraid of his 'friend.'

"Gladion? It's Plumeria."

She was about the last person he wanted to talk to. He curled his lip and, in a way that was intended to be far more biting than it was, snapped, "Go away." With that, he sat back on the bed, pointedly crossing his arms and glowering at the TV. Why didn't any of the pictures or dialogue make sense on that TV…? Why couldn't he just focus on something stupid and insignificant like that?

"Look, I just wanna talk. That's all."

Silently brooding, Gladion hoped she might decide to leave him alone if he just remained quiet long enough. That hope was dashed when he heard the lock at the door jostle and clank a few times before the door drifted open. At that, Gladion glared hateful daggers at her and, in a slight panic, barked, "What are you doing? Get out!" Did you really just pick my fucking door lock?

Rolling something in her palm, undoubtably whatever she had used to undo his lock, Plumeria strolled inside and clicked the door closed behind herself easily with a flick of her heel. "Gladion, I just want to talk. I—"

"About what?" Gladion cut her off, all but snarling. "I have nothing to talk about with you." Especially not with you. "Get out."

Crossing her arms, Plumeria was unfazed by his standoffish tone. "I just came to say that I heard what happened with Makua, and with, uh… your sister. Right? And Null?"

"And you've come to tell me how not even Skull wants me, how you were wrong about Skull needing me?" Gladion contemptuously snorted, relaxing in an almost nihilistic fashion. Was it really worth still getting so worked up about? "Makua told me plenty about how I was a pretty poor 'enforcer' and how Null—"

"I don't give a shit what Makua said."

Gladion shut his mouth with an audible click of the teeth. After a bewildered moment of silence (as he had been led to believe Makua was nearly as respected as she was), he raised a brow at her. "What?"

Leaning against the back of his door, Plumeria closed her eyes and looked up slightly. "Makua's sick. Been sick for a long time. Not sick like, pneumonia or nothin'. Sick in the head. Nothin' he said 'bout you meant anythin' to anyone back in Po Town. Big G tells him he can do whatever as long as he stays on his meds, but, ay, you saw how well that worked out." She gave a slight chuckle and tapped her shoe lightly. "He's an ol' friend of G's. Saw the whole thing with the Kahuna Kaua and Bulu. Tried to go back to normal livin' after that, 'cause he was scared shitless, 'cept his family ran 'im back to Po Town, an' he's been here with G ever since. Paranoid, combative asshole when he's havin' an episode, he is," she groaned. Standing up straight again, she tilted her head at Gladion. "But your pokémon… tell me. I heard it went nuts and attacked your sis. What happened?"

It was too much to try to empathize with what Plumeria had just divulged about Makua, so Gladion just shook away the thoughts and defensively responded, "I don't know. She got close, he lunged at her, who knows." Losing his angry fervor, Gladion shot the pokémon—still lying a respectful distance away in the corner—a dejected glance. I never really know who anyone is… no matter how close we get…

"I see…"

"So, on with it. You're kicking me out, aren't you?" Gladion clenched his jaw. "After all, you said you wanted me in 'cause my pokémon could help. Well, you just learned it can't always be trusted. So…"

"So, I don't care." Plumeria sauntered further into the room and put her hands on her hips. "Glad."

"I hate that nickname."

"Tough. Glad?"

"What?"

"That might'a been what I wanted ya in for at first, but once Skull, always Skull. We ain't give up on one another that easy." When he finally looked up at her, expression softening in shock, she continued with a slight nod of her head. "I never meant ya any harm, even if I didn't sound so nice then… Yeah, yeah, people in Skull hate the Island Challenge or the Tapus or whatever, but that ain't what keeps us together. I said it before, I'll say it again, we're family. And if ya ain't got anywhere else to go in Alola, we'll help."

"I just don't understand…" Gladion shook his head. "That's not how the others act." And I hate that word, too. Family. Pshh…

"We all got our reasons for bein' in Skull. Mine ain't hardly got anythin' to do with the Island Challenge," Plumeria snorted. "Or Tapus or any o' that shit." She held up a hand, spreading all five fingers in front of him. "Oldest o' five. Parents lived here on Ula'Ula. I'm sure ya noticed, but it ain't the prettiest of places to live here in Alola. They fought a bunch, over money, I guess, I don't remember. I quit payin' attention to it when I was still pretty young. One night was as bad as the rest. Yellin' and whatnot. Pops decided he wanted a drink, Mom decided she was done. He took one too many chances with walkin' home drunk, met a wild Noivern, and she vanished, no idea where she went. Pretty shit night for the Plumeria kids."

Paling, Gladion looked down, at his hands. "I'm sorry," he whispered quietly. He didn't have the energy to be so bitter toward her anymore, much less so after hearing that. He fought the urge to pluck at his hair.

"I was fifteen. The fuck was I gonna do? I had no idea what to do. I struggled for a bit, met Guz, was pissed at first 'cause I still thought Skull were a buncha no-good heathens or whatever, but…" she trailed off and laughed resignedly. "He found it funny, the dick. Me bein' pissed off at him while dealin' with little bratty kids, all o' which hated me 'cause they thought I had somethin' to do with Mom leavin' and Dad dyin'. Well… I got to know him better, 'cause I was lonely and I just… couldn't always take my siblings tellin' me that stuff about how they hated me, y'know? Guz was way more understandin' than I ever would'a expected. O' course, between that, and between knowin' I'd never be able to go for the Island Challenge with my four siblings to take care of, wasn't long 'fore I gave in to his offer to let us stay in Po Town. He said he'd keep us safe and dry an' whatever. 'Course I went with it."

"What… happened, then? That doesn't seem like it would give you any reason to hate the Island Challenge," Gladion chanced asking, cursing himself for doing so at first. What do you care? he bitingly thought to himself. You don't. You're nothing. Give it up. Give it all up.

"'Cause by goin' to Skull for help, I doomed my siblings, too, to always have to live like… this. Y'know what I mean, Glad," Plumeria sighed, sadly this time. In a much less amused tone, and her lips losing their smirking edge, she mumbled, "They never even got the chance to try an' do the Island Challenge. They grew up 'round a buncha Skull guys tellin' em what they thought from day one. Then… they got it in their heads they could do somethin' more 'bout it, Tapu Bulu be damned. Bulu didn't get 'em. But they hatched some Sliggoo-brained scheme to inspire people from other islands to second-guess the Tapus… didn't include me 'cause I was so close to Guz, and they still hated me for Mom and Dad. They pissed off some Island Challenge Champions that protect Konikoni on Akala and they died for it. All four o' em. Gone, like 'at."

To his horrified gawking, Plumeria shrugged. "It hurt. It still hurts like a bitch. Should I have gone to Skull, or tried an' make it on the streets? Who knows. I still don't know if what I did was right or not. But I always had the best intentions at heart and this place fucks with people's heads. With all the bullshit superstition and the drama around the Island Challenge, way too many people lose their lives for dumbass reasons." Unfolding her arms and eyes burning with a passion that was nearly intimidating, Plumeria growled, "That's why I hate the Island Challenge. That's why I wanna help Skull. That's why I wanted you here and why I was willin' to do anythin' to get you and Guz to agree. But don't you ever think for a second that I don't care about you or that I'll throw ya out on your ass. Not everyone has to end up like my siblings, and I don't give a fuck what your pokémon did. It's a pokémon. Escaped lab experiment or not, it's still a pokémon. People and pokémon make mistakes and do dumb shit when mad, or scared, or whatever."

Swallowing hard, Gladion almost fearfully looked up at her. "What… what are you getting at?" His eyes wandered back to Null, then, and he felt a flicker of sorrow. Sorrow for being so mad at him and sorrow for being unsure how he could trust the pokémon again.

"You're still Skull to me, and to the rest of us. Fuck Makua. But Glad, what do you think?"

He thought for a moment, and looked between her, Null, then back down at his hands. His right sleeve was pulled up slightly, and he could see the dull, horizontal scar beneath it. A haunting reminder of so many horrid, wasteful nights before he had met Null.

"Ya gonna let this place take your fight away, or ya wanna help us show it who's boss? It's slow. But every one of us helps. It ain't always gotta be this way." She traced his line of sight, then gave a sideways glance to Null. "Null can be dangerous, sure. But that ain't mean he's a lost cause. Ain't nobody ever really a lost cause, if you ask me. We just gotta be a little smarter and respect that he's not the same as a normal pokémon. Ain't no tellin' what weirdness they got programmed into 'im."

Gladion pulled that sleeve further down to cover the scar. No. He was done dragging his feet. Plumeria was right. The past was the past, and he had been so desperate for a friend and to have someone with him on his personal journey away from Lusamine that he had overlooked the fact that Null was a pokémon designed as weaponry. It was pointless and even unfair to be moody and cold toward him; Null wouldn't understand and would suffer more for it, than if Gladion simply treated him with the respect such a dangerous creature deserved. He just had to move on and be more careful.

He stood up and met Plumeria's eyes with a flicker of determination; he was still feeling too beaten to truly feel as fiery as she sounded, but the promise of future progress, the blazing desire to do more, to rise up and survive it all… it was there. The precious will to surpass these new hardships had not succumbed yet. If he was a soldier in this war against Alola's toxicity, then he was merely wounded—not down and out of the fight just yet. He had endured plenty of hardships before, after all, and those winters had not stopped him yet. Aether Paradise, Lillie, Lusamine—it was all in the past. What had happened, had happened. Maybe it was time it stayed in the past for good.

"I think I am a member of Skull," Gladion answered sternly. "I want to keep helping, however I can."

Plumeria grinned. "Glad to have you on board, Gladdy. Guz'll be glad to hear."

Maybe having them call him by the various nicknames wasn't so bad after all.

Alone in the Hano Grand Resort room, Lillie was splayed in one of the beds. Kahuna Olivia had claimed she had too much to do to stay with her, but, while she believed Hano Grand Resort to be safe, she didn't want to leave Lillie without any help at all. So, she had called one of her Captains that was free to come stay with her (which Lillie had agreed to almost automatically). She felt as if she were drowning in panic and having someone else trustworthy there to help her was absolutely welcome.

Of course, Captain Lana was less than a calming roommate. She was on the younger side of being a Captain—fourteen or fifteen, if Lillie had to guess—and she was a boisterous person. Although the hotel room was admittedly much grander than Lillie had expected, sporting a much better TV system than she had seen elsewhere in Alola and a gaming system along with beautiful interior decoration and furniture, it was obvious that it quickly grew boring for Lana. Thankfully, the Captain seemed to find a game on the system to focus on for a little while, giving Lillie some time to relax and simply think… Though, she supposed with a roll of her eyes to herself, that her thinking wasn't too good of an idea, either.

She had begrudgingly accepted that she was not the hero she had subconsciously believed herself to be before, that she had run from Aether Paradise for herself far more than Nebby, merely taking him with her out of pity or perhaps the selfish desire to have another friend. She didn't clearly remember her thoughts surrounding that anymore. She didn't remember who she had been back then, anymore. Nor did she remember why she was so against carrying pokémon nowadays. Sure, she had hated the parades of injured creatures she had seen back on Aether, but the more she traveled, the more she saw, the more she realized how much of a drag on everyone else she was by being so helpless. Perpperspray and experimentally-strong repels didn't do anything against people—or pokémon—with a murderous rage toward her, she thought bitterly. She didn't blame Selene and Elio for wanting to go to Aether to file a report or talk to some people regarding their parents. She just hoped that was all Faba had planned for them.

Oh, Lillie wasn't stupid. She knew Faba had recognized her, there was no doubt about that, and that he was likely plotting something to get her back before long, and driving Selene, Elio, and Hau away was a step in that process. So, why had she let them go so willingly, even encouraged them to do so? Truthfully, she was tired of holding them back, tired of everyone that got close to her becoming a target. Nebby was a beacon of trouble, one that could potentially plunge the world to unending darkness if what Dulse and Zossie had said were true, and somehow she, a helpless, bitter girl, had become his guardian.

While she was glad to have Lana there, glad to be under Kahuna Olivia's protection, she was once again just hiding beneath someone else's shadow and hoping for the best. She knew that soon, she would have to either rise up and learn to defend herself, or she would have to surrender Nebby and herself to Aether, to give up this fantasy of escape she had been living for so long. Call Kukui and tell him that it was over, that she was giving up.

What scared her was how little she cared about which path she ended up taking…

"So, you got a boyfriend in that Kanto guy?"

Blinking in surprise, Lillie moved to see that Lana was leaned against her bed now, elbows on the covers and grinning mischievously. At Lillie's blank stare, she rolled her eyes. "C'mon, do you? The one Olivia told me about? Oh, or what about Hau? A Kahuna's grandson!" At that, Lana wagged her eyebrows.

With a hoarse laugh and a mocking show of gagging, Lillie shot back, "Absolutely not. Hau? That would be gross."

"Ouch for Hau," Lana taunted. "For real?"

"Well!" Lillie felt her face start to burn. "He's just my friend and he's got so much going on already…"

"You still never said anything about Kanto boy, though," Lana teasingly sang, bouncing her weight from side to side.

"Elio," Lillie softly corrected her, smiling wide without realizing it. "He's… a really good guy." Who might be starting to lose himself in this place some… all because I can't hold my fucking own against anything, he feels like he has to be big, tough guy now.

"Ohh, you like him~!" Lana beamed. "What about him, though?"

Lillie raised a brow at her, and before she could say anything, Lana groaned. "What, can't I gossip a little bit? Olivia yells at me to not talk to Mallow about all her 'friends,' and Kiawe is always too busy dancing or something to talk, I don't get to gossip or talk about boys, ever!" She dramatically threw her hands up. "And they don't like it when I pull pranks."

"What kind of pranks do you pull?" Lillie couldn't help but ask, starting to giggle to herself.

"You know, turning the ground below them to liquid or the air around their hands to a solid, stuff like that!"

Bursting into full-blown laughter, Lillie choked, "Wow, I can't imagine why they wouldn't like that!"

Lana nodded in complete, serious agreement. "Exactly! Oi, boys!" Lana rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "See, girls don't have that problem. I do that to Mallow, and she laughs! And she's a lot of fun to hang out with, too. Mallow's awesome~!" Shrugging, she shook her head, as if to refocus on the topic at hand. "Anyway, you really like this Elio guy, right? Gonna get married? Have a little house at the end of the Melemele Meadow? Two kids, girl and a boy?"

Lana was clearly joking with her simper and snarky tone, but it was scaring Lillie how she legitimately didn't know what she wanted in her future—truthfully, she couldn't visualize a future at all. She was so focused on the here and now…

"Lana…" Lillie yawned, stiffly shifting her shoulders, "I think I should get some rest… Ah… thank you, again, for coming to stay…"

"Of course!" Lana exclaimed. She whirled around to play the gaming system again.

I miss you guys already… Lillie thought tiredly about Selene, Elio, and Hau as she settled in with an equally as subdued Nebby to try to rest some.

Selene had decided that, once and for all, she had to read through that book detailing Captain and Kahuna abilities. She just had to. So, after she, Elio, and Hau were done pretending to make friends with the snakelike Dr. Faba and had joined him at a sleek, white boat at a dock to take to Aether Paradise, she had retrieved it from her bag and splayed it open in her lap, comfortably seated in a covered cab in the lower innards of the vessel. The book was all written in Alolan—which she should have expected, she thought in retrospect—but thanks to her gift (or curse, she wasn't sure yet), she could understand it. Of course, Elio, seated beside her, grew anxious when he looked over at it and couldn't read any of it, based on the way he kept shifting uncomfortably and glancing at it again and again, as if he expected to suddenly understand it if he looked hard enough.

The book, titled Alolan Gifts, a Detailed Summary by Dr. Kuili, had a table of contents that was split into three major sections: Alters, Manipulators, and Proxies. Each section had a massive list of names below it, but not all of them made sense to her, so Selene began to flip through the pages to read through the various abilities in closer detail.

Alters. These gifts are defined by the fact that they specifically affect some sort of attribute or trait of the person in question; the ability is passive and ever-present, unlike those of Manipulators or most Proxies, which are impermanent and summoned as needed. This gift is the most common sort of gift (theorized to be because they are generally the easiest and least crippling to remove from the person in question).

Frowning, Selene started to read through the list, unsure if she completely understood that description. One caught her eye, making her jolt in surprise and pull the book just a little closer.

Moral Detection

This Alter allows the gifted person to understand the view of rights and wrongs or good or evil any person may have, as long as they can have a direct line of sight with the individual. This ability is almost always gifted alongside a Normalium-Z and has never been gifted to a Kahuna, only Captains. This particular gift has never been given by any Tapu other than Tapu Koko.

Kahunas: None.

Captains: Ma'amau Ka, Hakahaka Lum, Ke'oke'o Mea'ole, Holina Um, Ilima Kane

Removal: Moral Detection Alter is believed to be removed strictly through blinding, as no other methods of removal have ever been utilized. Most Moral Detection Alters are able to live relatively high quality lives following their demotion.

There were all sorts of abilities under that heading beyond just Captain Ilima's, though. Kahuna Hala's inhuman strength, Kahuna Olivia's skin of stone, lie detection, the ability to see the full color spectrum (merely called 'spectrum' in the book), something called 'Ultravision' that she couldn't understand no matter how much she read about it—it all started to sound like something out of a second-rate superhero comic book after a point. Yet, there was nothing there that sounded remotely like her ability, much to her dismay. She frustratedly flicked a finger against the pages at that. Hers seemed to fit the description of an Alter, an ability that was passive and 'built-in' to the user, so to speak, so why wasn't it there?

"Everything okay?" Elio asked her, hushed, cautiously looking around the cab of the boat they were seated in. Hau glanced to them from a seat or two away, looking curious, but seemingly keen on keeping his silence.

"Just, still reading," Selene answered him quietly, continuing to skim the pages anyway.

Manipulators. These gifts are defined by the fact that they do not change a characteristic or trait about the person in question but allow them to change something about the environment surrounding themselves. The ability's area of effect can vary wildly depending on the exact gift or person. Manipulators generally have a 'vector,' or a specific part of their body that must perform a ritualistic action or touch their target to manipulate it. The most common vector is the hands, either a specific movement with them or contact with the target via the hands.

She kept reading… Another jumped out as familiar, even if it was still not quite what she was looking for.

State of Matter Manipulation

This Manipulator allows the gifted person to change a specific object or part of an object to a different state of matter, such as from solid to liquid, liquid to gas, gas to solid, or any variation thereof. This Manipulator typically has a very small area of effect and is sometimes confused with the Temperature Manipulation Manipulator when the gift first presents itself (due to states of matter changes often having to deal with temperature). However, testing quickly can separate the two from one another, as State of Matter Manipulators cannot change temperature as accurately as Temperature Manipulators, and Temperature Manipulators cannot change targets directly from solid to gas or vice versa like State of Matter Manipulators can. This gift typically uses the hands or feet (sometimes both) as vectors. This is one of the most common Manipulator gifts, with many Kahunas and Captains throughout the centuries having been recorded with abilities best fitting this description.

The Kahunas and Captains that the book listed for the ability… well, there were a lot, including the current Captain Lana. This book wasn't lying when it said this is one of the more common Manipulators, Selene thought with a twinge of morbid amusement. Especially considering the next part.

Removal: Dependent on the user's vector, as to remove the ability, the Tapu must disable the vector's ability to move or feel. Vectors may be paralyzed at the necessary point of contact or may be disabled by partial dismemberment (or severe injury, even if not total dismemberment, requiring amputation to save the user's life). Users of this Manipulator have an unfortunately low rate o'ke'ola'ana(1) following the removal of their gift.

Although busy cringing at the realization that Captain Lana, the boisterous, jokester of a young Captain, would one day be partially paralyzed or devastatingly injured (which, if what Hau had said about Tapu Lele was anything to go by, was more likely), Selene was confused by the unfamiliar Alolan words. It seemed to be an entirely original phrase to the language, and the footnote at the bottom told her to check the glossary in case the term was unfamiliar. In the rear of the book, she found…

Rate O'ke'ola'ana, n.: A term historians and Alolan scientists use to discuss the survival rate of Captains and Kahunas following their dismissal by the Tapu. Certain gifts have consistently high or low rates o'ke'ola'ana, while others are unpredictable. This data is used by humanitarians across the islands to make efforts to raise the survival rate of Captains and Kahunas post-service. Low rates o'ke'ola'ana are not necessarily always due to health complications after the removal of their abilities, however; psychological distress and, sadly, suicide, plays a major role in certain gifts' rates o'ke'ola'ana.

That made her face go white as a sheet, and she shivered. Elio frettingly shifted in his seat and almost whined, "Selene?"

"N-nothing," she stammered, clutching the book a little too tightly. "Just, reading about some other abilities. Sorry. Haven't found mine yet."

"Alright…"

Proxies. These gifts do not fit cleanly into Alters or Manipulators (as many of them both manipulate the user's environment and alter a characteristic of them) and are believed to be based on the very capabilities of the Tapus themselves. The rarest kind of gifts, these are poorly understood by those that study the Tapus, but their rarity is believed to be due to the difficulty in imparting the gift on the target, as well as the difficulty in removing it. Proxies typically have the highest rates o'ke'ola'ana and are normally reserved for Kahunas. However, in recent years, the rate of Proxy gifts has noticeably increased.

Tapu Koko Proxy

These Proxies have abilities relating heavily to electricity, velocity, and combative power. While individual Proxies have slight differences in how they operate exactly, they typically function in one of three ways, all of which are based on electrical generation by the speed of the user's heart. Heartrate tends to increase with intense emotions, meaning that Tapu Koko Proxies tend to be more reactionary and offensive than others. As the name would suggest, only Captains and Kahunas from Melemele Island have been gifted the Tapu Koko Proxy.

1) Electrical. Electrical generation that increases with heartrate (so the user can create their own electricity) and simultaneous ability to alter and affect electricity around the user. Electrical Tapu Koko Proxies also are immune to electrical shocks and being subjected to electrical surges increases their heartrate, thus their electrical generation, thus their power.

2) Swift. Rapid movement that is caused by electrical generation via heartrate (similar to the Electrical Tapu Koko Proxy). However, since rapid movement increases heartrate, they are capable of moving even faster over time, as the ability is used. Swift Tapu Koko Proxies tend to be extremely frail as the constant high rate of movement can rapidly eat through the body's reserves.

3) Destructive. Electrical generation by the heart increases musculature and allows the user to hit unnaturally hard compared to a normal human being (usually with the added effect of paralysis). Destructive Tapu Koko Proxies tend to be slow and reserved in everyday life, almost lethargic, and this is believed to be due to the body's natural desire to keep its electrical reserves high if needed for a fight.

With the names of Captains and Kahunas all ones she didn't recognize, she continued…

Removal: Few Tapu Koko Proxies have lived to their retirement. The reactionary nature of the gift tends to goad the Proxies into dangerous situations that oftentimes end in tragedy. However, the Captain Ko'ana lived to retirement and, although his demotion ceremony was long in the past, it was written that Tapu Koko sent an overwhelming amount of electricity through his body and simply stopped his heart. Due to the nature of the gift's use and this account, those that study the Tapus and their gifts are led to believe all Tapu Koko Proxies have a fatal demotion process and therefore, a completely fatal rate o'ke'ola'ana.

Trembling slightly, Selene looked up at Hau. That's got to be what he is… but then… she swallowed hard. Will Tapu Koko still…? Then, a bolt of anger flashed through her. How can he come to me in a vision and claim Alola needs help, he needs help, need me for it, and then, he's apparently been killing Captains and Kahunas, too? How can I not be sure he's no better than Tapu Lele, like what Hau explained? She clenched her jaw. She couldn't be sure, but she had been roped into it all the same. Oh, how infuriating it was to think she had been drafted into the cruel games of a malevolent, living god! Yet, she still needed to know more. She had to know more. Maybe if she knew more, just maybe, there could be something she could do… Something. Anything.

The Tapu Lele Proxy was also divided into subcategories, but the gist of it was, they all focused on healing and the acceleration of growth (particularly of plants). Tapu Bulu Proxies were all about destruction and using plant life to do so. Tapu Fini Proxies were apparently poorly understood according to the book, since there had been so few, but it was believed to be focused on weather manipulation and detoxification abilities. But what caught her eye was that there was actually a fifth Proxy type.

Unknown Proxy

Although not based on a Tapu of any kind, these gifts are categorized as the Unknown Proxy since so little is known about them and so few have been gifted with them, they do not fit cleanly into the Alter or Manipulator categories, and do not align with any known capabilities of the Tapus. There are three gifts currently regarded as Unknown Proxies, each having only been gifted once except for the third, and all of them have been given to past Kahunas.

Mind Jumper

The Mind Jumper is an Alter in the sense that the person themselves passively can view the memories of others and a Manipulator in the sense that they can display memories for others to view around them. However, the exact usage of the gift is relatively unknown. The only known recipient of the Mind Jumper Unknown Proxy was Kahuna Kaua, a Kahuna of Poni Island, from Tapu Fini, and he was uncooperative with researchers documenting his gift. However, based on observations and firsthand accounts, some understanding has been gathered.

1) Memory Jumping. The Mind Jumper has the ability to "jump" into the memories of others around them, by either concentrating on the target intently or by touching them (witness accounts vary). Secondhand accounts from people close to Kahuna Kaua suggest that the Mind Jumper views the memories from the target's perspective, feeling their emotions and thoughts throughout it, while still maintaining their self-awareness.

2) Memory Displaying. The Mind Jumper has the ability to display memories for others to view around them. It is an intangible, yet three-dimensional image that lays out around the individual in a radius. Unlike in Memory Jumping, the memories are viewed omnisciently. It is unknown how the Mind Jumper performs this ability as witnesses are rare and uncooperative.

3) Dream Jumping. Older Skull Gang members rumor that Kahuna Kaua was capable of visiting them in their dreams and he would later talk to them in person and be knowledgeable about the dream, leading many to believe that the Mind Jumper has the ability to communicate to others via dreams. However, again, witnesses are rare, uncooperative, and even those that are do not understand how it worked.

Kahunas: Kaua I'miu

Captains: None.

Removal: Unknown. Kahuna Kaua was killed by Tapu Bulu by a summoned lightning strike prior to a proper demotion. However, based on comparable gifts dealing with superhuman mental capabilities, it is believed that the removal process for the Mind Jumper would simply be mental degradation (premature dementia or massive memory processing issues), since it would make it impossible to Memory Jump, Memory Display, or Dream Jump competently. However, it is completely possible that death is the removal process, as almost all Proxies have high rates o'ke'ola'ana.

Closing the book, Selene quietly tucked it under her arm and stared at her shoes. Had she not been so unnerved by what she had read, she might have thought to give some consideration to the book claiming Kahuna Kaua was from Poni; after all, Ilima had told her he had been struck down on Ula'Ula, leading one to naturally assume that was his home island. Yet, those thoughts were lost as she continued reading, and ultimately, when she finished, they were long gone. Elio nudged her with his elbow. "Selene?" he called again. "Did you find it, or…?"

"I did," she answered slowly, swallowing against a dry, dry mouth.

Nervously, Elio pressed, "So…"

"The last person to have what I have was the leader of the Skull Gang," she spilled, covering her face with her hands after. It muffled her voice (which she would have been more thankful for if she weren't so upset, considering how it was supposed to be a secret). "You know, the one who got killed by the Tapu, and started all the nonsense with Skull? Nothing's known about it. I don't even know how to do half the things it says I should be able to do!"

"Selene, we'll figure it out," Elio tried to soothingly say, reaching to grab one of her arms. She wrenched it away and frustratedly moved her hands to clutch fistfuls of her own hair.

"Will we?" she pointedly asked. "Because I don't know." So many people have apparently tried to do exactly what I'm doing now, fight this system, get out of here, you name it, they've tried. And they all failed. Kahuna Kaua was killed for it. What the hell hope do I have against it? What does Tapu Koko want from me?

Hau had craned his neck to worriedly look over at them. "What wrong?" he asked anxiously.

"Everything," Selene grumbled, leaning her head against the seat ahead of her. Even if we do find my parents, what then? I still have this stupid gif—curse. She curled her lip at the way the book had consistently referred to the abilities as 'gifts.' Will they hunt me down? And what about Hau!? she internally despaired. His is apparently completely fatal! Oh, mine has at least a chance to live, but I won't remember a damn thing!

"We're almost at Aether, I think," Elio nervously told her. "Selene… do you want to talk about—"

"No."

"But… maybe—"

"I said no. I don't want to talk about that now, or again, or ever. No. I hate that book." With that, she tossed it into the empty seat beside her and refused to look at it. Maybe that was why she should have heeded the warnings that Kahunas and Captains tended to avoid reading about the demotion processes for their curses.

She supposed now she really would find out if she'd rise above it all or break like the rest.