AND WE'RE BACK, AFTER A MUCH SHORTER BREAK!
Arc 3 time C:
I am so amped for this finale aaaaaaaa
Arc III: My Grandeur
In which a girl with nothing to live for makes herself surprisingly entwined with humanity's survival.
Chapter 21: Keebae's Comeuppance
I'm a little bit mad at Niri for agreeing with that plan. But whatever, it was her choice, so it's her fault if she gets hurt or worse. As soon as me and Lucaro and all my pokemon sneak past that last stretch of cave and breach the gray outdoor staircase, I'm out of breath.
"Oh my gosh, another thing to climb?" And still no sign of Dad.
Lucaro's breaths are white, and they hover at his cobalt muzzle like little clouds. "It is alright, Keebae. We should be there shortly."
My bracelet sputters at my thin, brown wrist, like it begs to differ.
Together, we climb one more dastardly staircase, and by the time we reach the top I really think I'm gonna up and evaporate on the spot. Stupid Lucaro with his muscular lucario build is only a little breathless; meanwhile I'm shivering under the snowy sky in my sticky, sweaty Galactic garb.
But there, kneeling in front of a cracked old dais, is Dad. His spiky pale blue hair marks him even as he's bent over, fiddling with the dais, doing who knows what. I can make out red glowing chains—must be the same as before.
Commanders Jupiter and Mars flank him like dutiful bodyguards. Mars is probably fawning over him and dreaming that her Dear Cyrus will "accidentally" brush her hand if she moves it too near his—gag. I bet Jupiter thinks this whole thing is as stupid as I do. She probably wishes she was at home in her slippers, half asleep by a fire, with one of her books at her lap, her page lost.
With a jolt I remember when she'd read to me. Because I told her, when I came here, I didn't know how to. So she made an effort to teach me, which turned into her reading for me, because it was annoying how slow and bad at it I was myself.
I swallow thickly. Don't think about that. Screw her. Screw all of Team Galactic. Screw them for trying to erase the world. That's so dumb. Don't they realize that erasing the world means erasing themselves too? Erasing all the hard work they put into this one? What about all those people whose minds they'd depleted? That means all those mind-controlled people would be free again. Dad really is dumb.
Lucaro flanks me, his aura lit across his paws like blue flames, as I approach the whole lot of them. Dad brought along a couple of brain-dead phonies, too, who are slumped into the ground like clay dolls, awaiting orders. They're all instructed to wear wigs and Galactic garb, but I notice one of the phonies isn't wearing a wig, and her outfit includes a cool black jacket. I kind of want to take her jacket, but Dad might yell at me if I do, so I figure I shouldn't. She's got this awful lot of blonde hair. Kind of pretty.
Reminds me of... No, don't think about it.
Jupiter sees me first. She keeps her voice down as she acts natural, sauntering over to me like she's surveying our surroundings for potential intruders. We're still near the top of the stair, with enough of it blocking us to not be easily noticed by the rest of the team. "Keebae? Why are you here? Your post is all the way at the bottom of the mountain."
I grit my teeth and reply, "I decided the plan is stupid, so, um, yeah."
Her violet brows raise, lipsticked lips pursed. "So..?"
"So I'm gonna make sure Cyrus can't go through with it."
An uneasy laugh spirals out of Jupiter's luscious lips. Gosh, she's pretty too. But she's way too old for me to fawn over her. She had kids, young ones, and a husband, once. "Kid, you know the penalty for treason." She's always been on my side, so I'm not worried about what she's supposed to do to me for knowing this information.
"Yeah. Wanna help me?"
Something in her deep onyx eyes sickens, and she turns away, hands folded across her chest. "No. I don't. I... I kind of want to see the next world."
"Um, why? Dad said we'd forget everything about this one."
She looks stricken. "I've decided there are things I might be better off forgetting, Keebae."
"S-Screw you," I hiss. "I've been through things, too, you know. That doesn't mean I wanna give up and forget all of them." Also I'd been kind of hoping Jupiter would help us. My pokemon are pretty mediocre in a fight, even if they are really good at building pillow forts and cuddling, so basically my only hope is Lucaro.
To Jupiter's silence, I spit at her feet. "So what? You wanna forget me, too?" My cheeks are burning. I don't care. "Okay, sure, forget about me. Forget me, and forget your husband and your kids. Who ever said anything about carrying their memories for them?"
Her lips yank into a cruel scowl. "Keebae, don't talk to your superior like that." She's never cared before, and she knows it. She's just being smart with me. Adults love being smart with people like me, people easy to step on.
"Shut up. I don't need you anyways." My bracelet burns red, and I glare at it. Really? Does it have to react to every single lie? Can't it let me get away with one of them?
Lucaro grimaces at it, gingerly maneuvering between me and Jupiter. She's staring at the bracelet, wondering why it's red now. Well I'm not gonna tell her. Lucaro's raised his paws into fists, and I silently cheer for him to punch her face in.
"Commander Jupiter, Keebae does not want you to give up. She would be very sad if you forgot about her." What? Why isn't he punching her? Come on, Lucaro. "So please, look into your heart and ask yourself, do you really want to forget? I know the pain must be... very great, but do you really wish to forget about the love that you once felt?" Oh my gosh, he thinks words speak louder than punches. "Do you truly wish to desert Keebae, who very clearly desires your support?"
This is the part where Jupiter freaks out about a talking lucario, right? But maybe the mood of the moment is too intense, so her brain momentarily lets her bypass the fact that he's not doing any weird telepathic aura speak. Instead she glances to me, to the band, as I meekly turn away and try to hide its red glow behind me.
"Keebae..." She's thinking, thinking real hard. I can't tell if she'll take my side or not. My heart fumbles in my chest. I hope she helps us.
It's a good thing Mars is such a terrible guard. She must think Jupiter's got it all covered. I can't see her from here, from where she's nestled between some weird old pillars and Dad, but I can imagine her bumbling against Dad's side, using her little tricks to get him to look at her. Ugh, she's the worst. I bet Dad made her a commander only because he knew she was the only person in the entire would who would literally die before she willingly failed him.
She's not much older than me. Maybe if she joined at my age, at six or seven... nah, I don't wanna think about Mars.
While Jupiter muses and Mars does a bad job of doing her job, I sense Dad's voice pick up in the wind. "Saturn has been missing for some time now... Mars, go check after him. He is far too capable to have lost his way while on watch. Something must have come up."
Hurriedly Jupiter pushes me and Lucaro down the side stairwell, and we crash into each other as, just above us, Mars's heels clack over the pathway. She says to Jupiter, "Did you see that? Did you see how much dear Cyrus trusts me? It's really too bad he doesn't trust you nearly as much, Jupiter," before tip-toeing down the stairwell and disappearing into the darkness of the cavern.
I cringe. Now Niri's gotta fight two commanders all by herself.
Then I realize—Dad said Saturn was in there. Like, that boy, the one I lied to when I said Niri was dead. He was gonna be my friend. Because neither of us had anyone else, he said he'd stay.
...Had Niri seen him? Did she figure out it was her friend she'd been looking for?
My heart sinks. I don't know if I want her to find out or not. If she finds out... what's gonna happen to him?
But Lucaro's already shaking me, and Jupiter's extending a hand, helping me back onto the path before the dais. Now it's just Dad, his back still turned to us. We're creeping towards him, like we're gonna surround him or something. Jupiter hasn't said anything one way or the other, but she keeps looking at me, and there's this weird wet film in her eyes, like she wants to cry but she can't quite do it.
Then Dad says all on his own, back still turned to us, "Keebae, you have committed treason to Galactic pride." My heart actually stops.
I've never broken one of his rules before. I kept all of them dutifully, even back when I was a little kid and his only subordinate. Back when he lived in that rock bluff by the ocean, all by himself, and he schemed and schemed and schemed. I don't know how he did it, but he found more of us, people like us who had nobody. He found all the commanders that way, too.
The last people who betrayed him were Mercury and Venus. Yeah, they screwed up catching the shaymin, but this was back when Dad didn't have a lot of other options. I think they fell in love or something, a really unfortunate thing to do under Dad's nose, and because they'd discovered they wanted to live, he took that choice away from them. That's why you gotta commit only to Dad if you're on this team. Having other attachments doesn't end too good.
Welp, now I've committed treason by not showing up to my post. Swallowing tightly, I say, "I was at my post, Dad—I mean, C-Commander. But I left it because I realized your plan's pretty dumb, because I don't really wanna forget about you. Or the other commanders, or anyone else, really."
I'm not really great at talking smart, but it's not like Lucaro or Jupiter can talk for me here. I'll just have to make my dumb words work, somehow.
He doesn't bother to turn. He's arranging this weird old crystal he found who knows where, maybe in someone's attic. We used to casually rob houses back when we were homeless. It really helped us get a leg up in the world. Plus, I got to learn how to use lockpicks. "Keebae, you are forgetting that all grunts adhere to me, and my desire is to rewrite the earth. So therefore we shall. Your obedience to me comes before your love for me."
My eyes are burning. "Yeah, but as much as I wanna be obedient to you, I don't really wanna erase the world."
"Is there a reason other than myself that gives you cause to cease?"
I screw up my lip. Yeah, there's someone I don't want to see erased, but she might be dead for all I know, so it doesn't really matter anymore. Besides, it's been years. She's forgotten all about me by now. I'd forget all about myself if I wasn't trapped in my body. I don't mean that in a bad way—I'm just not super memorable. I try to make the right decisions, but they always come out wrong. So now I'm here, talking to my dad who thinks I've committed Galactic Treason by not wanting everything to get freaking erased.
I wish Niri was here. Niri's way better at talking to people. Plus she just gets mad at them and starts kicking them, so then it's pretty hard not to listen to her. I wish I was that strong.
But I'm not. I'm gangly and awkward and I hesitate before I make the right decisions. Like right now.
Sucking in a breath, I finally state, "No. Just you." And Lucaro. And Niri. And Commander Saturn. And Commander Jupiter. But he's never cared for emotional attachment, and he's not looking at my blatant red bracelet, so it's for the best if I keep it down.
"Keebae, you've been with me the longest. How could you forsake me now?"
Because you're a freaking weirdo and a sucky dad, I don't quite say. You were all I had, Cyrus. For so long, you were all I had. You're still kind of all I have, except now I'm just more tired of all the craziness you pump into my life.
I'm tired of hearing him scheme about breaking the universe and rewriting time or space or maybe both. I didn't really think it would come this far. I dunno if the other commanders know how far he's going with this, but I've been with him too long for it not to be immediately clear to me.
He's gonna erase everything. Not because he wants to rewrite it, but because he himself finds existence so disheartening that he'd rather we were all empty husks like him.
Like... dude...
Come on, not even I'm that messed up.
That helps me find my footing, regain my voice. Coughing into a fist, I say, "You're stalling, Dad. Why're you stalling?" He's got three empty sacks by the dais, and now that I'm peeking over his shoulder, I can make out three doll-like figures positioned at each corner of it. The stone is all that's missing, placed carefully next to its indent without completely fitting in it.
Mars. She must've taken the last of the red chain with her. He needs that chain to control whatever thing he's about to summon.
So he's stalling by poking at me. I don't think he really cares all that much if I betray him or not. He knows there's not much we can do once he gets that chain. He could use it on all of us, any of us.
Even so, Lucaro's been carefully observing the dais, and now he flexes a paw. Blue aura grasps the chalky stone and makes like he's about to chuck it off the edge of the mountain—only for the grunt with the blonde hair to get up and, with superhuman skill, wrench the orb from Lucaro's aural grip.
Huh. She's got a couple poke balls at her side, and she releases one, revealing a second lucario. Lucaro stiffens. For a second I think a really epic fight's about to go down when rubbery footsteps pelt up the end of the staircase as Dad just keeps on waiting.
Niri's loud voice jumps into the air: "I found Layke." Ah. So she did. "Mars..." She rushes over to my side, releasing a deep sigh. "Mars... used the chain on him."
Oh. Oh my gosh. The scientists who Dad had make the chain are brain-wiped too, so we don't—we still don't have an antidote. "Layke's freaking screwed," I hiss, and I punch the nearest pillar. It hurts and my knuckles split, but the pain clears my head. We're all screwed. It's not just Layke.
Dad gets up, about to go confront Mars in the cave and deal with all of us awkward bystanders who have no clue what to do. As he pushes past me and Jupiter, too nervous to really care, something from the skies launches into him.
Like a black comet, it careens from the heavens and lands right on Dad like some sort of crazy accident. But maybe it's not an accident. Maybe that blackened spirit chose Dad on purpose, and now it's—now it's curdling his skin—disappearing into his eyes—and there's a moment where his head wrenches back and he releases a horrible, primeval cry that sounds almost like that of a dragon's roar.
Then he stands back, and a horrible grin wrenches his face apart as he raises an arm and a black power beans straight into Niri, knocking her over. I scream, rushing over to her, but she's hit her head and she's totally out cold. Frantically Lucaro takes my side and checks her pulse—and apparently she's still alive—but I take off after Dad, so mad I can't see through my blood-red tears of utter rage.
But I don't reach him in time. From right behind him, like a perfect backdrop, the very sky chinks away like wrapping paper. Something horrible and shrouded in an unseemly blue-violet darkness peals from the vortex, its many spidery limbs reaching out to grasp this new version of my dad. There's another splitting of mouth and a cry like thunder, and a smell like sulfur, before he's swallowed up entirely.
Thoughtlessly I run after him. I think people are yelling at me, and I bet Niri'd bean me with a rock if she wasn't unconscious, but my dad just hurt her real bad and nobody else is fast enough to catch up to me, so I go through unabated.
I don't even know where I'm headed. But I can't not follow it.
As the hole in the world begins to seal up behind me, a hand clenches my arm. Feels like Dad's iron grip. I flinch, then turn, only to meet Lucaro's tender amber gaze.
I exhale sharply, collapsing against him. "What, you gonna take me back now?"
He stiffens. "No. I will help you, Keebae. I do not intend to let Niri's assailant go without demanding answers." Then his eyes smolder a gorgeous cobalt, and I realize he's about to use his full strength to help me reach the monster that my dad just unveiled himself as.
Something tells me Lucaro tends to hold himself back. Years and years of training, who knows how many.
I haven't said it in a long time, but I take Lucaro's paw and squeeze it real tight. "Th-Thank you." He nods solemnly, like he can hear the rust in my voice. And maybe he can. Maybe he can see my thoughts right now. But my bracelet's never been bluer, and he's coming with me, and we're gonna get some freaking answers.
Hopefully.
