Chapter Fourteen
Catching Wind of the Future
There was no lively birdsong or whispering of wind through the leaves to rouse Lynn the next morning. Despite her apprehensions and the hard ground, she had somehow managed to fall asleep after Sparkacus's departure.
Already, it was morning, and the brisk early breeze was ruffling at her hair. Still half-asleep, Lynn rolled over. Something tickled her nose, forcing out a sneeze.
"Bless you!" came a cheery voice.
Prying open one eye, Lynn made out a small, blurred form high above her. Eyelid dropping back into place, she turned and pressed her face more closely against the ground. To her surprise, it wasn't cold stone that she felt below her cheek. It was something soft and cushiony.
Eyes opening, Lynn saw that she had been sleeping in a bed of moss. She felt around with her hands before rising into a sitting position.
Fine verdant moss covered the entire floor of the courtyard, tinged with beads of dew. Blades of grass poked through cracks in the stone, most still too stubby to flutter in the morning breeze. And here and there, delicate leaved plants had sprung up along with the grass. Many were no more than tiny sprouts, straining their small limbs towards the sun. But others already displayed fragile flower buds, or even vibrant unfurled blossoms.
Behind her, Eppie giggled in delight. "It's just like a forest!" the little girl exclaimed, throwing her arms out and spinning in a giddy circle.
Which wasn't exactly true, but for a city kid like Eppie, probably pretty close.
"All this wasn't here last night," Lynn whispered confusedly as Eppie flopped onto her stomach. Walking over, Lynn saw that the other girl was staring intently at a small wildflower.
"So little," Eppie said, reverently placing a finger on one of the frail white petals.
A rush of footsteps sounded up the steps leading to the trapdoor. "Rise and shine, everybody!" rang Lark's clear voice.
Turning, Lynn saw the silvery-haired girl hoist herself into the courtyard, balancing her usual wooden staff in one hand. Ruemarie the Bellossom, whom Lynn still remembered from last night, came scurrying up after her.
"Good morning!" Ruemarie chirped, holding up its flower-petal skirts as it hurried forward. Seeing the flora-filled courtyard for the first time, it immediately dropped its skirts and clapped a hand to its mouth. "Oh my!"
"Looks like our resident forest spirit's worked up some of her magic," Lark remarked, prodding Lynn with the tip of her staff.
Lynn could only shake her head. "I didn't do anything!"
"Relax, girl," Lark laughed, giving Lynn a light whack on the shoulder. "Whatever happened, it looks a heck of a lot prettier than before. As long as Cro doesn't find out...and he won't, right, Ruey?"
The Bellossom nodded encouragingly. "Cro will be hard at work all day long," it informed Lynn. "We have plenty of time to think up an excuse for why he shouldn't come here any time soon."
"Eppie? You won't tell Cro, will you?"
No answer.
"Eppie?" Lark asked again, bending down beside her.
The tip of Eppie's nose just brushed the ivory blossom, and her breathing had become even and deep. A flower as small as that couldn't possibly possess much fragrance. Yet, to look at Eppie lying there fully entranced, you'd think she'd discovered the most heavenly of scents. Indeed, the small girl's face was beaming with undiluted ecstasy.
She's never seen a live flower before, Lynn realized with a pang. She never had the chance, I guess.
"You like the pretty flower, Ep? Here, let me get it for you."
Eppie snapped out of her trance as Lark's hand descended, and quickly cupped her own fingers over the fragile plant. "I like it best when it's alive," she said simply to the older girl. "And don't worry 'bout Cro. I won't tell him."
Lark smiled and patted Eppie affectionately on the head, but the little girl didn't even notice. She was too busy breathing in a scent that no one else could smell, humming a little to the beat of a tune only she could hear.
Straightening, Lark exchanged a secret look with Ruemarie. It contained no confusion or exasperation, as one might expect. In the brief glimpse that she caught, Lynn could see only pity in the eyes of Eppie's friends.
That was strange. Why should they feel sorry for Eppie when she was obviously so happy?
The clank of something heavy and metallic startled Lynn out of her idle musings. Someone else was coming up the stairs and through the trapdoor, dragging what sounded like a rather bulky object behind them.
Instantly, Lark and Ruemarie raced past to help whoever it was with their burden. Lynn hung back by Eppie as the others, panting and groaning, heaved a large metal basin into the courtyard.
"Right on time, Dorissa," Lark grinned. Lynn craned her head to the side, just in time to see a plump Azumarill emerge from the opposite end of the basin.
"Anything for Cro and the rest," the Azumarill said benignly. "Shall I fill it up?"
"Yes." A mischievous gleam flashed through Lark's blue eyes. "As cold as you can make it."
Curious, Lynn inched forward, almost tripping over Eppie as she did. Regaining her balance, Lynn approached the scene from behind Lark. She peeked over the tall girl's shoulder as the Azumarill aimed a blast of water into the center of the basin. The Pokémon held itself steady until the water grew level with the basin's edge. Then, and only then, did it pull away to take a breath of air.
Standing on the tips of its toes, Ruemarie stuck a dainty hand into the basin. It snatched it back almost instantly, teeth chattering. "Oh my! That is chilly! Are you sure it's wise, Lark?"
"Positive. Thanks, Dorissa. We'll bring the tub back when we're done."
"Take your time," the Azumarill replied as it walked away.
Next thing Lynn knew, Lark's strong hand was around her wrist and dragging her towards the water basin. "I'm not sure what we're going to do with her hair," Lark said to Ruemarie as she seated Lynn on the basin's edge. "It's way too tangled to brush out."
"Should we cut it, then?"
Lark took a handful of Lynn's dark hair and frowned. "That's what I was thinking, too. How about just below the chin?"
"Well..." Ruemarie hesitated, squinting as it tried to visualize Lark's suggestion. "Yes, I believe that'll work."
"Wait!" Lynn managed to cry before Lark could find a pair of scissors. "What are you doing?"
Lark's look embodied the essence of perfect innocence. "Just trying to make you look nice, Lynn," she replied, swiftly grabbing the scissors Ruemarie handed her. "You can't really expect anyone to believe you're a Master if you don't at least look the part."
Before Lynn could object, the scissors were at the side of her head. She watched mournfully as dark locks of hair began falling towards the ground, heaping together in large clumps. "Once we're done with this," Lark explained, voice a little gentler than before, "you can wash up in the tub Dorissa brought for you. I think Dorissa also gave us some soap; you should probably use that, too."
Lynn winced as Lark tugged her head back. "What's 'soap'?"
"That explains a lot," Lark grinned, still snipping away.
The sun was bright, and the earth felt alive for the first time in years. Looking about at the array of foliage around her, Eppie could feel life coursing through the veins of every delicate leaf, each tender blossom. She pressed her face against the ground, blissful to find not the hard surface of rock, but the soft cushioning of moss. Stone had a cold, stoic elegance all its own, but stone did not live. Not like this.
Lynn's yelp, and the splash of water that followed, did nothing to disturb Eppie. She felt as if she could lie here forever, soaking up sunlight as serenely as the plants that surrounded her.
The wind pawed playfully at Eppie's half-turned face. It streamed through her dull-colored hair, batting at her limp tuft of a ponytail. Smiling dreamily, the small girl shifted onto her back, letting the breeze run across her entire face.
She hadn't been thinking much of anything, but something was shifting in the back of Eppie's head. A gentle whisper drifted just above her face, accompanied by a rush of wind that was much chillier than before. Shivering, Eppie rose into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around her suddenly cold body.
Gazing about, she saw that same frigid wind tear through a nearby cluster of wildflowers. In an instant, it was back, entangling itself in Eppie's hair and clothes. Not missing a moment, it raced along the wall of the courtyard, hissing as it brushed against the stone.
"Epiphany?" Eppie whispered uncertainly to the wind. "Is this a new game?"
One tendril of the breeze swept back, murmuring in her ear. A smile spread across Eppie's small face and she nodded enthusiastically. "Let's go, Epiphany!" she said in a soft, but eager voice. "Ready when you are!"
With another hiss, the breeze was off. Eppie quickly tiptoed after it, careful not to disturb the others. She slipped down the trapdoor and hurried down the stairs without much trouble, only a step behind her invisible companion.
The breeze wasted no time in leading her down a narrow passage and back up a different flight of stairs. This stairway was much longer than the first. As she puffed her way up the last couple steps, Eppie couldn't help but giggle. Epiphany always came up with fun new games. What the surprise at the end of this one would turn out to be, she had no idea. But, knowing Epiphany, it was bound to be something exciting!
There was no door at the top of these steps, only an arched opening leading back outside. Eppie ran into the sunlight with her arms spread far apart.
She was standing on top of a long stone wall. Glancing down, Eppie spotted the little courtyard, complete with stretches of green. At the yard's center, she could even make out the shapes of Lynn, Lark, and Ruemarie. And if she bent her head just the right way, the wind could carry up their voices to her. She smiled to hear Lark's laughing commands, Ruemarie's reassuring words, and Lynn's shouts of indignation as she was repeatedly dunked underwater.
Even tearing her gaze away from the scene below, Eppie's mind still reveled from what she had just seen. A wave of exhilaration flooded her body and she did a little spin, right there on the spot. "I've never been so high up before!" Eppie told her companion of a breeze elatedly. "This is the best surprise ever, Epiphany!"
The wind sighed contentedly, winding itself around Eppie's bare arms before taking off again. Humming happily to herself, Eppie followed the insistent gust of air down the wall.
To her surprise, she was not the only person up there. Someone else was sitting a little ways off, with their back to Eppie as she approached. As she came closer, she realized whoever the person was wasn't even on the wall. They were sitting atop what looked like a puffy hovering cloud. Only this cloud was green instead of white, and it glowed even in the bright sunlight.
"Hello!" Eppie called, waving a hand. The figure on the green cloud remained immobile.
Puzzled, Eppie walked closer. The cloud not only glowed, it pulsed with a constant inner light. In fact, it reminded Eppie of those bubbles of psychic light Xander liked to sit on. Maybe this person was a Psychic, one too busy concentrating to pay attention to her.
Intrigued by such a thought, Eppie scurried up. She sat down herself and let her legs dangle in the air, just like the person on the cloud did. Then she closed her eyes, willing herself to concentrate hard in hopes of unlocking some hidden power of her own.
"What's that girl doing up here?" came the sudden voice of a boy.
Eppie's eyes shot back open. The person on the cloud, the boy who'd spoken, was leaning forward. Craning her neck forward as well, Eppie caught a glimpse of a small Eevee nestled in the floating boy's lap.
"Vee-eee?"
There was an exaggerated sigh from the floating boy. "Don't ask me how she got up. I thought there was no way up here, not from the ground."
"I'm sorry," Eppie said to the boy. "But there is a way to get here from the ground. I came up the stairs with my friend Epiphany. She showed me the way."
This time, the boy turned towards Eppie. He was a pale child, with a faded complexion and old-fashioned clothes. But his face grew even more ashen when he looked at her, as if it had completely drained of blood. "Who are you?" he demanded, cloud revolving so that he faced Eppie directly.
"My name's Eppie," the girl replied readily. "And this is Epiphany!" She giggled as the wind tickled her cheeks. "She's my friend!"
The boy's dark gaze widened. The Eevee in his lap, a slight creature with large golden eyes, gave a small yap. Instantly, the boy's face assumed a hard, sharp look, one that gave Eppie several misgivings.
"So, Eppie," he said, leaning one arm casually against the side of the wall. "Quick question. Can you see me? Or is it your buddy Epiphany who told you I'm here?"
"Of course I can see you," Eppie answered, somewhat bemused. "And Epiphany can see you, too. Right, Epiphany?" She leaned into the wind, nodding as it ruffled her hair. "Yep, that's right!"
But from the boy's incredulous expression, Eppie had the feeling she'd said something horribly wrong. The Eevee, too, had trained an intense stare upon her. Growing more and more uncomfortable, Eppie started to scoot down the wall. A gust of air roared into her ears as she did.
"Hey, stop!" the boy called out as Eppie scrambled onto her feet. "Watch out, you're going to fall!"
No sooner had the words popped out than Eppie felt herself losing balance. Crying out, she tilted over the edge of the wall...
Only to be propped back up a second later by a hand of emerald light.
"Thank you," she said breathlessly, sitting back down and tucking her feet beneath her body. The glow of the psychic creation subsided, flickering away into a wisp of green smoke.
"No problem," the boy said with a grin. Nonchalant as you please, he extended a hand. "Name's Wreander. And my friend here's Eon."
The golden-eyed Eevee gave a little yip of acknowledgement.
Eppie reached forward to shake Wreander's hand. She nearly fell off the wall again once she saw what Wreander was wearing over said hand: a glove with silver claws protruding from the fingers.
"A bit clumsy today, aren't we?" Wreander said, turning his clawed glove so that the sharp pieces of metal flashed. His easy smile twisted itself into a smirk as he noted Eppie's wide eyes. "Weren't you ever told not to stare? Kids today. So rude." Still smirking, he retracted his hand without giving her another chance to shake it.
"I wasn't trying to be rude," Eppie said as she tried to position herself closer to the glowing cloud.
"Just scared."
She shook her head and tightened her grip. "Epiphany brought me here," Eppie told Wreander simply. "Epiphany wouldn't bring me to someone I should be scared of."
Wreander nearly fell off his cloud laughing. "You put a lot of trust into this Epiphany of yours, don't you?"
Pulling her legs into a crouch, Eppie nodded absentmindedly. Then, pursing her lips in concentration, she reached a shaking hand off the wall. Her bony fingers grasped the edge of Wreander's cloud, and to her dismay, passed right through its vaporous surface.
Her feet, balanced so precariously on the edge of the wall, slipped at last. Once again, Eppie felt herself plummeting. She saw a streak of emerald light racing down after her, but it was too slow! There was no way it could draw even in time.
The ground rushed up beneath her, the reality of the cold stone floor finally slamming into Eppie's numbed brain.
But before she had a chance to scream, a second column of light shot up from below. One second, Eppie was falling. The next, she was enveloped in a shimmering green bubble, one of a paler hue than Wreander's psychic light.
Peering through the bubble's translucent walls, Eppie saw that she'd been caught less than a yard above the ground. Just several steps away sat Lark and Ruemarie chatting with each other. Lynn, sitting between the two, looked rather pained as the others drew wooden combs through her knotted hair.
"Hey!" Eppie called, knocking a fist against the side of the bubble. "Ruey! Lark! Lynn! It's me!"
Not a one of them turned. Frustrated, Eppie banged harder.
Before she could get out another word, the ground rolled out underneath her feet. Losing her balance, Eppie fell onto her rear as both she and the bubble started to ascend. The green aura that surrounded its slick surface fizzled away as the bubble stopped moving. Blinking confusedly, Eppie saw she was sitting back atop the wall. The protective bubble was gone and Wreander was watching her with a look teetering between amusement and annoyance.
"That," he said in a voice that, similarly, sounded both wry and exasperated, "was a very stupid thing to do."
"I was only trying to shake your hand," Eppie told him, slightly hurt by this remark. "But you were too far away from me to reach."
Wreander raised one pale eyebrow. "And you fell too far for me to catch," he retorted with a sneer. "Lucky my friend was alert enough to save you from becoming a splat on the ground."
As if on cue, a ring of jade sparkles sprang up around Wreander's shoulder. Eppie gazed, entranced, as the sparkles swirled together, forming the outline of a small, elfish figure. Slender antennae curled forward from the creature's smooth-skinned head, long arms folded themselves across its body. As Eppie bent forward, a pair of luminous sapphire eyes shot open, accented by the black that ringed them.
"Bii!" the owner of the eyes chimed, unfurling her translucent wings and hopping into the air. Eppie giggled as the fairy-like creature flew over her head, darting first under one ear, than over the other.
"She likes you," Wreander drawled, languidly watching both of them. "Big surprise there. Celebi's a real softie when it comes to kids."
"Bii bii!"
Wreander dodged the pale green sparks that Celebi shot in his direction. "Why don't you do me a favor?" he laughed. "Tell me what you see for our new friend here."
The petite fairy treated him to a blink of her gleaming blue eyes. "Biii?"
Wreander's face flared a brief emerald, making Celebi's face light up almost instantly. "Biii ii'bi iii," she chirped, giving Eppie a quick pat on the shoulder.
Gently, Celebi placed her slender fingers on either side of Eppie's face. The girl did not recoil at the unexpected movement. Tilting her chin up, she met Celebi's intense azure gaze.
"Bii," Celebi said with a satisfied smile. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward and pressed her smooth forehead against Eppie's own.
The wall fell out from under Eppie as if it'd been suddenly yanked. Choking on an unborn scream, she hurtled downward through the darkness that surrounded her. Wind streamed over Eppie's bare arms, and as she finally opened her mouth, deep into her throat. She gasped at its unexpected frigidity, the merciless callousness with which it tore at her body.
Twin bright streaks of blue, perhaps Celebi's wide eyes, materialized from the black void. As Eppie fell, they seemed to run into the darkness and disappear. Eppie kept on plummeting down without any indication of how far she'd fallen, or how far she had left to fall before...
The darkness exploded into a blinding sky of white. Howling in rage, an arctic wind hit Eppie full in the body, wrenching her around and around in a violent cyclone. Shards of ice entered the swirling storm, stabbing into her bruised skin.
Between the flying bits of ice, Eppie could catch glimpses of the sky changing color. Red seeped through the grayish-white like blood through a worn towel. Her dizzy head barely managed to distinguish the red blots as they began to darken and shift.
Without warning, a green flare filled the air. The wind gave one last shove, hurtling Eppie so hard her neck almost snapped in two. Gasping for breath, she twisted her throbbing neck back into place, finding her face turned towards the sky as she fell once more.
The blots of red had clarified now. In their place loomed a pair of eyes, bloodshot and unblinking.
Eppie stared back, transfixed in a horror she could not explain. Then, emerald light was streaming from the sky, and the world was rushing past her once more...
With an "oomph!" of surprise, Eppie felt her head falling forward into her lap. Celebi had yanked her fingers away just moments before. Even now, crackles of pale blue static, shot through with red, ran up and down the length of the Pokémon's arm.
"Celebi?" Eppie said worriedly.
"Ibi ii," the Pokémon muttered in reply, still staring at her hands. From behind Celebi, Wreander was wearing a very strange look indeed.
Lowering her limbs to her side, Celebi turned back to the cloud-borne boy. "Bii bi-ii ibii ii, bi!" she uttered quickly, face grim. "Ibi ii, iiieee!"
"Eee-vi," Eon the golden-eyed Eevee growled, bushy tail swishing.
Though Wreander's face twitched, it did not give away any emotion. "Well, Eppie," the boy said. "It looks like we'll be leaving you now. Take care."
"Leaving?" Eppie's face fell. "But we only just met! I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I'm sorry!"
But it was too late for pleas. Wreander, Eon, and Celebi had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only the wind as Eppie's company.
"I didn't mean to hurt anybody," Eppie whispered. "I really didn't." The now gentle breeze brushed against the girl's shoulders, urging her back onto her feet.
Eppie did get up, shivering as she did so. Her arms still ached with invisible bruises, and the memory of those imperious red eyes still lingered in her mind. Legs wobbling, she walked down the length of the wall, back the way she'd come. She did not look up.
If she had, though, Eppie might have noticed that there was no exit on the far end of the wall. Indeed, the marble remained as impassive as ever. But as Eppie neared the end of the wall, she did not bother to check where she was going. Her limp arms swung forward like leaden weights.
The marble melted away as soon as the girl's hands made contact, fading so swiftly it was as if an opening had been there all along. As Eppie disappeared over to the other side, the wall closed up after her. As the marble became whole once more, a spark of icy blue and blood red fizzled down its length.
A stray breeze wound its way forward, racing briefly across the now unblemished wall. With a whisper of a chuckle, it swirled into the distance.
Face cast in a muted green glow, the boy Wreander opened his eyes. He was sitting atop a different wall, Eon balanced in his lap and Celebi perched beside him.
In the courtyard below, the figures of Cro, Vixory, Sparkacus, and an assortment of other Ringed were assembled around several small furnaces. Wreander watched wordlessly as Cro took an Apricorn from a nearby sack.
Not looking up from his work, Cro placed the Apricorn into the flames with a pair of tongs. In the same movement, he pulled a finished one out of the fire and set it in a basin of water. Sparkacus and a young Human girl set to work carving the cooled Apricorns with knives, while Vixory the Vulpix and a Ringed Slugma fed flames into one of Cro's makeshift forges. At the other end of the courtyard, even more Ringed practiced throwing the cool, carved Apricorns at increasingly difficult targets.
"Same as always with our little Ringed friends," Wreander said in an almost bored voice. "I don't know why we even bother to watch them."
"Eeevi iee," Eon pointed out, long ears flicking.
"Of course they'll be important," Wreander said. "Thing is, I've got a feeling our buddy Cro isn't the only one we need to keep an eye on."
"Vee?"
"There's something strange about that Eppie kid," Wreander said. "She's not who she seems to be. Heck, I don't think she's even what she believes herself to be."
The Eevee in his lap cocked its furry head. "Vee'ee eeve," it muttered back. "Eevee vi ee, vee e."
"B'ibi ii!" Celebi said sharply, wings fluttering in agitation.
Wreander nodded at the pixie-like Pokémon. "She may look like innocent, but something dangerous is lurking in that head of hers. And whatever it was went berserk when Celebi tried to do a mind probe. It'll be on its guard now, without a doubt."
"Ibi ii," Celebi muttered in a low voice. "Bibii iii bi-eee."
"The time'll come for that, my friend," Wreander said with a laugh, leaning back against the wall. "But then, you know all about time, don't you?"
Chiming in agreement, the fairy-like Pokémon sprung up from the wall and swerved about in the air. A rain of pale green sparkles shimmered down briefly. When the glittering cascade had faded away, the wall was deserted, air still swirling from the trio's departure.