The grey-haired pretty human is walking with us.
Sten? Steen? Steve?
"Steven," Daddy says when I ask him, "Stee. Ven."
"Steven," I say, and then wrinkle my nose. Ugly, ugly name. Daddy laughs and kisses my face with his hands. Light brush and it feels happy.
I am very happy because today, everybody is out and walking! There are so many people hopping down the road, or maybe I am the only one hopping? But it is a-okay because there are only good emotions today.
In the beginning, Steven walked behind us because he was busy talking to this little box that had another voice coming from it. Capala the Magnemite had to float very far ahead because she kept using the box to talk, too, and Alexa said no. The big, gentle Bastion walked next to Steven. I think Stavros and the other one was walking in the woods, because they liked dark, cool places.
"Damien," Daddy says when I ask him. "Day. Me. In."
"Damien. Are they each other's compasses?" Between the gaps of trees, I see Stavros pull down his mask and Damien, blue, blue eyes squinted in a grin, kisses him and I feel their hearts beat together. Damien pulls away and touches Stavros's cheeks, his upper lip. He traces his scar then kisses him again. Very gentle. Daddy doesn't answer and instead, pulls me up so that I am snuggled against his shoulder. I am a mover and I like hopping, but this is very nice, too.
Steven was walking behind us, but Alex stopped and started to walk with him, her heart curious about the words that were coming out of Steven's mouth. Because her heart was reaching out, her hand reached out, too, catching on Steven's fingers. Steven's heart went thump-thump and he folded his hand back, like you fold twigs into nests, like wings fold perfectly after a long day.
Torr scowled once but only once. Aiden whispered, "Leave it be," and Torr's face smoothed out, even though his heart stayed suspicious and worried.
"You'll be a dragon someday, little one," Bastion says to me, eyes glowing. I lift my head a little off Daddy's shoulder.
"I am already," I say, but quietly, because even though Bastion is gentle, she's also fickle. But she laughs, the sound echoey in her helmet. Mommy is high in the sky and everything is fine.
But then Mommy screeches. A predator call, which would make every Zigzagoon go running into their hidey-holes. Bastion flaps her wings so hard, it makes a dust storm and she streaks into the sky to see what Mommy is yelling about. I step up on Daddy's arm and he launches me into the sky so I can catch up faster. The clouds part for me, as they always do, and when they clear, I see a very large building and a bunch of humans with blue clothes standing around it. Are they all the same specie? Humans don't really have species, right? So why are all their clothes blue?
Mommy dive bombs and Bastion follows more slowly and I follow even slower.
"Yang is here," Bastion says, and in her hand, a long, thin sword of steel appears in small explosions of gold. "Why has Death come?"
Steven is not talking to his little box anymore. Stavros appears by his side like he never left and Damien starts to travel forward through the forest, quiet.
"Are they doing anything?" Steven demands, striding forward.
"Nothing," Bastion answers, "Nothing outside. But they might be inside the building."
"I saw them through the windows," Mommy adds, "Definitely inside, too."
Steven stops and then turns to Alexa.
"Stay here."
"You aren't my father," she responds cooly, her heart already at the building where her dad might be.
"No," Steven sighs. He runs a hand through his hair and then crouches so that their eyes match. "We are equals. I want you to stay here. I'm scared you'll get hurt. Would you like to come with me?"
"No. Would you like to come with me?"
He grins wide and Alexa turns red at that. Steven notices, so his smile becomes more soft. He puts his hand out, halfway, and Alexa completes the motion and puts her cheek against his hand, soft hair falling across Steven's rings.
"Yes. I would like to come with you."
Torr snorts.
Mommy doesn't waste any time and flies again, looking for danger. Daddy shakes his head, pitches forward, then disappears. Daddy is fast, too.
"We will kill your enemies. That will be fun," Capala says through Steven's box, floating closer.
"I'm going to go first, then," Bastion comments, but Steven stops her.
"No. Get the police. Closest town is Fortree, I think. Steven Stone calls for them," Steven orders. She nods and takes off. "Stavros, if you kill anyone, I will kill you, got it?"
Stavros chuckles, hands deep in his jacket pocket, his scar smiling with his mouth.
When we get to the building, Alexa stops us.
"They have guns," she says. "I didn't know this dimension had human guns."
"We do, more powerful than anything in your world. These were meant to battle Pieces. Humans are power hungry." Steven is worried. "It's dangerous."
"Do you want to stay back?" Alexa asks. He smiles again.
"Stavros, do you understand me?" Steven asks, his hand stretching out to the Metagross.
"I do," he responds, and love glints in his ruby eyes. He's not so scary anymore. "Do not go where I can't follow."
"Our paths will not diverge," Steven completes, like it was a song. He strides closer to the building.
"Turn back! This building is ours for now," one blue person shouts. He needs to hold his gun with both hands. It looks very heavy. His heart is more heavy. He does not want to shoot. He will not shoot if he can help it.
"What are you doing here, Yang?" Steven asks. Alexa is quiet and stays behind Steven. Torr wraps Alexa in his arms and Aiden stands slightly in front.
"Not looking for a fight, Ex-Champion Stone."
"This looks like a fight to me," Aiden mutters.
"Not looking for a fight," the man repeats. He is pleading.
"I apologize, then," Steven says, "I need to get inside that building." He steps forward.
"One more step, and we'll be forced to shoot," the man begs. Nobody wants to. But they will if they have to.
"Then shoot," Steven says, almost kindly. He steps forward and a burst of bullets leap out of the guns. Alexa jumps at the sound, but not in fear. Steven swipes his hand to the side and Stavros does the same. A purple screen slides in front of us and the bullets ricochet off like rain.
"Capala," Alexa shouts, "Throw!"
"Indeed." The guns wrench out of the people's hands and clatter to the ground very far away. Alexa takes off Torr's headphones and puts them over her ears, cuddling close to him.
"Skye, Sing!"
Aiden stops his ears with his hands and Capala floats very high. Stavros lunges to cover Steven's ears, his own already shielded purple. But I can direct my song. I will not put them to sleep.
I sing the song my first brother taught me.
"Home smells like sunsets,
like cuddles in the rain.
Like mists that hide, like fogs that shroud
the calm and dying day.
Home smells like melodies
Notes, and stops, and trills
Threading through the meadowlands,
and glades, and city stills.
As far away as you may be,
the sky will still smell blue.
And sister from another life:
my home, it smells of you."
They sink into my song and to their knees and onto the ground. Torr uncovers Alexa's ears when I close my mouth. The rest follow.
"It is sad that I will never hear the words," Alexa says, patting my hair.
I understand.
"Yes. Very sad."
Inside, the electric lighting makes the white walls glow cleanly. There are boxes with bigger boxes on top and even bigger boxes line the walls, all blinking, and real boxes are on top of desks. There are a lot of boxes. Not a circle anywhere, except the clock that taps out a beat to a song we all know.
A Poochyena rushes us immediately, the energy swirling in front of him into a set of black jaws. But before he can Bite, Steven slides-steps, like a dance, and Stavros does, too, a spike of earth shattering through the Poochyena and leaving him there, hanging. He dies.
"Pera!" his owner screams. Instant, crushing grief.
"They're all PEN-caught!" Alexa cries.
"Of course," Steven says. "This is Yang we are talking about."
"Skye can sing again—"
"—not in these close-quarters. We'll all fall asleep."
"Then, Torr—"
"—will destroy valuable data. So will Aiden and Capala. Look at all these computers, Alexa. The Weather Institute is irreplaceable."
"We can't kill them!" Alexa clutches on to Steven's sleeve. He looks back at her.
"You can't kill them," Steven says gently, "Darling. I can." A Carvanha screeches and lunges at us.
"Ravage," Capala says and a bolt of electricity arcs out and zaps him. She tries to be careful, but the nearest box fizzles.
Alexa pulls down Steven by his jacket collar, eyes flashing.
"You will not!" she orders and pushes him away. She turns to the crowd of blue people. "We don't want a fight! How worth it is it to see your Pieces die?" The blue people are hesitant.
"Our cause—" one of them starts, but Alexa interrupts angrily.
"Fuck your cause! Do you think that you can beat an Ex-Champion? This won't be a fight! It'll be a bloodbath! What are you even doing?! Is all of this worth it?!"
"It is," most of them answer immediately. Alexa stops at that. They do believe. They believe very much in their cause, whatever it is.
"You have your father's eyes," one of them says quietly, happily, sadly. Alexa steps back, then steps forward.
"You will part for us. You will give us safe passage."
They do.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Alexa says to the two blue people, whose tears make the room smell salty. Then, she marches up the stairs.
At the top room, Daddy, Mommy, and Damien are already waiting for us. Or maybe they aren't waiting for us. Daddy is talking to the woman there. She has fiery hair, like Flannery, but it hangs straight down her back in an unforgiving line.
"And what would getting the orb even achieve?" Daddy asks, calm. Mommy isn't calm, though. She's agitated. The wind is blowing in the small room, around and around. Damien the Aggron is quiet, just looking.
"It's not what it will achieve. It's who," the woman says absent-mindedly, flipping through a chart with one hand. The other hand holds a gun to a shaking man's temple. "This is your culture. You should know, yes?"
"I'm not a water-type. Our culture doesn't revolve around Her."
"Ah, but you do know," the woman says. She picks up another chart, tilts her head, and starts to read.
"And then what, you flood the world?"
"That's a side effect. Yin is handling the other half. Or what do you guys call them? Team Magma?"
"And then?"
"Beyond that, I don't know the specifics. We all know the end goal, but never how to get there. For that, you need to ask Archie." She glances up and smiles at Alexa, warmly. "Hello. How are you, little mistress?"
"Please stop pointing a gun at that man's head," Alexa says.
"I can't. He's my hostage, you see? Other wise, Dr. Stone over there would kill me immediately. Or hand me over to the police, which is automatic suicide, so I'm dead, regardless."
"What is this end goal that Yin and Yang keep mentioning?" Steven questions. "All of you mention it, even your lowest members. But none of you actually refer to it."
"You don't know?" She is surprised. She stops reading. "The great and mighty Steven Stone doesn't know what his own father is doing?"
"Am I my father's keeper?"
"Aha, you seem to be your father's son."
"And what if I killed you right now," Steven asks abruptly. He's scary. His eyes are cold green. "What if I asked Stavros to drive that clipboard you're holding into your skull?"
"Then I would die," she responds simply, going back to her reading. "Sure, the information I'm collecting would be lost, but our cause won't stop. There are worse things than death, Dr. Stone."
"The police are coming," Alexa says. "If you leave now, you will be able to escape, along with the rest of your people. If you leave the man and walk out right now, we won't stop you."
"I don't think Dr. Stone will fly with that, little mistress."
Alexa takes Steven's hand in her own.
"We won't stop you," she repeats. Steven sighs, but his heart shifts and relaxes.
"How am I to trust that promise, if I don't know your character?"
"I am my father's daughter." There is no pride in her eyes. Only thoughts. "You trust him to follow him without a concrete plan. Now trust me for this."
The woman thinks. She drops the gun and is out of the room in three quick steps.
"Oh, Arceus, Dr. Stone, I—"
"—what materials did she go through?" Steven cuts off the man, who is trembling so much.
"I think the — the rainfall files. And volcanic activity files. Dr. Stone, I would like to show my gratitude—"
"Thank her, not me," Steven says, taking out that little box again.
"Don't leave," Alexa says.
"I won't. I'm making a phone call. I'll be outside," Steven answers. He strides over to the window, which is broken because of Mommy, I think, and jumps out. Damien dives after him with a curse.
When I turn back to Alexa, the man is shakily giving her a milky white ball with no ring. A PAL.
"So this Castform is mine now?" Alexa asks.
"Yes. It was just engineered by the joint labs in Kanto and Johto and put into a PAL—"
Alexa releases the Castform in a bright light.
He's small, just like me. He has on a grey poncho with white, white boots and silver glasses. His grey hair is mostly flat and his eyes are flatter than anything, dead. Alexa crouches in front of him.
"Your name will be Kumo. Please remember this for your next life."
In one swift motion, she throws the PAL on the ground and smashes it with her heel. Kumo falters and then falls onto the floor softly, like grass bends in thunderstorms. Daddy catches him.
"What?! Why would you do that?! That was half a million dollars in research funds! Are you crazy?!" the man shouts, but Alexa points a finger at him.
"Another word, and I'll get Dr. Stone to fire you, understand?" Her heart is troubled but her gaze is steel and fire.
The man does not speak again.
It is when we are burying Kumo that my heart starts to churn.
It's only Steven, Torr, Alexa, and me. I look around to see whose heart is fighting and I see Steven looking away, through the trees. His hands are covered with dirt, hovering over the ground as he watches something and fights.
What is the right choice?
Steven, I believe in you! You can choose the right choice!
What do I want?
Steven, instead, do what is best!
Slowly, he reaches over and taps Alexa on the cheek, leaving a streak of dirt.
"Brendan's over there, if you want to talk to him."
Her head whips around so fast, I have to rub my own neck. Her eyes are red from crying but they are looking for Brendan now.
"We'll be over here. So you can go talk to him."
His heart beats so fast and sad. I stand up. I want to get away from this beating heart, which makes my heart beat fast, too. Emotions are contagious.
Torr moves to follow, hesitates, and then settles back into the dirt, digging.
Alexa holds my hand, dirt on dirt, and we walk over to Brendan, who sits on a tree stump with an umbrella over his head. His eyes are closed. His heart is calm.
"Hello," she says.
The minute he opens his eyes, I need to grab my chest because it hurts so much. But he smiles, like his entire lungs aren't ripping in two.
"It's been a while, Alexa."
You're a liar, Brendan. A liar.
"I missed you," Alexa says. She touches his face and he puts a mouth to her wrist. His arms have so many lines and scars and stitches. But they are clean and mostly healed. "You look a lot better."
"I feel a lot better."
Liar, liar, liar, liar.
"What's with the umbrella?"
"Doctor's orders," he grins, tipping it forward so that Alexa is in the shade, too. "Can't stay in the sun so long. I'm only allowed to be outside for a half an hour. I need to go soon."
Brendan, my chest hurts. Brendan, your chest hurts. Brendan, why do you smile? You're trying so hard. You're trying so hard.
Alexa bends down but Brendan leans back, away from her mouth. He looks away. Something changes in her heart, in the air. I feel like crying. I feel like dying. This was much worse than Steven. She kisses his forehead and ruffles his hair.
"I'm glad you're better. Text me again, yeah?"
"Yeah. I will."
We walk back, quiet. Alexa is thinking and I'm in pain but trying not to show it, but I clench and unclench my hands until they're dripping gold into the thirsty ground.
"You came back," Steven remarks. I don't know if he's surprised or pleased because all that's pounding in my chest is that Brendan is not okay, not okay, not okay.
"I wouldn't leave you," Alexa says. He studies her for a second and then offers up his hand. She presses her cheek to it, dirt and all, and then her mouth to his pulse point.
Torr's eyes flicker to me and then widen.
"Skye what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
It's too late to hide it, so I sob. Alexa turns fast, sees me crying, and then hugs me hard.
"Oh, Skye. What's wrong? What's wrong?" she asks, worried. "Maybe we shouldn't have let you come. Kumo will be okay, Skye. His soul is safe now. Safe and sound."
I am not crying for Kumo. I am not crying for myself.
I am crying because Brendan can't cry.
Not in front of Alexa.