"Three fucking days!" Briar fumes, pacing in front of me. He's been doing this for hours. There are red mushrooms and brambles everywhere and I take care not to touch anything. Skyra and Skye sit on either side of me, legs crossed, waiting Briar out. He's only been this angry once. Aiden stands at a distance, quiet, as he has been since evolving. Capala is sitting in the air, watching Briar intently. "Three fucking days he spends rotting in a fucking dark room refusing to eat or to look at anybody."
"You didn't help," Skyra remarks, drily.
"I was trying to reason with him!" he spits, "I thought he had enough sense to listen to reason, but instead, he's moping as if Alexa had died!" He lashes out with an invisible fist. There's a crack and a tree almost falls on him. He catches it with a Sky Uppercut and wood shatters fly everywhere. Both Skye and Skyra extend their wings to protect me from the sharp splinters.
"If it is time that ticks, why do we not go to the area without Torrent?" Capala's voice buzzes from my phone. "We received Fly from President Lytton. Everything is ready to go. So why do we not?"
"I don't want to leave Torrent behind," I say. "And this is a problem that won't go away with time. I'm not sending him into any fights like this, either. He can't see anything."
"He can," Aiden states. I turn my head to him. "He's ground and water type. He can see anything that touches the earth and anything that touches the water. He just needs to be reminded of it."
"He's not going to listen if we just go and tell him that," Skye argues. "His heart is only listening to himself right now."
"I know. But I think that if I can make him angry enough, he'll be able to see. So that he can attack me."
"Why you?" Skyra asks. "Briar is faster. He can dodge Torrent's attacks while getting him worked up."
"Because I know how anger works. I lived with it for a very long time. I know how to make someone see red and I know how to use it. All you have to do," and he looks directly at me, "is trust me."
"I do," I answer immediately. When Briar opens his mouth to protest, I hold up my hand and shoot him a glare. He shuts his mouth with a scowl. "I do trust you. I have, ever since you joined the team. And I think you're right. So if you can do it, do it. If you can't, that's okay, too. But I want to watch."
"Okay," Aiden says, holding out his hand for his weapon. "But you'll have to stay far away. Briar can be closer, just in case I need help. The rest of you need to stay back. There's going to be rocks and fire and God knows what else." He looks around, lifting the sword and putting it on his shoulders. "Is there a clearing anywhere nearby?"
"West from here, a two minute run."
"Go and wait there. I'll get Torrent. And still be alive, hopefully."
Since it's a short flight away, Skyra simply scoops me up and takes off. And although I'm nervous for what is about to happen, I can't but help to smile. Flight is one of the best things I have ever felt. And just like the first time we used Fly, there's not a breath of wind.
"There's a pointy shield made of energy," Skyra had tried to explain, "and it protects you from the wind but also pushes the air currents below my wings so that I can just glide." After thinking a while, she had added, "It's not as fun as regular flying, but it's useful. And I'm glad you're up here with me. That's fun."
We land in the clearing with a thump, and Skyra instantly starts to herd Skye, Capala, and me into the forest.
"We can watch from the trees," she says. "I bet the ground will be flooded." We settle down in a branch just in time.
Torrent flies into the clearing, shattering the ground with the force of his impact. Slowly, he gets back up as Aiden walks in a large circle around him.
"What do you want," Torrent says. Aiden doesn't answer and instead, swings his sword at the ground. A flurry of rocks rise up and shoot at Torrent, hitting him and sending him flying again. My heart hurts in my chest. I will not cry.
"Torrent, Torrent, Torrent," Aiden's voice is mocking. "How are you supposed to hit me if you can't see?"
There's a flash of gold in Torrent's hands and his circular blades (Briar had called them chakrams earlier) shoot out at Aiden's general direction. They loop around him, not touching him, not even close.
"I guess we'll have to replace you," Aiden sneers, walking and dragging his sword on the ground. "Useless. Unloved. How do you breathe?"
"I don't want to," Torrent responds, almost inaudibly.
"Liar, liar, LIAR!" Another sweep of his blade. Another Rock Slide. Torrent can't dodge. "I lived with a tattoo telling the world how much I hated myself. You think you can speak those words so easily?"
Torrent pushes the rocks off him, getting to his feet.
"Where's Alexa?" Aiden sings. Sadistic. "Where's Alexa?"
"I don't know."
I clutch my chest, hurting.
"Where's Alexa? Where's Alexa?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Torrent screams. He throws his blades again and a jets of mud follow their path through the air. He misses again. "I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!"
When Aiden comes close enough, I realize something. His eyes are cool. His voice may sound angry, but Aiden isn't. He isn't mocking Torrent. This isn't real. He's really trying his best to help Torrent.
"What if she's dead?" he taunts. "What if she's been killed? Where's Alexa? Find her! Find—"
"I CAN'T FIND HER! I CAN'T SEE." He's lashing out in random circles, but Aiden dodges everything easily. "I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS. I'LL NEVER SEE HER FACE AGAIN. I'LL NEVER FUCKING SEE THOSE EYES STARING UP AT ME OR HER SMILE—"
"But you can hear her voice, can't you?!" Aiden throws his sword, slamming Torrent against a pile of rocks with Strength. "You can smell her?! You can taste her tears and feel her hands—"
"YOU CALLED ME USELESS. I AM. I AM USELESS. WHAT CAN I DO? I CAN'T EVEN FIGHT YOU! I NEED TO SEE! I NEED TO—"
"YOU ARE WATER TYPE AND WHAT?!" Aiden shrieks. His sword flies back to his hand and he slashes the air. Overheat. Bright flames so intense I have to screw my eyes shut. "YOU ARE WATER TYPE AND WHAT?!" Torrent gets up, achingly, wiping blood from his nose. "WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?!" With each question, Aiden slams his sword into Torrent and it takes longer and longer each time for Torrent to stand up.
"SHUT UP!" Torrent howls. He lets his blades fly. Another miss.
"WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?! WATER TYPE AND WHAT?!"
Then, just as Aiden is about to throw his sword again, it happens. Torrent's blades spin directly towards Aiden and he has to twist out of the way to dodge them. But before he can put his foot back on the ground, a geyser bursts through under him and hits him hard. Torrent leaps forward, arms over his head, and Aiden barely rolls away from the Strength that fissures the ground with as much power as an Earthquake. I see Briar start to move but it is too late. Torrent's hand is around Aiden's throat and he drives his blades forward.
I do not look away.
He stops, blades millimeters away from dark skin. Aiden's face is as calm as mine. I can hear his harsh breathing, his pounding heart. Briar stops moving. Everything feels silent. Nothing moves, except the flames that are dying out in the dirt.
"Ground," Torrent declares softly, "Water type and ground."
Of course. I did not doubt Torrent for a second.
"Welcome back," Aiden says.
I'll tell Torrent that I didn't see the tears that dripped onto Aiden's collarbones.
When we approach Jagged Pass, medallion in hand, doors that were hidden behind a stone facade swing open smoothly, without a sound. The first thing I notice is the heat that drifts through the opening.
"I should have brought my summer clothes," I grumble, looking down at my leggings and collared, long-sleeved shirt. Torrent chuckles.
He's subdued. His eyes look exactly the same, even though he can't see from them. As grey as river rocks. I squeeze his hand, hoping he can feel how much I love him.
"I love you, too," he replies, as if I had spoken out loud. I nuzzle my face into his arm because he can't see me smile. Skyra pats my bottom with her wing, urging me onward. The three of us stride into the cave, ignoring the heat.
Yin and Yang. The grunts mix together again, working with each other, moving boxes.
"Hey!"
I turn to face the grunt who has noticed me. An Aqua member.
"You know me, don't you?" I question.
He's about to respond by throwing his PEN, but he stops. I see recognition dawn on his face. Other people turn to look.
"I will ask the same question as last time. This will be a blood bath if you attack. Is it worth losing your Piece?"
He hesitates, then lowers his arm, gripping his PEN tightly. I walk forward and the crowd parts for me.
Up the stairs and down hallways that are hewn from rock. Past pools of lava that bubble and boil with popping noises. Torrent moves me away from certain sections of ground, even though I can't see anything wrong with them. But he knows, and I trust him. His sight pulses through the ground now, locating object and people and Pieces without having to look around.
At night, he traces the curves of my face, fingers dipping over my eyes. Once, he felt the ridges of my teeth.
"It hasn't changed from yesterday," I always say.
"I can see that," he always responds. Sometimes, I wake up with his hand on my face. I never push it off.
Familiar voices. I stop right before an intersection in the hallway and peek out.
"Two people," Torrent murmurs without having to look. "Archie and Maxie, I think, by their height."
"Yeah," I say. Skyra looks, too, over me. "But something else. You can't see it. It's floating over the lava and not touching anything. It's sorta hazy, though."
"It's the God of Volcanoes," Skyra says.
I squint. The haze parts for a second and I've given a clear view of the Piece. He's wearing a ruby robe that goes down to his shins with a white collar and long, sweeping sleeves. Embroidered in gold thread are intricate patterns that ring out in circles from his belt, but he's too far away to see exactly what the patterns are. Brown, wide pants and bare feet. Black hair, just like mine, flutters in the rising heat. Under a crimson circlet, he wears a veil that moves in slow ruffles.
I see my father's back, strong and broad. He stands like a sailor, feet apart, hands behind his back. Uncle stands with his arms crossed, just looking.
"I don't know if I can do this," I say, sitting with my back against the wall. Even though he can't possibly know where they are, Torrent always meets my eyes.
"You don't have to," he says, but I'm already shaking my head and standing up.
"Of course I do," I say, "He is family. No matter what."
Both of them turn when we approach. So much has happened since I have last seen him. I'm not just angry anymore. I'm not just disgusted. I'm curious. I'm curious to see the cause that made him leave us. Mom said he loved us. But he left. Where does that leave me?
"I'm going to challenge the Piece Keepers," I say, before he can open his mouth to speak. "I'm going to become Champion. I have connections now. Not a lot, but enough. My team is strong and I'm learning to be a good trainer. And I'm going to ban PALs. I don't think they should exist."
He shifts and looks at Maxie, who looks back. Something wordless passes between them.
"I want to know what you're doing. The couple at Mt. Pyre let you take the Combs. They said you had a pure heart, so what you're doing can't be bad. I want to see if I can help."
"Go home, Alexandra," Archie says, "this is too dangerous for you."
"So was living with Ash."
He flinches at that.
"So was learning he had been eaten. Were you there for that? Did you see your son die?"
"No," he shakes his head, shuddering, hand clawing at his heart the way I do when something is too sad to bear. "No." He closes his eyes and grits his teeth. Maxie doesn't say a word.
"Mom is good." I don't know what else to say to that pained face. "She's learned to bake really well. And she hasn't been cheating on you, or anything. I mean, there hasn't been any guys around. I was thinking of going to college, but I'm missing a year of school. Maybe I'll take a gap year and go. Or maybe I'll do art, like Mom. I'm alright at painting, but I like sculpting. Torrent would help be Champion while I was gone."
Such pedestrian, boring things. We're surrounded by lava in a cave deep inside the earth with a sleeping God waiting to be woken up, but I talk of the other universe I was in for sixteen years. I tell Archie about what my school was like. I tell him what foods I can make now and which books I enjoy. His eyes never leave my face, and my eyes never leave his. His skin is tanned. He has the same eyes Grandpa has, that I have.
"Mom is waiting for you. We always set a fourth place at the table. She still has all your clothes in the drawer and closet. I help wash them sometimes. But I think she likes doing it alone."
At this, he breaks my gaze, stepping away, sobbing. He crouches on the ground, the heels of his palms pressed to his eyes.
I step back, surprised. Torrent and Skyra each put an hand on my shoulders.
"It is better for you to not be involved," Maxie says, kindly. "Especially as future Champion, it's not good for you to be associated with terrorists."
"Real terrorists don't call themselves terrorists," I point out. "Does that means you know what you're going to do is bad, but you're going to do it anyway?"
"People will die," he agrees. "But it must be done. You see, we also do not think PALs should exist. But evil is approaching. A champion will not be enough to stop it."
"What kind of evil? A foreign evil?"
"A human evil, for we have the capacity to do the most evil of all."
"I want to know. I've been kept in the dark about so many things. I want to know what's going on. Dad," I appeal to Archie, who stands up with tears dripping down his face. "I want to help. I want to know."
"In two months," Archie says with unsteady voice, "you will find us at the Mossdeep Space Center. If you are there by then, if you have beaten seven Gym Leaders by then, we will defer to your authority and we will let you help. We will tell you everything. By then, we will have everything in motion. And you may doubt my actions, but know that I would never, ever do anything to make my daughter anything less than proud of me." He turns to the God. Out of his pocket, he takes out the Comb, sapphire-colored with delicate schools of golden fish and waves. "Everything I've done was to make this world a better place for you and Ash. That has not changed."
He whips his arm forward, throwing the relic at the God.
The God catches it. His eyes open, shining yellow beneath his red veil. He walks towards us, on air, and when his bare feet touch the ground, Torrent looks up.
"You have woken me," he says. I see the embroidery on his robe now. Mountains and valleys and deer and earth. "Is it time for the earth to grow again?"
"No," Maxie answers. "We need the God of the Skies."
The God looks at the comb in his hand, sparkling in the light of his eyes, and tucks it into his belt.
"I see." His voice is deep. He turns to Archie and studies him. Then, he walks towards me.
"No!" Archie exclaims, but the God does not stop until he is standing before me. Torrent tries to pull me back but I resist. The God's face is hidden behind his veil.
"Do you also need my Mother?" he questions, tilting his head.
"Yes," Skyra says.
"Yes?" I look at Skyra, confused.
"Yes," she repeats. Torrent nods, tense.
"Hm." He bends forward until his face is directly in front of me. "Human of two spirits, is it a cleansing you desire?"
"Yes," Torrent answers for me. I don't know what they're talking about, but I'm too frightened to speak.
"Human," and his breath his hot, "do you dare touch a God?"
Slowly, I reach forward and pull his veil up and put it behind his head. Dark skin, high cheekbones, sharp nose. His hair is rough. Liquid gold eyes. He laughs and his teeth glint sharply.
"I wait for my sister, then," he says. "Remember to bring and offering. Half Gods require flowers and wine. Real Gods require blood."
He walks back to the pool of lava, steps in, and sinks out of sight.
"Cleansed?" Archie turns to me. In this heat, the tears have already evaporated from his face. "What does he mean? What happened to you?"
"I'll see you in Mossdeep," I reply and then turn away.
I would live in Mossdeep.
It reminds me of California, with it's steady wind and eternal sunshine. Trees, mostly pine, reach towards the sky, rustling in small pockets of forests. I can see children playing on the beach. As Torrent guides the board closer to the island, I see a giant building, and iron supports next to it.
"I think that's the space center," I say.
"Can't see it yet," he replies. "Are we going to the gym immediately? If we are, I can land closer to there. I think it's at the northern point."
"It's up to you. Everybody else is good to go, but you've been Surfing with me for a while now. Do you want to rest?"
"Nope," he takes a steep turn around a boulder that has barnacles growing on it. "This doesn't tire me out. Let's get this over with and then go trash Steven's house."
"Be nice," I remind him, smiling. I lean back into him and he kisses my nose. "I'm glad I kept my summer clothes. It's warmer here."
"It'll get colder."
"Yeah, but for now, it reminds me of home."
The sea is green here, like it is in the Caribbeans in my universe. I see a Magikarp Piece underneath me, idly floating in a general direction. I wave at her. She looks at me, orange hair swirling around her head, and waves back.
We wade to shore, the sand cool beneath my bare feet. Torrent flips the surfboard up and catches his two chakrams on the way down while I release everyone from their PENs. Beyond the beach, up a set of weathered stairs carved into the side of a small cliff, is the Gym. Skye doesn't waste any time. She picks me up and rockets to the top of the cliff with me. Skyra grabs Torrent and does the same, but doesn't put him down as gently. He rolls beside me.
"You disgusting, mother-fucking bird do not ever do that again," he hisses when he can stop breathing hard. "I am blind in the air."
"You're blind out of the air, too," Briar says when he catches up. Capala floats over the cliff, unhurried. Aiden bounds up the stairs.
"You're a fucking dick," Torrent curses, but accepts the hand that Briar holds out. "I'm so glad I didn't date you."
"Right. Because I was falling heads over heels for you." Briar has to look up now, but he's as sarcastic as ever. Still, he smiles and ruffles Torrent's hair, reaching up to do so now. One of Capala's face plates accidentally brush Skyra, who wrenches herself backward and away from her.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to touch you," Capala says, moving away. Skyra stands tense for a beat or so, but slowly relaxes. She reaches out and places her palm on one of the plates.
"It's alright. Wasn't your fault."
Capala blinks twice, then smiles hesitantly. Skye squeezes my hand, bouncing and grinning.
"Alright," Briar says, when Aiden reaches the top of the staircase. "Let's kick ass."
When we walk into the Gym, my eyes have to adjust to the dimness. The only light pours in from two windows all the way in the back. The entire Gym is one room. It's empty. Except all the way in the back is an honest-to-god throne. Two set of eyes look back at us.
"So you've come," one of the figures say. We get closer and find twins, a boy and a girl, who look older than me by a couple of years. They have black hair and pale faces with small noses. They're lounging in the throne, legs tangled, leaning against each other. The boy wears a baseball cap backwards, along with grey basketball shorts and a black t-shirt that says "PSYCHO" in white font. "Haru," the boy says, "do you think they know who we are?"
"She has the same eyes, Hansol," the girl replies, tilting her head. She is wearing the same shirt, big on her, tucked into a grey skirt. Black eyes. "Same as her brother." Narrow eyes filled with maliciousness.
"We never knew her brother. And she isn't responsible for anything he did," Briar growls.
"Why do they hate you so much?" Skye mutters. She stays close to me.
"Oh, they don't know us, Haru."
"Your brother killed our Pieces."
"Every last one of them."
"I'm so—" I try to interject, but they talk over me.
"We raised them by hand from their birth."
"Until their death."
"You see, Hansol and I are good trainers."
"Good Gym Leaders."
"But your brother, he was insane."
"A criminal. A murderer."
"And he had PALs."
"How unnatural."
"How sickening."
"How disgusting."
"That murderer."
My head spins with their words. Something angry hisses in the back of my head. I don't have time to pay attention now, because Haru and Hansol draw out PENs without moving from their position.
"But it seems," Haru says, "that you have PENs, unlike your brother."
"That's good," Hansol continues. They both throw their PENs. "That means every single one of you can die."
"DADDY, MOVE!" Skye screeches and lifts me out of the way.
"Earthquake," Hansol calls out.
"Psychic," Haru yawns.
Skyra grabs Briar as the room splinters under a Pieces assault. Torrent braces himself for the hit; it won't affect him that much. Aiden jumps away from a spike that tries to follow him, closer to the back wall. I hear a pained cry from my phone.
"Capala, Thunderbolt!" I yell. A bright sizzle of electricity. One of the Pieces go down but flaps his wings, hard, still alive. "Torrent, Surf!" I hear the roar of the ocean and water bursts from the cracks in the ground, hitting both of the Pieces. I can see them when the water clears. I see red hair, black hair. White sleeves and red rocks spinning in fast circles and white wings tipped with black. But they disappear when the twins call out their next order.
"Psychic," they say at the same time. There's a small disturbance in the air, like how the air wavers over a hot road. Capala jerks her head to the right and it passes by her with millimeters to spare, but Torrent is hit and I hear him curse.
"Surf! Thunderbolt!" The water hits first, and the electricity scrambles along it's surface, hitting both of the Pieces. The Xatu falls into one of the crevices and is swallowed by the earth. The Gym Leaders still have not moved from their throne.
Easy. Too easy.
"Your turn, Sola." Haru tosses another PEN.
"Get him out of there!" Briar roars. Skyra drops him and streaks towards Torrent, who's bleeding from the mouth. Aiden leaps forward, but not before the twins speak again.
"AncientPower."
"Flamethrower."
"NO!" I shriek. "NO! SKYRA!"
"MOMMY!"
The rocks hit Capala first when she slides in front of Skyra.
It's the fire that kills her.
"Goodbye," I hear from my phone.
No time, no time.
"SKYE!" I wriggle so that she looses her grip on me. "SWITCH WITH SKYRA. TORRENT, SURF!" Once again the water blasts from the ground as Capala falls. The Claydol is killed this time. The red rocks clatter to the floor beside the throne.
Too, too easy.
"Your turn, Luna. Solarbeam."
"Psychic."
Skye makes it just in time. The Psychic hits her. Torrent grabs her by the arm before she falls into the earth and throws her to Briar.
"Solarbeam."
"Psychic."
Aiden dives in front of the Solarbeam and Skyra hurls Torrent out. I sprint to him, taking the Hyper Potion vial out of my pocket. Skyra doesn't scream when the Psychic hits her.
"AIDEN, STRENGTH. SKYRA, ENDEAVOR." I spray the vial into Torrent mouth. He shudders and open's his eyes again. I look up just in time to see Aiden's sword and Skyra's katana hitting their targets. Skyra falters and falls from the air.
"Psychic."
"Flamethrower."
"SKYRA!" My throat is raw. "FLY! FLY!"
It's too late. Fire roars.
So weak. Let her die.
"BRIAR, MEGA DRAIN. AIDEN, STRENGTH." The room is hazy. Skye struggles to stand and Torrent pushes my hand away. Blood bursts out of the Solrock's mouth and eyes. She bleeds from every pore and disappears.
"Psychic."
"DAD!"
Briar goes down, down, down into the cracks. Torrent howls and water crashes into the remaining Piece, into the twins, into the windows. Glass shatters. Then, it's like my soul leaves my body, like some puppet master is yanking my arms and legs up. Foreign joy blooms in my mind.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!" I hear myself laugh. "I WIN. I WIN AGAIN."
They look at me, disgusted, hair plastered to their foreheads.
"Just like your brother," they say, revolted. Torrent looks at me from the ground, bleeding.
Then, I am myself again.
"Pick up your dead, challenger."
I do not move.
"Get your Sticker and TM, challenger."
I do not move.
Torrent bleeds into the dirt.
"Alexa, you haven't slept."
Skye pulls me up from my chair. Torrent lies unconscious in the hospital bed. He's been this way for three days.
"Alexa, you have to sleep."
I shake my head, but Aiden takes my spot in the chair.
"Alexa. Alexa, please." Skye is begging.
I shake my head. My legs are numb.
"Alexa, go to Steven," Aiden says. "Go to Steven's house. He'll know what to do."
I shake my head.
"Get out," Aiden orders. Skye pushes me. I resist. "Get out!"
"Please! Go!" Skye pleads.
I stop resisting.
Night. Stars out. Just follow the signs. It's on the highest cliff, he said. Crickets. Fireflies.
Dirt road. Stone path. Steps. Door.
I ring the doorbell. Sit on steps. Don't ring the bell again. Crickets. Fireflies. It's on the highest cliff, he said. Just follow the signs. Stars out. Night.
Door opens.
"Alexa?"
I look up. He looks down at me. Green eyes. Grey hair.
"It's three in the morning."
They're gone. They're dead.
They're gone.
They're gone.
"I'm hungry," I say.
He leans against the doorframe, looking at me. No shirt. Shorts. I see Bastion behind him.
He opens the door wider.
"Come in," he says. "We'll make pancakes."