CHAPTER 2: REFLECTION
I'm Eevee… I'm Eevee! I have a name!
Eevee was ecstatic. It did not understand many of the words the Titan Regigigas had said, but it was grateful for the Titan's joviality. In truth Eevee went back inside the cave shortly after running away, but the Titan was crying so loud with its face down Eevee could not get its attention. So Eevee slept outside the Titan's cave that night in some particularly comfy grass, hoping to talk to Regigigas in the morning. It decided to explore the surrounding area and hadn't noticed prior that trees sprouted up around the Titan's cave, and its tears formed beautiful sparkling ponds in the surrounding area. Intuitively Eevee knew that the liquid was water and that it could drink it, and the taste was divine. It was a bit sweet, and Eevee could feel its insides getting colder as it lapped up a little water with its tongue. Eevee could not remember the last time it drank water like this, and there were no trees or water in 'Box 12'. Just grass.
As Eevee drifted off to sleep that night, a blurry flash of a pink ribbon appeared in Eevee's mind.
"This is a pond, mera baccha, my child. Humans must drink this to survive."
The pink blur then lapped up some of the water, and Eevee remembered joining suit. Jolting awake in tears, Eevee ran to the pond and weeped into its own reflection, the droplets disturbing the still water.
What was that? Was that my family? Did I have a life before being here? Regigigas mentioned me having a species…
It continued staring still into the pond as the sun began to rise, unsure of how to feel. It was so shaken that it did not move an inch as the water shook violently every few seconds and pebbles at its feet trembled. It didn't even act surprised as a giant figure with 6 multicolored eyes appeared next to its reflection. Nothing happened for a few moments.
"The power of commanding comes with the curse of understanding. It hurts me to feel such turmoil from a young creature."
Eevee's eyes welled up with tears once more.
"What's wrong with me?! I feel like I don't know anything! I can't do anything about it…I…I…snf…"
Eevee's vision blurred with tears so it couldn't see Regigigas' hand reaching to touch it once more. Its hands were surprisingly gentle, like the feeling of lying in grass still touched by the morning dew. The Titan said nothing, and Eevee didn't either. They both sat there next to the pond, the Titan's hand gently petting Eevee. Hours passed.
"I can help you find answers. It will be hard, and you will struggle like you've never struggled before. I won't do anything if you don't want me to."
…
…
…
"Okay."
…
"It's nearly been a day. You'll be sent back to the dark room with the eyes again soon. Listen to what I'm about to say very carefully. There's not much time."
Eevee looked away from its reflection and at the Titan's.
"I'm listening."
"The Box isn't real. Everything here is some kind of computer-generated terrain. Even I do not understand such magic. Look at me for a sec."
Eevee swept its gaze towards the Titan and watched as its 6 eyes glowed pink.
"I'm not technically supposed to know how to do this but I'm awesome."
The Titan then moved its hands away from Eevee and stanced itself, and the hand began to glow the same pink as its eyes. With a slow motion, the Titan began to flick its hand facing away from Eevee. As it did so, an afterimage of Regigigas' hand followed its motion.
"You'll come to understand this all with time, but for now just know that the dark room is the real world. The reason you don't remember anything but the dark room there is because of the creature with the green eyes. You telling me about that creature is pretty much the only reason this plan will work. But it will. That creature is known as Beheeyem, a creature capable of wiping memories. It is also capable of instant hypnosis.
Regigigas bunched its pink hand into a fist, braced itself, and quickly released all its fingers in a jerking motion. The air around the Titan's fingers cracked open for an instant, revealing an incomprehensible image.
"The problem with Beheeyem's hypnosis ability is that it can only use it 20 times, and there is a good chance that it will be ineffective. About a 60% chance of success. But I will help you circumvent that."
Regigigas dropped its stance and the pink energy subsided. The hole in space that Regigigas ripped slowly filled back up as it turned to face its attention to Eevee once more.
"I'm going to use a move called Safeguard now, and you are going to copy it. You have it within you to use the Mimic technique and this will be crucial to the plan. Now watch carefully as I use this move and then yell with all your might."
Regigigas' eyes flickered and went dull for a moment, and then flickered blue. The wind around the Titan stilled as its fingers glowed blue and it elegantly drew an oval shape facing Eevee. The oval solidified into a sparkling glass and sparkles appeared in a circle surrounding Regigigas. Eevee couldn't help but lose focus and look in awe at the Safeguard.
"Hehe, I remember when I was first taught this move. Not only is it beautiful, it protects those you love most. I've held on to this one since I was created. Let's try again."
Eevee nodded and focused this time. After the oval was drawn, Eevee tensed up and shouted its name. Strangely, balls of orange light formed around Regigigas and condensed into a larger ball, heading towards Eevee. Eevee yelped and broke its concentration, running away from the ball of light, leaving it to explode and dissipate into the air in a flurry of orange sparkles.
"WHAT WAS THAT…"
"I knew you had it in you. Try again and let the ball hit you."
"What… but it looks dangerous…"
"I can't use Mimic, but I promise you it's safe. It's quite strange you can use Mimic actually, most Eevees go their entire lives without knowing about or using the ability. But I sensed you could use Mimic and Quick Attack when I made physical contact with you. Let's try again now."
"Okay. Let's do this!"
The Titan nodded at Eevee and drew another ovular glass, shattering the last two before doing so. Eevee remembered that the Titan entered a stance earlier when using the pink hand move and got into a stance of its own. This time, when it yelled its name, it screamed it at the fake sky and closed its eyes. It didn't open them even though it heard the humming energy moving towards it. There was a moment of cold energy washing through Eevee's mind. Oh, that's Safeguard.You have to enstill a deep purity in your mind and release it with the psychic energy stored within you. But I don't have any psychic energy! I'm just a little Eevee!
"But I don't have any psychic energy! I'm just a little Eevee!"
"You don't. That's right. But you borrowed some of mine. Try using Safeguard. Take a deep breath, stand still, and focus your energy to the points of your ears and draw an oval with them."
Eevee relaxed its stance and took a deep breath in. It heard the gentle breeze causing ripples in the pond. It heard the grass swaying. It heard Regigigas' labored breathing. Eevee wondered why Regigigas was coughing last night. It also wondered why there was no wind anywhere but here. Regigigas is a God. Eevee felt the wind brush against its face and gently tousle its mane. Is this what Regigigas thinks the world can be? Exhaling, Eevee opened its eyes and faced its reflection. Its eyes shone a bright blue, the same asthe Titan's when using Safeguard.
"Wait, do I have psychic energy forever now? Does this let me learn all sorts of psychic powers?"
"Sadly, no. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. The energy I expended to use Safeguard normally dissipates into the air, but it went into you instead, along with the energy you used when you used Mimic. Typically, Mimic lets you use the move you learned 5 times."
Eevee nodded and drew a semicircle with both of its ears. Together, they formed a full circle, and when its ears kissed at the bottom, the blue energy left Eevee's eyes and projected onto the oval, forming a little glass of psychic energy. Eevee gasped in awe as sparkles tickled its mane. One landed on its nose, and it blew it off.
"Thanks so much Regigigas! This is awesome! But what do I do with this?"
"Safeguard prevents status conditions from affecting you or those you consider allies. This means you cannot be put to sleep. Today you're not going to be escaping but gathering intel. It's about to be 24 hours since the last time I sensed other life around, so you'll probably be sent to the dark room again. I want you to be my eyes so I can help you get out next time. If things go south though, just say-"
Everything went black.