Somewhere between entering her classroom and the beginning of class, Audino Agatha fell asleep. Her head bobbed up and down until it slipped off her hand and forced her to wake up and catch it. She glanced left and right to check if anyone saw.
Pikachu Simone sat on the cushion next to her. He seemed to notice. Everyone else in the room already reached their cushions and faced forward towards the table and blackboard. Agatha readjusted her black leather jacket and checked to make sure her pink and black striped socks covered her feet.
"You can just sleep if you want to," Simone offered. "I'll cover you."
"Can't sleep if I wanted to," she sighed. "Hey, do you mind sitting in the seat over today?"
"Why's that? Wait..." his eyes sparkled. "Do you know one of the new students?"
"Yeah," she huffed. "She's my new roommate..."
"Oh, whoa. That's cool. So, she knows...?"
She assumed he meant her prosthetics and scars. "Yeah."
Flygon Mr. Rivers opened the door and flew to his table. He seemed to have extra energy today. Agatha noticed him setting down a coffee cup. He did it about once a week. No doubt, it would be a busy day.
"Sorry I'm a little late," he said. "As you all probably know, we have five new students to help get situated. After another school not too far from here closed, a handful of students are funneling over here, so make sure you're polite. I know summer break is about to start, but try to keep some civility." He turned to the door. "You can come in first!"
Agatha heard whispers and bickering break out like never before. She rolled her eyes.
Cinccino Hannah walked. She wore Agatha's old pair of large, round glasses and a small, fluffy white sweater Claire found for her. It didn't happen on purpose, but she kept Agatha up all night asking about how school had changed or what new social aspects she had to keep in mind. If they hadn't talked, it would've been a lot worse. Agatha twirled her ear strand listening to the comments.
"She's a goddess," Elektrike Jannette said.
"Eugh..." Bayleef Jenna whispered. "The hell are those glasses?"
"Hello!" Hannah greeted. "My name is Hannah. It's nice to meet all of you!"
Hannah took a small bow facing the whole class, completing her long recited introduction. It went smoother than other times during their practice runs. Agatha waved her hand up to make sure she saw the open cushion between her and Simone. She did and walked to the back. Mr. Rivers called in the next as she sat down.
"Did I do okay?" Hannah whispered.
"Yeah," she said. "You're fine. Don't be so nervous about it."
"Okay..."
A Boltund walked in next. He grinned from ear to ear as he sat down in front of the class. Thinking on it now, Agatha realized there were quite a few more cushions available than usual. Hannah blended in perfectly with the large influx of new classmates.
She didn't know about all this, though. Her luck hit hard today.
"My name's Avery," Boltund said. "Our varsity got wrecked by you guys a few months back. Hoping to be on the fun team this time around."
As Boltund walked around to find a seat, an Oshawott entered behind him. He faced the class with his arms stiff at his sides.
"My name's Sam," he said. "Nice to meet you."
Oshawott Sam glanced around a few times and then walked to his seat. He picked a cushion next to Boltund Avery towards the opposite side of the class. Avery didn't react to him.
A Croagunk came in next. He walked slow. It'd irritate the crap out of her if she ended up walking behind him in the hallway, as if the girls in her class didn't walk slow enough.
"Hi," Croagunk said. "My name's Grant. It's nice to meet you."
He talked slow, too.
Once Croagunk finished, he waltzed his way to another cushion and sat down. The last new student took their time coming out. After a moment, Flygon Mr. Rivers fluttered his wings on the way to the door and whispered. With her ears, Agatha heard, whether she wanted to or not.
"Natasha?" Mr. Rivers asked. "Don't be afraid."
"I don't want to be here..."
"Relax. Take your time."
Mr. Rivers flew back to the front of the board. A Charmander glanced at the class from behind the door and inched forward. Agatha flinched.
It caught her eye in an instant; a piece of metal swinging through the sunlight as it passed through windows, a prosthetic arm. She hyper fixated on its design, weight, and even properties she didn't even know yet like materials. Hannah pushed on her shoulder and snapped her out of it. She smiled at her. Pikachu Simone leaned down and added to it. Agatha glanced away.
"My name's Natasha," Charmander said. "Hello..."
"Hey Natasha," Umbreon Walter called. "Whatcha' got there?"
Agatha pushed forward. Hannah outstretched her arm in front of her chest to block her. Agatha glared.
"You probably shouldn't kill him around so many witnesses," Hannah whispered.
Pikachu Simone leaned forward again. Concern tightened his lips together.
"Walter," said Mr. Rivers, "that's detention."
"What?" he snarled. "Why?"
"If you gave a smart alec response like that in the real world, you'd have my foot up your-" Mr. Rivers paused and cleared his throat. "You're all young. If you don't learn proper respect now, you'll end up out of jobs, on the streets, or behind bars, and so help me if I won't come out of retirement and put you there myself."
"Just trying to break the ice..."
"By pouring lava on it? For goodness' sake, Walter. Now then," he continued. "We'll skip our first class for today. You all can do whatever it is kids do now. I just need five volunteers to show our new students around the school. I'll give you each some information like their locker numbers, etcetera. Agatha."
Agatha almost shot up out of her seat. She didn't expect to hear her name.
"Could you show Natasha around?" he asked.
His tone deepened, ever so slightly. Agatha had wondered for a while, but she could be sure now from the speed and finality of his decision. He knew. Odds were that all the teachers knew the whole time, probably by some form Claire filled out when first enrolling her.
"Okay," said Agatha.
"Good," he said. "Come up here. I'll show you all what you'll be doing."
Agatha pushed up and walked to the front of the class. Mr. Rivers didn't wait for her to reach him before continuing his explanation.
"You'll each walk around the campus and show them the cafeteria, drinking fountains, lockers, and all other relevant places. You can take ten minutes or the whole time, but I'll leave it up to you whether you're satisfied or not. That's all I want you to do. Who would like to walk with Sam?"
Oshawott Sam glanced around. No one volunteered.
"Then I'll take Sam," Mr. Rivers said. "I missed my morning walk since I woke up late. Would anyone like to take Grant?"
"I got him," Midnight Lycanroc Roy volunteered.
"Excellent. Anyone for Avery?"
A horde of high voices called out, then quieted from each other's influence. Mr. Rivers sighed.
"Okay," he said, "Alisha, you take him. And anyone for Hannah?"
Agatha flinched at the huge crash behind her. At least two people accidentally smacked each other raising their limbs. Almost everyone volunteered.
"Uh... right," Mr. Rivers muttered. "Okay... Walter, you will show Hannah around. Please be polite..."
Bayleef Jenna's eyes lit on fire. Agatha stifled down a haughty laugh. Growlithe Alisha, Lycanroc Roy, and Umbreon Walter all stepped up. After, Oshawott Sam, Croagunk Grant, Boltund Avery, and Cinccino Hannah all walked behind their respective tour guides on the way out the door.
Charmander Natasha walked behind Audino Agatha. She kept glancing back, but mostly at her tail flame. The shadows it cast on the tiled floor out in the hallway kept confusing her. She got used to it as the teams split off in separate ways.
Agatha glanced at the locker doors to remember how the numbers worked. She stopped at the end of the hallway to check their numbers before making a right instead of a left. Natasha followed without saying a word. She figured she probably preferred it that way.
"Hey," Natasha said from behind her, "is this school worth bothering with for me?"
Agatha took an extra breath to think about her answer. "It's about the same as it would be anywhere."
"Well isn't that just great..."
"If that bothers you, why didn't you just hide it?"
"Hide it?" she asked. "That wouldn't stop it from being a part of me, and random strangers don't deserve the effort of me hiding something from them."
"It wouldn't be that hard. Not many in the class are very bright."
"A matter of principle. But to be honest," she looked down, "comments like that Umbreon's are just day-to-day stuff for me. I don't really see a reason to deal with these people when I could just be homeschooled."
"There are some things only teachers like ours could teach," Agatha said. "If you listen, it's worth the stay."
"I guess a class pet would say that..."
"What gave you the impression I was the class pet?"
"That's who I usually get paired up with. Although, you seem kinda... different."
"Here's your locker."
Agatha stopped and gestured to a locker on the right side of the hallway. Natasha walked up to it, took a once-over, and nodded. As she did, Agatha stared at her prosthetic arm.
Her body seemed off balance. It bothered her. Even with a prosthetic, it shouldn't affect her like that.
"Can I see your arm for a second?" Agatha asked.
Natasha sighed. "I get that a lot, too. Whatever."
Agatha held her hands and supported Natasha's arm as she lifted it. It weighed heavy, too heavy. On closer inspection, the material seemed different than her own. She understood now.
"Prosthetics like these should never even be made," she said. "It's a heavy, cheap material. A person lives out their lives with prosthetics. Cheap ones are an insult."
Natasha blinked. "Well, I'm surprised you noticed. My parents didn't really have life insurance when the accident happened, so, yeah. Guess I was only worth the cheap stuff. Been using those for, let's see... four or five years now."
"I know someone who could fix this."
"And what about the money?"
"It'd be taken care of."
Agatha still had her whole family's wealth at her disposal. If she called in with Claire and gave her consent, she could make a withdrawal. With how much she had tucked away in the account, it wouldn't even leave a scratch. The weight would only cause Natasha grief, and for no good reason when she could do something about it.
"You're serious?" Natasha questioned. "About the guy and the money?"
"You deserve better," she said. "Everyone does."
"I mean... Thanks. Well, thanks if you follow through, I guess?"
"I will." Agatha lowered her paws from under her arm and turned down the hallway. "I'll show you after school."
"But you have to answer something first."
Agatha turned back. Natasha gazed right at her eyes.
"Why are you so invested in this?" she asked suspiciously. "Come to think of it, you sit in the back, seem antisocial as hell... So why'd the teacher just automatically pick you for me? Why are you trying to help?"
"I'm not that antisocial. There's no point in not helping when I'm in a good enough position to do it with ease. Is there anything you want to see?"
"Not really. Let's just go back to class."
"Okay."
Agatha turned and walked back with Natasha in two. She matched her speed so Natasha didn't feel rushed. She stole glances in classrooms through open doors. Most of them looked the same. She lost interest.
"Hey!"
Agatha turned. Behind them down the hall, Cinccino Hannah waved and walked towards them. Umbreon Walter followed with a sour frown.
"Where are you all going next?" Hannah asked. "Could we come with you?"
It translated to Agatha. Walter got on her nerves and she wanted some relief, at least, probably.
"We were just going to go back to class," Agatha answered. "But the gym is just right around here if you want to see it."
"That sounds excellent!" she said. "Thank you!"
"Follow me."
Agatha took the lead towards the large, wood double doors leading to the gym. Given the claustrophobic classes, it'd be nice to take some breaths in there.
"How big's the gym?" Natasha asked curiously.
"Small," Walter said. "Not great for serious battle practice. It's mostly just used for muscles and techniques."
"Ah, okay. A little disappointing."
"Yeah."
Coming to the door first, Agatha pushed, a foot through the door before it was even fully opened.
A cold, furious wind whipped her face and yanked her forward. Orange light pierced her eyes. She blinked and straightened out.
"What the fuck!?" Walter screamed.
The wind pulled Agatha off her feet. She started to fall. Above her, Hannah, Walter, and Natasha's screams chased after her.
As she spun around in a messy circle, wind roared in Agatha's ears, and an orange, pink sky dominated her vision. She fell towards a maze of concrete towers.
"Grab on!" Hannah shouted.
Agatha had no clue what to grab onto. A silver object swooped under her and stopped her fall. She held on with any body part she could for all she's worth. Panicked sighs and grunts filled her ears in place of the wind.
Cinccino Hannah caught them all on her huge, silver fan. Her ears and fur whipped around in the wind. Umbreon Walter and Charmander Natasha's eyes shot around as they also clung to the fan.
"I'll bring us down," Hannah said. "Please hold on and don't panic. I don't want anyone to fall. Do you understand?"
Hannah began to lower them at walking speed. Agatha's shock and adrenaline started to wear off. She took in her surroundings.
The city below them didn't have anyone or anything on the white, pearly streets. Other than the wind, she neither detected nor saw any movement. Dark hills of green surrounded the city on all sides except one. A mountain of preposterous size, a mountaintop covered in white and higher than clouds, loomed in the distance. A single, marble street led to its base all the way from the city.
The stunning sight prompted a memory, one that made her heart sink.
"I call it the Origin Point," Luke said. "All of the bent reality revolves around it. I've stumbled across it once."
"If you enter, you'll be put in the center of what looks like an abandoned city. There'll be a mountain nearby. At the base of that mountain is a large entryway inside. The sky will have an incredible sunset. And, if you come across this place, you need to leave immediately."
Luke looked everyone in the eyes again. His change in temper stunned Agatha into silence.
"You're on another plane of existence," he continued, "so you can't call for help. And even if you could, the energy signatures there are past comprehension. It doesn't matter how prepared or ready you think you are. If you stumble across the Origin Point, leave. Not taking advice and screwing off on the other side of the woods is cute, but this isn't the place for that."
"Damn," Agatha blurted. "We gotta leave."
Agatha traced her fingers down her ear strand; nothing. She pulled it in front of her eyes and scanned it down.
"Where the hell is my earring?" she asked.
"I'll buy you another earring myself if we can just get the hell out of here now," said Walter.
"Not what I mean. That earring is our only way out of here."
"How? What even is 'here'?"
"I don't mean to alarm you," Hannah said, "but I'm sensing the Valorian and Veritan royal blessings."
"You're sensing what?" Natasha demanded.
"Stop shifting around," Agatha said. "Unless you want to go splat on the pavement in another world. Now both of you just shut up and focus on what we need to do. All you need to know is that we need to find my earring. Okay? Think later."
"I just wanted to see the gym..."
The fan landed flat on a hard, concrete rooftop. If Agatha's earring fell off, it would be on a rooftop or down on the street. Waltzing around, she didn't see it on this one. Natasha and Walter managed to scrounge up enough sense to at least check the floor around them.
"Hannah," Agatha said, "do you think the streets would be safe to check?"
"Nowhere here feels safe," she replied. "I detect a Scion's power everywhere, and the blessings in every building. I don't think flying below here would be a good idea."
"Okay," Walter huffed, "I can accept the fact our classmate's a secret princess, sure. Not impossible. Has happened before to people, and you look princess-y. But why can you detect both?"
"It's a long story."
"Okay... Well, whatever. I mean, what the hell."
"Assuming I'm not insane," Natasha said, "where are we going then? And I get to be short on questions, but where are we and why can she fly?"
"We're in a reality bent and distorted by Legendary pokemon," Hannah explained. "I can fly because of magic."
Agatha curled her lower lip and nodded; good of an explanation as any.
"Hey guys?" Walter asked. "The hell is that up there?"
A dark shadow flew against the sunset. Agatha's skin tingled looking at it. Despite the large distance, she shivered and glanced around for an escape.
"Get inside," Agatha said. "Does anyone see a hatch?"
"Here!" Hannah called.
Hannah's fan burst into sparkles of blue light that faded out of existence. Agatha's eyes traced the square crease of a vertical door. She walked over as Natasha and Walter figured out how to pull it open. It opened up to a dark room. Agatha jumped down first to give them her vote of confidence. Hannah helped Natasha and Walter down by holding on to their arms and dropping them. After, she fell down, closing the hatch behind her.
Agatha couldn't see past her hand in front of her. She rustled through her pockets for her phone.
"Kinda cold in here," Walter said.
"Shut up," said Agatha.
"If this place is some sort of bent reality like you say it is, why is this like a city?" Natasha asked. "This isn't what I'd expect..."
"It was probably a city before," Hannah answered. "But that begs the question of where everyone went, and how exactly a city this modern came about in the age when Legendary pokemon still roamed the planet in their full bodies."
"I guess I'll take your word for what's going on. It'd either be that or accept that I lost it."
"Lost what?"
The flashlight on Agatha's phone came on. She circled it around them.
The floor had dark, cold floor tiles and spotless cream brown walls. As she turned in a circle, nothing else caught her eye. The room was empty.
"Okay," Natasha said," I have a little less adrenaline right now, so can someone tell me what's going on and what our plan is?"
Agatha didn't worry about anyone believing anything Natasha or Walter said. She planned to explain it to them so they didn't feel like they were going insane, but that could wait. They did need a plan.
"Did any of you happen to see what happened to my earring?" Agatha asked.
"You had it on when you opened the gym doors," Walter said, "but I didn't see it after that. Probably flew off."
"It could be in a lot of places," Hannah said. "With the winds, it could've gone in any direction."
"There's a chance it landed on another rooftop, but I doubt it. We should assume it's somewhere on the streets. It's at least big enough for us to be able to see it pretty well if we do find it."
"I don't like the feeling from that black shadow. We should descend from inside this building. If we don't find it on the streets, we'll make another plan to check the rooftops."
"I'll lead," Agatha said. "Hannah, follow from the back."
"Right."
The problem in the forefront: keeping Umbreon Walter and Charmander Natasha safe. They lived in a way more normal world than this one. At most, they had all of first period before this little adventure would avalanche into their lives at school, if it hadn't already. Audino Agatha took the lead to get them moving, fast.
A bell rang, as if over an intercom. Agatha stopped and looked around for the speaker.
"Attention all employees. Please evacuate the... Welcome to all new customers, please form orderly lines of. Here at. If you look to. All hail the Peacekeeper."
Everyone paused.
"What nightmare world is this?" Walter asked.
"Intruders have entered via rooftop. Drown them in hellfire."
Charmander Natasha clenched her claws together as tears popped out of the corners of her eyes. Umbreon Walter glanced around with the sturdiness of a blade of grass flying through a tornado. Hannah looked around in awe wondering where the voice came from. Meanwhile, Agatha had to assume whatever the intercom meant by "hellfire" had an alternative meaning, though she couldn't be sure.
Agatha held her feeler against the floor. She hushed the group and focused in for any movement. Natasha stifled her sniffs and crying groans.
None.
"I think we're safe," Agatha whispered. "I don't hear anything happening, and I doubt they'd come at us at such a low volume that I couldn't hear. We'll continue going down to the street, understand?"
"Yeah," Walter said. "Let's just get out of here... It's like we landed in a bad creepypasta."
"What's a 'creepypasta'?" Hannah asked, grimacing from the sound of the word.
"What do you mean 'what's a creepypasta'? Were you born yesterday?"
"To me, this is like some horror movie," Natasha mumbled.
"I... forgot what a movie is," Hannah admitted. "Agatha? What's a movie?"
"Does anyone see a way down?" Agatha asked.
The yellow rings scattered across Walter's body lit up. As he looked around, a ray of light from his forehead lit up the room. It lit up a gap in the wall with a dark rampway that led down. Agatha turned off her cell phone's flashlight and stuck it back in her pocket. She led the way.
Walter stayed behind her back and provided light. It ran through the corridor and revealed a dark, metal rampway spiraling down. Agatha stepped out and walked down. The flame on Natasha's tail cast a shadow over the wall that bobbed up and down.
"H-hey," Natasha said, "so, uh, I know we're supposed to focus on finding that earring, but can't we know a little more? I mean, you two don't look all that fazed by this..."
"Keep your voice down," Agatha warned. "There could be microphones or something."
"What's a-"
"I'll explain later, Hannah. We need to move."
Agatha continued to lead the front with Walter behind her shoulder. They circled down to the next floor.
A long hallway opened up, with a maze of open doorways leading into dark, empty rooms. Umbreon Walter peered his light into each of them, only to find empty space.
A small clicking noise hit Agatha's ear. She glanced up.
"Take cover!" she hissed.
Agatha grabbed Walter by the fur on the back of his neck and stepped behind a doorway. Cinccino Hannah did the same with Charmander Natasha. They all scrambled behind the doorway. Once silence settled in again, Agatha peered back out.
The clicking noise came from a cylindrical object attached to the ceiling by a metal pole. Agatha noticed tubes pointing in their direction.
Agatha stuck her hand out. The strange machine pointed and fired. When she retreated her hand, it stopped firing. It leftover small metal pellets on the floor. All of them flattened after bouncing off her fingers.
"Firearms," Agatha said. "Weird."
Hannah tugged on her tail. Agatha turned back.
"What is this 'firearm'?" she asked.
"It's a sort of... tool, I guess," she explained. "It uses an explosive powder to fire off small metal pellets at something really fast. But they don't do much of anything, except to animals and some machinery... They've got to be here for some reason, though. Some kind of security countermeasure to... something. Either way, they're not dangerous to us."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Just like someone poking you. Let's just wreck it before it makes too much noise and keep moving. Could you do that for us?"
Agatha had to be careful of her prosthetic feet. It wouldn't harm her, but it could damage them. She didn't want to risk it.
"How should I destroy it quietly, though?" she asked.
"Burst forward, grab the pole, and just yank the thing down," Agatha said.
"Right."
Hannah stepped out into the hallway. She kept her paws behind her back and blasted wind out of them to propel herself forward. Agatha raised her arm over her eyes to protect them from drying out. Noises from Hannah ripping out the metal filled her ears.
When the wind calmed, Agatha saw Hannah holding the metal pipe with two fingers. For some odd reason, she sniffed it, and recoiled back.
"Hold on," said Walter from behind Agatha. "This is weird. What point would there be for these in this building? I get that reality's distorted, sorta... But there has to be some sense to this. Firearms don't make sense for security. They don't do anything to us."
"Let's keep going," Agatha said, mostly to bring their focus back. "It doesn't seem like those were connected to any sort of alarm system, so they must be operating individually. Follow me."
Agatha walked out of the doorway and down the hall. Umbreon Walter and Charmander Natasha followed. They all passed by Hannah while she dangled the mess of metal in front of her face. She jogged and caught up to them as they came to another rampway leading further down.
At its end, the orange light of the sunset poured into the building, through large, rectangular windows. More turrets faced out of each and lined the path down the room, all pointing outside. Agatha's footsteps fell a little harder on the floor.
"Hey," Walter said, "they're all aimed outside, and like, up to the sky? Why?"
Agatha's mind wandered to Luke, more specifically, her vision.
She remembered him with black, artificial spines on his back. From what she could tell, they worked like her own boosters, but differently. That strange pokemon called them pegasi wings. These machines could only be here to counter one thing.
"They must've had flying machines," Agatha said. "And these are here to defend against them. It's the only logical explanation."
"What, like, prosthetic wings or something?" Walter asked.
"Yes. The pellets would probably go through and break them, even if they don't harm the pokemon using it."
"I guess that'd make a lot more sense to me if I knew of any sort of machine that could fly."
"Yeah. Don't bother destroying these ones. Keep moving."
"Uh, guys!?" Natasha asked.
Agatha glanced at her face and turned to where she was looking. Hannah moved forward and stood next to her with her arms raised.
An entity in front of them phased in and out of reality. Grass at its feet popped in and out with it.
"Hannah?" Agatha asked. "Scion?"
"No," she said. "But I feel the Valorian royal blessing."
Agatha nodded. It couldn't be some illusion conjured up by wild, bent energy like other attackers. It had to be a real pokemon, with the real Valorian royal blessing.
It vanished.
Agatha glanced around the room, but it left. The end of the hallway blinked back to relative normalcy.
"It's gone?" Hannah said, seeming unsure. "I don't sense it anymore."
"Would it be safer to jump out the window?" Walter asked.
"No," Agatha said. "But I won't stop you from testing it out."
"You could at least acknowledge my worth as a lightbulb."
"I'd prefer a lightbulb to you since they can't talk."
Agatha walked forward and stared out the window. The mountain swallowing the horizon set a fire in her chest. She turned away from it and continued walking, breathing heavier than she did before looking at it.
"I've never seen a mountain that big," Walter commented. "Well, in pictures, I mean. You said Legendary pokemon used to live here?"
"Not here specifically," said Hannah. "They each had their own homes. So it concerns me that something like this would exist."
"Can't we go back now?" Natasha asked.
"Keep it together," Agatha said. "We've got you. Just push through it."
Hannah walked closer to Natasha, and Walter to Agatha. A few cracks slipped through Walter's cool attitude. As much as she liked it, the circumstances cut Agatha's enjoyment shy of a smile. At the opposite side of the room, another ramp led down.
More and more floors came and went, empty. As they descended, the sound of wind hitting the tower slowed to a stop, leaving them in eerie silence. It offered their nerves some time to settle, and Agatha to formulate questions.
Other places in the Old World didn't make sense, sure. Across a few trips, she had seen gravity defied by floating rocks and an empty field of purple grass, but none of them had anything of interest like this "Origin Point". Despite the emptiness, she detected signs of life.
They reached the street level.
The last rampway led to an open plaza with glass doors that led out to an asphalt road. Audino Agatha hesitated to walk out. Her legs trembled. She wiped sweat from her neck. She stomped forward before she could psyche herself out of it. The glass doors opened by themselves.
Cinccino Hannah, Umbreon Walter, and Charmander Natasha faced straight ahead, to the right, and to the left.
"Let's stay together," Agatha said. "Keep following me and keep an eye out."
Agatha walked on the side of the road, safer underneath the shadows of the skyscrapers. It reminded her of Valor, but the tan buildings and desolate space sucked any life out of it. From what she could tell peering into the buildings, they were all empty.
Someone tumbled and fell on the floor behind her. She whipped around.
Cinccino Hannah breathed heavily as she laid on her arms. Sweat poured down her whole body. Umbreon Walter and Charmander Natasha both bent down and inspected her.
"Hey?" Walter asked. "What's wrong?"
Hannah coughed and sputtered.
"The first comet strikes to draw her attention. The second comet follows against prior intention. The third strikes last to finish the plan, accompanied by a strong, fierce human hand."
Agatha turned back around.
Another entity appeared, and this one spoke.
"The third falls as the battle completes, the second takes curses since they cannot retreat. The first is held captive by the new dignitary, by the second with help from a flying green fairy. Curses abound, the second split into three. They planned and prepared for as far as could see. Renewed and repaired, our conquest begins. Fall on your knees and repent of your sins."
Two, maple-leaf shaped tails rose up to the light of the sunset.
"Hey..." Walter said. "What the hell species is that?"
The distortion spread along the ground. Agatha stepped back as unruly dark colors covered the earth. It encroached up the sides of the buildings and reached out towards the sky.
The entity raised up a gold ring in her hand. Agatha honed in on it to make sure it was her's, and it was.
"Adrian," she said, "I see the potential you see. I will take great care in my duty."
The buildings, roads, and sunset vanished into starlight. The entity lowered herself to the new pale blue floor. Water splashed up on her feet. A pink, gold crown on her head glittered as she came into view. Red gems shone in the centers of both of her tails, and another on her forehead. A silver sword rose in front of her. Agatha's fur stood up as if lighting was about to strike.
One by one, Agatha slipped her socks off and put them in the pockets of her leather jacket. Her metal feet's boosters had already warmed up from adrenaline. She glanced behind her. Walter, Hannah, and Natasha had all disappeared.
"The first comet returns," Mesprit said. She turned her gleaning yellow eyes up. "It has been so long."
Agatha spared a glance up. She yelped and fell back.
Huge black spines slammed on the floor and pierced through it. They clicked as flames spewed out of them and died out. A Lopunny stepped forward away from them. He raised a Keldeo's indigo horn and pointed it forward.
"Stay back Agatha," Lopunny Luke said. "I mean it. Especially that damn sword."
Agatha grunted and stood up. Luke raised an arm and blocked her from moving closer. He gripped the horn in both hands and charged forward.
Mesprit burst forward. Luke reeled back as the horn flew up out of his grip.
Agatha didn't see the next slash. It was too fast. Luke gripped his chest as he fell on the ground. Keldeo's horn landed in front of her as Mesprit walked forward.
"Destiny waits for no one."
Agatha boosted forward. She rolled and grabbed Keldeo's horn. She raised it over her head.
Mesprit slammed down her blade. Agatha held up at first, then she leaned forward. Her bones creaked. White hot energy seeped through the blade and burned her hands as Mesprit pushed down. A miniature sun sparked between the blades, and it fell closer to Agatha's face with every passing second.
Mesprit eased off. She raised the blade in front of herself. Agatha creased her eyes in confusion. A heavy blast of light pushed Mesprit back, slowly. An invisible psychic force wrapped around Agatha's center and yanked her back and away. The horn flew out of her hand. Her back hit something soft and pushed her back on her feet. She glanced behind her.
Luxray Imani focused ahead. As the Hyper Beam faded, Mightyena Claire breathed out and sauntered forward. Agatha glanced between them.
"What?" she asked. "What are you two doing here?"
"Luke told us," Imani said. "We're the right people to call, after all. We're explorers. All of us."
"Agatha!"
Agatha looked up. Cinccino Hannah flew in on her oversized fan with Umbreon Walter and Charmander Natasha in tow, clinging on each of her arms. She pushed them off on the ground and leapt in between Agatha and Mesprit. A sharp blue mask replaced her glasses. She bent down, picked up the horn, and held it firm.
Mesprit rushed. Hannah focused. She stopped short of tackling her and swung. Up against down, left to right. Hannah's wide stance rooted her in place.
Mesprit faked an upwards swing. She brought the blade up, and down. It cut clean through Hannah's mask. Mesprit raised her hand and blasted Psychic at her chest. Agatha ducked as Hannah flew back over her head. Keldeo's horn fell.
"Principal!?"
Umbreon Walter and Charmander Natasha shared a glance. They had cried out in unison.
Agatha had two guesses for who they meant. Both guesses ended up being right.
Espeon Selina and Lucario Annette ran forward. Luxray Imani stood in front of Agatha, Walter, and Natasha with her side turned, possibly to take blows for them. At this rate, she would.
Or not.
Agatha saw the gold ring laying out on the ground, probably dropped in her flurry with Hannah. Lopuny Luke took notice, too. As Torracat Bao leapt into action and breathed flames at Mesprit, he crawled for it. Against Mesprit, Lucario Annette snagged the horn off the ground and tried to meet her blows. With Psychic, Mesprit flicked her arms in different directions and threw her off. With three strikes, Annette fell to the ground.
On her other side, Espeon Selina fired a pink Psybeam from the gem on her forehead. Mesprit blocked it with a small barrier on her hand. As Espeon took painful steps forward, the resistance grew. As the beam died out, Mesprit pushed back. Espeon flew and landed on her back.
Mesprit shot through Torracat Bao's flames. Bao backed up, but still got nicked by the edge of her blade. She grasped at her face and fell over in pain.
"Stay back," Imani ordered.
Luxray Imani rushed forward. A lightning strike arced off her fur and landed on Mesprit's blade. From what Agatha saw, it had no effect.
"Agatha..."
Lopunny Luke pushed himself up to his feet, with her ring in hand. Imani steadily streaming electricity at Mesprit bought them a few seconds, not enough to gather everyone and get them out through the ring.
"We have to push her back," Luke wheezed. "Agatha."
Luke reached behind his back to his small white tail. He threw a bright pink object her way. She grabbed it with both hands out of the air. It tingled. In the center, pink and cream colors swirled around each other in a wispy Z. She glanced up at Luke.
"Just do what feels natural," Luke said. "We just need a minute- No. Half a minute. You two." He looked around Agatha at Umbreon Walter and Charmander Natasha. "Pull them all close together, okay?"
"Luke," said Agatha, "I don't know how."
"Just feel it, okay? And whatever you do, don't get stabbed to death."
Luke pulled out a deep brown stone from his tail. Rainbow light encased it. It encircled his changing body. While he went through mega evolution, Agatha stared at the Audinite in her hands. Powerful energy creeping up her arms threatened to overtake her. She chose to allow it.
A raging inferno built up in her chest. Her black leather jacket ripped apart from her growth. Her pink fur burned white as her ears rose. Heat in her chest formed a pale white tuft of fur under her chin, Her once pink fur extended out as a makeshift cape.
Agatha's vision fogged up as Luke rushed in. Her body grew heavy. Taking a step forward cost her a gasp for breath. All of the new energy in her body weighed too much. What's more, she couldn't contain it all in her body for long.
Luke plucked the indio horn off the ground and swung from the right. Mesprit guarded with one arm. She used her free hand to blast Psychic energy. Luke slid back, still on his feet. She flew forward and sliced upwards, diagonally.
His right ear flew off. Sparks of light fell off from his body as his mega evolution failed. He staggered back clutching at his head. Mesprit's yellow eyes turned on Agatha.
Mespirt flew forward. Agatha boosted and propelled herself to meet her with Giga Impact.
Mesprit dipped low. The boiling hot tip of the blade stuck right through Agatha's chest. She gasped. Rainbow light fell off her body as mega evolution failed. Mesprit smiled. She raised her along with the blade and slammed it down. She slid off the blade and rolled on the floor. Mesprit waltzed forward and held the sword backwards. She raised the tip over Agatha's head and slammed down.
Agatha screamed and shot up. Her eyes flooded with bright sunlight through a window. She recognized the view outside. She shot her stare around the room, her room. She grasped at her face and chest. Her heart pounded against her hand.
"You're okay! You're okay."
Agatha hadn't even registered the voice or pokemon at her bedside until now. Mightyena Claire's claw rested on her hand.
"What happened?" Agatha wheezed out. Her hand flew to where the sword struck her. She didn't feel anything.
"Alondra pulled a... close save..." Claire said.
"Did... Did I get stabbed through the head?"
"Don't... worry about that for right now. You're fine. You're fine..."
Agatha stared at Claire. Her stomach twisted. She sweated out a small ocean as she leaned forward and threw up.
Apparently, Natasha and Walter went back to class to keep other students from being suspicious. Agatha and Hannah went home with a "small cold". Alondra would be sick for a week, which was better than what she initially thought the Mortal Scion did in order to save them.
On the floor underneath Agatha, Lopunny Luke laid out on the couch, still unconscious. After she explained what happened, everyone's questions pointed his way. Agatha heard him from her bed as he woke up.
"What... happened to my ear!?" he yelled.
"Quiet down!" Claire hissed. "Agatha's resting upstairs!"
"What the flying fuck happened to my ear?" he whispered.
"It got cut off. Now you have to answer my questions if you don't want to lose the other one."
"Okay, okay... Calm down... It's just an ear. Kinda expected to lose something... Just be glad it wasn't your head, Luke..." he told himself. "Wait, how am I not bleeding? And there aren't any stitches?"
"Alondra healed you."
"Oh. Uh, is she okay...?"
"Yes. We compiled questions to ask you. If you don't answer them-"
"I'll answer. Go ahead."
"What really is this 'Old World'? Why was there a city in the middle of it?"
"The Old World is just that. It's a planet trapped inside bent, twisted reality where we all used to live, before Scions existed. Technology had already advanced far past what exists today here. That's why there was a city."
"Does that 'technology' include those weird black spines?"
"They're called pegasi wings, and yeah. The Origin Point is where reality first started to bend and twist out of shape. Reality's more distorted there than anywhere else."
"Alright then... Now, another question." Claire lowered her voice. "Was that really Mesprit?"
"Guess I'll have to be honest here... Technically, no."
"Then what was it?"
"It was Mesprit's body, being controlled by someone else. You know about the royal burial ceremonies? How every royal family member with the blessing is buried in the holy lakes?"
"Yes. What about it?"
"I don't know what it is yet, but some... force, takes their bodies into the Old World, and they turn into these things I call Reapers. They're dead creatures controlled and forced to protect the Origin Point. That's the ultimate fate of anyone with a royal blessing. The First Queen of Verity and First Kings of Valor and Acuity weren't any different.
"And because their bodies are still intact, they still have all memories from their body's life, including lifelong experience at combat. I can't defeat a single one of them, much less Mesprit. That's why I told you all to avoid it, and if I had to guess, why Hannah detected both the Valorian and Veritan blessings all around that place."
Agatha gripped her ear together, pining over every word. It started to sink in. She trembled. She learned about that royal burial ceremony tradition in history class. They had done it forever.
"How many Reapers are there...?"
"A couple thousand years' worth. They focus around the mountain, but if you're unlucky, you can run into one anywhere in the Old World. You're probably wondering about that sword?"
"Of course I am," Claire said. "It felt... like."
"It's not a Sacred Treasure. I don't know where it came from, but from what I know, it's the Veritan Regalia. It's called Yasakani no Magatama. The First Queen used it to conquer the nations that had already settled where Verity is today, and was buried with it."
Luke grunted, Agatha assumed from sitting up. She eased off on the pressure she pushed her ear strand to the floor with. It started to ache, along with a small headache.
"It's got three times the energy output of a Sacred Treasure, roughly. So that's why," he huffed, "it probably lobbed my ear off like a stick of butter. And that's only a third of the iceberg since the other two have their own Regalia. So, unfortunately, the Origin Point can't actually be investigated. Even with the help of Scions."
"But why?" Claire asked. "What are they put there to protect?"
"That mountain you saw was hollowed out over a few thousand years in the Old World, and inside, they built a palace called Stargazer Castle. That's what they're protecting. As for what's inside, I don't know. I told you everything, except my hypothesis."
"...Which is?"
"Whatever made Reshiram, Lugia, and Palkia go berserk is probably inside, and until someone's strong enough to get there, things will only go downhill from here. But until we can take action, we have to investigate the havens of other Legendary species to check their status. Some could be worse off than others. We might even be able to get clues as to what happened to them, or who their Scions are."
"Is that what you've been trying to do?"
"Without any luck," Luke grumbled. "I'm... okay enough at fighting off those illusions, but this is a job only explorers could do. I hate to ask you for help when you just barely made it out alive, and I read the messages about that Jirachi. He's probably still lurking around in there. But I don't have a choice. No one else can quite do what you guys do."
"We'll help," Claire said. "Of course we will. That's what we do. I don't think Agatha would want to give up here, either. She's too stubborn."
"Are you going to be the one to tell her all this? Try to talk her out of it?"
"Knowing her, she's probably been listening this whole time."
"Huh?"
Something pounded the ceiling. Agatha jumped. She ended up rolling off her bed and hitting the floor. She grumbled and groaned and cussed under her breath.
After she recovered from her fall, Agatha fell asleep for an hour. She woke up to the sight of the Audinite on the floor in the corner of the room, and a small, rhythmic pound of footsteps in her ears, followed by another. After learning her lesson, she didn't put the strand of her ear to the floor to listen to muffled voices. The same minute the visitors arrived, they came up the rampway to her door.
They knocked twice and entered. Umbreon Walter peered his head in. Agatha pulled her white covers a bit further up over her body to cover her scars. Walter walked in, Charmander Natasha followed him.
"I... can barely believe everything," Walter said. "I mean... It feels like a dream, but I know I saw you get stabbed right through the heart, and then your head as if that weren't enough."
"Can we not talk about that?" Agatha muttered. A knot formed in her stomach.
Natasha grimaced. Walter shifted his weight on his feet.
"Uh, Principal Mural talked to us during lunch," said Walter. "She told us everything, and not to tell anyone. We left early since nothing but BS is going on, anyway."
Another pair of footsteps rose up the rampway. Walter and Natasha moved off to the side to give Lopunny Luke room to enter. He glanced at them up and down.
Only one ear dangled behind his back. The other came to an abrupt stop over his head as a stump. Agatha rolled her fingers down her ear strand. Based on the cut, he likely could still hear out of that ear, only not as well.
"Natasha?" Luke asked. "You brought my pegasi wings back. I wanted to thank you."
"I didn't know what they were," Natasha said. "Everyone grabbed something, and I felt bad not carrying anything, and it looked important... I didn't, like, break the space-time continuum or anything, right?"
"Nah," he shook his head and smiled. "You did me a solid. You both kept level heads, considering you were thrown into all this. I just wanted to thank you both."
"U-uh, yeah. No... problem, I guess?"
"I'll leave you be. Got some errands to run. See you."
"See you..." Walter said.
Luke turned around and walked back down the ramp. Walter and Natasha's shoulders fell.
"I can't believe it..." Walter sighed. "The Reapers, I mean. Who would do something like that?"
"Well, they clearly have a different moral compass," said Agatha. "So, what are you two doing here?"
"We want to help."
"Why?"
"Because the Reapers freak the shit out of me."
"Because you... lost something to someone who thinks they're... all that!" Natasha half-yelled. "That's not... fair."
"I'm confused why either of you want any part of this," she said. "You understand that I literally just died and lucked out, right?"
Natasha covered her mouth with her hand glanced away. "Yeah, we saw..."
"Then why go anywhere near any of it?"
"To fight for what's right?" Walter asked. "What, do you want one of those speeches?"
"No offense, jock, but you'd crumple if Mesprit flicked you in the forehead."
"Even if that's true now, that can change. Besides, if you don't, we'll tell people. Memory sharing and all. So, uh, there."
Agatha glared. Walter flinched, but kept his eyes steady on her. No one would believe him, except maybe the royal families since they knew about Scions.
Nevermind, it'd be a problem.
"Whatever," she said. "Don't blame me if you're stuck hobbling on a metal foot next."
"Fine," he said.
Walter hopped up in place. A small, electronic ringing came from him. He turned in place and revealed a small bag over his shoulder, from which he pulled out a phone.
"What's the alarm for?" Natasha asked.
Walter rolled his eyes. "That..." he sighed. "It just marks the start of summer break."