"Yeah Mom. I'm fine. Terry and I made it out safely." Cody insisted for the third time since the phone call started, he was outside the hideout on the beach back in human form, his feet were in the water just to feel something, even if it was bitingly cold "Yup. I'm just gonna stay at Terry's for the night. I'll be back in the morning, I promise." Cody looked back into the cave, Terry and Vera were in there as well, back to their human forms looking over Keldeo "Mmhmm. Yeah. Alright, I love you too. Goodnight." Cody was already walking back inside when he hung up the phone "How is he?"
"He still hasn't woken up…" Terry said, arms crossed in the corner of the cave, frustration evident in his voice. Vera knelt down beside Keldeo, combing her fingers through his mane. From here, Cody could see Keldeo was indeed breathing, but it was strained, it still spasmed every now and then.
"That Thundurus thing said it had no intention of killing Keldeo, but Keldeo enveloped himself in water...and then was struck by lightning." Vera said, finally standing up and letting Keldeo rest.
"So we just...wait?" Terry asked, stepping forward too "I hate that."
"So do I…" Cody muttered "But we can't take him anywhere. No one knows how to care for a pokemon. And after this attack, I'm willing to bet people want to get their hands on him for all the wrong reasons."
"Us too then…" Vera shuddered.
"So we wait then. And just pray to God that Keldeo wakes up soon." The three stood there in silence. None of them liked the sound of that, but they could see they didn't have much of a choice.
Cody sighed "Mom thinks I'm with you, so I don't have to go home for now." He looked back towards Keldeo "I wanna stay here though. Just make sure Keldeo's okay. You guys don't have to stay." Cody began to walk back into the cave, content to just sit there, hoping to just protect Keldeo from anything that would decide to come. When he sat down close to Keldeo, he was surprised to see Terry and Vera still standing there.
"I…still wanna hear what's going on. He owes me that much." Terry huffed I still needed to ask him what's going on. Terry stomped into the cave, hanging out near the mouth of the cave.
Cody blinked, a part of him relieved that Terry decided to stay. A part of him was afraid to be alone right now. He looked at Vera "I'm sorry you got dragged into…this. But you don't have to stick around."
"I…should make sure he wakes up at least." Vera said unconvincingly, taking a seat beside Keldeo. The three of them shared an uneasy, and uncertain look at each other. Deep down Cody knew in their own roundabout way, this was their way of showing they cared for Keldeo.
Cody managed a smile, not bothering to press the matter further "Okay." He sat back against the wall of the cave an unspoken 'Thanks' in his sentence. All three of them sat there in silence now, letting the quiet sound of waves fill the space.
Cody was the first one awake, a chill covering as he woke up. He shot up in panic, assuming the cold was because of Keldeo, and not because he had slept in a cave by the sea with no protection. He groaned, sitting up, all three of them had stayed in the sea cave for the evening on the off chance Keldeo woke up. Terry was by the mouth of the cave, assumedly in case something decided to come through; meanwhile Vera slept close to Keldeo, doing what she could to make sure Keldeo was at least comfortable. Cody wordlessly looked outside, the sound of the tide receding clearing his thoughts from the rush that was yesterday. He stood up, stretching his body, grabbing the satchel that Vera had snagged yesterday and stepping out into the warming sun. He whipped out his phone and checked the time, still the morning, and a Friday too. Meaning it was the last day of school, Cody would have felt guilty, but most of the students did that anyways, so it was nothing unheard of.
What Cody did notice was the notifications from the guild group chat, concern rising when he was specifically mentioned. He looked back into the cave, everyone was still asleep. He decided to make his way back to his house to grab some things while he read it.
What he read didn't make him happy, he was put on probation by the group chat admin for inactivity, and that he would have to get back into playing unless he faced being kicked from the group. Cody did not have the mental capacity to handle this right now, between everything that happened these last few days coupled with the last times he tried to garner sympathy from these people, they scorned him for it.
"Fine." Cody replied back, removing himself from the group guild chat and cramming his phone into his pocket. That was it, he just cut himself off from his friends, just like Terry had, and just like Vera had. He was all alone again, except for…
He turned back to the cave, looking at the sleeping forms of Terry, Vera, and Keldeo. They had only known each other for such a short time, and they came together because of a threat, maybe even false pretenses, but…he could call them his friends, right?
He shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside as he decided to head home.
Cody crept inside his house, relieved his mother was still asleep. He snuck into his room and grabbed a couple of things he needed for the day: a charger for his phone, and the others in case they needed it and some extra money. He slipped back outside and made his way to the bakery, which had just opened. Meaning fresh pastries for breakfast.
A Double Dutch muffin for him.
He didn't really know what to get Terry and Vera, so decided to go for chocolate chip muffins. A safe and easy bet.
And a blueberry muffin, for Keldeo. He seemed to like that one the most.
When he made his way back to the beach cave, he saw that Terry and Vera were beginning to stir, to his dismay, Keldeo was still unconscious. Panic began to set in if he was ever going to wake up at this rate, but he couldn't show that to the others, not right now.
"Morning." Cody said, handing Terry a muffin in his outstretched hand. He handed another to Vera. He placed the bag with the last muffin right beside Keldeo's resting form, grabbing his muffin from the bag "How is he?"
"Well...the shaking has stopped and his breathing is normal now…" Vera stood up "I think he just needs rest now."
Cody nodded, turning to Terry. Already an improvement compared to last night "Let's talk outside." and the three humans walked back out into the sun; Cody stealing one more glance at Keldeo before looking to Terry and Vera. There was a tense silence between the three of them as they ate breakfast.
"What do we do now?" Terry finally spoke up.
Cody's eyes lingered back to the cave "We really can't do much until he wakes up and we get him to tell us everything. So I guess for now it's just...act normal." Cody chuckled slightly, realizing just how relative normal was for them now. A week ago was normal, now this was something different, this was a fight for their lives.
"I guess...this means I can go back to studying for my finals." Terry grumbled "Cody, you can still help with that, right?"
"Yeah, alright," Cody said without a second thought.
"With the play canceled there really isn't much left for me to do." Vera shrugged "Do you guys mind if I join you?"
"Not at all." Terry said, the three making their way back into town. Cody dared one more look into the sea cave, hoping Keldeo would stir or something, anything. But when he heard Terry call him to follow, he slowly walked off with them.
"I don't know why you're so bent on making sure he's okay, Cody." Terry was the first up the steps into town "He hid a lot from us. Like...what if Kyurem is actually the good guy or something?"
"I feel like good guys wouldn't send death threats and collateral damage to another world." Vera reached the top next "I wanna make sure Keldeo is okay too. But we don't know what he's hiding. Can we even call him a friend?"
"Of course we can!" Cody shot back, faster and louder than he meant to, surprising Terry and Vera. Cody flinched to their reaction. "We just...have to believe he had a good reason for being here." Cody was the last up the steps. All three of them walked into town "I know we talked about how he hid stuff from us but...we didn't really ask him anything, did we?" Terry and Vera looked away. "We just kinda...jumped into this."
"That's a...really good point…" Terry muttered, rubbing the back of his head with a sigh.
"Yeah…" Vera said, pulling out her green and pink medallion, rolling it in her hand. Cody felt guilty getting Vera wrapped up in this, it wasn't a choice like it was with him or Terry "How did he get these medallions...how did he even come here…"
"Well, when Keldeo wakes up. We can ask him." Cody turned to face his friends "For now, we just gotta lay low and act normal." Terry and Vera gave an uneasy look, and Cody was feeling much the same. Nevertheless the three ventured into town, ready to spend the day together.
At the local library, they tried their best to focus on the work before them, but they're thoughts constantly turned back to Keldeo. Cody and Terry tried to study, but it was clear their hearts weren't in it; Terry was making simple mistakes, and Cody was being irritable at the mistakes he made. Vera made half-hearted attempts to keep the peace, but they fell on deaf ears. It was when one fight ended up louder than before and the librarian shushed them that they all decided to stop.
"I think we should take a break." Cody muttered, rubbing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. Terry tried to argue, but he ultimately just sighed and flopped forward onto the desk. He looked over to Vera, who wasn't even looking at them, opting to just stare out the window. Cody had noticed that the both of them had their phones at arms length, watching it vibrate from the distance at their friends who were asking to hang out today, but a quick glance at the phone caused them to grimace and look away.
"Sorry, just…" Terry mumbled "My mind's elsewhere…"
"Yeah, me too…" Cody sighed, hand on the phone in his pocket, silent since he left the group chat earlier that morning.
"Why is this bothering me so much…" Terry grumbled aloud.
Vera finally turned back to the group "I think whether we like it or not...Keldeo is our friend, even if he did leave things out." Vera paused "And I think you guys are my friends too, now." Terry nodded in agreement.
Cody leaned forward "I think it's worse than that." he said, making the other two turn to him "I think we're our only friends." Cody looked at them "You've been ignoring your phones since we came here. Aren't they your friends?" Cody looked at the uneasy look at the two of them, all of them looking between each other.
"I mean…I'm still really mad at them. They know what's going on with me and they still wanna hang out. Like they don't think I can turn my grades around." Terry clenched his fist for a moment before he let it go limp. "They really do think I'm a lost cause."
"And Susie won't shut up about not being able to do the play anymore, and watching them all just support her just…" Vera put her hand through her hair with a groan "And then they're looking at me like nothing is wrong. Like my feelings don't matter."
"I think that's what I'm getting at. Terry lost his jock friends. You lost your prep friends...and I removed myself from my group chat online this morning...my nerd friends…"
"Damn…" Terry said.
"Oh no. I'm sorry, Cody." Vera sighed.
"Nah...I think they were jerks anyways. They've been wanting to play the newest expansion to this game we play. But I've been busy with…all of this. And they don't even care." Cody said, mentally noting that Quinn was the only exception to that. He should add him as a friend properly online and get to know him better. "Point is...I think we really only have each other for friends...and Keldeo." There was a long pause between the three. Terry and Vera finally put their phones in their pocket.
"We all had jerks for friends, huh?" Terry said, a small chuckle escaping. Vera smiled slightly at the thought.
"Yeah...I guess we did…-?" Cody smiled back, looking up at the round circular window near the front of the library. He could see another creature, staring through the window right at them with red bead-like eyes. The body was shades of black, blue and purple. What stood out to Cody most of all was the two extra heads where the hands should be. A facsimile of a three-headed dragon staring at them.
"Cody?" Terry asked, he and Vera following his line of sight to the creature "Fu...another pokemon?"
"Definitely." Vera nodded, looking at the window nearby "But look…" Vera said, and the two turned around to the window, where they had a clear view of the sky above, it was still a bright and sunny day. Whenever Kyurem attacked, there was always that cold gray storm. The pokemon flew away from the window at the front, and reappeared at the window Vera was looking at. The three backed away from the window, hands at the ready for the medallions to transform
"The Swordsmen? Chosen by Keldeo?" Cody heard in his head, judging by the confused looks that the others sported, they heard it too "If you have heard me, then I know you to be the ones. I come from the World of Pokemon to bring news to Keldeo." And with that, it flew towards the beach, near their sea cave hideout.
Cody looked at Terry and Vera, the whole thing was suspicious,"I guess we could hear him out?" Cody asked more than stated.
"I mean...we can take it if it's really evil…right?" Terry muttered, the three standing up, gathering their things then heading outside of the library.
The three were quick to make it back to the sea cave, still not certain this new pokemon was friend or foe. When they rounded the corner into the sea cave, the pokemon was looking over Keldeo. Not taking any chances, Cody immediately transformed into Cobalion, summoning his sacred sword. Terry and Vera followed shortly after, shifting into Terrakion and Virizion and flanking Cody..
"Get away from him!" Cody demanded, relieved to see this pokemon comply so easily. Keldeo appeared untouched, as did the bag with the muffin in it.
"What happened to Keldeo?" the pokemon asked calmly.
"We'll ask the questions here." Terry growled.
"Who are you?" Vera asked.
"Very well…" the pokemon spoke calmly "In this form, I am Hydreigon, but some know me as the Voice of Life. I am the one responsible for the humans of the past coming to our world and saving it from destruction." Hydreigon chuckled "Imagine my surprise when Keldeo managed to complete the reverse."
Terry and Vera kept their Sacred Swords out, it was only Cody who sheathed his, stepping forward "Keldeo mentioned that humans coming to your world had happened before... Temporal Tower...the Bittercold."
"Yes. All those catastrophes were circumvented by the power of humans that I had brought to the world of pokemon." Hydreigon nodded "The implications that fate has made the reverse is happening is unsettling. The barriers between our worlds have eroded once again, enough for even me to cross over."
Cody looked at Hydreigon for a moment before turning to Terry and Vera "Guys, it's okay."
"But Cody…-?" Terry called out, but after Vera sheathed her Sacred Sword, he relented and sheathed his.
"Cody…" Hydreigon nodded "And Terry and Vera. You three have been chosen to be the new swordsmen by Keldeo?"
The three looked at each other with equal looks of awkward concern "Chosen is a strong word…" Terry mumbled.
"He didn't pick any of us...we just kinda went with it in the heat of the moment." Vera admitted. They expected Hydreigon to be upset, but he merely nodded.
"Yes…" Hydreigon chuckled "I am uncertain if humans believe in fate, but I assure you, in our world, it is very much a real thing, a tangible force. And I believe if Keldeo, or even I did not choose you myself. There is a reason it is you three."
"I guess that makes me feel a little better." Vera said.
"However. I can sense it amongst you three." Hydreigon flew forward, causing the three to back up "You have already begun to doubt your place, understandably so." They were all outside now "Keldeo has not told you the whole picture. And even I cannot tell it to you, for I was not there when it happened." Hydreigon looked at the three of them "While I shall vouch for Keldeo, and assure you that he is on the righteous path...he is also on the path of vengeance, at least that is what I sense within Keldeo." Hydreigon shook his head "But now, I must test your resolve, to stay on the righteous path and trust in Keldeo, and fate's choice."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Cody dared to ask, watching Hydreigon lower his body, the two mouth hands growling.
"What do you think?" Terry asked, summoning his Sacred Sword. Vera stepped forward, summoning hers as well. Cody dared a look at Keldeo, still unconscious in the cave. It felt good to know he wasn't hiding anything malicious. But there were still so many questions, and maybe Hydreigon was the one to answer them in the meantime. He looked back to Hydreigon, summoning his sword.
Hydreigon wasted no time, all three mouths opening for three different attacks, the left launched a beam of ice, the right launched a bolt of lightning, and the main head launched a gout of flame. Vera stepped out of the way of the lightning, Terry split the ice beam with his Sacred Sword, and Cody leapt over the gout of flame. He cursed as he saw Hydreigon strafe out of the way, one head launching, shifting its attack to a gout of blue flame. Cody had no chance to dodge and took it head on, making him skid in the sand.
Hydreigon was so focused on Cody he failed to notice the rainbow leaves that launched at him, sending him sprawling. He quickly recentered himself, seeing Vera launch towards him with incredible speed. With a loud roar aimed at Vera, she was beginning to veer off course from him; she finally stopped screaming in pain from the loud sound. Hydreigon veiled himself in a blue flame, charging towards Vera, striking her with such force that sent her skidding across the beach with a roll.
Hydreigon heard the loud roar of Terry and dodged his Sacred Sword attack easily. Continuing to bob and weave through the slashes, Hydreigon finally reached with his three maws and grabbed onto Terry. Terry yelped, struggling to break free as he was quickly lifted upside down and thrown near the mouth of the sea cave, landing in the sand with a thud. Hydreigon quickly spun around, catching Cody's Sacred Sword with his two mouths. Cody's eyes grew wide as he spun towards Vera and Terry, who were only finally beginning to gather their bearings.
"So be real with me guys…" Terry groaned, standing up "Oh my God is he strong…"
"He's a lot tougher than he looks…" Vera moaned.
"And he was pretty tough looking to begin with…" Cody panted. Hydreigon merely flapped his wings in place, watching the three of them intently.
"He wants us to make the next move…" Vera said solemnly.
"Any bright ideas?" Terry asked.
"Well...he wants to see our resolve to fight. He probably wants to see how well we work together… trust each other...especially if it means working together with Keldeo." Cody offered.
"Makes sense…" Terry nodded "We can do that, right?"
"Only way to find out." Vera said, summoning her Sacred Sword. Terry and Cody nodded, summoning theirs as well.
"Are you three ready to prove yourself?" Hydreigon asked.
"As we'll ever be!" Cody called back, all three of them charging forward across the sand. Cody and Terry clashed their swords together in front of Hydreigon and brought them towards him, causing him to back up. Vera jumped over them, attempting to bring her sword down on Hydreigon. Hydreigon spun clumsily in order to get out of the way of the attack. With a twist of his head, Terry struck Hydreigon in his side, causing him to make a crater in the sand. He quickly flew back up, only to be greeted by Vera charging at him with her sword drawn. Her speed caused him to fly forward, suddenly realizing Terry was waiting right there for him. With a quick and loud roar like before, he caused Terry to shudder and drop his sword. He would have been struck were it not for Cody striking him on his other side with his glowing hooves, followed by his Sacred Sword.
"Yes...Yes!" Hydreigon cheered, flapping his wings once again "Show me your power, Swordsmen! Your resolve to protect everything you have pledged to!" Hydreigon's maws dripped with elemental energy, flying towards them once again and unleashing the ice, fire and lightning from before. The three swordsmen charged at Hydreigon, Terry hopped forward, swiping at the ice and lightning and taking the fire head on with a grunt. Cody and Vera leapt over him and dove to strike Hydreigon. They flanked him and struck him with their Sacred Swords, earning a roar of pain. Terry charged forward, taking one of his sides with another sword strike. Each of the swordsmen took turns getting solid slashes across Hydreigon's body. With a roar, Cody leapt up, Terry and Vera taking the cue to back up and let Cody strike. Hydreigon only had the time to look up at the slash coming down upon him. To the three swordsmen's surprise, Hydreigon was unmoved, and yet, a large smile spread across his three maws.
"...Amazing…" Hydreigon smiled, looking upwards at the sky "You three have exceeded my expectations." Hydreigon plopped into the sand with a groan. Terry and Vera formed up on Cody "I have seen enough, I no longer wish to fight." With that three let out a collective sigh, sheathing their Sacred Swords.
"If it's okay with you Hydreigon. We still have a couple of questions we need to ask." Vera said.
"Yes of course. I will answer what I can with what time I have left and I return to my world." Hydreigon nodded. The three swordsmen looked at each other.
"So what's up with this Kyurem guy?" Terry asked "What's his beef with Keldeo?"
Hydreigon sighed "Even I am not certain of that…" He looked to Terry "Kyurem had once been in alliance with the Bittercold, but that was years ago. Only recently has Kyurem begun to show signs of evil again, and yet I sense the Bittercold is still long gone. So this is either Kyurem's true nature...or something far worse." Hydreigon lingered.
"You said it before...and Kyurem said it too...the barrier between the worlds is weakening. What do you mean?" Vera asked.
"As plainly as it means. There is a barrier that prevents your world and our world from coexisting. Only faltering during times of crisis, such as the one we face now. Normally only the spirit of humans can travel through it, which is what I have done in the past. But for whole physical bodies to come through as Keldeo has done...such a thing is unheard of. We're it fall apart entirely, our worlds would collide."
"Why is Keldeo seeking vengeance?" Cody asked, "You and Kyurem both said that."
Hydreigon's face grew solemn "Even I am uncertain about that. What I do know is that the original Swordsmen...the forms you take now, have gone missing." Hydreigon said. Cody's thoughts turned to the medallions, and Keldeo's reaction whenever they changed.
Suddenly, Hydreigon's body began to glimmer in the summer sun. "Ah...it would appear my time is up." Hydreigon turned to the three "I knew I would not be able to hold this form for long. The four of you are making history now, across your world and ours." Hydreigon's main head turned to Keldeo's still sleeping form "Worry not for him. He is recovering steadily. You have done the best you can to tend to him as you have done, but the rest is up to him, both physically and spiritually. I wish you all the best of luck, and I will see you on the other side when the time comes." With that, Hydreigon's body vanished before the three of them in a cloud of bright shining light. There was a long pause before the three reverted to their human forms.
"So…" Terry began.
"So…" Vera confirmed, nodding.
Cody looked at the two of them "I guess this is what we needed right? Proof we're doing the right thing here? And doing it right too?" Cody asked them.
"Yeah...I guess so." Vera smiled softly.
"It feels pretty good." Terry grinned.
"Yeah." Cody smiled and nodded, happy to finally have answers
"So...now what?" Terry asked. Cody looked back to the cave, Keldeo still fast asleep, safe and sound.
"Well, we should probably make sure our summer's are clear... to help Keldeo," Cody said.
"Yeah...I still need help with my finals." Terry rubbed the back of his head "But after that...well..don't really have anybody else to hang out with. Besides you three." Terry smirked "I think I might need a little time away from those other guys for a bit
"Same here." Vera shrugged with a smile "How much you wanna bet they won't even notice I'm gone?"
"But before that...there is something I want to do…" Cody looked at the two of them "I want to renew my pledge." Cody rolled his eyes at the raised eyebrows of Terry "Yeah, yeah. I know but...I mean if we're gonna do this...and really do this, it feels right?"
"Heh, naw I get it," Terry said, grabbing his medallion and transforming into Terrakion.
"I didn't even make a pledge yet…so this will be good for me." Vera grabbed her medallion and transformed into Virizion. Cody transformed into Cobalion and they summoned their Sacred Swords. The swordsmen brought them close together, clashing and making a small shower of sparks appear around them.
"Until Keldeo can return home safely. I pledge to fight." Cody said, his thoughts turning to Keldeo, a stranger not of this world in need of help. He was beginning to hold his head higher as he continued to speak.
"Until my friends have no more battles to face. I pledge to fight." Terry said, his thoughts turning to how quickly he jumped in to help Cody and Keldeo, once two strangers, now two great friends. A small but grim smile formed on his lips.
There was a pause before Vera spoke, the others looking at her expectantly, she hadn't even had these powers for a day and now here she is, with two other people who helped her, who protected her, like friends ought to.
Her mind turned back to last night, the fear that permeated everyone, the anger and confusion that came from the creature that was currently unconscious in the cave. Those are feelings that no one should ever have to go through. She nodded, stepping forward and showing her sword "...Until all are safe from Kyurem, and whoever he sends our way. I pledge to fight." Vera said. The three swordsmen held their Sacred Swords for a moment longer before sheathing them, and transforming back into humans.
"It's almost sad...how we're all we have left for each other...but…" Cody chuckled, "I couldn't ask for better friends."
"Hey, don't go all sappy on me now!" Terry grabbed for Cody, who dodged out of the way with a laugh "Now get back here and help me with my finals, you big nerd!" Terry chased after Cody.
"Catch me if you can, ya meathead jo-...oh my God you're fast!" Cody screamed, running faster now as Terry dashed after him.
"Guys! You're gonna make a mess! You're affecting me and my delicate sensibilities!" Vera feigned a snooty sounding voice, walking after them. Hands up feigning disgust.
"Spoken like a rich prep!" Terry laughed, finally pinning Cody in the sand. The three of them laughed, despite the scenario they found themselves in, pretty soon it was going to turn back into a fight for their lives, but for now, right now. Having this moment amongst friends felt good, felt real.
Cody had to admit, he could get used to having friends like this. And when Keldeo woke up, he looked forward to getting to know him as a friend too.