Culus, Thilia, and Kair are flying to Nucifera to pick up and update Kapun on the current situation. They plan for the four of them to fly to Hovete to infiltrate Cognes using the information that Culus and Kair found out independently, alongside Thilia's new powerful talent (they remain unaware of the guard that Pandora has placed around the Nucifera base in case Rowan decided to return). Angira and Genevieve, now aware of some of the Shadow Workers that reside in Key, promise to keep Pandora and Sable unaware of their new knowledge and give them the opening they need while Chain believes them to be still in the dark.
Helios is willingly being transformed into a Shadow Worker in Cognes, alongside Riley, due to his ballooning insecurities and the brainwashed Queen Arya striking at a moment of weakness.
Brylle, with many people to train, helps those in Lition train the Aspects, unaware of what is going on in Nucifera. Pandora and Sable 'interrogate' Relm in the infirmary, their true actions currently unknown. Ekib remains asleep, his mind accessed as evidence for Pandora's deceptions.
Selene, more unsure of herself, her position relative to the rest of the world, and her morality than ever before, prepares her Rhythm in lieu of her promise to Penelope and Pandora to perform at the Festival of Enamorous (alongside the elusive Temptress) after Diane's poisoning by Culus. Her sisters-sharing-her-body (Meline, Two, Three, and Four) attempt to support her, but the stress of the situation continues to eat at her and her self-image. Even Sable's support, while helpful, isn't enough.
Rowan and Eve prepare for Eve's attempt to rescue Selene from the grasp of Chain. However, they must grapple with a giant obstacle - Zennitas, while ostensibly trying to 'help' Eve and Selene escape, is toying with them, with the final result (no matter what happens) being that Eve is carted off to Lord Black to be hypnotized and brainwashed into becoming his loyal pawn for his planned revolution of Eonia. Even with Eve managing to tear off the cover of the lie using her newly-found talent, they're left at an impasse with Zennitas's new talent blocking every solution they have.
Light, disillusioned with Chain's empty promises and his father's lack of action, takes matters into his own hands. Now free of Nero's hypnosis that ensured his loyalty to his father's cause and with new access to the Aspects thanks to a mysterious malevolent voice in his head, he schemes to give Glacia, who he dismisses as entirely incompetent, access to the Aspects to ingratiate himself to the King, while pushing Mentali further against his brother.
(The Same Night as Last Chapter)
Kapun stood at the edge of a cliff. A thunderstorm howled around them. He no longer had the stamina to transform into a Hydreigon, or to Stifle, and he was far too weak to fight.
Phosophor stood in front of him. Lightning danced in the monster's footsteps, even as a cruel smirk graced the monster's beak.
"There is no escape, Kapun." Phosophor's smooth words could be clearly heard, even over the whirling sound of storms. "Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance." Phosophor Stifled - far stronger than any Stifling that he had ever seen before. "You have only begun to discover your powers. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end our misery, and the world will be ours."
Kapun's eyes burned. "I'll never join you, you monster!"
Phosophor shook his head in faux-sadness. "If you only knew the power of the
Cores, and what had happened to your friends. Angira never told you what happened to your father, Kapun."
Every word Phosophor spoke stoked the flames of revenge. "He told me enough! It was you
who killed him, demon!"
Black lightning struck Phosophor, and he began to shift and morph, sends shoots of darkness into Kapun's eyes. When he could see again, he saw a hauntingly familiar form. A Dragonite.
"No, Kapun. I am your father."
Kapun fell to the ground as the pressure multiplied. His father stepped up to him, a cold look across his face.
"No…" Kapun gasped. "No. That's not true! That's impossible!"
Father shook his head imperiously. "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."
Kapun howled into the storm. "No! No! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
...
Kapun's eyes snapped open, and he felt an immediate urge to throw up. That immediate urge was countered by his revulsion at the idea, which was thankfully strong enough to fully push it down.
*BOOM*
Kapun's heart nearly stopped as he heard the sound of thunder. Was it - what…
.. right. Right. Media had told him about this, that there would be rain. She also told him not to worry about Rowan - according to Media, he was off at the new HQ, with Culus (... who was still unconscious, he'd overheard Genevieve telling Media earlier today…), Thilia, and Sable.
It meant that he was all alone, though - Bryllle was currently training the less-strong Aspect users in Lition, where he'd used to be stationed. Media was fine enough company - better than Hastor, for sure, but Hastor was on a pleasantness level with hemorrhoids, so that said practically nothing.
Really, for yesterday and today, they'd mostly stayed out of each other's ways. She offered to play a game with him after they practiced the Aspects, but they never even got started. Kapun just practiced the protocols that he'd been taught and whittled away the time.
And now, like this, he felt just empty inside. A part of him wanted to talk to Dad about the nightmare - even get a look saying something like 'Really? Your dream thought that I was Phosophor?' It would be better than just mulling on it with an insomniac brain.
Well… maybe if he tried to go to sleep again, he'd manage to-
*BOOM*
… never mind.
Kapun pushed himself to his feet, yawning a little. Slowly, he padded out of the room that he shared with Rowan that one night, and slept in last night and earlier tonight. Media was in a meditative trance - one she could easily break out of if she felt hostility or something going wrong. But last night, he'd tested it out by going for a drink of water, and she hadn't reacted.
Right now, his stomach rumbled. Judging from his faint internal clock, it was an hour or two after midnight. He slipped into the stash and grabbed a few Oran and Cheri Berries - Oran for the satisfaction, Cheri Berries for the flavor.
As he chewed them, though, he found both to be rather flavorless. He swallowed, feeling a slight throb in his head, and groaned. He drunk a bit of water, but that didn't really help with the headache much.
He then sat down, scratched himself (knocking a Joltik off - poor guy, but he really needed to check if he was clean of other Tick pokemon now), and then winced as another headache pounded at him. He considered, for a brief second, telling Media about it, but she wasn't his father. She wasn't bound to take care of him out of orders, and he didn't want to bother her any more than necessary.
With a little bit of spare time on his hands, he decided to practice his Aspects. With Media busy meditating, it would have been rude to try and practice his Stifling, so that left his talent.
In a flex of Aspect stamina (they really needed to find a better name for that, it was a cool power that deserved a cooler name), he began to grow. He formed a Zweilous body. Maybe now was a good time to try and see if he could reason with his other head-
"CANDY!" it shouted.
Never mind.
He evolved in a Hydreigon, pushing past the will of the Zweilous head and getting two more obedient heads. His talent was… weird. The number and positioning of your limbs felt awkward, though he was starting to form new muscle memory that made it feel more and more natural as time went on. The heads were always the biggest change, he felt. While the wings were important and the new size and volume was a bit problematic, the heads always felt most off kilter.
"Bananas, apples, pears," he said through one of the other heads. It felt like holding up a puppet, in a way, and then closing your mouth and talking through the puppet's mouth. Except, he could talk with the puppet and himself.
He decided to try out some of his 'Hydreigon' moves. Hyper Beam was out, it took too much out of him and, more importantly, would collapse their new bunker. Hyper Voice was a fun idea, but Media would give him a real earful if he tried it out while she was meditating.
He sighed. "Bite." His other heads, the ones that would no longer exist if he de-evolved, went to take a bite out of the ground in front of him. It dug clean through, and connecting to the head's senses, he found that it had a large bite of dirt in its mouth. He made it spit out what it had bitten.
Then, he devolved.
"There's no point," he muttered as his form fully shrank beneath him. He needed someone actually strong to push against if he was going to really develop his Aspect any further.
And his talent would only ever decrease in usefulness from this point onward. Once he evolved and became a Zweilous, he would become unable to become a Deino again, and if he became a Hydreigon, both would be unavailable. In which case, he'd have no talent at all anymore.
That was assuming, though, that his Aspect only allowed him to go up the evolutionary line. If he evolved into a Zweilous and then found that he could become a Deino again, then he'd always have some use for his talent. But it wasn't like Culus's talent at all - it would only ever allow him to do things he would have learned how to do in the future.
He walked toward the door of the bunker, idly scratching that Joltik off of him again - it was locked shut. No one wanted a repeat of the Helios incident, so steps were being taken to stop any intruders from entering-
The door opened.
"Hey, Kapun. Nice place you got here."
Kapun's mouth opened and closed like a fish as Culus walked in, who dropped a lockpick from his claws as he did so. Culus's fur flashed, giving them both a source of light to work with.
"You - I heard you… unconscious…" Kapun blabbered, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
A second later, he was grabbed from behind. He wrestled a little bit, only to find that the hug wasn't crushing or anything. It was… familiar…
He turned around to see Dad hugging him, Thilia sleeping on his back. "Dad?" he asked, amazed. "I - you're supposed to be on a mission! And isn't Culus supposed to be unconscious? In a coma?"
Culus, standing near the entrance to base proper, turned to Kapun. "Do we have any good food here?"
"Uh… kitchen's to the left, with berries." He shook his head. "A-Answer the question! What the hell?!"
"Long story, Kapun." Kair yawned a little. "For now, though, we need to get moving. I don't know how much time we have before things go south."
"Before what goes south?!" Kapun demanded, feeling the sparks of confusion and bewilderment turn into suspicion and panic. "What the hell are you guys doing here? Why are you speaking in riddles?!"
"We'll catch you up on the way there," Dad said, stretching a little. "We just don't have a lot of time right now, and-"
Kapun shook his head, turning to face Dad. "What about the communicators? Why aren't you using those?! Why are you…?" A terrible suspicion came over him - maybe it was because of the bizarre dream that he just had, but it didn't feel right going with Dad and Culus. "Who are you really?"
Kapun Stifled, and Dad winced. However, no illusion broke, nor did anything transform. Dad was just forced to the ground, grimacing.
"Kapun," Dad muttered. "You could ask Culus in Reporting Mode, right? You saw the Collar around his neck?"
… he did see the Collar, but there was no guarantee that Culus still wasn't a Shadow Worker. After all, he didn't know if being a Collared and being a Shadow Worker were mutually exclusive. And-
"Kapun, like I said, we'll explain," Dad repeated as Culus walked back, holding some berries.
"... fine," Kapun said at last. The truth of the matter was that, if they had come to kidnap him, and if they had Culus under their control, then there was nothing that he could do. Culus was more experienced in both battle and with the usage of the Aspects than he was. If Culus went and tried to fight him, he didn't know how well he'd do. He didn't really want to find out.
But… he'd keep a sharp mind. This was so utterly abnormal that he'd have to do so.
Then again, 'abnormal' had become the new normal for him.
Culus held up a Berry. "Think fast!"
Think wha-
In the second of surprise, Culus lunged forward and pushed the Oran Berry down Kapun's throat. He instinctually swallowed it - and then, his head felt immediately woozy.
"Culus, what did you…"
His eyes, hidden by matted fur, fluttered - and then closed.
...
He opened his eyes. He was in the middle of the sky, on top of Dad as he flew through darkened countryside. Culus was next to him, idly picking his claws clean of filth. Thilia was still sleeping on Dad's back as they flew.
Was this a dream…?
Kapun pinched himself. The motion drew Culus' attention. "Hey, Kapun. Sorry for that by the way."
"What…" Wait… so all of that after the weird dream where Dad was Phosophor wasn't another weird dream?! "What the hell did you do that for?!"
"Proof," Culus answered. Kapun blinked.
"... huh?"
"If we were all, 'We need you for an important mission that Lady Angira can't know about, just come along, we'll explain'... well, I doubt you would believe us." Culus finished picking one of the claws and went to the next. "I wouldn't, because Shadow Workers can replicate virtually anything."
"So then why did you drug me?!"
"Because if we wanted you as a Shadow Worker, we would have kept you drugged and taken you to Cognes through one of Chain's teleporters," Culus answered. "In other words - if we wanted you brainwashed, you would have woken up brainwashed instead of what you are now."
"That…"
"Right now, we're going to Cognes," Culus continued. "Let me ask you - if I told you this before I drugged you, would you have believed that it would have been for a mission, and not secretly a trap?"
"I… huh?"
"Think about it. Without seeing Lady Angira and being given the official mission, would you have believed a couple of your family members if they came unannounced and told you to come to Chain's base?"
If he told Kapun this before he drugged Kapun… well, Key was trying to go to Cognes, but surely they'd need Lady Angira's permission. Helios knew that they wanted to go to Cognes - that had been the whole point of the Lition mission before Culus remembered its location - so Chain knew that they wanted to go to Cognes, so they'd have a reason to fake a mission with new spies and traitors.
"I'd have thought that you guys were luring me there to become a Shadow Worker," Kapun eventually said. That was a fairly logical point to come to.
Culus nodded. "Right. But if you were drugged and knocked out, you wouldn't be able to fight back in case there was a teleporter, while you would be able to Stifle if you were awake."
"When did a teleporter come into this?"
"Chain has a lot of resources, including plenty of teleporters," Culus answered. "Since you can't teleport, it would be easy to just drug and teleport you to Cognes if they wanted to make you a Shadow Worker."
"That's…" That was true, but… "That's crazy."
"Crazy, but efficient. Crazy, but am I wrong?"
"... no," Kapun admitted. "So then, you're taking me there in person as…"
"As proof." Culus said. "If we wanted you to be a Shadow Worker, we would have just brought you there with a teleporter. Instead, we're doing this, to show you that we're not trying to turn you into a Shadow Worker."
"... Dad?" Kapun asked, turning to his Dad.
Dad sighed. "Culus insisted," he said, as though it explained everything.
But then, considering the convoluted bomb plot in Pinnaleis…
"You know what, sure." He looked at Thilia, who was still asleep. "So, why are we going to Cognes? Why are we going against Lady Angira's will?"
"We're not." Culus shook his head. "She knows about this."
"But then why couldn't this wait until morning?"
"Because we're low on time." Culus sighed. "We discovered more traitors in the new base."
Kapun's heart skipped a beat. "Are… are you serious?! More traitors?!"
"Yeah." Culus grimaced. "Pandora and Sable."
…
… oh.
Oh. Oh no.
"How much longer until we reach Cognes?" Culus asked, turning to Dad.
"Thirty minutes, maybe forty. It would be ten or so if I pushed it, but with you three on here, I don't want to try."
"Good enough." Culus tilted his head toward the sleeping Thilia. "Help me wake her up. We don't have the time to explain this twice."
...
"... and so," Culus said. "We don't have many options left. Chain has us in a stranglehold, and we're at their complete mercy. We don't know which members are Shadow Workers or not - hell, Kapun, Thilia, we don't even know if you're Shadow Workers or not."
"I'm not," Kapun said, rather needlessly. Thilia said nothing at all, and she hadn't been saying anything after Culus and Kair shared what they knew about Pandora and Sable.
Kapun… Kapun didn't know what to think. He hadn't known the two of them for long, and Sable had been transfixed by Selene on the night they first came to Nucifera. He was as vulnerable as Sable had been.
And Pandora - Pandora knew so much about Key. Chain practically had them wrapped around their little finger.
There was a strange sense of relief, though, and Kapun couldn't place it - until, however…
"There's no point to anonymity anymore, is there?" he figured. "If they know of our methods, of our locations, of our everything, then there's no point in dancing around trying to keep Chain in the dark."
"They don't know everything," Culus said, cautiously. "For starters, they don't know that we're here, and they don't know that multiple agents have caught onto the deception."
"Other than everyone here, Rowan, Lady Angira, and Genevieve… who else knows?" Thilia asked.
"... we don't know," Culus said. "They haven't revealed themselves. Maybe it's out of fear, maybe it's that they don't exist. We can't say anything for sure right now, and we can't rely on them."
So, not Brylle, definitely not Sable, not Slate…
"Just us?" Kapun looked at his paws. "What can we do?"
"Our biggest problem," Dad answered, as they flew through the sky. "Is that we need to be able to tell who is a Shadow Worker and who isn't. Chain has that technology, I assume."
"Neural alloy," Culus nodded. "It reacts to the presence of Shadow Workers, and it's what makes up their crystal cores. I don't know why Slate had it in his blood… and I'm starting to be suspicious of that. I can make the alloy, but there might be other pieces to the puzzle that we need to solve. More than that, if they keep records on who the Shadow Workers in Key are…"
A purge.
"She wants to purge Key?"
"Of its enemies."
"... and if Chain, knowing that we'll eventually come to infiltrate, seeds their files with agents that aren't Shadow Workers?" Dad asked.
Culus clenched his claws. "I don't know, okay?! We can't just sit around and do nothing, worried about Chain's chess plans! We need - we need some sort of tool to get ourselves on even ground with them. I refuse, completely and utterly, to run around like scared rats in the maze Chain designed for us!"
Kapun said nothing. Thilia said nothing. He didn't know what to say, and he imagined that she didn't know either.
"We're not your enemies, Culus," Dad said with his 'disappointed' voice.
"I - I know!" Culus growled. "Rowan's who knows where - captured by Chain or something - and most of who we thought were allies were, in fact, enemies! Chain has a noose tied around our necks and is probably wondering when the right time to pull is! We don't have the luxury to be cautious anymore."
…
What was Culus afraid of, right now?
"Culus-"
"We're getting close," Dad said, as they slowly began to lower in the sky. Kapun blinked - right, they were flying to Cognes. They must have arrived in Hovete already.
"... how much further?" Thilia asked.
"It's at the bottom of that 'W'-shaped mountain," Culus answered tersely. "And it extends deep into the neighboring clifface. Genevieve and I brought you here a few days ago, remember?"
Thilia nodded. Kapun rubbed her back, trying to be consoling. She didn't seem to really react.
Slowly, they landed. However, where they landed was far, far from the base.
"Kair?" Culus asked. "Why here?"
"Pandora knows the entrance we used before," Dad answered. "And I'm thinking that if they've prepared themselves for an invasion - in case we decided to do it on a short notice and Pandora couldn't give them much time to prepare - they'll have upped security. I'm going to do a round on the entrances that I found for the rest of the facility and see where they've kept up the security. I'll get Genevieve to help, if she's available."
"... okay," Culus said, nodding. "The three of us will wait."
"See you in thirty minutes to an hour." With a sharp beat of his wings, Dad burst off in the direction of the mountain.
A couple of seconds later, Culus sat down. "Well… we wait-"
"Culus, why were you upset?" Kapun interrupted.
Culus's eyes boggled. "Why wouldn't I be upset?"
"Because I've seen you fight Kenki with less anger than you showed here," Kapun retorted. "The only reason you get that angry is if we're in danger!"
Culus scoffed. "Don't make me out to be some sort of hero. Right now, Key's success is my success. Once I remove this damn collar and get freed from the power of the commands, I'm going to go straight after the Zoroark - and after him, Phosophor!"
"... you were calmer," Thilia said, interrupting their conversation. "When you lied."
Culus blinked. "When I-"
"You're worried about us, aren't you?" Thilia countered, and Culus stiffened. "About what will happen when Chain finds out."
"... " Culus sighed, and for a second, Kapun swore that Culus got older. "When I first woke up with the Collar, I had nobody but myself. I had some morals but they were subsumed by what the Collar made me into. It's hard to make friends when you're a murderer, a thief, when you break the Life Harp."
The lie the Collar enforced on Culus. No one really brought it up anymore since it was obvious it was a lie, even if Culus was forced to insist on it.
"Then, at Pinnaleis, I met both you and Rowan, Kapun." Culus grimaced. "You both were whiny shits."
"Excuse me?"
Culus barked a laugh. "You're pardoned, sir. I had to stoke the flame of rebellion back into you - and that, in retrospect, was worth the stupid-ass 'plan' I'd made. Either way, I didn't expect either of you to come back when the plan fell apart. During the boat ride, during Fylak - you guys were there for me. I… fuck…"
Culus bowed his head. "And now Rowan is… I don't know anymore. I'm tired of this danger, and I'm afraid. I can lose body parts, and I can reattach them. But for you guys, I…" Culus groaned. "And because of Pandora, I don't know how many of the memories I would have regained have been lost!"
Kapun blinked. "Huh?"
"We figured out that I was being given memories by this collar. I don't know why I've been gaining the memories, but they were what allowed me to find Cognes. Angira told Pandora to help me during my sleep - but obviously, that was a mistake." Culus growled. "Memories that I could have used to help are-"
"Nap," Kapun interrupted.
Culus blinked.
"Nap," he repeated. "We have a bit of time before Dad comes back. If you can gain a single memory that can help tip the scales in your sleep, then you should try to gain it."
"... right." Culus turned to Thilia. "Do you mind…"
Thilia nodded. Culus laid down, before closing his eyes. Thiila's body pulsed with psychic power, and Culus glowed a little bit.
"... what did you do?" Kapun asked, feeling a little curious.
"Some basic hypnosis - nothing really useful like what Pandora and Sable can do, no trances. I can just help people sleep." Thilia sighed. "I… I wish that I'd been able to use it on myself earlier today, kind of. Everything that we found out makes me feel…" Thilia trailed off, and Kapun didn't need medical training to know that she was still exhausted.
"You take a nap too, if you can. Just close your eyes." Culus had told Kapun about Thilia's just-discovered talent, the ability to manipulate probability. It was way cooler than his ability to evolve and devolve, and he imagined that it would be way more useful. "You need more stamina for your talent."
Thilia frowned. "Everyone needs my talent right now," she said, bowing her head.
Oh, right. "You'll do fine, Thilia," Kapun tried.
"It's…" She shook her head, before sitting down. "Kapun, make sure nothing bad happens to us, okay?"
"Got it."
With that, Thilia fell asleep as well. Kapun sighed, before sitting down. He'd need to rest as well, though not to the level that the other two were.
This was going to be the most important mission that they would ever have, and he needed to be at the top of his game.
And so, he began to wait.
The dress looks great, Selene!
Thanks, Meline.
Selene twirled a little in the dress that a Shadow Worker had given her earlier. It wasn't quite as good as the one she wore to the Twin Moon Ball, but it still made her look great.
I still think it's too early for the beginning of the festival. How many hours is it going to be until dawn, exactly?
Selene checked the clock in the dressing room - 3:13 in the morning. She'd been made to go to sleep at 6 at night so that she wouldn't be too tired right now, and she did have the energy to dance.
If it's a quarter after 3, we have a couple of hours before the start of dawn.
But there's always the pre-performance practice dance! Selene immediately argued to Two. I don't want to fail!
You'll be fine, Selene. And anyway, isn't this the kind of dance you want to avoid? You know, with the use of the Rhythm and all? The last time you thought you had control over the Rhythm, you remember what happened.
In the mirror that Selene used to check her appearance, her smile fell.
… right.
Three!
She's not wrong, though.
Have both of you lost your sense of decorum?!
If being nice means leaving Selene vulnerable to her own power and the mind-warping effects that it puts on people, then sure, I've 'lost my sense of decorum'.
Meanwhile, from Meline…
… are you sure that you're ready, Selene? That you've practiced enough with controlling the power?
Selene smiled weakly. I could always do a little bit more practice, if no one objects.
There were no objections from any of her siblings. Pulling out a wrinkle from her dress, she sighed, before closing her eyes and listening to her heartbeat.
*THUMP*... *THUMP*... *THUMP*
It was strange to think that even her pulse was subject to her power. Anything that could push out Rhythm did push out Rhythm, though her power was nowhere near overwhelming enough to control her through the existence of her heartbeat. Instead, though…
"... do… re… mi…" She began. A simple melody, one that had a small affinity to the Rhythm. The Rhythm could overtake any other 'rhythm', but some were harder than others. This particular one, one that she discovered yesterday, led to beats that had more affinity with the Rhythm while giving her some time to acclimate to the state.
"... fa… so…"
The beat was intoxicating. It helped remind her of how powerful she truly was, how simply letting herself exist as she was supposed to let her ascend to the top of everything.
Selene!
Selene winced, and the Rhythm faltered for a brief second. However, soon, she felt its power rise again, just as she always… no, no, no.
"... la… ti… do… " She completed. The Rhythm was strong, and she could feel its influence, but… "My name is Selene, and I'm n-not a god."
The words were hard to say, as though they were stuck in her throat, but with effort, she managed to utter them. A second later, she began the prescribed dance routine. It was easy, especially with the Rhythm beating hard in her soul, and yet she managed to stay in control.
"... of the soul," she finished the song that Relm had written for the Festival, ending with the flourish of her dress. She realized, a little bit, that the dance must have been edited for that to happen, since Relm had written the choreography for himself before he had bluntly been informed that Diane (and now, she) was going to be the dancer - hence, the sulking at the ice cream parlor.
… that was great…
Are you okay, Three? Meline's voice pushed away whatever remained of the Rhythm, letting Selene breathe a small sigh of relief. Now she didn't have to constantly be monitoring her own psyche, and she had proven to herself that she could stay in control. You sound upset.
… do you guys think Relm is okay?
Why does it matter? He threw himself into that meeting at the gates-
Because of Eve! Because we were worried enough to send Anaisel! It's our fault!
Where is he, again? Didn't Aunt Sephyle or someone say that he'd been taken by Key?
And now, he's in enemy territory!
Three, you're overreacting.
Overreacting? Both he and Anaisel are in the hands of the enemy, and we've been doing nothing but dancing! Preparing to perform for rich assholes, like we've been doing for the rest of our life!
… I'm sorry.
It's not your fault, Selene. It's none of our faults! It's… it's…
Well, what the fuck do you want to do, Three? Four's voice bit out, making Selene wince. Oh, I have a good idea - let's storm Key's base, kidnap Relm, and bring him back!
…
I was kidding.
But it's plausible-
How lax do you think their security is? We'd be caught before we even blinked! They probably have hundreds of vigilant guards if they're fighting against Chain of all people!
But Pandora and Sable are high in their rankings, right? Maybe they could spin something for them to lose sight of Relm?
Both of you, stop bickering-
Oh, sure. Next thing you know, Relm is going to walk right through that door and tell us that our dress needs work!
The door opened. Selene turned around to see an Eevee. A very familiar Eevee.
… you're kidding.
"That dress needs work," Relm said after a second, walking up to her and pulling up a fold of the dress with one of his claws. "I mean, look at the quality of this satin - pathetic!"
"It looks nice to me," Selene instinctually defended.
"Girl, you need to raise your standards," Relm scoffed.
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!
Selene, switch with me!
More than a little bemused, Selene did as Three asked.
...
"Oh, good!" Relm sighed. "Honestly, I was missing you a little, Three."
Three's fur hid her blush. "You're the one that's been missing for half a week!" she countered. "Seriously, what the hell happened?!"
Relm paused. "What do you mean?"
"The last time I saw you, you were running out of the parlor to help Eve with Key! Then I heard that you were in a coma, and now you're here?!" Three put a paw to her head. "Explain!"
Relm blinked. "I… uh… well, I went to help. Then I started listening in to the conversation. Then I got crushed-"
"Crushed?!" Three hissed.
"He was Stifled," another familiar voice interrupted, as Sable walked in behind Relm, looking tired. "And Relm, remember that we don't have much time."
"Sable?" Three asked, turning to the Drowzee. "What the hell happened?"
"Well, Relm was Stifled - you remember what that is, right?" Three couldn't name it off the top of her head, but it was probably explained to her and one point in time. "He was trapped, then Rowan beat him into unconsciousness." Rowan - that was the Zorua that Selene had tried to brainwash the day before yesterday, before he escaped. "He was in a coma, then until earlier tonight."
"That reminds me - send thanks to that 'Thilia' girl," Relm said. "I can't emphasize enough that she's excellent at her job."
Thilia is Sable's friend, right? The one she wanted me to use the Rhythm on, so that she'd become an ally?
We should do that soon-
To someone we like? That we want to become our friend?
Do you want her as an enemy?
Three shook her head. "I - but… how…" Three's head throbbed with a headache. "Relm, are you… are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay," Relm said, sounding a little affronted. "I mean, I have to give that 'Rowan' Zorua a piece of my mind, but I'm doing fairly well, all things considered." Relm yawned. "I do need to rest-"
"Then rest!" Three interrupted.
"-but then I heard that you're dancing instead of Diane for the festival," Relm stated. "And I knew that I had to make sure the choreography was correct."
Sable sighed. "He kept on badgering Mom, and since Diane is still recovering from the poisoning, she was too tired to argue, and started meditating. Then he whined-"
"Whined?! I don't whine!"
"-whined at me," Sable continued. "Until I relented. We have… what, seven minutes left? Before Mom finishes meditating to regain energy?"
"Right." Relm sat on his haunches, before clapping imperiously. "Show me the choreography notes that you were given. Diane could have failed spectacularly, for all I care, but for you, Three, and your sisters - you must all look fabulous!"
"We… Selene's the only one performing-"
"Nonsense!" Relm stated. "If I make a dance for an Epsilon Fusion, it is for all of you! You do like to dance, do you?"
"I - I guess?"
"Then you will dance!" Relm looked around. "The notes, now!"
Three pointed to a corner where a pile of notes laid - the altered one, made for Diane and then her. In seconds, Relm had run to the pile, before scouring over them with a keen eye. He grabbed a nearby marking pen and started scribbling all over it.
"... so, Sable," Three said, turning to the Drowzee. "What the hell is going on?"
"We explained it-"
"Explain it better!" Three countered, annoyed. "Your friend Thilia - what kind of Pokemon is she?"
"... a Hatenna?"
"Okay, why was she better at healing than you are?!"
Sable sighed, before lowering her voice so that Relm couldn't hear. Three walked forward to hear it more clearly. "Mom worked to keep him in an extended comatose state - hell, the only reason Mom and I are supposed to be alone with him is under the pretense of an interrogation."
What is she talking about?
Three repeated Four's words. "I'm saying," Sable said. "That Relm knows too much, both of Chain and of Key. Him remaining in a comatose state allowed us to delay - with time, we would have brought him back regardless. Thilia, out of Mom's predictions, managed to do a one-in-a-million success story and healed him anyway."
"You kept him comatose to… to keep a secret?!"
It was getting easier to forget, among everything that Chain didn't really care about lives the way normal people did. In Nucifera, where they controlled everything, they could make it normal for her and her sisters. No abductions beyond those that they were informed of, no manipulations, nothing.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Sable muttered. "The alternative was letting Relm go, and having him accidentally slip something he wasn't supposed to. Mom's given him a lecture, but to make double sure, she's preparing her energy for a hypnosis session to make him repress as much as possible."
"But… but…"
"It's going to be only for a short while - maybe only a day, really, considering how we're readying an attack on Key." Sable sighed. "Honestly, I really don't like this much either. It feels like what I was doing for Key, in a way. I'll do what you want me to do, though."
Right, because Sable was Selene's thrall.
… let's just… keep going, I guess.
The words were acid to Three. She looked over to Relm, who looked so engaged with the choreography. If he remembered everything that had happened when he was in a coma, he didn't act like it.
…
"How is Selene and how are the rest of your sisters?" Sable asked.
"She's… she's fine," Three muttered. "Two and Four are hanging on, Selene wants to dance, I guess, and Meline's supportive like she always is."
An accurate enough summary.
"Meline?" Relm asked, making Three blink in surprise.
"You heard all that?!" Sable asked, sounding a little amazed.
Relm's ears twitched. "I heard, but there's something more important going on," he said, tapping the sheet of choreography. "Anyway, 'Meline'?"
"Uh… that's One's new name. She didn't like being referred to by a number-"
"And you do?" Relm interrupted, looking scandalized. "I thought they were nicknames, for heaven's sake!"
"I…"
Relm pushed away the notes. "Alright, we need new names for the rest of you as well!"
… do you guys want better names?
Kind of? I mean, I've always been 'Four', so I don't have a point of reference.
It's great, Four!
"Well, then, you can call me… " Three didn't really have a name that she wanted to call herself, though. "... Berry."
The scathing look of disappointment from Relm made her wither.
"... with just one 'r'?" she amended.
"'Bery'?" Sable asked.
Relm scoffed. "You've named yourself after food?"
"Food's great!" she defended.
"Thr- no, I'm not going to say it even one more time. Girl, you need to respect yourself! Name yourself something beautiful, like something after a gemstone or a magnificent flower!"
"... Beryl?" she suggested.
"I said, like a gemstone or something!" Relm countered. Sable puffed up next to her in annoyance. "Adding an 'l' to the name won't make it better!"
"Nimrod," Sable hissed. "Beryl is a gemstone! It's crystal that both emerald and aquamarine are varieties of!"
".. oh." Relm hummed. "Beryl. Beryl. Yeah, that's good."
She sighed. "So… my name's Beryl, then."
… I like it..
Me too!
But do you like it?
I suggested it, didn't I? Beryl. Beryl, Beryl, Beryl. Yeah, she could live with that. "I'm Beryl", she continued, deciding to commit to it.
Relm nodded imperiously. "Then, for you sisters-"
"We don't have time, Relm," Sable muttered. "Mom's going to get up soon."
Relm groaned. "Ugh, fine. We will be getting back to this." Beryl just rolled her eyes.
… what should my name be?
Choose it when it feels right, Four.
Tell that to Thre- Beryl. Sorry.
None taken.
Relm got back to the choreography notes - and in another half-a-minute or so, he finished with a flourish. "There. I've given you all a portion of the dance, though since Selene is the main attraction, she will get the Pyroar's share of the limelight."
Beryl sighed in relief. "Good. Now, go back and get some rest."
Relm rolled his eyes. "Ugh, sure. Whatever." He paused. "But I want to see your execution of the dance-"
"No-"
"No yourself," Relm countered, sitting on his haunches. "Don't do it, and I won't go back to the base."
Beryl looked at Sable, who sighed. "I'll teleport him out now-"
"You do that, and I'll squeal on you," Relm threatened.
Sable scoffed. "You think I care?"
But Relm wasn't looking at her - Relm was looking at Beryl.
Beryl sighed, before letting go and switching.
...
"No, Sable," Selene said, making sure that she hadn't crumpled up her dress as she put Beryl back. "I'll dance for a minute or two."
Sorry, Selene, but this wasn't my call.
That didn't make it easier at all. It made her understand Beryl's decision to have her make the choice, but she still had to tell Sable it.
"But Miss Selene…" Sable said, faltering a little.
"I'm going to do this dance for the Crown in an hour or two anyway, what's the harm in doing the dance for its creator," she argued. "And you're my helper, Sable - no way would I want you to get in trouble."
Sable didn't say anything to her - instead, she turned back to Relm. "She's being magnanimous - enjoy the performance, asshole!"
"I'll enjoy it if it's enjoyable," Relm countered. "But if she can't learn like this, she might as well do the bad dance."
Oh, he was on.
Selene grabbed the choreography notes from Relm and started scanning them. She took notes of the places where she would have to switch to Meline, Two, Beryl, or Four, and did some 'phantom dancing' in her head so that the four would know what it would feel like.
But after a minute or two of closely examining the steps - they were based off of the old ones, but were different enough to need a second examination or three - she rolled up the paper and tossed it aside. "Alright, Relm, thanks."
"Don't thank me yet, Selene," Relm said, shaking his head. "Not with words, at any rate. If you are a dancer, then express yourself with dance!"
… this was the guy you were worried about, Beryl?
His oddities make his coma no less dangerous.
I'm just saying that-
Before those two could get any further, Selene began the dance. Immediately, she noticed some clear differences between the steps.
The former steps had several 'awkward' positions put through them, positions that Selene had attributed to advanced dancing technique. She managed to get through them after several hours of practice, but it had been tough.
This dance, on the other hand, had the same level of complexity - she'd dreaded the revised steps when she saw them - but was much, much easier. With a flash of realization, she remembered that Relm choreographed the previous dance for himself - for a quadruped. This dance was more suited for a biped as magnanimous as herself.
Selene, not again-
The dance was one suited to herself - its Rhythm beat heavily in her veins. Both of the inconsequential spectators were being swept up in her maelstrom.
We expected this, didn't we?
NOT AT THIS SPEED! SHE NEVER GOT THIS FAR DEEP INTO HER OWN TRANCES BEFORE - NOT THIS FAST!
Isn't Meline's part coming up?
Is it?
YES, IT IS!
She danced, danced, danced…
What do we do?
We don't have an option - nothing more than pushing her back, as fast as possible, and hoping that she comes to her senses during Meline's part!
Soon, her maelstrom of music would-
NOW!
...
… wh… what…?
Meline danced as best she could to what she remembered of the dance that Relm had made for them. Sable and Relm's eyes began to clear up, little by little - and yet, even she could feel the Rhythm. Coming from her!
Selene, are you okay?
I'm… yeah. Two, get ready for your part.
… alright.
Meline's part was coming to a close. In a shift of power, she switched.
Two's dancing, she felt, was elegant. Perhaps not as Selene's, but Two was her own person, so it didn't matter.
You did great, Meline.
Thanks. Are you okay, Two?
I'm fine.
Then get ready - it's my turn again.
Two remembered the notes - right, there was an intermission where Selene would retake the stage before it became Beryl's turn.
Can you handle it?
I'll try to.
Two let go.
...
The Rhythm began to pound in her blood, louder, louder, louder. This was her world, and she was its star.
Thre- sorry, Beryl, get ready!
We're going to have to push Selene out of it again, right?
Unfortunately.
After you, it's me - and then, Selene again.
She would dance forever…
Push… now!
...
Beryl was definitely unused to dancing at all. The steps, though… they weren't really hard. There wasn't much a Morpeko could do on the floor, really.
… I'm… sorry-
Don't. You're doing what you can - it's the Rhythm's fault.
… it wants to be used. I can feel it. It pushes, pushes, pushes - how can I ever even come close to controlling it?
Her part was coming to a close. Now's not the time, Selene.
… It's… It's almost as if…
There was no time left. Beryl switched out.
...
If Beryl was stubby, Four was even more so. Away from them, Sable blinked in surprise, as if seeing Four for the first time.
Had she seen Four before?
… I… I think I have an idea. On how to perform the polarity switch.
Now?!
… not now, but… well, it's an idea we can explore after the performance is done.
Wonderful, but we're in the middle of something, Selene.
O-Of course!
Four grimaced. After this… It's up to you, Selene.
… right.
...
Even entering the stage again, she was one with her power. They wouldn't be able to let go of her now.
… this is bad.
Yeah, but we've still got everything that we had before. If nothing else, we're going to push her back at the end of the song - it can try to force itself, but we won't let it!
The dance was an eternal, mesmerizing pattern, the Rhythm enveloping each movement that she made…
… she…
… she was the greatest…
… no… no!
With a flourish, she finished off the rest of the song - and she felt herself break free of the trance. Sable and Relm blinked as she didn't move. The Rhythm still beat wildly in her chest, but she could tell the difference between itself and herself.
Selene?!
… yes, Meline?
She's okay, guys! She's okay!
It seems that the Rhythm was doing nothing more than blowing hot air at us.
… don't become complacent, guys.
Yeah, it wasn't under our control this time. We were barely able to force the switching between ourselves and Selene.
I'm-
Don't you dare say that you're sorry, Selene! You did everything that you were supposed to do to excellence!
She's right, Selene - you did wonderfully.
… I was going to say that I'm fine, and not to worry about me, but thanks anyway.
Selene looked at Relm. "Give it to me honestly - how was it?"
Relm shook his head. "Good, except for the end." Despite his words, he sounded… tired, for whatever reason. More tired than before, at least.
Selene blinked. "Huh?"
"You went a little off-script." He lethargically pulled out the notes. "Everything else was great, but you stumbled here, here, and… here!" He pointed to several poses. Remembering, Selene had to admit that she'd gone off-beat at that point. But, then again, she'd been forcing her will against the Rhythm at that point.
"It'll be fine," Selene waved her hand. Relm followed her hand with extreme precision, as though he were a puppet on a string. Then, impulsively… "Understand?"
Relm blinked - and for a second, his eyes fogged over. "... yes… ma'am…"
… you don't think…
I'm more impressed that this is the extent of it. But you're not using Rhythm, are you Selene?
… I think I am.
She could hear the Rhythm loud and clear - however, it wasn't pulling at her attention anymore. Instead, it was going along with her attention.
Selene, following an instinct, held a hand in front of Relm. His eyes were drawn to it. "When I snap my fingers, you will wake up immediately. When you do, you will patiently wait for Sable to teleport you back to where you're supposed to be. You won't make any more trouble for her or anyone else, understand?
"... yes, ma'am."
Selene snapped her finger. Relm's eyes cleared up a little - but only a little. "... you're still using Rhythm," he murmured. "What did you make me do?"
Selene crossed her fingers. "What you're supposed to do." Each word had a bit of Rhythm behind it, and she could feel the effect her words had on Relm.
Give him a break!
Sorry, but I don't really appreciate him blackmailing us and Sable.
Fair, but don't lose yourself, Selene.
I won't.
She felt a bit more confident than she had before, for whatever reason.
Sable woke up as well. "That was… amazing."
"You're welcome. It needs more work, but it was amazing." The words felt powered with Rhythm. "Either way, deal with Relm and bring him back. But only for a short time - he's still my friend, just like you are, no matter how presumptuous and self-important he may think he is."
Sable nodded. "Of course, ma'am." Sable teleported away with Relm.
A few seconds later, someone knocked at her door.
"Princess?" the voice at the door said.
"Yes?" she said.
"Preparations will begin soon - if you'd like we can take care of your make-up-"
"No need," she said, shaking her head. "It'll only detract from the performance. I'll come help the Shadow Workers ready the performance instead, understand?"
"But Princess-"
"Understand?" she pressed. Rhythm leaked into her words, but she didn't bother keeping it out. It only helped her right now.
"... of course, ma'am."
And as she walked out, accompanied by the Shadow Worker, a thought came to her.
'Ma'am' - the term didn't bother her as much as it had before.
"Are you two ready?" Zennitas asked.
"As ready as we'll ever be," Rowan answered smoothly. "We've gone over the plans multiple times. Do you have your friends in place?"
Zennitas scoffed. "Of course they're in place. They'll make sure the path is open." He looked out at the sky - dawn would break soon. "If you're ready, then go."
Rowan looked at her with a sharp look, and she nodded. Eve didn't particularly feel ready at this point in time, but this was the time, unfortunately.
…
She also didn't have a solution for the 'Zennitas' problem. If what Rowan said was correct, then Zennitas could use his illusions even under 'Stifling', since that was how he rescued Rowan from Chain. That meant that she had no actual way to deal with the Illusions.
She couldn't run away from Zennitas - not without him following underneath another illusion. He was more patient than she was, and if she was bringing Selene with her, then she'd be burdened.
She also had no idea what she would even say to Selene. The last Selene had seen her, she'd been crying in the library after Helios's awful words. Before that, Slene had taken control of her with the Rhythm.
What… how could Eve convince her to escape? And she had to convince not just Selene, but her 'sisters' as well.
Eve pursed her lips. This was… this was a bad idea…
… but it was all that was delaying Zennitas from just taking her. For whatever reason, he wanted her to see this through. If nothing more than to satisfy his own ego, sure, but still, it was time. Barely any time, but time nonetheless.
Maybe… maybe Selene could help? Once they were out of the Citadel, she'd be more willing to help, wouldn't she?
…
She and Rowan walked through the dimly lit streets of the Moat. Zennitas's Ditto that was masquerading as her had started early, meaning that they wouldn't be expecting their arrival yet. Zennitas, according to Rowan, had pulled in some favors to have the guards let them in early. It wouldn't work closer to Chain's main compound, but it worked for right now.
"... what do you think of this whole mission?" she asked Rowan.
"I think it's worth your time," Rowan answered - lying, for Zennitas. He knew that she knew that he was speaking shit, but Zennitas didn't know that she knew that he was speaking shit, and that she didn't have a reason to know that didn't blow Rowan's cover. "You're a good friend, and I'll help even if I'm afraid of Selene."
Eve nodded, completing the 'puppet show'. Wherever Zennitas was watching them from, hopefully he'd be more assured that Rowan hadn't told her anything and was 'obedient'. It was an easy solution for Rowan, to just pretend to be obedient.
She didn't have that sort of answer.
"How much longer?" she asked instead, as they neared the compound that Zennitas had outlined for them near the interior of the Citadel.
"Only a few minutes."
…
"This place creeps me out," Eve murmured. She'd been here plenty of times before, but for each of those times, she'd been 'allowed' to come here. This was, obviously, the first time that she came here as an enemy of Chain.
"You're telling me," Rowan muttered, before cloaking the both of them in an illusion of invisibility. "Remember the signals?"
"Yeah." One tug was 'nothing here', two tugs in rapid succession was 'enemy', and three tugs was 'Selene's been found'. Anything else didn't need rapid responses. As Rowan wrapped them in a second illusion of silence, she took a long, deep, breath - and then, she pulled Rowan along the route that they had planned.
The path they took was silent, yet nerve-wracking. They had gone past the point of 'excusable curiousity'. Each Shadow Worker they came across - not that she could tell which were actual Shadow Workers and which were just non-brainwashed Hats like Anna's Mom, at any rate - could have been the one to uncover them, but with Rowan tightening his illusions every time they were in the path of someone who could uncover them, signaled with two tugs, they were relatively safe.
Other than that, they just kept searching. The first room that they checked was the room that she'd spent time with Selene in before. There was no one in there and no thing in there, except for a few small tools and knick-knacks.
Other rooms they tried led to the same result. They had a bit of time before the Festival of Enamorous started, at which point she would assume that Selene would be out enjoying the festivities with everyone else. The festival was the best shot she had of getting Selene out undetected, so if she failed in doing that, this would be her best chance gone. And if Zennitas found out…
… no, Zennitas wouldn't get a hold of her. Neither would Chain, or anyone else.
… but how much longer-
Two tugs.
Eve looked around wildly and saw, off to her left, a group of four Shadow Workers, discussing tactics to deal with Key. And then, voices behind her as well.
They were in a T-intersection, so she did the only thing she could, and went right. Rowan, who was grabbing her tail, accidentally tugged it a few times, but since she already knew that they were in a pickle, she ignored it.
While the right end of the intersection was a dead-end, since nobody was actually looking for them, there was no pressure to find a way out. What she did find, however, was a room on the side of the hallway leading to the dead-end. Open and ajar, she felt a brief spike of curiosity.
Ah, what the heck, it's not like she had any lead as to going forward anyway. What was the worst that could happen?
She led Rowan inside. As they went in, she noticed a large wall of screens. On each screen, there was a small line, detailing a name and set of coordinates.
She felt the illusion around the both of them break. "What is this?" Rowan muttered, a perplexed look crossing his face.
She started scanning the screen.
Aananta - 323.1234, 214.6244
Acerdian - 214.5123, 1903.1241
…
The list went on for a while. She was going to move onto the 'B's, but then she noticed something that made her pause.
Akion - 322.4123, 212.9823
Amnael - 340.2132, 150.1241
Anna - 321.3145, 213.5135
"Anna…" Eve muttered, staring at the screen.
"Eve, we should get going."
Eve looked at the console - and then pressed the 'Grouping' button.
Group By?
The words popped into her head - a psychic interface.
'Group by Coordinate'
The list of numbers disappeared, making Rowan jump slightly. A second later, a map formed, with hundreds, if not thousands, of little dots on it. The map represented the entire world - she'd seen enough maps to recognize the shape of the continents. A large portion of the dots were where Illusuria was. And each dot…
Eve pressed the 'Search' button.
Search By?
'Search by Name. Look for 'Anna'.'
One of the dots in the Nucifera area lit up - looking at its position, it was where the hospital was.
"Eve, what are you…"
"This… this finds people," Eve said, looking at the machine in fear. "Across the world, it finds people."
Rowan opened his mouth - and then closed it, looking at the machine. "The number of dots here isn't the number of people in the world. Search our names."
Eve did so, and neither of them came up. "So it has a criteria - but kind of criteria is it?"
Rowan stared at the screen for a bit. "It's something that can be recognized without the person knowing," Rowan said. "Otherwise, everyone would know about this machine. It's also something important to Chain, or they wouldn't have made this machine in the first place."
"But Anna isn't important!" Eve argued. "She's definitely not worth tracking."
Rowan, though, looked as if he wasn't listening to her. "And it's most concentrated here in Nucifera, though this city doesn't have the highest… population…" His eyes widened. "Search for Selene."
"Wh-"
"Search. For. Selene."
Eve did so.
Selene popped up - near the Crown Theater.
"Selene too… ?" Eve asked. "But… the criteria."
"Try Baize." Rowan said.
Eve did so. 'Baize' did pop up, near Logain. Baize was the Absol that Slate gave Culus too, before Slate realized that she and Xion were… Shadow… Workers…
…
… she searched 'Xion'. Xion showed up.
"These are Shadow Workers…" Eve muttered. "But that means…"
"Your friend was a Shadow Worker-"
"That… that can't be!"
"How did you meet her?"
"It was completely coincidental!" Eve argued. "We met near the Anisundial! I was taking Thorn on… a…"
Thorn was technically a member of Chain by blood. He definitely knew about it. There were Shadow Workers all around. Anna's mother was a Hat. She… she shared Eve's personality…
"... no…" Eve's voice came out. "… it can't be… "
Eve looked at the dashboard - 'Ordered Status'. She pressed it, and a list of orders for each Shadow Worker came. She looked at the list - and then navigated to Anna.
'Friend, Bodyguard, and Watcher of Princess Eve'
'#^ #$%#$%* $*%&^**$%'
'Friend, Bodyguard, and Watcher of Princess Eve'
"She… she…"
"She was probably the closest to you in personality, the most likely to become your friend. A little bit of Chain's tech to ensure she had optimum potential to be your friend." Rowan's cynicism burned a hole into her heart. "We're lucky you didn't bring her onto this plan."
"… shut up."
"After all, she would have blabbed everything on order, whether she'd have liked to or not-"
"Shut up."
"Can't handle-"
Eve fixed Rowan with a death glare. Rowan looked back passively, and then sighed.
"What about Selene? What were her orders?"
"I…"
Her curiosity overwhelmed her fear. She asked the system.
'N/A'
"She doesn't have one - she probably never had one." Unless, of course, it was edited. But… "They wouldn't have needed me if they could, or would, influence Selene as a Shadow Worker. She probably just has the thing that recognizes her as a Shadow Worker without having the mind influencing part of it."
Rowan nodded. "Fair." He jerked his head. "Then let's get a move on. We're wasting our time in this complex if she's by that Theater."
"... right…"
They left the room after clearing their history. And yet, as she did so, she had one last morose thought.
If she could track Selene using this, Chain could too.
Selene would never be able to escape Chain.
Ever.
'40% Progress'
He looked at the marker for progress on Riley's conversion rate toward becoming fully 'Cored', and thus under his control. 40% progress - unbearably slow.
Phosophor sighed. "Another mystery," he muttered. 40% progress was a milestone she should have crossed five, no, seven hours ago. It wasn't like the 'progress bar' that Parasel invented was inconsistent, either - it had been creeping up steadily, according to some of the Shadow Workers he'd set to minding the progress for this special one.
Perhaps, Parasel said, the one 'behind' the other right now. It's a property of the Aspects at work.
Always the theorizer, Phosophor answered back. Though, truthfully, he happened to agree for once. This 'slowness' was abnormal, the machine that Parasel had made to automate parts of the procedure had maintenance performed on it before he'd started work on Riley, and two of the three other subjects proceeding through this process were becoming Cored at the expected rate. The third was Helios, who was proceeding not quite as slowly as Riley, but still monumentally slower than the other subjects.
In the future, we should set a control variable - perhaps, to get a pair of identical twins to account for any DNA influence. Train one in the art of using Aspects, the other should be left alone. If it really is what delays the process, then we'll need to account for it in the schedules.
Parasel's logic and dedication to the cause was why he was Phosophor's favorite brother. Nero was psychotic and capricious, helpful when pushed but a burden if not. His whole 'pet project' with the Blacks in Eonia had caused a fair few headaches for him. Meteor mostly just minded his own business. Not helping, not harming. Phosophor tossed him a few Shadow Workers to help with his performances since the Rotom was musically inclined, and Meteor stayed out of Chain's way for the most part.
As for his last brother… him…
He should be arriving soon, shouldn't he?
Right.
His last brother was the black Mareep of the overall Fusion. He was too, for lack of a better word, nice.
Soft.
Naive.
Not naive, we broke that out of him. I would say it's more 'forgiving'.
Same thing.
He'd tried acting as their collective's 'conscience'. Nero had always taken that as a challenge to suggest the most awful things imaginable, and both Phosophor and Parasel had ended up ignoring both of them to perform actions that had pragmatism in mind rather than any special moral leaning. Setting up a world-wide information network, and subsequently the ability to manipulate politics to make sure his work was unimpeded, was one of the solutions he'd come up with that had neither moral inclination at mind (though, as the moral compass, he had disagreed. Both of them elected to ignore him).
Why did you say he was soft?, he asked. In his experience, he was never too soft, always able to harden to the task if truly needed be.
He lets his son be a weak point.
Phosophor had to disagree. Family was one of the only things you could really rely on, and for them especially, other Epsilon Fusions. 'Friends' were always fair-weather - he had tried making some when they were young, if only to prove a point. Instead, he'd proved Phosophor's point - those friends always, upon learning the truth, ran away in confusion and fear. The existence of a 'mutant' and the collective, proved too much for people foreign to the concept.
Family was something you were stuck with, blood thicker than water. You couldn't abandon family without losing something fundamental. You only had one real family, 'found family' just being friends that haven't betrayed you yet. Diane and her sisters were adopted, yes, but they had the shared connection of being Epsilon Fusions, and adopting created a connection nonetheless that couldn't be broken as easily as 'friendship'.
Time and time again, his final brother had come through for him, even with opposing 'moral' ideologies. He imagined that it would stick even when their goal was complete - they were too stuck in each other, too familiar, for abandonment to ever really happen. At the very least, Phosophor wouldn't let it happen.
It's not the 'family' aspect. It's the inability he has to truly go against his son if pressed. An inherent weakness that people could use against us if they knew.
We'll deal with it as it comes. Diane - or, if she continues to struggle in her recovery, Selene - can play his mind to be more susceptible.
He'll be upset since we're violating his son's free will.
Better that than the mess he's put us in because of it.
Don't make me tell him.
Go ahead, he already knows. Parasel wasn't as emotionless as he let on - rather, he let loose in areas when calmness wasn't a strict benefit over natural emotions.
Getting back to his work, Phosophor tapped the screen that showed the Marill's progress bar. Considering how the process was related to both mind and soul, and the mind was completely suppressed during the process, the Aspects had a lasting effect on the soul. There was no easy way to measure the soul outside of his dedicated machinery (crafted by Ghost-types he'd Possessed or Diane had used the Rhythm on), so he could only theorize for now.
The Aspects, an ability of the soul?
Most likely. Epsilon Fusions were 'punished' by Stifling - Stifling did its best to stop 'phenomena' in a general sense, barring anything directly needed for life (otherwise, Stifling would be unable to ever be used, instantly killing its user's internal processes before stopping anything else and preventing its spread). Since Epsilon Fusions were living phenomena, five souls and body trapped into one form, four after a polarity shift, Stifling would do its best to break the Fusion. Stifling could also break things occasionally, and breaking the Fusion was the main goal.
It was one of the reasons why he had hope for the Aspects - they had such a large variety, so many things to experiment with. When he'd been younger, he did all sorts of dangerous things to destroy the bonds with his brother, including influencing a Chandelure to burn the bonds directly (unfortunately, Chandelure couldn't 'aim' their ability). There were only so many Pokemon that could touch souls, but if Aspects were intertwined with souls, then more options would inevitably open up.
Already, he had a few talents that he wanted - hopefully, they were reproducible. If the soul sight of 'Rowan' worked as he thought, it would be invaluable towards pruning theories and making new ones. Lower the cost of Culus's talent, and suddenly options would open up. Not every talent was useful - the few he'd been able to personally witness, such as Sable's ability to locally slow objects, were practically weaker than telekinesis.
Unless, of course, you need to block something that can't be affected by telekinesis and don't have access to teleportation, nor can you dodge or use shielding.
Listen to yourself.
It can also be used to slow down phenomena, such as a polarity shift, to better understand how to improve it.
… perhaps Sable was a bad example. Helios's talent was far more useless.
Far harder to use in a variety of situations.
If you say so.
He switched the Terminal to look at Helios's progress (idly noting an unscheduled use of the Terminal in Nucifera - likely nothing, but if it was unscheduled, then it would be an unknown variable. Something to look into if he was bored).
'3% Progress'
It should have been at least 10% by now, considering how he'd been undergoing the process to become Cored for an hour or two now. It was almost certain that Aspects gave a resistance to becoming Cored, though it was still going unimpeded.
Really, he hadn't expected Helios to offer himself. He deliberated over scanning the remnants of Helios's mind, to piece together exactly what kind of mental state the boy was in as he was offering himself. Then he decided that it was unimportant, and that he had better things to worry about.
He's coming, Parasel warned. He'll see you directly.
Oh. Then his last brother and his three companions had arrived. If so, then they were short on time. If he was ever going to start it, now was the moment.
He sent a message to the various bases Chain had around the world, and Queen Arya (who he'd given a communicator to), before preparing to see his last brother.
'Begin Operation Key-Breaker.'
Culus, Thilia, Kapun, and Kair have arrived at the Cognes Research Facility, where they plan to find and steal the machinery and sensors Chain uses to keep track of Shadow Workers. Right now, Kair is going for an initial scouting of the openings in Cognes, while Culus, Thalia, and Kapun rest for a brief time to ready for the invasion.
Angira and Genevieve, now aware of some of the Shadow Workers that reside in Key, promise to keep Pandora and Sable unaware of their new knowledge and give them the opening they need while Chain believes them to be still in the dark.
Helios is willingly being transformed into a Shadow Worker in Cognes, alongside Riley, due to his ballooning insecurities and the brainwashed Queen Arya striking at a moment of weakness. Phosophor, overseeing the process, prepares for the arrival of the 'final brother'.
Brylle, with many people to train, helps those in Lition train the Aspects, unaware of what is going on in Nucifera. Pandora and Sable 'interrogate' Relm in the infirmary, though in reality they are simply admonishing him for his reckless actions and prepare to lock away key memories that they think would reveal their deceptions. Ekib remains asleep, his mind already accessed as evidence for those very deceptions.
Selene, having spent the last few weeks practicing both the polarity shift that would give her sisters more bodies to work with and the use of the Rhythm to keep it under control, now readies for her joint performance alongside the Temptress for the Festival of Enamorous. Much happier now that Relm has been shown to be well and more confident for an unknown reason after dancing under the influence of the Rhythm, she now helps the stagehands prior to the dance itself, all while readying herself for the dance and unaware of Eve's plan.
Rowan and Eve conduct Eve's attempt to rescue Selene from the grasp of Chain. However, they must grapple with a giant obstacle - Zennitas, while ostensibly trying to 'help' Eve and Selene escape, is toying with them, with the final result (no matter what happens) being that Eve is carted off to Lord Black to be hypnotized and brainwashed into becoming his loyal pawn for his planned revolution of Eonia. Even with Eve managing to tear off the cover of the lie using her newly-found talent, they're left at an impasse with Zennitas's new talent blocking every solution they have. Now, they've traveled to Chain's complex in Nucifera, uncovering several identities as truly being Shadow Workers, including who Eve thought was a relatively uninvolved friend, Anna. Though they now know Selene's location, Eve despairs that, due to Chain's now-discovered ability to track Selene, the plan was doomed from the start.
Light, disillusioned with Chain's empty promises and his father's lack of action, takes matters into his own hands. Now free of Nero's hypnosis that ensured his loyalty to his father's cause and with new access to the Aspects thanks to a mysterious malevolent voice in his head, he schemes to give Glacia, who he dismisses as entirely incompetent, access to the Aspects to ingratiate himself to the King, while pushing Mentali further against his brother.