Chapter 151 – Mu
Owen forgot what boats were. Kilo only had a single major landmass, after all, so the only real boats they had were for crossing large streams or going down long rivers where the ground was too hard to traverse.
And since Waypoints connected most of the world, his recent memories didn't have much water travel at all. Though he did vaguely recall a few times during his Reincarnations under Eon, when his memories were scrambled, he had tried to swim across a lake or two. And died. A lot.
"Um, s-so, what happens if we fall overboard?" Demitri asked the Dhelmise boat captain at the front of the dock, which was more like a stone outcropping built firmly atop the still, black water.
"Well," the living anchor whispered, "you die."
Demitri squeaked.
"Well, no. I suppose that's not true."
Demitri relaxed.
"It claims your soul. Which, depending on who you talk to… ehh, you'll be fine."
Mispy picked Demitri up and hauled him onto the ship as he whimpered. Dhelmise let out a rattling, hollow hiss that Owen realized was supposed to be laughter.
They all loaded onto the ship and had a brief meet and greet with the skeleton crew that had been assigned to them. Owen was impressed, at first, with how much North Null had provided, but then he realized that if this was an investment into escaping the Voidlands—an investment that they'd already paid for in South Null in some ways—they'd probably dedicate anything to their cause.
Having a nice reputation helped them get what they needed.
"Here is your room. Enjoy," rattled Dhelmise before floating down the dark hall. Had it not been for Owen's flame, it would've been very hard to see under the deck. It was already vaguely dim when the red sky was above them…
Their accommodations were modest. A few packs of leaves that worked well as bedding for the time being, some kind of purple cotton, and a few tables. There was an empty, tiny room meant for storage of their supplies and a bucket of clean water in the corner for drinking.
And in the back of the room, set there like a piece of furniture, was the statue of Valle. The Shiftry rumbled in greeting and said nothing else, apparently content to be another fixture in the room.
"Not bad," Owen remarked. "For something that's going to be floating across the sea for weeks, I think that's good. They said more supplies were deeper in the ship, right?"
Mispy nodded and planted Demitri on one of the beds, patting him on the head until he'd calmed down.
The Trio of Mind, meanwhile, floated around one another in a circle.
"Yeah, this'll do," Azelf said.
"Big enough for Azelf is big enough for us," Mesprit added, nodding. "Maybe we can get some training in while here?"
"Training?" Owen asked.
"You know…" Mesprit gestured to Demitri. "Trying to sync up. So the… transition isn't so bad."
"Oh." That still tightened Owen's chest. "Right. Yeah, that's fine."
Zena brought a ribbon over Owen's shoulder, having just entered. He leaned against her and sighed. "Sure. I'll help however I can."
Mhynt was the last to enter, pacing around the room as if to appraise it.
"I'm in the next room over," she said. "Seems we have three rooms to share. I have the joy of picking who I'm going to be a spare for the pair."
"Eh?" Gahi asked.
Mhynt gestured to Gahi, then Trina. Then she pointed between Demitri and Mispy. And finally, thumbed toward Owen and Zena.
"Oh." Owen winced. "That, uh… I mean… that's…"
Mhynt chuckled. "I'm not bothered by the pairs," she said, "I suppose what's more inconvenient is for all this ship space, we only have a few rooms. I suppose it wasn't meant for a whole fleet…"
"Maybe we can find something extra somewhere," Owen offered.
"We could also separate by boys and girls," Mhynt hummed.
"Eh? Why?" Gahi asked. "that's kinda a weird way ter split. How about we split by eh… Dragons, Psychics, 'n Neither?"
"I'd like to sleep with Mispy, actually," Demitri said.
Mhynt pinched her snout. "I regret bringing this up."
"A-alright, everyone," Owen said. "Let's just… sort this out. And then we can get some training done."
It was going to be a long couple of weeks.
Chunks of earth flew through the sky, tinged with the corrosive power of Shadows. Angelo screamed with fear before Phol picked him up and sprinted to the nearest Dungeon where Spice was waving for him to get along. Spice could only watch and hope that they could make it in time.
Emily roared behind them, charging another Shadow-tinged Aeroblast to rip the dirt from the ground. The Incineroar ran across one of the small valleys that had been formed by the last one, hoping that it would make Emily focus on the same path so he could jump out of it in time.
But, thankfully, Emily's charge was too slow. Phol barely managed to get through the Dungeon's barrier, and Spice entered last just to make sure they'd all made it.
"Okay," Spice whispered. "I think… I think we're safe. She won't follow us here. Probably. We're kinda living on a prayer that it's not a coincidence she never enters Dungeons."
Angelo heaved and collapsed on the ground. Phol, too, knelt and sighed.
"Everyone not dying?" Spice asked. "Better question, who's dying?"
Angelo raised a paw.
"Who's actually dying?"
Angelo's paw flopped back into the dirt.
They seemed to have wound up in a forest dungeon of some kind. There was a foul smell in the air, acrid like something was dissolving, but not anything that had lived there.
"Where are we?" Phol asked. "Something about this place…"
"Yeah, I don't like it either. But we were heading away from Milli Town, so that means…" Spice checked their map, then the sky, for whatever it was worth. "Swamp of Purity?"
"Isn't one of Arceus' disciples here?" Leo asked. "If that's the case… we should be safe here. A small respite."
Spice looked around. "Yeah… no Void Shadows, at least," she murmured. "Still…"
"Something bothering you about here?" Phol asked.
"Yeah. I think we shouldn't spend more time here than we have to."
"I'll trust your judgment." Phol didn't want to question whatever strange Dungeon instincts Spice had as a wraith. They had led the group well so far. That was all he could hope for.
Phol's left ear twitched. He heard something in the bushes.
A moment later, a Charmander with black and white flames emerged from the bushes, wobbling forward.
"Strange. I wouldn't expect a feral here," Phol said.
"They're definitely not native…"
Spice looked horrified. "Why in all of the heavens is Mu here?!"
"Muuu!"
"Wh-what?" Leo said. "Mu? You know this feral?"
"She looks feral because of her 'father' but that's Mu! Owen's kid!"
"Ahh!" Angelo squeaked. "You're right! But how did she get here?!"
"There's no way she wandered that far from home. This… this isn't right." Leo carefully approached Mu. "Hey, little Charmander. My name's Leo."
Mu looked at Leo but then stared at Spice.
"Hey, Mu. It's alright," she assured. "How'd you get here, huh?"
Mu approached and grabbed Leo's fur in fistfuls, suddenly fascinated with its texture. She giggled and pulled a little harder until she was hiding inside.
"Ah! Er, sure, you can hide around if you like," Leo said, glancing helplessly at the others. "I guess this means we're going to head back a little early, huh?"
"We can't just take a kid with us," Spice agreed. "Let's go back. Hang on, let me alert the others." She pulled out their Communicator. "Hey, guys?! Why is Mu all the way in the Swamp of Purity?"
Silence. Then, Owen's voice, "She's WHAT?!"
"Who let Palkia look after her?" Brandon's voice came next.
Star next. "I swear to me, Palkia, I'm gonna—"
"Now, now, I had nothing to do with this!"
"Then explain how she's across the planet!"
"Spatial anomaly?"
"That's YOUR business!"
"…Hm, you're right. How odd."
"Okay, guys? Look," Spice said, "I don't care who did what, but we're bringing her back. Keep an eye on her, alright? Leo, let's go."
"Um, small problem," Leo said nervously, suddenly pulling up his fur and lifting his legs. There was no Mu to be found. "I can't find her."
Completely dumbfounded, Spice dropped the communicator.
"That was passable." Diyem closed his eyes, studying the auras in front of him. "If you run into wraiths, you'll at least know how to dodge their attacks. Let's try again."
The trainees groaned but complied as Diyem built up more shadowy energy over his shoulders.
The black-flamed Charmander exhaled through his nose and observed, but then movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He saw another Charmander staring at him, strongly resembling Owen, but her flame was—
"Excuse me," Diyem said to the others. "You've earned your break after all. I'll be back shortly."
Walking somewhat quickly, Diyem approached Mu just as she went around the corner. "Mu!" he called.
"Muuu!" she replied, craning her head backward.
"How in the world did you get here?" Diyem growled.
She flinched, her eyes suddenly watering.
"Ngh—no. I'm not upset," Diyem lied, calming himself. "I'm only worried. Are you okay?"
He didn't even think she could understand him yet. But just an hour ago, Mu had been spotted in the Swamp of Purity. That was half a day away on the other side of the continent. And then she disappeared. Here?
He had to alert the others. "Come on, Mu. Let's go see your family."
Mu only stared.
"…Mu, we should go," Diyem went on.
Oh no. He had to deal with a child.
How did one deal with a child?
"…Sweet… little… Charmander," Diyem said, trying to remember how to smile, "wouldn't you like some… candy?" Did kids like candy? Was that still true?
Mu crawled a little closer, staring upwards expectantly.
Diyem mentally cursed. Does she know the word candy? How? She's barely a few days old!
"I have some," Diyem said. "Come with me, yes?"
Mu continued to stare incredulously, but just as she was about to come within pickup distance, she stopped and looked at something behind Diyem.
"You know," Hakk said, "I overheard some of that. Word of advice, O Lord of Darkness, but offering candy to a kid in a back alley if they follow you is probably the worst possible thing you could've said or done here."
Diyem whirled back and pointed at the oversized, icy Sandslash. "And it's rude to follow people," he growled. "If I still had my powers, I would have blasted you."
"Cute." Hakk pointed behind Diyem. "She's getting away."
"Wh—"
Diyem caught her tail flame going around the corner. He flashed one final glare at Hakk before sprinting forward—but by the time he went around, there was no sign of her.
"What is this child," Diyem asked, though it sounded more like a question.
"You get her?" Hakk called, following.
"No," Diyem said. "She disappeared. Again."
"That kid…" Hakk rubbed the back of his head. "We should at least warn the others."
"Of course." Marching down the alley again, the black-flame Charmander happened to glance Hakk's way. He exhaled through his nose. "Nice Mark of Necrozma."
Hakk spun around and covered his rear. "Get!" he shooed away.
As Diyem marched down the alleyway, he suddenly formed a theory. Considering what Mu was, both of Necrozma's and his own powers, could she be…?
"Dungeon teleportation?" Palkia repeated. "Why, that sounds incredibly interesting. But what do you mean?"
"I believe Mu has an innate ability to manipulate Dungeon space. That includes the creation of tiny, temporary Dungeons for the sole purpose of traversal. If my theory is correct, she has visited the Voidlands, briefly, to go to other Dungeons, or to even emerge in totally new locations on Kilo."
Diyem's theory made enough sense, but the implications were staggering. A mere child had the instincts to create and destroy Dungeons? Owen glanced worriedly at the others, who had all gathered around the Communicator in their room—they'd ultimately decided to all share a single room, unable to decide how to split up.
"How do we test that?" Owen asked. "Better yet, how do we… you know… stop Mu from doing that? If she goes into the wrong Dungeon, she could get seriously hurt."
"That's what I want to figure out. As it stands, I don't know. I can only hope she also inherited my command over Void Shadows so she can at least tell them to stay away. Right now, though, she is more a liability than a benefit. She is only a child."
"I don't like this," Mhynt murmured while the communicator's connection wasn't sending anyone out. "I feel like we should have a dedicated team solely to make sure Mu is raised properly. If she wanders off and falls into Alexander's hands accidentally, that could prove disastrous."
"Ahh! I have an idea!" Palkia chimed in. "All I need is something of hers, like a loose scale, claw, baby tooth, really anything."
"Well, she's way too young to be losing teeth," Owen said, "but maybe we can find some of that other stuff. Why exactly?"
"Well, the same reason my pearls help to guide spatial warping," Palkia explained. "With some fine-tuning to their aura, I can probably make my Dungeon Gun resonate with the source and create a small pocket Dungeon right in front of them! It's not too different from Waypoints, really…"
Letting Palkia try any kind of new experiment involving Mu had Owen's flame sparking with anxiety. Palkia and Nevren weren't too far removed from one another, and it felt like Palkia was always one unethical slip-up from becoming another horrible blight on nature.
But the alternative was having no idea how to find or keep Mu under control until she would be more conscientious of her apparent powers.
"Is this why Alexander wanted someone like her?" Demitri wondered aloud.
"Doubtless," Mhynt said. "The ability to freely create Dungeons as he wants? Perfect control over Radiance and Shadow? He'd be unstoppable. Alexander's current weakness is the light of the surface world. If he gains power over it… That's it. He will have all he needs to become this world's new god."
"That's always what it boils down to," Owen said with a frustrated hum. "Everyone wants to be a god. The god. Take over from Necrozma, Star, Barky…"
"When it's right there, I imagine those lusting for power would find the goal irresistible. Especially when it seems possible." Mhynt crossed her arms. "This temporary world wasn't made with many securities in mind. That's why we're in this problem in the first place."
"We can talk philosophy about this later when we have the power to change it," Uxie said telepathically. "Right now, we should focus our brain power on stopping Alexander altogether. And right now, that's keeping Mu safe and out of Alexander's clutches. Make sure he doesn't even know she exists."
"Right." Owen sighed. "Uxie says we should just focus on one thing at a time. Keeping Mu out of Alexander's hands, just in case. So, Palkia, if you can find a way that we can locate her if she runs off…"
"Of course! However, it just occurred to me, we do have a much easier solution, do we not?"
"We do?" Owen asked.
"Why not simply kill her?"
Cold silence answered, and Owen at first thought he'd misheard him. "What? we aren't doing that! What's wrong with you?"
"Now, I know it sounds unethical—"
"She's a child! Not even that, a hatchling!"
"Indeed! And also one that, should Alexander get a hold of—"
"We're not hurting her."
"You know, Owen, this is very reminiscent of when you decided to save the world and instead doomed it to the Voidlands."
"I… that's not…" Owen was shaking his head, but he knew it wasn't coming across properly.
"Come now, Owen. Death hardly means anything to us. Take her spirit into the Fire Core so she can 'live' in safety. You were quite happy as a Fire Spirit for a time, weren't you?"
"I don't care how you frame it. We aren't hurting her. Okay? End of story," Owen said, flame sparking. Demitri fidgeted nervously. Mispy seemed contemplative but didn't seem to object to either of them.
Palkia sighed on his end of the communicator. "Well, I suppose I'll take this as another challenge. We'll go with the body part idea."
"We can probably get you some scales or trim her claws," Owen said. "…When we get her. Why?"
"Silver linings! You know, I was considering putting these into tiles for better portability, perhaps dubbing them… Dungeon-Creating-and-Entering Cards."
"Find a catchier title," Mhynt suggested.
"Ahh, marketability. A good point, Mhynt."
Owen rolled his eyes and checked on how the others were feeling. Demitri seemed nervous, the way his claws kept clenching and unclenching against his palms. Mispy was comforting him. The Trio of Mind was equally pensive. Trina was horrified for some reason, looking at Gahi, who was—
"Found Mu," Owen suddenly blurted.
"Eh?" Gahi followed Owen's gaze to just behind him, where Mu was currently playing with a loose piece of wood in the floorboards.
"You're kidding," Diyem muttered.
"Heyyyy Mu," Owen said carefully, creeping a little closer. "You feeling alright?"
"Muuu."
The little Charmander was fine and normal. The only concerning part was that she was there at all. How in the world did she get to the middle of the Abyssal Sea so effortlessly? What happened if she misfired and appeared in the water?!
"Palkia, please get that portal shooting gun ready as soon as possible," Owen whispered.
"Understood. A rush job. That's the sort of challenge I can appreciate."
"I suppose, while she's here, we can at least keep her entertained," Mhynt suggested.
"It's at least a change of pace," Trina agreed. "Maybe we can have him climb on top of Valle."
Valle provided no objections. That usually meant he didn't mind.
Still, Owen wanted to make sure. "Valle, is that alright? You, uh… haven't been talking much."
"I am meditating. But Mu can do as she likes. As long as she does not break parts of me off again."
The stony Shiftry puzzled Owen. Was he at all worried about meeting his immortal half?
"By the way, how have you been doing?" Owen asked.
Gahi started to play with Mu, picking her up under the arms and gently tossing her in the air. Mu laughed, and there was an uncharacteristically tranquil smile on Gahi's face.
Valle answered, "I have been fine. I feel that I am getting close to someone important to me. Myself, I believe."
"I suppose this takes 'not forgetting about Number One' quite literally," Mhynt hummed.
Mu climbed to the top of Valle's head and raised her arms. "Yeah!" she declared.
"Y-yeah," Owen echoed. "That's… another word!"
"Yeah!" Mu declared again.
"Did we ever say that in front of her?" Mhynt wondered aloud. "Strange…"
"Oh!" Demitri perked up. "We should start teaching her words and phrases!"
Gahi instantly looked bored and glanced at Azelf.
"Well, while y'do that," Gahi said, "we're gonna go flyin' around again, do some scoutin'."
"Don't get close to the water!" Owen warned.
But as Gahi and Azelf left, Demitri and the others took the time to entertain their new passenger for however long she wished to remain.
After the scare with Mu, Spice decided to only go a little deeper into the Swamp of Purity to send a message over to Ghrelle. Angelo and the others seemed to be feeling sick from the fumes in the air, so she told them to wait near the entrance while she delved deeper on her own. She'd return quickly at any sign of trouble.
She knew from Jerry that simply going a little deeper was a risk. The moment she saw any actual puddles of sludge, she'd turn back. Apparently those were the lethal parts.
It had been a while since she'd been alone with her thoughts. At night, when they were camping out on their way to the next Waypoint location, it wasn't the same. She could always hear Leo snoozing or Angelo whimpering in the cold. She'd always have someone's furry body nearby reminding her that others were nearby.
But now it was just her. Someone who wasn't even a whole person, all alone. She kept thinking about Enet, the feral who was also a fragment of herself. She thought about that Lilligant swimming within the Zoroark's spirit. Did that mean she was outnumbered, two to one on components?
And then a new thought echoed.
Was there a way she could persist? Could she escape, run, or go missing? Or could she dominate, and the other two would just be echoes of her ego?
Was that an evil thought? Or was that survival?
A breeze from the Dungeon clouded her vision with purple smog. She grumbled and ducked her head, not trusting even the otherwise benign fumes for her Poison body.
"Is something wrooong?"
Spice exhaled a long curse and looked to her right. "You scared me," she said dumbly.
A Gastrodon made entirely of purple sludge was staring at her. She wasn't sure, but maybe he was smiling.
"Do you wanna see Ghrelle? She's busy singing. I don't think you want to see her today."
"Right. Well, sorry if I look off. I can't really help it."
"It's okay. Arceus told us about you. You're safe here."
"Right…"
"My name is Ano," the Gastrodon said. "You're…?"
"Spice."
"How come you have a creepy voice?" Ano asked. "Oh, oh, wait! Let me do it! Ooooh, we are one, we are powerful!"
Spice flinched. "How in Kilo are you doing that?"
"Oh, I'm just having all the other spirits talk with me. It's fun! How do you do it?"
"I… I don't know. I don't know how to turn it off."
"Really? It just sounds like a bunch of your voices saying the same thing at once. Just make it so only one voice talks!"
"Oh, sure, 'just' make it do that. Like I haven't tried."
"Can I help?"
She didn't want to trust that. "I'll figure it out myself. Thanks, though. I… appreciate the offer."
Ano tilted his head, part of his face slipping off and onto the ground. More of his face grew back to replace it.
Spice noticed the eye that fell off was still staring at her.
"What's bothering you?" Ano asked.
Aside from… you? Spice winced and answered, "It's sort of complicated."
"I can try complicated!"
This was ridiculous. Still… Ano wasn't someone of consequence. He wasn't going to blab to her friends. Maybe this could help. "Have you ever been worried that one day, you'll wake up as… not who you used to be?"
"Hmm…" Ano's three eyes closed. The Gastrodon made a bubbling, gurgling noise. "Nope! Usually, other people wake up as part of me!"
"Oh, wonderful. Why?"
Ano sank into the ground, and soon, several little eyes emerged from his slime, little heads and limbs half-formed and creeping out. A few waved at Spice. Others seemed to be listless and trying to sink back inside.
Spice regretted coming here.
"The Poison Orb welcomes every lost soul and molds them into something better. And when they want to go out, they travel with me!" Ano cheerfully explained. "That's the purpose of a Guardian, after all, even if I'm just the lead spirit."
Guardians, spirits, all of this went way over Spice's head. It all just sounded like creepy power-mongering using the ex-life force of others to her. Even Owen, her presumed father, was some kind of soul-harvester who got stronger the more people were stuffed inside his aura.
"How come?" Ano asked. "Are you scared of becoming something else?"
But would he understand? Well, there was no harm in asking. "I'm a piece of somebody else. There are three of us, and I'm just one. None of us are the same as the original."
"Oh." Ano tilted his head. "Ha ha! That's funny. You sound like the legend of Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem! Except Lord Arceus said that the three weren't one original being, only that they can become one if they need to."
"I heard of that legend. I'm surprised it isn't true, though." In part, at least.
"Maybe it could be true," Ano said. "Lord Arceus told us about it. That there is another one in another world that is like that story, and he based the ones here off of that."
So he spoke about that other world to Ghrelle, did he? An interesting little tidbit, Spice thought.
"Well, I guess it's kind of like that. But I don't remember ever being this original, whole person. And I'm worried that when I do return, I won't… be me anymore. You get it? It feels… almost worse than dying. I'm just… gone. 'Spice' is gone."
"Hmm…" Ano's eyes closed again. "Mister Rhys and Lord Dialga were the same way. But I think Mister Rhys is still in there. He's just quieter."
"Quieter…"
"Mhm. But no memory is ever truly gone. It'll be okay!" His eyes warped in a way like he was trying to smile.
"What if I don't want to be quiet?" Spice asked. "I just want to live."
"I think you're gonna live," Ano said. "You know what's funny about becoming one? You're scared of it up until it happens. After that, you always always always realize it wasn't so bad."
"Yeah, because the person waking up doesn't realize what's gone," Spice growled.
"Huh? But that person is all of the persons!"
Spice growled. This was going nowhere. "I guess so," she dismissed. "Anyway, I need to report to the others. Thanks for the talk."
"Okay! Bye!" He and the many misshapen limbs waved at Spice as she headed for the outer parts of the Swamp of Purity.
Afraid until after it happens. What kind of advice was that?
Do you want to persist?
Spice halted. Ano was already gone. He must have slimed his way to the deeper parts of the Dungeon again.
"Hello?" Spice called.
Do you want to be the survivor?
The voice came from nowhere in particular. But she could only pray that it was not coming from within. It felt like it was coming from somewhere else, but she couldn't get an identity on the words. No voice, no tone. Just… thoughts. Thoughts that weren't hers, being taped onto the front of her skull. She felt a need to scrape it off like an itch, but when she scratched at her forehead, nothing happened.
If you kill them, 'you' will dominate.
"Whatever," she growled back. Marching further out of the Dungeon's depths, the itch in her forehead began to subside.
But it never completely went away.
"I've done it!" Palkia said. "It took a little while, but the Mu-Dungeon-Gun is complete! Now no matter where she is, I can make a Dungeon right in front of her, and poof! Mu can be found!"
It had been a few days. By some fortune, Palkia's focus had been on something not diabolical or terrible for the future of the world. A "Dungeon gun" was a horrible idea, but at least this time it was for keeping someone safe. Maybe it would be useful later, right?
"Great, Palkia," Owen said. "I guess if you ever run into some trouble finding her, you can shoot that and grab her. Can you give some of that to others who care for her on Kilo?"
"Gladly! I'm working on making it very portable. All I had to do was tap into the spiritual pulse of Kilo and how it seems to resonate with the ethereal plane, which in turn reaches over to the Voidlands opposite to Kilo on a cosmological scale. Fascinatingly, I can then use the portal created by this gun as a medium to go instantly between the two planes. There also seems to be a small pocket between the two if I configure the settings properly… but that is only for traversal across the same plane, using the opposite as a go-between. How fascinating…"
He had no idea what any of that was about.
"In other words," Mhynt translated, palm to the ceiling, "with the proper configuration, you can make a tiny Dungeon that instantly traverses into the Voidlands or a larger Dungeon that can go from one spot of Kilo to another."
"Yes! Precisely! Now I just need a name for these things. Being able to travel anywhere by entering a portal… Travelgun? Dungeon? Gungeon? Entrance Gun?"
"Is it really just a gun that shoots Dungeons?" Demitri asked.
"Well, the original models were, but it's a bit of an artifact title now. To make it more configurable and… stable… I've had to convert it to a piecewise tile format. Like specialized cards that can channel the world's energy a certain way."
"Cards?" Demitri leaned back, tapping his tusks. "I guess if that's the case, you'd probably want to call them Dungeon Cards, right?"
Zena raised a ribbon despite Palkia not being able to see it through the communicator. "Entry Cards?" she asked. "After all, that's what they are, and they're a play on those tickets used to see plays in Kilo Village."
"Hmm, I've yet to see one," Trina hummed while glancing down the hall. "Gahi has been out for a while…"
"Entry Cards sounds too mundane," Mesprit complained.
"Hmm… hmmmm… But it does seem closer."
"Does this matter?" Mispy finally asked, her eyes drooping from boredom.
Owen tittered, about to speak, when Palkia cut him off.
"Of course it matters! It's a matter of marketability! I can't continue my research if I don't get proper funding for more research, after all."
"Fund—you're Palkia!"
"Yes! And Palkia needs money," Palkia explained. "I don't make gold. I control space!"
"Can't you just, like, perform a divine miracle or something?" Owen asked. "Get paid to transport a bunch of supplies instantly every so often and you'll have all the funding you need."
Palkia didn't reply. Team Alloy exchanged looks with one another.
"I hadn't considered that," Palkia finally said.
"Seriously?" Mispy sighed. Uxie flopped onto Mispy's vines, defeated.
"I simply assumed my funding should come from successful research. I hadn't considered other ways to make a profit. Hmm. Hmm, hmm. Yes. I'll consider—ENTERCARDS!"
The shout was enough to startle Demitri into kicking Mesprit into the wooden wall. "Ah, sorry!"
Mesprit seemed unharmed, though the wall itself was a different story.
"Entercards?" Mhynt asked. "That's an awful name."
"Well, I personally think it's quite catchy. Yes, I'm certain it will become popular! New research funding, here I come!"
Mispy groaned and covered her eyes, but then her antennae twitched and she perked up. Owen followed her eyes to the hallway and then his Perceive caught Gahi entering their range at alarming speeds.
He appeared next to the entrance, a gust of wind following him. "We got a problem."
"Uh?" Owen stood up, trying to get numbness out of his legs, and followed Gahi out of the ship and to the deck. The rest followed.
Gahi flew high into the red sky, but then suddenly ducked down with a "Yeow!" when he narrowly dodged a sizzling beam of dark energy.
Ten days out at sea, with a few more days to go, in the middle of the seemingly endless black ocean, it dawned on Owen the sheer weight of what that isolation could mean.
Especially when they could see Alexander flying toward the ship with only minutes between them.
