PMD: R&D

by Jusmove

The Absol guild isn't known for amazing expeditions, ace bounty hunters, or even adequate rescue operations. No, Absol's is known for the loud explosions and mad laughter echoing from behind closed doors.

32. Hollow Garden - Finale

Chapter 29: Hollow Garden - Finale

Mauve stayed focused.

Musty air full of dust particles filled her lungs as she breathed in, but she didn't let that sway her. She put all her attention on the tiny pinprick of light in the otherwise pitch blackness, her only goal right now to make it wider. She grunted, then placed a claw on the rocky surface in front of her and pushed. Pushed. Puuuuushed...

It slid. The light got wider, and she could almost see some of the outside. Finally, the first ounce of progress over the past ten minutes. She jerked her arm back, half out of excitement, and half because she feared another shove may cause a further landslide to fall on her head.

Her arm hit something soft, small, and snarky.

"Oof, hey do you think you could not elbow me every five seconds? I don't know if I can keep holding this up if you do," came Lumi's strained voice.

Mauve sighed and rolled her eyes. Right. She had tried to ignore the other caveat to her current predicament. After Xerneas had quite violently expressed its displeasure with their presence by destroying the island they stood on, Mauve had fallen an unknown distance alongside Lumi and an avalanche of destroyed island. On impulse, she cut a portal to lead to the first stable ground she saw through the chaos, some lower area beneath them. Lumi came out the other end with her and raised a shield above their heads to prevent them from being squished by the falling rocks.

This resulted in their present situation; pressed together on all sides by destroyed rubble, the strength of his shield and her ability to claw a way out their only hope of not fainting. She fought to ignore his presence as she focused on her task.

Of course, Mauve found it difficult to ignore when Lumi's entire body was pressed snugly on her chest, arms practically wrapped around her, and both of their faces only precious inches away from each other, encased on all sides by an avalanche of rock and dirt that made it difficult to so much as move an arm.

Neither of them needed to communicate the need to turn their faces as far from each other as physically possible. That went without saying. Other boundaries, however, needed to be addressed verbally.

"Stop talking. You promised you would stop talking," she responded, far too tired to keep the exasperation out of her voice.

"And you promised not to assault me while we were trapped here, and yet here you are-OW! Oh, you did that on purpose!"

She absolutely did that on purpose.

"Don't be a kit. I've got some leverage now, so this will go by quicker."

She heard him grumble, but thankfully he didn't press the issue. He had his own responsibility of keeping his shield above their heads to prevent the heavy pile of rubble from crashing down on them, so she rebuffed her efforts to ensure they could get out before that happened.

Mauve continued to widen a hole, slower at first, but soon it became easier and easier to dig a way through. Before long, a hole wide enough for her to fit through had formed, and she huffed.

"Finally..." she murmured. Despite Lumi's yowls of protest, Mauve repositioned her body around so she could climb out, which involved pushing off of his arm with her foot. Indignity aside, she breathed in a sigh of relief when her face met the slightly less dank air that wasn't rife with two people's breath in concerningly close proximity to each other.

The Weavile pulled the rest of herself out, head low so as to not further muss up her feather crest, and glanced around at where they had ended up. To her surprise, a long, wide hallway met her eyes. The right side had repeating arches all the way down that opened up to a view of the purple void outside and the undersides of floating islands in the distance, allowing a draft to flow in. Flowering vines draped along the left wall, which snaked onto the ground and continued out towards the end of the hallway, hundreds of feet away.

She heard the rumbling of stone behind her, and hopped down the small hill that formed from the detritus that had trapped them. Lumi's head poked out of the opening she had made, blue fur coated in a layer of dust. His ears glowed with energy to keep the barrier up as he carefully extracted himself from the hole. After a few moments of concentration, he whipped out all four of the little orbs she remembered he used. The pile crashed in on itself due to the loss of support, and Lumi released a mewl of surprise as he got sent tumbling down the hill to land on his front right next to her.

It hadn't been pretty, but they were free. And to top it off, they had ended up in a relatively open area to move around in.

Excellent.

"Your quick barrier saved me from an embarrassing ejection from the Dungeon, and for that, I'm thankful. But this could have only ended one way," she said as she walked further out into the hallway. The Weavile whipped her claws out to her sides.

"The fact remains that you are an enemy, and you cannot be allowed to interfere with our plans for the Keystone."

Bubbling eagerness started to well up, but she tried to tamp it down with her sense of duty. Perhaps she had been looking forward to fighting Lumi again since she had been captured, although this was no time for indulgences. This was business, nothing more.

She kept her back to him, mostly to give herself time to quell the smile that fought to rise on her face. It wasn't really working, so she did her best to slap on a snarl and whipped around to finally face him.

"It's time! Fight me Lu-"

Lumi slammed into her front and ran past her. Stunned, she watched him sprint on all fours down the hallway, speed much quicker than usual, in all likelihood enhanced by an item.

She paused, a bit miffed that he chose to run instead of fight her (like he was supposed to), and scraped her teeth together. Fine. If he wanted a chase, he'd get one. She still had some residual power of a Spatial pearl in her claws, so she carefully tracked his speed and cut a portal in front of her that opened up directly above where he'd be.

Mauve saw the top of his head. She jumped through, a claw already raised. She leapt down and...

...Hit the ground instead.

She blinked, certain that he didn't see her coming. He didn't spare a glance back as he continued to run. Frost coated her arms and gathered along her claws. She scraped them forward to shoot Ice Shards that hurl directly at Lumi's retreating back, confident that he wouldn't be quick enough to dodge in time.

He hopped from side to side, allowing the shards to fly past him, and continued to run. That dodge looked...almost effortless.

What was happening? She had personally tested his strength not even a week ago, nobody could improve in such a short time, especially if they weren't physically disciplined. Perplexed, Mauve cut another portal, this time a few meters in front of Lumi, and stepped out to face him with her arms crossed.

He skidded to a halt in front of her, and looked at her with wide eyes. She squinted. His eyes were different; a blue glow replaced his usual golden irises. It instantly reminded her of how her Master's eyes would glow sometimes, often right after he had teleported.

Fascinating. Come to think of it, Boon seemed to need Lumi in order to access those strange crystals earlier. Did Lumi share a similar power? Just what kind of Pokemon were they, anyway?

She shook her head. Idle thoughts for later.

"Arceus, you're making this kinda hard, you know?" his voice brought her attention back to him. He rose to bounce on both of his feet, and had a fanged grin. "I'm really, really, trying to focus on helping my team, but the urge to stay and play with you is strong. I think you could help me test out a couple things."

"Are you referring to your sudden 'sixth sense,' hmm?" she remarked. "I would applaud you for such diligent training to reach that point, but I suspect there are some other means at play. Would that be correct?"

"Who's to say?" he said, but then his affable expression sobered up. "But seriously, I need you to move out of the way. My family and friends are in danger, and I-"

The whole corridor started to shake, and a bestial wail emanated from above them, strong enough to bang around her head. It died down, and Lumi huffed.

"-I need to go help with that."

"You know where I stand. If you need me to move, then make me move. I won't stand by while you complicate things further."

She took a warning step forward. Rather than back away, Lumi looked at her with frustration.

"I have a better idea, let's think with our brains for a second. I know you were here before us, did you see the Keystone then?"

"I don't answer to-"

"Work with me," he stated.

She stared hard into his eyes. For a split moment, she wanted to rush forward and slash him across the face for having the audacity to demand anything of her.

But perhaps...there was a more effective use of her energy.

"...My team had no sightings of the Keystone anywhere."

"And I didn't see it in the brief time I was up there. So that means either there is no Keystone, or it's hidden. Either way, figuring this out will be very difficult with the big angry god upstairs."

"If there is a means to subduing Xerneas, I am more than capable of discerning one."

"I don't doubt that. I just think two heads are better than one."

"...What are you proposing? Another truce?"

"Duh."

"I fail to see how you could possibly assist in bringing down a Legendary. If anything, you'd just be a liability."

"Was I a liability when I saved us both from being crushed?" he shot back. "Or how about that part where I shielded my whole team from being taken out by one of its attacks? Sure would be nice to have someone like that to help you out, wouldn't it?"

Her glare sharpened. Oh how he vexed her. To take such a blasé tone with her when he knew good and well she could easily put him down, not to mention the obvious fact he had no plan of approach to fight Xerneas. And to assert she somehow needed him on top of that?

Absurd. And the annoying part was that, in a way, he wasn't wrong. His unique skill set would indeed be...welcome.

As she folded her arms to mull this over, a familiar presence draped over the edges of her subconsciousness like a warm blanket.

"Mauve? Do you copy? Are you well?" came Vox's perpetually gentle voice right in her ear.

Mauve almost sighed in relief at hearing her; she didn't know how the rest of her team fared, and the thought that she might be the only one left had flitted through her mind a few times.

"Yes, I am okay. Are you in a safe location?" she asked. Lumi's expression shifted to confusion, most likely at how she seemed to talk to thin air. Mauve kept her eyes trained on him and pointed a claw, non-verbally communicating for him to stay right where he was.

"I have found suitable cover, for now. I see you share space with Meowstic. Has it come to blows?"

"No. He is...compliant," she said, with a dubious glare thrown his way. "Give me a status report, I need to know the situation."

"It is bleak. Based on the number of presences I sense, both sides have suffered heavy losses, while Xerneas only grows more agitated. Besides you and me, the only remaining member of our team is Boon, who is currently recuperating from a direct attack in one of the islands."

She clenched a claw tightly. Has it really gotten so bad, so soon? Contrary to what she said earlier, Mauve did not know how to even begin searching for a way to subdue Xerneas, and the fact that even her Master had been put down spoke ill of their chances.

"What about Meowstic's team? What are their positions?" she asked, eager for any tactical information. At the mention of his team, Lumi's ears perked up, and he hopped over with wide eyes.

"There are- "

"What about my team? Do you know where they are!?"

His advance stopped when the tip of her claw dug in just a bit into his chest fur.

"Not another step," she warned. "If you want to know where your team is, you will do as I say. Understand?"

"Sure, fine. Just tell me, okay?" he asked, and even put his paws up near his head. She nodded, and refocused on Vox.

"Apologies. Continue."

"There are only three members of Meowstic's team as well. He is with you, on a lower island on the east side. Spinda is currently next to me, near the center of this arena, and Mawile is in very close proximity to Boon, on a far western island. All of his other members have been defeated by Xerneas and ejected by the Dungeon."

Mauve didn't forget how Mawile caused that emotional outburst from Boon not too long ago, and she feared them being near each other might result in another episode. Still, it seemed that for the time being, none of them were actually fighting, which left Xerneas as the only common threat.

"And what of Xerneas' location? Are you able to track its movements?"

"Yes. It patrols the surroundings with a watchful gaze, ready to purge us from its domain with impunity. Such hostility seems unbecoming for such a creature...do you still wish to continue?"

"What?"

"Our Master left the choice with you. The mission has understandably become much more dangerous than anticipated, and Xerneas proves to be an almost insurmountable foe. It would not be unwise to abscond before something terrible happens, perhaps regroup and try again."

"Out of the question. We're this close to our goal, and this may be the only chance we have at doing this with minimal interference. Who's to say explorers, or even outlaws, won't come in while we're gone and make things more difficult?"

"If that is the case, might I suggest one possible course of action?"

"By all means," she said. At this point, Mauve would take just about any idea.

"Perhaps we can calm Xerneas down and convince it to stop fighting."

Except that one.

"This is no time for jokes, Vox," she grumbled.

"If it is a joke, I did not come up with it."

"Then who did!?"

"The Spinda."

"I...wha-"

"She seems convinced that the Legendary lashes out in depression and hopelessness, and the aether it carries exacerbates these feelings exponentially to the point of physical pain. I cannot speak to the truth of this, although she did speak with it for a brief time."

Mauve literally could not believe what she heard. Did the Spinda really dream up some crackpot theory about a Legendary's feelings? Because she felt bad for it? She opened her mouth to vocalize her displeasure, but yelped instead when Lumi rushed forward and grabbed her by a claw.

His sudden pull threw her footing off balance, so she could only hiss as he yanked her forward and pushed her against one of the stone arched columns at the edge of the hallway, pulling them both down to kneel. She struggled on instinct, convinced he had decided to fight after all.

"You dare-"

"Shhhhhh."

He pressed a paw against her mouth and mimed for her to be quiet, an earnest look in his eyes. Her turbulent thoughts were silenced when a powerful presence crawled up her spine. A low and heavy growl reverberated through the stone, and she saw the tip of large antlers out of the corner of her eye.

The moment she registered the situation, Mauve held her breath. Without much thought, she tightened her grip on Lumi and held him tight, heart rate spiked and fur stood on end. They both sat stock still as she could hear Xerneas' breath on the other side of the wall. It remained for a few more tense moments, before she heard it huff. The weight of its Power along her neck lessened as it moved away from their position.

Mauve waited thirty seconds before she finally exhaled, nerves frayed. She met Lumi's eyes, blue glow already bleeding away. He looked quite a bit less shaken than her, and had on a grin as he released a shaky chuckle.

"Woah, that was...uh...a little close?" he said.

"Mauve? Do you copy? Apologies, it moved so silently that I took my focus off of it, and didn't notice when it sped towards your position. Please come in," she heard Vox's hurried voice in her ear.

Still quite perturbed, Mauve pushed out a weak affirmative, and rested her head against the wall. To her chagrin, she needed a second to collect herself. She would have been at Xerneas' mercy if Lumi hadn't hid them just in time. The Meowstic extracted himself from her grip and sat up against the wall beside her, and it amazed her how quickly he seemed to jump back from that brush with danger.

"Hey, so can you tell me where my team is now? Or do you still need to talk with the weird voice in your head?"

Mauve shot a dubious glance his way, and let herself breathe for a couple more seconds before she responded.

"Only the Spinda and Mawile remain. The rest have been ejected."

"Spinda and...oh..." his ears flattened at the news, and he looked at the ground. "Oh that...sucks..."

"By some act of fate, they find themselves in the company of my remaining team members as well, isolated in pairs just as we are." She relaxed her posture enough to stretch a leg out, and clicked her tongue. "For all the good that's worth. As it stands, all we can do is wait in hiding."

Lumi hummed in agreement, expression thoughtful.

"Well, I guess it could be worse. My da-uh, Mawile, is super strong. And Spinda is resourceful, so it's not all bad."

"Your faith in your Spinda friend may be misplaced," she remarked, putting aside that tidbit about Mawile for now. "Her idea to resolve this mess may just leave us even worse than we are now."

"Did you hear her through the voice in your head? What'd she say?" As he asked, he scooched himself closer to her, and she leaned back when he got uncomfortably close to her face again. "How's that work anyway? Some kinda telepathy? An item?"

"Currently not necessary for you to know," she said as she pushed his face down with her palm. "And as I understand it, the best plan proposed so far is to make Xerneas less depressed and ask it nicely to stop." She stuck her tongue out even after she said it. "Although I don't know why I am surprised. Outlandish and irrational thinking seems par for the course for you Absol guildies."

To her mild surprise, he let out a small chuckle at her barb.

"Heh, she wants to make it feel better? Yeah, that sounds like her alright." He glanced up, a curious look in his eye. "Let's see...how to calm down a Legendary..."

"Don't tell me you're actually considering such a proposal? You realize you would forfeit your opportunity at the keystone if you went through with such a plan. Its failure is guaranteed."

Lumi made no indication that he heard her. His gaze stayed locked on the ground while one of his paws fiddled with the pearl attached to his necklace. Now that she looked at it, Mauve recalled he wore that same necklace whenever he would visit her back in the guild's cell. Some sort of keepsake, she surmised. An admittedly beautiful one. The white surface gently swirled like drifting clouds that seemed to draw her in, make her feel...something...

Vague impressions of warmth, darkness, and solitude flit through her mind from a time so long ago, no details remained. Not that it mattered. Any moment from the harsh glares of her taskmasters, or looks of thinly veiled hostility from her siblings, was one to be cherished and-

"It's not just for show, you know."

Mauve jolted. Did she really blank out that completely? He continued.

"It brings up old, happy memories when you look for too long, which seem to get stronger when you touch it. I let my friends hold it, and each of them said they got swept up in happier times." He smiled and leaned forward. "I was wondering if you had any happy memories. What'd you see?"

"It is not your concern," she shot back. "Though, that is a...curious trinket. " Her voice lowered to a murmur, a bit wary at the idea of something that could make her lose composure with a stray glance.

"I thought it was weird at first too, but it actually helps keep me grounded." He took the necklace off and looked at it fondly. "When things get a little overwhelming and I don't know if there's a clear way forward, I just hold this and let a small, happy memory make things easier. Helps to stay...hopeful..."

His smile dimmed and he glanced to the side with an unnervingly pensive look on his face. For a split second, the intelligence that hid behind those easygoing eyes lit up, and he began to mutter to himself.

"...Oh that could totally work. I'd just need to...but we need a way to...hmm..."

"Well? What are you thinking?" She asked, and folded her arms. His eyes flicked to her, and he paused.

The grin came back. Sharper than before.

"...We can calm it down. All we need is to make an opportunity, trip it up a little bit."

"Did you miss the part where it blew up an entire island?" she said, incredulous. "My Master is the strongest one here, and even he could hardly faze it!"

"Mmmm, last I checked, the strongest one here is actually Xerneas." He chuckled a bit, then leaned forward. "So I'm thinking, why not turn all that strength against itself?"

"And how do you propose we do that?"

He pointed at her.

"You."

Mauve blinked. It took her a second to process what he said, and another to gather her words before she blubbered something unintelligent. She cooled her features and returned in a low voice.

"...Elaborate."

"Didn't you just say you could 'easily discern' a way to beat Xerneas?" he raised an eyebrow at her. Heat rose to her cheeks, for some reason. "Mauve, you can easily beat it. Now that I think about it, you could theoretically beat a lot of things."

"I am well aware of my battle prowess!" Where the hell did this embarrassment come from? And was that a compliment? "And of course I already thought of several means of approaching the problem. I just...want to make sure we are on the same page. That's all."

A giggle escaped Lumi's lips. Bold of him to do so within strangling distance.

"I'm talking about your portal power, duh. I've seen how it works; you tear a portal in front of you, and choose where the exit point is from a point in space somewhere around you. All you have to do is bait it into attacking you, redirect that attack through a portal, and watch as it hurts itself. Easy."

Easy. Right. She glanced down at her claws and considered his proposal. Her primary use for her gift had always been to increase her own mobility, using the portals to shorten her distance between her targets in a way that facilitated surprise attacks, as well as long range transportation should the time call for it. Yet the more she thought about it, the more she realized she had never really used it for the application Lumi just described.

In hindsight, she felt a bit dumb. Why wouldn't it work? Such obvious counter functionality should have jumped out at her from day one, she even used it accidentally when that insane Espeon threw a log at her.

"Your theory is...sound," she ground out, not wanting him to know she hadn't actually thought of that idea. That reminded her of something, and she opened her satchel to check inside. Amongst her dwindling supplies, she sighed as she only spotted one more Spatial pearl. She had spent the last of its energy with the past few portals she had used, and now she had to decide if his plan was worth using her last pearl.

"Suppose Xerneas does become weakened. How exactly do you propose to calm it?"

"With this," he said, twirling the necklace around a digit. "Thinking I'll press it against its forehead or something while it's recovering and focused on you. Maybe talk to it too. I dunno, we'll play it by ear."

"That is not much of a plan."

"Do you have a better idea?"

Mauve stared at him long and hard before she tsked. She squeezed the spatial pearl until it shattered in her claw and inhaled deeply, both because of the onslaught of spatial energy that poured into her senses, and to steel herself for what came next.

"The central island will be the site for this operation, it has enough space to maneuver should the situation call for it. I will request my comrade to create a diversion to lead Xerneas there. Obviously I can get us there in an instant, although I don't like the thought of stepping out of a portal just to come face to face with it..."

"Don't worry, We can get the drop on it from above." He hopped to his feet with his ears glowing with psychic power. With a wave of an arm, the little orbs that spun above him arranged themselves in four corners to form a square.

Lumi's ears flashed, and he grunted with a bit of effort. Reflect generated between the orbs, and he lowered the solid screen of light to hover parallel to the ground. The Meowstic stepped onto the light platform, and with a bit of wavering, raised it to hover half a foot above the ground. After a few seconds to find his balance, he looked at her and put his paws on his hips, a wide grin on his face.

"See? I'll just fly us ov-" the platform tilted a bit to the side. He flapped his arms a bit to get it steady again. "...I can get us there."

"You expect me to ride on that thing with you? It looks like you barely know what you're doing."

"Relax. I did this like, once before," he assured, and started to zoom back and forth on the hallway. Mauve relayed the plan to Vox while she watched him go up and down the hallway, and kept a listen out in case Xerneas passed by again. To his credit, the amount of times Lumi bumped into walls lessened significantly with every fly by, and his form grew progressively more streamlined as he worked out the proper distribution of balance.

Ten minutes later, an angry screech reverberated through the hallway that interrupted the pseudo training session. It came from above, around where Mauve knew the main island to be. She stood to her feet and stretched.

"Xerneas is in position." She turned to face the outside. "Are you prepared? I will open a way to it, and we need to be ready to mo-ooooof!"

Something yanked her from underneath her arms. The floor disappeared underneath her, and before she could blink, she saw her feet dangling over a purple void.

Mauve let out a surprised yelp (not a scream). Her stomach dropped as the open walkway they hid on became smaller and smaller as she felt them ascend. She twisted her head as much as she could to see Lumi's determined face pointed above them, both his paws hooked under her shoulders while his large ears glowed bright blue. He held her just off the edge of his solid light platform that whisked them up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Let me down!" she yelled over the sound of rushing wind. He didn't glance down, but she saw the wide smile that spread across his face.

"I will, in a little bit!"

"You-I will break you!"

Laughter that bordered on maniacal was hir reply. The Weavile could only flail her legs wildly and trust in Lumi's grip as he flew them both in the open air towards the island above. Thick vines that hung over the lip sped past, until they shot over the edge. Mauve looked down as they ascended.

Xerneas paced across the surface, its large size causing loud splashes in the thin layer of water it roamed on. Mauve sucked in a hasty breath at the sight of it; although it thankfully faced away from them right now, her fur instinctively raised on end from being even this close to it. Lumi brought them to hover a good height above.

"Alright, you remember the plan?"

"What plan? You're just hoping I can distract it long enough for you to try some inane theory and probably get us both knocked out. Or worse!"

"Yeah you got it! Good luck!"

"Don't you d-"

He let go.

Perhaps the Meowstic was more vengeful than she gave him credit for. It seemed almost too easy for him to let go, especially considering the very real danger just ten meters below.

Regardless, the deed had been done. Mauve fell back on her training and held her body in tight. Water splashed around her when she landed, but a roll disbursed most of the force. At this point, her poor crest had been completely soaked, and she had to push the feathers to the side of her head to give her vision.

The noise caught Xerneas' attention, and a jolt of fear lanced through her when its eyes locked onto her own. It slammed its front hooves into the ground to face her fully, strong enough to shake the island, and lowered its proud antlers to the ground. They skimmed the top of the water as it charged forward, attempting to gore her with Mega Horn.

It bounded toward her, reaching halfway across before she could blink. On instinct, Mauve ripped a portal to her right and jumped through, stumbling out on the other side, behind it. She dismissed it half a second later. A wave of water crashed on the opposite side where it jerked its head up, and the wail of frustration it released made her push out the breath she held.

The plan. Remember the plan. Find an opportunity, then counter. She shook her head to dispel the lingering panic and refocused on her enemy, paying careful attention to its movements. Xerneas turned to face her with a different stance. Power shimmered along its antlers that gathered into a ball of energy between them.

Mauve remembered this attack, Aurora Beam. She could work with that.

It screamed. The ball burst forward into a glimmering beam of ice energy. With her eyes locked onto a point right next to Xerneas' head, Mauve jumped up with her claws out, and tore down a large rip in space on the way down to form a portal in front of her. A second rip appeared where she had looked.

The thrum of energy reached a crescendo as the beam came only a foot in front of her face, but then stopped. The Weavile had her claws in front of her face defensively, but came out of her stance when she heard a pained screech. She glanced up. The lingering vestiges of the attack exited the other portal and slammed into the side of Xerneas' head. Its long legs bent and quivered, and it held its head low. An opportunity.

"It's stunned! Go, now!" she yelled. She heard a whoosh above her, and looked up to see Lumi speed forward on his light board towards Xerneas. It dissipated under his feet, allowing him to fall and latch onto one of the extensions of its antlers. It tore its head left and right in an attempt to shake him off, but he held firm. He maneuvered his way from its antlers to its forehead, and she saw him remove the necklace to press against its forehead.

Its wild bucking grew erratic, then lessened in intensity as the seconds passed. Agitated growls became tired, measured huffs of air, and Xerneas' movements began to still.

Did they do it?

Mauve took another step, but something tugged back on her ankle. She looked down. A root stuck up through the water that had coiled around it. She grunted to tug it free, but it only grew further up until it reached her shin.

"Lumi! Something isn't ri-mmf!" a root had shot up to cover her mouth. More sprouted up that entangled the rest of her limbs and locked her in place, unable to move despite her best efforts.

Up ahead, Lumi turned to look in her direction, and Xerneas chose that moment to give one final strong buck. Lumi's grip failed, and yelped loudly as he got flung away. When he landed with a splash, more roots slithered up to bind his arms and legs tight.

Fear set in. Xerneas stumbled around, slowly regaining its senses. Mauve couldn't move.

---

A pained hiss broke the silence.

Clement eased off of pushing the rock that trapped Lucent's tail. Just for a moment, long enough for the pain to die down for him to try again. Perhaps he could have asked if the Noivern was comfortable to continue, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. Couldn't even make eye contact.

He pushed the rock to the side to free his tail. It didn't look good; nasty gashes had been cut along the teal inside of his tail, and coagulated blood had already started to form along the outside of his battered scales. There were similar cuts and signs of damage all across his jet-black body. Some part of Clement felt sympathy at how hurt Lucent looked, but an overbearing numbness washed that feeling away. He kept his breath even and eyes locked on some part of the wall as he stood up to go grab Lucent by the shoulders to drag him off of the bed of rubble.

He grunted in pain again. Tough. Opal had their bag of supplies with restoratives, and Clement hadn't seen her since they walked in, so he would just have to bear it.

After a few minutes, the Mawile finally managed to prop Lucent up against the wall. He had his teeth clenched, and Clement guessed a few things had broken by how carefully he tucked his knees to his chest and wrapped his wings as far around himself as he could. With him in a better position, Clement stepped back and let his head fall into his hands.

Well. The decision to help allowed him to go on autopilot and tamp down the roiling thoughts and emotions that threatened to make him catatonic, but now?

Now he had to deal with the reality that Lucent was...here. In front of him. Alive and, while not 'well,' leagues better than the alternative, which he had believed to be true for the past twenty odd years. The image of the Noivern screaming that he didn't know him flashed into his mind, and Clement could only shake his head, entirely at a loss of how to take any of this. Not to mention he still had to find his son, mate, and the other kids so they could escape before Xerneas itself blew them out of the Dungeon or worse. If it hadn't already.

He ground the palms of his hands into his eyes. What a mess.

The clearing of a throat brought his attention back to the present.

"You uh...you know her name?" rasped Lucent from the other side.

His question hung in the air. The fact he even needed to ask just spawned a thousand more. Clement raised his head and finally looked at the Noivern, who squinted back at him.

"Espeon? She's with you, right? The bad bitch who threw a pillar at Xerneas?" he clarified, and then chuckled. "I coulda watched that a million times, she was crazy..."

"...Why are you asking?" responded Clement in a guarded tone.

"Only seems right. She took a fall for me when Xerneas had me pinned. Seemed kinda adamant about it, actually," he said, and glanced to the side.

So Opal had been ejected. A pang of worry surged through him at the thought of her alone and vulnerable outside in the wastes, but he had to remind himself to trust her. She knew how to take care of herself.

This also confirmed something he had dreaded...

"Lucent...You should know who that was," murmured Clement, watching closely. The Noivern flinched the moment the name left his mouth, and he groaned.

"Goddammit, don't call me that. Gives me a headache..."

"But that's your name. Lucent."

"I don't know who that is."

"And you know who I am!"

"I'm telling you I don't-"

"You're lying!"

Clement burst from the wall and stomped towards the Noivern, who seemed to pull his wings even tighter around his body. His large maw let out an agitated growl as emotion impeded his composure.

"Why are you lying? Why are you here? Why aren't you dead!?" he yelled as he approached the Noivern, who managed to look skittish despite being much larger.

"Why did you try to attack us? Who are those pokemon helping you? Why didn't you tell us you were alive? Just tell me what's going on, please!"

Strong arms ripped away the wings, and he yanked Lucent's head down by the scruff, not registering his yelp of pain. All he wanted were answers.

"Say SOMETHING DAMMIT!" he screamed, inches away.

His voice went hoarse, and his breath came out in short spurts. Lucent's eyes reflected many things he didn't want to see; confusion, anxiety, even a tiny hint of fear. His hopes sunk further and further until Lucent shook him off and grunted.

"It's...it's Clement, right?" he murmured. Clement went still, and Lucent rolled his eyes. "Can you back up, please? Your breath is hot as hell."

"...This isn't funny, you know. If this is a joke, you need to stop pretending, Lu-"

"For the last time, I'm not him!" The Noivern leaned over the fairy, scowl on his face. "My name is Boon. Boon. I know jack all about myself for certain. My name is one of them, and the other is that I don't break promises, but..."

Clement gasped when the Noivern lifted him up by the arms in a deathgrip.

"When I look at you, I feel like I screwed that up somewhere along the way, and I don't know how to feel about that yet. So can you please just..." He opened and closed his mouth a few times before exhaling in defeat. He dropped the Mawile to the ground and backed up against the wall.

"Just...don't call me that."

"...Alright." Not wanting to upset him further, Clement slid up against the wall next to Lucent. Or Boon. Or whoever he thought he was. He sighed again.

"You still haven't told me her name," he heard the Noivern mutter.

"Opal. The third member of our Team. Nimbus?" He glanced up to check for a reaction, but Boon had turned his head away. Clement brought his knees closer to his chest and continued.

"We um...we finally got together. Like you had predicted. Actually, your exact words were "Clem, y'all are gonna shack up and make some cute as hell babies."

"…I didn't say that." Despite his words. Clement heard the brief chuckle, and smiled.

"You also said that God himself would have to kill you before you saw them."

"I'd have to be drunk to say something like that."

"You were."

Boon didn't respond, but his shoulders vibrated up and down in clear evidence that he was holding in a laugh.

"It took a while, but we did manage to actually have a baby, too. A son."

"Yeah?" Lucent sideyed him. "…He cute?"

"You tell me. Apparently you two are acquainted."

"…Wait, that was your…ooooh…"

"I don't know why you thought you had to fight, but I'm sure it's nothing we can't talk over. I actually think you two would get along well," he admitted, a warm glow in his chest at the thought of his Lumi and Lucent actually interacting. He nodded his head in determination.

"That's it. Once we escape with the kids, I'm bringing you and Lumi home, and we can leave all this insane, Legendary nonsense behind us. Make it somebody else's problem…" he muttered spitefully under his breath.

"The hell do you mean, 'take me home?"

"Well, our family has a home and a shop in Thistle Town that…you might hate, but it's really safe!"

"I, uh...there's a couple reasons why that won't-"

"W-we can make space too! I'm sure we can clear out some of the storage to make room for you. Perhaps you could share Lumi's room, I don't think he'd mind," Clement continued. He didn't really know if he believed his words, and deep down he knew that things had already gotten irreversibly complicated, but it sure would be nice if things could work out like he wanted.

"There's plenty of space to move around in, and we have a family Dungeons and Dragonite's campaign we've been running for the past couple years that we could work you into, and we could help you figure out your memories while you live with us, and...and I just..."

He clenched his fists and looked down at the ground.

"I just really want you home with us, where you belong. Do you thi-"

"Shit, are you serious!?"

"I, well yes!"

"She did what? Well damn, I'd have preferred if she decided we just bail! Where is she?"

"...Who are you talking to?"

A loud roar shook the stone shelter they were in and sent vibrations through the floor. Concerned that Xerneas had become more aggressive, Clement got up from the wall to go inspect the situation outside to make sure their position hadn't been compromised. He stepped next to the Boon-shaped hole in the wall to peek his head out.

Far across on the central island connected to this smaller one by a root bridge, he saw Xerneas stagger backward with a wail from some kind of powerful attack. A rip in space right by the side of its head had lingering traces of an Aurora Beam. Clement wondered what had happened, before he saw his son swoop down on top of some strange floating plane towards Xerneas.

"Lumi!" he yelled on instinct, and ran out of the stone building towards the edge of the island. His son dropped onto Xerneas' forehead and did...something to make it pause for a few seconds, before it jerked him off and roots coiled around him. Movement from the other side of that island caught his attention, and he saw that the Weavile who had harassed them earlier had also been caught up into the vines. Even from here, he could hear her surprised scream ring out across the sanctum.

Xerneas would recover soon. He didn't have much time to get down there.

He heard hurried shuffling and turned. Lucent hobbled out of the shelter on shaky legs, barely more than crawling forward with his claws, towards his position. He yelled out as he struggled to move.

"You see a Weavile down there!?"

At his confused nod, Lucent cursed again and hurried his pace. Clement rushed over underneath a wing to support him with his body.

"Luce-Boon you need to go sit down. You're in no condition to fight, and I need to focus on keeping Lumi safe," he muttered. Boon started to sound off what sounded like orders to someone, but Clement still didn't see anyone else around. When he tried to push the Noivern back towards the shelter, Boon placed a gentle but firm talon on his shoulder.

"Just lemme focus for a sec," Boon murmured. He raised his other talon up that glowed with pink energy. His fur looked matted with sweat, and it seemed whatever move he was preparing took a lot of exertion. "God, this is gonna hurt..."

"What are you-"

Boon snapped his talons. Clement's vision warped, and the nauseating sensation of teleportation flashed through his body. A second later, his feet touched a thin layer of water, and roots that wriggled like worms stretched out before him towards the two kids in front of Xerneas. He stood a few feet from the edge of the island, where a sheer drop awaited only a couple steps away.

Just when he got reoriented and prepared to move, Boon's weight that was draped over his shoulder fell off. The Noivern had fallen to his knees and a low groan emanated from his mouth. He stepped forward to help him up, but Boon held a claw up in protest.

"Don't...oh fu...don't worry about me just..." He started to crawl towards the edge. "...Do your thing. Anything. I just need a minute.."

Xerneas' scream split his attention, and Clement grit his teeth when he realized he had to move now.

"Are you sure?" he pressed. In response, Boon hung his head over the edge of the island, and Clement cringed when the sound of at least a day's worth of food came out of the Noivern's big mouth.

As long as he was out of the way, he would probably be...fine? Clement shook his head to refocus, and turned around to break into a sprint towards the center of the island, where Lumi struggled to free himself from the roots. His feet splashed in the water with precise movements to avoid the writhing roots, and fatherly priorities dictated he pass Weavile by, who struggled valiantly against the squeezing foliage.

As he worked out a plan of approach, he sensed a presence above and looked up just in time to see Scolipede crash down a ways in front of him, curled up in a wheel. She unfurled for a split second, and to his surprise, released Clara from her grip, before recurling and driving off to make headway towards Xerneas. The large stag lasered its attention on her, and lanced the ground behind her with another beam that she managed to outpace.

He analyzed the situation quickly. Scolipede as a distraction would only help. He didn't like having Clara this close to danger, but perhaps she could assist with freeing Weavile, as it seemed an alliance had been reached for the time being. When he freed his foolish son, he'd ask if he actually had an idea of what was happening, and go from there.

Resigned to this game plan, the Mawile shouted out as he passed by Clara.

"Stay back and free Weavile, I'll get Lumi!" he ordered. She nodded and sprinted in the opposite direction. Clement got close enough to see Lumi's face scrunched in pain as the roots squeezed his small form, and he picked up the pace.

When he got close enough, Clement twisted around and clamped his jaws down on the edge of one of the roots. It ripped like a carrot when he bit through. He sought out other roots with his larger mouth and repeated the process until he felt the tension lessen, then turned around to wrench away the remaining restraints until Lumi was free.

He noted bruises under the Meowstic's fur, but Lumi breathed out a quick sigh of relief at the sight of him. A quick glance up showed that Xerneas had its back turned, antlers aglow as it tried to Moonblast Scolipede, so he took the moment to check in.

"Are you injured?" he asked, a hand on Lumi's shoulder.

"I'm fine. And before you say anything, I did think this through. As much as I could anyway."

"You thought you could beat Xerneas on your own?"

"Not beat. Pacify." Lumi held out the necklace he'd given him on his first day. "This is the key. I know it. We were so close, just needed a little more. I have a really good feeling that-"

"Enough. We're leaving." Xerneas' spastic thrashing out of the corner of his eye sent a jolt of apprehension through him, and he tightened his grip on Lumi's shoulders.

"Get out an escape orb, or you guild badge right now."

"Wh- are you serious!?"

"Don't talk back to me, we're done here!"

"No! We're right here!" Lumi yelled back, but then his face went blank. His eyes flashed blue, and he lurched forward to grab Clement by the shoulder.

"Get back!"

"Son, I-"

Lumi pushed him back. Behind him, a large ripple in the water frothed with violent undulations, before a massive root exploded through the ground. Its gnarled and thorny surface sprouted up meters high, before it twisted backwards, then snapped down, straight towards them.

Caught off guard, Clement staggered back from the sudden root, but Lumi turned around to hold his arms out towards it. His orbs snapped up at the same time as his ears and a Reflect shield formed just in time for the thick root to slam against it. The Meowstic clenched his teeth from the force, but held firm. Clement heard a wail from Xerneas, and looked up to see that the stag still had its back to them while it focused on burning a hole through Scolipede, who still rolled past.

It seemed Xerneas could multitask. How unfortunate.

"Drop the shield when it swings again, then step back," he ordered when he got his bearings. Lumi looked back once, but did as told when the thorn went for another swing. When the root rushed towards them, the Reflect dissipated and Clement bounded forward while Lumi hung back. He twisted and opened his maw wide enough to catch the root and keep it down, albeit with a significant amount of struggle.

"Hold it there, I got it!" In the corner of his eye, he saw Lumi run to his side and make another Reflect panel. He angled the straight edge towards the root and, after a second to gather some energy, shot it forward to slice clean through the thorn. It fell with a loud splash into the water.

With panting breaths, Clement stepped back from the fallen root and stayed wary of any more surprises. An agitated roar brought his attention back to Xerneas, who now had its attention split between both Scolipede and Weavile. She harassed it with hit-and-run attacks with her portals.

He shook his head at the chaos of the situation and walked over towards Lumi. When he went to grab him, however, the Meowstic took a step back with a defiant glint in his eyes.

"We aren't leaving. Not y-"

Clement grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away from the conflict only meters away, closer towards the edge of the island where they were out of the way. Lumi growled and tried to wrench free, but his grip stayed strong.

"Son, stop and think about what you're saying. This is too much!" he yelled when they reached a safer distance, and pointed back at the raging Legendary. "I know you think you're doing the right thing, but the risk is too great, and I need you safe."

"And I need you to trust me on this. Please." Lumi finally ripped away and looked hard into Clement's eyes. "I know you're scared. I'm scared. But things outside wont get any better if we run away. We won't learn anything if we leave, and we also won't be able to help Xerneas with whatever's wrong with it." He took off his necklace and cupped it in Clement's hands. The ensuing nostalgia didn't shake his focus off of Lumi's shining eyes.

"I know you've fought Legends before. I'll follow your every word, I promise. I just need you to trust me when I say that we can do this, okay Dad?"

The more Lumi talked, the more Clement realized that his restless son with his head in the clouds was nowhere to be seen. The conviction in his voice, combined with how he handled himself against the thorn just now, swayed Clement even despite the wariness that came with the battle behind them.

The Mawile exhaled roughly, yet accepted the necklace anyway. His stern voice interrupted any celebration the Meowstic was about to give.

"What am I doing with this?"

"Press it against Xerneas, preferably near its head. That should calm it down."

"Then if I'm getting close, I don't want you anywhere near me. Your role is to support from the back, understand?"

"Yeah, I get it. And, one more thing?" he added, and raised his paws that began to glow a soft orange. His orbs, also shining orange, levitated and began to circle around Clement. When Lumi focused and clapped his paws, a warm pulse of energy resonated from the orbs that washed over Clement's body. Hot, energized tingles raced along his limbs and without even meaning to, his back straightened considerably.

Clement blinked and looked down at his arms. He felt at least ten years younger. He didn't remember Helping Hand being that potent.

"Oh sick, that actually worked," he said. Clement nodded, and then turned towards the battle. Although it thrashed around wildly, he could tell that Xerneas had gotten more tired as time had gone on. Its head moved sluggishly to track Weavile, who darted in and out of portals she had made around the space, and it took just a second longer to charge a beam from its mouth to aim at her. Scolipede took the opportunity to roll under and its long legs, which helped to keep it off balance.

If he got in there, perhaps one final push would finally get them somewhere.

"Alright, I'm going in. I'm trusting you to watch my back."

"You got it," his son replied with a grin. Before he let himself come to his senses, Clement broke into a sprint straight into the fray.

His eyes stayed locked on Xerneas' moving form, analyzing it for any weakness he could capitalize on. It swayed on unsteady legs after each attack, but its movements were erratic; shoulders low as it prepared to buck its antlers one way, before abruptly jumping around to lance a piece of land with Aurora Beam. A glancing blow from that, or even a stray kick to the head could knock him out, so he decided to skirt around Xerneas at a safe distance for now.

The ground shifted. Water splashed as he stumbled to catch his balance, but the violent wavering of more roots that broke through the surface made it difficult. A multitude of the tendril-like roots surged from all around him in tandem with a wail from Xerneas, and each of them flailed around in erratic patterns. Clement rolled forward as one that popped up right next to him slammed down, and sprinted forward to avoid being stationary.

A root swung across in a horizontal arc. He fell back on his side and slid under it with only inches to spare. Another thrashed around with whip-like speed a few feet in front, no easy way through. Coming out of his slide, he used the forward momentum to help scramble up the side of another nearby root, and push off with enough force to clear that hazard.

As he came down, more and more roots burst up that severely limited mobility. A clear way to Xerneas started to get hampered by a garden of hostile foliage. Clement landed with a grunt and immediately swung Iron Head out at a root that had popped up right in front of him, not able to maneuver around it. He stumbled in surprise when his horn tore clean through the thing, still not used to the Helping Hand. Its boost became very helpful as more roots began to sprout up tightly packed together, and Clement used his newfound strength in his back to repeatedly twist around and cleave through the roots on his way to Xerneas.

Still, despite the gifted strength, he began to pant in exertion, yet more continued to bar his path. His horn bounced off a sturdy wall of thorns and sent him stumbling back. He could hear the fighting on the other side, but couldn't break through.

Something crashed behind him. Clement turned to look, and immediately ducked as a pink blade-like object soared through the air and sliced through the roots in his way. A trail of cut roots lay on the ground in its wake, and he spotted Lumi in the distance with his ears unfurled. The Meowstic waved his arms to urge him on, so Clement hopped forward through the opening his son had made.

Apparently, Xerneas had caused all those roots to grow in a perimeter around where it fought, Clement could see a wall of them on the other side as well, around a clear area where it fought Weavile and Scolipede. Its attention focused on the former, while the latter rolled over to unfurl towards the side, and limped towards the edge.

Xerneas' reared up on its hind legs, a whir of energy gathering in its mouth. His eyes flicked over to see Weavile crouched low while in front of it, claws angled back in preparation to strike. When Xerneas released another Aurora Beam, Weavile raked her claws in front of her, providing a passage for the beam to travel right back and hit Xerneas in its stomach. It staggered on three legs.

An opening. Now or never.

Clement made a beeline straight for Xerneas' right foreleg that it used to balance. Steel coated his horn as he jumped up and rotated his whole body to build force, before he slammed Iron Head precisely at its back knee joint.

The leg jerked and buckled to the ground. Xerneas cried out, and Clement had to jump back as it toppled to the ground and kicked up water everywhere. The Mawile hopped up onto its neck, and scrambled to reach the front of its head as the Legendary wavered.

Pure determination had carried him this far, but when he first touched the silky fine fur of the Legendary, it changed to a disgruntled frustration that he even had to touch this creature. By the time he reached its head, he shot a resentful glare directly into its eyes.

"If you know what's good for you, stay down," he grumbled as he pressed the pearl to its forehead. He had to grab hold of one of its antlers to stay steady as it bucked its head in an attempt to shake him off, yet it grew less forceful as the seconds dragged on.

The intensity in its eyes dimmed. Around him, he saw a significant portion of the thorny roots start to loose tension and droop to the ground. What timber that lent its voice and utterances a divine echo melted away into the haggard, lilting grunts of a female, and a spark of pity welled up in his chest before he clamped down on it and reminded himself that this was still a Legendary.

It released an awful keen and rebuffed its efforts in a last attempt to free itself.

---

Something wasn't right.

The whole sanctum went quiet as Clement mounted Xerneas' head and held it down. Lumi watched with bated breath as he thought for a second that his father had actually managed to pacify it, however it looked like the deer was gathering strength for one last push. The water vibrated all around them with the threat of more thorns.

He didn't know if they could hold out for another push. Legendaries recovered far quicker than regular Pokémon, it seemed, and he knew they would get tired long before they could score another opportunity like this.

He racked his brain for anything more they could do, but turned his head when he heard sloshing water from his right.

Clara jogged over towards him, huffing and puffing. He caught her with an arm when she stumbled a few steps away, and she gave him a grateful nod.

"Hiiiiiiiiii…ooh…" she panted. "Sorry I went to go check what was up with Noivern, and had to dodge those root things on the way back."

She turned her head to look at Clement on top of Xerneas.

"Are we almost done?"

"Almost. But something doesn't feel right, I think it's not enough." He put a paw to his chin and thought. "The pearl is definitely having an effect on it, but it's like it's too stuck in survival mode to let its guard down. Which makes sense, I guess, we've been fighting it this whole time."

"The pearl? Oh, nice idea! But…" she took a few steps forward and lifted her paws to her chest. The two shared a tense moment watching Xerneas slowly grow more agitated, until Clara looked back with a determined frown.

"Hey. Toss me over?"

"Toss…you sure?"

"Not really, but…" she glanced back. "I just want to try."

"I mean…sure?" he said, and focused as he telekinetically lifted her up. "I guess I'd be a hypocrite if I said this was a bad idea."

"Oh it definitely is. Now launch!"

"Roger."

He took a moment to aim, rear her back, and then telekinetically shunted her forward. The Spinda yelped and flipped through the air, yet still landed with a splash next to Xerneas' head. Clement looked quite surprised when Clara hopped up to join him next to its face, and although he couldn't hear, Lumi could see that she put herself closer to its eye and started to whisper soft things into its ear.

Lumi had his eyes on the ripples of water around them, and stayed still like a tensed spring ready to pop.

The water started to still. The agitated rise and fall of Xerneas' sides gradually slowed, and its legs ceased trying to right itself from its downed state. Tension fell from Lumi's limbs as the adrenaline began to peter off, yet his ears stayed alert. Across the way, he noted that Mauve signaled Scolipede to her side, and the two made their way over to the far side of the island, where Noivern rested on his stomach.

Nothing good came from them being together, but he figured that they wouldn't try anything right this second. Until the common threat of Xerneas became a certain nonfactor, it was in their best interest not to interfere.

Minutes passed. He decided to get closer to his dad and Clara. He took careful, measured steps along the way to avoid splashing the water and potentially breaking the peace. In the heat of the fight, he didn't realize just how wet he had gotten; his drenched fur gleamed from the moisture, and his right side was sopping wet. Hopefully, this would be the end of playing around in the water.

When he got within a few meters, Clement glanced up and held a hand out, telling him to slow. Clara had her attention purely on Xerneas, whose lips moved as it spoke in soft, tired whispers. She leaned her head up close to one of the stag's eyes, and nodded along with a smile on her face, gently rubbing along its snout.

The expressions between Clara and Clement couldn't be any more different; she looked perfectly at peace resting against Xerneas, while his dad had a grimace on his face that communicated he would rather be anywhere else. The grimace deepened when Clara's attention turned up at Lumi, and she beckoned him over.

"She wants to see you," she murmured. He tilted his head in confusion, but continued forward and positioned himself only steps away in front of its head.

It looked at him. Having its attention didn't have the same weight as Dialga. Its soft, aquamarine eyes didn't hold the same piercing intensity. Not sensing any immediate danger, the Meowstic took a couple steps closer, and it raised its head with agonizing slowness to meet him.

Its snout pressed up against his forehead. Lumi blinked. He felt it take a long, deep sniff of his fur. It started to tickle, before he heard a rustling sound, and its snout got abruptly pushed off. He looked to the side, and saw that Clement stood next to him with his arm out. A growl rumbled from both of his mouths.

Thankfully, Xerneas didn't reciprocate his aggression. It merely refocused on Lumi, and narrowed its eyes.

"...So my senses have not forsaken me completely," it muttered. Although weakend, the timbre of its voice still sent shivers down his spine. "Dialga's scent weighs heavy upon you, Meowstic."

"Scent...oh. Yeah, well I'm Dialga's Bonded. My name's Lumi, by the way." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry for crashing your place and...everything."

"Remember that it attacked first," grumbled Clement. It didn't spare the Mawile a glance.

"I am told you have come to...bring aid. Explain." Its breaths were labored with more than just exhaustion, and it seemed to lean into Clara's encouraging paws. Lumi nodded.

"Don't know if you know this, but things aren't looking too good outside. Aether...uh, Distortion, has started to spread outside of Dungeons, so to solve it, Dialga sent me to put the Keystone here on hold. By the sounds of it, that would also help lift your burden." He shook his head and groaned. "Not like it bothered to tell me you would be here, ready to blast us right out..."

"It is in its nature to withhold and observe. That it not only interacted with a mortal, but even Bonded with one, goes against behavior that spans millennia." It released a shaky breath and closed its eyes. "If it had simply left me to rot in order to document the outcome, I would not have been surprised."

"Hey, listen to me." Lumi shuffled forward and leaned down next to its eye. He made sure he had its attention on it before he continued.

"It's obvious you're hurt. I don't know why Dialga, or anyone else, hasn't come to do something for you. That's wrong. But right here, right now, we-" he gestured to the three of them. "Are here for you. We have the unique skills to help ease your burden, and we want to help you. So please help us to help you. You gotta tell me where the Keystone is."

"You can trust us," chimed Clara. "We're professionals!"

"My burden...lifted?" its teeth clenched, and shivers wracked its whole body. "Though cursed, my assignment to guard the stone serves to safeguard the world. To relinquish it now and halt its flow..."

"Is all part of the plan. Trust us." He furrowed his brows in sympathy. "Besides, you could use the break."

Xerneas held his gaze for a few moments in deliberation, before it released a slow exhale.

"To your task then. Stand back."

They did so. Xerneas lowered its head all the way to the ground, and released all tension in its body until its limbs splayed out, practically lifeless. Its eyes clenched shut, yet its mouth trembled, as if exerting great effort somewhere. Over its body, Lumi spied the other group looking in their direction, and he took a step back next to Clement, who leaned in to listen.

"Dad. Keep an eye out in case they try something," he whispered. Clement hummed in acknowledgment. Overhearing him, Clara reached a paw into her bag in preparation.

A loud crack made them jump.

Xerneas moaned in pain. Its body convulsed. Strange, glowing lines appeared beneath its fur. They pulsed a sickly purple, and snaked along from every bit of its lithe body; from the end of its hooves, to the top of its antlers. They resembled veins, but rather than course along its body, they converged to a point in the center of its side.

Another crack. Its side distended. The vein-like lines glowed stronger and grew thicker, visibly churning beneath its skin like the roots that swelled beneath their feet in response to whatever it was doing. A bulbous growth formed just above its stomach, and it swelled up into a thick knot of intertwining, glowing flesh.

It burst through the skin with a wet squelch.

The three took a disturbed step back. Covered in fluid, something white and gnarled grew out of Xerneas' side. Through the shock, Lumi vaguely recognized the texture as that of tree bark. White tips like bone emerged from its side, only to be revealed as a crown of branches in similar shape to its antlers that continued to sprout up. As if its body acted as fertile soil, this tree-like object continued to grow from its flesh, taller than it had any right to be. The noise Xerneas made rattled his senses; an undulating keen made equal parts in agony and relief.

A glimmer of pink came next. Knotted wood gave way to shimmering, rough stone. The Keystone revealed itself fully after a few more excruciating moments, encaged with a binding of branches that suspended it between a base of roots that emerged from its side, and the crown.

Aether bled off of the stone's vibrating surface in a thin veil of multicolored mist, and the strength of its glow ebbed and flowed in a similar pattern to that of a heartbeat.

In what must have only been a few minutes, but felt like slow, painful hours, the Keystone finally stopped growing out of Xerneas. Lumi stood dumbstruck in morbid fascination as it dripped with a substance he didn't dare try to identify.

"That didn't even look right. Not right at all," mumbled Clement with a disgusted shake of his head. To his side, Clara looked a bit sick in the face, and held a paw to her mouth.

"Ugh, wait, it was inside you this whole time!? No wonder you were hurting so much!"

Xerneas released another moan, and Clara turned to him. "Lumi!"

"Wh-Oh! Right!" he sputtered, and kicked himself into gear. He awkwardly hopped on Xerneas to stand next to the tree-growth, and finally laid his paws onto the stone's surface.

Tempo sent him a warning of an attack. He barely had time to realize his footing wouldn't let him dodge right before a rip in space teared up right next to his face. Mauve's determined glare stared back at him, an arm reared back ready to claw him down.

Black jaws clamped around said arm and tore her straight out of the portal. Clement slammed her down into the water with a loud splash, then readjusted his grip so that most of her stomach was trapped between his larger jaws. He bit down until she gasped in pain

"Clara, help me cover him. Son, whatever you need to do, do it quickly," he urged, then rushed in front of Xerneas with Clara. Lumi nodded and refocused on the Keystone. He put his paws up against it and closed his eyes to open himself up to the image of the Keystone's Aether distribution.

A flash of pink. His head and eyes burned. Lumi had to take a step back and breathe before trying again.

An ocean of raw, unfiltered Fairy-Type Energy violently spazzed out before him. It roiled and churned with such unstable tremors that he feared the Keystone itself could tear itself apart at any moment, and it felt so...deep. A pit formed in his stomach, but he shook it off as he tapped into Tempo, and opened his senses up to the flow of the timestream.

He picked a point in the endless sea of pink and willed the chaotic mass of energy to be still. An almost unnoticeable speck of gray appeared in that pink ocean, but it started to spread further as he focused, thinking back to how he froze those Gates from before in a particular time. Sounds of battle started to ring out in the background, but Lumi did his best to blank it all out as he struggled to gray out the ceaseless activity of the keystone.

A surge of Energy coursed through him. The gray portion of the Keystone that stilled started to grow exponentially, and it didn't seem as strenuous to pause as before. As if he didn't have to coerce the timestream as much as it just responded to his will automatically, although this sudden dominion didn't seem like it came from him alone.

Lumi remembered the last time he got an Energy boost at a Keystone, and had a feeling he knew where it came from. He did his utmost to convey his complete frustration and annoyance at Dialga through the stone. The only response was another strong surge that washed over the Keystone's frenzied energy and locked it in time. He had the distinct sensation of being more of a conduit than anything.

The last vestiges of the chaotic Fairy energy were finally stilled in time, leaving nothing but a cold, colorless mass. Lumi exhaled and fluttered his eyes open to stare at the Keystone's surface, which reflected a similar hue. Now it looked just like any other, ordinary rock.

He didn't even notice that his arms had gotten tired until he removed them from the Keystone. He staggered back on shaky legs, only to fall backwards off of Xerneas' form to land roughly on his back, drenching him again. He felt a bit lightheaded.

"You...thank..." Xerneas' weak voice made him angle his head up. He made to respond, but his voice died in his throat when he saw something strange happening to its body.

Starting from where the tree sprouted out of its side, a patch of black fur had turned a dark, stone gray. It traveled in a wave at a brisk pace across the rest of its form, turning what once was ruffled fur and lean muscle into something that more resembled a statue. The wave reached its chest, and he pushed himself up to crawl towards the stag's head.

"Xerneas, I...are you okay?" he blurted. Its eyes rolled to stare at him, and for the first time, reflected a peace that looked natural on its countenance.

"Thank you..."

"But I didn't think...maybe I can-" He stretched his paws out onto the now gray fur, willing with everything he had to make it reverse and not hurt Xerneas, the image of what it looked like just seconds ago fresh in his mind.

For a second, he actually did manage to reverse the encroaching petrification, and revive Xerneas' original color. However, it didn't last. He couldn't quite put it to words, but it almost seemed like Xerneas' current state was too...inevitable to be permanently reversed. Despite his best efforts, he grew tired, and the gray resumed its spread past his paws and towards its neck. The sensation of the gray fur felt like stone beneath his paws. He shook his head, lost of what to do.

"I'm...Xerneas I'm sorry. I-"

"It's...quiet, now. I feel...lighter," it murmured with gratitude. "Thank you...child."

A cold chill lanced up Lumi's spine as he watched Xerneas' mouth and eyes succumb to a gray, petrified state. He would have stayed on his knees next to the Legendary if not for the fact that the gray wave seeped out from beneath its body, and started to spread out into the watery floor.

He slid away from the encroaching...what should he call this, Dead Time? No. Dark Time. Yeah, he liked Dark Time better, he didn't really want to think about things being dead right now.

Dark Time spread across the water. It froze like ice, ripples and movement halted exactly as they were. One of his tails trailed in front of him as he backpedaled, and actually got stuck in the frozen water. He tapped into Tempo on impulse, and reached out to push the Dark Time around his tail to just a few seconds before, momentarily unfreezing the water and allowing him to yank his tail back with a paw. Lumi quickly got to his feet and retreated to a safer distance, only to watch as Dark Time resumed again.

He shook his head. What the hell was going on? He was grateful he still had his tail, which he supposed meant that Dark Time didn't affect living things? No, Xerneas was alive. Think. He paused the Keystone, which halts Aether. Everything in a Dungeon is made of Aether, so he supposed that everything around them, including the water, becoming petrified made some kind of sense.

Which also meant that the others would be okay as long as they didn't step in the water when it froze. But wait, if only Aether is affected, then why did Xerneas-

Clara's shrill scream interrupted his thoughts, and he cursed himself, remembering that they weren't out of the clear yet. Lumi pounced on top of the petrified water, at this point as sturdy as stone, and hopped over Xerneas' body to see what the situation had become.

Because they were defending him and therefore the closest to Xerneas, Clement and Clara's feet had become stuck in the petrified water. Their feet had essentially become encased in stone, and they struggled furiously to try and free themselves. Across the way, Noivern leaned on Scolipede, a safe distance away from the spreading Dark Time.

He looked for Mauve, and realized she was still trapped in his dad's second mouth, struggling against his grip. He knew from experience it was a futile endeavor.

"Dad! Clara!" he called to get their attention, and scampered down next to them. With his arms held to the side to balance, Clement looked back at Lumi, eyes wide in confusion.

"Son, what's-"

"Hang on, I think I can help with this," said Lumi, and tapped into Tempo again to help him visualize the possibilities of the water. Given how recent it was liquid, Lumi was confident he could reverse the Dark Time in small, localized amounts.

The thought that if he weren't here, then his father and a good friend of his might actually be trapped here forever briefly flashed through his mind. He took that thought and buried it as far down as it could go. Not the time.

He put his paws next to where Clement's ankles disappeared into the petrified water and willed it to reverse like he did before. After a moment, it did so, and Clement stepped one foot out of the water. He repeated the process with his other foot.

"Oh thank Mew, I was so scared when we couldn't move," murmured Clara as Lumi moved to help her next. When she had usage of her legs again, she turned around and gasped.

"What happened to Xerneas? And what did you...do?"

"Still figuring that out," he murmured. As he focused on her other leg, his ears flicked when he heard Noivern's obnoxious laugh from across the way.

"Well shoot kid! Look what you've gone and done now!" The large bat took his weight off of Scolipede with a shaky step forward. "Hope you know what you're doing."

"What I know is that I just halted this Leyline's Keystone, and basically saved this whole continent from Aether spread. We won, which is way better than you can say!"

"Lumi..." his father seemed upset about something, but Lumi was too annoyed at Noivern to really care. His annoyance doubled when Noivern started to slow clap.

"Sure. Fine, I'll say it. You got real fuckin' lucky your daddy came to bail you out, and Xerneas got a cheap shot in on me. Great job, hero. You won."

"Sh-shut up!" he took an angry step forward, and Clara had to gently pull him back by one of his tails.

"I gotta say though, I think this has been a real learning experience for all of us. I'll need to rethink my approach for next time. Plus we got to spend some time and get to know each other better. I'm sure that'll be real useful later," he remarked and tapped the side of his head. The grin on his face was wide and proud despite his wounds, and it made a growl ripple through Lumi's throat.

"W-wait! Stop fighting each other, please!" He held his hands out and looked between them, conflicted. "Lucent, just come home with us. We can work this out, I'm sure!"

The smile withered and died on Lucent's face.

"I already told you my...whatever. Hey, do me a favor and toss me my girl back? Been a while since she's had a bath, you know."

"How about you come over and take her?" challenged Lumi, summoning his orbs to his side. "Or are you scared that we co-"

"Alright." He heard his father say. Before Lumi could comprehend why, Clement twisted around, then flung Mauve clean through the air towards Lucent, who caught her by the scruff of her neck in a claw.

He would have laughed at the mortified look on her face if he weren't so confused by his father's actions.

"Dad, what are you-

"Enough, Lumi," Clement responded. His shoulders heaved a tired sigh. "I don't...want to fight him."

Whatever rebuttal he had died in his throat at the resignation in Clement's voice. Across the way, Lucent had a strange look on his face as he looked at his father, and opened his mouth to say something before shaking his head. He set Mauve on the ground and muttered something to her, to which the Weavile raised a claw back and tore a large portal in front of the three. Her claws stopped glowing pink once she did so.

Scolipede lumbered through the portal first. Mauve took a step, but turned to glare straight at Lumi and cut a claw across her neck.

"The next time I see you, you are mine," she threatened. Lumi blinked.

"Is that...a good or a bad thing?"

He thought he saw her eye twitch. A sound like a mix between a groan and a growl left her mouth, and she exited through the portal with heavy stomps.

Boon spared one last glance their way, before he threw up a half-hearted salute in his direction, then ducked his head as he stepped through the tear. It closed as soon as he left.

He didn't realize how quiet it had become once they left. The color steadily drained from their surroundings as Dark Time spread across the water, and even the sanctum's sky, which had been a vibrant purple hue, now started to darken. An uneasy feeling started to settle in Lumi's gut, and a look back at the petrified Xerneas intensified it.

They...did win, right? He'd done what he was supposed to?

Everything continued to turn gray. It felt kinda hard to think, right now.

A strong grip squeezed his shoulder, enough to tear his attention from the encroaching stillness to his father's tired face. Lumi knew this look, he probably wore the same one. They could read each other from just a glance:

"I just want to go home and take a nap."

"Same."

They shared a hopeless grin, and Clement bumped his nose on Lumi's forehead, then turned him around to face Clara. She glanced around in unease, and stepped closer to them.

"I uh...I think we should leave. This place is starting to give me the creeps now."

"I agree. The others are waiting outside," said Clement. The two looked expectantly at Lumi.

"What?"

"Are we finished here? I doubt we'll get the chance to just come back, so make sure you've done all you can."

At his words, Lumi took one last look at the body of Xerneas. His eyes lingered on the tranquil expression on its face, frozen as a statue.

He huffed, and reached out for Clara's bag to dig for an Escape Orb.

"…We're done here," he murmured.

He held the orb up and let it flash. They disappeared, only silence left in their wake.

---

"Would you quit brooding? For the last time, you have nothing to be ashamed of," muttered Opal as she rested on her side. "For Mew's sake, it was a Legendary, Damia."

Across the campfire on a flat rock she had found, Damia sat with her head in a claw and muttered something, the other claw held to a recovering wound on her side. The fire crackled between them, and a thin smoke trail rose up past the large boulders they nestled themselves into, and high into the night sky above.

Opal clicked her tongue at the young dragon's attitude, and decided to eat something to calm her nerves. A humble stew of berries and foraged wild plants rested in a bowl in front of her, and the gem in her forehead lit up as she attempted to lift it to her mouth telekinetically.

Her normally steady pink glow around the bowl sputtered and waned. The gem in her forehead started to sting after only a few seconds, and she released a wince as it clattered to the ground and spilled some stew on the ground. She cursed inwardly.

"Hey, c'mon, you said you'd cool it with the psychic stuff," she heard Van say to her left. He had just come out of the tent behind them when she dropped the bowl, and came right over. Opal grumbled when he went to pick it up, sat down next to her, and held it to her mouth.

"You want to eat, you just gotta ask." He pushed the bowl to her lips, but her pride made her turn her nose up. He pushed the bowl more and more toward her mouth, until finally holding her head in place with a claw until she relented and opened her mouth to allow him to feed her. Obviously it tasted delicious, but she still batted him lightly with a paw.

"Ms. Opal, please. I'm just tryna help you out," he murmured, and rubbed his shoulder.

"If you think that's bad, try carrying her," rumbled Damia. "Almost gave me more of a fight than Xerneas..."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders? I don't need to be treated like a child," groused the Espeon. She was acutely aware of their eyes on the healing scars on her body, and flicked her tail.

"And we're trying to say that you have nothing to be ashamed of, Ms. Opal. It was a Legendary, after all. We all got taken out, one way or another," said Van. Damia perked up and leaned forward.

"Speaking of, there's something I've been wondering about. When we were still in there, Falinks got beaten only a few minutes before Van and I, but when I came to, I didn't see any tracks. It should be easy to tell where a Pokemon like that went, there would be footprints everywhere."

"I can answer that," started Opal. "I woke up just in time to see Falinks pop up in front of the Dungeon. I was too weak to do anything other than watch. Once they got to their feet, they took out one of those pearls and broke it to make some kind of portal and jumped through it."

"Maybe that's how the rest of the ones who got beaten managed to make a clean escape. Those cowards..."

"Hey, uh, speaking of escape..." Van glanced up at the night sky and clenched his claws together. "It's gettin' kinda late."

"They're fine. Don't worry," she assuaged.

"Do you want me to do another pass?" asked Damia. "One of them could have fainted, or-"

"I told you to save your strength. Besides, you just did a fly-by. Look, you two need to trust that they'll turn up. Have a little faith," she said, and meant it. She knew she could depend on Clement to keep their son and Clara safe. Whatever craziness they faced in there, she didn't doubt that they'd find a way to make it through.

The campsite went silent for a few moments, before sounds of shuffling could be heard from a gap between two boulders. They all snapped to high alert, but calmed immediately once Clement stumbled through the gap, followed by Lumi and Clara.

Van and Damia snapped to their feet, despite their wounds, and rushed forward. The campsite grew lively with chatter as the kids' team reunited, and there was a lot of hugging and laughing and assurances that each of them were perfectly fine, even if that was plainly not the case. Clement let them have their space and walked towards her.

She sat up as best she could to bump foreheads with him, and the Mawile sat down next to her with an arm over her side. She leaned up against him, grateful for his presence.

"How'd you find us?" she murmured. She felt him shrug.

"I pretended I was weak, alone, and needed the closest thing to shelter I could get. This spot seemed to fit the bill. Plus I saw the smoke," he explained. She noticed he avoided eye contact, gaze fixated on the fire. She put a paw on his knee.

"How'd it go?"

"It went...well? Lumi did what we came here for, but a lot of things happened that I didn't understand. I'll let him fill you in on the details when he gets some sleep."

"Mmmm. Good...and Lucent?"

Clement went silent for a few moments, before he exhaled softly and shook his head.

"...I don't know." He held her tighter to his side. She could tell he was tired, so she wouldn't press him about it now despite her growing despondence.

"Hey Mom." Opal almost dozed off before Lumi approached. She happily nuzzled him when he leaned down to check on her, but she paused when she saw his friends behind him. Gone were the relieved smiles from before, replaced with concerned frowns.

"What's the matter?"

"Our guild badges aren't working," said Clara, presenting the purple badge from her bag. "Normally they should teleport us to the guild if we pour some Energy into it, but there's nothing."

"That's not all," Van continued. "Nobody's picking up when we try to call on the Echo orb. We've been trying for the past ten minutes. I would get it if it was late or something and pokemon had to sleep, but..."

"Vert doesn't sleep. I feel like something is wrong," finished Damia. The four looked down at the ground, brows furrowed in thought. Opal was vaguely annoyed that it seemed their quick ticket to a warm bath seemed to be out of commission, and pointed at the tent behind them.

"All of you. Bed. Now. We'll figure it out in the morning."

"But-"

"We're all tired, half of us are injured, and if you guys don't know what's wrong with your technology, then we definitely wouldn't," she said, gesturing to her and Clement. "If there's nothing we can do about it right now, the best thing we can do is rest."

They stared at her for a brief moment, before Lumi released a massive yawn. The Meowstic gave a tired wave, then practically fell into the tent flap. The rest of his friends weren't far behind. Her and Clement decided to stay under the stars for the night, in quiet contemplation in front of the campfire.

Night passed.

The next morning, the group packed up everything and began a long trek down south through the rocky Borderlands. The guild badges were still unfunctional, which left walking as the only option to return to the guild. By the time noon rolled around, the sun hung high over their heads as they hiked across the arid landscape, which made for a strenuous journey.

On the bright side, this gave them plenty of time to discuss all that had transpired in Hollow Garden.

"So it just...froze? Like, all of it?" asked Van, as he walked next to Lumi, a little behind the group. He rubbed his mohawk when the Meowstic nodded.

"Sheesh. So is that gonna happen every time you do that to a Keystone? That part of Dialga's plan?"

"I guess so. I'll just add it to the growing list of questions I have for Dialga. Not like they'll tell me everything..."

"Sure woulda been nice to know Xerneas was th-"

"Everyone. Hold," came Clement's sharp command. The group went still, and looked at what had Clement's attention. Far ahead, a flock of winged Pokémon soared above what looked like an approaching dust cloud. As it got closer, it became apparent that a contingent of rapidly moving Pokémon beat the barren earth with such force that a dust cloud kicked up in their wake.

Their group huddled together as the approaching Pokémon caught up and began to encircle them, dust making it difficult to see details. However, Lumi had a horrible realization when he got a glimpse of one repeating detail:

Red scarves. On each of them.

Through the chaos of countless feet slamming into the ground and obscuring vision, they caught sight of a lone figure who dropped from the grip of one of the flyers. It landed with a thud that made the ground tremble, and at once the motion ceased.

A powerful voice boomed over their heads.

"Daughter."

Lumi turned to look. Haxorus stood tall in front of them. He took one step forward. The surrounding hunters took three.

"Come quietly."

To his right, Lumi saw Van grind his forehead into his palms, and groan.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me…"

---

A/N: I hope this Valentine's Gift makes up for how long its been since I updated.