"Someone jumped the gun
Some things better left undone
Someone jumped the gun
Someone ruined all the fun"
—"Jumped the Gun" from Afterthoughts by Red Vox
As the dying god stared down at the visage of its successor, Max flopped back with a grunt of an exhale. After wiggling a bit, she looked up in some kind of thought before shrugging and laying the rest of the way down, all while Codi stared at her in open mouthed disbelief. When Max saw her, she looked away. "What?" she mumbled, sparks bouncing down her cheeks. "I've been upright too long."
Codi hated her best friend so fucking much.
Before she could voice this hatred, air snapped back in on itself as Fara's whip sliced through it toward Eleos. She flicked its end back right as it was about to hit Eleos with a vicious crack hitting nothing but air. Eleos had effortlessly flung itself to the side, holding itself up by one forepaw.
"Oh, and it's so young and spry," Fara said. "Tell me, child." Her eyes twisted into deeper joy. "Do you like to dance?"
"Indeed," Eleos said. It hopped off its single forepaw and flipped upright again. It snapped back into that bizarre fighting stance it had earlier. "Forgive me, though. I don't believe now's the time for mirth."
"Is that so?" Fara asked. She narrowed her eyes at it. "Humor me." Eleos stood still as she threw the whip forward again, the cracker digging into and ripping out the ground between its hindpaws. Eleos glanced down with disinterest and hummed in bored appreciation. It left a gash in the earth with a dark crimson peaking out after the first foot.
"This domain is mine, mother," Eleos said. The whip came for it again, this time flying right for its stomach. Eleos casually brought its right paw forward enough that the end snapped around its wrist. It twisted its paw once to wrap it again, then snatched it up in its paw as well.
"These toys are not yours to play with any longer," Eleos said. It started to smile. The extended metaphor must be fun for it.
"Insolent whelp," Fara hissed. Eleos' proud smirk remained, and it went to yank her whip out of her paws. It managed to yank her a few feet closer, but she held tight, building a smirk of her own. "I hope you wrapped yourself up nice, dear."
She grabbed hold of the whip with both paws and spun around to yank it up and over her shoulder, yanking Eleos along with it. It flew in an arc over her before slamming into the ground. A massive cloud of dust burst from the earth it landed in, and Codi couldn't make out its charmander form in the crater its body had made. With another yank, Fara ripped the whip towards herself, dragging Eleos to her.
"Well," Fara said, punctuating its arrival by slamming her foot down onto its back. "I think its time you learned what discipline really means.
She snatched it up by the back of its neck and spun the whip around it to bind it completely. Her smirk started to waver as it casually watched the whip wrap around it with mild disinterest, anger taking its place. She took its attention back by yanking it into her arms.
"Oh, mother," Eleos cooed. "I do so appreciate your frigid warmth." It glanced up at her with bored eyes.
"I'll show you warmth," Fara hissed. She slapped her paw to its neck and smirked as its disinterest faltered ever so slightly. "Your little boyfriend taught me this one." Halfway through its nod of acknowledgment, Eleos' body started jittering and seizing in her hold. Its eyes shot open, only to roll back into its head. Codi watched the bits of its iris that she could still see fade to a milky white.
It got harder to watch that as the world around them quaked. Max, at least, didn't have to move far to hit the deck. Codi looked around them and saw the far off landmarks shattering to pieces before crumbling.
"What the fuck is going on?" Codi asked. She was holding onto her balance as best she could to try and prepare to go help.
"This is a fight for the Voidlands," Max said, the only conflict in her voice coming from the rumbling of the earth beneath her. "It's a shared dimension, kinda, so whoever can overpower the other can also control the power completely." Codi wanted to kill her for how calm she was about this. "Right now, they're both occupying the spiritual space of Dark Matter."
The world was still shaking, but Codi had stopped caring. Thanks to her wide gait, she could actually keep decent balance in these conditions, so she went over and yanked Max up by the fur on her chest. "LOOK!" Codi shouted, flinging her paw towards the two of them. "SHE'S WINNING!"
Eleos' eyes had drained of their milky white, with deep, dark purple taking its place. Its head fell backwards under its own weight, jaw unable to hold itself closed with its tongue hanging out of its mouth.
"What's she doing to it?" Codi asked. She turned to Max and saw her eyes struggling to stay on Codi, or even focused at all. Right, that thing. She plopped Max back on the ground.
Max immediately lost her balance and fell backwards. Her paw flew to her head with a whimper, and Codi felt the slightest bit bad seeing Max struggling to even stay sitting. The mouse drifted unsteadily in every direction while very, very gradually building up some stability. Codi frowned, glancing away in shame as she offered Max a stabilizing paw that Max quickly smacked away.
"Fuck," Codi hissed, ripping her paw back. She went to glare at Max, only to see her glaring right back. "I'm sorry, all right?"
"It's fine," Max barked. She turned away a second too late to hide a tear drifting down from her eye. "I'm fine. It's just been a long day." She dropped to all fours and brought her arm up to her eyes for a quick dab at the tears. "I'm fine," she whispered to herself. "I'm fine."
Codi had essentially kicked the crutch she hated using out from under her just to watch her fall.
"It's a trick Eleos taught me," Max said. Her voice was a firm collection of jagged glass. "I don't know how it works. It just lights your own soul on fire to force someone else's will out of you."
Eleos was screwed. Codi had just tormented Max specifically by using her disability against her, and now, they had to go stop Fara from killing Eleos. She'd let her emotions get the best of her, made everything worse, and now, the world was going to end because she decided it'd be fun to be mean to her friend just because Max played with the idea of making a tenuous alliance with Fara—well, it was hard to blame herself for that.
"Eleos is faking, though," Max said. Codi blinked. "I don't know what Fara's trying to do. She doesn't have the same kind of soul. She's kind of an idiot." Codi kind of wanted to bitch at Max for taking so long to explain that. Max caught her glare with one of her own. "If you want to kick me, I'm already down."
The crack in Max's voice ripped Codi's heart in two.
Fara slammed Eleos into the ground with an audible impact even that far away. Codi almost thought she could feel it, too, but that could've been the aftershocks. Fara stood proud over her 'child's' 'corpse' for a moment, then turned to Codi and Max.
"Well," Fara hummed. She started walking over to them. "I wonder which of you two should be first." Her eyes went to Codi. "The pathetic child hiding behind its mother's leg." She turned to Max, smile widening as she failed to notice Eleos standing back up behind her. "Or the rat that can't ever seem to stand under its own weight."
Eleos spun its way across the ground to swipe her legs out from under her with its tail. It hopped up to catch her by the throat and stared deep into her eyes with empty, black eyes. "You," it hissed.
White, blinding flame exploded out of its paw, engulfing them both before Codi could close her eyes. She hissed as the light seared into her retinas even after she'd closed them, the afterimage of the blaze engraved into her eyelids. The burn of the blaze even extended all the way out to lick at her scales.
A crackling snap smacked through the air loud enough to overpower the ringing in her ears. She peeked her eyes open to see what it was. Fara, still engulfed in flames, was skidding on her hindpaws away from Eleos.
Eleos rolled head over heels while its chest cracked itself back into place to fill a crater a bit bigger than Fara's hindpaw. Its rolls didn't lose any momentum until it suddenly launched up into the air to flip one last time and land on its right leg with both arms extended out to its side, and its left leg up and primed to snap into a vicious kick. Its chest finally cracked its last rib in place.
Fara snapped with one paw, her whip flying back to meet it while the flames smoldered into charred fur. Yellow came to take what it could back all over her body, but there were spots of char everywhere.
"Forgive me," Eleos said. "I've yet to master the art of restraint."
Fara snapped her whip right for its chest. Eleos hopped up to kick the end of the whip off course and let its left forepaw follow behind. It snatched the end of the whip up again, this time not hesitating to yank it towards itself. With one tug, it dragged Fara over to the ground at its paws.
Eleos dropped down the moment it landed and threw its right leg into a sweeping kick across the ground that smacked into Fara's chest and sent her tumbling over the dirt with a fresh crater in her chest.
"Pity I'm not often one for retribution," Eleos said. It cast the end of the whip in its paw aside and glared down at her. "For you've so much I could repay."
While it stood, proud of its own quipping, a spike of malice shot out from the ground under it and skewered it up by the belly before sending it flying into the air. A trail of dark ooze streamed out of its new wound, following the arc of its flight. Fara forced herself up to at least kneel so she could fling her whip at it in the air. She cracked it against Eleos three times before letting one wrap around and yank it down.
Eleos plummeted to the ground hard enough that it sent another massive cloud of dust from the impact and shook the ground beneath Cori, despite being at least a hundred yards away. Fara whipped wildly into the dust cloud to hit it more. She watched with glee as the cracks of her whip flooded the air.
The mist of black and lavender sand now had some crimson dirt in its ranks. The dust cloud had streaks of bloody reds through it. The whip slashed through them, leaving its mark long enough for its next hit to come.
A tiny hint of orange started to show at the base of the cloud. Eleos took calm steps out of the dust cloud while the whip snapped across its form. The whip lashed scale after scale off it, but the scales grew back by the time each next hit came. Fara ripped her arm though the air to crack the whip faster and faster, accomplishing little more in damages.
I spent much time believing, as you do, that my only attachment to emotions came in my consumption.
Fara faltered a moment. Her whip lay limp on the ground, drooping down from her paw while she heard Eleos' voice fill the world itself without it bothering to move its lips. Her meager claim to their title fell. She redoubled her efforts, flicking her whip harder and harder, faster and faster against its scales.
In your supercilious arrogance, you believe you stand above the world you wished to destroy. You have no heart, thus any sense of emotion is merely an after image of that which sustains you.
Eleos continued to walk forward, expression unchanging. Fara grit her teeth as her brow furrowed in desperate consternation. She tried harder and harder to bring it pain to no avail.
Born of evil, we are above such petty things such as pain. Yes, for is not all pain ours to consume? It is quite flattering to imagine as much. We are gods, and our dominion is suffering. We are suffering, thus it has no claim in our imitations of hearts.
Fara cracked her whip around Eleos' neck with pure rage in her eyes. She yanked it towards her. Eleos kept its pace as it walked forward.
We live amongst the weak to oversee their torment. We watch with wide, hungry eyes as yet another soul falls into the most delectable emotion of despair. To consume their pain is to predate upon the tormented.
Fara couldn't unwind her whip from around Eleos' neck. She couldn't pull Eleos again. She pulled harder and harder, straining herself further and further. Codi watched as Fara's entire body trembled from the effort, yet Eleos didn't move the slightest bit faster.
Look at yourself. The illusory delusion has faltered. You believe that you stare down your demise with strength greater than those you failed to destroy, yes?
Eleos brought its paw up to the whip wrapped around its neck. With one tug, it yanked the whip out of Fara's grasp and cast it aside. Its end fell from around Eleos' neck.
Do you not feel it yet?
It was within arm's reach of Fara, now. Fara spun to try throwing the whole of her weight into a desperate kick right for its head. Eleos raised its left paw and caught her by the ankle. With it having taken control of her balance, she fell to the ground.
Allow me to remove the veil that blinds you.
Eleos finally smiled a cold, dark smile as it stared down at her. Fara's world-ending rage burst into nothing all at once as her expression broke into disbelief and bewilderment. Her eyes froze as her mind and heart raced to make sense of a feeling she'd only felt in others before. Her mouth hung blank and open for a moment before sheer terror cut its way into her cheeks, horror ripping out from her eyes as she screamed.
Forgive me for keeping it from you for so long. Your fear has simply been so delectable.
Fara's screams stopped. Eleos let her go, and her leg fell limp to the ground. It had begun siphoning away her fear again, but she could still feel its absence.
Idiots that we are. I've sat with children facing the agony of hate from those who should love them. I've lived in squalor with those alone from the day they hatch to the day they perish. I've taken in souls of the suffering and nourished their unfeeling husks into precious little shadows of life.
To sustain ourselves, we dull their pain. We live amongst those who suffer the most and hold them in our grasps for the duration of their agony. In calling ourselves devils, we assure our broken hearts that no love can come to hurt us as it hurts those so vulnerable. We take the pain of others into our hearts and claim to feel none of it.
Since my creation, I have lived in every tear, every scream, every loss, every bruise, and every drip of blood on Earth. I imagined there was no good in such a world. A part of this world, I, too, must have been an ingredient of its torment.
Fara lay shivering on the ground. Her eyes were wide and blank, filled with the pain Eleos siphoned away. She couldn't move in more than trembles. Her form faltered, its fur losing hue and body losing shape. Eleos knelt next to her head and stared into her eyes.
There is a word, however, for those who sit with the suffering and relieve them of their pain. Those who take the weary in their arms and offer them rest. Those who reach out to the isolated, lonely, and helpless to give aid if we can, and comfort if we can't.
Eleos traced its paw down the side of her head as she started to turn to dust and stopped her decomposition. Color returned to Fara's fur. Stability returned to her form.
You live only as long as I permit it. Your demise could be swift. Just as easily, I could force you to endure several centuries of torment to atone for every moment of your reign. Your fate is mine to control, and you could do to learn the toll it takes on a soul to live at the mercy of one infinitely more powerful than you are.
"Your death is inevitable," Eleos said. It finally spoke to her with its physical voice. "There is no method by which we may reverse course on what has already begun. You will die. This fate is embedded into time itself."
"Then kill me," Fara hissed. She twisted her face into a forced visage of rage. It didn't hide the horror in her voice.
"Rest assured, you will die," Eleos said. "As we all shall."
"I will never bow to you," Fara said. Eleos raised its brow, shaking its head slightly. Fara gripped her paws into a fist and glared at it. "I will hold onto my pride. Even in death, I will have my pride."
"I would never ask your fealty," Eleos chuckled. "I wish only to give you an opportunity." It looked over at Max and nodded. She started heading over. "Your life has to this point been consumed with pain. You've yet to see what wonderful joys the world can bring."
This was it. This was Max's plan. She was really going to try to give Fara a second chance.
Codi clenched her fist.
Codi followed distantly behind. Max glanced back at her with a wounded glare. She was staying on all fours. Even after all this time, she'd still not built up the strength to stand again.
Codi wanted to look away in guilt, but she didn't let herself. She met Max's gaze and nodded. It was vanishingly little, but it was all she could think to do. All the broken trust that invisibly poured from Max's eyes, even without tears, was beyond what Codi could mend. The least she could do was acknowledge the pain she'd caused.
Max kept her eye on Codi for a moment. Her mouth twitched in conflict, likely sifting through thousands of words she couldn't say. She took a deep breath in to give one solemn nod, then looked forward again. Max made it to Fara shortly after.
"What, will 'she' be my salvation?" Fara asked. Max rolled her eyes.
"No," Max said. "But thanks to your wish's wording, the longer you stay alive, the longer I stay here."
"Is that so?" Fara said. She thought for a moment, the prospect somehow twisting her frustration towards a smirk. "It was never any sort of mercy for you, then. I'm your tool to prolong the inevitable." She rolled her eyes and stared to the sky, its desolate clouds parting once more to reveal the beauty Eleos had crafted. "What wonderful information to have in hindsight."
"It need not remain exclusively as hindsight," Eleos said. It had begun addressing her, but she kept her eyes on the sky above. "I could establish you such that you last the duration of Max's natural life."
"I won't be anyone's happy ending," Fara spat. She narrowed her eyes at Eleos, disgust twisting her eyes into a glare, mouth into a snarl. "You can worship yourself all you'd like, but I won't aspire to such heights again. I don't need delusions to know what I am."
"I know what you are," Max said. Fara barely bothered to glance at her. "You can't hide it. You're terrified of dying."
"I am," Fara said. She nodded the acknowledgment away. "But I will have no fear in death. My peace will come soon." She turned to see Max smirking and narrowed her eyes. Her firm, harsh bravery fought valiantly for a facade of indifference, but it was a fruitless effort. Codi could see the desperation in her eyes even from so much further back.
"I thought so," Max said, smiling down at Fara's simmering anger. "Don't get your hopes up yet, though." She gave a glance to Codi. "Still one more person to ask."
Then, as if on cue, a thud preceded a yelp and a second, much louder thud behind Codi. Her stomach turned.
"Max!" Codi shouted. She spun around to run over and dropped down to her knees next to Max clutching her leg. Heart at the end of her tail, no scar at the end of her ear, and a wedding ring on her left paw. It was the Max she knew.
"Codi?" Max hissed, shaking her head. It was far too late, but she still hurried to let go of her leg so she at least wasn't clutching it (as if the perpetual wince didn't give her away). She looked around them, immediately feeling more frantic. "Voidlands?" Her eyes stopped on Codi for a fraction of a second before flying around, building more and more terror. "Wh-why are we here?" She glanced nervously at her leg.
"Don't worry!" Codi said. She put a paw on Max's chest to comfort her with a smile. "We're okay. Here." She bent down to wrangle Max up to a seated position, taking extra care to support her now that she knew about her issues 'going vertical' (which, in hindsight, explained a lot).
Max's cheeks sparked as she did, and she looked to her left to avoid Codi's eyes. Once she was up, though, she caught sight of the other three there. Her eyes shot between all three in oscillating horror and relief until finally taking a breath.
"Okay," Max said. She shook her head. She looked over at Codi, then back at her future self. "Codi?"
"Yeah?" Codi said. She gave Max a comforting rub to her back.
"Could you give me a quick run down on what the fuck went so wrong that Grovyle sent Eleos and my future self after me to stop it?" Max said. Her eyes landed on Fara. "And why the fuck she's still-" Her eyes shot open—right, the blocks Fara put would be gone. "FARA!"
Max went to leap up, but Codi forcibly yanked her back down. A bad leg on top of—well, she didn't know she had that other thing, yet. "Careful!" Codi shouted, a chuckle forcing its way out.
Max grumbled in frustration, but she couldn't meaningfully resist. She let Codi sit her back down, then leaned into her scales. Out of curiosity, Codi checked her eyes for that dizziness she'd seen before, but it wasn't there. That was odd, but she shook her head. Maybe it got worse later.
Eleos came over, leaving Fara and the future Max to discuss the specifics. Codi could feel Max almost vibrating in her hold at the sight. Luckily, Eleos was quick to kneel in front of her so Max didn't have to get up.
It didn't stop her trying, but Codi was quick on the draw. Max squeaked her objections in babble Codi couldn't understand.
"Rest, love," Eleos chuckled. It reached out to grab Max's left paw in its right and glanced at the ring, giving Max an accusatory glare. It immediately chuckled the feigned displeasure away, but Max had already shrank away from its eyes. Eleos deftly, effortlessly, tugged her up and into its arms with a smile. She squeaked in surprise, but it rubbed some calm back into her.
Max was a bit too willing to melt into its hold for a married woman, but Codi wasn't a snitch, so it was fine.
"Worry not," Eleos said. It pulled its head back to look into her eyes, but she continued to avoid its gaze. "Never have I hoped your love was mine alone. Fate pulled you to such a life, and I've nothing but excitement for the joy it's brought you."
"Thank you," Max said. She managed an awkward smile up at it for a few seconds before she had to return to looking at the ground. "Still." She sucked some confidence into herself and pulled her eyes up to its own, grabbing it by the shoulders. "I never stopped loving you, all right?" Its form seemed to falter for a second, widening her smile until she chuckled. "I… probably should've felt worse about cheating, though."
"Cheating?!" Codi asked. She instantly threw her paws over her mouth with wide eyes. Eleos and Max chuckled, letting her breathe relief.
"Is it cheating?" Eleos hummed. With one paw running down her back, it kept its eyes in hers while letting its other paw run down the back of her head. It gave her a playful smirk and winked. "After all, infidelity seems a stretch. We've yet to even begin dating yet."
Max shook her head and laughed, pulling it into a hug. "Of course you'd let me off on a technicality," she said. It lightly squeezed her, but she didn't hold back. She pulled it closer as she pressed herself against it, taking in a deep, longing breath. Feeling it after so long was enough to bring tears to her eyes. She pulled the hug even tighter and let the tears drip down. "Pi ka-a chu."
Eleos squeezed her again, then pulled back to wipe away her tears. "I've missed you, too, love," it said. Was it guessing, or did it understand her? Well, if Ithos could, it wasn't impossible.
"Have you?" Max asked. She tried to smirk, but it was a hard sell when she had tears in her eyes. She leaned to the side and looked over at her future self before looking back at Eleos. "Seems like you've already got me back."
"Alas, I've not," Eleos said. It thoughtfully hummed as it ran its paws down the length of her back, one after the other, as it looked over her form. Codi almost wanted to object that she was married, but it looked more curious than… interested. "It is simply that the circumstances required an… early reunion."
"Circumstances, right," Max said. She sighed and looked over to Fara with a frown. She glanced down towards her leg while nerves shook it. When a wince came, she tried to hide it.
Eleos stuck its paw into the ground and tugged out a crutch, perfectly sized to her, with a caring smile. Max whined in protest and shrank into its embrace to try and hide from the inevitable. Eleos ran its paw down her back with the paw not holding the crutch while letting her whimper about it. "There is no shame in needing an aid," it cooed.
"I don't-" Max hissed into its chest, cutting herself off with a self conscious glance to Codi. She sucked in a deep breath to force it out through tight lips. She squeezed her eyes shut and reluctantly snatched the crutch with her left paw. "Couldn't you have healed this when you brought me in?"
"Alas, I could not," Eleos said. As she nestled the crutch under her left arm, Eleos hoisted her gently up by the chest to set her down in front of itself. Her cheeks sparked at the help and sparked even more when it gently pat her head. She glared up at it with pleading eyes while it smiled sweetly down at her. "For I could never endeavor to meddle in perfection such as yourself."
"Thanks," Max chuckled, rolling her eyes. It leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead and made her cheeks begin to spark again. "Come on," she grumbled. She waved Codi to follow, then started forward. Codi hurried to her right side, and Max had already gotten going at a decent pace.
Max would never admit it for the rest of her natural life, but she always walked with a bit more confidence once she had the crutch helping her along. She'd had to use it enough by now that it smoothly matched the pace of her right leg, firmly supporting her every step without forcing her to lean onto the crutch at all. Instead of limping (which she never admitted she did), she actually managed to walk evenly.
"See? I'm fine," Max grumbled. She had a weary smile when she looked at Codi. After a second, it faltered, and her eyes fell. "Right?"
"You've got this," Codi said, words so well practiced they came out on their own. Her paw coming to pat some gentle confidence into Max's back did much the same, though she let it linger. If what future Max said was true, would they really…?
"Hey, bitch," past Max sang, giving an eager smile to her future self (who'd gone back to lying down). "Long time, no see."
"I'll say," future Max said, grunting as she hopped up. She walked over on her hindpaws, and her eyes very quickly lost their focus. She paused for a second, and Eleos hurried to her side. It went to hold her up, but she shrugged off its support. "I'm all right." She looked back up, and her eyes looked barely any better. She shrugged at her past self. "You know how nights are."
"Yeah," past Max groaned. "I don't know how everyone else does it, sometimes." Codi glanced at her to raise a brow. It happened to this version of her, too? She started to say something when she felt Eleos leering at her with a knowing smirk.
Max wasn't supposed to know that wasn't normal yet. How she thought nearly fainting every time she stood up was normal, Codi would never know. Could she tell her anyway?
"Can't believe they're making you use that in the Voidlands," future Max said to past Max (did they have, like, a middle name?). "Had so much time for them to figure out I didn't need it, and they still made me." She shook her head while clicking her tongue.
"I know," past Max grumbled. She chuckled a frown at Codi before shaking her head just like her future self did. "Besides, I'm a pikachu." She shrugged. "I'm not even supposed to be upright." Codi rolled her eyes. How many times had she heard that by now? After the roll, she looked back to see past Max staring at the ground with sparse, nervous glances up. "You… had a lot of time?"
Future Max grinned like a salesmon that just got her perfect mark in position. It made Codi's skin crawl. She wanted to hate this version of her friend, but she could still see that frantic pain in her eyes.
"Not as much as you will," future Max said. Her past self's ears nervously perked up with a spark of hope. "You remember Fara's wish?"
"Yeah," past Max mumbled. She nervously glanced at Fara who had yet to get up from her spot in the dirt. Codi wasn't even letting herself look at the 'ampharos'. She heard a creaking and realized it was past Max gripping her crutch. "What about it?" Good, she hated Fara the normal amount.
"It determines how long we stay here," future Max said. Her past self still didn't take her glare off Fara. Why wasn't she moving at all? "As long as she's still alive, it's technically possible for her to win." Past Max's glare hardened, but her future self didn't seem to notice. "You wouldn't have to leave anyone. We—you can just live your life."
Codi's hope faltered slightly as she watched past Max's expression soften at that. Anger came into communion with uncertainty and sorrow. She frowned and lifted her right leg to glance it over, then looked at Codi. After a deep breath, she nodded; Codi's heart ached.
"All right," past Max said. She took her crutch in her right paw and held it out to Codi. "Here, hold this for a second."
Codi took it before she could question why and watched past Max start stretching her arms while she stared down her future self. Future Max tilted her head in confusion. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Getting ready," past Max said matter of factly.
Future Max's confusion only deepened. She glanced at Codi for some insight, but how the hell was Codi supposed to know more than literally herself? "For what?" future Max asked.
"To fucking kill you," past Max said. She said it with such calm, certainty and grace that the content of the words took a moment to supersede the tone that delivered them. In that bit of time to confuse them, past Max threw herself down to sprint the yard between her and her future self and threw herself up to slam her down with a Flying Press. The sudden impact and attack gave her plenty time to wrap her paws around the bitch's throat.
A lightning strike came to join the fun mere instants before Eleos ripped the two (one?) of them apart, holding both by the scruffs of the back of their necks. "Perhaps it would accomplish more to talk," Eleos said, looking to past Max. "Rather than to kill."
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING YOU DUMB SACK OF SHIT?!" past Max screamed right past Eleos and directly at herself. Eleos went to speak up, but future Max interrupted it before it could.
"What do you think?!" future Max shouted back. "Athena! Jamie! Circ, Codi!" Her voice was hoarse from the strangulation, but she didn't stop. "You wouldn't have to leave them behi-"
"And let Fara be a constant threat hanging over my head for the rest of my life?!" past Max screamed back. Codi almost wanted to shout in support, but that probably wouldn't help deescalate the situation. "MY KIDS' LIVES?" She threw an elbow into Eleos to free herself, but Eleos didn't move at all. "Athena! I won't fucking let them live through what I did!"
"I suppose this qualifies as discussion," Eleos mumbled.
"What WE did!" past Max went on. She stared down her future self with disdain and horror, a shiver of shame wriggling up her spine and twisting her mouth into a snarl. She tried to say more, but it didn't come. She just stared herself down, shaking her head.
"I-I just," future Max whimpered. It must've been a unique experience to be scolded by your past self. "I didn't want to lose them."
"You think I do?!" past Max said. She stopped for a second to let her future self answer before giving up with a shake of her head. She glared at Eleos with a broken heart in her eyes. "Put me back. I'm not doing this."
Eleos hesitated, but nodded. "As you wish," it said. This was supposed to touch base early on to let her know what would happen, but they could always explain it later once it happened. It brought her in to hug her with its one arm, and she happily reciprocated as she faded away, returning to the land of the living. Once she'd gone, Eleos held the remaining Max in both arms.
Max wasn't moving. She sat in its hold with unresponsive eyes that didn't see the world in front of them. Her begrudging hope had shattered, and much more shattered along with it.
It sucked. Codi wanted to rub it in her face. This was bullshit.
"Well, hasn't this been a tremendous failure," Fara said. Max winced while Eleos glared at Fara. "I still get my silver lining, though." She finally pulled up to a sitting position and grinned down at Max just a touch further than her lips could accommodate. "It's lovely to know you'll warm up to me with time."
Eleos snapped, and Fara was gone. It looked just like when Max disappeared. Max panicked for a moment, but Eleos held her tighter.
"Worry not," Eleos whispered, rocking her slightly. "I've simply returned her to where she came from, just as I did your past self." Max nodded along with this, and went despondent once again. Eleos twisted its mouth in concern and continued to rock her while lightly scratching along the back of her head as well as between the ears. It didn't do much to soothe her, though.
"You were right," Max said. She couldn't look at Codi, but she didn't need to. Max looked at her own paw.
"Yeah," Codi said. It didn't have the glory of victory she'd hoped it would come with. Unfortunately, the result was plenty to teach Max the lesson (and she'd already heard more than enough from herself). Begrudgingly, Codi realized her role had shifted to aftercare.
"Look," Codi sighed. She rubbed her eyes as she went over and sat down in front of Eleos. It had been too long since she got to sleep. "I get it."
Max glared up at her, grumbling, "Don't change your tune out of pity."
"I mean it," Codi said, half-glaring back at her. That was enough for Max to lose the strength she'd built up for that defiance. "I didn't-" Codi's voice broke, "-want to lose you." She almost started biting back her pain, but hoped it might help convince Max. "I still don't." Admittedly, the more she thought of the time they'd spend after Ithos, she found herself a bit excited for what might be.
"But this… isn't the right way to do it," she said. She stared down at the ground between her legs and saw some tears drip down her snout. She didn't have an answer. She wasn't sure if there was one. With just a bit of thought, though, and a whole lot of heart, she came up with something.
"We all lose the people we love some day," Codi said. She turned her paw up to glance at its palm. "I wasn't ready for it." She shook her head. "I'm still not." Her tears continued as she looked up to find Max had looked up to her, too. "I don't think I ever will be." She managed a weak smile. "But… the time we had will always be worth it."
It wasn't enough to make Max smile, but for just a moment, she looked a little less hurt.
"Yeah, who's to say you never really could get back?
Yeah, gotta break, I don't know, maybe I'll be back"
It turned out that neither version of Max took half-measures. Grovyle had touched base with past Max after their meeting to ask her what she wanted to do (and also explain the situation that team Voidlands was supposed to). There was no chance of changing her mind, either.
She wanted to forget it all.
Max had seen what these memories turned her into, and she wouldn't let herself become that. When Grovyle asked if she'd want to remember her kids, at least, so she could see them again, she tearfully begged him to raise them well. She couldn't trust herself to be their mother anymore, either, to the point that she thought they'd be better off without her.
In her words, "I want them to remember the me that still had a heart."
Codi didn't know what to do. She didn't want to see this plan through. Eleos was going to monitor Ithos wiping her memory and start hindering it halfway through. Grovyle would do something (or have Celebi do something) that brought Max back to her right time, remembering none of their time together.
Codi was worried about Max. The past and future looked equally unstable, breaking her heart about the same. She knew that, if Max had more time to think about this, she'd never choose this.
There wasn't any time left.
Max lay in front of Codi, staring up at nothing while Codi sat next to a tree. Max hadn't said anything since hearing what her past self said. Codi couldn't blame her. Despite it all, this was still her friend. She wanted to be there for her, but she had no idea where she could even possibly start. She could only imagine the nightmare of self-hate Max was thinking through right now.
All right, there was no denying it. No putting it off. It was now or never.
"C'mon, Max," Codi whispered. They'd situated themselves pretty far out of sight Ithos and past Max, but they still had to keep their voices down. "Talk to me."
"I don't think I could've made things worse if I tried," Max said. Codi winced, but she couldn't really disagree. "I thought, if I did this, I could have it all." Staring at the sky with that same despondent gaze, she shook her head. "I'm going to lose everything."
Grovyle gave her a worried glance from a few yards away. As if this all wasn't bad enough, time had a lag of correction to it. Max could still remember it all, now, but as time went on, it would catch up with her.
She'd forget it all, too.
There had to be something, anything they could do. This just wasn't right. Codi wished they had more time to figure this out.
Ithos had already started the process of removing her memories.
At least Codi didn't have to hate her best friend anymore. It still hurt that she'd leave, and hurt so much more to know that she was losing all her memories of their time together, but at least she could still love her. At least she still cared about the person she'd never see again. At least the love was still there to tear her heart out of her chest every time she thought of that stupid fucking human.
"You, too, huh?" Max whimpered. Codi shook out of her grief and realized she'd started crying onto Max. When she wiped the tears away, she saw that Max was crying, too. Max offered some weak approximation of a smile, and pulled herself up to hug Codi. "I'll miss you."
Without even thinking, Codi snatched Max up in her arms, holding her weight for her just in case. She seemed all right, at least, but Codi wanted to be sure. Max chuckled, clearly aware of what she was doing.
Then, something exploded.
Air itself screeched as it hissed out of existence under the weight of space between atoms. Codi spun around (making sure to support Max as she did), but there were too many trees in the way to make out more than glimpses. All she could see were bright slivers of crimson and violet. Her eyes widened.
Fara.
Fara had still been in Max's head. She was supposed to be, so Grovyle said it would leave time the most stable.
Fucking idiot.
All three of them started rushing through the woods. Max dropped down to scamper forward, faster than both of them, but she very quickly lost steam. After a few steps, she slowed to a crawl with very tenuous balance. She tried to push herself despite it, but Codi and Grovyle both descended upon her to stop her.
Max was about to faint. It had been such a long day, and she'd had no rest at all. Apparently, that was a lot more detrimental for Max than it was Codi. Codi was tired, but she could manage. Max, it seemed, could not.
"You've got her?" Grovyle 'asked'. Codi didn't get a chance to answer before he dashed off to the main event. At least Codi could see what was going on better, now.
Codi helped Max back down. "Just need a sec," Max mumbled. "Adjusting."
Unfortunately, they didn't have a second. A pink bubble had snapped itself around Fara and started crushing her. The burning blaze of malice that once eclipsed Ithos shrank under his influence until Codi could see the visage of pure rage and grief that had taken over the charmander's face. Grovyle ducked behind the nearest tree before Ithos could notice him. Threat neutralized.
Max was gone.
Ithos fell to his knees. He couldn't take his eyes off the space where Max had stood. He looked down at the scarf and took it into his paws. His eyes broke into sorrow while anger crushed them into specks. He whispered. Even from so far away, Codi could hear it clearly.
"I failed." Ithos pulled the scarf tighter. He screamed. Every memory, moment they spent together cried in his wailing and played in his soul rending loss at once. Sobs didn't have the strength to overcome the rage loud enough to shake the neighboring mountains. The fantasy that they could spend another life together shattered before his eyes. The emptiness collapsed within him, exploding out in a life-ending wail.
It was gone. It was all gone.
Ithos squeezed his mouth shut as he stood. Max forced herself to stand and reached out a paw. "ITHOS, WAIT!" she shouted at the empty air he left behind and fell to a knee. It went wrong. It all went so, so wrong.
Then, a different kind of wrong came around. Codi heard a familiar scream for about a second before she saw a blur of green crash into the earth so hard that its head went straight into the ground. Grovyle peaked around at the sound with a curious brow that shot up in confusion and surprise when he saw Celebi pop her head out of the ground and look around.
No, wait, his head. different Celebi.
It took Grovyle a second to notice, too, before he slowed his hurried jog. If she wasn't busy holding Max steady, Codi would've loved to walk on over and ask what.
The FUCK was going on.
"Pii kachu kachu," Max grumbled. She took a deep breath in with several glances up at Codi. "G-go ahead. I'll catch up." Codi narrowed her eyes down at Max in bewilderment. She couldn't even stand on her own! Codi wasn't going to leave her for anything. Max grumbled some more pika-speak, ears falling in time with her tail. She couldn't help self-conscious glances up as she started digging into her bag.
Within the second, she tugged out a… couple of pink rods? Connected by a rope? They were tied together by a band that Max easily popped loose by tugging on a button. Max kept glancing up at Codi watching with sparks bouncing down her cheeks.
One of the rods had what looked like a handle on top of it, and Max grabbed that one, letting the other fall. The rope sucked it into the other, and Codi figured out why Max was so self-conscious. It was a cane.
"It just makes walking easier," Max hissed. Codi didn't need the justification, but it sounded like Max was telling herself. Max pulled herself up with the cane and shook Codi off her. Codi sat back to watch for just a few moments out of curiosity. Max was using it on her left side, just like her crutch. She even kept a much better, more stable gait than before, just like her crutch.
It'd probably help her to use it before she got so tired, too. She always refused to use it until absolutely necessary, of course.
Just like, well, you get it.
Codi rushed up next to her while Max kept her eyes directly ahead of them. The mouse probably wasn't too excited to talk about this, and Codi wouldn't make her. It was kind of cute to see her still failing to keep her cheeks from sparking.
Right at the edge of the woods, they shuffled behind a tree. They peaked out from either side of it to watch the scene unfold.
New Celebi had just stopped his search of… whatever he was searching for and faced Grovyle. His eyes popped with recognition, and he darted over, nearly crashing into Grovyle before catching himself. Grovyle took a few steps back with eyes screwed tight in confusion. "Who the hell are you?" Grovyle spat.
"It's me!" Me said. The voice kind of sounded familiar, but Codi couldn't place it. After a second, the celebi slapped his paw to his face and shook his head. "Right, hold on." After a quick flash of light, Ithos appeared right where Celebi had been.
In the air.
Ithos yelped and plummeted to the earth. He'd at least been flying horizontal, so he landed nice and comfortably on his belly. "Ow," Ithos grunted, pride wounded more than anything.
As Grovyle slapped his paw to his face, Codi heard a grumble from Max and retreated back to hiding to check on her. Max was digging her claws into her pawpads while sucking in more breath than her lungs could probably carry. Her jaw shook from clenching her teeth so hard, all the while she stared up, blinking at the sky to stop herself from crying. She was so mad that she was crying.
She really fucking hated Ithos. It broke Codi's heart.
Codi looked back to the scene before Max caught her watching. Grovyle had knelt to offer Ithos a paw and help him up. Ithos got up and started brushing the shame off his scales without much luck.
"All right, then," Grovyle said. He rubbed his muzzle again and rolled his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?" He tilted his head at the 'charmander' in consideration for a few seconds. "And, just for good measure, when the hell are you from?"
"I messed up!" Ithos spat out. He threw his paws to his temples in despair before shaking his head and looking back up. "Okay, so I didn't—Max! I have to stop her before-"
Speaking of the mouse, a yellow blur fell out of the sky and smashed into the luminous spring beside them. The splash shot at least a few stories high and splashed out far enough to soak Grovyle and Ithos. A few sprinkles even made it to Codi. There was no reason it should've been, but it had to be Max. Codi and Max immediately came out of hiding to see what was going on. Could they save her?
Ithos was certainly about to try. "MAX!" he screamed as he sprinted his charmander self right up to and into the Luminous Spring by the time Max made it out from behind the tree. Codi was a bit worried to watch his tail's flame slip right into the water behind him. It went out.
That was fine. That wouldn't kill him. That was just a myth. Right?
It must've been, because Ithos burst out of the water a few seconds later with a past Max in his arms. He paddled over to the shore and gently laid her on it. He hopped out behind her.
"C'mon, Max," Ithos whispered. His paw went to her neck to feel for a pulse, and he let out a breath of relief. "You're okay. You're okay. You'll be okay." He felt all around her body, watching to see if she groaned or winced at his touch anywhere in her sleep. His eyes frequently went to her chest to confirm she was breathing. She was. Aside from the char and soot of the explosion sent her flying, she looked fine.
"You're okay," Ithos said, this time in relief. It was actually true. He fell back to sit with a deep, whimpering sigh and a smile as wide as his cheeks would allow. His face fell into his paws as he shook his head. Codi was a bit relieved, too, but didn't stop coming over.
That is, until she noticed Max wasn't following behind anymore. Codi turned and watched Max duck back behind the tree they'd hidden behind. Right, this Max had a grudge against Ithos.
Codi was so sick of this shit.
"Nope," Codi barked. She marched right over to the tree and took hold of Max's paw the moment she saw it. She started (gently) tugging, and Max immediately ripped it back.
"Kapi, chu!" Max hissed. She stumbled back, struggling to keep her cane in position while she walked backwards. Codi was ready to snatch her right up again until she saw terror in Max's face instead of rage. "Codi, look at me." She glared up at Codi with desperation in her eyes before reluctantly flicking her head towards her tail.
"That?" Codi asked. "I thought you said he already knew."
"Well, yeah," Max mumbled, rolling her eyes. She shook her head and looked at the ground. "I just… it's a bit different." Codi wanted to stand up for her friend a little bit, but she couldn't. Max was self-conscious about this. Of course she would be. Codi just didn't know what to say.
So caught up in trying to find the right thing to say, she didn't hear the crunching of grass under paw before she heard Ithos say, "Codi?" It was low, uncertain. It sounded like he could barely remember the name, but when Codi turned to see him, his eyes lit up. He didn't have the scar on his chest anymore. He froze for a second with a smile and a bit of a gasp. "Codi." He shook his head. "It's really you."
"Uh," Codi mumbled. Ithos was on the other side of the tree. He couldn't see Max. The right thing to do was tell Ithos Max was right there. Max was trembling. Codi didn't know if she could do the right thing. "Yeah?"
Ithos threw his arms around her. Codi threw her paws up in surprise until she felt something drip off Ithos. It seemed like the remains of his dip in the spring, but Codi didn't see water anywhere else. It was tears. He was crying about seeing her again. He was crying as if they hadn't seen each other in years. That was sweet. However, Codi had seen him roughly a day ago.
"Sorry," Ithos said, seeming to realize as much. He pulled himself away, shaking his head with flushed cheeks. "I-it's just." He looked to the side opposite Max. "Been a while since I've seen… any of you." Only one way.
"You remember?" Codi asked. She used all of her might not to glance over at Max.
Max was still standing right there. It was like she almost—
"Ithos?" Max asked. Well, not almost, apparently. Ithos jumped a little and started to turn around to see where he'd left Max behind, his eyes passing right over the other Max before shooting right back. Max yelped in surprise, then threw her paw over her mouth before yanking her bag to cover her front.
"Max!" Ithos cheered. He ran over to her and yanked her up in his arms. He'd cast the bag away in the motion while careful not to touch her cane, which caused many sparks to spew from Max's cheeks.
Max hesitantly let her arms wrap around him, too. They trembled as she did, constantly second-guessing if she should, could, or even if she wanted to. In the end, though, she couldn't help herself. She reached around to grab under the handle of the cane with her opposite paw so she could more easily hug him, squeezing her eyes shut while her head rested on his shoulder.
Aside from the partially incinerated ear, it looked just like it always did when they hugged.
Ithos grunted as he set her down, causing both of them to chuckle.
Max glanced at his chest, shaking her head. She'd noticed he didn't have the scar anymore, too. "H-how?" Max asked. She repositioned the cane in her right paw while staring in disbelief. Suddenly, she seemed to remember her nerves. She glanced down at herself and immediately winced in regret at the motion. She looked up at Ithos with her muzzle aimed down, wearing a nervous smile.
"What's wrong?" Ithos asked. Codi slapped her paw to the top of her muzzle. He can't have just… not noticed, right? After a second, though, Ithos glanced at her tail, then at the… other tell.
"Oh, that?" Ithos asked. Max meanwhile, had brought her tail around to cover her face. She was hiding herself from him and her eyes from seeing his reaction. Hating him, evidently, had been a front, because of course it was. Of course she'd never stopped loving him. Ithos smiled and rested a paw on her shoulder.
He'd never stopped loving her, either.
"Max, I love you," Ithos said. Max peeked one eye out from behind her tail. Ithos chuckled and shook his head. "C'mon, I always knew you used to think you were a guy."
Max squeaked in disbelief, her tail flicking behind her. She almost went to leap for him, but she still held herself back. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, clearly reminding herself what he'd done. Even then, it still wasn't enough to sustain her rage "I don't get it," Max said. She stared up at him with sad, wet eyes. "Y-you… everything. You erased all of your memories." She shook her head. "How?"
"What?" Ithos asked, tilting his head. Suddenly his eyes shot open in horror as he slapped a paw to his mouth. "You thought—Max, no!" He slapped the same paw to his forehead as he realized exactly what she thought happened. "No, no! I left them with Xerneas for safe-keeping!"
"You. What?" Max asked. She stared off at the distance behind his chest. Everything hit her at the same time that it hit Codi. Codi put her paw to her muzzle in shock.
Max had never lost Ithos to begin with. Something else happened. He'd never abandoned her. All of this plan, she'd done it out of the assumption she didn't have anyone else on her side. She did it because she thought it was the only way to live a life with her kids again when that life had, this entire time, been waiting for her. Just like they'd planned. It was different, but a life with the ones you love was always perfect.
Well, Codi could barely wrap her head around their plan. Stupid fucking time traveling human.
Then, the stupid fucking time traveling human fell backwards, cane in her paw.
"MAX!" Codi shouted, throwing herself after her. Max must've been standing for too long. Had she passed out? Was that safe? Why was Ithos just chuckling down at this?!
Max lightly bopped Codi on the nose with her cane. "I'm fine," she said as Codi hopped up. Yet, she was staring up at the sky with distant eyes. "Just stupid." Max shook her head with a face devoid of emotion. She took in a deep breath and let out a long, pained groan. "Goddammit."
Ithos chuckled as he dropped down to wrap an arm around the back of her neck. "C'mon, Max," he said with a smile. "It's all right." Bold claim, considering he didn't even know what she'd tried to do.
"I really don't think it is," Max mumbled. She let go of her cane to curl up in Ithos' hold. "This was… a lot."
"Aw, it was?" Ithos cooed with a smirk. Max pouted up at him and seemed, for a moment, regretful that she'd abandoned her cane since now she couldn't beat him with it. "Am I really worth that much to you?"
Max grit her teeth while glaring up at him. She tried so hard, with absolutely all of her might to be angry at him for this. Now really wasn't the time to kid around—he had to know that wasn't what she meant. Yet, she couldn't look at him without her eyes softening. Within moments, she'd melted into his arms, whimpering, "What did I do to deserve you?"
Ithos chuckled before leaning down to kiss her forehead. He stared down at her while he shook his head with a smile, then answered, "Everything."