Chapter 138 – West Null Village
Two-thirds of Migami were nervous about where they were flying. In a patch of barren land that interrupted the featureless black forest, there were mountains and empty fields of rock and dust. Those were the same fields that had left Demitri and Mispy stranded and starving for what felt like moons.
Apparently, not far ahead of here, opposite of the way they'd gone previously, was West Null Village. It wouldn't be long now. It was surreal that they now had the strength and rations to make the trip. The amount of mobility that wings granted them…
"Any word from your other self, Owen?" called Eon, still miraculously maintaining his form of Jerry during the flight. There had been a few times where his mind had wandered and he had to land on Migami's back to make sure he didn't revert.
"Not yet," the Charmeleon replied back. "Guess he's busy doing other stuff. He seemed a lot more tense… I guess being cooped up in a cell or whatever would, you know, mess with someone…"
"How's that work, anyway?" Migami asked, Gahi's distractibility getting the better of them. "Do you… get angry when he gets angry? Or something?"
"I don't think so," Owen replied, though now he seemed puzzled, too. "I think what's going on is we're just living different lives right now. I guess when we reunite, we'll… average out? Hopefully, uh, we don't get too different. That'll get complicated."
Migami winced. "Complicated," they repeated. "Like Rhys. Or… everyone else."
Owen's expression darkened, but he nodded. "Yeah… I, uh… When this is over, I think we should talk to Dialga or something. Just set Palkia's pearl down and set up the Waypoint thing so we can get right back, and then relax a little. I think the other me is taking care of things for now, maybe? Or at least, he's not in any danger…"
Zena curled around Migami's body again, reorienting herself. "We can't let you suffer, though," she said. "Is taking a break really something we should be doing?"
"I think so," Owen said. "I get it. It's dangerous to be anywhere near Alexander. But… what can we really do? We can't take him head-on. Marshadow is probably trying to develop an opening or something, too."
Zena was tense around their body, but the Milotic nodded and sighed.
"Alexander… I can't believe how horrible his aura was. How can the world be this way, where someone so awful can be so powerful?"
Owen nodded. "I think it's because he's so awful that he's so powerful. I don't think you can gather that kind of dark power without being able to… mentally handle it."
Migami gave Owen a skeptical look. "Didn't you?" they asked.
It was probably a comment better left unsaid, because Owen flinched and looked away. Migami sensed guilt in his aura. "Well… I guess that's true, too."
"Then it's not just the power," Migami concluded. "It's how he used it."
"Some power is just naturally evil, though," Owen said, and Zena nodded along. "How can you use something from Diyem… for good?"
"Well… Anam used it to—"
"Don't go there," Jerry growled.
Owen seemed a little smaller as they continued to fly.
Jerry sighed. "Look, maybe Kilo is peaceful, but I lost my home and livelihood to him. Don't care if it's because I didn't try hard enough," he added, flashing a glare at Migami. The Gahi portion felt it was directed at him. "My life was ruined."
A tense, awkward length of time followed as they flew over the valley.
"…You resisted Alexander's attacks, though," Owen added. "So, the place you used to live in the south… it was…"
"Yeah, I guess it was powers like that."
"And it ran in your family?" Owen asked.
"Yeah. Mew's blessing, and Void's blessing, or something," Jerry said dismissively. "Mom had the first part. Guess that's why it's so easy for me to channel all kinds of techniques on the fly. Others take a while to switch out what they can call quickly."
Migami thought back to Owen's account on how Amia had struggled to channel a technique she hadn't prepared… A Shadow Ball to defeat Star, or at least disrupt her. How that had been what sent her to the Voidlands in the first place. If Amia had Mew's Blessing, that wouldn't have happened…
"So, your dad's side had Diyem's blessing in the bloodline," Owen said.
"Guess so," Jerry said idly.
"…Was he bad?" Migami asked, overriding Mispy's caution thanks to Demitri's curiosity and Gahi's boldness.
"I maybe killed him," Jerry spat. "Maybe. There's no proof. So, I'm pretty much hoping he's a blob here in the Voidlands, so he doesn't get to live some cushy life oppressing someone else."
"O-oh." Migami nodded. "Sorry."
"It's whatever." Jerry beat his wings a little harder to gain altitude, then settled into a glide, conjuring some updraft.
"That's hardly whatever," Zena said. "Is… is your mother well?"
Even Migami knew that was a terrible question. Owen, too, cringed, and Zena shrank away.
"You don't need to answer," she added awkwardly.
"No. It's fine," Jerry clearly lied. "She's dead, too. But, it was peaceful. A little early, but… peaceful. She survived the whole thing after I allegedly killed the guy, and had some good years after that. But, she had medical problems she was born with, and you can't really heal those off. Her life expectancy wasn't the greatest. But, I made it comfortable, and…"
"And… lost your way after that," Owen said. "But it's good that you cared for her, right?"
"Let's talk about something else."
"Right. Um, sorry."
More awkward silence.
"Well, she died peacefully, in her home, then?" Zena asked. "You feel she was… that she was at ease, when she died?"
"Yeah," Jerry replied, not looking at any of them. "Yeah, I think so."
"Well… perhaps we could…" Zena glanced at Owen, who tilted his head. "See… her? Later? When we have the… time, and ability, when we leave here. Perhaps, if we contacted Hecto, I do believe he…"
Between breaths and a sigh, Jerry said, "Yeah, I thought about it." He took another one, tired and strained. "Not interested."
Eon beat his wings next, then clumsily conjured his own updraft. He had trouble keeping pace with their flight. He was sometimes too fast, and other times too slow. "You wanted to end off on a good note," Eon guessed.
"Finally, someone gets it," Jerry muttered. "She'd… hate what I turned into. If she's really out there somewhere, I hope to something that she wasn't watching me fall. I'm… gonna just stay strong."
Those words swam around in Migami's mind. Stay strong. Had they heard that phrase from him before? It seemed so familiar.
"West Null Village is ahead," Zena reported, leaning forward like it would help her see more from Migami's back. "Do you see it?"
The wasteland of mountains gave way to a collection of sparkling gemstones just by a mountain base, where the forest met the hills. That sparkling place must have been the crystal-embedded buildings that warded off Void Shadows. There must have been a lot of people there to fight.
No, no, that wasn't correct. That wasn't the correct line of thinking.
"Hey," Owen said, patting Migami on the neck. "Feeling alright?" He gave them a concerned look and patted a little longer.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Migami replied weakly. Sometimes they really hated his Perceive. Couldn't hide a thing from him.
"Once we land, you can defuse and not worry about it," Owen assured them, and that was a small relief. Just a little longer and they could keep calm again, and not worry about losing their minds.
They shifted their formation for a glide down. At around the same time, as they had been informed, some Null guards flew toward them from the town. Owen climbed atop Zena, waved them down, and the guards flew to the top of a hill.
"I think we should land there," Owen said. "Just to let them know we're friendly."
The landing kicked up dust and Owen coughed a few times from it. Migami, feeling self-conscious and worried about being set off, avoided eye contact and acted like some pack Pokémon meant to carry supplies and not speak to anyone. That kind of feral existed here, right? Oh, to be that simple-minded… In some ways, it was easier when they weren't aware of their slipping sanity.
"We're from South Null," Owen said with a polite bow. "Did anyone let you know about us coming? We're here to set down a Waypoint from Palkia himself."
"Palkia, yeah. We got that," replied a Staraptor guard, though his intense gaze was scrutinizing them with every word. "But how do we know it's true?"
"Well…" Owen trailed off. "Uh… we're… not attacking you or anything?" He smiled nervously.
Staraptor glanced at his Noctowl partner, who nodded. They both routinely pulled out a crystal each with their beaks and flashed it at all of them. This only accomplished confusing Migami, who tilted their head at the light and tried to grab at it.
The Staraptor scowled and dropped it back into his bag. "Well, they aren't Void Shadows," Staraptor said. "Fine. You can come along, but don't wander until we're sure you're safe."
"Tight security," Jerry muttered. "Guess that's smart. What, ran into trouble lately?"
"There were Dark Matter sightings. That isn't very often, and we aren't taking any risks," said Staraptor.
"Oh, Dark Matter shouldn't bother you right now," Migami said. "We put him out of commission."
"Wh-what my friend here means," Owen explained, "is that he… came to South Null Village, and—"
"Look, we heard the story. We're just skeptical," Staraptor said flatly. "Tree of Life in South Null? Legends being restored? Dark Matter, defeated? Yeah, right. That's got 'too good to be true' written all over it."
"But it is true…" Migami frowned. "I'd swear, like, one of my souls on it."
"Migami, maybe… don't talk about that," Owen whispered, though that earned an odd look from Noctowl.
"You are strange looking. I don't think I've ever seen a Pokémon as big and… warped as you." Noctowl stared even more, his gaze intensifying. "You practically look like a tiny Titan."
"They're vines," Migami said as a few of them involuntarily opened up, revealing their serrated, thorn-like teeth.
They all seemed to recoil at that, and Owen quickly interjected. "It's fine! It's fine! He's, uh, just… Southern! Southern Kiloan, lots of strange things down there, you know?"
"Strange doesn't cover it," Staraptor growled, "but I get it. South had all kinds of twisted life. Whatever, fine. We got advanced warning and it adds up, so feel free to head in. Just don't cause trouble. Got it?"
He looked right at Migami when he said that, so Migami scoffed back. The Demitri part of them had enough sense to nod with more politeness a few moments later. With everything ready, they took to the skies once more and glided the rest of the way to West Null Village.
They landed, mercifully, without incident, though they got quite a few stares from many Pokémon that lived there.
"Nice, warm welcome," Jerry muttered. "Alright, where are we putting this Waypoint down? Let's just slap it on the ground there and leave."
"I thought you wanted to get away from Null Village?" Owen asked.
"We're in a Null Village."
"You know what I mean."
"Just wanted to clear my head a little with the flight," Jerry said with another grunt. "Days of flying helped with that. Turns out seeing some possible ancestor being the evilest king in the whole world can get you thoughtful and nostalgic."
"Nostalgic," Migami repeated. "…Why is that nostalgic?"
"Look, I—" Jerry sighed. "What, did I never explain it to you? Dad was… a higher-up in the South before Anam took over. He had Void's Blessing, so I inherited that. I also inherited Mom's Mew's Blessing."
"Two blessings?" Migami said, not familiar with what either blessing specifically was. Or what a blessing meant in this case. It sounded familiar…
"Yeah. Apparently, getting a bunch of blessings was something the family line always wanted, but it's hard to track those ones down, especially a Mew's Blessing. There were some Pokémon who had it, but they also had some kind of third property that made it impossible to pass on the Void part, I guess? Look, I sort of… don't care about that. Never did."
Migami didn't either, so they nodded.
Zena, however, persisted. "Your family line had Dark Matter's power, then," she said. "And Star's power, in one. That's interesting, but the power that counters it… That might be Necrozma's."
"Guess so," Jerry said dully.
Owen was riding on Migami's back, so they noticed when he tensed. They turned their head back, tilting it at him, but then followed his gaze down the road.
Eon's form shifted suddenly from Aerodactyl to a star-shaped sprite, which then quickly shifted back to a Charmeleon, but with a yellow hat shaped like a star. He desperately tried to pat it down.
West Null Village's landscape was very similar to South Null's, but rather than roads of ceramic clay, it was dirt embedded with gemstones, just like the walls. They all glowed dimly.
On the far end of the street, past several light crystal-dotted buildings, were four Pokémon with similar shapes but very different temperaments, just at a glance. A yellow, star-headed Pokémon that Migami recognized as Jirachi. He looked nervous and trailed behind the other three, who were the Trio of Mind. The other yellow-headed one, Uxie, was the furthest in the back, her eyes closed. The red one, Mesprit, looked the most fearful, nervously playing with his hands. And the last one, blue and somehow much larger than all the others, was Azelf, far ahead of them with an intense look in his eyes.
Migami was briefly conflicted on what to do. Defensive stance? Attacking stance? They were small, so they could probably attempt to crush them. But they were also Legendary Pokémon, so they likely had much more durability than their bodies suggested. Psychic barriers were also a possibility.
That moment of hesitation was all Azelf needed to close the gap Azelf not only flew straight past Migami at incredible speeds, but also slammed directly into Owen, his tiny arms wrapped around him. Thanks to his larger frame, they were around the same size.
Zena was too startled to do anything, but after a moment, she relaxed. Migami followed suit, though the tension was still in the air.
"A-Azelf?" Owen squeaked. "It—yeah, it's me, um… I…"
Azelf pressed his forehead against Owen's chest. "'m sorry," he mumbled.
"You're… sorry?" Owen asked, but realization seemed to hit his eyes a moment later. Then came the same conflict Migami felt, just from the stories Owen had told them.
Perhaps out of reluctance, perhaps from uncertainty—Migami couldn't get a read on the aura coming from Owen—the Charmeleon wrapped his arms around Azelf next.
"Right," Owen said. "It's… it's alright now." He tried to pry Azelf off, but he was stubborn. And somehow Migami knew that stubbornness wasn't going to fade any time soon. It reminded them of Gahi, which only made sense.
Jerry, meanwhile, muttered a few curses under his breath before saying, "It's never simple meetings, is it?"
"I suppose not," Zena said with a little laugh. "Owen?"
"Oh, uh—" Owen tried again to push Azelf away, but that only made Azelf's tails wrap around him. He sagged his shoulders in defeat. Uxie was shaking her head disapprovingly, while Mesprit offered a nervous smile. Jirachi waved at Owen, who winced and waved back.
Migami wondered if awkwardness was edible.
"Let's find someplace to sit and talk," Owen said.
"Uh, well, there's—the main headquarters," Jirachi said. "Or… our place…"
"Let's do the headquarters," Owen said.
"R-right. Right."
Similar but different was the running theme for comparing South and West Null. More crystals embedded the walls here, but the buildings themselves seemed to be made of wood rather than stone. Owen wondered why, then, they seemed so sturdy. Maybe they were coated in something that made them more resistant to the elements? It certainly didn't look like Protect insulation…
The headquarters for West Null Village was made of that same material, but the walls seemed thicker, and there were odd crystal patterns inside that seemed to be for some kind of programming. There was a screen at the far end of the main room that was currently unpowered.
At the center of the room was a long table where they all sat. Demitri, Mispy, and Gahi, now split apart, were stealing glances at their counterparts. Owen watched all eight of them—Jirachi and Eon included—with morbid fascination.
They really did share a few little quirks. Mispy and Uxie were both completely silent while observing the rest. Mesprit and Demitri were fidgeting nervously, perhaps sensing the tension in the room. Jirachi and Eon kept looking at him, which he could do without. And Gahi and Azelf were busy sizing each other up.
"Well," Mesprit finally said, "this is… more awkward than I thought it would be."
"I'm just glad you guys didn't try to kill me," Owen admitted. "We didn't exactly end off on the right foot…"
"Times change… and, well, it's not like you were responsible for what happened after," Mesprit said. "Once you were out of the picture, someone even worse rose up. Alexander…"
"Even worse, huh." Owen deflated.
"A-ah. Sorry…" Mesprit bit his lip.
"It's worse in some ways. You were still an enemy," Uxie replied, speaking with her mind. Mispy stared at her enviously. "You still led the fight against Necrozma, siding with Dark Matter for the fate of the world."
Owen kept quiet, several arguments rising in his mind, but he knew that wasn't the place for it.
"Go on, Owen," Uxie said, and Owen jumped. "Explain why we're wrong."
"Now you're just taunting me," Owen muttered, bringing his hands to his lap to be as closed as possible. His flame dimmed.
"No," Uxie replied. "I want to know."
Was this a trap? Was Uxie just going to try to pick apart his logic, a thousand years later, to explain once again how everything he'd done was a big mistake? He already knew that. He didn't want to get it told to him again.
But, this was their home. And they were supposed to make amends. And… they'd been trapped in the Voidlands for—Owen wasn't really sure how long it had been to them. An incomprehensible amount of time to a mortal, he was sure.
"Let me just ask this," Owen said first. "Do you really think that, if I let Necrozma end the world, he would have brought everyone back with Dark Matter purged?"
"No," Uxie said.
Owen flinched. Okay, that wasn't what he was expecting. He glanced at Mesprit and Azelf, who both didn't object. Then, he looked at Jirachi, who seemed pained.
"Okay, you're… going to need to give me a second," Owen said. "I wasn't expecting that answer."
"Why do you think so?" Uxie asked.
"Well, because, uh, Owen just knows," Gahi said. "He's smart like that."
"He had to have had a reason," Demitri added. "Owen?"
Mispy's eyes were closed, like she was considering why.
Owen answered first. "It was because of the compromise he made."
Uxie nodded, like that was the correct answer.
Feeling emboldened, Owen continued. "If Necrozma actually planned to revive the world, he would have ended it completely and then did it all at once. Assuming he had the power to do that, at least. But Star and Barky didn't think so, or maybe they thought it wouldn't go that way… so they instead wanted to let the people who lived in the world have their final century instead. No new souls would show up—so, no new life would be born—but nothing already alive would be killed. They'd just die off. And he had the Legends provide for the final generations the things that no new life took away from the natural order of things."
"What?" Demitri breathed. "You can't be serious. That's the world you lived in?"
"Near the end of my time as Wishkeeper," Owen confirmed.
"That's… terrifying! Imagine being, like, an adult, but you're the youngest person in the world. No kids. Ever? Is that how…"
"Yeah," Owen said. "I remember. It happened just before you two were considering settling down to have a family, actually," Owen said to Demitri and Mispy. "But then you ascended, so that was off the table. But if you wanted to ever go back to that…" He looked down. "But, my daughter also wanted a family. I think that… might've, um, contributed to driving me over the edge. That she could never have a family. I don't think Necrozma realized that his solution was just going to cause pain anyway. But it was telling in other ways.
"Because it meant he didn't intend to bring the world back. Imagine living your whole life where no kids were born, and then suddenly all these generations would just… come back? Restarting the world from some random point after the slow apocalypse? It's… weird. Complicated. Like Necrozma didn't really consider what would happen after the end… because he wasn't going to bother with it."
Uxie nodded again. "That's correct. I came to that conclusion as well… but by then, it was too late. I was clouded by the fear of what Dark Matter would have done instead that I solely listened to Necrozma, and assumed you had been taken by darkness.
"In fact, it was who came after you that made me realize you were not taken by Dark Matter. You were the one keeping Dark Matter at bay."
"Alexander," Azelf spat. "Apparently, in the power vacuum that we left behind by takin' Wishkeeper out, Alexander took over with Dark Matter's full power. Became some… screwed up feedback loop o' negativity'n lust fer power."
"R-right." Owen hummed. "Do you know why that happened at all? How Alexander… did all of that?"
"Nah. Only that he became a problem pretty soon after," Azelf said. Then, with a snort, he added, "Definitely would rather fight you th'n him. Least you didn't send troops ter raze the whole place…"
Owen didn't want to know the details. He knew enough from how Alexander was—
"Wait," Owen said, "how did Alexander get defeated, then?"
"We aren't actually sure on that, either," Azelf said. "Someone did him in and it wasn' us."
"What?" Owen leaned forward. "Everyone keeps saying they aren't sure how this all happened. Are you saying that Necrozma wasn't the one who, I don't know, pulled Alexander into the Voidlands to keep them both from escaping or something?"
"You've been reading too many comics," Jerry mumbled aloud, earning a glare from Zena.
Azelf only shrugged again. "We dunno."
"Hm. Well, maybe my other half will have an idea," Owen said. "He's at Cipher Castle right now."
"He's WHAT?!" Azelf nearly hit the ceiling.
"You can't just drop that on us casually!" Jirachi said.
"I—I thought you knew?" Owen sputtered. "I guess that part of the news didn't get across… I left behind a potted plant that held some of my spirit, and that's what I grew out of. Most of me got carried to Cipher City. I'm also a tree."
There was a beat of silence where nobody moved.
Then, Jerry said, "Your friend's a freak, you know."
"Point is," Owen said, shrinking, "I'm going to be getting some information. The reason we came here was to set up a Waypoint from Palkia, and… to gather some power."
"Right. That part we know." Jirachi glanced at Eon, who avoided his gaze. "We're… getting back together, I guess. I don't really know the whole story about what happened to me after the war, but I take it, not good?"
"You could say that," Eon mumbled. It would have been to himself, had the room not become so quiet.
Each of the four pairs of halves stared at each other again, and that tension was back. The tension that, one way or another, this room of so many bodies was going to shrink by four one day. Perhaps even this day.
"Do we know what that's like?" Mesprit asked first. "Does—does it hurt?"
"That's your first question," Azelf growled, pointing an accusatory finger at Gahi. "Look what happened ter us! We're all… mutated! Twisted around!"
Eon looked like he wanted to disappear.
"I'm… kind of surprised you've been alive this long, actually," Mesprit said. "Normally, when a half dies, they're pulled across the Aura Sea, into the Voidlands, and then toward whoever their spirit corresponds to. That's the memories they get, at least. Kinda like a dream… Which means something's been keeping you tied to the living world."
"Most of this is news we've pieced together," Uxie added. "It has been so long that the most recent person to recombine did so many centuries ago."
"Centuries…" Demitri rubbed his forehead. "H-how much time that would do to someone… How different have we become?"
Uxie turned her head to face Demitri, then Mesprit.
"Surprisingly, not very much," she stated flatly. "I don't know why you have changed so little. But Legends tend to change at a slower rate. It comes with having a mind built to withstand eternity. For better or worse, that helps us here."
"Oh, something similar happens for Mystics," Owen said. "I think a lot of the Mystic Pokémon we know just set up a realm in a Dungeon and went dormant…"
"Oh, that sounds… lonely," Mesprit said. "But it makes sense, if that's a piece of Necrozma influencing them. They would probably tend toward stillness and stasis. B-but that's good! That means, err, when we combine, the changes won't be… horribly jarring… I hope…"
"Now, hang on," Gahi said, leaning forward. "Y'know, we're talkin' like we're gonna be doin' that right away, but I'm wise ter that."
"Yeah," Azelf agreed, leaning forward in the air, as if there was an invisible table in front of him. "I think these guys're tryna pull a fast one on us!"
"Oi! I'm sayin' you Legends're tryna pull a fast one on us! Yer gonna eat our souls and lock us far 'n away!"
Uxie and Mispy both covered their faces with their hands or vines respectively.
"Who would that benefit, Gahi?" Owen asked patiently. "If you're two halves, then that means anything we do badly to one will also come back to the other. Right?"
Part of him was hopeful that was true, but from what they'd seen briefly of Dialga, it wasn't completely the case. Rhys' memories were there, but deep within Dialga. They had no idea if they would surface fully, or…
But Rhys had been killed in a peculiar way. Maybe that didn't have to happen.
"Well, we don't really know one way or the other," Mesprit admitted. "It's not like this happened all that often… It's only when we had a talk with Latios, and heard about you all, that we put it all together…"
"Oh, Latios. He's fine?" Owen asked. "Latias is okay. She was possessed for a little bit, but we fixed her up."
Uxie shook her head, smiling. "You say it so casually. Yes, he's fine. I think he's resting right now. He'll definitely want to follow you back through the Waypoint."
"Easy to do," Owen said. "…Then, I guess we should try to sort out how this… reunion part works. Because we need to keep the bodies, a-at the very least." Owen shifted uncomfortably. "It's needed for… something we could use, possibly, to counter Alexander. A massive spike in power…"
After taking a breath, and getting some confirmation from the others, Owen explained everything. Occasionally, Eon hesitantly perked up to explain some technicalities, or Zena would explain how it all looked from a bystander's perspective, but by the end of it, Owen had explained the Alloy project. The Reincarnation Machine, the mutants, the fusion of their minds and bodies, and how it had all gone wrong.
"…So, in the end," Owen said, "even if it was meant for Arceus, or something else I can't remember, we can use it against Alexander instead. So, if we do this spiritual reunion, we need to keep the bodies on our side."
"I understand," Uxie said. "We can tell at a glance that your bodies have more physical capabilities… if imbued with Legendary power. As it stands, though, we are stronger."
"R-right." Owen nodded nervously.
"Oi, wanna say that again?" Gahi growled. "You li'l pixies ain't got anythin' on us!"
"It is nice to see that the reunion between you and Azelf will not be turbulent." Uxie then faced Owen again. "But I believe we will need time to process this. Jirachi?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm listening," Jirachi mumbled, looking lost.
"…A lot of time," Uxie concluded.
"That's fine," Owen said. "Our main goal was setting up the Waypoint. But, be careful, alright? Maybe you can come with us, or something? Since… it might get dangerous around here soon if Alexander figures out our movements."
"That is also something we will need to consider," Uxie said. "But we may take you up on that offer. Lately, the Titans have been much less hostile."
"Oh, that's because—"
"Alright, about now's when I'm getting tired of talking," Jerry said, his spaded tail jabbing Owen in the side. Owen chirped in surprise. "Can we, like, rest somewhere while the Waypoint's being installed or whatever?"
"Oh. Um." Jirachi looked awkwardly at the others. "I guess you can go in the same facilities we have Latios in, if you want. Temporary housing?"
"Sure." Jerry jerked his head back. "While the smarties get the Waypoint installed, I'm taking a nap. Did nothing but flying and sleeping on rocks for days. About time I sleep on something proper."
"Uh, sure…" Owen nodded again, unsure why Jerry was insisting on ending the meeting early. That jab seemed meaningful.
"You know, you've all been through a lot," Mesprit said. "How about we resume fresh after a good sleep?"
Uxie nodded. "Get some rest. We will send for you in twelve hours."
And as suddenly as they'd started the meeting, they ended it. Owen wandered after Jerry with the others, sparing only a glance backward as Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, and Jirachi looked at one another wordlessly. Mesprit nervously waved at him.
It occurred to Owen just then that they might have been speaking telepathically the whole time.
…Oh, so you're worried that they might have been conspiring mid-meeting? And Jerry spotted it?
Owen, in his new room in Cipher Castle, listened to Owen's recounting of their arrival in West Null Village. His bedding was soft, the pillows fluffed, and the room remarkably spacious. He felt guilty about it all, but it was also a guilty pleasure to be in that kind of soft bedding, to feel it under his belly and arms, to feel a warm blanket over his back. He'd curled up and nearly slept the day away, despite having no need for sleep anymore.
That's basically it, Null Owen replied. I don't… want to lose them.
Cipher Owen winced, nodding before realizing that Null Owen wasn't going to see it. Right. That's hard. I, uh. I don't know either. I guess asking each other for advice doesn't help when we're basically the same…
They at least aren't trying to kill each other for dominance, Null Owen said. That'll be fine. Maybe tomorrow, we can talk it out. Or we'll just go back and… get to know each other. A lot of the pairs are doing that, actually. You know, to ease in to being the same again.
That's scary to think about, Cipher Owen admitted, curling around a pillow to stare at his flame. Living two totally different lives, and then suddenly you need to get together to live one? That's, like, a reverse-Hecto or something.
…Hecto… Hey! That's a great idea!
Wh—oh! You're right! Hecto would totally have advice for this sort of thing, right? Cipher Owen sneezed against the flame on his nose.
I'll do that! I'll tell the others, too. Tomorrow. Oh, and you also said you had some other news for me?
Right. Actually, it's kind of… kind of similar news.
A pause. We don't have a Legend half, right?
No, no! We don't. We're whole. Just you, me, and the Tree.
Null Owen seemed relieved. Just so you know, splitting more than three parts causes some instability or something, or it makes each part a lot weaker, so we should avoid that.
Yeah, I know. Speaking of threes… You remember Remi?
How could I forget?
A beat.
Uh, never mind. Anyway, what about Remi?
Cipher Owen wasn't sure if he should continue, but he'd already broached the subject. Do you remember Spice?
The Salazzle? …No, she's… not… What?
Part of Remi was lost in the Voidlands. And Spice wasn't ever able to get Orans to work on her well enough, remember? The ones that were made from Anam's light—so, Necrozma's—to have stronger healing properties. Apparently, she's also been acting strange lately, right? When all the darkness was rising up?
Yeah, that's what the Kilo side reported to us at least, but that was more like a footnote…
It's because she's a Void Shadow. But, one that was able to hold onto a few things, or something. She might have some of our light in her that let her persist. She's… She might be Remi. No, not—she's part of Remi. She's also in three parts.
Spice… Wh-who are the others?
Mhynt knows that one is in our Tree self right now. I'm trying to reach him, but he's not all that talkative. He must be focused on… Tree things, or something.
Are… are you sure? Null Owen seemed hesitant at that. Sometimes I feel like he's listening in. Let's keep talking. Tree-me! Try to look around for a spirit that might be Remi, and maybe doesn't remember?
And Cipher Owen couldn't blame him. To think that Remi was right with him that entire time… She might not even realize it.
Null Owen continued. Who's the third?
Enet.
Okay, but how?
We don't know. But Mhynt could sense her spirit there, too. She had to get Enet out of there immediately, before Alexander and the others found out. Something's… strange about all of this. Spice, Enet, and whoever's in the Tree, all being here. Mhynt doesn't know why or how. Obviously, we don't, and Eon would've told us if he knew anything about Remi. Nobody knows why Remi is like this now.
I feel like there's still more to all of this than before. Something… happened to Remi. Call it a gut feeling, but it feels important.
Then… that's our next goal. Talking to Enet and Spice, and the third fragment.
But be careful, Cipher Owen added. We don't know what it'll do to them. Or to 'Remi' inside. If it's anything like what happened to us, or to the halves…
A grave silence descended upon them. They imagined the centuries of Resets, the pain of getting it all back. Their mind shattered and sewn back together time and time again. If they said too much to any of Remi's parts, would she suffer the same fate?
I want to see Remi again, Null Owen said. But if it means hurting Enet or Spice, what… what do we do?
Just telling them wouldn't hurt, right? Maybe… maybe start with Spice. She might be wondering about herself a lot. Maybe it'll give her some closure, or something…
Or it'll make her go insane, Null Owen added, sounding conflicted.
Cipher Owen winced, nodding for Null Owen to not see.
This must've been how everyone felt when hiding memories from me, huh? Null Owen said. I guess now I get it…
A wave of strange guilt and empathy washed over Cipher Owen as he curled a little tighter around the pillow.
And we felt awful when it was revealed to us, and we resented them for not telling us sooner, Cipher Owen said. That means we need to tell them, but find a way to do it… carefully.
Yeah. I don't want to repeat that kind of history. Not when we know.
Right. Okay, well. Get some rest, alright?
And what about you? Null Owen asked. How much time do we have?
I think I'll be fine for a while. I have a plan that'll buy time for you guys. And if all goes well, I think we'll be able to escape soon… All of us.
Alright. But I'm still checking in every day, alright? We can't drift apart. Otherwise it'll get even more complicated.
Cipher Owen chuckled. Drifting apart… He trailed off, wincing. Mhynt and I… definitely did that. We're working together, but it's a little painful. Oh—and how's Zena doing?
She's doing great! Don't worry about her. I think a lot of this halves stuff is going over her head, though… Actually, I think I might talk with her about it.
Cipher Owen let out a sigh. At least some things are going well. Make sure she's holding up, alright?
Oh, I will. Null Owen paused, and Cipher Owen had a feeling he was putting a fist to his chest.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Cipher Owen glanced at the doorway. A blast of water sent him tumbling off his bed and hard into a wall. Ugh—
Other me?
Sorry, I'll talk to you later, Cipher Owen called as another beam of water shot through his chest.
Qitlan shut the door behind him, glaring icily. Owen had a good idea that he was still fuming over being outsmarted, so it was going to be another round of playing dumb.
Have to do a meeting.