Episode 24: The Second Country ~ The Legend of Etheria
Leos sprung awake with a sharp jolt. A nightmare caused him to move too quickly, and he ended up squirming from a horrible pain in his back.
"Prince Leos!" Griselle cried, leaned over him as he slowly fell back down.
He didn't look at her, but he recognised her voice. He also recognised the nightmare that caused him to shoot awake this way. It was the premonition he had when he entered the Constellar Church.
It took him a while to settle his breath and open his eyes, where a worried Griselle was still leaned over him. Her face brightened when he looked at her though, her sunny smile a big relief to the darkness he'd just seen. He felt like he was lying on damp sand or something of the sort, and stretched to try and scratch the itches it was giving him.
"Prince Leos, are you alright?" Griselle said as she helped him up.
The moment she touched him, the reality of his condition hit like a truck: he was at one percent right now, barely awake and functioning. It hurt to sit up, his vision was blurry and dizzy, his ears were muffled, his body ached from famine, and more. He could barely raise a paw or utter a sound to reply, and instead fell forward onto all fours.
Darn it, not now! he cursed in his mind as he gasped for life. He was so sore and fragile that it hurt to breathe. I should be used to this by now but… if I don't recover, I really will just pass out again!
"I'm gonna take that as a big no no. B-but on the bright side, I know where we are! And Prem is safe, too!" she cheered. "We don't have far to go. Prem, Leos is awake!"
"Prem," Leos managed to huff. No doubt the Pikachu was beyond worried, but he didn't say anything at all. He just put his hands together and stared. He looked like he was going to cry at any moment.
"Can you stand?" Griselle asked again. She barely gave Leos a chance to try since he was still puffing and panting on all fours. She nodded to herself and her thoughts and hoisted him onto her back.
"Gr-Griselle, what're you d-doing?" Leos growled.
"You're not gonna make it, so I'll take you as far as I can. It's really not far to the tents, so you won't have to worry about me," she said with a smile. With that, she jogged off.
Thankfully, the unusual act caused Leos to wake up a little. He was still fighting to stay awake, but he could at least see and hear properly. Wherever they were, it was nothing like anything he had ever seen.
Griselle led them out of a tight enclosure of uniquely shaped towers of rock and into the vast expanses of a desert, but they appeared to be near to the edge of that desert. Sand, dunes, and heat fluctuations were all he could see to one side, whilst their destination, a prairie, covered the other side.
The biggest concern was that no one was around. Leos hadn't seen a real desert before, but he knew of all the dangers and comforts that led some Pokémon to live in them. Why not a hint of life was in sight worried him, but in his current state, he knew not to question it.
"Griselle, what is this place?" Prem finally asked. Once they reached the grassland, the heat from the sunlight seemed to cool. That was probably more due to the fact that the sun was setting, though.
"It's a place called the Second Country. Grandma can explain it better," she huffed between sentences.
Leos gave a groan and squirmed in discomfort. He hadn't heard of this place before. A large collection of tents and structures that looked like cheap treehouses soon came into sight, just as Griselle had hinted at earlier. No one was around still, but these tents lifted any worries he had as to whether Pokémon lived here or not.
"Now where is everybody?" Griselle sung. Prem searched with her as if he knew the place, but soon gave her a perplexed look. She ignored him and ran into one of the bigger tents at random. Nothing was there except for a few soft mats on the floor. She set Leos down on one and brushed her paws. "There we go! I guess everyone's just out right now. I wonder what happened?"
"Griselle," Prem groaned, while Leos didn't answer. He just sat there with his arms wrapped around himself. His stomach growled, and he groaned.
"Okay okay, I get it, too hungry to move and all that. I-I can try and find some fruit or something, but until the others show up, I can't get a proper meal," she said with a nervous laugh. Leos glared at her, and she started sweating. "I guess I'll just go and find that! So stay right here, 'kay? I'll be right back."
Silence fell. Leos and Prem stared for a while until the latter sighed and sat down, a troubled look on his face. Leos ignored it for a while until he strained to sit back and try to relax. As the sun set, a dim lighting came through the cloth that gave the room a warm feel.
"Leos," Prem said. He struggled to look at Leos.
"Prem. Really, where are we?" Leos asked.
"I don't know. Griselle just said this place is called the Second Country. She seemed pretty happy that we ended up here, too," Prem replied. Leos was quiet.
"We're dead, aren't we?" he eventually asked.
"Wha-what? N-no, we're not dead!" Prem gasped.
"We fell to Charle's attack. I have no doubt he killed us!" he hissed.
"No, we're not! I know it doesn't make sense that we're alive, but I can just tell. It feels too real." Prem shook his head. "Besides, I refuse to accept that I've died without- without telling you I—"
Leos turned to face him at that, straight faced and bothered by the wording. Seeing that, Prem hugged himself and turned away to hide his face. "Prem. What're we going to do?"
"I- I don't know, Leos." Prem slumped forward.
"I'll tell you what we're going to do," he said. Prem looked up in surprise. "We're going to figure out where we are, get back to Eris, and stop Tapu Bulu. We'll find out what the Tapu are up to and stop them, too. And once all of this is over, we'll get some ice cream."
"Ice cream?" Prem said.
"Yes. We'll talk about that over ice cream," he said. "Over at the Luvdisc Lake. I still haven't forgotten that you wanted to go there."
"Leos," Prem's face went bright red.
"Until then, please try to focus. If we're alive, then we need to find out where we are and how to get back," Leos growled and scrunched up his face. "I can't have you getting distracted by feelings like this. Not now. We have too many important things to do."
"Isn't talking about this important, too?" Prem reasoned.
"Only if your priorities are in the wrong place. I'm on the verge of starving to death while my two families are about to engage in war that will destroy the world. Your feelings can wait," he argued. Prem moaned again. "Urf, listen. It really is because of that Rosie character, isn't it? I can't see why else you're so fond of me."
"Rosie?" Prem perked up.
"Yes. That Mimikyu Constellar that was with Master Lin. She clearly has her whole life set on being with you. She even dressed herself in that Pikachu cloth to look like you. Yet still you're here, dropping obvious implications that you have feelings for me," he explained. Prem jolted around to face him and his face went completely red.
"Waitwaitwait, that's not what I- that's—" Prem squeaked, shaking his hands.
"C'mon, Prem. There's no point in trying to style it out now. I've already seen how you've been reacting to Griselle," he said. Prem's breath turned heavy and he clutched his chest with both paws. He couldn't stop blushing, but forced himself to look at his friend.
"She's… she put me off girls. No, wait. I don't know how to put this," Prem mumbled. "She changed me, Leos. We go way back, but she inserted herself into my life. I was only nice to her for a short while, and she started obsessing over me. She wouldn't even let me use a litterbox without following me and saying how much she liked me. Back then, I didn't even like myself very much."
"I can see why that much affection would be off-putting," Leos rolled his eyes.
"When I left the Constellars- no. That's a story for another time," Prem muttered. "Just know that she's the reason I left the Constellars. And then I met you, and you're kinder than anyone I've ever met. Or just, I feel like I understand you. I'm happy to do what I do best, which is following and helping you in any way I can. I think I would like you this much even if I liked girls."
"Listen to me, Prem," Leos said. He went quiet, shuddered in pain.
"Leos?" Prem replied.
"Think about things more carefully. I'm the first royalty of both planets at once," he stated. There was another moment of silence until he faced Prem with a serious look on his face. "If I was to have a husband rather than a wife, would the world be ready for that? When the world already struggles to accept our planets joining together?"
"Oh," Prem gasped. Leos looked away again.
"I'm not declining you. I don't actually care about romance. But think about how I might feel, as well as whether you're ready to deal with it or not," he said, and shook his head. "And talk to Griselle and Blossom, okay? They're girls, but they're not Rosie."
"Oh no, that's fine. I've already made up my mind on that." Prem blushed again.
Before he could continue, Griselle returned along with two other Pokémon, two Meowstic at first glance. Once Leos' eyesight focused however, he realised that the male Meowstic was a combination of said species and a Dewott, sharing similar mismatched features to Griselle.
"Wait, you're?" he whispered as he tried to stand.
Later that evening…
"That's quite a story. I kinda can't believe that you guys almost went up against Tapu Bulu," Nier remarked, rubbing the back of her head. Griselle's parents had sorted out food, tended to any pain Leos' party had, and had just finished listening to their story up until now. Time seemed to fly as darkness had fallen over the world, but it only felt as though an hour had passed.
"If you had battled him, you would definitely had died. The gods don't spare those that oppose them," Vincent scratched his chin. "About your waking up here in the Second Country. I fear we may be able to answer that,"
"Good. I need to know where this is and how to get out of here," Leos said as he stuffed his face with apples and berries.
"You're in the Second Country, the second planet in the world of Etheria. It's located directly in the centre of Etheria's central planet," Vincent explained. He promptly stood up. "Follow me for a bit, please."
"In the centre?" Prem asked.
"In some undocumented generation in ages past, Eris and Faernia were once one whole planet that floated high in the sky. That planet surrounded this one we're on now, and shrouded it in eternal darkness," Vincent explained. "Eventually we ended up with what we have now. This is the planet that was once in darkness. It came to be known as the Second Country; the second world discovered by the ancients."
"Whoa, cool. The more you know. I didn't know you knew stuff like this, Papa!" Griselle giggled.
"This isn't 'cool'. How do we get out of here?" Leos asked.
"Well I got outta here. I'm pretty certain we can do it again," she giggled even more.
He turned his attention to where they were going to try and make connections to the story. Clouds covered the sky almost completely, and in the small spots where there weren't any, the night sky peeked through. However, this darkness wasn't like the nights on Faernia. Not a single star was visible. It was pitch black, almost like the darkness had been digitally coloured in behind the clouds.
There were a lot more treehouse tents than he realised, and each one had been individually constructed and so was different from another. They weren't even put up in a coherent pattern, scattered across the prairie like an actual campsite the size of a village. Vincent weaved around them until he reached a particularly large one that had a strange, greenish-orange light coming from it, and held the cloth up to let everyone through.
"Blossom!" Leos gasped immediately.
Lying on a mat in the middle of the room was the Mime Jr., currently being tended to by a very small hedgehog Pokémon. Grass and tiny yellow flower buds sprouted from the Pokémon's back, while pretty pink flowers grew from the sides of their cute face. Right now, the Pokémon was strained as they used Synthesis on Blossom, but came to a stop when Leos shouted.
"I had a feeling you'd know her. We found her with a fatal wound yesterday," Nier said. Blossom had been bandaged around her stomach and wasn't awake, but was breathing. "Shaymin, how's her recovery?"
There was no reply, so Leos looked over at the Pokémon he hadn't seen before. The tiny hedgehog stared right back, their face straight and eyes saddened.
"But why? Why is she severely injured, unlike the rest of us? What happened to her?" he asked.
"She had been stabbed right through her back. My guess is she managed to save you by throwing you all over the edge of the airship, but took a stab from Charle in the process," Vincent guessed. "The thing that concerns me is the fact that your father didn't lead you here. Did he even mention the Heaven Seal?"
"Blossom had no reason to try and protect us like that," Leos said. He grit his fangs. "How do you know my father?"
"It's only a plan that the lot of us set up. If you're here and you're trying to fight Tapu Bulu, then it's only right that you know full well what you're getting yourself into," Nier said. "We're Ariala's old retainers. And you've obviously gotten to know our daughter, who we sent out to help you out."
"That's right!" Griselle chirped. Leos spared her a glance, so she waved happily.
These must be Mother's other retainers that Ida mentioned, he thought to himself.
"Please listen to our story. You know about the legend of Faernia and Eris, don't you?" Vincent asked.
"Which legend? There are quite a few," Leos replied.
"Of the hero that created the peace treaty," Vincent said. Leos folded his arms. "Many generations ago, the two planets were at war. Dragons and fairies opposed each other for land, treasure, food, and other things. It was a worldwide war that raged seemingly without end, all until it threatened to destroy the world. The dragons planned to use a powerful tool called the Dragon Weapon which could have brought all to ruin, but a lone hero stood up and sacrificed themselves to prevent its use."
"Seeing the danger that the weapon posed, while having their attentions brought to the destruction that the war had already caused, the dragons and fairies stopped fighting. They made a peace treaty that would stop them from fighting ever again," Nier continued, paws on her hips. "That's why your parents are who they are. They came together and had you as a sort of 'renewal' of the peace treaty. But when you were actually born- actually, a little before you were born, things changed."
"So that's who I am. Just a little symbol of your peace treaty," Leos commented. He sighed and looked away.
"That hero from the past? That Pokémon was a hybrid," Nier added. Leos' eyes widened.
"Whoa, so just like Griselle? Does that mean Griselle's this generation's hero?" Prem gasped.
"No. It's Leos," Vincent stated.
"I'm not a hybrid, though," he said.
"You really couldn't figure that out? Your father's a Dewott and your mother's a Clefable. Those two can't breed, yet they had you," Vincent grinned cockily. "On top of that, even when interspecies breeding is involved, the female always takes precedence over the male. You should've been born a Cleffa, yet here you are an Oshawott. An Oshawott that should excel at magical powers."
"You do! You can do Constellar magic without even being a Constellar, Leos!" Prem cheered. "And you've got that double-sided Razor Shell, too. You're a hero, Leos! A living, breathing, hero of legend!"
"A hybrid," Leos whispered. He stared into his paws. It makes sense. I can't prove it right now, but it's certainly a point of interest to follow. My body struggles to fight for long, almost as if my genetic structure isn't built for it. It's mixed up between an Oshawott and a Cleffa, limiting my natural abilities.
"When you met Prince Rune, he should have given you a special Master Seal called a Heaven Seal. You can use that to become strong enough to do what you need to do," Vincent said. He folded his arms. "Instead, he made you fight him and then refused to say anything. I wonder why?"
"Well, what is it I'm supposed to do?" Leos asked desperately.
"That's enough," Shaymin finally spoke up, revealing her high pitched, girly voice.
"Grandma?" Griselle said.
"Grandma?" Leos and Prem gasped.
"That's enough of this conversation. You're not ready for the Heaven Seal. That's why he didn't give you it," Shaymin said. The tent fell to silence. "… Go on, leave. Go find yourself something to do."
"Wait, what? Are you serious?" Leos replied.
"Shaymin is the Goddess here. I'm afraid her word is final," Vincent unfurled his arms.
"Then forget the Heaven Seal and this whole legend thing. I need to know how to get out of here and back to Eris," Leos cried and shook his head. Shaymin gave him a saddened glare.
"So you can do what, exactly?" she said. "Listen, hybrid. I've been watching you for a long time. I've seen you fight. I've seen you react. I know what will become of you and your friends if you leave here now. Well, if they're really your friends, that is."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Leos said.
"You're a prideful jerk, you know that? You didn't care about your friends until I challenged your relations with them," she said. She cut Leos off before he could respond. "How about right now, huh? No interest in the state of your friend?"
He stopped to give that some thought, realising that she meant Blossom. The Mime Jr. was still unconscious, and thankfully showed no signs of discomfort. "She's not a friend yet, though. She's just my retainer."
"Just your retainer, huh," Shaymin muttered. "Get out of my sight, all of you."
"Shaymin, I desperately need to—"
"Didn't you say you wanted to experiment with Griselle and the fact that she's a hybrid? Why don't you focus on that for a while!" she raised her voice.
"How did you know I- urf, I did say that, but there's more important things right now," he said.
"You're not getting the Heaven Seal and you're not getting out of the Second Country. That's final," Shaymin said. Leos glared back at her, but her expression didn't budge.
"C'mon, Leos. There's nothing left we can do," Prem tapped him on the back. He growled and continued to glare as he stepped away.
Minutes later, the group was gathered outside, surprised at how dark it had become. Vincent and Nier didn't waste a second in directing Leos and his group to a tent they could sleep in. It didn't take long, and conveniently, there were mats and blankets already laid out inside the one they found.
"Well this is a predicament," Leos said. He sat down and folded his arms. "We're stuck here until we either figure out how to leave, or Shaymin decides to give us a pass."
"Y-yeah," Prem mumbled.
"Is something on your mind, Prem?" he raised his voice. The Pikachu flinched. Hmm. She mentioned the way I treat my friends, but what could that possibly have to do with getting out of here, or a seal of evolution?
"Grandma can be hard to figure out sometimes. She is a grandma, after all," Griselle piped up and giggled. "It gets super dark and super light super quickly in the Second Country, 'cos it's such a small planet. I think it's something like an hour for it to go between day and night?"
"Two hours, hun," Nier said.
"Just two hours between day and night here?" Leos said, surprised. "That's not long to sleep. I'm not even tired."
"Well yeah. That's why everyone lives in these tents," Nier said, putting her paws on her hips. "Here is basically paradise, you know. Nothing much fights, Pokémon share because we don't have currency, and nature's thriving. You could honestly just live down here no problem."
"It's not like I have a choice in that matter right now," he groaned and looked away. "Wait a minute. Nature is dying on Eris due to lack of support. It's only on Faernia because of the Tapu. How is it here?"
"Beats me. Just one of those miracles," Nier said.
"Are there evolution springs?" he said.
"Loads! I could take you to one tomorrow, if you want," Griselle said. Leos rubbed his chin.
Nature without aid of the Tapu, Pokémon that coexist in a civilisation without currency… and Mother's missing retainers are here, have been living here for quite a while, he thought hard. Sounds like I have a lot of work to do. When the sun rises, it's time to study.
"Er… see the thing is, Prince Leos," Griselle said, twiddling her feet and hands. "I was wondering if you'd let me show you around tomorrow, anyway. Just the two of us."
"Just the two of us? You know your way around so I don't see why not, but why just us two?" Leos asked. Prem started squeaking, sweating and backed away.
"There's something I wanna talk about, of course," she said with a smile.
"If there's something important to talk about, just say it now," Leos replied.
"Psh, no! It's one of those things. Ya'know, those things, that has to be talked about alone. I-it's about me being a hybrid and all, and it's sorta embarrassing," she cried.
"I guess. Okay. Prem, I'm counting on you to—" he said. He froze at Prem's surprised appearance. The Pikachu was leaned against the wall with teary eyes. "Erm, yeah. I'm counting on you to explore the other areas. If we only have two hours of daylight, we'll report back here when it's dark."
"O-okay Leos," he moaned and slumped forward.
"I'll figure something out one way or another. We're getting to Eris before Tapu Bulu, and I don't care how," Leos said as he raised a fist. Vincent and Nier exchanged glances, nodded to each other, and then promptly left the tent.