Simple code alone isn't going to be enough to mediate Dreamweaver and Zodiark. I thought a program could work against them, but they both seemed to adapt to my first few builds. What manner of construct are they? Could they be artificial intelligences?
AI is mostly speculative right now. But given how much power the Space Globe has, I think the solution is to effectively counterbalance their ever-evolving states with one of my own. An AI that will mediate these two.
Trying to make something of that magnitude from scratch would prove difficult, however. And I don't believe I have the luxury of taking my time with it. So, I'll use myself as the basis for this AI. It should be doable with the Space Globe's power.
This time I'll succeed. I have to succeed.
For once, Igneous listened to someone else's cries not to rush ahead. He stayed with Gene and the others rather than flying off in desperate search of Cyril, Seifer, and Artemis. True to his word from earlier, Gene went about levitating large swathes of people outside the city. At least, the ones that hadn't already been taken by the robot cramorant the pirates left behind to help.
Some wattrel and kilowattrel Whispers emerged from rifts toward the northern side of the city, which Igneous and Widget focused on. They used dual Flamethrowers to shatter the birds before they could pepper Gene with lightning. Even Scarlett helped. Starlene put Light Screens up and deflected stray Thunderbolts from a couple of extra kilowattrel that spawned higher in the sky, leaving Widget to snipe them down with Flamethrowers.
"I think that's the brunt of it," Gene declared between shaky breaths. Pink mist evaporated off his hands and glowing eyes.
Igneous glanced down. A rainbow of fruit juice was splattered across buildings. And oversized berries littered some of the streets. There wasn't anyone in sight, though. Barbarossa was flying along Herbrides' outskirts south of the group. It had that part of the city handled, in Igneous' opinion.
"We should get going." The grovlazzle's wings buzzed. "They were covering the north, right?"
Before Gene could answer, yellow flashes erupted in the distance.
"Northwest!" Widget's head crest crackled with static. "Are those thunderclouds? They're so concentrated."
"That's gotta be them," Igneous said. "Come on!"
"On it." Gene shot toward the sparking clouds. Igneous flew after the shadowy mewtwo, ducking and weaving around a couple of rifts that opened and shot glowing iapapa berries to his left and right.
More lightning erupted in the same spot as before. This time, though, Igneous heard screams.
"Shit!" Gene's tail lashed at the air. "Cyril? Cyril!" He shot forward in a blaze of blue and pink energy.
"H-Hey, wait up!" Widget's thrusters erupted in flames, carrying him after Gene. Igneous followed behind them.
Gene suddenly dove out of the air.
"What did you do, Nova? What did you do?!"
A deafening crack filled the air, followed by an intense burst of wind. Igneous struggled to stay upright. A yelp behind him suggested Scarlett fared similarly.
Igneous steadied himself and continued forward, only for his eyes to widen.
Gene floated upside down over Xeromus, spoon stalemated against a black barrier. And the cloud daemon — it had a crystal wheel just like Leo's now — loomed over a scorched, smoldering body.
... A body with the broken remnants of a metal horn next to it.
"Me? A worthless omen like me only has one role to play in your lives," Xeromus said. His cloaked shoulders tensed and Gene was forced to back off. "He's the one who martyred himself! He let his past swallow him up, just as the Affirmer predicted!"
Electricity crackled in the cloud daemon's leg gems. Cyril was running toward the body. He was going to get shocked if Igneous didn't do something.
"Get back!" the grovlazzle shouted. Though he couldn't tear his eyes from the burnt body, he thrust his right arm forward. Igneous' honedge husk flew toward the cloud daemon's right hind leg. It turned its head. Lightning vaporized Honedge, but Igneous rolled right and spewed flames from his mouth at the daemon. And a Thunderbolt came flying in from his left, courtesy of Widget.
"Seifer! Seifer, hang on!" Cyril practically draped himself over the scorched keldeo. Tears blurred his yellow eyes.
There was no way Seifer was still alive, right? There wasn't a single patch of untouched fur on his pelt.
The grovlazzle landed beside them while Widget headed for the cloud daemon. What could Igneous do here? What was the team player move?
It was getting Cyril and Seifer away from here, right?
But Igneous couldn't carry them both. And what about Artemis? The milotic was coiled up on the opposite corner of the roof, staring at Seifer in abject horror.
"Damn it, Nova! It's not supposed to be like this!" Gene snarled. Psystrike orbs surrounded the helmeted silvally. But Xeromus' chains unfurled and slashed away at the orbs before they could strike him.
Igneous winced. Considering how aggressive he'd been toward Xeromus in the past, he could scarcely imagine what was going through Gene's head.
But this wasn't the time for offense. For once... they had to hold back.
"Gene! Gene!" Igneous waved the shadowy mewtwo down. The cloud daemon tried to shoot lightning at him, but Widget barreled into it. Somehow, despite the gaseous form, Widget forced the cloud daemon off the roof and across the street onto the wrecked house a block north of him.
"You're dealing with me!" Widget declared. In a flash of white light, miraivally turned to reshivally. Blue flames erupted on that house rooftop.
"What?" Gene snapped at Igneous, slashing furiously against another black shield Xeromus conjured.
"We have to go!" Igneous gestured at the sobbing zoroark. "Seifer needs medical attention! You're the only one who can levitate them and open rifts!"
"He's dead!"
Gene's Malice Crystal sparked with purple energy. What was up with his voice just then?!
"Look at him! No one survives an injury like that!" He summoned his spoon once again. "I have to do this! I made a promise!"
The shadowy mewtwo dove down. Xeromus' gray eyes flickered with interest.
"Gene, please!" Igneous charged forward. Xeromus couldn't stop two strikes from opposing sides, right? Another black shield formed to deflect a swing of Gene's blackened spoon. Igneous readied his Leaf Blades, only to yelp when the red wolf emerged behind Xeromus. He barely had enough time to conjure Honedge and deflect swipes of the wolf's spectral claws.
"No. I can't— I won't—" Gene tried to force the spoon forward, but Xeromus' barrier held firm. Igneous' wings carried him back to Cyril's side. The wolf didn't give chase.
Something was clearly wrong here. Gene's attacks looked like that weird beam Nikki mentioned seeing Gene fire in Wyndon. But why were Xeromus' barriers giving off the same dark smoke?
"Then let me stay back!" Igneous said. He glanced right and saw Scarlett was still hovering a couple of blocks away. "Widget and I can hold the line with a little help. At least until you get them somewhere safe!"
Fire and lightning swirled around the house on Igneous' left. The reshivally was racing around, dodging yellow crystals that burst into explosive lightning.
"What will you do, Gene?" Xeromus' raspy laughter filled the air. "Tend to that old failure... or keep your promise?" He raked his claws across the brick roof. "Come on! Let me drive you to even greater heights! You and the rest of this tragic world!"
"Don't listen to him!" Igneous said. He darted forward again, knees crouched as he expected the wolf to pop up again. When he saw the red flashes, the grovlazzle sprang up and spewed flames from his mouth. They washed across the top of the wolf's head and its growls filled the air. Igneous hovered higher to keep his distance.
"Nova's still in there! I'm sure he's fighting!" Igneous looked between Gene and Cyril. The cosmic zoroark hadn't budged from lying over Seifer's burnt body. "But every second we waste here won't help Seifer! Cyril's your friend, too! Don't you know what he's feeling right now?"
Gene Phantom Warped right past Xeromus and Igneous. "Fine! You better keep them both here!"
"Wh— hey!"
ESP yanked a startled Artemis into the air. Gene dragged him away along with Cyril and Seifer.
Igneous summoned Honedge again. "Starlene, we need your singing!"
"You got it!" the latias chirped from several meters behind the grovlazzle.
Starlene's music filled the air for all of a second, before a playing card materialized over Xeromus' helmeted head. Igneous saw an "XV" on it for a moment before the red wolf completely engulfed Xeromus. A distorted howl filled the air.
"Agggggh!" Igneous' wings fizzled out, sending him falling toward the roof.
His fur and chitin burst apart. Igneous' volcarona body fell from the air. What had happened to him? Why did he feel so weightless?
"Go now." Zodiark walked beside his fallen body. "You know exactly what to do: find a strong soul. And have the battles you so desperately want."
Igneous hit the corner of the roof. He sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. Igneous fell to the ground with a heavy thud and rolled across the dirt.
"Nnngh. Oww..." The grovlazzle grabbed his right shoulder in pain.
"Ha ha ha... haaahaaahaaahaaa!"
The dusty ground trembled. Xeromus landed on the opposite side of the street. The red wolf still surrounded him. Xeromus' gray eyes shimmered from within the silhouette.
"He... lp. Scar... let..." Igneous tried to get to his feet but God his arm and legs hurt.
"Something's wrong!" The dragonair was flying panicked circles overhead. "I... I can't summon Starlene!"
Igneous' eyes widened.
"I won't let you perpetuate this world's stagnation!" Xeromus' voice was much deeper than before. And the wolf's spectral mouth moved in time with his words. The wolf slammed its forepaws into the ground. Shards of stained glass erupted like Stone Edge spires.
Move, move, MOVE! Igneous told himself. The grovlazzle fought through the pain and managed to scramble left, even avoiding the wolf charging through the stained glass spires with a red, shield-shaped aura.
Igneous' breath caught in his throat. A shield-shaped canine. He'd heard about that from one of the others, hadn't he? Think, Igneous, think!
It wasn't coming to him in the heat of battle, though. If he could just get Xeromus talking. The guy never shut up anyway.
"That card... so you are with the empire!" Igneous accused. He spewed a Flamethrower at Xeromus, but it was swallowed up by the same black shield as Gene's previous attacks.
For a moment, Xeromus froze. "No, I—"
That softer voice was cut off. Xeromus jerked his head right. "Of course you'd make that conclusion," he said.
Igneous tensed. That brief hesitation... and the loss of that strange, guttural backing to his voice. Then Nova really was in there. And something had a hold of him. A power similar to what Gene had just used. But the mewtwo could control it, while the opposite was true for Nova. Still, there had to be a way to free him. If Gene could do it, why couldn't Nova?
Xeromus' chains rattled on his forelegs. The red wolf returned to cover him. Xeromus slowly walked into the middle of the street. Igneous matched his movements, keeping a dozen meters between them. Sparks and flames crackled in the air northeast of him as Widget flew circles around the cloud daemon.
"Anything to fit that stale narrative. Justify repeating your past mistakes." Xeromus' gray eyes flickered. The spectral wolf lunged for Igneous, slashing with shadowy claws. Igneous jumped back to avoid the first swipes, then parried the next two with Honedge. He drove the blade into the red wolf's wispy chest as it readied for a third strike.
It broke into red mist that swirled back toward Xeromus. Igneous glanced up. Scarlett wasn't flying around anymore. She must've landed on a roof. "Keep trying to get Starlene back!" Igneous begged.
He kept Honedge at his side. "I don't know what mistakes you're talking about, Nova."
"You can lie to yourself all you want. We both know the truth!" Xeromus said. He and Igneous continued to circle around one another in the intersection. "That emperor is a nobody. A bit player. His choices are meaningless. Unlike yours."
"What are you talking about?" Igneous spewed Bullet Seeds at Xeromus' mask. Then he dove right and switched to a Flamethrower. Xeromus opted to block the second strike. Bullet Seeds peppered his mask. Tiny thunks rang out in the air.
"How disappointing." Xeromus shook his head. "To be one of the privileged few blessed with a second life... only to waste it defending this backwards world."
"The past is the past!" Igneous shot a single fireball. He dashed left and shot a second, then banked right and went for a full Flamethrower.
"Guardian!" Xeromus hunched over and the red wolf emerged before with another guttural snarl. Stained glass Stone Edges erupted all around Xeromus to deflect Igneous' flames. Then the wolf smashed the glass shards, filling the air with them.
"Shit!" Igneous charged forward, slashing wildly with Honedge. Plinks and dings littered the air. His head leaf burned. Red, spectral paws were swinging at him. Rather than parrying, however, Igneous slid along the dusty ground. The swipes went over his head. Igneous swung Honedge wildly. It collided against one of Xeromus' chained forelegs. He toppled onto his side.
"Please help..."
The grovlazzle heard the voice for all of a second before the spectral wolf howled. It lunged for the grovlazzle from behind, slamming into him and knocking him down a side street. By the time Igneous managed to get back to his feet, so had Xeromus.
"You've let the past deceive you into thinking you're doing the right thing when you're only continuing this cycle of stagnation!" Xeromus declared. "You know better. The universe is fundamentally flawed. The reverse and normal worlds twisted and broken."
Xeromus jerked his head left. "Don't... listen..."
He jerked his head right again. Igneous' eyes widened. Was this fight making a difference? Did Igneous need to keep pressuring Xeromus' corrupted state in order to free Nova?
"You can't save this world!" Xeromus hissed. "To 'save' it is to damn it to a protracted demise!"
"That's not true!" Igneous glanced up. Still no signs of Starlene, but plenty of fire and lightning from far to his left. At least that meant Widget was still standing. "We're going to fix everything!"
"By feeding the Creator's power to a false idol?" Xeromus descended into hysterical, wheezing laughter. "The true Creator is with me! Arceus Dreamweaver defends themselves from that toy you call your friend."
He thrust his helmeted head upward. His guardian mirrored the gesture. The cloud daemon raced overhead, outrunning a Blue Flare that exploded behind it. Widget emerged from the smoke, then turned left to trail after the thing that Xeromus was calling Dreamweaver.
Igneous seized his opening, charging forward with a burst of speed from his fiery wings. He closed the gap in seconds and struck Xeromus' right side with his Leaf Blades.
"Liar! You're the one screwing everything up!" the grovlazzle growled. He jumped away from the spectral wolf's retaliatory swipes, landing on a corner of the intersection. "Keep fighting, Nova! I can hear you!"
"Dreamweaver exists for the Affirmer to wield!" Xeromus said. "To forge the Eternaverse!"
He locked eyes with Igneous. "Giratina drives you to repeat the past. Continue an endless cycle of chaos that ensnares all worlds in suffering and uncertainty. Dangles the sword of oblivion over their heads. So that no matter how good life may seem now, there is a guarantee of future agony!"
Stained glass Stone Edges again erupted from the ground. With his wings back, Igneous could safely fly over them. The red wolf leaped skyward this time. Igneous barely managed to roll left of the shield-shaped red blur as it streaked past.
His head leaf and tails caught fire. A lightbulb went off in his head. And maybe it could reach Nova...
"Zamazenta!" Igneous blurted out. "Your guardian... is your old resistance teammate!"
Xeromus' gray eyes brightened a bit. The red wolf returned to surround him in an instant. Igneous hastily landed back on the ground, fearing that distorted howl that took away his wings earlier.
"This is... all because of Zodiark, isn't it?" Igneous said. He summoned Honedge again to be on the safe side. "But you don't really believe them, do you? Why else would you leave Gene that recording telling him to take up your mantle?"
There was a brief flicker of sadness— no, longing in Xeromus' eyes. But he quickly jerked his head left, then right.
"That was when I was still in denial!" Xeromus countered. Zamazenta's specter lunged for Igneous once again, but the grovlazzle rolled forward to dodge. He threw Honedge, then scrambled left toward the opposite corner of the intersection.
A crunch filled his ear frills. Igneous skidded to a halt just as his honedge husk hit the ground and dissolved away. Xeromus continued staring at the intersection corner where Igneous had been.
"I'm sorry." The softer voice was louder than before. "I can't... control it. You have to... stop me..."
Then he slowly turned toward the grovlazzle... revealing a crack in the center of his mask.
"Nova! Listen to me, please!" Igneous begged. Some of the mask was broken. He was hearing Nova. He was getting through whatever Zodiark did to him. Maybe Nova didn't need to control this corruption like Gene could. Not if Igneous could free him! With just a little bit more effort—
Xeromus' cloak rippled and shadows swarmed his body.
"Keh heh... haaah..." Xeromus hunched over. Zamazenta reemerged again with another distorted howl. Igneous dropped to his knees and threw his hands over his ear frills.
Nova and Zamazenta roared in pain as the Red Chain dragged them together. Brown stone grew over the former's face while the latter dissolved into red mist. The mist draped itself over Nova's cape, shredding apart the fabric and darkening it from turquoise to a deep blue.
"I don't care who you are!" an unfamiliar female voice shouted. "Such beautiful power... belongs to me!"
"Ahaahaa!" Xeromus sucked in a sharp breath. "Haahaahaahaahaaa!" He smacked the ground with a foreleg. "There's nobody for you to 'save!' Just like there's nothing in this world to save! The only salvation lies with the Affirmer!"
Before Igneous could get back to his feet, however, a black and purple blur rushed in from above and slammed into Xeromus. A burst of wind and dust blew Igneous down the road. When the dust settled, a shadowy mega mewtwo stood with his back to the grovlazzle. Black sparks danced around the crystals in each of his shoulders.
"So that's what happened," Gene said, fists raised. "Zodiark made you a shadow pokémon, didn't he?!"
Shadow pokémon? Igneous struggled to get back up. It sounded like Gene knew exactly what the problem was. But that was good! That meant he was bound to know a solution, right?
A red blur leaped onto the roof of a building to Gene's left. Xeromus emerged from the blur, staggering across the roof and coughing loudly.
"We can fix it, Nova!" Gene shot into the air. "Please, you have to let me—"
Zamazenta's specter lunged for Gene, knocking him out of the air. Gene landed upright on the ground, skidding back toward Igneous.
"There are... no loopholes here..." Xeromus sucked in sharp breaths. Igneous lost sight of him, so he sprinted to Gene's side. "There's only one end for someone like me."
The helmeted silvally looked around, thrashing his head back and forth. "Nnnnnnrrgghhh. But it's not time. It can't happen yet."
Eyes widening, Igneous took to the skies. "He's gonna flee!"
Gene rocketed past the grovlazzle, but he was too late. His psychic waves grabbed nothing but black wisps. Xeromus was gone.
A squawk rang out behind Igneous. He turned to see Widget stumble on a slanted brick roof two blocks north. The reshivally took to the air before he would have tumbled off the building. He looked around in confusion.
"Where'd it go?!" Widget caught Igneous' gaze. "Don't tell me..."
Igneous bowed his head. "They got away."
"And what about the others?" Widget looked past Igneous.
Gene stared silently at the spot on the roof where Xeromus had been. "Ran into Zardy and Chompy and passed them off. They should be back at the outpost." He slowly landed on that building roof. Gene's mega evolution vanished in swirls of black and purple.
"What were you talking about at the end, there?" Igneous asked, swooping down to land next to Gene. "Shadow pokémon? The hell's that mean?"
"Not now."
"Excuse me?"
Gene held up his glowing right hand. "Not. Now."
He walked a few paces away from Igneous and tapped the side of his head. "Can anyone read me? Are comms back?"
Igneous tapped the side of his head in time to hear Cid say, "... Got your signal! And not a moment too soon!"
"What?" Widget landed to Igneous' left. He shifted back to his cosmic form, panting heavily. "What's that supposed to mean, more trouble?"
"Unfortunately." Cid tittered. "Something's happened in Dazzels. Vegna was able to help us open a rift there, but I have no idea what we're looking at. Some sort of giant charizard with wings of fire!"
"We can't..."
That was Scarlett. Good, she sounded okay. Igneous looked right to find the dragonair gliding down to the roof. She folded up her wings and landed between him and Gene.
"My head hurts." Scarlett coiled up, tiny wings folding over her neck bauble. "I'm—"
"These guys with me aren't in any state to keep fighting," Gene said. "We'll regroup with you back at the outpost first." He looked at the others. "That sound good?"
Igneous nodded. His head was positively spinning from all of this. There was no way he'd be able to help.
But if it was Dazzels, did that mean this had something to do with Shimmer? Was this why the ponyta had ditched them back in the mall?
The different thoughts swirled around in Igneous' head as he stumbled toward the rift that Gene had opened in the middle of the roof.
Leo reappeared by the Terarium's core. With the static gone, he got a full course of brilliant gold and silver light. The cosmic arceus galloped through the air, blinking stars out of his vision. He wondered how anyone could perform maintenance on the core with it shining so bright.
Eh, not important.
He was totes winging this. Which meant he'd have to tread carefully here, especially after he told Yuna to trust him.
Leo's gut check was good, though. This was going to work.
... Okay, it had a fifty-fifty shot of working. But Leo was still going to try and do everything he could to bolster those odds.
First step was locating Vince. Leo stayed close to the Terarium dome. The artificial sky was actually no brighter up close than it was on the ground. Some sort of weird human trickery, no doubt.
Now, where had that purple koraidon gotten off to? The team had left him somewhere in the savannah biome, if Leo recalled. Had he stayed there?
Leo trotted toward the southern part of the dome, only to stop when a familiar zoroark-mewtwo mishmash popped in front of him in a blue flash.
"What Leo still doing here?" Grishi rested his right cheek against his right wrist. He sheathed and unsheathed his glowing orange claws. "Leo think Grishi blind? Core is gone. Leo should be gone."
Crud! Leo wasn't counting on Grishi actually sticking around. He figured Grishi had better things to do with his time.
"I, uh—" The cosmic arceus brushed his forelegs together nervously. He had to think of something before this opportunity slipped through his hooves. And Vince along with it.
Wait, didn't Grishi know Vince was an Overseer?
At least, some of his early comments sounded that way. Then that was Leo's way in.
"Okay, look." Leo walked through the air to Grishi's side. "That koraidon Overseer guy? I think he's hiding stuff that we need to know to help our world." He looked down. A flock of vullaby and mandibuzz were flying below the duo. "And my vibe check says since we pulled him into this world, his boss is going to come and find him. Then we can really get some answers."
Grishi raised a brow. Did he not believe Leo, even though he was telling the truth?
"So, seerseer fish you want to use to catch bigger fish." Grishi nodded slowly. His fuzzy tail lazily swished back and forth. "Fine."
"Fine?" Leo tilted his head.
"Grishi will help."
Leo's starcloud mane and tail sparkled. "Really?"
"Yes. Because Leo has precious little time."
"E-Excuse me?" The hell was that supposed to mean? Leo wasn't dying. And his plates were keeping him anchored to this world for now.
Grishi put his right paw on Leo's right shoulder. "Bigger fish here already. With human from before. Come."
And before Leo could get another word in, his world twisted around. The spiral of colors was... actually not as disorienting as last time. Maybe it was the extra power from more plates? Or perhaps Grishi was just better at teleporting others when there were fewer people involved?
Either way, Leo's golden hooves landed on freshly cut green grass.
"... As I don't want to admit it, I get it."
That was Kieran! Leo looked up to find the kid a few dozen meters away, twirling his dangling lock of black and purple hair and repeatedly tapping his foot.
"I guess... I thought loving Ogerpon meant I was entitled to have her as a partner." Kieran's shoulders sagged. "But that's not how it works. A good trainer's... gotta consider their pokémon's feelings."
He fixed his gaze on ninetales with snowy, blue-white fur. Gilgamesh was there, too, but appeared to be fast asleep.
And the ice ninetales... stood beside Vince! That had to be Vince's boss, then!
Leo turned to Grishi, but the zorotwo was nowhere to be found. Instead, Vince met his gaze and the purple koraidon's eyes widened. He tugged on Ninetales' leftmost tails.
Suddenly a heavy pressure weighed Leo down. He couldn't even manage to cry out, because Leo fell right over on his face.
"Huh? Wait, I thought you hated me!" Kieran continued. Leo tried to pull himself upright, but the pressure was too intense. Was it ESP?
Oh, he had the dread plate now! He just had to focus on its power and... nothing. Leo still couldn't get up. What the hell kind of power was this? No way that was just a simple ice ninetales!
"A Z-Crystal?" Kieran sounded confused, but Leo couldn't see what was happening. "I've read about them, but— hmm?"
Leo squirmed on the ground. It did no good. Damn it, Grishi! I thought you wanted to help!
"Just press it to my head when the time's right?" Kieran asked. "Uhh, I guess I can manage that. But how will I know when that time is?"
The cosmic arceus reached out to as many of his plates as he could and he still couldn't fight against the intense force pinning him down. His legs were locked. Leo kept tasting dirt with every attempt at moving.
"Okay. Then I'll—"
Kieran was suddenly cut off. The pressure on Leo faded in an instant. He scrambled to his feet to find Grishi floating where Kieran had once stood.
"Long time no see, seerseer," the zorotwo said. His tail curled and uncurled. "Think you have something that belongs to Grishi and friend." He jerked his head at Vince, then at Leo.
Ninetales' tails puffed out. His eyes shimmered gold for a brief instant, only for a purple aura to crackle around Grishi.
"Ah, ah." Grishi wagged his left index digit at Ninetales. "This Grishi's domain, too. Seerseer helped with that, remember? No using borrowed power to run."
Leo's wheel flickered. Was Grishi implying he was a god for this world? That'd certainly explain why he knew about Overseers.
He didn't care about the previous history, though. It was time to act. Even if that action was just blurting stuff out.
"Who are you?!" Leo galloped toward Ninetales and Vince. "What are you and Vince doing to my world? Why won't he tell us what's really going on?!"
Ninetales finally acknowledged Leo with a bewildered look. His tails frazzled even after he managed to put on a straight face.
"It's not something you need to know," Ninetales said.
"Then why did you give Kieran something?" Leo countered. He took another step toward them. If Grishi was keeping them in place somehow, Leo could definitely get answers.
"It's a contingency," Ninetales responded. He spoke concerningly fast. Had he said that without thinking? "You're doing a good job, so I don't think we'll even need it. You just have to keep sealing up the mystery dungeons."
Leo's eyes narrowed. "Why would you have come here if you knew I was sealing this dungeon?" He made his wheel glow with orange fighting energy.
"Grishi thinks seerseer should answer," the zorotwo mused. A wry grin crept across his face.
"Look, I can't, okay?" Ninetales barked, huffing out frosty air.
Vince stepped away, biting his lower lip. "Boss..."
"Don't." Ninetales held two tails up in Vince's direction. The purple koraidon shrank down. Ninetales shook his head. His tails kept twitching. Some sort of nervous tick? "I'd love to tell you what's going on. Really. But I just... can't. Because if I do, it could screw up all the hard work you're doing."
Leo's mane and tail dimmed. What was that supposed to mean? The truth could help the resistance, right?
"Please," Ninetales whispered. "You have to trust me."
"That tall order for complete stranger," Grishi scoffed. He clapped his hands together. "Grishi propose deal instead. Seerseer leave sad, sorry korkor with Leo. Then can go back to being troublemaker like before."
"What?!" Vince's antennae unfurled into feathery wings, then wrapped themselves back up. "No deal! You can't possibly—"
Ninetales hung his head. "Okay."
"Seriously, dude?!" Vince whirled on Ninetales, looking like someone had stolen his lunch. "You can't leave me with them. I'm not in battle mode. I'm useless like this!"
Sighing, Ninetales put a foreleg on Vince's right shoulder. "If you were strong enough to go poking around in Ginnungagap behind my back, then you're strong enough to get your battle mode working again."
Vince shrank back, whimpering.
"Seerseer shake on deal?" Grishi said.
Ninetales turned and extended a foreleg to Grishi, who shook his head. "Shake with Leo." He pointed at the cosmic arceus.
Leo stiffened. This wasn't some sort of trap, was it? Ninetales' aura... was something Leo couldn't even get a solid read on. It was practically blinding!
"Uh... okay." He hesitantly shuffled across the grass. Leo extended his forehoof so that its tip just barely touched Ninetales' forepaw. They awkwardly shook forelegs for all of a second before they simultaneously pulled their forelegs back. Leo's golden hoof was practically on fire. He wanted to sprint over to the beach biome and plunge it into the water.
"Then deal is deal." Grishi dusted off his hands. "We'll be on way to Leo's world. Seerseer stay so no funny business, then take Ceruledge and leave."
Leo's tail shot up. "Hang on. 'We?'"
Smirking, Grishi jerked his head in Vince's direction. "Someone has to make sure this dumb-dumb doesn't run off."
Vince shrank down to his belly, whimpering.
"I guess... that's okay?" Leo doubted he could stop Grishi if he tried. He glanced between the zorotwo and the Overseers.
Leo opened a rift back into Ginnungagap. This wasn't exactly the result he was hoping for, but at the very least he wasn't coming back empty handed. Leo had info and a bargaining chip of sorts in the form of a purple koraidon. Surely the resistance would be able to do something with this.
~Il Paradigma, No. XV: Xeromus, the Devil~
The Matriarch's enforcer turned against her. He laid the seeds for her eventual destruction, throwing the Qliphoth into a tumultuous period that would only stabilize when another of her creations seized power for himself. Most records of him were expunged from the public. The brunt of the treasonous allegations shifted to the most recent wielder of the Moon.
But as the years passed, people whispered rumors of a mad beast wandering the realm, declaring an impending end to the Qliphoth. That it would mark the beginning of salvation for everyone.
Path of Valor Almanac
The Devil is the fifteenth Major Arcana. In the upright position it symbolizes ravage, violence, extraordinary efforts, force, and things that are predestined but not necessarily evil. In the reversed state it represents evil fatality, weakness, and pettiness.
This chapter is named for the music track that serves as the main boss theme for Strider, a recurring fae wolf beast enemy, in Bayonetta 3.