Chapter 177 – Negative Empathy

Aramé, Zena, and Nate flew over the southern fields of Kilo. On Zena's back was Mu, while Aramé withdrew Ire into her Orb's realm.

Atop Nate's back—the shadowy, many-eyed leviathan—was Owen, completely out cold and spasming. Zena worried about him, but… Well, it would have to do. They couldn't let Kilo Village wait, so they'd started their flight back.

"So, like, you're sure he's not dead," Mu said, glancing at her father with concern. "He's been foaming at the mouth for a while…"

"He's not foaming, that's just… sea water from when he fell over," Zena said. "He's had worse drownings."

"You mean like the time when he kept Reincarnating with Nevren and stuff and kept trying to cross that big river?" Mu tilted her head. "I remember when he used that story to caution me against swimming as a Charmander, but, like, sounded more like a lesson in how disposable your life is if you just get another…"

"…Insightful, Mu, but I think your father just likes to revisit his memories sometimes," Zena said with a nervous smile.

"Guess he makes up for how Daddy Diyem probably doesn't." Mu stretched, lying on Zena's long back as they flew. "I was just a babbling baby last I saw him. Think he'll be mad I grew up so fast?"

"I don't… know," Zena admitted. "It's been a long time since I've seen any of them. I'm a little nervous…"

"Because you got to vacation for a year while everyone else was fighting a war?" Mu asked.

Zena winced.

"Oh, sorry. Just an educated negative-emotion guess." Mu coughed awkwardly. "But I mean… sorta obvious."

I don't think they will be mad.

"Y'think?" Mu asked Nate, turning her head to the darkened Eternatus.

"And we're sure he'll wake up in a timely manner, yes?" Aramé said with a growl. "We do need him."

"You're one to talk about being timely," Mu murmured back.

"What was that?" Aramé replied.

"I know you heard me," Mu challenged.

Zena raised her ribbons. "Let's not butt heads, Mu."

Mu huffed and turned her attention ahead.

"So Dungeons haven't overtaken the sky yet," Mu remarked. "Have they been growing more?"

A little. It's a good thing we're returning when we are. If they get too large, we'd have to start getting into much thinner air…

"I mean, I don't think I need to breathe," Mu said. "Do any of us?"

An awkward beat of silence followed.

"Yeah, thought so. Weird thought to be worried about, Nate."

It's a habit. I have a lot of thoughts from mortal lives…

"Huh. I'm kinda similar. Usually only the bad ones, though."

Like Diyem, then.

"Yeah, I inherited that. Only for local stuff, though. I think my range is maybe… fifty feet or so? I should test that."

Aramé sighed again, saying, "You speak too casually about these things. You're going to unsettle people."

"Am I unsettling you?" Mu asked, but then held up a hand. "Don't answer that, I know I'm not."

Aramé glared.

"Oh, c'mon! I'm being smart with you, fine, but like… I know real well if I'm making someone unsettled. I'll keep it in line in front of the normies."

"The… normies," Aramé repeated.

"Sorry, I think that's a human term. Uh. Mortals?"

"…Right." Aramé gave Zena an accusatory glare. Zena, meanwhile, turned her attention to Owen just in time to see his eyes fluttering open.

"Ah! Owen!" Zena drifted closer, and Mu also sat up.

"Hey, Dad, are you alright?"

Owen blinked a little longer, eyes looking left and right. The Charizard must have been gathering his surroundings. Zena hoped he wasn't amnesiac or something again. They'd dealt with that enough.

"Yeah," Owen finally replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. Uh, how long was I… out?"

"I dunno, like, an hour or so. I kept feeling weird… fluctuations in your emotions and it was getting really bad near the end there…"

"Oh, uh… yeah." Owen groaned as he sat up completely, nearly falling over had it not been for part of Nate's body bulging out to keep him upright. He gently patted Nate in thanks.

"…You still with us?" Mu asked. "You seem really… distant."

"I—I am. Sorry. Sorting through a lot." Owen nodded quickly. He rolled deliberately off of Nate and spread his wings; this time, Nate let him go. Owen fell a few feet, caught the wind, and beat his wings to get to their height.

The Charizard took a deep breath. "…Hey, Zena," he said. "Do you remember any dreams about… me visiting you?" he asked. "Before we met. Maybe… dreams of doing a performance underwater to someone?"

Zena stared at him like he was crazy. What in the world was he dreaming about?

But now that he mentioned it… Dreams of performances in that lonely cave? Something about that was very familiar. She thought a while longer as Kilo Village drew nearer.

Suddenly, she gasped. "You were the light!"

"O-oh. I was just an orb of light, or something?"

Zena nodded earnestly. "I didn't know what you were for a while, but… I knew you were a person. I was dreaming, not really putting a lot of thought into it, but…"

"…You met Mom in her dreams before meeting her for real?" Mu said. "Wow. That's like, next level romance."

"It wasn't really romantic," Owen said. "I visited all the Guardians. Uh, or tried to. Avoided some, like Willow… or the ones I couldn't find. But it was to keep the company, I dunno, help them stay sane. I doubt it did a whole lot, but I felt bad about their predicament. I knew something was wrong but could never get my message through. The waking world overpowered me."

"Nate explained a little of that," Mu said. "Told us it'd be better if you explained it more."

Owen nodded and offered a thankful smile to Nate.

"You know, I never thought about it," Zena said, "but the Guardians all were… pretty universally ready to pick up and leave to follow you or your team, weren't they?"

"I thought it was just convincing and would break out of the monotony," Owen admitted. "But I think those 'Dream Whispers' might've contributed, too."

"So, wait." Mu scratched her jaw. "You… were in Nate, like, as a tiny wispy spirit. Like, a fraction of a fraction of yourself. But you were attached to… Nate?"

"Yes. To the Worldcore," Owen explained. "And… right until the end, we were working and planning for everything. I… have those memories of what happened. That part of me reunified. I was… scared, a little, of losing all of it, or it just being forgotten like a dream. But I had to take one last leap of faith that it wouldn't be sealed."

There was no chance of it being sealed, Nate said, but being hard to comprehend was the true concern.

Owen nodded. "But I think I understand enough. And I know… everything that happened. I have a lot I need to explain once we get home."

Mu tilted her head, staring at Owen. Mu nodded to herself and looked at Nate.

"Hey, tall dark and handsome!" Mu called. "I'm riding you for the rest of the way."

Oh, okay.

Zena gained some altitude and Nate lost some. Mu hopped from Zena—and missed her mark to the sudden gust of wind once she left their protective barriers.

"MU!" Zena yelped.

Owen seemed less alarmed.

Mu spread her arms, which suddenly shifted into blackened wings, righting herself in mid-air before tumbling onto a lower portion of Nate's back. Hands emerged from Nate's body to hold her in place, secure.

"I'm okay!" Mu called, waving.

Zena sighed as the nerves left her. "Goodness, Mu… I didn't know you could do that."

"She experiments at night," Owen explained.

"Yeah, while you guys are asleep," Mu said.

Zena squinted between the two of them. Was that another…? No, not worth investigating.

Owen drifted closer and closer to Zena until his wings were just below her. He was careful to not beat them while she was just above.

"I know you've… been with me all this time," he said, "but it felt like I've been away for a while. Sorry if this sounds weird, but… I'm glad to see you again."

"Oh… Um—right. Sorry, I think I know what you mean, but it's hard to… understand." Zena looked down awkwardly. "Then again… with those false…ish memories I have now…"

Owen's expression darkened with the reminder. "How are you feeling with that?" he asked. "You're still… yourself?"

"I am," Zena assured him. "I promise. No matter the offer, I wouldn't have thrown 'me' away for a simple test."

"Offer," Owen echoed. "With your Legendary self… from that hypothetical, alternate future where you made choices you thought were 'ideal.' That other self that isn't real."

Zena nodded. "I suppose I should explain," she said. "My four other fragments. I think they were similar to yours—Aramé explained them while you were recovering. There was the mirror self, and the weaker self. That one was a Feebas when I was still lonely and trying to find my place. The next was my… all of my anger toward Star and the gods. We couldn't console her at all, so—so I just attacked her once, to subdue her, yes?"

Owen nodded. "I made a huge Protect shield to keep mine at bay."

"I didn't think of that," Zena said with an awkward head bob. "Just one attack and she became a little ember. I carried her that way, but… I didn't hear from her again. I can barely feel what she was anymore. I have the memory, but… it's…"

"Just that," Owen completed. "A memory. The past, right? More like… something you left behind and you don't feel bad about it."

"Exactly," Zena said. "But I—if Aramé facilitated that, I don't blame her for it. I wanted that in the first place, even if I didn't really realize until later."

She caught a hint of suspicion in his gaze at that and the way he glanced at Aramé.

"Owen, really. It's okay."

"I know. Sorry, just—the whole thing about that test in the first place still bothers me. Tell me about the last fragment, the… Legend."

"A Lugia," Zena said. "She was very composed. It comes from a time when I'd accepted the gods' power more readily, didn't lash out, and I think took a blessing from Emily after she somehow relinquished her own. That's… hazy to me. It must have been an illogical memory that I'm only trying to rationalize." Zena sighed.

Owen looked tense. She knew the question on his mind.

"I remember that possible timeline, that attitude, yes," Zena said, "but Lugia was the other one that I'd left behind, along with my anger. She was 'an ideal' that I… I admit, I wished I could have been. But to take that directly would be cheating." She sighed. "I wanted to find my own path. Not something Aramé conjured for me to follow. I think that's the point of an ideal. Seeing it, and then finding your own way to it…"

Zena felt her face flush.

"That sounds silly, now that I say it out loud…"

"But I understand." Owen gently put a hand to her back, minding his glide. "But, you know… I don't think I would have been too upset if you chose her. I… get it. I was tempted, too. And in a way, I did take him, didn't I?"

"You're a hoarder of memories," Zena replied with a giggle. "I don't know how you keep it all in there."

"Guess when I've lost them so often, I get… possessive."

"Even of false memories?"

"There was some use to it!"

"You sound like Rhys."

"I—" Owen flinched, drifting a few feet away to flap and gain altitude. Returning to his glide, he went to Zena's other side and descended. "I guess."

Zena tilted her head downward as the group's descent accelerated. She could see the details of a few buildings and the dots of several Pokémon watching their arrival.

"It must be scary, though," she admitted. "When you lose memories, you don't always realize you lost them, do you?"

"You don't," Owen agreed. "You can only hope you finally have them all. But this time, I think I do. I have for a while—another me was just somewhere else gaining new ones for a while."

That much made sense. It wasn't very comforting, but Zena felt there was no point worrying about it all.

"So you left behind your ideal and your anger," Owen said. "Kept them in mind, but didn't let them be prominent. You kept your current self—your mirror—and… your Feebas self?"

"I didn't want to forget that feeling of being lost," Zena said. "Everything is so big now. I'm talking to gods, former gods, god killers… I used to just be a Feebas who worried about getting a proper mate, being pretty and elegant for the family line… The ocean was so much smaller. Ironic, isn't it?"

"You know, maybe when this is all over… we can figure out a way to visit that old home," Owen offered. "I'm curious what underwater life is like."

"You'd… die, probably, but—well. You're used to that, and I'm sure we can find a way for you to endure the depths…"

Owen tittered. "Maybe… I'll just hear about it until then."

Zena covered her mouth with a ribbon to laugh. "Oh," she said. "Speaking of the depths… I did get one, well, one perk I've already noticed from taking that Lugia blessing from Aramé."

"You have?"

Zena nodded and jerked her head back. "My tail feathers."

Owen looked back. "…What about them?"

"Owen." Zena squinted. "They've changed colors."

"They have?"

Zena slowed her flight to look behind. Yes, they certainly had—her tail feathers, once turquoise with a bright pink core, were now a regal silver with a white core.

"…Were they always silver?" Owen asked.

"No, Owen," Zena said, befuddled. "Owen, how in the world—you have Perceive!"

"I—I don't see color in those! Just… texture, and volume, it's all just shapes!"

"You have… you have eyes, Owen!" Zena said.

Owen stumbled over his words for several seconds.

Zena looked for Nate, spotting Mu on his back. Lounging as usual as Kilo Village got closer and closer.

"Maybe Mu had a point," Zena said with a sigh. "That was very… er… cringe, of you."

Owen groaned and tilted his body, banking downward to land sooner than the rest.

As Zena, Nate, and Aramé did the same, Mu leaned over the leviathan and called to Zena, "You have a fight?!"

"No, Mu!" Zena called back. "Just… one of those moments where your father surprises me."

Mu seemed puzzled the rest of the way home.

Owen landed with a stumble and a shudder. "Feel lighter," he mumbled to himself. He jumped a few times, finally on proper ground in a proper body for the first time in a thousand years—in one set of adjacent memories, at least.

But despite that, the strength behind his body made every movement easy and unencumbered. Muscles and tendons, bones and blood. It was so much easier to move like a body would when he had a body.

Zena landed next, playfully nudging him on the side. Owen smiled back and asked, "Where should we go first?"

"Heart HQ, I think," Zena said. "I'm sure they'll spread the word pretty fast…"

"Oh. Right!" Owen nodded. "That reminds me. There's someone I need to see first. It'll solve a lot of our issues at once if it goes right."

"How big is that if?" Zena said, coiling cautiously like the words could drop them into a pit.

"If it fails, I don't see anything bad happening," Owen promised. There was an apologetic tone behind that one. He knew that his actions had… hefty recoil if he wasn't careful.

But this one? This one he was confident in. It was one of his final plans before leaving the Worldcore.

"Alright," Zena said, looking convinced. "Who do you need to talk to?"

"I need Star, Barky, Leph, and Aster. All at once. Oh, and Diyem, possibly."

Zena tilted her head. "All of the gods? And… whatever Diyem is?"

"Now that I think about it, as many Guardians, too. We need as many of the Hands as possible gathered together."

"Owen, the last time we did that…"

"Diyem's on our side now. And—Alexander's still stalled, right?"

He is, Nate confirmed.

"Ugh, quit standing around!" Mu urged. "Let's go to the Hearts and get updated there!"

But just as they turned to that big, red heart-shaped building in the southern side of town, another Charizard entered Owen's Perceive. The distinct lack of proper organs told him it was Diyem… and that he'd reclaimed much of his power, or at least found ways to take on stronger forms.

"Yoo, Papa Darkness!" Mu waved, skipping to him before falling forward. She disappeared, reappearing just behind Diyem with a strange warping of light.

"What did you call me?"

"Papa Darkness. That's your official name, right? Darkness Diyem Dark Matter Murkrow Way?"

A gust of wind blew a few dust clouds past them, carrying fragments of their embers.

"How about Daddy Diyem?" Mu offered instead.

Owen winced. She was just trying to get a rise out of him. As usual… What happened to that innocent little girl who just wanted to help feral Pokémon be happy?

"I see." Diyem nodded. He reached for Mu, patting her on the shoulder.

"Uh."

And then held it firmly, refusing to let go.

"H-hey!" Mu shouted. The light warped around her—

A dark shockwave rippled from Diyem's chest, through his arm, and into Mu's body. She gasped like she'd been rattled by a thunderbolt. Then, that warping of light dissipated.

"H-hey! My… my Dungeon powers!"

"Diyem!" Zena shouted, but Owen placed a hand on her back. She was confused, agitated, and alert. Owen knew that. But one careful nod from him and Zena backed down… though she still watched Diyem intently.

The black-flamed Charizard hefted Mu over his shoulder. The Charmander protested as usual, pounding her little fists on his back.

"Hey, you can't do this! I'm older now and you weren't even around! Dad! Stop other Dad!"

"Diyem, what's this about?" Owen said, arms crossed.

"Human society has corrupted your daughter. She's very impressionable. The lowest common denominators of that world have seeped into her spirit."

Diyem walked past them, Mu still over his shoulder.

"I'm going to give her a tour of this town to cleanse her of that blight. You gather the others. I'll be back before evening."

"What?! Evening?!" Mu tried to squeeze away, but Diyem's grip was ironclad. "Dad! You're just letting him kidnap me?!"

Zena glanced at Owen, conflict in her eyes. Owen understood the hesitation. However, if there was anything he could trust about Diyem at this point…

Owen offered a single glance at Nate. A few of the eyes blinked in a particular pattern; yes, Nate would keep an eye on things.

Good enough. "Don't do anything too dramatic, Diyem."

Diyem grumbled an agreement and waved with his free hand, walking down to the main western road.

Owen exhaled through his nose and said to Zena, "Let's explain everything to HQ."

"Right. And… Mu will be okay?" Zena asked. "Diyem's…"

"Diyem is the person who knows about her powers more than anyone else," Owen said. "I believe he knows… something that we don't about how to help her before all that negativity corrupts her."

"She doesn't seem that bad," Zena said, though the doubt in her expression said the rest—that she could get worse, and they had no idea how to keep up.

"Maybe not now," Owen said. "But… think about everything she learned from that human world. And how much more she might learn here, where the world's nearly falling apart. People are stressed, afraid, angry… and we can't hide that from her until she's older. Her knowledge comes from that. Diyem lived that life. So… I trust him."

She still didn't like the answer, the way her eyes darted around as if searching for a rebuttal. Eventually, she sighed and let it go. "After this is done, we'll talk to him on what we can do to help."

Owen nodded back. "Alright. Let's catch up with Aramé. Nate? You know the plan."

Nate's many eyes blinked in affirmation and he flew away to guard the caldera once more. With one last second to appreciate a Kiloan sky, Owen and Zena marched to the Heart HQ to catch everyone up.

Diyem waited until Mu tired herself out before finally allowing her to walk. He kept a Shadowy tether on her, preventing any warping shenanigans, and he knew she'd already tried once or twice.

He'd taken her through town as promised, but then he went further until he was at the caldera's edge. He felt that Nate was watching him, and a small part of him felt offended at the necessity. Most of him understood why.

But as they got to the town's edge, past the final building where the dirt road gave way to hardy mountain grass, Diyem and Mu stopped their walk.

"Okay," Mu muttered. "What's all of this about? Humans corrupting me? Please, as if I'm not already the most corrupt thing on this side of reality."

She paused. "Second most."

Another pause. "Okay, I'm up there."

"You use humor to mask your fears because that was the response that got the most positive reactions from all the memories siphoned into you," Diyem said. "The sad performer wearing the mask of a smile, only to go home to a cold and dark room.

"And to make sure your father doesn't find out, you take advantage of your biology, masking any of the natural reactions that come from a body for those negative emotions. Owen has no idea. He's so reliant on Perceive and so unfamiliar with the human culture you drew from that none of it registers. The same goes for Zena.

"But in the end, you're terrified of this power and what it might do to people. What people will think if you survive all of this as the last remnant of darkness. That if I die in all this, you'll be alone. So you mask it with jokes the same way those people you siphoned from did. The ones living the 'happiest' lives while they rotted inside.

"And now you're bringing that here."

Diyem moved little during his speech. Mu did the same. A mutual understanding between two demons that their bodily gestures were superficial replications of those they mimic. It wasn't truly their nature. It was all mimicry to fit in.

The silence between them persisted for longer than expected. Diyem had been prepared for a witty remark, a crass dismissal, or even an eyeroll. But Mu was, surprisingly, respectful the whole time. And… bothered. Her gaze was distant.

"Mu?" Diyem asked. He could sense the crushing despair that had accumulated. Maybe he'd spoken too harshly all at once.

But just before he could regret his decisions, the dark-flamed Charmander finally spoke. It was a whisper, only audible from the lack of wind.

"Well… what am I supposed to do?"

When Diyem didn't immediately answer, she continued. "No offense, but… if I talked about it all the time… wouldn't I wind up like you did? I don't want that."

"Mm." Diyem folded his wings back. "No. I'm not offended." He walked to the nearest rock jutting out from the town's perimeter and swept his tail next to him, clearing minor debris for Mu to sit.

She took the offer, resting so his dark flame was a foot away from her. Had she gotten smaller? His flame was nearly her size.

"You get it," Mu said, looking down. "It's… it's just bombarding me. I can't turn it off. Every single thing that's wrong with the place, I feel it. Petty things, big, huge things… Like, I know basically every curse word. Pretty sure this world doesn't know half of them."

"Yet," Diyem said, "you are… well-adjusted despite that. It means you aren't actually feeling that negativity. Is that true?"

"Huh?" Mu tilted her head. "Well, yeah. But just knowing it is hard."

Diyem nodded along, pensive. He'd only just realized how he had no idea how to interact with children. Then again, Mu, despite being only a year old, wasn't so much a child as she was a teenager at this point…

"Hold on," Mu said, disrupting Diyem's thoughts. "Are you saying you feel all that?"

"Oh. Well. Yes." Diyem nodded. "I block it out. I know how to differentiate. But when I was very young, I couldn't tell the difference."

"Oh, God," Mu said, eyes wide with horror. "I'd be totally messed up."

"And I'm glad you did not inherit that. It almost feels like my 'Negative Empathy' combined with Owen's Perceive, and you became more of a 'Negative Observer.' That's my theory, at least."

"Guess I'll count my blessings," Mu remarked, leaning until her back was against the side of his tail.

"It's still a great hardship I wouldn't wish on anyone," Diyem reminded. "Mu… You were not allowed a childhood of normalcy."

"Eh. I mean, I'm not all bent out of shape about that," she said. "Just…"

Diyem let her continue, despite the pause. He turned his head to look at her directly. Yes, she was smaller. She could change her form at will; he wondered how deliberate it was, or if it reflected her mood.

"You're right," she said. "What if I'm seen as a demon after all this? Or, even worse, what if… one day, that dark nature just takes me? What if I grow up and those instincts are too much?"

"Instincts?" Diyem asked.

"To… I dunno, be evil, or something."

"Do you feel those now?"

"Not really…"

"…Do you think I have that?"

"I don't know. I only knew you when I was really young."

Diyem wasn't sure how to dissect that one at first. Only a few days for him, most of her life for her. He'd been there for a blink. Some father… thing he was.

"I don't," Diyem finally said. "You may not know a great deal about me, but… no. I am not naturally evil. I naturally suffer."

"Wow. That's the edgiest thing you've said to me yet," Mu said with a forced smirk. "Still… sorry it's that way."

"This entire war started a thousand years ago when your father showed compassion for me. Rather than killing me, he wanted to move the world's rules to let me be happy." Diyem exhaled through his nostrils, emitting black smoke. "I owe him my existence."

A sharp pain ran through his chest. He ignored it. Gratitude… It seemed to be one of the most painful emotions for him.

"Hey, you alright?" Mu asked.

"Sorry," Diyem said. "As part of the… Negative Empathy package, good emotions are harmful. Recently, I acquired a small amount of light… which made it possible to feel more of it."

"Wow, that's…" Mu trailed off. "That's real. Wow. Like, I don't know what to even say to that… What's up with the gods who made this? That's… all kinds of wrong!"

"They didn't intend for me to exist. I was made from a flaw in the world."

"Oh. Right." Mu winced. "…D'you want a hug?"

"What."

"Uh—sorry." Mu quickly looked away. "Sort of a reflex to offer that if I dunno what else to do."

That earned a wry smile. "You really are Owen's daughter."

"Don't even say that!" Mu protested, huffing. "He's… I don't even know! He's like an adult and a kid at the same time!"

"I suppose one day, you'll grow up, too," Diyem said. "Fine. I'll take your hug."

He got enough practice from Anam anyway.

The little Charmander spun herself where she sat and flopped over Diyem's tail, squeezing it where its width was just small enough that her claws could touch.

And in that moment, Diyem felt… like he didn't have to do anything else. He'd come here with the plan of a big lecture to set her straight, to scare her into realizing the dark path she'd taken, but… she was still young and impressionable. He hadn't had to do much.

"It'll really be okay?" Mu asked, holding him tight.

"You have so many boons that I never had," Diyem said. "You don't feel their pain; you only know it. Your range is limited to Owen's Perceive range instead of the world. And, most of all…" Diyem sighed. "You have a supporting family and group of friends right here for you. The negativity I feel from them when they think of you… It's the same way one would think of a cousin that gets too active. Not hatred. Just… family."

"Family." Mu echoed the word. It seemed to hold meaning to her. She rested her cheek against Diyem's tail. "…Thanks," she said. "Am I still doing the tour around Kilo Village?"

"Yes. We need to flush out that human influence before it roots itself in your body," Diyem muttered. "Come on. We should continue our trip."

"Ugh, fine." Mu pushed away, though it was perhaps more tender than she'd've admitted. "Let's go see the world again."

Diyem smirked, content to follow her this time. Mu was already looking larger with every step.

Most of their allies were still mobilized. Even with the 'Willow Communication System' and other axillary means of staying in contact, it would be some time until everyone Owen wanted to see would be there.

"You're really okay?" Anam asked. "You seem… different."

"Yeah, uh, I mean… I've been gone for a whole year from my perspective. Felt really guilty about it, but I'm glad you guys held out for those days I was gone."

"We've gathered a lot of information while we were there," Zena added. "It should turn the tide of this battle. But, Owen, just when you returned…"

"Yeah. Just when I returned, I found the final part of… myself. Nate had it. He's been waiting for this moment, even if it didn't come about the way he expected. And with that… I think I know the whole chain of events that led to where we are now. And I think, if we look closely at it, we might find the way to get out of it.

"Do we have a notetaker?"

"O-oh, um, I'm pretty good at those," Angelo spoke up from far in the back of the room. He pulled his tail brush forward and… painted himself a notepad. Which then became real.

"…How'd you do that?" Owen asked.

"Do what?"

They stared at one another.

"…Anyway," Owen went on, "please take notes for everyone else who isn't here. They might have more insight. So… if that's all out of the way…

"Let's put everything on the table and see what new things we learn."