Chapter 33: I Wonder
Lumi breathed, then tried again.
Eyes closed. Stuffy air filled his nostrils. The sensation of the smooth rock wall pressed against his fur. He reached down to feel his simple straw mat with both paws, twin tails fanned out along the rough surface as he sat cross legged.
His mind tended towards distractions, but he channeled that energy to focus on every sensation he could at this moment. The infinite ocean he would glimpse demanded an anchor. He'd spent the past two months understanding the contours of the here and now to form the present into a suitable one.
He opened himself to Tempo. His breaths gained a light echo, and he opened his eyes.
The cell greeted him, the black on the walls muted and gray, color washed out with the movement of the timestream. Cold metal bars on his right separated him from the empty hallway outside. He idly flicked one of his tails that brushed against a piece of paper, one of a cluttered mess of papers that layered the floor to the point where barely any of the stone could be seen. Countless scribbles of half-baked ideas, concepts, letters, and whatever other errant thought that had floated through his mind throughout his detainment marred their surfaces.
The mere sight of so many potential thought threads to pick back up would have already derailed his mind. Dark thoughts tinged with bitter disappointment crept at the edges of his psyche, ready to bite away at his motivation, but he didn't let those sway him.
He'd had time to train focus. If not for his pointless ramblings, then at the very least, for this. Now wasn't the time to write. He had other homework to do.
"Alright, come on. Find him. Celebi said I can move on when I can find him and focus on him for five minutes. No lapses. Come on..." Lumi's whispers might as well have been shouted in the cell. Often, the only sound he would hear for long stretches of time was his own voice, the guards only visiting his isolated cell to deliver food and occasionally mail. It had taken hardly any time at all to fall into the habit of talking to himself.
His eyes jumped around as gray figures flickered in and out from his vision, past occupants of this particular cell glitching before his eyes like scattered pages of a picture book, not unlike the remnants of his ideas that littered the floor. Whereas before the sensory overload would have caused his eyes to water after looking at it for more than a few seconds, now Lumi narrowed his eyes and sifted through the pieces of chaotic time with a practiced ease.
Soon, the frantic, phantom movements of past Pokemon bled away as the particular frame of time he was looking for began to coalesce, until only the muscular form of a Grappleoct remained.
Occasionally a flash of another moment in time would bleed in, but for the most part Lumi was able to observe the Grappleoct move around the cell, hunched over with a stormy look in his eyes. After a few seconds, Lumi released the breath he didn't realize he held and grinned.
"There you are, Grappleoct. Long time no see," he said to the vision of past time, fully aware that his voice went unheard. He glanced around a bit to confirm that no other bleeds were present. "And it's just us this time. Nice...
"How long did this take me? About… seven seconds total? A couple slips in the beginning but the vision is stable." Grappleoct began to pace the cell with further intensity. His steps phased through the layer of paper as if they weren't there, which given his relative time, was quite true.
"You're just walking around, huh? You were angry, it looks like," Lumi murmured as he watched. "And you're raising a fist and...oh, punching the wall. And now the cell bars. Now back to the wall."
Lumi's eyes bounced back and forth as he watched his temporal cellmate take out his frustrations on the small room. If anything, this explained the discolored patches on the otherwise smooth black walls.
"You know, you're kind of doing the same thing as before. The routine doesn't change much most days, does it?...Don't your arms hurt by now?
"...Oh, that's a good question, actually. How long ago was this? Celebi might ask that, let's see...Thir...uh..hmmm..."
After a few seconds of thought, he huffed in annoyance and patted his face.
"No, no, remember. Don't think. Feel. Tempo opens you up to the flow of time but...what did she sa-right. There's more to be gleaned than just vision. Feel the current. It speaks to us in ways only we can interpret. Don't think. Feel. Feel..." He repeated the words Celebi had impressed on him early in the meditation training. The concept applied well to tapping into the timestream as a whole, but was especially useful for learning to master the ability to see through time.
It turned out there was a name for this ability to view the past: Hindsight. Or at least, Hindsight was the name Celebi came up with, like Tempo.
The repeated words helped to center him. With another exhale, he loosened his shoulders and just let the sensation of the endless current wash over him. As he observed the vision, he noted how the current from the past felt...different from the present. Taking Celebi's advice, he thought about the time and started saying the first thing that popped in his head.
"It's been...thirty-two years. Thirty-two years and...she'll want specifics..." The words continued to flow off his tongue without much conscious thought. "Eight months, two weeks and five days. And four hours."
He intuitively knew them to be true. It could be likened to how one would know the approximate temperature simply by feeling how hot or cold it was outside, except far more precise. However, rather than a sense of pride in becoming more in tune with his abilities, a sense of forlorn longing settled in Lumi's chest.
"...and how long have you been here, Lumi?" He murmured to himself, looking at but barely even registering the Grappleoct, who had eased up on the punching and just sort of stood there in a contemplative trance. "Oh, that's easy. It's only been one month, thirty days, seven hours, thirty-seven minutes, seventeen seconds. Eighteen, nineteen...too long..."
Frustration began to bubble, but he shook his head before it could take root and smacked a paw onto a pile of crumpled balls of paper.
"No, not now. Focus. On Grappleoct, focus on Grappleoct, focus on...please do something interesting." His teeth clenched, eyes wide and pleading towards the vision. "All you ever do, every day, is walk around and punch walls. You don't even talk! Didn't you do anything else while you were-"
The words caught in his throat as Grappleoct fell to the floor, tentacles wrapped around his torso, and began trembling.
"...I mean that's something, I guess. And a little depressing, are you crying?"
Grappleoct began to rock back and forth in a fetal position. The sound of his tears through time held a reverberating quality that only enhanced the angst.
"Ah. Ugly crying. Haven't done that in a while, at least." Lumi blew a harsh sigh and rubbed the fur along the front of his head, a few strands of which fell down to join the rest of the blue and white patches of fur that he had shed over the course of this time. He thought about what his mother would say if the state of his room all the way back in Thistle Town was in a similar one to this cell: floor covered entirely in random papers and shed fur. He shuddered, not even wanting to imagine the level of ass-whooping that would follow.
A quick whiff of himself made him jerk his head back and groan, which solidified the idea that maybe he was overdue for a fur check and tongue bath. It'd be more interesting than watching his Grappleoct friend slowly lose the will to live, anyway. He stood up from his seated position and gave himself a once over.
The collar of white fur around his neck had grown enough to hide the power-dampening band that he had grown accustomed to, looking almost like a small mane. Further down, the rich blue fur that covered most of his body had grown out, although it was less cute and fluffy and more raggedy and matted. Even if he wasn't overly concerned with his looks on the best of days, Lumi frowned at the state of his appearance, so sat back and decided to lick himself down to try and maintain some sense of hygiene in this empty cell.
As he groomed himself, still maintaining his vision of the past, he idly thought back to one of Celebi's earlier explanations for Hindsight, a few weeks after they started using Grappleoct as a way to focus on a particular subject in the past:
"Celebi, I've been thinking. We've been using this guy to practice my...wait what did you call this again? The glimpse-into-the-past skill?" He sat against the far wall, observing their sobbing subject while Celebi swam backstrokes in the air.
"Hindsight!"
"Right, we've been using him to practice my Hindsight, but I can't help but feel a little...stalker-ish?" He twirled his paw around as he looked for the right words. "I mean, we've been glimpsing into his time serving his sentence, and each time it gets a little more..."
"Sad? Pathetic? Uncomfortably vulnerable? Like you're watching a fully grown mon turn into a little boo-boo crybaby?" She seemed rather unperturbed about watching the Grapploct have a breakdown a few feet away from her, Lumi only slightly less so.
"Something like that, yeah."
"Well this is the great thing about it, my little lord. Hindsight isn't only a little stalker-ish, it's fully stalker-ish! Not quite my specialty, I admit, but sometimes it's helpful for work."
Lumi lounged on one paw, one eye on his target while he gave Celebi a bit more attention. Despite her capricious tendencies, he knew she was serious about his training and would make him go again if he slipped concentration.
He took the split focus as a challenge. "I'm itching to know more."
"It's like this. When you use Hindsight, you are seeing things that most definitely happened, because the past is much more set in stone than the future. In fact, personally I say that Foresight, or seeing the future, is a bit overrated. Oh sure, everyone says they would love to view the future, but what they don't realize is how annoying it is to try and sift through so many possibilities, all the if/thens, trying to piece together causality...bleh."
She stuck her tongue out, then continued. "But the past? That's largely stable. Much easier to parse through events that already happened, and more importantly, there's more you can learn from."
"You're telling me there's more to the temporal stalking ability than just watching someone slowly lose the will to live?"
"You can use it for that and more! Think of all the incredible secrets and important historical events you can witness. Just be aware of where you use it." She floated down to right herself in front of him, and her gaze weighed just a bit heavier. "Perhaps it goes without saying, but certain sites are home to events that many would consider to be private affairs."
"Private affairs? Sounds saucy."
"Saucy. Tragic. Illuminating. Violent. In many ways, it can be said that the truth resides in the past. Just be ready for what you..."
Her voice trailed off. Lumi's ears twitched in confusion as Celebi seemed to focus on some point a few feet away. She held up a hand and waved at seemingly nothing, a wide grin plastered on her face.
"You're taking our training to heart, then! Very good," she said at the air, then looked down at him. "We'll continue this conversation later, keep it up!"
"What are you-"
His words died as Celebi back flipped in the air, then disappeared in a burst of glowing leaves and giggles.
The Meowstic furrowed his brow at the memory, spitting out a clump of particularly unruly fur as he considered it.
"She always does stuff like that…it's been like a week since I saw her too. Or, it feels like a week anyway. I wonder how much she was expecting me to improve." He blinked and hummed in thought. "Actually, did she give me any other directions? It's been a bit of a slog so I don't know if I remember right…
"Hey, you know what? I could just look back and make sure. That should still technically count for the training, right? Yeah…" He glanced at the crying Grappleoct with a grin. "Sorry buddy, I'll have to leave you now, but listen…"
He walked over to Grappleoct's trembling form and put a paw out on the piece of space that his shoulder used to occupy.
"I know it sucks right now, but you can make it through this. I believe in you. Really," he said, voice low with as much emotion as he could muster. When Grappleoct started to beat the ground in pure despair, he stepped back.
"K, bye."
The other Pokemon snapped from his vision entirely when he broke his concentration. Now focused on viewing his conversation with Celebi not long ago, the snapshots of time that flashed before him grew much more mundane and samey than when he tried to scour through moments over the course of years. For the most part it was just him in different positions around the cell; meditating, reading, writing, splayed out on his back groaning in anguish at the sheer boredom of it all.
Nevertheless it was much quicker to find his target event this time given its relative closeness in the time stream. The monotone, gray forms of Celebi and himself appeared before him, and he settled himself down to watch.
Viewing himself from the past never failed to send a tingle of fascination down his spine every time he did it, although as he watched himself listen to Celebi, all he could really focus on was how much of a hermit the Lumi-from-a-week-ago looked like. The worst part was that he knew he had only gotten worse.
"…certain sites are home to events that many would consider to be private affairs."
"Private affairs? Sounds saucy."
"Saucy. Tragic. Illuminating. Violent. In many ways, it can be said that the truth resides in the past. Just be ready for what you..."
Like before, she trailed off again, only this time, Lumi realized that she made direct eye contact with him. He blinked in surprise, which only deepened as she grinned and waved at him.
"You're taking our training to heart, then! Very good," she said directly to him. Both past Lumi and present Lumi looked at her in utter confusion. She looked down at the past-him unbothered. "We'll continue this conversation later, keep it up!"
"What are you-" but she left him unanswered as she flipped forwards to disappear in a burst of green leaves...
...Only to appear before him in a shower of similar glimmering leaves, colors now her usual vibrant green. Lumi jerked back, one paw up while the other held himself up on the ground, eyes wide as Celebi touched down, her light weight making the papers on the ground crinkle.
"Doing some extra credit I see, well done! Lord Dialga will be pleased to hear of your progress." She sniffed and glanced around at the unkept nature of the cell, then scratched her head. "I'll make sure to leave out the part about your less than stellar organization..."
"How did...wait, you could see me?" Lumi asked, baffled. She shrugged.
"I sensed someone peeking through and looked ahead a bit to see where. Imagine my surprise when it's my little lord taking his training seriously and making use of Hindsight for his own ends. I take it that peeking in on our friend grew a bit tiresome?"
"The crying and punching wasn't the best entertainment, so I guess you could say that, yeah." Lumi sighed, but a smile soon crept up and he got to his feet. "Anyway, it's good to see you. It's been a while."
Celebi's eyes rolled up as she seemed to properly register the distance in time jumped. "...Huh! In a manner of speaking I suppose it has. Well, it looks like you've been able to stay busy in the week I've been gone."
"But for you, it was barely even a second. Can just hop around as you like..." He leaned back a bit to check outside the bars and make sure there were no guards around to hear them. A formality, given that she only ever deigned to speak to him in real time when there were none in the immediate area.
"Must be nice. Am I gonna be able to do that eventually?"
She hummed to herself as she glanced down at the numerous papers and books tossed about all over the cell. "To my extent? I wouldn't count on it. Traveling between times happens to be my speciality, it was what I was made for."
"And what am I suited for, exactly?" His question made her pause her wanderings around the cell and set down the twenty-third list of item concepts he'd jotted down weeks ago.
"That...is an interesting question, one I'm certain another, older Celebi could give a better answer to."
"So it's no problem for you to ask one and let me know, right?' His ears perked forward in interest. Celebi ceased her wandering around the room and turned to face him, eyes squinted with a soft smile.
"If it's not absolutely necessary to know, I prefer to stay a little light on details of things I'm interested in. Helps keep things more organic. But that doesn't mean we can't hypothesize, you like that sort of thing, right? There was that inspired manipulation of the stream to place an object in a self-repeating time loop in Hollow Garden. And let's not forget how you seem to be a natural when it comes to scrying across time."
"A natural? It took two months, that doesn't really seem fast. And it's only Hindsight, you said that's the easy one."
"I said no such thing, I said it was more stable. I chose Grappleoct as your target because he was buried under years and years of past events overlapping each other. I thought it would take months before you even caught sight of him, let alone single him out amongst the other visions. You did it in a week. And that's not even talking about how you've already found applications for Foresight at your level."
She wore a coy grin as she walked towards him, steps light.
"Foresight? I don't remember saying I could see the future."
"Not see. But you can sense and, more importantly, act when Tempo alerts you of a possibility that involves you coming to harm. That's alot of information at once, it's a marvel that you can process it all. "
Lumi's lips pressed together when she stopped only a few inches in front of him, eyes wide and searching. With almost reverential care, Celebi reached up to take a hold of one of his ears and dragged it down. Though odd, he tolerated her inspection, curious about her fascination, although an icy jolt shot up his spine when she unfurled his ear to reveal the eye-like organ embedded in its tip, unbidden by him.
His breath hitched, form stock still as she looked into the eyes with an expression he couldn't find words to. She only got a few seconds before he flicked that ear up and stepped past her.
"Are...what are you doing?" He cupped the ear she held, eyes wary as he observed her. She took her time turning to face him, arms behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her feet.
"Just thinking of possibilities, is all." Her voice was sweet, like usual. He frowned.
"Okay. Just...these are sensitive, you know? You can't just open them like that, it's..."
Celebi blinked, head tilted inquisitively, but still nodded after a pause. "Of course, I was just appreciating you, is all, you are quite-"
Her eyes widened. Lumi took a step back as her wings sputtered randomly on her back. The usual cheerful innocence present in her eyes dimmed a bit. She held her hands together, head bowed a bit.
"I...I've overstepped. Please don't tell-erm...I mean..."
Lumi chewed the inside of his lip, unnerved by her behavior. He'd gotten closer with her during his containment, it was bound to happen. They'd achieved a level of familiarity beyond the formal bounds of her as his tutor, at least enough for him to think he knew a few of her mannerisms. But her treatment of his ears, followed by her now stammering over her words right now, reminded him that it would take multiple lifetimes before he could properly know a creature like Celebi.
"Celebi?" He interrupted her. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she shook her head.
"Lumi could we, y'know, try this again?" Her hands squeezed each other, voice pleading.
"...Sure? I guess?"
"Great!" Levity snapped back into her voice, eyes fluttering just like her wings as she zipped across the cell. No trace of her prior contriteness remained in any of her body movements, and Lumi struggled to come to a conclusion as to where the whiplash of emotions even came from.
"You've filled this place to the brim with stuff!" Her cheeriness seemed quite genuine, which threw him off more. She had her head buried in a pile of paper before she pulled one out randomly and waved it at him. "What's this supposed to be?"
He squinted at the design on the paper; several circles partially filled in with different segments and notes jotted all on the side. "Those are just some notes I have on Slow and Quick orbs. Kind of a fundamental redesign, I've been thinking about how to manipulate time into their creation to maybe have a more potent effect. I think I actually have a bunch of item ideas like those scattered around."
"Oh, that's perfect! Your proposal for using items as a means to harness your power was quite interesting. Have you settled on a design yet?" She looked back at the paper and tilted her head. "Now that I look at it, most of this is crossed out and...unfinished?"
"I can't exactly finalize a design in this cell, Celebi. And I'll get back to that just, y'know, had other ideas on my mind."
"Of course, of course..." She laid the designs to the side and picked up another sheet of paper; lines and lines of equations, little diagrams, and notes covered the page, all marked up with questions. There was so much writing on both sides of the paper that almost no white space remained.
"And this?" She held it out to him.
"That is...oh I've been looking for that." Lumi furrowed his brow at the paper and went over to inspect it. He held it in his paws, and a breathy chuckle escaped him as he scanned the page. Anyone else would have seen a paper drenched in chaotic, completely illegible writing.
To Lumi, he simply saw two sets of handwriting; his and Damia's.
Underneath a scrawl of equations and several crude diagrams of orbs, an example of their exchange went as follows:
So, super simple. The ̶a̶b̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶e̶q̶u̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ is supposed to balance the ̶E̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ discharge across the orbs simultaneously. I̶'̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶,̶ ̶f̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶. The goal is just to maintain a lower level reaction for a sustained period instead of exploding all at once.
(Check your numbers again, I got something different.)
(Look into Sunny Day move pattern for something like this, could lead to more stable reaction we're looking for.)
(Did you consider different sized orbs, and account for the Type Energy distributions?) (Are orbs even the right medium for this? Look into etching and other means of transferring Aether. I'll get back to you on what I find as well. Someone from Tailor might know too, I'll ask Purl.)
She had used a bright red pen to easily distinguish her notes from his own, written in blue.
"This is my attempt at trying to apply Resonance concepts to...well really anything, I guess," he explained. "There were a couple examples of it being utilized in the guild, like the way the Luminous orbs could turn off and on all at once, and the Rainy orbs in Bio. I'd love to upgrade my Amp Orb design but wanted a better understanding of the concept first. If you're wondering why it's all jumbled and messy, it's not just me. I jotted some things down and sent them to Damia for her feedback since Vert has been kind of isolated for the most part. It's been fun to go back and forth like this."
"You mean you've been sending letters to each other here? The guards let you do that?"
"They didn't at first, although I have a feeling Damia had something to do with changing that. Once a week the guards deliver any incoming mail, so I'm pretty sure everyone in the guild has spent most of their time here writing to each other. It's a good way to pass the time and keep in touch. So, you know..."
He let the paper drop to join the others on the floor.
"We have that, I guess." His back met the wall and he slid down to the ground, shoulders slumped and gaze unfocused on the ground. Celebi hummed and bit her cheek as she glanced around before spotting a stack of books to the side.
"That stack looks a little taller than last time. Made any progress in your studies?"
"...Hmm?" He glanced over after a few moments. "Oh, uh, yeah. I put in a request for a couple more textbooks. Been going through those."
"Have you finished any? I remember you mentioned there was a primer on emeras you were interested in. And there's all these comics too!"
"I've...I mean I've dipped into all of them, at some point, but, y'know, not exactly."
"...Have you finished reading anything?"
"I've been hopping around."
"How about a design you like? Settled on one for later?"
"Not...not one I'm happy with." His tails began to curl towards his body. He started to feel tired.
"Maybe a...concept or..." She trailed off, unsure. He breathed a low sigh in response, knees brought closer to his chest. He felt so annoyingly small in that moment, pressed up against the wall surrounded by pages and pages of half-finished, half-baked ideas he knew he had dreamed up, pursued intensely for a time, and then dropped altogether.
He was probably sitting on an idea he'd had almost months ago. One part of him questioned if he would ever remember it. Another asked if he'd even care, and the latter was starting to gain more traction recently.
"Are you okay?" She asked, and Lumi wondered if it was a rhetorical question or if she was genuinely so unused to interacting with anyone other than a million versions of herself and a stoic time god that she truly couldn't tell how he was feeling.
Regardless, the question pushed his carefully maintained restraint on his frustration just enough to make him grind his paws into his forehead.
"...I'm not doing anything," he murmured.
"Lumi?"
"I'm not-I haven't done anything! God, I feel so useless in here..." He grabbed a pawful of errant designs hard enough to crumple them. "It's like, great, I can focus enough to glimpse through time itself but I can't sit down for five minutes to finish an idea. It's been months and I haven't done anything!"
His yell bounced off the empty walls and tapered off into a low growl.
"Well, that's not true! I mean, you've gotten them down on paper, and that's the imp-"
A crumpled ball of paper whizzed by her face. Lumi didn't see her expression, too focused on crumpling up more of the unfinished, useless ideas around him as he grumbled under his breath.
"They suck, Celebi. All of this is...it's nothing. It doesn't-" Sheets of paper fluttered around the cell as he lashed out at a nearby pile. "It's all bullshit, all of it. I don't even remember what half of this is, and the other half was just made in some fever dream because my brain needs something to latch onto to pass time. And it's not like any of it matters anyway since I can't even test to see if these work or not."
He reached for his notes on potential trees to carve wands from when a green hand pulled the paper away. Celebi's concerned expression looked down at him, and she fluttered forward to put a hand on his shoulder.
Her words were soft. "Hey, you don't really believe that. This doesn't sound like you, Lumi."
"I'm just...ugh," he slid her hand off his shoulder and shot up to stand in the middle of his cell. He began to pace around, scratching at the unkempt fur on his head. "The world is going to hell outside and all I've done is stare at the wall and scratch out some drawings on paper. I've seen the news, I know that there are things happening out there, things that we can do something about, learn more about, but so far it seems like everything we've done up until this point has either meant nothing at all, or maybe even made things worse somehow. I still need to figure out what the actual effects of me pausing the Leyline really were."
"You stopped the spread of Aether in the Bright Continent, just like you said you would." Not a hint of doubt could be found in Celebi's voice. "I've even visited some of them myself to confirm, and there's nothing dangerous about these paused dungeons at all. I really don't know what the big deal is." She must have been trying to be encouraging. He huffed out a sigh, paws clenched.
"...I'm just no good here. I don't know how much longer I can do this, I need to be out there. I have so many ideas to try and make my mark on this world, really make a difference with all this somehow. But I've been so lost in my thoughts that I can barely follow them. Some days it's just a blur."
His words hung in the air, silence uncomfortable. The fact that he'd let those thoughts out in the open weighed on him, and he rubbed his forehead with a low groan. Bringing the vibe down with his own issues never sat right with him, he always tried to remain optimistic even in the worst times, but it was hard to keep all this in.
The sound of paper crinkling under footsteps let him know Celebi walked towards him. He didn't turn, but he could imagine her trying to think of something to say.
"Lumi, let me ask you something. Say you do make it out of this cell and are given your freedom back. You have your guild back, your friends at your side, every resource you need at your disposal. What then? What do you want to do, really?"
"...You probably want me to say something like, 'I'll save the world by going after more Keystones!' or something. But honestly?"
He turned around to face her. A lopsided grin hung off his face and he flicked the fur on his head out of his eyes. "From day one, it's just been nothing but waiting and waiting, setback after setback. The guild that I love so much was spat on and forced to detour so hard we're of hardly any use to anyone, which ultimately prevented me from doing what I really wanted in the first place...which is to make things that will shake this world.
"So Celebi, when I get out, I'm not going to hold back. I'm going to make the world see everything that me, my friends, my guild, all of us are capable of, and it will love us for it. Whatever secrets the Dungeons hold, whatever is causing the Legendaries to act the way they are..."
An image of violet eyes and a wide smile flashed across his memory. He clenched his fists and his fangs gleamed through his smile.
"...Whoever else is involved in all this, we'll be the ones to find out, and we're going to make the world a better place because of it. And sure, I'll keep going for the Keystones. But I'll learn all I can about them, and won't let anything get in our way. Not this time," he said, his chest electric and brimming with something he hadn't felt in months.
"Good. I think we can work with that." Celebi's eyes were squinted in delight at his answer.
Paws on his hips, Lumi inclined his head towards her. "You sure Dialga will be alright with that?"
"Rest assured, you have his blessing. Lord Dialga waits with eager anticipation with what you will accomplish. In fact..." she tapped her chin.
"Do you remember that one idea you had early on? You know, regarding a practical use for Temporal Tower?"
"Oh yeah. You said you had to hash things out with Dialga first. Did he ever get back with a final verdict?"
"It was up in the air which is why I never came back with a definite answer, but in light of your bold declaration and passion, I might be able to tip him over the edge, come to a compromise. It depends on how certain events play out."
"Certain events, huh?" Lumi clicked his tongue, paws on his hips. "Celebi, be honest with me. And I know you can tell me the truth. How does this end? Am I really getting out of here any time soon, or am I gonna be stuck here drowning in my rambling thoughts until my fur turns gray? Tell me the future, I feel like cheating."
"Mmmmm...my little lord wants to know the future..." she giggled, body carried in the air by fluttering wings. "Okay, I'll tell you this, because you've been such a good student. What you told me just now? That bold, unrestrained declaration of intent?"
She flipped upside down and booped Lumi on the snout.
"Keep that same energy. Perhaps it will lead you to an outcome you might find favorable."
"You guys do it on purpose don't you? It's just no fun for Legendaries and Mythicals to give straight answers, huh?"
Rather than respond immediately, Celebi alighted on the ground once more. While keeping eye contact with Lumi, she reached down and picked up a specific piece of paper, then walked forward to push it to his chest.
"Why don't you take a nap? Your time is coming, you should be well rested."
Lumi sent her a dubious look, but turned the paper around and glanced at it.
A rough sketch of Mauve stared back at him. Several sketches, actually, from her standing still and glaring at him with ice cold eyes, to running with claws at her side, to hopping out of one of her portals. Notes were written near each sketch detailing his thoughts and theories on what she could be capable of along with potential counters to whatever abilities he had remembered from their brief time together.
He had profiles like this for every member of that team led by...well, Dad had told him that Lucent was going by the name Boon, so he'd say they're being led by Boon for now. He still needed more information on the other members for those to be useful, but the ones for Mauve and Boon had some decent information at least.
That still didn't explain why Celebi handed this one in specific to him. When he glanced up to question her, however, he just found an empty cell.
He huffed. "Figures..." Still, her words stuck with him, might as well take a nap. He didn't really feel like doing much else right now. A quick glance showed a particularly hefty looking pile of notes perfect to make a nest in against the far wall. He walked over and fell back-first into it, nice and snug.
Before he let himself close his eyes, Lumi brought the sketch page up to contemplate one more time.
The sketches could never do the Weavile justice, but they spurred memories of adrenaline, peril, and simple conversations separated by iron bars. His lips curled at those thoughts.
"Wonder what you're doing right now..." he scooched his back to be more comfy on top of his pile of ideas, then snorted. "Probably causing problems for me. Just wait, I'll make you see what I can do too."
He didn't need to wonder if he'd see her again. On the path he was determined to walk, it was only a matter of time.
Harsh metal clangs wrenched Lumi from a dreamless sleep.
"Hey, wake up. C'mon now, I ain't got all day," said a voice with a distinct twang, followed by even louder metallic knocks.
Lumi threw one paw up to pacify as he blinked himself awake. Papers fluttered off his body as he lifted himself to a sitting position. After smacking his lips and shaking the grogginess that came from napping for just a bit too long, Lumi could finally register the grumpy looking Croagunk on the other side of the bars.
Several guards had come by to deliver him food and other correspondence during his containment, although Croagunk was the most consistent. Lumi didn't know if he liked the frog per se, although he was much less stiff than the others and might occasionally speak to him beyond what was required, which was nice.
When it became clear that he had Lumi's attention, Croagunk stopped his harsh rattling of the bars. He peered inside the cell and his orange cheek pouches expanded in time with low chuckles. "You ever thought about cleanin' up in there, kid?"
Lumi just grunted in reply. He smacked his fur into place enough to get it to stay out of his face and then regarded Croagunk properly.
"What is it? I got lunch earlier and I could have sworn mail day already happened," he said, to which Croagunk arched an eye.
"Fraid not. You got called for a meeting. Seems a little important too."
"I'm...I'm going somewhere? You serious?" His heart rate beat just a little faster for the first time in months.
"Mmhmmm. Now do me a favor and take three steps ba-"
Lumi slammed against the bars and pressed his face right up against the metal. "Wait! Wait, one thing, please."
Croagunk took a step back, mouth upturned in annoyance, but inclined his head anyway.
"...Let me take a shower?" He pleaded. After a moment, Croagunk shook his head. His throat croaked in deep, ribbity chuckles. Lumi saw him lean to the side, insert a key and do something else before the bars swung open without warning and he fell on his front.
His paws were grabbed and yanked behind his back before a strong grip pulled him to his feet. Croagunk was still chuckling as he kicked the cell door shut and pulled Lumi along.
The Meowstic hopped-walked along to keep pace. "Just a quick detour! C'mon, I need one, I look like a mess."
"Got that right."
"Alright how about this, how about an exchange? I can tell you the future!"
"We're back on this again, huh?"
"Oh yeah!" Lumi licked his lips, grin forming. "I'm the son of Dialga, y'know? We talk sometimes, it's great."
"Uh-huh, sure kid." Croagunk snorted. "Can you tell me if I'm gonna get a raise for dealing with all you wackos for so long?"
"Uhhh...okay so maybe I need to practice some more, but I'll get back to you."
"Guess that's a negative to the showers then."
Lumi hung his head in mock despair, holding in a laugh. It was always fun to mess around and say things he knew people wouldn't really believe, although he didn't want to imagine the kind of attention he would get if people actually knew the truth.
They walked for an unknown amount of time (fourteen minutes and 21 seconds, his internal clock reminded him) through bleak metal hallways. Lumi hummed a tune as he was corralled through doors and past empty cells that all looked the same, unfazed by the way the sound bounced off the cold walls specifically designed to incite feelings of isolation. He was just glad to be out of his cell for a bit.
Eventually, they entered a hallway that was a little wider than before and more well lit. Large windows on both sides offered views into rooms that only contained tables and seats, and he remembered that this was the place he went to have his little interrogation with that Zangoose.
His musings dropped dead as they stopped in front of a door and he peeked through the window.
"Vert? Brook!" Lumi's eyes were wide as Croagunk ushered him into the room. He paid no mind to the door closing behind him, too focused on the sight of his Guildmaster and fellow apprentice.
The Wartortle and Absol were sitting on cushions engaged in a quiet conversation before they perked up at his entrance. Across the table, jotting something down in a notebook, sat a familiar Pachirisu wearing a bowler hat who also glanced up, but truthfully Lumi hardly registered his presence.
Brook choked on nothing at the sight of him, startled out of his seat and onto his feet. He approached Lumi with wide, cautious eyes and both arms out.
"L-Lumi!" His voice seemed even raspier than usual, like it had seen barely any use. A wobbly smile eventually made its way onto his face, something that looked somewhat at odds with his dulled scales and frayed fur along his ears and tail, likely due to stress. The fact Lumi even noticed an increase in stress on Brook of all Pokemon spoke volumes of what the Wartortle might be going through.
He placed both claws on Lumi's shoulders and gave a firm squeeze, as if to make sure he was actually there.
"You're okay! I mean, of course you're okay, I r-read every letter. Did you get my response to your question on gummi production methods by the way? It's a little i-involved so I'm sorry if it's messy I...um..." He inhaled deeply. His grip eased just a bit. "I...I'm glad you're okay."
Lumi slipped under the Wartortle's arms to give a firm hug, one that was gingerly reciprocated. "It's good to see you too, Brook," he murmured. After a few seconds, Brook pulled away from him. With a smile, he stepped to the side which gave Lumi his first proper look at his Guildmaster since they first ventured out to Hollow Garden.
Like Lumi, Vert's fur had grown out well past what it should. The long stretch of fur that hung off the side of his head extended down near his forelegs, while the rest had grown to the point of bangs that almost obscured his eyes. The fur along his body had grown to resemble the mane of fluffy fur on his chest, eclipsing its former shagginess to resemble more of an unkempt throw rug.
However, in spite of all these changes, the first thing Lumi actually noticed was Vert's eyes. Past his bangs, he realized with some wonder that they weren't bloodshot.
Vert cleared his throat. "Do I really look that bad?"
Lumi realized he'd been staring without saying much. "N-no! Just-"
Vert reached a large paw behind Lumi and pulled him into his barrel.
"It's good to see you, Lumi." Vert's chest rumbled as he spoke, voice still a deep monotone like he remembered. Lumi found himself gripping the fur just a bit tighter.
"Yeah. Yeah…" He pulled away and tilted his head to smile up. "Sorry, it's just…haven't seen or heard from you in a while, you know? It's been months. Pandora will sometimes assure us you're okay but I think we've all been worried. They haven't...done anything to you, have they?"
"Nothing that terrible. I've been forbidden communication with any of my apprentices for fear of influencing them, and during my isolation I've been subjected to some more intense questioning. But at the end of the day, my treatment is exactly what I was expecting, and what is proper in a situation like this. Regardless of what any of you are accused of, you all are my responsibility, so I bear the brunt of this mess. Let's me shield you from the worst of this."
"Even still that isn't fair, you haven't done anything but try and help. Plus I've read how the trials have been going. Everything you say, no matter what, keeps getting framed as if you have some kind of ulterior motive or maybe even using us for something...it's all just trash..." Lumi murmured. Brook pulled over a cushion from somewhere for him to sit down, which Lumi accepted, then turned to Vert while rubbing his claws together.
"The things they've put you through in the High Court...I was only up there once and I just about l-lost my nerve a few times...I don't know how you're able to keep going up there and stay composed."
"I've gotten used to it. All I've done is tell the truth, like I always have. Besides, this ordeal isn't the worst thing in the world." The thin line of his mouth curled ever so slightly. "I've finally caught up on some sleep."
"Maybe the world really is e-ending..." murmured Brook with a hesitant smile. Lumi breathed out a light chuckle. "I was wondering why your eyes didn't look like complete death."
"And what gorgeous eyes they are! If all goes to plan, I foresee many more restful nights for your insomniac Guildmaster," piped up the Pachirisu. Lumi turned at the rather loud interruption to their conversation. He had a brief moment of confusion before familiarity washed over him, and he pointed an excited digit at the squirrel.
"Oh wait! You're him, you're that guy! You're...um..." He drummed his paws on the table as he tried and failed to match a name to the Pachirisu. "You're...shoot..."
"Not to worry my starry-eyed friend, my name is of little importance compared to my contribution to this team we've put together."
"Team?" Asked Lumi.
"Pogo here has a plan to finally tip the scales in our favor for the verdict, or at least that's what he says," explained Vert, who settled on his front. "Apparently, the three of us are pretty high profile in the public eye. The council will come to a decision at the next court date later this week, and we've all been called to the stand. What we say holds a lot of weight, enough to sway things one way or the other."
"U-unfortunately..." Brook had his eyes glued to the ground again, already sweating. He yelped as Pogo smacked the table and leaned forward with a wide, borderline manic grin.
"That is not the attitude we need at this table. If we want to change everyone else's minds out there, first we need to have the right mindset amongst ourselves. Here, allow me to help set the narrative we're going to sell the world on." He pointed to Vert. "Before the controversial and embattled Veritas is meted his guild's ultimate fate, two of his apprentices must stand before everyone and set the record straight."
He gestured to Brook with an open palm. "One, a genius with a noble light that only shines brighter in memory of his dark past. Convicted by his life of crime, he took a stand and became the deciding factor in bringing Ryker's Raiders, the most villainous outlaw gang of that time, to justice! Seeking to make amends, he quietly puts his talents to use in the Absol Guild, making breakthrough after breakthrough to bring value to the world around him without ever seeking any recognition. But that hero's heart he's cultivated for years can't help but bloom when the Dungeon spread, an unknown catastrophe, threatens our very world. Aware of the dangers to himself and his accused guild should he be found by the authorities, he nevertheless sought out to provide aid to the Rescue guild!"
"I...I feel like you're o-overselling it a bit..." Mumbled Brook, however Pogo continued on, marching back and forth with an impassioned smile.
"What a shame it would be to squander the talents of such a marvelous individual because of past mistakes, especially in the times we're in now. How could we lock away not only a genius scientist, but also a single father and loving caretaker to boot?"
Brook's eyes almost bulged out of his skull. "Single fa-wait! No that's-Basil's not my son! I just make sure he does his lessons and gets fed and enough sleep and feels safe and cared for and…well that he has a good holistic experience and…um…"
"Not really proving your point there," said Lumi, now entertained. Brook sent him a helpless whimper, but shook his head and continued. "And Willow is...o-okay, fair, but I see her as an equal before her caretaker!"
"Caretaker might be a little generous. I was thinking 'handler,'" said Vert.
"He's her self-control, maybe?" Lumi's eyes widened as he realized something and turned to Vert. "Wait, Willow hasn't gone to the stand has she?"
"Hell no. God no." Vert didn't hesitate.
"Due to her involvement with the Hunter Center, they did call her to the stand," explained Brook. "But we, erm, pleaded that she was not…m-mentally equipped to testify. After a brief check in with her, they did indeed find that she was not…um…"
"Equipped?" Guessed Lumi. The Wartortle shrugged with a nervous smile.
"That was quite literally almost a disaster. But that brings us to the next part of our story. " Pogo shuffled his papers and shot Lumi a knowing look. "Where we move from a noble mon overcoming his past, to a rising star that could help secure our future."
The words sparked interest in Lumi. He leaned forward, bemused.
"A fresh apprentice joins the Absol guild and in a span of weeks is enmeshed in a scheme that alters the balance of the world. Details about you are scarce, leading to speculation only ignited by what precious tidbits have made it to light. Inheritor of secret, forbidden knowledge? Direct descendent to world-saving heroes? Needless to say, your involvement in this ordeal is equally matched by an air of mystery. The spread of Dungeons in the Bright continent has stopped, yes, but in its place are eerie, colorless environments that have the locals on edge, and people know that a particular Meowstic apprentice of Absol's is involved."
"I'm just a guy from the sticks who wants to make cool stuff. It never needed to be this complicated..." Lumi sighed and rubbed his forehead. "And that doesn't sound good at all. I can't move around and do what I want if people start seeing me as some shady villain or something. Plus, if people are hurt or negatively impacted by anything, we'll need their trust if we're going to help out."
"And that is going to be your selling point when you go up there. This will be your chance to introduce yourself to the world more formally, let them see your real heart and motivation to use your gifts for the good of everyone rather than let whatever rumors have started to run rampant."
Pogo leaned forward and put one paw to his mouth in a faux whisper. "This is also our chance to avoid another Absol PR nightmare. Wouldn't help anyone to have another little Vert running around, hmm?"
"I resent that," murmured Vert, but Pogo ignored him.
"Look, what you did to the Dungeons has earned you a little infamy. We can make that work for us, it means people will listen, but we need to be strategic. When you go up there, people will see more than a potentially dangerous Meowstic. They'll see a promise of what this guild will bring to the table in the future. What that is depends on your words.
For this week at least, you're the Absol Guild's posterboy. You are a walking demonstration of what kind of individual it produces and what future it deserves to have." His pen tapped on the table, and he reached over to take a quick sip of a water cup.
"No pressure."
"I'm his posterboy? You serious?" Lumi shook his head, eyes raised. A quiet laugh escaped him as he glanced back at his Guildmaster. "Dang, I'm sorry Vert. Lowkey, I was thinking that if anyone should be in my position, it should have been Damia. Wish it didn't come to this."
"Don't be. I should be the one apologizing to you. From the very beginning," asserted Vert, completely serious. "I heard accounts of what you and your team did in Hollow Garden from my interrogations. About how you entered what sounded like another dimension and even fought Xerneas. Lumi, you've done more for this guild than could have ever been expected from you."
He then looked at Brook, voice steady but with a weight to it. "And I know this is hard for you especially, Brook. The past is painful to bring up, especially when it's used against you in such a public setting like this..." Vert pawed at the floor for a bit, eyes on the ground, then sighed. Both Lumi and Brook watched with some concern as he lowered his head to where his horn scraped against the floor.
"What I'm saying is, I know it's more than either of you signed up for, but I would be honored if you would represent our guild...please."
"Woah, okay, c'mon." Lumi hopped out of his seat and scampered over. He placed his paws under Vert's chin to lift him from his bow. "Vert, there's no need for all that, really. I'm your apprentice, it's like a no-brainer to try and do what I can. I'm gonna make them see what we're really about. They won't be underestimating us for long."
"I know I'm not your f-first choice for public speaking or...really anyone's ch-choice, but I promise I'll do what I c-can to make you p-p-pro..." Brook scrunched his face and stomped his foot. After a deep breath, he tried again. "...I'll try and make you proud."
Lumi grinned and walked to give Brook a pat on his shell. "We both will."
Vert looked them both in the eyes. One of those rare, full smiles graced his face. "I know."
"Now that's beautiful. Although...we might want to do something about those nerves of yours, friend." Pogo said to Brook, tone gentle. "It kind of...impairs your speech."
"Oh it's not, um, just n-nerves. Well, some...a lot of the time it's nerves, but I actually just h-have a stutter. It just flares up when I get nervous or am under p-pressure. I was such a w-wreck when I was at the stand..."
"Nothing to be ashamed of. The Atlas High Court is stacked with some of the most prominent judges from across the continent, all called together due to the highly sensitive nature of this case. You might have also recognized Wigglytuff, who oversees the Guilds from Explorer HQ in Lumbell. Needless to say, some real tough cookies. Thankfully, you won't have to face them alone. I called in a friend to give you some help."
He glanced up at the clock on the wall, then fidgeted in his seat. "At least, if he decides to show up on ti-"
The door opened. Everyone turned to look as the red feathered head of a Talonflame peeked into the room, breathed a sigh of relief, then stepped in fully. He shook his head and smoothed down some of the ruffled feathers on his chest, then adjusted the satchel he had strapped along his shoulder. Lumi's eyes were immediately drawn to how the feathers on Talonflames head were fanned out and back like ridges.
"Finally! Took forever to get to this room. I swear the guard they assigned me got lost halfway here..." Grumbled Talonflame. He sighed, but looked up at Pogo and raised a wing. "Sorry I'm late, P."
"You had me worried!" said Pogo. "I was just talking about you to our friends here."
"Uh, who are you?" Asked Lumi. At the question, Talonflame cleared his throat and stood a bit taller.
"It's good to meet you. I'll be your lawyer for the remainder of this case. You can call me-"
"Phoenix! Phoenix Flight, tell them to let me in!" A spritely female voice came from outside. A young Misdreavous popped her head in and glared at Phoenix, before being pulled back outside by the guard. Phoenix threw an apologetic glance at the four inside before hurrying over. He spoke in hushed whispers, but his words could still be made out.
"Uh, just stay here for now Maya. I need to talk with the clients. And don't go anywhere!"
"Ugh, fine..." Pouted the ghost. Phoenix closed the door again and shook his head.
"Okay, anyway as I was saying, I'm Phoenix Flight, and I was brought on to help represent you in this upcoming trial."
"That's great, but where exactly have you been this whole time?" Asked Vert. "It sure would have been nice to have a lawyer before we got to the tail end of this, don't you think?"
"Ah, sorry. I was actually in the middle of finishing up a case when the news about your capture went out, and then it was only after he contacted me and explained the situation that I got brought on," Phoenix explained, gesturing to Pogo. "I've been working to research the case and everything about you guys until now to make sure I'm prepared. I even managed to have a walkthrough of the site of your guild to see if there was any evidence I could use." His talons clacked on the floor as he walked to the table. "It was...way bigger on the inside than I was expecting."
"Yes, I'm sure it was. And I'm sure Haxorus' hunters have had a field day getting their grubby little paws all over the inside trying to find something incriminating."
"It could be worse? They could have folded it up and tossed it in the garbage. That's kind of what I was expecting," offered Lumi. Phoenix blurted out a quick chuckle.
"Heh, fold it up. That'd be a sight wouldn't it?" His laughter quickly died as Vert sent a deep withering glare his way. "Heh...ahem...anyway, we don't have a lot of time so let's get right to it. As I'm sure you are aware, quite a few allegations are being levied against the Absol Guild as a whole." He nodded his head towards Vert. "I'm sure you've heard most of them."
Vert only grunted in reply. Phoenix turned his attention to Brook and Lumi. "Just so we're all on the same page with what we're up against, I'll run through some of the relevant charges."
"Yeah sure, that sounds good," said Lumi as Phoenix started ruffling in his satchel. "It's not like we've done anything wrong, so there can't be that many."
Pogo coughed on his drink. Phoenix used one wing to pat the Pachirisu's back while he hid bubbling laughter with the other, and a deep, hurt groan seeped out of Vert's mouth as he almost sank into the floor.
Lumi blinked and glanced at Brook, who shrugged. Phoenix set his satchel onto the table as he flipped through another notepad, then spoke once he composed himself again. "Alright, so to start off we have what you would expect; domestic terrorism, negligence, dereliction of duty, inducing panic. Sabotage. The whole Dungeons scare is really at the core of these."
"Which we didn't do, so they shouldn't be much of an issue, right?" Asked Lumi.
"They're...circumstantial, so it's harder for them to stick, yes. But then we get into the spicier charges."
"Sp-spicier?" Meeped Brook. Phoenix's eyes were raised in something like amazement as they flit back and forth across the page.
"Fugitives from justice, now that's pretty straightforward. But then we get into battery, aggravated battery, assault, aggravated assault. I made a big circle around the aggravated battery of a peace officer. Just kinda have that across the board."
"Can't we just lump all of that under self-defense? It's not like we went out of our way to fight Hunters." Lumi tried to interject, but Phoenix kept going.
"Grand theft. Destruction and appropriation of property. Accessory."
Lumi blinked as his eyes landed on him. "What? I never did any-ooooooohh, wait." He looked at the ceiling and chuckled. "We did hotwire a boat in Rowshore, didn't we? Y'know, I even said that was illegal at the time. Crazy."
"Lumi, when were you going to tell me you hotwired a boat?" Asked Vert in a tone Lumi couldn't distinguish from exasperation and resignation.
"Well, I didn't do it. It was Clara."
"Why does Clara know how to hotwire a boat?"
"I dunno, her dad makes like, blenders or something. Maybe she picked something up from him. Look, we had to get to the Dungeon so we did what we had to do." Lumi placed his paws behind his head and leaned back. "Besides, those charges aren't all that crazy in the grand scheme of things. Just some stealing and breaking stuff isn't the worst thing in the world to be accused of, relatively speaking."
"Oh yeah, those all are relatively minor in the face of the uh..." Phoenix flipped through the pages of his notes, looking progressively more intrigued with every page. "...special charge the courts are trying to figure out how to create specifically for you in regards to shifting the very balance of Dungeons in a continent. They had to get a little creative with that...very creative..." He murmured, still flipping through his notes.
Lumi fell back in his seat, eyes a little glazed over, but Phoenix continued.
"Anyway, skipping forward a bit here, we have bioterrorism. Poisoning. Trespassing. Property damage of various kinds, and so, so many counts of assault and battery." Phoenix glanced up at Brook, who's head shrunk a bit into his shell with every charge named. "And I took the liberty to dig into your file a bit, just in case they try and bring up something you were already pardoned for, and can I just say it is a milestone in my career to be representing someone with as long of a rap sheet as you?"
"Um…u-um…" At this point only the tip of Brook's head peaked out of his shaking shell. "W-we used non-harmful powder though…th-they just went t-to…sleep?"
"Ah, yeah they didn't see it that way. Actually, that Hunter Center was so gassed out, it became unusable for roughly a month. They had to pay for some Koffing to go out there to try and deal with the fumes, but the high concentration actually caused most of those contracted to also fall asleep."
"Oh. O-okay…" His words came from deep within his shell.
"Hey Brook?" Lumi knocked on it. "What exactly did you do with the Raiders?"
"…Enough. I did enough."
Lumi opened his mouth to ask for more, but a look from Vert made him relent.
"And…oh yes, we also have counts for criminal coercion, unlawful restraint, destruction of property, and trespassing. I have it in my notes here that those particular charges are in relation to the hijacking of a Hunter-owned vehicle for transportation to a Dungeon, along with the restraint and threatening to said Hunters," supplied Phoenix.
Lumi and Brook frowned in confusion, not able to recall committing that particular combination of crimes, but then turned to Vert after he let loose a deep, heavy sigh and pressed a paw to his forehead, likely to alleviate an encroaching migraine.
"Damn it, Pandora…"
"I have charge lists for each of the more…'active' members of your guild as well for reference, but I think you all are starting to see the picture," said Phoenix.
"Yeah. Yeah, thanks for that," said Lumi, who just stared at the table. "That all sounds reaaaaaaalllly….really, uh…what's a good word for this…?"
"Fucking awful!" Helpfully supplied Pogo. Lumi pointed at him without looking.
"That's the one."
"I'm starting to understand why they locked us up…" Murmured Brook. Phoenix sighed, and placed his notes down.
"Everyone, listen," he said. "As bad as all of this sounds, there is a silver lining. We don't necessarily need to prove that you didn't do all of those things I just said, we just need to prove that you're all still worth keeping in operation in spite of them, and thankfully we have some leverage to help with that."
"What do you mean?" asked Lumi.
"It goes without saying that your expertise in the matter of Dungeons and Aether is invaluable, particularly now. For as hard as it must be to hear those charges placed on you, they are much more preferable than how it was before, when you were accused of causing the spread in the first place. Without that snare, you might actually have a leg to stand on."
"There's also the fact that you've made a few very helpful friends whose word can help sway the public, and in turn can influence the judges. In particular," Pogo inclined his head towards Lumi. "Two somewhat obscure bounty hunters will be testifying on your behalf, if that's of any comfort."
That made Lumi perk up. Both of his tails swished.
"And also a certain Guildmaster of Rescue and Establishment, which should turn some heads."
"Are you still expecting Guildmaster Beheeyem to show? She hasn't made an appearance this whole time, and the hearing with Brook would have been when I thought she would provide witness testimony," Vert's tone belied a hint of skepticism which Pogo's grin easily countered.
"She's been trying to put out her own fires, outlaws and unnatural phenomena have kept her guild busy. But rest assured, I have it on good authority that we can anticipate her appearance for this last trial." The light gleamed off of his teeth. "Have a little faith."
"Well that's reassuring." Lumi smiled down and knocked on Brook's shell. "We're not going into this completely screwed, right?"
A nervous, breathy chuckle left the shell. "I wish I had your opt-timism…"
"Ah, and you all haven't seen the best part yet! The little cherry on top of this whole operation!" Pogo reached down under the table to rifle through his bag.
"I can finally unleash my secret weapon I've been crafting this whole time, waiting for just the right moment!"
When he came back up, he held out a neatly folded newspaper, impeccably clean without any creases. He brought it to his lips, kissed it, then laid it out on the table with the front page facing up. He wordlessly invited everyone to take a look.
The four leaned in, interest quite peaked. After reading over the headline, Lumi's eyes widened. To his left, Phoenix Flight nodded in satisfaction, and Brook held his claw to his mouth as he gasped in surprise. He felt Vert's steps as he plodded over, and glanced over to see his reaction.
Vert's face didn't betray anything, however he reached forward to pull the paper close. After a few moments, he nodded his head.
"I like it."
A/N: I watched a youtube video of the first ace attorney case for this. It was pretty neat. Also, free the homies.