Chapter 49 – Burn Away

Amia stepped forward protectively. The first was followed quickly by a second. Soon, the momentum completely dissolved the paralysis she once had at the sight of Eon.

"Amia!" Star shouted.

But she didn't stop. She stood beside Owen and then held him on the shoulder.

"Mom?" Owen asked, looking down.

"Stay away from him, Owen," Amia said softly. She pulled him back.

"Owen," Eon said, "don't let her push you around. It's me! Don't you remember me?"

"You murdered Guardians like Owen," Amia said. "Forrest and Cara were—"

"They were dead long before I met them," Eon said coolly. When he looked at Amia, his body slimmed down into an exact copy, including her voice. "What kind of life is it to be sealed away, alone, for the sole purpose of keeping two dead gods in power? That isn't living. That's purgatory. That's prison."

Zena, on Owen's other side, visibly flinched. The Charizard eyed her, but realized why—what Eon just said must have resonated with her particularly strongly. He glanced at Star, but she was suddenly missing. He focused in an effort to find her; she was hiding behind Emily, who was nervously nibbling on her massive arm with her teeth. It seemed like Emily was ignorant to the full scope of their conversation; to her, it was just an argument between people she didn't know, taking place in her home.

Amia didn't break her stare. Flames the same color as Amia's blue arm enveloped her fist.

"I freed them," Eon said. "They are, literally, in a better place now."

"They could have been with us," Amia said. "They could have been happy!"

"Forrest was sick of living. He didn't even put up a fight," said Eon. "Star conveniently didn't have you speak to him, did she?"

"F-Forrest said that he wasn't interested in talking," Owen spoke up.

"Who told you that?"

"S… Star…"

Eon didn't reply to Owen. Instead, he looked back at Amia. "Cara is easily swayed by others. Star used her silver tongue to keep her in check, thinking that everything she did was worth it. But really, was it?" he asked. "Was it worth it, Star? You can stop hiding behind the Stormbringer now."

Owen blinked. "Wait, what was that last bit you said?" He thought he heard it, but then it left him as soon as it had registered.

Eon looked at Owen with a gleam of realization in his eyes. "Oh, of course," he said. "The Decree. You don't know what Emily is, do you?"

"I guess we don't," Owen said. "Arceus made it so we wouldn't. Even Emily doesn't know, right?"

"Know what?" Emily asked, nervously pulling her arm away from her mouth—a thick line of drool connected the two.

"Hmph. There's no point, then. You have to get stronger so you can resist Arceus' warping of reality."

"Is that a Decree?"

"Mysticism, Promises, Decrees—it's all the same thing." Eon shrugged while listing them off. "It all stems from the ability to warp reality to your will. Mysticism is localized to wherever the user is. Promises are rules between two Mystics, with the effect of breaking one resulting on the forfeiture of one's power. It's just another rule, with consequences. And Decrees permeate the universe, like a fundamental law of reality, no different than gravity. Which, as you know, Mystics can ignore, if they're strong enough. Same power, different scope."

Owen sighed. "Whatever it is, we don't know what you said. I guess we can't resist it yet."

"Ain't that a shame," Manny said, crossing his arms, tense. He looked at Star, narrowing his eyes, but the Mew shrank away, silently begging Manny to stop staring. Manny grunted and entered a defensive stance, arms forward, waiting for Eon to make the first move. None came. He spared a glance at Owen for only a second before returning it to Eon. "Oy. Where's yer army, anyway? The mutants yeh send after everyone."

"This wasn't a mission to gather an Orb," Eon said. "I didn't think to bring any of them with me. I'd appreciate if you didn't call them mutants. How do you think Owen feels about that? Or Gahi?"

"Eh?" Manny asked.

Gahi rubbed his arm. "Eh…"

"I guess it has a bad ring to it," Owen admitted quietly. "But what should we be called? Mods? Synthetics?"

"Pokémon," Eon said firmly.

Manny laughed a bit too loudly. "C'mon, I've got a whole army of 'em, and even we think it's a little silly."

"Why?" Eon asked, becoming Manny. "Are they not Pokémon?"

"Well, sure," Manny said, "but—"

"Then that's all we need," Eon said.

Amia looked at Owen again, nodding. She didn't want to admit that Eon was right—but this was just what she had been trying to tell him, too. "You're just Owen to me, dear," she said. "You, too, Gahi. I'm sure Rhys would say the same thing."

Gahi looked at Owen uncertainly. Would Rhys, really? his eyes asked.

"Why'd you come here, Eon?" Star said, finally emerging from behind Emily.

"Well." Eon faced Owen. He immediately shifted to a Charizard form. "I came here so I could take Owen and Gahi home."

"What?" Owen said. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Eon held out a hand to Owen, even though they were many paces apart. "Owen, once I found out you got your memories back, I knew you'd remember life at home. How things were like before all this happened. Don't you want to come back?"

Owen's feet felt like they were glued to the ground.

Amia's were not. She instantly took a step closer to Eon.

Star piped up. "Amia, don't—"

"Oy oy, Blue, back up!"

Zena dared to slither in front of Owen. "Get back!"

"You," Amia said, pointing directly at Eon's chest, "are not taking Owen away. He is my son, and his home is with us."

Eon was a Gardevoir, now. An exact copy of Amia, staring right at her. They were feet apart. Owen gulped. What disturbed him the most wasn't that they looked identical, but that they behaved identically, too. The same glare. The same tense muscles. The only reason Owen knew who was who was because Amia was closer to him.

He leaned close. "Owen is not your son."

Emily's cave became alight with the glow of blue fire. The dark rocks, damp from the ocean's rising and falling tides, glistened a brilliant azure. Amia's eyes blazed; her blue hair had turned into an inferno of the same color, the same happening to her dress. A living, white-hot beacon, the Gardevoir stepped forward with her arm straight ahead. Owen sidestepped and slammed against the wall to avoid whatever his mother had planned, feeling the heat even from behind her.

Eon had briefly become a copy of Owen when he glanced at the mutant, but he shifted back to a Gardevoir when he looked at his attacker. He stared at his hands. "Ngh—that's not—"

Amia fired. Jerry threw himself against the wall and rolled to Owen's location, scrambling past him. He used the Charizard as a living shield, figuring that he'd do a better job at withstanding the heat than he would. "H-hey!" Owen said. "Th-this is kinda too much for me, too!"

"Sh-she's your Mom, get her to calm down!" Jerry said, jabbing him in the back.

Eon had his hand forward, blocking and deflecting the flames. The beam of white fire hit the walls, turning some of the rocks into flowing lava; sparks and embers danced in the air, biting Eon's sides. He lost his focus—the flames ate away at his hand. He shouted in pain and then brought his second hand forward. His blue hair shifted to a clear white and an intense air pressure blasted Amia backwards. Her flames flickered from the wind. Everybody else was blown clear out of the cave, including Emily. Her massive form rolled over Manny, Owen, and Jerry, where they became trapped under some portion of her belly.

Amia hopped to her feet; the sand beneath her dress melted and crystalized into glass. Emily's huge wing-arm, nearest to Amia, blackened instantly. She pulled her arm back in amazement, staring at its burned flesh.

"D-don't burn my cave!" Emily shouted. She looked like she wanted to step in, but didn't know what she could do to stop them. The flames were so intense that her body would burn up if she got too close. Even if she could heal, she wouldn't be able to grab them if anything she touched burned away.

"Listen to the Lugia!" Eon yelled, blasting more wind out. "I'm just here to—"

Amia waved her right arm horizontally in a brutal swing; aura embers scattered before her. Magmortar Alex took the center, right next to Amia—and a handful of the old Hot Spot Cave inhabitants took on the flanks.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!" Amia roared.

Every single spirit fired a volley of flames toward Eon at once. Alex launched two explosive wads of fire into the mix; Amia accented the onslaught with her own blue-white blasts.

Owen and the others had to shield themselves from both the intense light and heat. Even for Owen, the fire felt hotter than he was used to. The ethereal properties made it sting, much like the flames associated with a Pokémon's normal techniques. It wasn't simple fire or lava.

Amia didn't stop her onslaught until some of the spirits next to her flickered. A few of the spirits vanished outright, returning to their host. Amia, with flames as blue as her hair, finally stopped her stream then. Her hair returned to its normal, blue, non-fire state. Emily's cave was red-hot and the sand near the entrance, now glass, glittered against the idle embers. Emily pat her belly to put out the last of the flames that had been on her. Tanneth had long since fled into Emily's shoulder to avoid the fight completely, but reemerged to douse the heat away.

The Lugia reached out to try to calm Amia down, but getting within grabbing distance burned her hand to ash. She stared, wide-eyed at her futility, and pulled her stump of an arm away.

Eon stood near the mouth of the cave, still taking the form of Amia. His hand was slightly burned, but that was all he had sustained. Amia, seeing this, took a threatening step forward—as did all of her spirits in perfect unison.

"I'm not here to fight, you know!" Eon said. "Why don't you hear me out, and we'll—"

A rainbow of flames blasted Eon, each one from Amia or one of the Fire spirits. Eon held out his hands again and brought up a column of sand with the power of the Ground Orb imbued within him—his body became that of sand, a light tan color akin to Owen's stomach.

When the flames died down again, even more of Amia's spirits flickered and returned to the Fire Orb. Now only five spirits remained: Alex, an Arcanine, a Lampent, a Fennekin, a fiery Buizel with twin flames instead of tails, and a Swalot made of the same material as a Slugma.

Eon glanced at Owen; his body expanded and shifted. His dress merged with his thighs, which thickened and became encrusted in scales; claws burst from his hands, just as wings exploded out of his back. Horns grew from his head—and in no time at all, he was a perfect replica of the mutant Charizard. Eon stared at the ground just ahead of Amia's feet. "Please, I don't want to fight," he said. Then, after what Owen could easily guess was a pause for whether it was a good idea or not, he continued. "Mom, can't you calm down?"

Amia was silent for only a second. "How dare you," she said in a voice that made both Eon and Owen gulp.

Another blast of heat sent Eon straight against the back of the cave, slamming into the rocks. Eon left an Owen-shaped print in the wall behind him, and the Charizard grunted. "Thought that'd last longer," he muttered.

"You have the—the GALL," Amia said, blasting Eon for a second, and then a third time, "to impersonate my son—after… after all that you've done?" Her eyes were literally flames in their sockets.

Fourth, and then a fifth, sending Eon further and further into the wall. The Owen-shaped print that he left was well-defined thanks to the heat, like a Charizard mold for history to rediscover later. All of the spirits except for Alex vanished.

Realizing this, the Magmortar worriedly held Amia on the shoulder. "Amia—we're too close. We need to go back—if Eon strikes—It's too hot for the others to—"

Eon glanced at Alex briefly—and instantly, his body bulked out. His shoulders widened and his wings vanished; his arms became cannons, and soon, he was an exact replica of Alex. "Not what I wanted." Eon hissed. "Can we stop this? This is absurd! Just—"

"Oh, and you think turning into my mate will help?" Amia said. "Your mind games won't work on me, Hunter, I—" Amia's tiny hands clenched. "Oooough, I can't believe you'd do something so underhanded!" She threw her hands down beside her. Both Owen and Alex had never seen Amia so upset before.

Eon tried to speak up. "Wait, that's not—"

Amia's hair ignited again into a white-hot torch. Immediately below Amia, the cave's floor reddened into molten rock. Clear flames—visible only by the distortion of light that it caused—careened toward Eon, igniting his body again. He held his arms forward in an X-formation, shielding himself from the blast—but even for a Magmortar's body, these particular flames ate away at him.

Owen watched Amia worriedly. Was she really doing it? Fighting Eon, right there? He wasn't even fighting back. He didn't even look pained. Was this the power of two Orbs? Or was Eon's form—as Alex, as himself—actually having an effect on Amia after all, weakening her Mystic willpower? Owen recalled the fight against Jerry.

"M-Mom!" Owen shouted. "Get back! You—"

Something flashed. Owen saw it for just a second between Amia's blasts. The white flame atop her head flickered and faded away, and it returned to her blue hair instead. And then—green. Her hair went from blue to green.

"Mom?"

Eon, between the blasts, said, "Are you—"

Amia fired again, but this time she nearly lost her balance.

"Forget this—" Eon's arms twitched. "I said—LISTEN!"

A shockwave rocked the entire island; Amia screamed when a concentrated blast of wind knocked her off her feet, sending her straight back to the mouth of the cave. Owen lunged and caught her, grunting when the impact knocked the wind out of him.

He wheezed for a while, staring down at the Gardevoir. Her hands were trembling and her body shivered with fatigue. "O-Owen…" Amia said, looking up.

"Mom—"

He saw it again. The blue hair that he was so familiar with was fading to green. A normal, green Gardevoir.

"Mom! What's happening to you?"

"What do you mean, dear?" Amia said, slowly sitting up. Owen had to support her. "I feel just fine."

"You're green!"

Owen felt Amia's heart skip a beat. "Excuse me?" She then looked at her arm; it, too, was transitioning from its characteristic blue to a typical green.

"You strained your Mystic powers so much that you've exhausted even the most basic aspects of it," Eon said, crossing his arms. He transformed into a Gardevoir again—this time, green, just like Amia.

"Stop doing that!" Jerry pointed a wing at Eon.

"As if I can help it!" Eon growled, missing a step when he abruptly transitioned into an Aerodactyl. "Ugh—forget this—where's my blindfold—" He tried to grab for something invisible around his neck, but then he turned his head back. He eyed an ashen pile in the corner of the cave. "That… was my lucky scarf."

Owen gulped. "I—I'm sorry."

"Owen!" Zena said. "Don't apologize to him!"

"S-sorry!"

"Somebody!" Jerry shouted, raising his wings. Apparently, he finally recovered from the shock of the clash. "Explain! Now!"

Eon eyed Jerry, then the others. "Who's he?"

"Someone we're trying to help," Star said. "Got melted by Ghrelle, so we were trying to get Emily to heal him."

Eon winced, becoming another Mew that floated in the air. "None of that sounds fun."

Zena stared coldly at Eon, trying to gauge whether the sand or cave was still too hot to approach.

Eon glanced at Zena next; his body plopped on the ground, losing its limbs in exchange for long, beautiful coils. "Don't think to attack me," he said. "You already saw what happened to Gardevoir."

The Milotic hesitated, but then looked at Owen. "The fact that you aren't attacking us right now means—that you can't beat us! If we all attack you—"

"I can just leave, you know," Eon said, moving back to rummage through the ash. He pulled out a small object, keeping it in his knuckles. Owen focused on the little object "I came here to talk to Owen and Gahi, and when I heard that you were heading to Emily's home, I waited for you there. I even promised Hecto that I wouldn't attack you guys."

"Was it a Divine Promise?" Zena asked.

"W-well—I'm certainly keeping the normal promise, aren't I?" Eon asked.

"Hmph. A Hunter's word means nothing to me," Zena said. Mystic energy circled around the Water Guardian, warping the light around her.

"Wait," Owen said, holding Zena's upper coils. This was enough to make her hesitate. "If he wants to talk, then he'll just talk. Right? He—you don't want to hurt me, right?"

"I don't," Eon said. "And I don't want to hurt your friends, either, if I can avoid it."

"Oh," Manny said, "like we're gonna believe that load of—"

"I believe 'im," Gahi said. "Besides, I wanna ask a few questions."

"Me, too," Owen said. "E-Eon. Did you kill the Dark Guardian?"

"Nate?" Eon asked. "No. I invited him over to the lab. He took the offer."

"Why would—" Owen shook his head. "So, you're saying that Nate's okay?"

"Yes."

"Do you Promise?"

"Owen, you know if I'm lying," Eon said, crossing his Charizard arms irritably.

A tense silence filled the air. A particularly strong ocean wave washed against their feet; Jerry irritably raised one of his legs, wanting nothing to do with the cold water. Owen felt the same, taking a few paces forward.

Eon wasn't lying. There was no extra tension in the way he behaved—but then again, for all he knew, Eon was better at hiding it. Perhaps he learned from Nevren, who was equally unreadable half the time. Owen could read bodies, not minds. "I still don't know, D—Eon."

Eon winced. "You can't even call me Dad anymore? You just did a little while ago!"

"I—I slipped up, okay? My—my real Dad is with Mom." He motioned to the green Gardevoir. "And… he's a Magmortar." He brought his head down, clenching his fists. "I'm sorry. But they've raised me for a lot longer than you have."

Even without looking, Owen could feel his duplicate's body deflate, his breathing slow. Wings drooped, just slightly, but then rose back up. But there was an odd defiance in his muscles, too, like he wanted to fight back. Like what Owen had said was wrong. But Owen had done the math; he had only been under Eon's care for a few decades, right? Yet with Amia and Alex…

"I see," Eon said. His voice was small. "Well. Alright then. But I'm still your… I'm still your Dad, Owen. And if you ever want to call me that again, I'll happily accept. Quartz HQ is always open to you." His fists clenched, staring at Owen again. "But I took care of you a lot longer than you can imagine."

Owen didn't respond. The numbers didn't add up for that… Maybe Eon really was lying.

Gahi pointed an accusatory claw at Eon. "Why'd yeh make me crazy?! Back in the Void Chasm place!"

Eon huffed. "It was high time that you guys returned to your true forms. I knew that you'd've recovered."

"I WENT NUTS!"

"You're fine now!" Eon countered.

Gahi growled. His eyes darted around Eon—now a mutant Flygon—searching for an opening. He saw none. He was tempted to strike anyway.

"I'm sorry that it gave you a scare," Eon said, "but I guess I—got a little irritated after that feral bit me on the arm."

Owen recalled when they had tried to attack Eon in the dark. He had bumped into Enet, which made her lash out in her own, wild way.

"It was about time you rediscovered your powers, anyway," Eon said. "It turned out just fine for you, don't you think?"

"You mean you wanted us to be sane?" Owen said.

"Of course!" Eon said. "I was sick of Rhys taking it so slowly. Constantly resetting you over and over must have been pure torture for your minds."

Owen flinched.

Eon looked at Owen again, and therefore became him. "Don't you agree? I bet you still can't sort through anything between your first and last resets. It's all a blur. Owen, can you even remember how you met Zena?"

Gahi shifted uncomfortably. Owen didn't want to think about it, but now that Eon was bringing it up, he was right. That time was a blur. He could barely remember even that. It was all just vague memories. Notions of what had happened. No event stood out in his mind at all. It felt important. It felt like there were important events that took place that he couldn't remember. Why did that bother him so much? No, that was a silly question. Of course it'd bother him. Entire chunks of his past, his self, were still obscured and scrambled. And it sounded like Eon knew the truth.

Eon, satisfied with their lack of counters, continued. "And—and how are Demitri and Mispy?"

"They're fine," Gahi said. "Figure they're the least bothered outta all of us."

Eon nodded, but then eyed Manny. He transformed into him. "…You," he said.

"Eh?" he said.

"Gahi ran off a long time ago and met you," Eon said.

"Eh. Yeah," Manny said. "What of it?"

"Thank you for dealing with him."

It was Manny's turn to flinch. "Yeah, it's whatever."

Eon finally looked back to Owen, a small frown forming. His heart rate increased for a reason Owen couldn't discern. "Owen. How far can you remember? What do you… remember?"

"Eon…" Star floated out from behind Lugia, her tail drooping.

"How much do you remember, Owen?" Eon asked again, raising his voice. "Please. Just—just tell me how far back you can remember of me."

Owen focused on Eon's tail fire next. He didn't need Perceive to see the ember's turbulence. But still… Why? "I remember Quartz HQ. I remember living normally, or whatever you want to call normally, there. I remember growing in a glass tube before I even had a flame." Owen looked at his belly, briefly remembering what that looked like. He remembered seeing something blurry and star-shaped outside his tube, looking at him. And a voice, but it was too muffled to understand.

Owen shook his head, trying to shake those strange memories away. He was distracted by how dim Eon's flame had become, and how tense everybody else—particularly Star—had become. "And I remember… a bunch of times when you saw me as a Charmander… called Deca."

"Deca…?" Amia whispered aloud. "Owen… how many times did Eon see you… in disguise?"

Owen didn't want to answer, especially with how weak, yet energized, his mother had become.

Amia snapped her head toward Eon. "Get away from here."

"Does Owen want me gone?" Eon said, turning into a Gardevoir.

"I said,"—Amia pushed away from Owen, staggering to her feet. Her hair was blue—"Get… away. You aren't… to ever… come near my son again."

"Mom…" Owen nibbled on the right side of his tongue. "I…"

Eon glanced at Owen again, transforming into him.

That was enough to set Amia into another rage. She held her arm forward and lit up again; Eon held his arms and wings forward, ready for the attack. Using Owen's own Protect technique, the flames were deflected off of him and onto the cave walls by the shield of light. Yet Amia kept firing, even when the barrier faded. Eon grunted, waiting it out. Owen saw Amia's hair fade to green again, yet the flames continued.

"Mom, you need to stop!"

"Listen to your son, Amia!" Star yelled. "You're losing control! Hello?! Amia?! AMIA!"

Amia wasn't listening. She just kept firing. Manny tried to get close to shake her out of it, but his entire arm burst into flames when he got within two paces of her. He jumped away and yelped in surprise, landing in the ocean water to put the fire out.

Amia's arms were made entirely of fire. She got to her knees. They, too, were on fire—no, they were fire. Her dress was evaporating into even more of the rock-melting flurry, and Eon kept his wings closed, shielding himself from most of the blast. He attempted to summon a barrier of light again, but to no effect. It flickered and evaporated.

Star slammed against Zena's side. "Put her out!"

"What?"

"Amia! Water! NOW!"

Zena stared, wide-eyed, at Star. "No," she said. "Why would I—"

"Do I look like I'm joking?!" Star shook Zena as much as her tiny, transparent body could.

The distrust in Zena's eyes spoke volumes, but the desperation in Star's spoke more.

Zena opened her launched a concentrated jet of cold water at Amia; it evaporated almost halfway by the time it got to her, but some of it did make contact. Amia screamed so loudly that Owen had to cover the horns on his head—he felt them vibrate from the Gardevoir's wail. Zena kept going, her body liquefying completely. She dipped her tail into the ocean and the saltwater fused with her. For just an instant, she gained control of the water by the beach. It washed past them and over Amia and Eon, dousing her completely in the flood.

Zena stopped and solidified again. Star rushed through the steam with Owen; the Charizard knelt down to pick Amia up.

"Mom? Mom, can you—"

Amia felt incredibly light, but it was too hard to see the details in the steam. But he could hear her shallow breathing.

Eon coughed out water. "Oh, don't worry about me or anything."

"Owen," Amia said weakly. "I… I can't feel my…"

The steam faded. Owen's eyes widened.

Amia was nothing but a torso and a head. Her dress was halfway gone, and her legs were entirely missing as well. Her arms were flaming stumps, embers flickering at the ends.

"What happened?" Owen breathed.

"I can't see… Owen, are you there? Who is this?" Amia tried to move her stump. She stared blankly ahead, not recognizing when Owen tried to wave in front of her to verify.

"I'm here, Mom. Mom?"

She didn't respond. She couldn't hear.

Eon hobbled to his feet, keeping his eyes closed. The flame on the end of his tail reignited and he groped the ground to go forward. "How does Owen do this Perception—ugh—can't see a thing without eyes."

"G-get away," Owen said.

"Shut up," Eon hissed. "I'm going to save your mother, if you don't mind!"

He felt around the ground for a good foothold and finally stood up.

Owen held Amia a bit harder.

"Oh, Owen, I'm just fine," Amia said quietly. "I'm feeling better already." Her voice was fading.

"Stupid Gardevoir," the duplicate Charizard muttered.

Owen glared.

"I'm pretty sure you're glaring at me, Owen, but you know it's true. She pushed herself beyond her limits and her Mysticism ate away at her own aura for more power."

"Ate her body, too," Gahi muttered.

"When your Mysticism becomes strong enough," Eon said slowly, "the body and aura are one and the same."

Owen looked back down at Amia. Her blue hair returned for passing moments, but then faded to green again. She was fighting to stay alive, but it looked like a losing battle. He held Amia a bit tighter. He noticed a gentle, golden glow poking out from parts of her body and blinked confusedly. He looked at Eon; the way he stared at this golden light was not one of confusion, but horror.

"You," Eon said, pointing at the air. "Heal the Gardevoir. Quickly."

Emily glanced around and sidestepped into Eon's pointed direction. "Me?"

"Yes. You'll restore her aura just fine. I don't know if the others can help her in time, and I'm not touching her. She'll just lash out at me. Hurry, before she fades."

"Okay."

"Oh, and Em?" Star said. "Once you help Amia, we need you to help Aerodactyl. His aura is hurt, too."

"Okay!"

"Emily can heal that?" Jerry asked in awe.

"Yeah. She's pretty nifty," Star said. "Manny?"

"Eh?"

"Restrain Jerry."

"Eh."

Before Jerry could react, a Feraligatr appeared behind Jerry and held him by the shoulders.

"Ha ha!" Feraligatr Azu declared. "The outlaw has been apprehended once more! Prepare for your rehabilitation!"

"H-hey, hey, what kind of joke is this?!" Jerry struggled. "I have a thousand different questions to ask right now!"

"And you have been apprehended by the Thousand Hearts… and company! How fitting!"

"That makes no sense!" Jerry managed to free his right wing; he started beating Azu over the head with it, flailing as much as he could. "What are you—where'd Amia go?"

Jerry saw a lump go down Emily's throat, and a distinct lack of Gardevoir in the general area. The Lugia then turned around and walked toward Jerry in casual, slow steps.

"Your turn!" The Lugia smiled, taking only a few strides to get to her next victim.

"N-nooo, no. No, no—NONONO—AAAAAA—Mmmmnnnn…!"

With Jerry and Amia taken care of, Star sighed. "That's not how I wanted this to go," she said. "Eon! Just get out of—where'd he go?"

"He left," Gahi said. "Disappeared a little while after Em ate Owen's mom."

"Please don't describe it like that," Owen said.

"Emily literally—"

"Please," Owen begged.

Gahi rolled his eyes, but then let his wings droop. Something seemed to be bothering him, Owen observed.

Owen turned his attention to the ruined cave. Parts of the walls were melted and still red-hot, even after the ocean water that doused it. The sand near the front of the cave was sharp with imperfect glass. In the complete darkness of midnight, only Owen's single tail flame and the glow of the rocks lit the island. The only sound was the gentle bubbling of salt water on sand.

With Eon and Amia both gone, Owen ended up thinking about them both. He glanced at Gahi, using his tail to see the faint outline of his face. The Synthetic Flygon stared at the empty space where Eon once was.

Owen struggled to think back to that memory, that early, early memory. It felt so far away. He squinted at nothing, trying to hear the muffled voice, but figured that it was just Eon talking to him while he was developing. The voice was comforting, but perhaps that was because it was the only voice he knew at the time. Figuring that it was simply a time when his mind hadn't fully developed, he turned to Gahi.

The Flygon was focused on a patch of land in Emily's cave, staring longingly at where his father once stood.