TheCharredDragon
Tis the Hour to Reload
This one-shot was made for the Worlds Collide contest with the only difference is that (hopefully) there are no grammatical errors and such.
---
Space was something he took a while to get used to. Well, outer space, which was ironic considering who he was and what he did. But he couldn't help it and could anyone truly blame him? He was new to the place that was the universe and he was terrified of the darkness, of what he didn't know. But then Creator told him things. Creator told him what it was. Creator told him how to fill that darkness with the stars. And now he felt as comfortable in space as he was in his true form.
And that was what Creator was doing right now.
"Do you sense any anomalies yet?" the large ball of light beside him said.
He sighed. "No, not yet," he said.
He picked up his speed and banked left around a passing meteor and the ball followed.
Then she said, "Can't you tell me how to sense them? I want to so you don't have to."
"No because space anomalies are different from time anomalies."
"But aren't they usually on the space-time fabric?"
He sighed again. "Because...your strength is in time and mine is in space. So I know where it is in space, while you know when it is in time."
"Oh, okay."
Within his mind, he sighed in relief. It seemed that she had nothing else to say. Several moments of peaceful silence passed before that was proven wrong.
"So did you make any of the stars? I think you said you did but which ones were they? Did you do any of the black holes? Why aren't they space anomalies? How many stars are there? How big did you make outer space? Did you make any other planets like Earth? Hey! Was that—?"
And the barrage kept going and going. Space sighed. He would've shaken his head if he had one at the moment. In all his time alone, he had preferred silence. When Creator had told him he would be interacting with Time to better their relationship, he had thought she would have preferred the same. After all, space and time were intricately connected. Obviously, he was wrong. Apparently, she hated silence. Why, he wasn't sure.
Thankfully, he could focus on something else now.
"Ah, Time, I've found one," he said as he stopped and observed it.
It didn't seem out of the ordinary, just the usual crack and slight entanglement with another universe. This happened a lot considering he expanded space and Creator had to adjust how much energy was given to support it. It shouldn't be hard to fix. His train of thought was interrupted when Time collided with him. He grunted in surprise before he stopped his movement. He turned back and saw that Time had changed into her true form, likely to better see what he found. He decided to do the same, but not without a huff and a slight twitch of his eye.
He went back near Time. "Watch where you're going," he said.
"Whoops! Sorry about that," she said. She narrowed her eyes at the anomaly.
He rolled his eyes. "Now, move out of the way so I can fix it."
"Oh, sure, but how're you going to fix it?" she said as she did as asked.
"By cutting it off then closing it."
She looked at him, surprised. "Cut it? But wouldn't that cause problems for the other universe?"
He barely restrained his growl. "Time, I've been doing this for many millennia, long before Creator told you to stay by my side. I think I would know if it would cause any problems."
Then she blocked his way again. "Can you at least let me help?"
This time he let out his growl. "Time! Just stay out of the way!"
He charged energy into his arm and then swung it forward.
"Sheesh! I was just asking," Time said. She looked at him with a frown before turning back at the anomaly. "But uh...are anomalies supposed to do that?"
He blinked. Wait. He just used his special attack at full power. And it went straight through the anomaly. He didn't know it was possible, but his face paled.
Oh no.
. . .
Eve tapped her foot, looking at the television but not really paying attention to what was showing right now. It was some sort of cartoon she only watched occasionally about a boy and his alien friends called Gems...or something. Personally, she watched it for the lion the kid had. She glanced at the clock that was rather high up on the wall. It was two minutes before eleven in the morning. She looked to the dining table in the room next to hers. Her older brother, Seth, sat beside it, holding his 3DS.
"Come on, kuya! Just pick already!" she said. Then, a bit more smugly, "I want to see if you can beat me."
He glared at her. "Exactly why I'm being picky," he said. "I am not going to lose to you again, 'day."
Eve chuckled. "Well, we're not going to find out at this rate. We'll have to get our lunch ready."
"Okay, okay! I'll pick already." There were sounds of boops and clicks before he said, "All right, I'm gonna connect now."
"Finally!"
Eve picked up the remote and turned off the television. Then she turned her attention to her own 3DS, a big and confident smile on her face. A minute passed as their devices connected. When they did, she put on her black and white cap firmly on and said,
"Ready?"
Seth narrowed his eyes. "O."
And then the trainer battle music for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire played. Eve saw her brother send out a Skarmory first while she sent out her Salamence. She raised her eyebrow at this. If she remembered correctly, the only Skarmory he had was in his HeartGold copy. Was he training his Pokémon competitively? She mentally cursed. If that was true, then even though this Skarmory wasn't much of a threat against her Salamence, than he might have a counter he could switch to.
She heard her brother already decide what he wanted to do. She bit her lip. Was she going to risk getting rid of it now or wait and see his plan? She thought about it for a moment. She decided to risk it and see if it was indeed specifically trained.
The instant the turn started, Seth switched to his Swampert and her Salamence mega evolved. She decided to hold back her smirk when she heard her brother quietly curse.
"Oy, no swear words," she said.
"I didn't swear."
"Yes you did."
"Just do something already, Eve." Seth was slightly pouting.
Eve chuckled at the childish behavior. Even after college, he was still easy to tease. She went ahead and did as he asked.
In the course of four minutes, Seth was down to two Pokémon while Eve still had five. Understandably, her brother was groaning and doing whatever he could think of to rack his brain for ideas, which currently involved tapping his head. Eve held back her chuckle. Then the room shook at the same time as the sound of a boom reached her ears.
Eve blinked. That didn't sound good. That sounded like an explosion. A distant yet powerful one if it shook the place and yet the sound was faint.
"Kuya, did you hear that?"
"Yeah, I did." He put down his 3DS and stood up. "I'm going to go check outside."
He walked out of the living room. Eve frowned. She felt like checking it too, but her brother would tell her if she needed to get out or stay inside. Her worries didn't lessen when she heard his shout,
"What the hell?!"
That was the last thing she remembered before feeling the sensation of being pulled and everything going dark.
. . .
Eve groaned. Her body felt rather sore and she briefly wondered why. That was until she felt something prickly underneath her. She swore it felt more like grass than the carpet. She slowly opened her eyes, noticing that it was rather bright. When they adjusted, she saw a bright blue sky. She blinked. Wasn't she inside their house? She grunted and propped herself up on her palms.
"OH, THANK CREATOR, YOU'RE FINE," a booming voice said.
Eve flinched and covered her ears at that.
"OH SORRY," he said. She then felt the ground shake before he continued. "I forgot how loud I am when speaking. Most of the time."
Eve looked to her right and her jaw dropped at what she saw. Right there in front of her was a white bipedal reptilian easily towering over her. He had a long neck and, though a bit hard to see from her point of view, wings. He had a pinkish orb on both of his round shoulders and markings over his body of a darker shade. And she instantly recognized his face.
It was Palkia. And he was talking to her.
It had to be some sort of dream—a very, very realistic one—that she was somehow aware of. Pokémon weren't real, as much as she enjoyed the franchise. And Palkia couldn't talk. Telepathy, maybe, but not actually talk, with vocal chords and a language she could understand, somehow. Besides, though he was much bigger than her, he wasn't as big as he was supposed to be. Well, from the movies. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure how big Palkia was from the Pokédex.
"Um, you are fine, right?" he said, disturbing her thoughts. "As, I, um, uh, can't tell."
Eve blinked and shook her head. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, it's just..." she said as she stood up. She might as well find out. "...are you real?"
He blinked and tilted his head. "Uh, yes."
"Then I'm not dreaming?"
He flinched. She had a feeling that he didn't intend for her to hear her words as he quietly said, "I wish it was..." but considering his size, whatever was quiet for him was loud enough for her to still pick up on.
The nail on the coffin was when she said, "Why?" he started to look panicked.
"Uh, 'why' what?" he said.
She frowned. "Why would want this to be a dream? I mean, I get to meet someone who I thought was cool and very interested in who I thought was made up."
Though as soon as she said those words, she got worried. She let her tact slip her again. Nobody liked the thought of everything in their life being fake. Palkia briefly looked confused but his panic didn't waver. Maybe that was what he was worried about? That he wasn't real? Her thoughts, and presumably Palkia's, were interrupted by a whoosh of wind behind her. Eve had to close her eyes and hold on to her cap as dust kicked up around her. When the wind stopped, she opened her eyes and turned around. For a second time, she became wide eyed and her jaw dropped.
In front of her was Dialga, in all its blue dinosaur like glory.
And then her awe left her when the controller of time said, in a surprisingly feminine (and loud) voice,
"BECAUSE HE ERASED YOUR UNIVERSE ACCIDENTALLY AND WISHES THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN."
Eve froze. Her hearing had to be messing with her. There was no way that everything she knew was gone. There was no way that the very things she had great interest in destroyed her home. There was no way that it was on accident.
"WELL IF YOU HADN'T QUESTIONED MY METHODS. NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE EVER HAPPENED!"
Eve bit her lip. Well there was one way to find out. She put her hand in her pocket and got her phone.
"OKAY. YEAH, I'M SORRY FOR BEING NOISY. I REALLY AM. BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GET MAD AT ME LIKE THAT."
She unlocked the screen and saw there was no signal.
"YES I DO! YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU DIDN'T NOTICE ME NOT ANSWERING YOU?!"
She tried to call her brother anyway.
"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT MEANT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO TALK TO ME?"
Nobody replied.
"BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT CREATOR TAUGHT ME. DIDN'T CREATOR TELL YOU?"
She closed her eyes and clenched her fist. Her breathing turned slow and deliberate.
"What...happened?" she said.
The arguing between the two giant reptiles continued.
Eve gritted her teeth. "What happened?!" She took several more breaths. When she was sure her vision wouldn't be blurred, she looked to Dialga. "What exactly happened?" Then she looked to Palkia. "How did my home get destroyed?"
"WELL," he said. Then he paused and cleared his throat. "You see, what, uh, happened was that, well...while I was out in outer space—"
"I ASKED HOW HE WAS GOING TO FIX THIS ANOMALY IN SPACE AND AFTER HE ANSWERED I WANTED TO TRY AND FIX IT. BUT THEN HE GOT MAD AND LET OUT HIS SPECIAL ATTACK BY ACCIDENT BECAUSE IT'S POWERED BY EMOTIONS. BUT BY THEN I WAS OUT OF THE WAY SO IT WENT THROUGH THE ANOMALY AND HIT YOUR UNIVERSE INSTEAD."
Her breathing hitched.
"My home...seven billion people...are all gone...because...because...you two argued?!"
Palkia briefly glared at Dialga. Then he said to Eve, "It wasn't my fault that she kept pestering me about something she isn't supposed to be doing!"
"WELL YOU COULD'VE JUST TOLD ME INSTEAD OF GETTING MAD," Dialga said.
And the pair started arguing again, their voices returning to booming volume. They threw insults, accusations, blame. Eve covered her ears and closed her eyes. She couldn't stand this.
So she ran.
. . .
Eve breathed deeply, in and out. She hugged her legs against her chest and rested her head on her knees. It was hard to see where she was, not only because of her tears, but because by the time she stopped running, she was in a cave, taking shelter from the rain. She had no idea how long she ran, but it didn't matter, not anymore. In over the course of just one minute, she had gone from confused to awed to shocked to angry to sad. And the more she thought about it, the death of her brother, the death of all the people she knew—and even those she didn't—her gut twisted and she had to close her eyes again.
What was she going to do now? She was on another world with Pokémon and she had no idea how to survive in the wilderness. She didn't even know what the Pokémon were like in here and she just left the only Pokémon she knew she could talk to. For all she knew, they could be savage and just think of her as an interesting snack. After all, Palkia and Dialga apparently were childish. But then again...they were fighting for some reason in the movie they debuted in her home world. Perhaps they really were idiots. She sighed. Maybe she should just stay here in this cave until she died of starvation or dehydration, or both.
But then she felt something beside her, something furry. This made her look up. Once again, for the third time that day, her eyes widened in surprise. There was a more bitter part of her mind that questioned why she would still be awed by this, but it was small right now. A tall deer creature that was blue and black was to her left, its antlers a light blue, its posture was regal with its long neck straight, yet it held no hostility or superiority. Even in the low light, she could tell it looked concerned. It was Xerneas.
"Are you all right?" he said.
She bit her lip and tucked her head into her legs again. She didn't really feel like talking about it. She still couldn't believe that everything was gone, just like that, and all from an accident.
"You do not wish to speak of it?"
Eve shook her head.
"I see..."
And things were quiet. Well, mostly quiet. She could still hear the sound of rain outside. And Xerneas's breathing. It was surprisingly loud. He just sat there near her. She wasn't so sure why would a Legendary of all Pokémon be here right now. She thought Xerneas was sleeping as a tree.
"Then what might you be?"
She looked up again and raised an eyebrow. There really were no humans here, were there? She wiped her eyes dry. She breathed in, the snot coming up her nose. Then she answered,
"A human."
He nodded. "I see. Are you an adult?"
Eve chuckled. "I just became one."
"Ah, so you're a young adult?"
She nodded.
Then Xerneas said, "Are you a male, a female, or neither?"
She chuckled again, smiling as she did. Of all the questions she had to answer, it had to be about something so obvious. But Xerneas didn't get deterred.
"Female."
Xerneas hummed. "Is there a male of your kind?"
She was about to answer, but then stopped, memories of her brother and father coming to her, memories that now hurt her as she remembered what happened to them. She slumped in her position and slowly went back to hugging her own legs. She felt Xerneas flinch.
"My apologies, young one, I did not mean to upset you more..." he said. He paused. "... Is it related to why you are here?"
Eve chuckled, but this time it was hollow. "It has everything to do with why I'm here."
A moment of silence passed.
"How?"
Eve sighed. "Because everyone I knew, everyone I cared about, are gone. Everyone. My dad, my mom, my brother, my friends, just gone. And then there are the seven or more billion people who are gone too. And you know why? Because Palkia and Dialga were arguing! Over what?! How to fix an anomaly properly?! That's ridiculous! Stupid! My home's gone over that?!"
"Young one, calm down," Xerneas said as he placed a hoof on her back.
It was at this point that Eve realized that tears started flowing down her face again. Her breathing was quick and shallow and hiccups interrupted it occasionally. And that there was dirt on her hands from hitting the ground. Eve breathed in and out again, trying to steady her breathing. But that did little to her tears. She closed her eyes, hugged herself and let them pour.
She didn't know how long she cried, but at some point, she felt herself surrounded in warmth and fell asleep when she did.
. . .
Warmth, that was the first thought that came as Eve regained consciousness. She groaned and turned to her other side. It felt rather firm and yet it was soft at the same time. She burrowed into it, trying to go back to sleep. Whatever she was on, she didn't want to get away from it. After all, who would get away from something so warm and comfy and with such a steady heartbeat.
... Wait, heartbeat?
Eve's eyes shot open and her vision was instantly filled with white. Then she looked up. It was another person, and it was a guy.
Eve squealed and pushed him away. The guy woke up and also made a startled sound. As she stood up, he fell to the ground and groaned. She questioned what was going on. Who was this guy? And where was Xerneas? What had happened? Was she actually just dreaming and that she went to a party and someone spiked her drink? But then she noticed how he looked like. He actually didn't look that much different from her, even down to her shirt and pants. The only things different were that the face was a bit more angled, her cap wasn't there and well...the chest lacked her breasts.
"My apologies for startling you," he said as he stood up. "I'm sure you're wondering why there is another human after yesterday and I'll explain, if you shall let me."
Eve blinked. "Xerneas?"
He dusted himself off then tilted his head. "I am not sure what you mean by that, but I am the creature you met in this cave yesterday."
Her mouth gaped again. "But...how?" Another question crossed her mind. "And why?"
"I am able to shift my form to my whims and needs but the one I prefer is my true form which is the one you saw before," he said. "As for why? Well, after I embraced you to calm you down, you fell asleep. You looked rather uncomfortable and I was as well. I could have changed into a form I used before, but I thought you would respond better to another human, even if it is in body only."
"Oh, uh, yeah, that makes sense." Then she recalled what he said. "Wait...you...hugged me?"
It was his turn to blink. "Yes, I did 'hug' you, as you say. Again, my apologies, but I have seen parents do that to calm and soothe their offspring, especially when they're crying. And you were upset, so I attempted to do the same."
Eve let a small smile appear on her face, despite being reminded of why she cried in the first place. "Thanks. I appreciate that."
He smiled too. "You're welcome, and it was my pleasure."
And then the moment was ruined with her stomach declaring it was hungry.
Xerneas chuckled. Eve scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.
"I know a place where there are many kinds of foods. Would you like to come along?"
Eve nodded her head vigorously.
. . .
Xerneas landed without so much as a sound, a grace befitting of something as elegant as him. Though the same couldn't be said for Eve, who was clutching his "neck collar" like a lifeline. Xerneas looked at his passenger with an apologetic look.
"Perhaps I shall lessen my speed next time," he said.
"Next time, I'll mention any fears that I usually don't think about," she said. "Like the thought of going really fast."
Slowly but surely, Eve willed her still shaking hands to let go of the Legendary deer and got off him. Once she was sure the world stopped moving, she finally took note of her surroundings. It was a lush forest with many kinds of bushes and trees, most of them having berries of some sort on them. She could recognize quite a lot of them and there were a few she hadn't. But that wasn't what made her stare wide eyed again. It was the Pokémon.
There were Grass types and Bug types and even more kinds of Pokémon. There were a few Mankey on the top of the taller trees, munching on the berries. She saw a Tropius using its long neck to reach said treetops. There were a few Scolipede that were surprisingly calm interacting with some Nuzleaf. But what really got her was that there was a small group consisting of the Treecko family. And there was a Bulbasaur family herd, with several of each stage.
One of the Venusaur noticed them.
"Yggdrasil!" he said with a smile. Eve couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the name.
Then the Venusaur went up to them and bowed his head. Xerneas returned the gesture. Eve felt he would probably would be smiling too if he had a visible mouth.
"Good day, Cunning. How are things with your tribe?"
She couldn't help but do the same thing with the Venusaur's name as he did with Xerneas’s.
"Oh, very nicely. Nobody has tried to take our territory over the past few seasons."
"I see. Well, I have a favor to ask of you."
Cunning's eyes widened. "A favor? Of course I'll do it, Yggdrasil."
"Could you spare some food and see which ones this human can eat?"
Cunning's gaze then landed on her. He blinked. Eve smiled unsurely and waved. She was questioning why the seemingly friendly Venusaur had such a name. "Hi," she said.
He blinked. "Oh, hello there." Cunning looked back at Xerneas. "As I have said, of course I will."
She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she saw a mischievous glint in the Venusaur's eyes.
. . .
"It seems you have met your match, Cunning," Xerneas said with amusement.
Eve just hummed innocently as she took a bite out of her Pecha Berry. The Venusaur in question was currently trying to soothe his heated tongue with a Lum Berry. It turned out that she was right. He did want to do a prank and had put tiny pieces of Tomato Berries into the other berries. It was easy to guess what had happened instead after introductions.
After a few more moments, Cunning's tongue was well enough for him to talk.
"Are you humans always so good at this?" he said.
Eve did her best to keep her smile up as recent memories came in. Thankfully, it held, just barely.
"No. Just me," she said.
Though it didn't slip Xerneas's notice. He roughly tapped Cunning's side, making him yelp.
"Hey, what was—"
"Be careful of your words, Cunning." He briefly glanced at her. "The rest of her kind are gone."
Cunning's snapped his head back to her and mouth slightly open. "What? What happened?" he said. And then he shook his head. "Oh, I mean, sorry about that."
Eve pushed unwanted thoughts on the backburner as she said, "It's all right. You didn't know."
She didn't say much after that. She did explain why she kept calling "Yggdrasil" Xerneas. Cunning was both fascinated and confused at first. He also asked if she was going to start calling him Venusaur. Eve actually managed to laugh at that and said no. Other than that, she just munched on her share quietly as Cunning "regaled" his recent stories to Xerneas. When she finished, Xerneas started heading off.
"X-Xerneas! Where're you going?" she said.
He stopped and looked back. "Other parts of the world. It is my duty to maintain and keep watch over life."
"You...can't stay?"
Xerneas was silent. Eve mentally smacked herself in the head for asking such a thing. He was a Legendary Pokémon for crying out loud. He had an important job to do. She shouldn't ask for something like that. Eve listened intently when Xerneas spoke again.
"Are you going to stay here?"
Eve just nodded.
"Then...I will make sure to visit often."
And then he left. It was only afterwards that she realized what she had gotten herself into. This time she facepalmed for real. How was she going to survive in this place? Sure, there was Cunning to help, but still. This was a forest and she had no idea how to live in one. She looked back at the place. Besides, she wasn't even sure she wanted to live. Not when she didn't have anything anymore.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Cunning saying, "Hey, could you teach me how you switched those berries?"
This time Eve had no trouble smiling as..."playful" ideas came to her.
. . .
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Eve said after gesturing to Cunning to grab the log that just fell.
Xerneas shook his head. "Not at all."
His antlers glowed for a moment. A small light shined on the spot where the tree used to be and a small sapling already started growing.
"That is a part of life," he said. "As how some eat plants and others eat meat to survive. Besides, I am choosing those whose lives are close to the end yet are still strong enough for your den."
Eve held back her laugh at his unintentional rhyme. Though she wasn't so sure what to think of what he said. She still didn't really like the thought of cutting down trees, but all of those that naturally fell down were being used by Bug Pokémon and there hadn't been any storms as of late to cause new ones. But she needed a house and a bed, after barely getting any sleep staying outside with Cunning's herd for a few days. So she had asked for Xerneas's help (well, more like permission) to make a house, if a makeshift one.
"Well, either way, thanks."
"You are welcome." He looked at the logs being inserted into the ground. "So how have you been doing?"
And the two went on to talk about what happened in the past week with Cunning joining in when he was done with what could be done that day. Though Eve did her best to ignore the almost critical gaze of Xerneas.
. . .
Eve gritted her teeth as she furiously pressed the controller. She narrowed her eyesight and blocked out the sounds of her brother's disbelief. The Link was closing in on the Smash Ball while the other characters—Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario and Lucario—were too far away to catch up, having been pushed back earlier. A few more button presses and a couple of shouts—both of victory and defeat—later, her expression was a lot more surprised now. And Seth was frowning with his arms crossed.
"You've got to be kidding me," she said.
Seth said, "I want a rematch."
Anna May, her mother, smirked. Jay, her father, just laughed.
"Where do you think you got your talent for video games from?" he said with an amused smile.
"Now, as much as I want to, I think we should all be getting lunch ready, don't you think?"
Seth huffed but stood up and went into the kitchen.
Eve, after rebooting from the fact that she just had her butt handed to her by her mom, said, "Uh, yeah, right," and followed him. But when she got into the kitchen, everything was gone. All the utensils, furniture, decorations, even the oven, were nowhere in sight. What was going on? And where was Seth? She looked around and didn't find him either. Her brow furrowed.
"Seth?"
This had better not be a prank. But as she tried and looked inside the cupboards, she bit her lip. If this was a prank, why was he taking so long? Her heart beat faster. Unless that was the prank, in which case...
"Seth? Where are you? This isn't funny anymore."
Nobody replied.
Eve decided to head back to the living room.
"Mama, Papa, can you get Seth to stop his prank? He's..." she said but trailed off as she noticed that the living room was blank, literally.
The room was void of everything but was also a giant light brown room, not unlike those white, pristine—and empty—lab rooms from those sci-fi films. She bit her lips as her heart got even faster along with her breathing. What was going on? Where did everything go? Where did her parents go? She got her smartphone from her pocket and dialed 911, not entirely sure what else to do.
Nobody replied.
She gritted her teeth. It must be bad signal. She returned her phone and went for the door. Never mind calling them, she'll just walk to a police station instead. But when she opened the door, she got even more worried. Everything was pixelated. The buildings, the trees, everything. And the "ground" looked like water. But there was one thing missing from the scene, even with the cars, the motorcycles and buses passing.
Nobody was there.
She shuddered. Where was everyone? Never mind, she had to go to the police station. At first, she walked there, eyeing the scenery as she did. She listened for some sound, any sound, but all she heard was the hollow thud of her footsteps. So she ran. She wanted to get there as soon as possible. There had be someone there. There was no way the police wouldn't notice the disappearance of this many people.
She burst right through the doors. She clung onto it as she caught her breath. After she did, she said,
"Hello? Can I see—"
But nobody was there.
"Hello?"
But...
"Somebody?"
...nobody...
"Anybody?"
...was...
"Is anyone here?"
...there.
She screamed. And then she opened her eyes. She breathed in and out; in and out; in and out. Though it wasn't bright, there was enough light streaming in from little slits to let her see the wooden and silk ceiling. She felt the silk cushion that made up her bed. And she heard the crunching and thuds of activity outside. She groaned. It was just a nightmare.
She sighed, got up and went out. It seemed to be late in the morning as she felt her stomach gnawing at her. She headed for the fruit trees nearby where Cunning was tending to them. After morning greetings, he gave some berries for her breakfast. She ate it quietly and peacefully, at least until she noticed Cunning was staring at her.
"What are you looking at?"
"Oh, uh, sorry, it's just..." He extended a vine and pointed at her face. "The skin below your eyes looks a little black. Are you all right?"
She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine, I'm not sick. Just haven't been sleeping so well."
He frowned. "How come?"
She shrugged before finishing the last of her meal. She was about to go and see if there was anything wrong with her house when there was a gust and a huge shadow passed over them. She looked up and her eyes widened.
"Was that...?"
The avian was huge. Easily as long as a bus or two. It's wings looked more like flat arms with three claws at the end. The tail was the same as well. It was red and black and had a grey "tuff collar". And once again, she recognized it like all the Pokémon she's seen so far. It was Yveltal, and it gave her an idea.
Cunning, however, was still frowning. "Oh that? That was just Morrigan. She only shows up when someone or something dies." He blinked. "Let me guess, she's in those stories too, isn't she?"
"Uh, yeah. We call her Yveltal."
Eve didn't pay attention to whatever Cunning said next. Instead, she walked off after saying, "I'll be right back."
. . .
Eve frowned and looked side to side. She was sure Yveltal went here, unless she mixed up her directions in the forest again, in which case she wasn't surprised. She sighed. That meant she most likely missed her chance to speak with the bird. She jumped and squealed at the sound of wood—or rather, a stick—breaking. But when she turned around to look, she calmed down.
"Don't do that, Xerneas. You scared me!" she said.
"My apologies," he said.
Eve chuckled. "It's all right. I'm glad to see you again. What are you doing here?”
"I was on my way to Midgard when I was surprised to see you here. I thought I was seeing things. May I ask what are you doing here?"
"Uh..." Eve shuffled on her feet. "I was...um..."
"You were...?"
She sighed. Oh, she might as well. It would be easier to find her with him. "I saw Yvel-I mean, Morrigan pass by overhead. I wanted to talk to her so I tried to follow."
He looked surprised. "You want to speak to her?"
Eve nodded. "Do you think you can take me to her? I'd really like to meet her."
Xerneas was quiet for a while. Then he said, "Why do you wish so?"
"'Cause I want to see what the counterpart of my friend is like."
He did a repeat of earlier, being quite as he looked off at the distance. "Well, I suppose I could take you to her. But it might be a while. The only place she stays for more than a few moments is rather far from Midgard."
"I'm all right with that."
"Very well. Then let us go back to Midgard to inform the others of your departure."
. . .
It had been several days since they left, Eve once again riding on Xerneas's back. She got to see many different environments as they traveled. They had passed a desert and an oasis, with Maractus and Sandile going about. They had passed a river system. It wasn't really a marsh. It had many rivers connected to each other, most likely making an intricate pattern if she had seen it from above. They had even passed a snowy plain. She thought about how far they've gone if they crossed such a place.
Now they were in a forest, the trees much taller than Xerneas. The branches and leaves were so thick that even though it was morning, there were only a few streaks of light that indicated that. Otherwise, it was rather hard to see. The plant life was also darker shades than what she usually saw and she didn't see many Pokémon. Well, she hadn't seen any Pokémon since they arrived, but she didn't want to think about that.
Xerneas stopped walking. Eve looked to him, confused.
"Is it fine if you get off and wait by this oak?"
"Why?"
"Yveltal has a tendency of acting first. She would be surprised to see me searching for her and would be startled at your appearance. I would not want you to get hurt by her on accident. So I wish for you to stay here."
Eve frowned and didn't say anything for a while. She just stared at Xerneas, who merely returned it. Eventually, she sighed.
"Okay," she said as she got off.
"Do not worry. It won't be long."
Then Xerneas went deeper into the forest. She watched him go until he was out of her sight. She looked at the oak he told her to stay beside and chuckled. Out of all the kinds of trees in the world, it had to be this one. She sat down at the trees roots and waited. It seemed that Yveltal was impulsive. She wondered if she called herself Morrigan or had many names like Xerneas said he had. The thought reminded her of her mother, who actually had three names but usually only used the first or the second one unless she wanted to be really formal, or wanted to pretend to be formal.
Now she wouldn't hear her jokes anymore.
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. She looked around the forest. She tried to tell what kind of trees were in this forest. There some more oaks around her. There was one that looked like a conifer. And there was one that reminded her of a mangrove with its branches. She remembered the "adventures" she had as a little kid with her father, going through a thicket of them on the beaches back in her homeland. She thought they were as tall as redwoods at the time and she always loved finding new animals with him.
Now she can't explore and discover things with him anymore.
Eve bit her lip and looked up. The light didn't look that much different from earlier. She hugged her legs against herself. How long has it been? Had it really been only a few minutes? The place didn't change that much. But what if it was like this all the time until night time? Maybe it was even one hour. She couldn't tell anymore. She realized he irony in that as she was the one who would remind Seth to do his homework and errands as he was the one who had a hard time keeping track of time.
Now she didn't have her brother to keep an eye on.
She gripped the sides of her head. Her heart was racing and tears were threatening to come out again. What was taking Xerneas so long? She wanted this over with already. She wanted her tiny hope of getting her family back—the hope that she could find their souls and bring them to life—to come true. She didn't want to think of the chance she couldn't bring them back. She didn't want to think of never seeing their faces again.
She saw a rock on the ground, just by her feet, crudely shaped like the tip of a spear. She picked it up and rolled it around in her palm. It was white and smooth. She remembered what Cunning said when she first saw Yveltal. She started looking for another rock like the one she found. Maybe she could speed up Yveltal's arrival.
. . .
It didn't take too long to find Space and Time. He just had to follow all the Pokémon running away from them. As he finally closed in on them from the ground, he said,
"Space! Time! I wish to speak with you two!"
When the two reptilians stopped midair, he did so as well. Then Space shouted,
"GAH! LIFE GIVER! YOU SCARED ME!"
Time added, "YEAH! DON'T SNEAK UP LIKE THAT!"
"My apologies. I did not intend for that," he said.
Space said, "UGH, NEVER MIND. WHAT'S IT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT? 'CAUSE WE'RE BUSY."
"Oh, I believe it has something to do with your search, assuming you are searching for an upright biped from another universe."
Time said, "HOW'D YOU KNOW?"
"DUH, 'CAUSE HE FOUND HER." Space sighed. "THAT'S GOOD. SHE'S SAFE THEN?"
"Yes. She is staying at Midgard."
Space nodded. "GOOD." Then he stretched his body, getting rid of a few kinks here and there. "WELL THEN, WHAT'S IT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?"
"I wish to know what had happened." He looked to Time. "Preferably, by watching it transpire."
The pair flinched. Time quickly said, "UH, YOU KNOW WE CAN'T CHANGE THE TIMELINE. IT'LL CAUSE A REALLY BIG MESS IF WE DO."
"I did not say I wanted to change it. I said I wished to see it for myself. You can do that, can you not, Time?"
"WELL, YEAH... SURE I CAN. BUT WHY?"
"When your minds are calmer, you will understand. Now may we do so now?"
"SURE."
Time took a deep breath before spewing out a torrent of energy. It stopped midair and swirled into a portal. When it was large enough, she stopped and went in. He and Space followed.
That was several months ago. Thanks to that, he knew a few things about Eve's home world and what exactly transpired. It was because of that knowledge, and his interactions with Eve, was why he had decided to leave her there in the nearby forest. He had originally insisted to Space that he make it up to Eve somehow but he was equally resolute. And his words rang true.
"I ALREADY SAID I WAS SORRY. ...BESIDES, WHAT GOOD IS MY 'SORRY' GOING TO BE? I STILL DESTROYED HER HOME. HOW IN CREATOR'S NAME CAN I MAKE UP FOR THAT?"
So he relented. He spent time with Eve. He saw how she was like. Space was right, she wouldn't take seeing him too well. Nor the place where Death Reaper, or as Eve called her, Yveltal, called home.
The area was the same as he saw it not too long ago. There was a beach just where he got out of the forest. It was currently low tide so he could see the seaweed on the ground, flat thanks to their water content. Though the beach itself had no rocks or pebbles, there were some shells of different kinds left behind. Towards inland there was a rock formation running along it, where one could climb on and walk on. Further from that was a forest filled with plants that thrived in tropical places, like coconut trees. Just at the border of the forest and the rock formation was where Death Reaper was perched, resting.
Sans his counterpart and no "how-ses" being there, he knew it was very much like Eve's home. He was glad he had found out about her home.
"Death Reaper?" he said.
She cawed and snapped her head towards him.
"Life Giver?" She cawed again. "What are you doing here? You scared me!"
Life Giver briefly noted that this was the tenth time this has happened recently and wondered if he should be louder with his steps.
"My apologies, Death Reaper. A friend of mine wishes to speak with you."
She was quiet for a few moments. "Seriously? Someone wants to talk with me? The one who everyone's scared of because I'm usually seen when there's death?"
"Yes."
"And this isn't a joke?"
"No, it is not."
She reared her head back a little. "Why would your friend want to talk with me? Better question: why are you doing this? Why isn't your friend with you right now? Something's up, right?"
He sighed. He knew she would see through his actions. Not that he minded, but considering the circumstances, he had wanted to get this done.
"Again, my apologies, but it is a rather long story. So I shall keep it simple and say that she might not handle seeing your home too well."
"Oh come on, it can't be that long, can it? And of course this place would remind her of another. This isn't the only beach in the world with the forest."
"Yes, it is long and I would rather not keep her waiting. Please, Death Reaper. I promised her it won't be long."
"Her?" She chuckled. He wasn't whether if she was amused of his pleading tone or because of the implications of what the gender of his friend was. He hoped it wasn't the latter as he wasn't so sure about the thought.
"Okay, okay, I'll come," she said. She spread her wings. "Lead the—"
She didn't finish her sentence as she suddenly took off. She had a panicked look when she did.
"Death Reaper, what's wrong?"
But he didn't need an answer from her. He saw his answer in the distance. He dashed in the same direction she did.
There was smoke.
. . .
"Eve! What are you doing? Stop it!"
She turned to see Xerneas running up to her. But she paid him no attention. There was someone more important flying above him who was exactly why she set fire to these trees. It was Yveltal. She smiled and laughed.
But then she said, "I'll handle the fire!" and flew past her.
She frowned. "No! Wait! Yveltal!"
She ran after her but was stopped. A hoofed leg blocked her way before another one gripped her waist.
"Xerneas, let me go!" she said as she used her strength to push against his leg.
"No, Eve," he said, clenching her with his other leg. "You are not thinking straight."
"I'm thinking just fine!" She put more effort. "Now let me go! I want to talk to Yveltal!" She punched his leg.
He grunted but held firm. "Then why are you trying to burn the forest?"
"Because I wanted to see her!"
"But doing this to do so? I know you—"
"No you don't!"
Eve stopped struggling, breathing deeply and slowly. She had a feeling that he looked at her in surprise. She couldn't tell. It was hard to see through the tears.
"You don't know me... You never asked anything about me... You don't know what it's like to lose family... You're the freakin' embodiment of life. How would you know anything about death? How would you know what it's like to be alone?"
And she kept talking, sometimes shouting. She insulted him. She told him of the stories of Pokémon X and Y. She told him about her family. She told him how easy it was to tease Seth and how it seemed like she was the elder sibling, always reminding him and helping him. She told him about her mother, her ridiculously long name and how she would always brighten her mood when she needed it with her jokes. She told him about her father and how he always looked out for her as he let her try new things. She blamed fate. She cursed it for having one of things she held dear absolutely destroy everything else that was important in her life.
Then she paused to catch her breath. Quietly, she said, "I don't want to hate them... I... I've always loved Pokémon... But-but...now my family, my home... It's all gone... They're gone because of real Pokémon..."
And she stayed like that. For a while, nothing happened. She only heard the sound of fire eating away at wood fading, the thuds and crashes of Yveltal putting them out, and the gaze and hold of Xerneas. She probably could take this chance to escape, but she had a feeling his grip would tighten at the very first sign of a struggle. Then she felt something weird. It was almost like a tingling, and even with her vision blurred she could see there was a light nearby her. Next thing she knew, she felt a familiar warmth behind her. The same one she felt in that cave all those days ago.
Her tears returned full force as she hugged Xerneas, burying her head in his chest. She felt his arms around her. She felt him rub her back slowly and meticulously. She felt him rest his head beside her own. He didn't say anything. He just continued to hold her as he comforted her with his presence.
For the first time since she got here, there were no nightmares in her sleep, only one dream. She was at home near the beach with Midgard's forest beside it, and she was introducing Xerneas to her family.
. . .
It was slow. Of course it was. It took a lot to build up after losing so much. It took time to find the pieces and put them together. One had to be careful and steady to keep it strong. Eve sighed and smiled with amusement. How fitting that description was for what had happened with her and not just the building they were making. She shook her head. This wasn't the time for such thoughts. She needed to focus.
She said, "Make sure those leaves are arranged correctly, Cunning."
"Got it!" the Venusur said and did as told.
Her smile brightened as the building for food storage took shape again. She waited a bit to see if there was anything else she needed to do, but the Pokémon went on just fine. Now if only she could have it be the same with a certain Legendary of life. She turned and saw him speaking with a Leavanny and two Scolipede, the latter standing by a wagon. Xerneas was currently in his human form, blond hair, blue eyes, black clothes and all. Apparently, he was speaking to them so that they could make winter clothing for her. Why, she had no idea.
Nevertheless, after they were done, she went up to him and said, "Can we leave yet? I'm finished with telling Cunning and the others what to do and it's still a few hours before noon."
Xerneas didn't say anything. He just stared at her with worry.
"Xerneas."
He sighed. "Are you certain you want to go?"
She paused. "Not really. But I know I'll be fine."
. . .
Time was someone he had to get used to. She was noisy, always asking questions and, ironically, usually bothering him at the worst times. But over the next few months, he had realized she wasn't as bad as he first thought she was. She was actually rather fun to have around. And during those months, he had realized why Eve had been mad at the reason why her home was gone. Dialga had never interacted with anyone before him. True, she had spoken with Creator, but it wasn't much compared to how long they've been interacting. So what did he do? He just avoided Earth as much as possible. Eve must hate him anyways so it's for the better.
His thoughts were interrupted when Time stuck her head out of a portal and said, "HEY SPACE. COULD HELP ME WITH SOMETHING IN HERE?"
"WHAT IS IT?"
But she went back into he portal before he finished. He sighed. It must be important if she was in a rush. He followed through the portal and found himself at a grassy field. He froze. He knew this place. He would never forget this place. Not when his guilt kept gnawing at him since that day.
"Hi Space," said a voice he hadn't heard for a long time.
He slowly turned. When he finished, he saw on the ground the human girl he had saved from the universe he had destroyed. And he flew into a frenzy. He apologized. He explained. He called himself names, insulted himself. He deserved it after all. He hadn't even tried before. He went on and on and on for so long that he actually lost his breath. So he stopped and regained it. All the while, Eve had just stared, as she was now. The coverings she had were different. Instead of a white top half and pale brown bottom half, it was red and green. Other than that, she didn't look that much different. She even had that black thing on top of her head.
Space swallowed. She hadn't said anything. He was right. She hated him, not that he blamed her. Space waited. The silence started to feel heavy. It didn't help that even the talkative Time was quiet. And then, finally, after what felt like hours, Eve smiled. Then she said,
"It's okay, Space. I forgive you."
Space couldn't help it. His mouth opened and it stayed opened at the words. Eve chuckled.
"Mind if I call you Palkia?"
After those six words, how could he possibly say no? Life Giver didn't need to stare at him like Ground and Water did with each other.
---
Author's Notes: First, here are [post=18355212]the judge's opinions on my entry[/post]. Second big thanks to my friend at TV Tropes, Kkutwar with helping me. Third, I plan on revising this but you can still review this.
---
Space was something he took a while to get used to. Well, outer space, which was ironic considering who he was and what he did. But he couldn't help it and could anyone truly blame him? He was new to the place that was the universe and he was terrified of the darkness, of what he didn't know. But then Creator told him things. Creator told him what it was. Creator told him how to fill that darkness with the stars. And now he felt as comfortable in space as he was in his true form.
And that was what Creator was doing right now.
"Do you sense any anomalies yet?" the large ball of light beside him said.
He sighed. "No, not yet," he said.
He picked up his speed and banked left around a passing meteor and the ball followed.
Then she said, "Can't you tell me how to sense them? I want to so you don't have to."
"No because space anomalies are different from time anomalies."
"But aren't they usually on the space-time fabric?"
He sighed again. "Because...your strength is in time and mine is in space. So I know where it is in space, while you know when it is in time."
"Oh, okay."
Within his mind, he sighed in relief. It seemed that she had nothing else to say. Several moments of peaceful silence passed before that was proven wrong.
"So did you make any of the stars? I think you said you did but which ones were they? Did you do any of the black holes? Why aren't they space anomalies? How many stars are there? How big did you make outer space? Did you make any other planets like Earth? Hey! Was that—?"
And the barrage kept going and going. Space sighed. He would've shaken his head if he had one at the moment. In all his time alone, he had preferred silence. When Creator had told him he would be interacting with Time to better their relationship, he had thought she would have preferred the same. After all, space and time were intricately connected. Obviously, he was wrong. Apparently, she hated silence. Why, he wasn't sure.
Thankfully, he could focus on something else now.
"Ah, Time, I've found one," he said as he stopped and observed it.
It didn't seem out of the ordinary, just the usual crack and slight entanglement with another universe. This happened a lot considering he expanded space and Creator had to adjust how much energy was given to support it. It shouldn't be hard to fix. His train of thought was interrupted when Time collided with him. He grunted in surprise before he stopped his movement. He turned back and saw that Time had changed into her true form, likely to better see what he found. He decided to do the same, but not without a huff and a slight twitch of his eye.
He went back near Time. "Watch where you're going," he said.
"Whoops! Sorry about that," she said. She narrowed her eyes at the anomaly.
He rolled his eyes. "Now, move out of the way so I can fix it."
"Oh, sure, but how're you going to fix it?" she said as she did as asked.
"By cutting it off then closing it."
She looked at him, surprised. "Cut it? But wouldn't that cause problems for the other universe?"
He barely restrained his growl. "Time, I've been doing this for many millennia, long before Creator told you to stay by my side. I think I would know if it would cause any problems."
Then she blocked his way again. "Can you at least let me help?"
This time he let out his growl. "Time! Just stay out of the way!"
He charged energy into his arm and then swung it forward.
"Sheesh! I was just asking," Time said. She looked at him with a frown before turning back at the anomaly. "But uh...are anomalies supposed to do that?"
He blinked. Wait. He just used his special attack at full power. And it went straight through the anomaly. He didn't know it was possible, but his face paled.
Oh no.
. . .
Eve tapped her foot, looking at the television but not really paying attention to what was showing right now. It was some sort of cartoon she only watched occasionally about a boy and his alien friends called Gems...or something. Personally, she watched it for the lion the kid had. She glanced at the clock that was rather high up on the wall. It was two minutes before eleven in the morning. She looked to the dining table in the room next to hers. Her older brother, Seth, sat beside it, holding his 3DS.
"Come on, kuya! Just pick already!" she said. Then, a bit more smugly, "I want to see if you can beat me."
He glared at her. "Exactly why I'm being picky," he said. "I am not going to lose to you again, 'day."
Eve chuckled. "Well, we're not going to find out at this rate. We'll have to get our lunch ready."
"Okay, okay! I'll pick already." There were sounds of boops and clicks before he said, "All right, I'm gonna connect now."
"Finally!"
Eve picked up the remote and turned off the television. Then she turned her attention to her own 3DS, a big and confident smile on her face. A minute passed as their devices connected. When they did, she put on her black and white cap firmly on and said,
"Ready?"
Seth narrowed his eyes. "O."
And then the trainer battle music for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire played. Eve saw her brother send out a Skarmory first while she sent out her Salamence. She raised her eyebrow at this. If she remembered correctly, the only Skarmory he had was in his HeartGold copy. Was he training his Pokémon competitively? She mentally cursed. If that was true, then even though this Skarmory wasn't much of a threat against her Salamence, than he might have a counter he could switch to.
She heard her brother already decide what he wanted to do. She bit her lip. Was she going to risk getting rid of it now or wait and see his plan? She thought about it for a moment. She decided to risk it and see if it was indeed specifically trained.
The instant the turn started, Seth switched to his Swampert and her Salamence mega evolved. She decided to hold back her smirk when she heard her brother quietly curse.
"Oy, no swear words," she said.
"I didn't swear."
"Yes you did."
"Just do something already, Eve." Seth was slightly pouting.
Eve chuckled at the childish behavior. Even after college, he was still easy to tease. She went ahead and did as he asked.
In the course of four minutes, Seth was down to two Pokémon while Eve still had five. Understandably, her brother was groaning and doing whatever he could think of to rack his brain for ideas, which currently involved tapping his head. Eve held back her chuckle. Then the room shook at the same time as the sound of a boom reached her ears.
Eve blinked. That didn't sound good. That sounded like an explosion. A distant yet powerful one if it shook the place and yet the sound was faint.
"Kuya, did you hear that?"
"Yeah, I did." He put down his 3DS and stood up. "I'm going to go check outside."
He walked out of the living room. Eve frowned. She felt like checking it too, but her brother would tell her if she needed to get out or stay inside. Her worries didn't lessen when she heard his shout,
"What the hell?!"
That was the last thing she remembered before feeling the sensation of being pulled and everything going dark.
. . .
Eve groaned. Her body felt rather sore and she briefly wondered why. That was until she felt something prickly underneath her. She swore it felt more like grass than the carpet. She slowly opened her eyes, noticing that it was rather bright. When they adjusted, she saw a bright blue sky. She blinked. Wasn't she inside their house? She grunted and propped herself up on her palms.
"OH, THANK CREATOR, YOU'RE FINE," a booming voice said.
Eve flinched and covered her ears at that.
"OH SORRY," he said. She then felt the ground shake before he continued. "I forgot how loud I am when speaking. Most of the time."
Eve looked to her right and her jaw dropped at what she saw. Right there in front of her was a white bipedal reptilian easily towering over her. He had a long neck and, though a bit hard to see from her point of view, wings. He had a pinkish orb on both of his round shoulders and markings over his body of a darker shade. And she instantly recognized his face.
It was Palkia. And he was talking to her.
It had to be some sort of dream—a very, very realistic one—that she was somehow aware of. Pokémon weren't real, as much as she enjoyed the franchise. And Palkia couldn't talk. Telepathy, maybe, but not actually talk, with vocal chords and a language she could understand, somehow. Besides, though he was much bigger than her, he wasn't as big as he was supposed to be. Well, from the movies. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure how big Palkia was from the Pokédex.
"Um, you are fine, right?" he said, disturbing her thoughts. "As, I, um, uh, can't tell."
Eve blinked and shook her head. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, it's just..." she said as she stood up. She might as well find out. "...are you real?"
He blinked and tilted his head. "Uh, yes."
"Then I'm not dreaming?"
He flinched. She had a feeling that he didn't intend for her to hear her words as he quietly said, "I wish it was..." but considering his size, whatever was quiet for him was loud enough for her to still pick up on.
The nail on the coffin was when she said, "Why?" he started to look panicked.
"Uh, 'why' what?" he said.
She frowned. "Why would want this to be a dream? I mean, I get to meet someone who I thought was cool and very interested in who I thought was made up."
Though as soon as she said those words, she got worried. She let her tact slip her again. Nobody liked the thought of everything in their life being fake. Palkia briefly looked confused but his panic didn't waver. Maybe that was what he was worried about? That he wasn't real? Her thoughts, and presumably Palkia's, were interrupted by a whoosh of wind behind her. Eve had to close her eyes and hold on to her cap as dust kicked up around her. When the wind stopped, she opened her eyes and turned around. For a second time, she became wide eyed and her jaw dropped.
In front of her was Dialga, in all its blue dinosaur like glory.
And then her awe left her when the controller of time said, in a surprisingly feminine (and loud) voice,
"BECAUSE HE ERASED YOUR UNIVERSE ACCIDENTALLY AND WISHES THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN."
Eve froze. Her hearing had to be messing with her. There was no way that everything she knew was gone. There was no way that the very things she had great interest in destroyed her home. There was no way that it was on accident.
"WELL IF YOU HADN'T QUESTIONED MY METHODS. NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE EVER HAPPENED!"
Eve bit her lip. Well there was one way to find out. She put her hand in her pocket and got her phone.
"OKAY. YEAH, I'M SORRY FOR BEING NOISY. I REALLY AM. BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GET MAD AT ME LIKE THAT."
She unlocked the screen and saw there was no signal.
"YES I DO! YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU DIDN'T NOTICE ME NOT ANSWERING YOU?!"
She tried to call her brother anyway.
"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT MEANT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO TALK TO ME?"
Nobody replied.
"BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT CREATOR TAUGHT ME. DIDN'T CREATOR TELL YOU?"
She closed her eyes and clenched her fist. Her breathing turned slow and deliberate.
"What...happened?" she said.
The arguing between the two giant reptiles continued.
Eve gritted her teeth. "What happened?!" She took several more breaths. When she was sure her vision wouldn't be blurred, she looked to Dialga. "What exactly happened?" Then she looked to Palkia. "How did my home get destroyed?"
"WELL," he said. Then he paused and cleared his throat. "You see, what, uh, happened was that, well...while I was out in outer space—"
"I ASKED HOW HE WAS GOING TO FIX THIS ANOMALY IN SPACE AND AFTER HE ANSWERED I WANTED TO TRY AND FIX IT. BUT THEN HE GOT MAD AND LET OUT HIS SPECIAL ATTACK BY ACCIDENT BECAUSE IT'S POWERED BY EMOTIONS. BUT BY THEN I WAS OUT OF THE WAY SO IT WENT THROUGH THE ANOMALY AND HIT YOUR UNIVERSE INSTEAD."
Her breathing hitched.
"My home...seven billion people...are all gone...because...because...you two argued?!"
Palkia briefly glared at Dialga. Then he said to Eve, "It wasn't my fault that she kept pestering me about something she isn't supposed to be doing!"
"WELL YOU COULD'VE JUST TOLD ME INSTEAD OF GETTING MAD," Dialga said.
And the pair started arguing again, their voices returning to booming volume. They threw insults, accusations, blame. Eve covered her ears and closed her eyes. She couldn't stand this.
So she ran.
. . .
Eve breathed deeply, in and out. She hugged her legs against her chest and rested her head on her knees. It was hard to see where she was, not only because of her tears, but because by the time she stopped running, she was in a cave, taking shelter from the rain. She had no idea how long she ran, but it didn't matter, not anymore. In over the course of just one minute, she had gone from confused to awed to shocked to angry to sad. And the more she thought about it, the death of her brother, the death of all the people she knew—and even those she didn't—her gut twisted and she had to close her eyes again.
What was she going to do now? She was on another world with Pokémon and she had no idea how to survive in the wilderness. She didn't even know what the Pokémon were like in here and she just left the only Pokémon she knew she could talk to. For all she knew, they could be savage and just think of her as an interesting snack. After all, Palkia and Dialga apparently were childish. But then again...they were fighting for some reason in the movie they debuted in her home world. Perhaps they really were idiots. She sighed. Maybe she should just stay here in this cave until she died of starvation or dehydration, or both.
But then she felt something beside her, something furry. This made her look up. Once again, for the third time that day, her eyes widened in surprise. There was a more bitter part of her mind that questioned why she would still be awed by this, but it was small right now. A tall deer creature that was blue and black was to her left, its antlers a light blue, its posture was regal with its long neck straight, yet it held no hostility or superiority. Even in the low light, she could tell it looked concerned. It was Xerneas.
"Are you all right?" he said.
She bit her lip and tucked her head into her legs again. She didn't really feel like talking about it. She still couldn't believe that everything was gone, just like that, and all from an accident.
"You do not wish to speak of it?"
Eve shook her head.
"I see..."
And things were quiet. Well, mostly quiet. She could still hear the sound of rain outside. And Xerneas's breathing. It was surprisingly loud. He just sat there near her. She wasn't so sure why would a Legendary of all Pokémon be here right now. She thought Xerneas was sleeping as a tree.
"Then what might you be?"
She looked up again and raised an eyebrow. There really were no humans here, were there? She wiped her eyes dry. She breathed in, the snot coming up her nose. Then she answered,
"A human."
He nodded. "I see. Are you an adult?"
Eve chuckled. "I just became one."
"Ah, so you're a young adult?"
She nodded.
Then Xerneas said, "Are you a male, a female, or neither?"
She chuckled again, smiling as she did. Of all the questions she had to answer, it had to be about something so obvious. But Xerneas didn't get deterred.
"Female."
Xerneas hummed. "Is there a male of your kind?"
She was about to answer, but then stopped, memories of her brother and father coming to her, memories that now hurt her as she remembered what happened to them. She slumped in her position and slowly went back to hugging her own legs. She felt Xerneas flinch.
"My apologies, young one, I did not mean to upset you more..." he said. He paused. "... Is it related to why you are here?"
Eve chuckled, but this time it was hollow. "It has everything to do with why I'm here."
A moment of silence passed.
"How?"
Eve sighed. "Because everyone I knew, everyone I cared about, are gone. Everyone. My dad, my mom, my brother, my friends, just gone. And then there are the seven or more billion people who are gone too. And you know why? Because Palkia and Dialga were arguing! Over what?! How to fix an anomaly properly?! That's ridiculous! Stupid! My home's gone over that?!"
"Young one, calm down," Xerneas said as he placed a hoof on her back.
It was at this point that Eve realized that tears started flowing down her face again. Her breathing was quick and shallow and hiccups interrupted it occasionally. And that there was dirt on her hands from hitting the ground. Eve breathed in and out again, trying to steady her breathing. But that did little to her tears. She closed her eyes, hugged herself and let them pour.
She didn't know how long she cried, but at some point, she felt herself surrounded in warmth and fell asleep when she did.
. . .
Warmth, that was the first thought that came as Eve regained consciousness. She groaned and turned to her other side. It felt rather firm and yet it was soft at the same time. She burrowed into it, trying to go back to sleep. Whatever she was on, she didn't want to get away from it. After all, who would get away from something so warm and comfy and with such a steady heartbeat.
... Wait, heartbeat?
Eve's eyes shot open and her vision was instantly filled with white. Then she looked up. It was another person, and it was a guy.
Eve squealed and pushed him away. The guy woke up and also made a startled sound. As she stood up, he fell to the ground and groaned. She questioned what was going on. Who was this guy? And where was Xerneas? What had happened? Was she actually just dreaming and that she went to a party and someone spiked her drink? But then she noticed how he looked like. He actually didn't look that much different from her, even down to her shirt and pants. The only things different were that the face was a bit more angled, her cap wasn't there and well...the chest lacked her breasts.
"My apologies for startling you," he said as he stood up. "I'm sure you're wondering why there is another human after yesterday and I'll explain, if you shall let me."
Eve blinked. "Xerneas?"
He dusted himself off then tilted his head. "I am not sure what you mean by that, but I am the creature you met in this cave yesterday."
Her mouth gaped again. "But...how?" Another question crossed her mind. "And why?"
"I am able to shift my form to my whims and needs but the one I prefer is my true form which is the one you saw before," he said. "As for why? Well, after I embraced you to calm you down, you fell asleep. You looked rather uncomfortable and I was as well. I could have changed into a form I used before, but I thought you would respond better to another human, even if it is in body only."
"Oh, uh, yeah, that makes sense." Then she recalled what he said. "Wait...you...hugged me?"
It was his turn to blink. "Yes, I did 'hug' you, as you say. Again, my apologies, but I have seen parents do that to calm and soothe their offspring, especially when they're crying. And you were upset, so I attempted to do the same."
Eve let a small smile appear on her face, despite being reminded of why she cried in the first place. "Thanks. I appreciate that."
He smiled too. "You're welcome, and it was my pleasure."
And then the moment was ruined with her stomach declaring it was hungry.
Xerneas chuckled. Eve scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.
"I know a place where there are many kinds of foods. Would you like to come along?"
Eve nodded her head vigorously.
. . .
Xerneas landed without so much as a sound, a grace befitting of something as elegant as him. Though the same couldn't be said for Eve, who was clutching his "neck collar" like a lifeline. Xerneas looked at his passenger with an apologetic look.
"Perhaps I shall lessen my speed next time," he said.
"Next time, I'll mention any fears that I usually don't think about," she said. "Like the thought of going really fast."
Slowly but surely, Eve willed her still shaking hands to let go of the Legendary deer and got off him. Once she was sure the world stopped moving, she finally took note of her surroundings. It was a lush forest with many kinds of bushes and trees, most of them having berries of some sort on them. She could recognize quite a lot of them and there were a few she hadn't. But that wasn't what made her stare wide eyed again. It was the Pokémon.
There were Grass types and Bug types and even more kinds of Pokémon. There were a few Mankey on the top of the taller trees, munching on the berries. She saw a Tropius using its long neck to reach said treetops. There were a few Scolipede that were surprisingly calm interacting with some Nuzleaf. But what really got her was that there was a small group consisting of the Treecko family. And there was a Bulbasaur family herd, with several of each stage.
One of the Venusaur noticed them.
"Yggdrasil!" he said with a smile. Eve couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the name.
Then the Venusaur went up to them and bowed his head. Xerneas returned the gesture. Eve felt he would probably would be smiling too if he had a visible mouth.
"Good day, Cunning. How are things with your tribe?"
She couldn't help but do the same thing with the Venusaur's name as he did with Xerneas’s.
"Oh, very nicely. Nobody has tried to take our territory over the past few seasons."
"I see. Well, I have a favor to ask of you."
Cunning's eyes widened. "A favor? Of course I'll do it, Yggdrasil."
"Could you spare some food and see which ones this human can eat?"
Cunning's gaze then landed on her. He blinked. Eve smiled unsurely and waved. She was questioning why the seemingly friendly Venusaur had such a name. "Hi," she said.
He blinked. "Oh, hello there." Cunning looked back at Xerneas. "As I have said, of course I will."
She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she saw a mischievous glint in the Venusaur's eyes.
. . .
"It seems you have met your match, Cunning," Xerneas said with amusement.
Eve just hummed innocently as she took a bite out of her Pecha Berry. The Venusaur in question was currently trying to soothe his heated tongue with a Lum Berry. It turned out that she was right. He did want to do a prank and had put tiny pieces of Tomato Berries into the other berries. It was easy to guess what had happened instead after introductions.
After a few more moments, Cunning's tongue was well enough for him to talk.
"Are you humans always so good at this?" he said.
Eve did her best to keep her smile up as recent memories came in. Thankfully, it held, just barely.
"No. Just me," she said.
Though it didn't slip Xerneas's notice. He roughly tapped Cunning's side, making him yelp.
"Hey, what was—"
"Be careful of your words, Cunning." He briefly glanced at her. "The rest of her kind are gone."
Cunning's snapped his head back to her and mouth slightly open. "What? What happened?" he said. And then he shook his head. "Oh, I mean, sorry about that."
Eve pushed unwanted thoughts on the backburner as she said, "It's all right. You didn't know."
She didn't say much after that. She did explain why she kept calling "Yggdrasil" Xerneas. Cunning was both fascinated and confused at first. He also asked if she was going to start calling him Venusaur. Eve actually managed to laugh at that and said no. Other than that, she just munched on her share quietly as Cunning "regaled" his recent stories to Xerneas. When she finished, Xerneas started heading off.
"X-Xerneas! Where're you going?" she said.
He stopped and looked back. "Other parts of the world. It is my duty to maintain and keep watch over life."
"You...can't stay?"
Xerneas was silent. Eve mentally smacked herself in the head for asking such a thing. He was a Legendary Pokémon for crying out loud. He had an important job to do. She shouldn't ask for something like that. Eve listened intently when Xerneas spoke again.
"Are you going to stay here?"
Eve just nodded.
"Then...I will make sure to visit often."
And then he left. It was only afterwards that she realized what she had gotten herself into. This time she facepalmed for real. How was she going to survive in this place? Sure, there was Cunning to help, but still. This was a forest and she had no idea how to live in one. She looked back at the place. Besides, she wasn't even sure she wanted to live. Not when she didn't have anything anymore.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Cunning saying, "Hey, could you teach me how you switched those berries?"
This time Eve had no trouble smiling as..."playful" ideas came to her.
. . .
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Eve said after gesturing to Cunning to grab the log that just fell.
Xerneas shook his head. "Not at all."
His antlers glowed for a moment. A small light shined on the spot where the tree used to be and a small sapling already started growing.
"That is a part of life," he said. "As how some eat plants and others eat meat to survive. Besides, I am choosing those whose lives are close to the end yet are still strong enough for your den."
Eve held back her laugh at his unintentional rhyme. Though she wasn't so sure what to think of what he said. She still didn't really like the thought of cutting down trees, but all of those that naturally fell down were being used by Bug Pokémon and there hadn't been any storms as of late to cause new ones. But she needed a house and a bed, after barely getting any sleep staying outside with Cunning's herd for a few days. So she had asked for Xerneas's help (well, more like permission) to make a house, if a makeshift one.
"Well, either way, thanks."
"You are welcome." He looked at the logs being inserted into the ground. "So how have you been doing?"
And the two went on to talk about what happened in the past week with Cunning joining in when he was done with what could be done that day. Though Eve did her best to ignore the almost critical gaze of Xerneas.
. . .
Eve gritted her teeth as she furiously pressed the controller. She narrowed her eyesight and blocked out the sounds of her brother's disbelief. The Link was closing in on the Smash Ball while the other characters—Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario and Lucario—were too far away to catch up, having been pushed back earlier. A few more button presses and a couple of shouts—both of victory and defeat—later, her expression was a lot more surprised now. And Seth was frowning with his arms crossed.
"You've got to be kidding me," she said.
Seth said, "I want a rematch."
Anna May, her mother, smirked. Jay, her father, just laughed.
"Where do you think you got your talent for video games from?" he said with an amused smile.
"Now, as much as I want to, I think we should all be getting lunch ready, don't you think?"
Seth huffed but stood up and went into the kitchen.
Eve, after rebooting from the fact that she just had her butt handed to her by her mom, said, "Uh, yeah, right," and followed him. But when she got into the kitchen, everything was gone. All the utensils, furniture, decorations, even the oven, were nowhere in sight. What was going on? And where was Seth? She looked around and didn't find him either. Her brow furrowed.
"Seth?"
This had better not be a prank. But as she tried and looked inside the cupboards, she bit her lip. If this was a prank, why was he taking so long? Her heart beat faster. Unless that was the prank, in which case...
"Seth? Where are you? This isn't funny anymore."
Nobody replied.
Eve decided to head back to the living room.
"Mama, Papa, can you get Seth to stop his prank? He's..." she said but trailed off as she noticed that the living room was blank, literally.
The room was void of everything but was also a giant light brown room, not unlike those white, pristine—and empty—lab rooms from those sci-fi films. She bit her lips as her heart got even faster along with her breathing. What was going on? Where did everything go? Where did her parents go? She got her smartphone from her pocket and dialed 911, not entirely sure what else to do.
Nobody replied.
She gritted her teeth. It must be bad signal. She returned her phone and went for the door. Never mind calling them, she'll just walk to a police station instead. But when she opened the door, she got even more worried. Everything was pixelated. The buildings, the trees, everything. And the "ground" looked like water. But there was one thing missing from the scene, even with the cars, the motorcycles and buses passing.
Nobody was there.
She shuddered. Where was everyone? Never mind, she had to go to the police station. At first, she walked there, eyeing the scenery as she did. She listened for some sound, any sound, but all she heard was the hollow thud of her footsteps. So she ran. She wanted to get there as soon as possible. There had be someone there. There was no way the police wouldn't notice the disappearance of this many people.
She burst right through the doors. She clung onto it as she caught her breath. After she did, she said,
"Hello? Can I see—"
But nobody was there.
"Hello?"
But...
"Somebody?"
...nobody...
"Anybody?"
...was...
"Is anyone here?"
...there.
She screamed. And then she opened her eyes. She breathed in and out; in and out; in and out. Though it wasn't bright, there was enough light streaming in from little slits to let her see the wooden and silk ceiling. She felt the silk cushion that made up her bed. And she heard the crunching and thuds of activity outside. She groaned. It was just a nightmare.
She sighed, got up and went out. It seemed to be late in the morning as she felt her stomach gnawing at her. She headed for the fruit trees nearby where Cunning was tending to them. After morning greetings, he gave some berries for her breakfast. She ate it quietly and peacefully, at least until she noticed Cunning was staring at her.
"What are you looking at?"
"Oh, uh, sorry, it's just..." He extended a vine and pointed at her face. "The skin below your eyes looks a little black. Are you all right?"
She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine, I'm not sick. Just haven't been sleeping so well."
He frowned. "How come?"
She shrugged before finishing the last of her meal. She was about to go and see if there was anything wrong with her house when there was a gust and a huge shadow passed over them. She looked up and her eyes widened.
"Was that...?"
The avian was huge. Easily as long as a bus or two. It's wings looked more like flat arms with three claws at the end. The tail was the same as well. It was red and black and had a grey "tuff collar". And once again, she recognized it like all the Pokémon she's seen so far. It was Yveltal, and it gave her an idea.
Cunning, however, was still frowning. "Oh that? That was just Morrigan. She only shows up when someone or something dies." He blinked. "Let me guess, she's in those stories too, isn't she?"
"Uh, yeah. We call her Yveltal."
Eve didn't pay attention to whatever Cunning said next. Instead, she walked off after saying, "I'll be right back."
. . .
Eve frowned and looked side to side. She was sure Yveltal went here, unless she mixed up her directions in the forest again, in which case she wasn't surprised. She sighed. That meant she most likely missed her chance to speak with the bird. She jumped and squealed at the sound of wood—or rather, a stick—breaking. But when she turned around to look, she calmed down.
"Don't do that, Xerneas. You scared me!" she said.
"My apologies," he said.
Eve chuckled. "It's all right. I'm glad to see you again. What are you doing here?”
"I was on my way to Midgard when I was surprised to see you here. I thought I was seeing things. May I ask what are you doing here?"
"Uh..." Eve shuffled on her feet. "I was...um..."
"You were...?"
She sighed. Oh, she might as well. It would be easier to find her with him. "I saw Yvel-I mean, Morrigan pass by overhead. I wanted to talk to her so I tried to follow."
He looked surprised. "You want to speak to her?"
Eve nodded. "Do you think you can take me to her? I'd really like to meet her."
Xerneas was quiet for a while. Then he said, "Why do you wish so?"
"'Cause I want to see what the counterpart of my friend is like."
He did a repeat of earlier, being quite as he looked off at the distance. "Well, I suppose I could take you to her. But it might be a while. The only place she stays for more than a few moments is rather far from Midgard."
"I'm all right with that."
"Very well. Then let us go back to Midgard to inform the others of your departure."
. . .
It had been several days since they left, Eve once again riding on Xerneas's back. She got to see many different environments as they traveled. They had passed a desert and an oasis, with Maractus and Sandile going about. They had passed a river system. It wasn't really a marsh. It had many rivers connected to each other, most likely making an intricate pattern if she had seen it from above. They had even passed a snowy plain. She thought about how far they've gone if they crossed such a place.
Now they were in a forest, the trees much taller than Xerneas. The branches and leaves were so thick that even though it was morning, there were only a few streaks of light that indicated that. Otherwise, it was rather hard to see. The plant life was also darker shades than what she usually saw and she didn't see many Pokémon. Well, she hadn't seen any Pokémon since they arrived, but she didn't want to think about that.
Xerneas stopped walking. Eve looked to him, confused.
"Is it fine if you get off and wait by this oak?"
"Why?"
"Yveltal has a tendency of acting first. She would be surprised to see me searching for her and would be startled at your appearance. I would not want you to get hurt by her on accident. So I wish for you to stay here."
Eve frowned and didn't say anything for a while. She just stared at Xerneas, who merely returned it. Eventually, she sighed.
"Okay," she said as she got off.
"Do not worry. It won't be long."
Then Xerneas went deeper into the forest. She watched him go until he was out of her sight. She looked at the oak he told her to stay beside and chuckled. Out of all the kinds of trees in the world, it had to be this one. She sat down at the trees roots and waited. It seemed that Yveltal was impulsive. She wondered if she called herself Morrigan or had many names like Xerneas said he had. The thought reminded her of her mother, who actually had three names but usually only used the first or the second one unless she wanted to be really formal, or wanted to pretend to be formal.
Now she wouldn't hear her jokes anymore.
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. She looked around the forest. She tried to tell what kind of trees were in this forest. There some more oaks around her. There was one that looked like a conifer. And there was one that reminded her of a mangrove with its branches. She remembered the "adventures" she had as a little kid with her father, going through a thicket of them on the beaches back in her homeland. She thought they were as tall as redwoods at the time and she always loved finding new animals with him.
Now she can't explore and discover things with him anymore.
Eve bit her lip and looked up. The light didn't look that much different from earlier. She hugged her legs against herself. How long has it been? Had it really been only a few minutes? The place didn't change that much. But what if it was like this all the time until night time? Maybe it was even one hour. She couldn't tell anymore. She realized he irony in that as she was the one who would remind Seth to do his homework and errands as he was the one who had a hard time keeping track of time.
Now she didn't have her brother to keep an eye on.
She gripped the sides of her head. Her heart was racing and tears were threatening to come out again. What was taking Xerneas so long? She wanted this over with already. She wanted her tiny hope of getting her family back—the hope that she could find their souls and bring them to life—to come true. She didn't want to think of the chance she couldn't bring them back. She didn't want to think of never seeing their faces again.
She saw a rock on the ground, just by her feet, crudely shaped like the tip of a spear. She picked it up and rolled it around in her palm. It was white and smooth. She remembered what Cunning said when she first saw Yveltal. She started looking for another rock like the one she found. Maybe she could speed up Yveltal's arrival.
. . .
It didn't take too long to find Space and Time. He just had to follow all the Pokémon running away from them. As he finally closed in on them from the ground, he said,
"Space! Time! I wish to speak with you two!"
When the two reptilians stopped midair, he did so as well. Then Space shouted,
"GAH! LIFE GIVER! YOU SCARED ME!"
Time added, "YEAH! DON'T SNEAK UP LIKE THAT!"
"My apologies. I did not intend for that," he said.
Space said, "UGH, NEVER MIND. WHAT'S IT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT? 'CAUSE WE'RE BUSY."
"Oh, I believe it has something to do with your search, assuming you are searching for an upright biped from another universe."
Time said, "HOW'D YOU KNOW?"
"DUH, 'CAUSE HE FOUND HER." Space sighed. "THAT'S GOOD. SHE'S SAFE THEN?"
"Yes. She is staying at Midgard."
Space nodded. "GOOD." Then he stretched his body, getting rid of a few kinks here and there. "WELL THEN, WHAT'S IT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?"
"I wish to know what had happened." He looked to Time. "Preferably, by watching it transpire."
The pair flinched. Time quickly said, "UH, YOU KNOW WE CAN'T CHANGE THE TIMELINE. IT'LL CAUSE A REALLY BIG MESS IF WE DO."
"I did not say I wanted to change it. I said I wished to see it for myself. You can do that, can you not, Time?"
"WELL, YEAH... SURE I CAN. BUT WHY?"
"When your minds are calmer, you will understand. Now may we do so now?"
"SURE."
Time took a deep breath before spewing out a torrent of energy. It stopped midair and swirled into a portal. When it was large enough, she stopped and went in. He and Space followed.
That was several months ago. Thanks to that, he knew a few things about Eve's home world and what exactly transpired. It was because of that knowledge, and his interactions with Eve, was why he had decided to leave her there in the nearby forest. He had originally insisted to Space that he make it up to Eve somehow but he was equally resolute. And his words rang true.
"I ALREADY SAID I WAS SORRY. ...BESIDES, WHAT GOOD IS MY 'SORRY' GOING TO BE? I STILL DESTROYED HER HOME. HOW IN CREATOR'S NAME CAN I MAKE UP FOR THAT?"
So he relented. He spent time with Eve. He saw how she was like. Space was right, she wouldn't take seeing him too well. Nor the place where Death Reaper, or as Eve called her, Yveltal, called home.
The area was the same as he saw it not too long ago. There was a beach just where he got out of the forest. It was currently low tide so he could see the seaweed on the ground, flat thanks to their water content. Though the beach itself had no rocks or pebbles, there were some shells of different kinds left behind. Towards inland there was a rock formation running along it, where one could climb on and walk on. Further from that was a forest filled with plants that thrived in tropical places, like coconut trees. Just at the border of the forest and the rock formation was where Death Reaper was perched, resting.
Sans his counterpart and no "how-ses" being there, he knew it was very much like Eve's home. He was glad he had found out about her home.
"Death Reaper?" he said.
She cawed and snapped her head towards him.
"Life Giver?" She cawed again. "What are you doing here? You scared me!"
Life Giver briefly noted that this was the tenth time this has happened recently and wondered if he should be louder with his steps.
"My apologies, Death Reaper. A friend of mine wishes to speak with you."
She was quiet for a few moments. "Seriously? Someone wants to talk with me? The one who everyone's scared of because I'm usually seen when there's death?"
"Yes."
"And this isn't a joke?"
"No, it is not."
She reared her head back a little. "Why would your friend want to talk with me? Better question: why are you doing this? Why isn't your friend with you right now? Something's up, right?"
He sighed. He knew she would see through his actions. Not that he minded, but considering the circumstances, he had wanted to get this done.
"Again, my apologies, but it is a rather long story. So I shall keep it simple and say that she might not handle seeing your home too well."
"Oh come on, it can't be that long, can it? And of course this place would remind her of another. This isn't the only beach in the world with the forest."
"Yes, it is long and I would rather not keep her waiting. Please, Death Reaper. I promised her it won't be long."
"Her?" She chuckled. He wasn't whether if she was amused of his pleading tone or because of the implications of what the gender of his friend was. He hoped it wasn't the latter as he wasn't so sure about the thought.
"Okay, okay, I'll come," she said. She spread her wings. "Lead the—"
She didn't finish her sentence as she suddenly took off. She had a panicked look when she did.
"Death Reaper, what's wrong?"
But he didn't need an answer from her. He saw his answer in the distance. He dashed in the same direction she did.
There was smoke.
. . .
"Eve! What are you doing? Stop it!"
She turned to see Xerneas running up to her. But she paid him no attention. There was someone more important flying above him who was exactly why she set fire to these trees. It was Yveltal. She smiled and laughed.
But then she said, "I'll handle the fire!" and flew past her.
She frowned. "No! Wait! Yveltal!"
She ran after her but was stopped. A hoofed leg blocked her way before another one gripped her waist.
"Xerneas, let me go!" she said as she used her strength to push against his leg.
"No, Eve," he said, clenching her with his other leg. "You are not thinking straight."
"I'm thinking just fine!" She put more effort. "Now let me go! I want to talk to Yveltal!" She punched his leg.
He grunted but held firm. "Then why are you trying to burn the forest?"
"Because I wanted to see her!"
"But doing this to do so? I know you—"
"No you don't!"
Eve stopped struggling, breathing deeply and slowly. She had a feeling that he looked at her in surprise. She couldn't tell. It was hard to see through the tears.
"You don't know me... You never asked anything about me... You don't know what it's like to lose family... You're the freakin' embodiment of life. How would you know anything about death? How would you know what it's like to be alone?"
And she kept talking, sometimes shouting. She insulted him. She told him of the stories of Pokémon X and Y. She told him about her family. She told him how easy it was to tease Seth and how it seemed like she was the elder sibling, always reminding him and helping him. She told him about her mother, her ridiculously long name and how she would always brighten her mood when she needed it with her jokes. She told him about her father and how he always looked out for her as he let her try new things. She blamed fate. She cursed it for having one of things she held dear absolutely destroy everything else that was important in her life.
Then she paused to catch her breath. Quietly, she said, "I don't want to hate them... I... I've always loved Pokémon... But-but...now my family, my home... It's all gone... They're gone because of real Pokémon..."
And she stayed like that. For a while, nothing happened. She only heard the sound of fire eating away at wood fading, the thuds and crashes of Yveltal putting them out, and the gaze and hold of Xerneas. She probably could take this chance to escape, but she had a feeling his grip would tighten at the very first sign of a struggle. Then she felt something weird. It was almost like a tingling, and even with her vision blurred she could see there was a light nearby her. Next thing she knew, she felt a familiar warmth behind her. The same one she felt in that cave all those days ago.
Her tears returned full force as she hugged Xerneas, burying her head in his chest. She felt his arms around her. She felt him rub her back slowly and meticulously. She felt him rest his head beside her own. He didn't say anything. He just continued to hold her as he comforted her with his presence.
For the first time since she got here, there were no nightmares in her sleep, only one dream. She was at home near the beach with Midgard's forest beside it, and she was introducing Xerneas to her family.
. . .
It was slow. Of course it was. It took a lot to build up after losing so much. It took time to find the pieces and put them together. One had to be careful and steady to keep it strong. Eve sighed and smiled with amusement. How fitting that description was for what had happened with her and not just the building they were making. She shook her head. This wasn't the time for such thoughts. She needed to focus.
She said, "Make sure those leaves are arranged correctly, Cunning."
"Got it!" the Venusur said and did as told.
Her smile brightened as the building for food storage took shape again. She waited a bit to see if there was anything else she needed to do, but the Pokémon went on just fine. Now if only she could have it be the same with a certain Legendary of life. She turned and saw him speaking with a Leavanny and two Scolipede, the latter standing by a wagon. Xerneas was currently in his human form, blond hair, blue eyes, black clothes and all. Apparently, he was speaking to them so that they could make winter clothing for her. Why, she had no idea.
Nevertheless, after they were done, she went up to him and said, "Can we leave yet? I'm finished with telling Cunning and the others what to do and it's still a few hours before noon."
Xerneas didn't say anything. He just stared at her with worry.
"Xerneas."
He sighed. "Are you certain you want to go?"
She paused. "Not really. But I know I'll be fine."
. . .
Time was someone he had to get used to. She was noisy, always asking questions and, ironically, usually bothering him at the worst times. But over the next few months, he had realized she wasn't as bad as he first thought she was. She was actually rather fun to have around. And during those months, he had realized why Eve had been mad at the reason why her home was gone. Dialga had never interacted with anyone before him. True, she had spoken with Creator, but it wasn't much compared to how long they've been interacting. So what did he do? He just avoided Earth as much as possible. Eve must hate him anyways so it's for the better.
His thoughts were interrupted when Time stuck her head out of a portal and said, "HEY SPACE. COULD HELP ME WITH SOMETHING IN HERE?"
"WHAT IS IT?"
But she went back into he portal before he finished. He sighed. It must be important if she was in a rush. He followed through the portal and found himself at a grassy field. He froze. He knew this place. He would never forget this place. Not when his guilt kept gnawing at him since that day.
"Hi Space," said a voice he hadn't heard for a long time.
He slowly turned. When he finished, he saw on the ground the human girl he had saved from the universe he had destroyed. And he flew into a frenzy. He apologized. He explained. He called himself names, insulted himself. He deserved it after all. He hadn't even tried before. He went on and on and on for so long that he actually lost his breath. So he stopped and regained it. All the while, Eve had just stared, as she was now. The coverings she had were different. Instead of a white top half and pale brown bottom half, it was red and green. Other than that, she didn't look that much different. She even had that black thing on top of her head.
Space swallowed. She hadn't said anything. He was right. She hated him, not that he blamed her. Space waited. The silence started to feel heavy. It didn't help that even the talkative Time was quiet. And then, finally, after what felt like hours, Eve smiled. Then she said,
"It's okay, Space. I forgive you."
Space couldn't help it. His mouth opened and it stayed opened at the words. Eve chuckled.
"Mind if I call you Palkia?"
After those six words, how could he possibly say no? Life Giver didn't need to stare at him like Ground and Water did with each other.
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Author's Notes: First, here are [post=18355212]the judge's opinions on my entry[/post]. Second big thanks to my friend at TV Tropes, Kkutwar with helping me. Third, I plan on revising this but you can still review this.
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