FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3

Enzlo's Tower, immediately after Mew Teleported and escaped with Jack's students.

“-will help you-!" Rook cut himself off as his senses caught up to his panic, the chaotic wails and shrieks of Wraiths replaced with the quiet, calm crackling of a nearby fireplace. The once suffocating darkness became somewhat welcoming now that it was accompanied by the sight of stacks of books piled up next to each other in front of and around him. Brown tables with darker streaks stained across their surfaces allowed the light of the fireplace to dance and flicker shadows across their surfaces.

“Where are we?" Blake asked, voice somewhat snarly as the Poochyena was on edge, glaring up at Mew as the psychic flitted above the three students in the air over them. Elizabeth sobbed, still on her knees with the vision of Luna's death still fresh to her eyes.

“Easy, you're safe here." Mew gently said back.

“Take us back!" Rook shouted immediately after. “Professor Jack needs-"

“If you go back you'll end up dead just like your friends." A stern scoff interrupted the Rockruff, shortly followed by the shambling shuffle sound of many books falling to the floor followed by a, “damn it…eh pick it up later…" before an Abra walked around the entrance to the smallish study room with several large tomes floating close to them, encased in the purple aura of the Abra's telekinetic hold. Rook paused as he caught sight of the rows of shelves outside the room, the sight of the giant library outside the study made him pause even in his worry, but the door slowly closed itself to leave them isolated inside the study.

“None of you have any power to fight that creature." The Abra told them all as he then floated up to the table and the two books he had brought with him settled in front of him. One began to open and its pages rapidly fluttered to a specific point and then stopped.

“If not for your teacher keeping it's attention and focus, it would've slaughtered each of you in the same blink of an eye it killed the Eevee and Froakie." He continued while fingering across the page with his palm slowly as he searched for what he was after.

Rook growled, teeth grinding together as he snarled at the Abra. He wanted to explode in anger at the way the psychic talked so callously about his friends, but that anger shimmered into the realization that…

They were gone.

The Rockruff looked down at the floor, a reddish tinted carpet that led from the doorway to stop a few feet from the fireplace was just beyond his front paws. His anger boiled into a ball of frustration in his chest as he realized how right the Abra was. That thing…

“I still…felt like I could…" Rook muttered under his breath, something no one but Enzlo and Mew heard.

“Where are we?" Blake asked beside the Rockruff, returning to his question from before. “What just happened? What was that pokemon?"

“That was not a pokemon." Mew answered after a short moment, his voice light and saddened by the recent event. “It is the manifestation of an inevitable thought, it only imitates being a pokemon..."

“An inevitable thought?" Blake repeated.

“It is a culmination of hate, anger, loneliness, despair, and fear. If you can think of anything more exactly negative about what it is, it probably is exactly that as well." The Abra provided the confused students, and as he sensed that confusion only grow he tried further, “I'll try to give you a way to understand it… If you for instance perceive it as a fearful and dreadful creature then let me ask this question to you three–it has come upon you and wishes to end your existence, what do you feel?"

Elizabeth picked her head up to join the other two in glaring at the Abra. What the heck would they expect him to feel than exactly what they had? Sensing their collective annoyance at what they felt should be obvious, Enzlo grinned slightly as he continued.

“Those very same feelings you feel; defiance against that fate that someone else would visit upon you, is exactly what it itself -is-. In the moment of meeting it, you had no idea what it was, and even hearing and understanding that feeling, you are no closer to understanding it for what it is." He continued, “I myself am still trying to figure out what it is…but given what it seems to call itself…it is the embodiment of Nothing."

“Whoa hey…" Rook frowned, “What does any of that have to do with how I felt? I was terrified…but then…seeing Luna and Finn get downed so easily I just wanted it to stop even if I had to throw myself into it. Course I know that in the end that probably wouldn't stop anything but…"

The small psychic type nodded. “It has everything to do with what you feel."

“The kinds of things it was saying…" Elizabeth softly muttered, picking her head up again. “It claimed that the Wraiths are other…entire worlds?"

“Entire worlds that it has convinced to aid its crusade against all things in existence. A claim that would truly overturn much of the research that has been done into what Wraiths are, as well as our understanding of how our world exists alongside all others." Enzlo said, “Is that worse or better than their being the souls of the Lost as has been a general thought to Rifters and Guilds?"

The students fell silent as they all thought far different things. Elizabeth let out another soft choking sob as her tears fell to the wooden floor with clenched eyes. Blake's eyes wandered slowly along several bookshelves before falling upon a glowing Orb filled with swirling white clouds as it lightly shimmered in the light of the library, but his expression didn't give anything away except silent, stern thought. After a few passing seconds though, his eyes narrowed down and he spun back on Mew and Enzlo.

“Why weren't you there beforehand!?" He shouted at both of the psychics, fur standing on end. “They're dead because you weren't there! It said it came there early! It was expecting you! If you knew you were going to be fighting such a thing, why weren't you there waiting for it yourselves!?" He specifically glared at Mew, “Some protectors you legendaries turn out to be." This was his first time seeing a legendary, yet Rook also found it difficult to not be angry at them. Peace was enjoyed by everyone else because the Legendaries took up the important responsibilities of looking over things they could not; so why did this happen…?

“I'll excuse your blame as a result of your being stressed and agitated." Enzlo huffed. “I've been called many things and blamed for much worse. My favorite was when I was called “yellow rat"-it makes me think of a wonderful realm. Anyway, I am not to blame for it anymore than Nothing itself is."

Blake growled deeply and now Elizabeth snapped her head up while crying out, “It's not to blame!? What is!? What should I blame??"

“Reality…well…in a way." Enzlo tolled evenly, lifting and then slapping down his tail in an authoritative way. “Nothing is a product of existence just like any of us are. This is what I meant when I said that you're no closer to understanding it for knowing what we tell you."

“In the past…" Rook suddenly started, looking up from where he'd been looking down at the rolled rug in his thought “Hasn't Mew faced something similar?"

Although they did not let their surprise be seen on their faces, both Mew and Enzlo mentally zigzagged in surprise as they stared at Rook. For a short moment, all eyes were on the Rockruff, but he only stared back at Enzlo, completely serious.

“In the past…" Mew started carefully, glancing down towards Enzlo a moment before he continued, “I separated myself from my own negative emotions after the death of someone dear, I even allowed my own body to be destroyed, and I was reborn with them into a new life together where I was but a normal pokemon...Being what I am though, my emotions coalesced with the negative emotion of all other pokemon and gained its own mind, there was even an whole other world that came to be because of it where all pokemon were turned to stone…In the end, I was brought back to facing it and had to accept its truth. Darkness lies in the hearts of all pokemon, but so does light. That the three of you feel for and desire revenge for your fallen classmates proves that…"

“If Nothing is also an embodiment of all negative emotion then-"

“It both is, and is not." Enzlo chimed in and interrupted the Rockruff's thoughts. “It is…very difficult to simplify years of research, personal introspection, and nay- the amount of preparation within other worlds that has been done to prepare ours for its arrival." Enzlo huffed again while opening the larger of the two books he had floated in and fingering across the words.

“Nothing is a paradox. It is repulsed by existence and drawn to it because existence is the only means for it to be known. It is born out of the void that fills all of us in moments of despair, a form given to feelings we ignore, dismiss, and push aside. It is not simply just that darkness; it is everything that is denied its existence. Just as shadows only exist in light, Nothing needs life's existence to manifest, yet its goal is to delete and remove that existence, and if it should succeed, then did it ever exist to begin with? Thereby, a paradox." Enzlo used his telekinesis to float the book he was reading up and out towards the young pokemon there. Upon the page, was a drawing of Nothing, exactly as it had appeared in that Lycanroc form. Wisps of smoke in the form of spiky balls were drawn around its body, black with centers of light gray. Its mouth was open showing rows of those triangle, dark shaded teeth as it appeared to be cackling from the picture's image.

“Within all worlds, all realms of reality, there will always be things that the living beings within them refuse to look at and acknowledge in regular fashion." Enzlo continued trying to explain to them. “Crime, death, other living beings such as their villains, certain objects, even emotions. On both ends of the spectrums, it has seen ordered paradises that deny all evils and chaotic hellscapes that smite out all hope. Nothing is all these things. It has been driven mad over the denial of its own existence when such existence is already provided to it in that denial…Again, thereby, a paradox."

“It can be best considered a Memetic." The Abra continued, now somewhat lost to his own explanation to the children. “Which is an idea that functions somewhat like a virus. The thought of one's own existence–and the potential of there being nothing beyond death, is what originally brings Nothing into being. Even though one does not think directly of its personification, the thought of the first allows it to be, and it is that existence that has driven it to its madness."

Rook frowned, along with Blake who looked across and towards the Rockruff as he noticed it, their frustration was shared. The explanation indeed made no more sense than what they knew before. Enzlo's own understanding of Nothing was far deeper than he could effectively convey or try and simplify much more than that.

The Poochyena continued instead, “That thing knew Professor Jack, when the Professor was -alive-. It's not at all just some creature that just…appears. It hasn't been that way for its whole existence."

“Indeed…" Enlzo admitted. “If I were to tell you everything about what was between your Professor and Nothing however, you'd be here for nearly an entire month of nonstop lessons." The book closed shut and floated back down onto the desk in front of the Abra while he lightly tapped his tail at his side with a finger, “For the time being, know that Professor Jack is now safe with Mewtwo after he managed to stop Nothing-or rather, used what was given to him to stop it. The Wraiths have vanished and the Rifts are back to normal. Now, it is time for us to put together our resistance to future attacks; already the Guild Leaders and the Eeveelutions are doing their best to coordinate and figure out what happened, but…it is all best described like chickens with their heads cut off…"

“Are you going to help them?" Mew asked the Abra.

“If they are willing to listen, yes. Send out the call for the Leaders and Eeveelution Council to gather at the Guild Tower. Once they have, I will leave my tower to join the meeting."

“How much are we going to tell them?" The legendary asked further.

“Everything we can and everything we know they should know, which is to say, only what they ask." Enzlo answered, and then he lifted his tail and pointed it towards the three students in front of him.

“You three however-"

“We wanna help too!" Rook barked, at which Blake quickly jumped forward in agreement.

“Yeah! I don't really care right now if I die too! I can't just let Luna and Finn not be avenged!"

“So you'd die with them instead?" Elizabeth coughed behind the two boys, her own manner a complete opposite to theirs. “You both have zero thoughts don't you? You think Finn and Luna want us to just die too?!"

“At least then they wouldn't be alone!" Blake snarled back while lowering his head, rubbing his own chin into his shoulder fur and closing his eyes.

A moment of silence hung in the air before Enzlo softly spoke, “Death…is but the start of a new journey."

“BUT IT ISN'T ONE WITH US!!!" Blake howled on, snapping his head back up to glare at the psychic. “Luna…she wanted more than what she'd get within her own culture, but if she had stayed with them instead of coming to our school…and Finn was…Finn was the one who kept us acting like a team to start."

“That is merely your own speculation out of denial…If Luna had stayed with her family instead of coming to your school, she might very well of ended up dead anyway…in the few minutes you were in that battle, and in the last few that you have spent here with us, just over 100,000 pokemon have been killed throughout all of Lumaria. The Eeveelutions have lost a significant amount of their own numbers in defending the rest of the population." Enzlo told them.

This revelation froze the three students in place once more, their eyes widening. Just shortly after that though, the orb that rested upon the shelf suddenly began glowing with bright rainbow light, a portal projected out from it as the figures of Professor Jack and Mewtwo snapped into place from beyond it. The orb's glowing quickly dimmed and faded, the fog within it returned to a slow swirl of colorless white clouds.

“Professor!" Rook barked upon seeing the Rotom, glad to see his previous injuries now seemingly healed. “You defeated that thing?"

“No, I did not, it ran away. It was the Echo that actually defeated it." The Rotom patted the compartment where he kept the obsidian rock. “I'm just glad it didn't remain shattered, considering what it represents."

“Professor…" Elizabeth started, “If your wounds are healed…are Luna and Finn…?" Her voice betrayed building hope.

The Rotom's eyes closed calmly for only a brief moment before Jack opened them again and looked at the Braixen steadily, “No…I'm sorry Elizabeth…"

Blake snarled and grit his teeth once more while Rook also looked down, the short moment of Elizabeth's own hope had started to grow in him but was stamped down by the Professor's words. The fire type let out a defeated sigh as she closed her eyes and gripped at the ground as she remained sitting where she was.

“I'm sorry, all three of you." Jack continued, “This shouldn't be something that young pokemon should have to confront so early, let alone something that is still confronted even in a ghost's instance of afterlife."

Normally, a dying pokemon could have an opportunity of becoming a ghost type. This was a process that most ghosts referred to as “Reigniting." This did however, require the pokemon to be aware that they were near death, and for another ghost type to be there to offer a small bit of their energy so that they could then take on new form and being.

“In the past…" He began lightly, “When others I've known passed on, I've had many, many things told to me. Not all of them are comforting, and not one applies to all others, only in a handful…" He paused again as he tried to decide on his words, “In this case…there's many choices…what do you three choose? What do you want to do?"

Elizabeth let out a sigh, “I'm too…I don't know." Her voice choked.

Blake however, stamped his foot, “I'm gonna get strong! I'm going to fight for them! It's the same path I'd take to fight for myself but better!"

“We don't even have Rifters licenses…" Elizabeth said carefully as she stared at the floor.

“So!?" Blake snarled at her, turning his head.

Rook had never seen Blake as riled up as he was, but he understood the reasons why. In his chest he felt…like the world was sinking, but he didn't want it to keep doing so. Was that really just because he'd seen his friends die…?

“I…I wanna help too." Rook let out softly. “I…I don't want to keep remembering that their deaths were violent for no reason. I have to help."

“Professor…you said the “Echo" defeated it?" Elizabeth picked her head up again, “What is that?"

It was the realization that the children were the only ones not aware of the being that had helped drive Nothing back that made the other four pokemon in the room stumble, but it was Enzlo that answered.

“An Echo of the Bright Star."

“The Bright Star?" Blake repeated, “That's just a legend right…?"

“The Bright Star is just as real as you are, for it is in being as you are that it itself is." Enzlo stated, “Much like Nothing, it too exists by way of realization, but exists outside that realization as well. The Bright Star is also born out of denial, but as an embodiment of will to overturn fate, not outright deny or ignore its existence such as Nothing desires. And yes, again, I understand that isn't much of an easy answer or explanation, but that is what it is." The Abra sighed from the confused looks he received.

“However, this was merely an echo of it. Something that was left behind as a safeguard. The Echo was meant to protect Jack from Nothing, but it may not activate in the presence of you three, and we obviously don't want to have to create a situation in which we test that so we'll continue on the thought that it only works for Jack."

“So the Bright Star guarded the Professor? How is the Professor connected to the Bright Star? And you say “meant", does this mean this was -planned-?" Elizabeth questioned further. For a short moment, her voice had gained a surge of energy as she asked her questions, especially on the last word as her gaze had gone from drained to an almost angry glare at Enzlo.

“That is not something I can reveal to you, their connection goes back to the time of the joining…but this was not a planned thing Elizabeth, of that I will assure you." Enzlo said, lightly looking at the Rotom. Jack looked back at the Abra, his expression confused. “To explain some though…This is the first time I've met Jack in this form. I knew him when he was alive, 5000 years ago."

Jack's own eyes widened a bit, as for him it was the first time he'd met someone who had known him in life. However, Enzlo continued, “Given that…there is much I'd like to discuss, as well as explain my own agelessness…but not much of it are things I'd think Jack would want you to discover at the same time he discovers them. As well, this is not a proper moment to do so. Not after what you have all just gone through, and not with the Guild Leaders and Eeveelutions Council to soon come together for discussion, which I plan to attend and speak at."

Rook doubted, but he asked anyway, “Can we go with you?"

“Jack may, but not you three." Enzlo said firmly, as once more his tail pointed at them all one at a time as he continued, “You three are going to rest, calm your minds, and then decide later on what you want to do, both as individuals, and as a team. You're going to come upon so many issues and conflicts that what you decide in the next few days is what will shape what ones you're confronted with first. Our entire world has been invaded, turned upside down and peace has been shattered by Nothing. Our world is going to be forced to change dramatically with this." Enzlo impressed upon the three students.

“Talk to each other. I want all of you to be on the same page with what has happened, because unlike most of the world, you've had a direct experience with and know what it's up against. If you're to try and pursue Nothing, I want you to tell me what your long term plan for doing so is, even with the help of myself and others. Will you search for it alone or go to a Guild and join them? If you join a Guild, are you also willing to go through what they need of you in being a part of one; especially during this new troubled time? What if they do not allow you to go after Nothing? Will you disobey? If one or more of you are to disband and go your separate ways, when and where and under what circumstances do you do so? I want all of you to be on the same page with all of that. There are other things that you have not yet thought about that you probably should as well, such as what has happened to your home. The Rift of Origin is close to Maple Town, is it not?"

A shock ran through all three of the students there as dozens of panicked thoughts rushed through their heads, piling onto the already troubling ones that had formed into a pile on their rationality. Their families, the other classes, all the pokemon who lived there. While the Rift of Origin was a distance away from the town…it surely had been overtaken by the crashing hordes of Wraiths as they poured from the Rift just the same.

Rook's heart thudded in his chest. 'Mom…' His eyes widened as he found himself staring ahead at the bookcases and then down to the floor. He didn't even…want to think about it, but his heart pounded again in his chest just the same.

Blake's own eyes stared down at the floor as similar thoughts went through his own head, his three siblings…his parents…the Poochyena's jaw clenched and shook back and forth as his eyes narrowed before squeezing shut tightly as if to try and block out the worry.

Elizabeth's remorse over Luna and Finn burned into fear and trepidation within her chest over her family as well, the current mayorship of Maple Town was her father, while she had one younger sibling. Her gaze fell to the floor once more and her lips quivered as she thought about her younger sister and her father and mother.

All three of them worried about what might their families had done as their home was swarmed in waves of Wraiths. Heroism now felt like a death sentence, and yet none of them could imagine their parents doing less than that when such danger fell upon their village and that led to the conclusion of the worst possible result...

“How can we just rest after being told that?" Blake asked silently, suddenly deflated from his anger and energy. Through his own new worry, Rook felt a pang towards his friend. Family was one of Blake's biggest prides in life, having one of the few larger ones of Maple Town and being the eldest son among them. Along with Elizabeth, just a simple glance towards the fire fox and her distant looking expression told him she worried much the same things…

“I…we have to know…" Rook agreed. “When can we go back?"

“When you all go back is up to what you three decide." Enzlo said to them. “Again, I want all of you to talk to each other and decide what you all want to do, together. If one of you can't do what the others desire, you need to make that choice and let it be known. But, as I also said, I want you to do that after a good rest and clearer heads. Once you speak and make a decision among yourselves, I want you to come tell me what it is, and then I will coordinate to assist you in those efforts going forward."

The Abra floated up from his table and his legs stretched out as he would land upon them and approached the three students, holding up his hand and it and his slanted eyes began glowing purple.

“Why?" Rook suddenly asked further.

“Pardon?" Enzlo returned, the glow of his paw faded as he had been just about to ask something else.

“Why even offer that kind of help to us? Even if we decide to fight Nothing, you'll help us? Why? We're weak. We're young. We're inexperienced…there's dozens of reasons why you -shouldn't- help us." Rook rattled off.

“Do you doubt yourself?" Enzlo asked the Rockruff.

“No. It's just…" He frowned deeply, “The sensible thing is to send us back home…keep us out of the situation…we're just barely adults with our Rifters tests interrupted…why offer to put us right in the middle of it? We…we're likely to end up dead too."

“Do you believe your emotion over Luna and Finn can allow you to simply stand idly by? If not them, knowing that our world is in danger, will you stand at the sideline? If I send you back home and your families are dead, will you remain there?" Enzlo returned with a soft smile. “No, I doubt it, those scenarios all would logically point to desiring to take action, or wallowing in pity which that alone, is something I personally will not allow. As it is, you've become involved by happenstance. Your age no longer matters, nor does your overall experience. It is better to try and involve you from now on, so that I can keep eyes on all three of you and help your development. Consider it…just yet another paradox, where we're forced to ignore the logical choice because the illogical one of inviting you into the middle of danger somehow becomes the more logical." He chuckled lightly, showing a moment of joking humor.

Rook stared at the Abra directly as he spoke. He sensed the truth in the statements, and what he said made sense as well. Having been swept up into the conflict with their encounter with Nothing, they were right in the middle of the storm now, whether they wanted it or not. If they were left alone and found out their families were indeed slain, they'd have no reasons to not fight, and if they found them alive, the knowledge that their families were okay would instead reinforce their resolve to fight just the same. It was more sensible to keep them involved.

“As for the chance of being killed. You might have died today, but you did not." Enzlo pointed out. “That you go through that experience and yet have the drive and will to question things like this instead…shows that you have a unique resilience that many lack."

Rook felt a warmth grow in his chest at these words, and Blake beside him also seemed to bristle a little.

Enzlo once more lifted up his hand towards them all as it glowed purple once more, and he asked, “Now, will you three be willing to trust me? I want to put you all into a deep sleep, away from your troubled thoughts. It will be a good rest. Once you wake up, you'll have clearer heads to think of what you do next."

Blake and Rook both nodded in affirmation, but Elizabeth took a moment longer but she also nodded her head while saying, “Yes…please…" Her eyes looked distant and unfocused, full of worry.

“Look into my eyes."

The three students stared directly at Enzlo's glowing, slanted eyes. The purple aura of his eyes and paw began to radiate back from the student's own eyes as they gradually allowed his influence upon their bodies, and then Enzlo flipped his paw upside down like he was flipping a card over and muttered, “Sleep."

At the same time, Rook and Blake toppled slowly onto their sides out cold and Elizabeth slid forward where she'd been sitting on the floor. Their allowance of Enzlo's will upon them let his Hypnosis work without issue. Already, the three appeared far more at ease as they breathed steadily and slowly. Elizabeth looked almost relieved to be able to escape as she had slumped despite the awkward position the sudden sleep placed her body in, the poor girl had never once stood up since being there.

As the children fell deeper into their sleep, Enzlo turned to Mewtwo, “Would you mind taking them to the beds?"

“Yes, I got them." Mewtwo nodded as he was already lifting his arm out to the students and his own psychic energy glowed a soft blue as he lifted each of them into the air, their slumbering continued on without disruption.

It was now, suddenly, that the Tower shook, and the three psychics and ghost looked around in rapid surprise. The shaking stopped but then the book upon Enzlo's desk suddenly shot open, its pages fluttering rapidly as it turned to its last page, and a new page appeared, already connected to the spine.

Enzlo shot to his desk and looked down upon the page as words began to write themselves upon the sheet. His expression went from curious to confused as the words wrote themselves. It was only once the words were finished that his expression changed to surprise and he did begin to read them out to the others.

“Enzlo…" He read his own name, “I've already seen him in this place…not his form but…the way he talks, the way he moves, the way he fights, the things he fights…he works so hard…and he helps him…and so does everyone else we know…"

“I don't even really know what it is we were working towards anymore; the goal kept changing from one to the next. I don't like to think of it all as coincidence. I'm unsure there was such a thing anymore."

“What an amazing “plan"...and one that I would be perfectly fine with accepting. It no longer matters that I lose…for it means we all win."

“But…that means there's still a story to tell."

“Send Rook to the Rifts…start with the Rift of the Third. After that…well, you'll see and understand, and hopefully, so will he."

“Let him see his other selves…the third will likely be the easiest for him to grasp and start with."

Mewtwo and Mew both eyed Enzlo as he stopped, the words had ended there and did not appear to be writing more.

“Ages since you last wrote to me, and this is what you tell me now…The third huh…The Spark of Beginnings…" Enzlo nodded. The Abra looked at his two companions and to Jack and he sighed.

“I'm sorry, but I can't reveal what this means to any of you, only what we need to do. Mewtwo, please, get them to bed. I need to speak with Jack about his past and his role going forward. I will join you out in the foyer momentarily and we'll teleport to the Guild Tower afterwards."

The powerful legendary huffed and narrowed his eyes, but he turned and floated out hovering just a few inches from the ground while the children followed behind him, carried by the legendary's psychic power. Mew hesitated at first as they felt a sensitive emotion from Enzlo, before turning to follow his estranged sibling.

“Jack…" Enzlo started, his gaze looking evenly at the Rotom “It's hard to give you trust...but there is one thing I know I can trust you with; because it was always your one goal in the end, and it is to protect Rook. Come here and let me see your map function."

Jack's eyes went wide a little at the way the words were spoken. Like an acquisition and compliment at the same time. He had no idea who this strange Abra was, but he already knew a key telling difference in Enzlo. Other Abra's were frail pokemon, their bodies unfit for almost any physical activity to even hold an apple or berry to eat and so they used their already vast psychic potential to float such foods and to also float themselves. It wasn't until they evolved that bone structures became developed enough to support more physical movement.

This Abra, however, moved quite readily and scanned through these books with their own hand; and while Jack had not been in the room at the time, he had walked into the room. While their limbs didn't show any real difference in muscle mass, there was nothing weak physically about them.

“Sorry…but if I may…what did I do to you in my living life?" Jack asked before he even attempted to approach closer, remaining where he was as he looked down at the psychic.

Enzlo's answer was to shake his head, “My lack of trust is something I will need to quickly learn to see over…as much as I understand you are not the same you as before." He paused, his tail flicking up and then slowly laying flat as he let out a slow breath, “But to tell you anything of what you'd done in the past…it would change nothing."

“How-"

“You heard all the things it said to you, yes?"

“I…" Jack stopped himself from trying to argue further as he recalled the things Nothing had said to him, the first thing it had said… “It claimed it killed me."

“And what was it you said to it in return?" THe Abra continued, already knowing the answer.

Jack knew that too as he blinked and looked ahead in thought, “I just…In the way that it spoke…" His eyes turned upon Enzlo as he frowned slightly but dipped forward in affirmation. “I believed I was hearing it yell for help…"

“In the way it spoke?" Enzlo frowned.

“The…feel and intent behind its wording…it saw me as a friend…its voice carried a sense of familiarity towards me and the weight of longing. It had known me once, and had now found me again. It almost sounded disappointed in how it knew because I was a ghost, I couldn't remember it."

“That's because of your past life…it now understands how you felt then, and so you feel an innate attachment to it and it to you. Pokemon are all very much beings of emotion and nature." Enzlo continued rapidly, although his voice held a sense of content at Jack's reasoning.

“But…I am not that same person." Jack returned. “The energy of a ghost changes drastically during a reigniting. Our souls morph away so much from the old physical form that we can't recall anything about them, and generally, we're not allowed to go looking into past lives…" It was to help the still living move on as much as the ghosts to move on from them. This is why all ghosts are generally friendly when not haunting. With the mutual understanding between the living and ghosts, they conduct hauntings once a year; along with playful frights down in the southern areas of Lumaria where most of them have made the forests home. That's Halloween.

Ghost types could sense what kind of experiences would chill a pokemon, and with illusionist skills, foggy forests and other such spooky places were where many found themselves' victims of minor hauntings. A quick spook of something to make one scream in fright. Towards certain parts of the year, they were more common as the living began to use these traits to overcome fears–but the thing about fear was that there was always fear. Overcoming one fear just meant another was behind it.

“We are all only ever the sum of our own experiences, and so who we were before death is not the same as we are now, where new experiences reshaped ourselves, like a new mold…at least in many ways." Enzlo nodded. “Imagine this…" He began, “A being living in a community of diverse talent observes all activities and skills being performed by their elders for several years. Down the line, they choose something to specialize in for the benefits of their group. If one is raised around the belief that they may get to do what they desire as a skill and is then denied that right, what does one feel?"

Jack frowned at the sinking feeling he got from the described scene. “In such a situation…I suppose…rebellion…" Jack determined.

“This emotion actually falls into many different points for Nothing…That is Nothing's existence, multiplied endlessly. It is denied existence, and yet exists, denied what its desire is for all eternity, and is now driven mad and wishes to see it end. What it says is true. There are very many other beings that would see all existence eradicated, and they have supposedly joined it as the Wraiths. However, it does lie. Those are not all other existences."

“Enzlo." Jack interjected firmly, “What do you know about what's between me and Nothing? I'm starting to feel that I need to know this information. What kind of wild scenario is it that that rebellion is our connecting emotion?" Jack's thoughts were working into overdrive. What rebellion had he had in his past life that connected to Nothing?

“And what about the ghost rule of not knowing about past lives?" Enzlo raised an eyebrow at the Rotom.

Jack's electronic eyes squinted and looked down for several seconds as he thought. “I am only the sum of my own experiences." He repeated to Enzlo, looking back to him, “And that is all I am–all that I can be…Whatever forces may be, Arceus, The Bright Star, other gods…I can't fathom them. I can't begin to, I can only offer what I think, and I can't offer the right solution…if I do not know this critical information."

Enzlo smirked, a warm memory momentarily coming to the Abra of a time long, long ago. “That's a Jack I remember. Would psychic transfer be okay? It's a lot."

“Yes." Jack answered, and the Abra's eyes glowed again as he lifted his paw towards him. The purple glow of his energy waded through the air and wrapped itself over the Rotom's body to cover his full being as ghost, mingling into the light bluish glow of his “body".

The purple glow seeped into Jack's very essence, curling like smoke around memories long forgotten. A faint hum resonated in his core, each pulse dragging the shadows of his past into the light all the way to his reigniting until it revealed a burning ball within his soul, discolored to near grayish fog and seemingly empty…like Nothing…

Anticipation and a moment of hesitation crept into Jack's being and his own mental hand held onto the Abra's to stop it as he stammered, “H-hang on…" He didn't actually move in the action aside from speaking, a kind of mental dance between the ghost and psychic.

“What makes you you is always there, even if you are made to ignore it. Another form, another body, it does not matter." Enzlo gently said, “I can fill in the blanks of reasoning with my own knowledge and unblock it from your cognition. But only if you allow it. Are you willing to accept that this may reveal to you most unsettling things, or will you allow fear to control you, to define you? Of course, you could argue you're letting logic and calm guide you in the opposite, but ya know…details…"

The indirect challenge Enlzo issued at Jack as he was a ghost made the Rotom frown. Fear was a ghost's tool, but it did not determine their being. Nor should any other emotion. Still, Jack's circuits buzzed with hesitation. He didn't trust the process…didn't trust what he might uncover, but he knew he couldn't move forward without knowing. What was about to be revealed could be anything, but was it not knowing alone that simply made what was possible so frightening…?

His logical mind couldn't follow his own thought to a comfortable decision, perhaps it was this train of thought that originally made searching for details of one's past life such a usually forbidden act by ghosts…and so he was left only with the decision to trust the Abra…Silently, he released his grasp on Enzlo's energy and the Abra formed a “key" out of his energy and began to unravel the ball.

Almost immediately, Jack's eyes went wide as knowledge flooded into his mind. Imagines, thoughts, deep seeded choices of his past life. The flood of memories hit Jack like a tidal wave, vivid images and thoughts he'd never known rushing to the forefront of his mind.

As the weight of his past life unraveled before him, dread clawed at his core. He hadn't even been a pokemon…but a human…that alone would've been enough to send shivers through any pokemon in this world. Humans had betrayed pokemon, but no…the only human who had was…himself…

Jack's energy flickered and stuttered, the blue light of his soul as a ghost pokemon began to mix with the gray of what had once been locked away. His circuits buzzed erratically as the weight of his actions and their consequences settled upon him, the electronic display of his eyes and face flickered. The blue mixed in with the gray in cloudy blots that swirled along the mechanical pokedex the Rotom possessed.

A clan of naturalists, devoted to harmony with Pokémon, had raised him to see the world as a delicate balance—but his fascination with the scientific had always placed him on the edge of their teachings. A gifted companion, born on his 10th birthday and given during a ceremony, immediately treasured, but a decision by his elders made in their perceived concern for his own well-being ignited his rebellion, not accepting that their decision could be made in care because of his past disagreements…a promise made between him and his companion just a few years later, one the Obsidian Stone he carried still represented, a promise for endless adventure…one he almost immediately betrayed; “almost immediately" compared to the spans of time between the then and the now.

Enzlo was pouring it onto him faster than he could actually process it and the more he observed himself; his experiments upon pokemon and the living energy that resided within them…the torture he deemed necessary and the things he made others do because he himself couldn't bring himself to do it…all things that he had told himself was necessary to get his opinion heard…the more he dreaded looking at and remembering the rest…piercing through fragmented mental moments of rebellion driven decisions, of choices made in cold moments of calculated logic towards that end goal, coalesced into a singular, devastating truth. He had forged the very thing he now sought to destroy.

Enzlo's own perspective and observations of the events helped Jack to piece together why those things -needed- to happen, as those things now came to the full circle and returned to their current moment. What he created had done exactly what he had wanted it to, but the price for it had been something he'd never had anticipated.

He intended only ten years of torment…instead he had given an eternity of it…

Jack wanted to recoil from the memories. To shove them back into the void and lock it back up. To tell himself that hadn't…couldn't have been him. He would never have made such decisions…but he couldn't deny the familiarity to this other life, the aching sense that every decision he'd made had led here—to Lumaria, to Nothing, to the Bright Star.

He had died not just once in his past life, but twice. The first time, his own companion had been forced to be the one to kill him, and he hadn't been reignited. His companion was then made to be the one to take on a mission through realms and other realities to search for something that would keep their world from falling apart, and this resulted in an ending in which his companion became The Bright Star, creating their own origin, their own living legend in order to exist without Jack…but this also created Nothing, for only in existence before existence could a legend be born. A split occurred, one in which the Bright Star circled back around upon their own life to create a second result while Nothing continued onward on a crusade against all existence itself.

This second time around the Bright Star saved him, reminded him of their promise to each other, showed him how his actions had strayed, and then they had saved their world from originally falling apart together, and so the journey, the eternal mission his companion had been through was made unnecessary to even start. This was the joining, the moment their realm became connected with millions of others…

Nothing was born of a reality that no longer existed, yet still lingered. An eternity of torment, chasing a reward it could never achieve, bound by the threads of what once was—and what now was Lumaria. Nothing, and even The Bright Star, were both…entirely…paradoxes. The both of them one and the same, forced to create a conflict between themselves that spanned nearly all other realities and existences…

And all to save him, Jack, from that suffocating darkness he had once willingly let consume his desires…the same darkness that Nothing now represented, that itself perceived as doing so in his stead, now that it understood that sense of rebellion he himself had felt in his past life. What it worked to achieve it did so in the belief that it was the only way forward; to finally achieve true existence beyond existence by removing existence itself from the equation.

In his reeling revelations, Jack came to the conclusion that this was why ghost types were discouraged from finding out about their past lives. If he had known the results beforehand…he could barely make sense of it…

When everything was laid bare before him, the truth crushed him and the Rotom lamely floated in place while staring at the floor in front of him while Enzlo's energy slowly retreated from his being. But from the weight of it, a single thought emerged—clear and undeniable. He had created it. He had to fix it. Not out of guilt alone, but because it was the only way to honor the lives, no, the very existences, he had wronged. He was the only one who could.

Nothing was innocent…It was all his fault…the immediate answer to fix what he had created was perhaps the only thing other than Enzlo's own perspective and assurances that it was all okay that kept the ghost from screaming in fear of his own action's consequences and provided him with resolve, and in the end, it was precisely that decision the Abra had trusted Jack's stubborn mind would decide upon, or at least, something close and similar.

But there was only one way he could do it. He had to let what he started play out, but at least now, he could guide it–a resolution could be found even in this chaos, those splits tied back together. If the Bright Star had trusted him enough to save him, he could trust himself to save Rook. To guide this fractured reality back to wholeness, even as Nothing fought to unravel it.

Enzlo could sense the firm decisions forming within Jack, and it filled him with a sense of happiness he had long awaited. This was a moment he had imagined countless times, each one playing out differently in his mind–the myriad reactions Jack could have had, the different paths their conversation could have taken. Now, in this moment, Enzlo held out his hand to the Rotom.

“What you created doesn't define you. What you do now and continue to do for it does. Despite everything you just learned, you're still as logical and determined as ever. That tells me enough." Enzlo stated, his voice firm but friendly. “I imagined a hundred ways this moment could go, Jack. But seeing you face this truth and choose responsibility reminds me why the Bright Star believed in you, explains to me why he pleaded with me to let you live and let him save you…and why I choose to believe in you and it now."

Jack looked at the offered hand and slowly lifted his own, placing it upon the Abra's. Enzlo's fingers gently grabbed over the mechanical limb. Along with the flood of knowledge about himself, Jack now understood how he and Enzlo were connected. They had both been part of the same clan. Enzlo had given him moments, thoughts, and his own perception of their past times. A strange mingling of different perspectives.

He had killed Enzlo's human companion, the one to whom Enzlo had been gifted on their 10th birthday, one of the few who remained friendly and accepting of Jack's attraction to science. Unlike Jack, Enzlo's human companion had been allowed to follow their dream two years after their own ceremony, embarking on a journey of self-discovery through the world while raising Enzlo. He wanted to see how the rest of the world achieved cooperation with Pokémon.

Since their clan disapproved of Pokémon battling, Enzlo's companion could not participate in battles themselves. Yet they found a trainer, joining them in their journey to challenge the pokemon gyms, cheering them on from the sidelines. Together, Enzlo and his companion learned that there were discrepancies between what their clan taught and what the world outside was capable of. But it was in exploring these truths that they learned of what Jack had done since leaving the clan.

They had tried to stop him, destroying his research and freeing Jack's companion from the torment he had been cultivating in order to exploit the life energy within them. In retaliation, Jack had taken two lives, one of them Enzlo's closest, most loved person, and the other the trainer who had journeyed with them. The Pokémon of that trainer Jack had taken and used for more of his experiments.

Enzlo had fled, the dramatic experience and the agony of his loved human's death unlocking something similar to what Jack had caused in his own companion. The intense energy released by that emotional breaking point granted the Abra power far beyond what he could have normally achieved, power enough to affect and alter his own and other's own perceptions of reality around themselves. In doing so, he could turn space upside down while leaving gravity within it the same, and form projected realities through which he could simulate desired experiences. That same power he had brought to bear against Jack in the Bright Star's return to save him; had attempted to lock him into a reality and show him the errors he had made. But then, Jack's hatred had been too strong. The darkness…too strong…only his own companion reminding him of the promise they had made between each other had finally brought him out of it. Enzlo had never been aware of that promise before today.

Enzlo would eventually become the abnormal Abra he was now, watching over this world from his tower, a duty he had accepted upon request by the Bright Star of the past after they had intervened and saved Jack, even though Jack would still die due to the darkness he had already surrendered his body to. It was the soul of the trainer he had killed, whose own determination had brought them back as a Marshadow, who would then reignite him when he died, again only at the request of the Bright Star.

Jack had spent what little remainder of time he had before that darkness claimed his mind and body programming this very pokedex with his knowledge of pokemon, as a vessel for his soul to reinhabit.

And live a new, less controlled life out of that perceived grasp of his clan that had originally convinced him to take that darkened path.

The knowledge of it now sickened the Rotom…Enzlo had been just as similarly doomed to toil in eternity like Nothing due to his actions…while he had happily pursued a purpose of teaching in this life as a ghost, Enzlo had to keep a record of history for a world he was never originally a part of and in which everything he had cared for already taken from him.

Yet here Enzlo stood, offering his hand to help him.

The knowledge Jack held now was irrevocably changing him. He saw the world, his actions, and his existence from both angles. This reality was horribly beautiful. A tapestry of chaos and order, woven with the threads of choices, mistakes, and paradoxes. And somehow, despite all of its fractures and scars, it was worth saving.

Enzlo's acceptance of him, despite what he had done, only reinforced this truth. But yet he hesitated. Jack could barely look at Enzlo now, knowing the pain he had inflicted. The face of his friend's human companion flashed before him, the young sandy blonde boy who had shown delight to his scientific explorations in their shared youth…before Jack had destroyed the trust that held them together. How could he ever expect forgiveness after that?

“You hurt me, Jack. You destroyed what I held most dear," Enzlo continued, his voice steady but kind. “But I've had lifetimes to understand that vengeance only creates more Nothing. You too, had your reasons, your own viewpoint…If even you can change, then so can I. That is why I choose to believe in you. This world is now just as much home to me as our first one was…for this is as much Tod's legacy as it is your own."

Jack's energy flickered as Enzlo spoke the name of his human companion, uncertainty running through his circuits. Did he deserve this? Could a being like him–one who had knowingly shattered another's life–ever truly be redeemed? Yet, as Enzlo's hand remained extended, steady and patient, Jack found a hope he hadn't known he needed. Slowly, hesitantly, he accepted, and tightened his grip on Enzlo's hand.

Feeling Jack's acceptance, Enzlo nodded sagely and smiled. “Welcome back, Jack of the Corsova. Your story, my story, and the legacy of our clan, is far from over."

_________________

Rook snapped awake suddenly with a gasp, his eyes shooting open and scrambling up to sit in the blankets that covered him, leaving his head out. His heart pounded in his chest, but try as he did, as hard as he might, he could not recall the dream he had just been having…only that it had been so peaceful, and the rudeness of his waking from such deep sleep had him reeling to try and salvage it.

Why then, the Rockruff thought as he held onto it tightly, did he feel so…It wasn't…desperation…he'd felt that before. It was close to it though. It just kind of…itched…

There was something he desperately needed, but he couldn't even fathom it as anything more than an itch of needing that something. It gnawed at him, an ache just out of reach, his paws gripping into the sheets under himself as they held him up. His mind reeled to try and name this void he clung to, thinking that in doing so he could prevent himself from further forgetting it.

How could you desire something you weren't aware of…this dream he couldn't even remember yet wanted to hold onto…

“Be glad you can't remember it."

Elizabeth's voice, slightly bitter and quiet, cut through the silence of Rook's strained self effort and he jumped, shelving the thought of that itch while looking over to her. The Braixen was sitting up in her own bed, the blanket draped across her waist and her paws held in front of herself. She looked, at first, calm.

“Remembering what's taken away from you…that's what starts resentment…" She said further, her gaze staring straight ahead upon the wall in front of them. She was fighting her own battle in her head, Rook could tell that from her bittered tone and steady gaze. He'd seen that from her before, when he or anyone else in town had wronged her or her sister. Usually that was by accident and it was this mental battle that she had to go through to tell herself she couldn't fault and blame someone for something they were unaware they were doing. There was an even deeper resentment the Braixen held now though, in the situation they were in, and it was something Rook knew he couldn't possibly know or hope to help her with.

That's right…Rook remembered. Nothing and the Wraiths…they'd been put to sleep by that Abra, Enzlo...His thought about the itch shelved itself as he realized there were more important things to think about right then. He turned around, shrugging the blankets off himself to then sit upon the bed while taking in the room he had woken in.

It was a faintly lit, decently large bedroom, but fitted for over eight guests. Five other beds remained empty along the walls of the room, four on each side. They were up against the left wall with the far bed remaining empty with Blake in the bed on the opposite side of Elizabeth. The light of only a few candles and the light of the night sky through a far window was all that kept the room lit leaving it in a cozy darkness. There was a nightstand at each bed, upon the shelves of some were a few small books. The gentle shadows of the beds and stands flickered from the candles.

Rook suddenly blinked and shook his head as he realized, “Hey wait…how did you-"

“Budding psychic type ability is a sign of maturity in Braixen. Perhaps our experience with Nothing provided more growth to our overall levels in of itself…" Elizabeth explained steadily.

The sudden snorting snore of Blake broke into the mood Elizabeth's steady speaking toned, but the fire type didn't even shift her gaze, and her hands remained frozen, each holding the other in a closed grip. Rook felt the weight of the moment once more drop upon his shoulders. He realized why the silence was probably not something to break for many sakes. Elizabeth still was working through her own thoughts, and he had barely even started with his…

His gaze turned back towards the window and the starry sky he could see beyond the glass. He pondered a moment on where they even were.

Hopping down from his bed, the Rockruff trotted over to the window to look outside. He blinked in surprise. The ground was…sunken? It was only in looking along the horizon further did he realize.

This tower sat upon a single mountain surrounded by flat plains dotted with small and medium sized forests. He couldn't see any signs of other cities, civilization, or other pokemon from here. This place appeared completely isolated, but yet placed in a location that would make it stick out right away to anyone who could see it. He couldn't see the outside, of course, but the wall in front of him was made of large stone bricks stacked together in a tight pattern.

As well as that, the height they appeared to be at wasn't that high into the sky despite the mountain, so it was a far smaller one than those he was familiar with seeing on a regular basis at the base of Mt Frostnip. From the sky, Rook could tell he was facing a north-eastern direction. That he saw only the flat fields in front of the window, he believed this meant they were somewhere farther east, away from the mountains of The Spines and The Crags.

If he remembered the map from the Professor's classroom correctly, that meant they were likely somewhere near The Reach of Toren, a stretch of the sea that hugged against the east coast between The Bright Star Guild and The Emerald Wind Guild.

But he could've sworn there was a dry plain just north of The Bright Star Guild. This place had forests around it, so it was farther north and therefore closer to The Emerald Wind Guild.

Or maybe they were farther south, near Aurat instead? There were trees and forests dotting the lands there too, but few mountains…

The Rockruff mentally shook himself, frowning and then actually shaking his own head slowly as he realized. What was he doing…? Pondering on where he was…what about everything that had happened?

Luna…Finn…

In a normal situation…they'd have been celebrating their graduation together right about now…

Another of Blake's stuttering snores broke the silence and sliced through Rook's thoughts. A sense of desperation flooded through Rook's thoughts. It compounded onto his sorrow. He had no idea what to do. He remembered that Enzlo had told them to think about what they wanted to do going forward…

He wanted to go home…before anything he had to know, and believed both Elizabeth and Blake also needed to know. Were their family members safe and still alive…?

But just as Enzlo had also advised, Rook continued to ask himself, and then what? On either result, alive or dead?

If his mom was dead…

He…didn't know…he didn't want to think of it and so trying to think of an action based on the result felt like an impossibility. Thinking of it for some reason just seemed to invite the possibility to become an actuality…

So instead, he tried to focus on what Enzlo had told them about Nothing. After their sleep however, a lot of the details and explanations Enzlo had provided them seemed detached and unfollowable too.

Nothing was a paradox? It existed and didn't at the same time?

Much like this itch of a dream he couldn't remember…

Rook frowned again, his attention brought back to the thing he had just shelved mentally, inwardly eyeing it in a tense moment of realization.

“Elizabeth…" Rook started gently from where he sat by the window. “What you had said…about realizing what was taken from you leading to resentment?"

“It's not just something I said for you because of your dream." The vixen answered readily. “It's the rationalization I came to regarding Nothing…a being that realizes its own existence is denied but yet exists anyway…" She paused, and she then leaned forward, her hands coming up under her chin as she remained looking straight ahead.

“What a horrible thing to be aware of being taken away from you, if true anyway…" She concluded softly. “But…the things that Abra said to us…" Her face scrunched up and her lips curled, teeth showing in a snarl that steadily grew worse and worse.

Suddenly the Braixen raised up and then slammed her fists onto her bed at her sides and screamed. Her shrill shout made Rook jump and also snapped Blake from his sleep, the Poochyena scrambling up much like Rook had and his eyes wide in fright as he looked around rapidly. Elizabeth didn't stop, shouting at the wall ahead of her until her breath gave out, and she slumped forward, panting, but only enough to take a few gulps of air before she continued.

“It's not to blame?! Reality is?! What kind of nonsense is that!?" She screamed further, her bottled up thoughts exploding now that she had Rook's and Blake's attention. Rook could tell she'd been aching to voice this, and right now they were both the only two who could possibly understand her feelings in their situation…

““Reality is Suffering." That was written once before–If someone steals your lunch and it's because they couldn't afford their own, that's a far different set of situational circumstances to decide on how you treat the thief! In this, something steals your life because it believes it never got one and so neither should you! Yet for both situations, it's just…reality's fault?! That means it doesn't matter what you did prior, it doesn't matter what you do after, it's going to happen anyway!" She pounded the bed with her fists rapidly again in frustration.

Blake, calming from his sudden waking and witnessing his friend's outburst just after it, sat down calmly while Rook approached Elizabeth's bed.

The Braixen's face remained bunched up in a frustrated snarl while tears began to once more fall from her eyes in a steady stream. “It is all the result of choices made long long ago, like gears and cogs of a steam engine! Reactionary! A choice made by one leads another to make a certain choice in reaction to affirmation of the first or the opposite or a parallel and it's therefore never their own choice! The more I thought of what Nothing had been saying, and the more I reviewed it alongside what that Abra told us…the more I realized…it was…right!" She squeezed out the last word through clenched teeth. She let out a few choking sobs while Blake and Rook both narrowed their eyes at her in concern.

“What kind of crazy shit makes you think that thing is right?" Blake scoffed. The Poochyena's filter was lost as he called out his teammate. “You think just because some uppity psychic says it's not at fault really means we can't blame it? Doesn't matter what its fucking gone through, it still killed our friends. You just gonna let it get away with that?"

“Don't just dismiss her feelings Blake." Rook tried to point out, yet he did also agree with him. He couldn't just overlook what Nothing had done, but he did also see how it was that Elizabeth struggled, adding, “Not letting it get away is one thing but…what could we even do to it?"

Blake huffed while looking away and closing his eyes, “I don't know I just…when I think about what it did I…" He broke off into silence while his paws flexed and gripped the bed he was on still.

“It didn't do anything that any other Branded pokemon out there might've done…" Elizabeth leaked out, trying to regain control over her eyes by rubbing at them with her arm.

A Branded pokemon was an outlaw, one far worse than and shunned even by Bandits. A Branded pokemon was one who had killed another pokemon in or after battle, using either outlawed moves or executing them after their opponent passed out. The Eeveelutions and Guilds kept lists of convicted pokemon. If a pokemon was convicted in trial, most proven by psychic memory probes and/or eyewitness statements, they were branded by hot iron with a symbol of a gravestone in a very visible part of their body and then cast out from pokemon society, forced to fend for themselves with all resources and services provided by those same institutions removed.

“A Branded would at least have held some form of sick enjoyment out of it. Maybe even taunt and try to make some sick joke." Blake snarled. “That thing just went right for the kill without even stopping to look at who and what it was it was killing…like Mew said, it just takes the form of a pokemon, it isn't really one."

Rook frowned deeply as he listened, this time not even trying to tell Blake not to dismiss Elizabeth's statement. The Poochyena had his own way of coping…his denial and redirection was his crutch. It always had been. When he failed at tests or other physical challenges, it was always because of some distraction or something being in his way. But Rook also knew Blake's true state of being. Blake's confidence wasn't unjustified, the Poochyena was and always had been a capable pokemon.

Knowing that however, wasn't something that really helped this situation; as Elizabeth growled at Blake, “You stupid mutt. You've never even actually read a book have you?"

Blake growled, “What was that?"

“You heard me." Elizabeth snapped back to him, glaring at him with her eyes red the crying she'd just gone through. “If you'd stuck your nose into at least a few of them you'd be able to understand what I'm saying."

Blake stood up while snarling, his tail bristling and poofing up in his anger, but before he could actually say or do anything more to retaliate Rook jumped up onto Elizabeth's bed and barked.

“Stop! Both of you! Freaking listen to yourselves!" He looked between the two of them as they both looked to him in surprise. There was a short moment as Blake's tail calmed and his eyes blinked and look of realization came across him, along with Elizabeth who looked down in shame for what she had been saying.

Rook looked at Blake as he tried to continue with, “You're right-I can't just let that thing get away with what it's done!" He turned back to Elizabeth while shouting on as she looked meekly to him, “And you're right too-when I think back on the things it said and what Enzlo told us too I just…"

He slouched, sitting on the bed while looking down and whimpering. “I can't help but think if it's really something that's just…inevitable…but when I think of it like that I just feel…so empty."

He looked off to the side. “What's the point of existence if there's nothing to gain from it? What purpose can you have if that purpose is already decided before you even know it? If everything can be summed up to a single point?" He shrugged while shaking his head, “We've gone our whole lives never being told things like that and now, when I think like that I just…I feel like I hate it…yet I can't argue it…" He grit his own teeth.

“In that sense…I can understand Nothing's view…" He admitted softly, before he fixed his gaze back between them both, “But if that's -it's- point of view, I have no choice but to follow mine in return, which is to deny it and put a stop to it! It doesn't matter if it's right in the end, it's not the one who gets to bring that end to me and to anyone else! If that end is the end, then it can reach me on its own, at -my- end. It doesn't need Nothing to do it, it doesn't need Nothing to bring it to me faster! And even then…" He stopped, realizing where his own thoughts had gone.

“If that is the end…then…I'm terrified if it's right so I try to think about it and…" He recalled what he had thought shortly after waking up as he clung to that fading dream. “What if it's simply something unaware of itself too, just as you are unaware of it…? Isn't that exactly how Nothing exists? I don't know, it's frustrating and so confusing too." After this, the Rockruff looked down once more, his voice fading back into his own thoughts. Death was something that wasn't unknown, but Rook realized that ghost types kind of just made it a “new experience." This…however…was trying to accept that there truly was nothing afterwards. If you could never be aware of its actuality…did it exist? Nothing claimed to be its harbinger.

Was that where Luna and Finn now resided…? Were they both, even now, transformed into Wraiths…? Sudden new worries exploded into the Rockruff's mind, new contemplations that simply kept leading to another…he didn't like them. He didn't like the way they made him feel, didn't like the way it all threatened to overwhelm him in their “Inevitably."

Blake had looked down in his own contemplation. He realized the way he spoke had been highly confrontational. “I'm sorry, Liz…" He muttered, keeping his eyes fixed on his own paws on the bed, only just barely registering that the Braixen looked up to him. “I'm angry, and I'm focused on going after Nothing. It's all I can focus on because my only alternative is wondering about my family…and I know you're just as worried for yours as I am for mine…"

“I…" Elizabeth started, her voice catching as he rethought the words that wanted to come to her mouth, and then she sighed. “I know…don't be sorry…I'm the one that attacked you. I'm just…I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do. Honestly…thinking about my family feels like a far simpler set of “this and that" than everything else that I'm worrying about. Of course though, one of those results is still a thought I don't want to dwell on."

Rook stamped his feet on the bed. “I want us to go back home…" The other two looked at him and he continued to explain. “We all need to know…we have to…"

Blake nodded. “Right…before we do anything else, like you said…I can't go forward in any direction without knowing if…" He sighed deeply while looking at the wall as if to try and look far away on his own. “If my family is okay or not first, I really don't think I can. Until then, the only thing I can really focus on is just…anger and rage at it all."

“And afterwards? On either result?" Elizabeth prodded lightly.

“If they're alive, I let them know what happened, and then I go to join the Bright Star Guild." Blake dipped his head. “If they're dead…I wanna do the same thing. I'll talk to their graves if I have to…" In the short moment of silence that followed, both Rook and Elizabeth watched the Poochyena's eyes waver and some mist shrouded over the bright amber color of them before he squeezed them shut and let out a snort. “What I -actually- do depending on what I find out…well…" He sniffled once and grit his muzzle up in a determined scowl. “Either way I'm probably gonna fucking cry…but I'm not gonna let the 'maybes' in my head cause it…"

“Right now…after that sleep, and remembering it all…" He stumbled out in a tone of weakness the two of them had never heard before, “I…everything just hurts…it hurts to think, so I wanna focus on my now…what do we do?" He looked up at them both.

“You're right to point it out…I'm blunt. I know it. It's how it feels my siblings have come to expect of me, how my folks have…I'm expected to be the wiser one…but as it turns out my wisdom only shines through being stubborn. I'm terrible at relying on others, but when it comes to you guys, I've never felt the need to fix that part of me because everyone was usually there to keep me in check…"

Blake stamped a paw on the bed in front of him, “I don't want us to fall apart. Luna and Finn might be…gone…but we all know exactly the kinds of things they'd say to us. Don't we? They're not gone." At this point Blake was just letting his own emotions spill out while bottling the physical reaction he obviously wanted, but he wasn't letting the dread Nothing tried to create be his focus either.

Rook felt agreement in much of what Blake stated. He couldn't see himself taking on any of this well without one or both of them with him…he looked to Elizabeth and nodded his head to her. “I'm worried about my mom too Liz…I've not had siblings so I can only imagine what it's like to feel what you both might be…but I think it's something close to how I feel about Luna and Finn too. We all grew up together. We might as well be family too."

Elizabeth actually gave a smile, before she even chuckled. At first Rook, and Blake too, were confused, but slowly the Briaxen's face beamed. “I'd laugh so hard if I wasn't still sad as a lump too. You two…stupid mutts…" She said it in a playful tone at that point. “Paradoxes…you're both so right and just so wrong at the same time. Fuck it."

Elizabeth slapped her paw forward on the bed between Rook and Blake, “Let's decide here and now, between ourselves. We fight?"

“We fight." Blake nodded immediately, slapping his own paw forward. His confusion and show of sadness became mostly dispelled from him as he wagged his tail and smiled at her.

“We fight." Rook agreed, stamping forward with his own as well.

“Where do we wanna go?" Elizabeth continued.

“We go home…we find out our situations together, and then no matter what…we move on to the Bright Star Guild." Blake offered with determination.

“I agree to that." Elizabeth nodded, looking to Rook. The Rockruff didn't need to think much on it. He also nodded.

“Yes. I agree with that." Rook rumbled. “Does this mean we're an official team now? What do we call ourselves?"

When Blake and Elizabeth blinked at the question, Rook smiled. “I have a suggestion that I thought of…but it's kind of cheesy…"

“I bet." Blake snarked a little. “Team Sparks was your last one and none of us were electric types. Made no sense."

Rook giggled. “Yeah but…this one I want to be a message to Nothing." Rook tried to make it an affirmation. “We might need to change but for now…I want to go by Team Defiance. I want it to be a message…that I'll defy it's desire not because I also want revenge for our friends, but because…I'm also scared it might be right, but that alone…it makes me want to say “no way!", I'm not letting that be the end."

Blake nodded and he smiled, “Hey. I'm with ya on that. Name makes us sound a little…anti authority though."

Elizabeth snickered. “A rebellion against Nothing?"

Rook shrugged, “something like that."

Outside the window clouds had begun to gather as the weather began to shift, a gentle thunderstorm had begun to brew over the wide plains. As the seconds went to minutes, the three of them tried to focus on other important things, which was distracting each other from what they had just chosen to do together.

From the outside, it looked like they were somewhat back to normal, but for the three of them, it was a shared understanding that at that moment in time, all three of them were hiding behind that shield of brevity together.

The world was ending? Oh good, so it no longer matters what we do, yes?

That was a teenager's dream.

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