Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 107 - Dark Addiction

"You will be. Now return."

Aster's whimper as the call ended gave Alexander no pleasure.

Still shaking, the Void King looked at his papers, his reports, and then the rest of his empty office. Owen was here. Alive. He could have had him. But Aster ruined it. And Leph... Leph was responsible, too.

Where was she?

He needed to make up for this travesty.

Alexander flew down the halls with his spectral wings outstretched, making leisurely curves around the corners. He considered knocking over a few tables to give the cleaning staff something to get busy with. He decided against it. While he was in an irritable mood, he could at least direct it at the proper offenders.

He made it up one of the upper floors of the castle, passing by a window. It overlooked Cipher City, a twinkling network of buildings tens of stories high amid a cleared-out portion of the Void Forest, like an island of stars dropped in an ocean of darkness. The watchtowers were active and several Titans under his control loomed in the horizon.

Just ahead was Leph's door at the end an ornate and shimmering passageway of silver and gold. Her name was embedded into the center, and Alexander wondered if he could blast it open for an entrance. He had half a mind to. But he'd see if she'd open it first. He could sense her inside.

"Leph!" Alexander barked, pounding the side of his left, smaller head against the wall. It, too, was snarling to suit his mood. "Open the door, now!"

"It's unlocked!" she called back, indignance in her voice.

"I said open it!"

She was mumbling something but he couldn't hear it. That throbbing anger knocked against his temples. The door clicked and slid open.

Leph's room was filled with little, round, multicolored baubles like stars that infested the air like dust in an old library. All the bright colors annoyed him, reminded him of the Fae, and wondered if that was done on purpose.

The younger Arceus herself, meanwhile, sat at the far end of the squarish room, curled up in a round, soft bed on the floor. She had a thick blanket over everything but her head, with the wheel around her abdomen shrunken down for comfort. In front of her, a book.

So, she didn't even get out of bed to open the door?

"Why did you give Aster your power?" Alexander demanded.

"He asked." A soft glow overtook a bookmark, which slipped into the pages before they closed. "He said he needed it for the mission."

"I didn't approve of this," Alexander said. "And what you gave him ruined the mission entirely!"

"What do you mean? How did I ruin this?"

"You know Aster doesn't work well with any toys he wants," Alexander hissed back, drifting forward threateningly. He made sure the darkness in his body coursed visibly through his already blackened wings, giving off a menacing, dark haze.

Leph tensed, avoiding looking at them. "He wouldn't leave me alone, and I figured it was important enough. That's all."

Not good enough. Alexander leaned forward again and said, "You simply didn't care. You know well enough by now, and do you know what he messed up this time?"

"Wasn't it just a potential power source again?" Gaining her interest, she glanced at Alexander.

"Not just any power source," Alexander said. "Necrozma's prized disciple."