Visible dust particles floated in the air when light pouring through stained glass hit the air. A Vigoroth wrote on a green chalkboard in front of a classroom. In the back, Ralts Bao daydreamed and spaced out. Her other classmates in front of her sat on similar, brown cushions that felt gritty enough to keep them uncomfortable and attentive.
"Now then," Vigoroth said, turning forward. "Can anyone tell me the story of Nǚxìng? It's not on the test, but I'm curious if anyone remembers from last week."
No one raised their limbs to signify they knew. Bao checked over the room a few times before conceding and raising her arm.
"Ah, Bao," Vigoroth said. "Stand."
Bao stood up and answered, "There was once a woman whose husband killed their daughter. They say she created this monastery in order to help others like herself, and the husband was the reason no men are allowed in Nǚxìng."
Vigoroth sighed. "That's the short version of it. But well done, nonetheless."
Bao sat down. She knew the whole story, but she didn't like it having to be the one to recite it.
"Now class," Vigoroth said, "I understand there's 'no reason' to learn this since it won't be on the test, but you can't let the top student shoulder the burden all the time. We want great things from all of you here. And to do that, we need you to-"
________________________________________________________________________________
"Do as you're told," Kirlia Bao recited under her breath.
"Hm?"
Wind pushed and pulled at green leaves overhead. Bao's eyes clicked back up onto the black pavement under her feet and a clear blue sky. Shaymin Mei looked up at her eyes with a studious face.
"Oh, nothing," Bao said. "I just used to... Be in the monastery myself. I haven't gone in a while."
"Not pleasant?" Mei asked.
Bao didn't appreciate Mei being so observant all of the time. It felt like a snake's glare, sizing up its prey.
"With all due respect," she said, "it doesn't concern you."
"Might as well have just said yes."
Bao turned her attention back and away from Mei's eyes. As usual, Flareon Light and Sky Shaymin Ariel walked so close together that a knife couldn't cut them apart. His puffy, gray tail seemed even bigger than it had been yesterday. Ariel might have been walking slow to keep it from tripping her up.
Her mother always underestimated how much Bao actually talked to boys. She had plenty of friends that were boys online. She froze up at first meeting one in person, but then she noticed a few trends that made it all easier. Light acted more lady-like than any of them. Even walking, his paws rolled off the ground as if he'd practiced. Any fear she might have had from him vanished not long after she first saw him.
Mei, on the other hand, continually showed that she had no boundaries. Since Light and Ariel were too busy admiring each other, Bao had to deal with it.
"What kind of pressure is it?" Mei asked. "I mean, there's so many years of tradition, it must feel like a large weight to carry."
"I think you can imagine what that feels like on your own," Bao said.
"Nǚxìng Monastery is actually older than Lao Shen."
"Sounds like you know enough already. Why are you asking me about it?"
"Lots of success stories come from here," Shaymin Mei answered, smiling. "I want to incorporate things that work, but clearly, something is very wrong with the place."
"Just please leave me be and investigate for yourself," Bao sighed. "I don't even know how deep the rot goes. All I remember is invisible chains."
"Suit yourself."
Bao could recognize that they were moments away from seeing the building. She took in a deep breath of fresh air.
Nǚxìng Monastery could be mistaken for a castle. The building was built with dark stones and clay hundreds of years ago, and it'd be the same way hundreds of years later. Renovations were never done on the outside, but they happened on the inside every few years. Bao had no guarantee that the same dirty red carpets and dying lightbulbs would be there.
As they came closer under the shadow of the triangular roof, Bao noticed the cracking, old doors had been replaced with new ones. She pulled on a cold, metal handle and caught a glimpse of the dark interior. Shaymin Mei slowed down and let Sky Shaymin Ariel and the white Flareon Light walk in first. Bao followed in after Mei.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. For a moment, Light's fur shined as the brightest object in the room. Sunlight didn't succeed in getting through the dark, stained glass windows. The rusty, iron chandeliers Bao used to avoid sitting under had been taken down, along with any meager light they could've provided.
At first glance, it seemed unchanged. White numbers and equations were etched into the green chalkboard at the front of the room. The desks sat at a strict distance apart from each other with small grooves to put up cheater-preventing barriers during tests.
"Shouldn't the Shrine Watchers have greeted us?" Mei asked.
Bao glanced up. Mei was right. It was too quiet and not even a holiday.
"I'll greet you instead."
Bao watched a green object fall to the floor from above. It landed beneath the chalkboard with a thud. A Snivy uncurled her back and stood up. Layers of excitement twinkled under her crimson, red eyes. She stood across from them at the end of a walkway made out of desks spaced further apart from each other.
"It's one of those pirates," Flareon Light said quietly. He took a step back underneath Sky Shaymin Ariel's shadow.
"I'll take care of it," she replied.
"Tah tah tah," Snivy wagged a finger and smiled. "All of the teachers and students are upstairs. And they've had such hard lives already," she mocked. "You could just ignore that... but you're such do-gooders."
Shaymin Mei groaned. "What do you want?"
"Shu?"
Snivy reacted to Bao's call. Her eyes lit up.
________________________________________________________________________________
Ralts Bao stared down at her yellow paper. She couldn't answer the last question of the test.
She needed to take a derivative, but she couldn't figure out how to use the derivative formula on her next equation. Time ran short, and she didn't recover from blanking out. She looked up to see the Vigoroth at the front desk had fallen asleep.
Something snapped. She placed her hands on her forehead and sniffled back tears. The air she inhaled caught on her vocal chords and came out as a small squeak.
"Four ex squared."
Bao blinked tears away and looked to her left. Through the foggy, plastic barrier, a Snivy stared at her. As Bao made eye contact, she looked back down at her own paper.
She had never cheated before, but now she knew the answer. There was no undoing the fact that she saw where the mistake was in her arithmetic and knew the answer. If she wrote down what she knew now, she was cheating. Maybe the teacher would let her retake the test if she told her that this Snivy had told her the answer.
No. She couldn't do that. This Snivy saw that she was crying and helped her. The teachers wouldn't understand. They'd just punish her. Bao hadn't earned writing down her answer and handing it down the line along with everyone else's, but she did.
After, the barriers came down. It was lunchtime. Bao ate a sandwich with nothing more than chicken and cheese that she threw together herself. The Snivy beside her, however, didn't have anything. Bao looked at her daydreaming, red eyes.
"Hey," Bao said weakly. "Why don't you have a lunch?"
"Teachers punishing me for reading the book during class instead of paying attention," Snivy said. "What a complex, am I right?"
Bao usually felt fine with teachers, but it seemed unfair. She floated half of her sandwich to her desk. Snivy took it in a vine and pulled it the rest of the way to her hands.
"What's your name?" Snivy asked.
"Bao," Ralts answered.
"Partners in crime?"
"Sure."
________________________________________________________________________________
Through the following weeks, Ralts Bao got to know Snivy Shu. They sat next to each other in class everyday. The teacher warned Bao against making friends with "troublemakers", but Bao didn't see any of that.
What Bao saw was that Shu loved talking about the open sea and freedom, particularly freedom from the gloomy building they met in. During class, they would whisper about different places. Bao practiced her telepathy with Shu until they were able to communicate in class all the time. During lunch again one day, Shu decided to ask a common question.
"So, what got you in here?"
Ralts Bao pretended not to hear her in case she wanted to retract the question.
"Bao?" Shu asked.
"Oh, yeah?" Bao said, looking up from her table.
"What got you in here?"
Bao had never answered the question before. She didn't feel comfortable saying.
"It's okay," Shu replied to her silence. "You don't have to tell me. Truth is, my parents were rich."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah, really. They decided to get a divorce one day. Things got messy. No clue where they are now, but... Back when they were pretending to be happy, they took me to the beach a lot. My dad drove the boat. My mom handled catching some fish. There's just so much air out there. Not like a precious resource like it is in here."
"Are you going to leave?" Bao asked. "Leave Nǚxìng?"
"You better leave, too. This place is a tombstone."
"I don't know what I want to do if I leave."
"Just be an arena fighter or bounty hunter," she suggested. "Something like that. You're good at fighting, and you like it, right?"
"My mom always tells me it's too dangerous. That I should stay here."
"Well, something to think about when you finally hit your rebellious phase. With how you are now," Shu smiled to herself, "it'll hit you pretty hard."
________________________________________________________________________________
"Bao..."
Snivy Shu stopped in her tracks. Kirlia Bao took nervous steps forward, wondering if it was alright to come closer. Shu took a step closer every time she did.
Bao broke out into a run along with her. They met halfway in the middle of the room. Bao hugged around her the top of her arms and smiled as she twirled holding her. Shu grunted and staggered on her feet when Bao set her down.
"I thought you left," Shu said, breathless.
"Not yet," Bao sighed. She looked down at Shu's familiar gaze. "What are you doing here?"
"It's tough to explain... But, will you lend me a hand?"
"Yes, of course..."
"Alright. Play along."
Shu reached up to Bao's face with a vine. Bao turned as it wrapped around her neck and yanked back on her.
"Listen here!" Shu called. "Get out of the building, or she gets it! All of you, go!"
Bao grit her teeth and grunted. As she held and pulled on the vine around her neck, Flareon Light stared back. A flicker of confusion in his eyes told her that he didn't buy into her acting. Shaymin Mei seemed apprehensive, but she didn't look nearly as sure as Light seemed. Sky Shaymin Ariel glanced at Light for answers.
"Okay," Light said quietly. "Let's go."
Light walked for the door first. Ariel followed next to him, and Mei a few steps behind. They walked outside through the doors and continued to retreat out of sight. The room seemed to grow a few shades darker when Light left.
A few seconds after, Shu released her vines. Bao gasped for breath and rubbed her neck.
"Did you have to be that rough?" Bao asked.
"Sorry," Shu said. "I don't think the White Star really bought it, though. Not sure how much time we have."
"Did you really kidnap the teachers? And the students?"
"They're all asleep from Slumber Orbs. Two of my crewmates are watching them."
"Why?" Bao asked. "What exactly are you doing?"
"There's something hidden here that belongs to us. Come to the rooms with me."
The rooms were located in an offshoot of the building. A door in the corner next to the green chalkboard led to a familiar hallway. Just as there were before, a dirty red carpet and cold stone walls. Each room was for up to ten people, all crammed together due to lack of space. Other rooms were for nurses, teachers, and other residents. They changed a lot more often.
Boa stopped in front of an open doorway for a moment. Pokemon covered the red carpet on the floor. Their snoozing echoed and bounced off of the walls, disappearing after they passed.
"We've looked all over the building before," Bao said to Shu as she walked ahead of her. "What could there possibly be? And why?"
"After going to the outside world, I think the history books in here were lying to us. But no need to worry. We'll have a guide to show us where it is."
In the corner of the hallway, an older Vigoroth laid back against the wall with her head drooping. Snivy Shu whipped the wall above her head with a vine. She snapped out of her sleep and shot to her legs.
"Who's there!?" Vigoroth demanded. "Shu!? Did you..."
"Tell us," Shu said quietly. "I know about that weapon now."
Vigoroth rubbed her head. She stared at Shu so hard, she only just noticed Bao.
"Teacher," Bao dipped her head in her direction.
"Bao," she said. "What are you doing... You're a top student!"
"I guess now you see how much that matters... What is this Shu is talking about?"
"I-I'm not going to answer that... It's not meant to be out in the world. It's beyond you two. Not even just you. It's beyond me."
"It's a weapon," Shu said. "The embodiment of our true history here in Nǚxìng. But I want to hear it from your own mouth."
Vigoroth looked between Bao and Shu. Her eyes flickered with dwindling hope.
"It was a weapon created along with this monastery, to protect-"
"Heard enough," Shu said, facing Bao. "No weapon like that is made to 'protect'. What a load of bullshit."
"Shu..."
"Take us to it."
Vigoroth paused for a moment, then turned. Kirlia Bao followed behind Snivy Shu as she loomed over Vigoroth's back like a shadow.
"Is it in the basement?" Shu asked.
Bao remembered the basement. Students were never allowed to go there, but Shu and Bao snuck out on one of the nights before they left the monastery. Neither of them were caught or in trouble, but it hadn't been that interesting at first glance.
"Yes..." Vigoroth answered quietly.
Bao continued to follow down an old, cold staircase. She moved her feet more to minimize the time they were on the dusty stone. At the bottom, a rotting, wood door led into the basement. Vigoroth moved it slowly as if it would fall off if she pulled too hard. Bao grimaced as she walked past it.
The basement was an empty room with nothing in it. A dingy, flickering lightbulb hanging on the ceiling coughed up light for them to see. Vigoroth kept walking to the other side of the room. Shu and Bao stood back and watched her fumble with the wall. Her black claws scratched at the walls until she found a tan, lumpy one. She gripped it and turned, then pushed.
The entire wall creaked, but Vigoroth didn't have enough strength to open it. Bao gently grabbed her arm and walked her away from it while Shu stepped up. With both arms, Shu shoved it open.
The walls slid back like two doors. A cascade of dust particles danced in the air under dim, blue light. Bao looked up and noticed stain glass with a moon pattern on it.
"This looks more like it," Shu said. "Bao, check it out."
Shu walked inside the small room and stepped aside. Unlike everywhere else in the castle, the floor was made out of a gray, smooth stone that didn't grate Bao's nerves to stand on.
A gleaming, silver sword stuck out of the ground. It seemed normal, but the edges of it looked frayed. Dim, blue light traveled down the handle and length of the blade, then turned into a sliver where it stuck in the floor.
"They made it sound all cute in our books about how this monastery came to be," Shu said. "But this is Nǚxìng's legacy."
"What do you mean?" Bao asked.
"Our 'kind' founder didn't just get over her child's death at the hands of her husband like they make it sound. She became a powerful warlord and devoted a portion of her life to this sword. See those edges there?"
Shu walked closer to the blade. Bao walked to it on the other side while Vigoroth stared from the room's entrance.
"What about them?" Bao asked.
"Thousand upon thousands of tiny, indestructible edges, designed to tear flesh apart and make unhealable wounds. It's like hundreds of small chainsaws. Before they knew what it was, Lao Shen called it 'the Bloody Sacred Treasure'. They say that in each edge, the broken spirits of women who were wronged in this world rage on."
Bao's eyes fell. Vigoroth didn't hide or contest that Shu told the truth.
"Her helping those women was a lie, too," Shu said. "Before Lao Shen came, this monastery was an execution site for men deemed to be violent. And it must've been easy with this being here."
"How do you mean?" Bao asked. "Why would this be better than another blade at killing?"
"The founder studied the energy pattern differences between men and women. In the blade, the energy is formed to target men's bodies. It'll shred anyone, but any man hit with it is torn apart. That's why its name is the Swine Butcher."
Shu looked back at the Vigoroth. Tears streamed down the side of Vigoroth's face.
"Just because you changed what the books say doesn't mean this isn't real anymore," Shu said.
"This isn't our legacy," Vigoroth said. "I don't want this to be what the world knows this place for. It's not too late, Shu."
"It will always be what really happened. And now-"
Shu reached her hand out to the handle. A small bolt of white chi struck her hand back. She jumped back and hit the wall. She stared at her hand with wide eyes.
"There's a reason they confused it for a Sacred Treasure," Vigoroth grumbled. "And thank goodness you can't use it."
"A whole chosen one dynamic..." Shu whispered. "Damn... I should've guessed... It must be because of the chi pattern."
Bao gazed along the fuzzy edge of the blade. A small ember burned in her chest and resonated with the heat pouring off of it.
"If you don't want anyone to use this weapon, why keep it?" Shu asked. "Clearly, someone wants it to be used for it to still exist."
"The previous Emperor demanded we kept it. And, well, those orders have changed to keeping it in case it's needed for protection."
"Makes sense... The Chingyangs are such warmongers..."
Vigoroth gasped. Shu glanced where she was looking.
Bao rested her hand on the handle. She gripped it tightly.
________________________________________________________________________________
"Mom's here..." a voice panted. "Let's go out for a walk? Yeah? Okay? I'm gonna put you on my back now."
"Where's dad?"
"Don't worry about him. We're taking a little... trip."
The dead of winter weighed down on tree branches. The bottom half of Ralts Bao's body rested in a backpack on Gardevoir's back. She was protected from the wind and cold from a heavy cloth tied to around Gardevoir's neck.
"Bao, sweetie?" Gardevoir said. "Could you try and cover my footprints?"
"Why?" Bao asked.
"Don't want any wild animals following us. Just try and cover it as best you can."
"Okay."
Bao pushed on the snow near the holes in the ground. It left a lighter stain on the ground, but it would get covered with snow fast with the rate it fell. Gardevoir trudged on through the snow banks.
Hearing through the howling wind became a challenge, but Bao managed to make out a voice behind them.
Gardevoir heard it too. She broke out into a run.
________________________________________________________________________________
"Bao? Bao!?"
Kirlia Bao turned to the Vigoroth's crying voice. Vigoroth wiped her eyes with the side of her arms, but her eyes didn't get any drier.
"Please, no... How could you stand touching that thing? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's only a problem because I'm breaking the rules now, isn't it?" Bao asked. "Why would anyone want to tell you anything?"
"I've... I've always tried my best to listen. I came here because I-"
"Because you were raised here yourself and felt like there was nowhere else to go. You're still here because you gave up. We all heard your story a million times over in class, as if it got any more helpful. You always made it about you."
Bao pulled on the handle. The sword popped out of the floor. She held up the shining tip to the dim blue light raining down from overhead.
"My mom would never talk about it," Bao said. "We lived in a mansion high in the mountains, trapped with a monster. The constant blizzards threatened to keep us locked in there forever, until one night, she killed my father to protect me and brought me here. I understand all of these feelings perfectly. It's a perfect fit."
"I'm sorry I couldn't take you into town after your exam. I had a really important rally. I think I drew in a lot of votes today. If I become mayor, we'll have a huge shopping spree."
"Too focused on 'healing'," Bao hissed. "And then she went and left me behind while she went off feeling better. This is the perfect weapon for me, because no one wants to remember me either."
A distant volley of screeching sounds invaded the room through the walls. Bao lowered the sword in her hand and held it pointing diagonally down to the floor.
"I think that's the cops," Shu said. "I really meant to be in and out here. The White Star coming really put a damper in things."
"Shu," Bao said. "Did you really become a pirate?"
Shu paused, a little surprised by the question. "Of course I did."
"So, your other pirate friends are still waiting for you?"
"Outside the city, yeah."
"You'll be successful. You're my daughter. So just don't doubt yourself, okay sweetie?"
"Can I come?"
Snivy Shu blinked. Her surprise outweighed any smile.
"You want to be a pirate?" she asked.
"Bao," Vigoroth pleaded. "No."
"Yes," Bao answered,. "Can I come?"
"Yeah," Shu said. "But we have to go quick. Our chances of getting out are dwindling the longer we take."
"Right. Let's go."
Snivy Shu darted past the Vigoroth out of the room. Out of instinct, Bao walked when she went past her. Vigoroth's eyes followed her face as Bao passed, but Bao focused ahead.
"Bao, I'm sorry," Vigoroth said. "I'm so, so sorry."
Bao didn't reply. Once she walked out of sight into the hallway, she ran.
________________________________________________________________________________
"Something bad just happened." Light whispered into Ariel's ear.
Four carriages pulled up on the grass and dirt around the building, streaming in from the black road under the trees behind them. The cool breeze flowed under Light's limbs as he stood right next to Sky Shaymin Ariel. Shaymin Mei stood off behind them.
"What kind of bad?" Ariel asked.
"I dunno," Light whispered. "I'm not sure what's going on here."
"You don't have to worry about that Prinplup guy being in here. Or most of those pirates, from what I saw."
"I'm not really worried about them as much..."
In a carriage ahead of where they stood, a Gardevoir hopped down to the ground. She brushed off her dress and walked forward to the forming group twenty or so paces in front of the entrance.
"Mayor Chen is here," Mei said from behind. "I think it's best we stand back for this."
Light turned around. "Why? What if we could help?"
"It's a family thing. Besides, most people don't remember what's locked away in this place anyway."
Ariel joined Light in looking back at Mei. She had a confused look on her face.
"The Bloody Sacred Treasure," Mei explained. "What else would pirates come here to steal? Depression?"
Ariel's face froze for a moment, then Light saw something click in her mind. She stared back at him.
"There's another Sacred Treasure here?" Light asked.
"Not... exactly," she said slowly.
The doors burst open. Light's eyes shot over as the gathering group of pokemon split into two. The doors flew off the hinges and slammed into the dirt. In the place of the doorway, a Quilladin and Skwovet posed by curling their arms. A Snivy walked up from behind them and smacked them both on the back of their heads. They winced and rubbed their heads while Snivy stood a step out in front of them.
Gardevoir Chen stepped up. The other pokemon took shelter behind the carriages in case anything happened. An Azumarill had a long Slumber Wand over her back. Behind another, a Cinderace and Spearow sheltered under one of the carriage's back rubber wheels. Behind the third carriage, a Clefable and Luxray looked at the scene from the corners. No one sheltered behind the fourth.
"Where is my daughter!?" Chen called.
"Fine," Snivy said. "We aren't really interested in the students, either."
"What do you want?"
"We've already got what we came for."
"Light," Ariel said, "get behind me. Let's move to one of those carriages, okay?"
Ariel's voice turned gritty and serious. She kept one of her ears touching Light's head as they sped-walk behind the carriage with nobody else sheltering. The whole time, she kept her arm on Light's gray mane and pushed him into sitting. Mei hopped along the ground over to them.
"Are there any more of you?" Gardevoir Chen asked.
"There are nooo-o-o-o-o-ow," Snivy hummed. "Any second now..."
Light pushed off of the carriage. It had moved by itself a little. Ariel and Mei both noticed and backed away from it, too.
The carriage shot off to the sides. They screeched and roared as they fell onto the sides and slid on the dirt. Town up grass and dark, brown soil appeared in their wakes.
Overhead, a glass shattered. Pieces of stained glass fell along with two objects. Sky Shaymin Ariel stood in front of Light as a metal object landed along with Kirlia Bao.
The metal object was a sword with strange, fuzzy-looking edges. Bao bent her knees as she landed, then slowly returned to full standing. She crossed each of her legs as she walked up to the handle and pulled it out of the soil. Garedvoir Chen had staggered back and retreated from the falling glass. She looked up from her crossed arms protecting her face.
"Bao?" Chen breathed.
"Isn't it amazing?" Bao asked, smiling widely. "Two beautiful, forgotten things left to rot in the same place finally coming together."
"Wow," Mei mumbled. "She really just turned into a supervillain in ten minutes."
"A little longer than that."
Light's turned around as fast as he could. Bao's voice came as a whisper tickling his ear.
Bao had used Teleport and appeared behind them. She grabbed Mei by the green fur on her back and winded back her foot. Instinctively, Light ducked out of the way.
Mei soared over Light's head and hit Ariel. They both flew back and hit the dirt. Light took a step to run after them, but an invisible force yanked back his paw before he could put it on the ground.
Kirlia Bao caught his paw in her hand. She grabbed his other paw and stared at him dead in his eyes.
"I need a little help to deal with your girlfriend," Bao said, smiling. "And you're going to help me out... cutiepie."
Bao smiled and winked. In the same second, pink dust slammed against Light's nose. Bao released him, allowing Light to shake his head and try to swat the attack away.
"Hey!"
Ariel screamed out as she stood back up. Light tried to turn back around to her, but Bao grabbed the gray fur of his mane and yanked him.
"Hey..." Bao cooed. She kept her eyes barely open and smiled down. Her other arm reached around Light's lower back. "Could you help me out and use Helping Hand? If you do, I'll make sure to reward you..."
Light turned his head to see Ariel in his peripheral vision. She burst forward, but stopped all of a sudden.
"No closer," Bao said. Her head tilted down to the ground next to him. The handle of the metal sword was within her reach. After, her eyes turned back down to him. "What do you say, cutiepie?"
"You..." Ariel growled. "Light, don't listen to her!"
"Gorgeous?" Bao asked softly. "Are you going to use those cute little paws and help me out?"
Heat flashed across Light's face. His heart rate skyrocketed from the effects of Attract. He had to put his logic first to keep himself from regretting anything later. He shook his head and frowned.
Bao seemed disappointed, but not thrown off. Light tried to push out of her grip, but she only pulled him closer.
"More than one way to take your chi, I guess," Bao sighed. "I didn't want to make your girlfriend any angrier, but... Oh well."
Bao lifted Light up by her face. She planted her lips on his cheek and hugged around his back. Light's body tingled at the Draining Kiss, which didn't feel like a burning sensation it normally would. Bao took her time as Light's limbs felt like they turned to mush. When she pulled back her head, she smiled and tossed Light down on the dirt.
It became hard to lift his head, but Light struggled to do so. Bao's body glowed with a bright, white aura around her. Even her red eyes seemed a few shades brighter. It blurred as Light's senses started to slip.
"Hot damn..." Bao said, laughing into a smile. "You're right! Your boyfriend has tons of chi!"
"You're dead!" Sky Shaymin Ariel screamed. Light's heart dropped seeing her fierce eyes.
Ariel charged forward across the grass. Her steps slowed until she stood still in front of Kirlia Bao with her arm reeled back for a punch.
Bao's energy became too strong. Even without moving, her Psychic stopped Ariel cold. She pushed her arms out and sent Ariel flying back again. The huge increase in force sent her sailing straight into the wall. Once she finished, Bao breathed in and out with steam coming out of her mouth.
"Incredible..." she breathed.
"Bao! Stop!"
Gardevoir Chen took Ariel's place. She planted her feet firmly on the path of uprooted plants her attack left behind. From Bao's attack.
"I don't care about anything that happened here!" Chen called out. "Please, come home! Let's talk!"
"You know, I actually went a while without remembering what your voice sounds like," Bao said. "Now, it's your turn. While you were off having your 'success story', why did I have to stay here!?"
"I'm sorry! Please, Bao!"
Light's head fell to the ground.
________________________________________________________________________________
The fear of failure passed when quiet settled in. Light woke up with a soft, white blanket over his body. Ashes of frustration swirled around in his chest. The fur on his arms became a darker shade of white than usual.
The white blanket tightened a bit on Light's back. A green paw rested in front of him on top of the blanket. He rolled over.
Sky Shaymin Ariel laid out next to him. All the way up the length of her arms and all over her face, red and dark marks offset her white and green fur. Even her ears were starched up. She looked half-asleep.
"Hey, nice to see you're awake," she groaned.
"Airy," Light gasped. "What happened?"
"She had a lot of chi... Just stings a lot."
The center of Light's body weight felt like an immovable force pinning him down. Past Ariel, eggshell walls stared back at him.
"Are we in the..." Light took in a breath, "hospital?"
"Yeah," Ariel said in a low voice. "Sorry. My fault for not reacting faster again..."
"Please..."
Shaymn Mei's voice came from somewhere behind Ariel. Light couldn't lift his head, so he had to imagine where the bed rested in between the bed he was laying on and the wall.
"She used what she learned about us from talking yesterday," Mei explained. "She had so much chi, they actually managed to escape."
"I'm not strong," Light whined. "How did this happen?"
"Oh, you seemed plenty strong to me when she was the one using your chi..."
"Please, try to keep talking to a minimum."
A new voice rang in Light's ears. The shadow of a Ribombee's wings passed over his head.
"I need to make some observations tonight. Is there anything I can do to make any of you more comfortable? I'll need to give you bandages soon, miss Ariel."
"My back still hurts," Mei complained.
"Right, my apologies. We're understaffed, but I'll help with that right after I apply some bandages."
"Could you pull me a little closer to Light?" Ariel asked.
"I think you're close enough, young lady..."
"Oh.... Wait, when did I get so close?"
"You rolled over in your sleep and it woke him up."
"Oh... Sorry."
"I'm fine," Light said. "Could I get a glass of water?"
"Sure, I've got one right here for you."
Ribombee floated over Light and lowered herself down by his head. Light raised his head a little and drank from a small, clear plastic cup. The water cleared up his voice and a gritty feeling in his throat.
"Thanks," Light said.
"No problem," Ribombee said as she took back to the air. "I'll have you feeling better soon, I was just conducting a few tests. Ariel, can you sit up for me, dear?"
"Uh huh," she said.
Ariel pushed on the bed and swung herself up into sitting. Light noticed she didn't seem to have any cuts or bruises on her back, but it seemed like her back was still in pain.
Ribombee floated around Sky Shaymin Ariel and put on thick, white bandages over different bruises and cuts. The bandages had a sheen of some kind of fluid on them. When she finished, Ariel lowered herself back down on her belly.
"My back is killing me, too," Ariel complained.
"Called dibs," Mei hummed.
Ribombee floated over to Mei's bed. Silence fell for a few seconds, then shattered with a large impact.
"Shhhhhhhhhhit!" Mei shouted. "Why!?"
"I assumed that was your preference," Ribombee said, "with how much of a rush you were in and everything."
"Had it coming," Ariel said.
"Are you also in a hurry?"
"Won't see me crying about it."
"Oh. Well, alright then."
Light's eyes grew a little wider seeing the Ribombee float over Sky Shaymin Ariel. Her wings whirred as she pulled back one of her thin, black legs. Mei kept groaning and yelling with her face muffled by her mattress.
"Wait," Light called. "She didn't mean it. She's just in a lot of pain."
Ribombee paused in the middle of a kicking motion. She stared down at Light's pleading eyes.
"Well, count your lucky stars," Ribombee said. "Alright."
Ribombee lowered herself over Ariel's back and put pressure on the area she was about to nail. Ariel grit her teeth and slammed her arm against the mattress.
"Ow," she squeaked.
"Mmmm-hm," Ribombee hummed.
"Excuse me," Light said. "What did you mean when you said experiments?"
"Checking your body's scaling for how much chi you use, how much and how fast your body makes it... I'm trying to figure out this whole fur thing you have going on."
Ariel squeaked again. A pang of guilt shot through Light's chest.
"Airy," Light said, "I'm sorry. This was my fault."
A smile broke through Ariel's grimace. "Oh, c'mon cutiepie. It was her fault if anything."
Ariel jolted and frowned again.
"Okay," Ribombee sighed, flying back up into the air. "That'll do. I don't want to bother you all that much, but I do have a question to ask."
"No, I don't feel okay," Mei said.
"I was wondering if I could join your Guild as a mobile doctor."
The question didn't completely surprise Light. She had an air of excitement around her the last time they came, and it felt a little too strong to be just because they were visiting.
"No," Mei answered.
"Yes, please," Light said. "I hate seeing Ariel in pain like this. Things have to change."
"If you hate seeing her in pain so much then why are you hiring her?" Mei asked.
"Because I keep getting hurt because of my weakness all the time, and now I'm trying to keep it from spreading to everybody else?"
"If you were weak, that Kirlia wouldn't have been able to do all that damage with your chi."
"None of what happened was your fault, Light," Ariel said. "Bao made a strategy based on what she heard us talking about and used it against us. And that woman... Uh..."
"One?" Light asked.
"One?" she repeated.
"That's what she said her name was. One."
"Right... Well, One probably knew where we were in advance because of, uh... Reasons."
"White Star, would you like my advice?" Ribombee asked.
"Uhm... sure," he said.
"Even in normal people, your mind affects your body. With the Acuitan blessing, even more so by almost triple, or even quadruple. If you keep telling yourself it's your fault and that you can't fight, you'll just make it true. So, why not just trust that your friends are telling you the truth?"
"How did you-"
"As a doctor, I always have to check for anomalies. I figured you might as well know that I know since it seemed polite." Ribombee floated over to the counters in the room. "Now, it's time for me to leave. We were short on beds because of all of the patients who were police, but I'll be getting you your own bed, young lady."
"B-but... Light makes this bed smell like vanilla..."
"I am sure you smell him enough."
With that, Ribombee floated out of the room and closed the door behind her.
"What was that witch's name?" Mei asked.
"I looked her up last night," Light said. "I think it was Xiang. Xiang... something."
"I don't trust her. I get Bao vibes."
"Because she also kicked your ass?" asked Ariel.
"Maybe you would know if you weren't too busy getting drunk off of Light."
"You're just jealous that I have what people call 'the most beautiful pokemon in the world' for a boyfriend."
"No one calls me that," Light said.
"Not to your face. Only I do that."
"Because she gives them all the evil eye," Mei groaned.
"At least the evil eye isn't my default face."
"Whenever I get a boyfriend, I'm not going to feel the need to protect him from other people out of feeling inadequate."
"Guys," Light said. "What happened to Chen?"
"She should be with a therapist right about now," Mei answered quietly. "She didn't look good. I'm going to have to instate a new mayor for some time. I'm afraid I'll need a few hours tomorrow morning to get things settled."
"Our next leg of the journey is just a carriage ride," Ariel said. "We'll still be able to leave tomorrow, especially if Xiang comes with us."
"Mei, you talked to her the most," Light said. "What happened?"
"It's easy to be unhappy and have no one notice. Maybe that's why she felt like there was nothing to do but leave. No amount of therapy will ever really fix that feeling you get when you didn't realize anything was wrong until it's too late. At least not for some people."
Light rolled around on his side. Ariel's eyes drifted off, then she turned her head and buried her face in the mattress. Light reached out a paw in her direction just in case. Ariel turned at the noise his fur made against the cloth and grabbed hold.