The Grass Orb was silent.
Nobody dared move. The spirits didn't speak—they could only stare, petrified, at what they thought would be the end of their cozy corner of eternity. He was laying there—Gahi and Owen, fused together as one.
The only one moving was Star. The Mew floated over his unconscious body, inspecting every part of it.
"They're fused to the core," Star mumbled to herself. "I don't know if I can pull them apart without destroying everything we worked toward. It'd be from zero again..."
Gawen was unconscious. The battle itself was a strain on their body, the stress of the encounter on the mind, and the overexertion of their powers on the spirit. To be passed out in even the spirit world meant that they had fought to the very limit. To their fortune, that gave Star the opportunity to theorize on what she could do.
"What do you mean," Klent finally said, "by fused to the core? From zero?"
"This happened before," Star said, looking back. "When Demitri, Mispy, Gahi, and Owen all fused together for the first time, something went wrong. Nevren said they weren't ready—or something just wasn't calculated right. What do you expect? Four minds merging into one, seamlessly and without error? In your dreams. Even I would need a few tries..."
Klent moved forward, then stopped. "So... something went wrong to make them go berserk?"
"Yeah. And I'm trying to figure out why now. It's probably something really small that propagates throughout the system. Like an illness that spreads through the body. Ngh... The way Nevren had me solve it before was by forcing them apart. But that's like untying a knot by slicing it in half – you're going to have damaged rope. To do it right... you need a way to untie them and still have their minds intact afterward. Then, they don't have to heal the broken pieces of their selves..."
"I think I follow," Klent said slowly. "But, how would you do it?"
Star hesitated, looking the fused aura over. She shook her head. "Just give me a second."
"He's eventually going to wake up, isn't he?" Klent said worriedly.
"I know, I know—just—give me a second. I need to think." She rubbed her head, squeezing her temple. "I have to see what their spirits look like."
"Spirits? But we're already—"
"No," Star said. "Their literal spirit. Right now, this is a world of aura. But I have to... t-to open that up further."
Klent's eyes widened. "But that's... Star, doesn't that only happen beyond the aura sea? You don't just pull a spirit from—"
"I have to," Star said. "I just have to be careful."
She breathed in, then out, and brought a tiny paw forward, glowing with golden light. It trembled, but she inched it closer to the scaly Pokémon's chest. The shaking intensified and she jerked her hand away.
"I—I can do this! Stop staring at me!"
Klent flinched, as did the other spirits. They quickly looked down, shuffling where they stood.
"This isn't hard at all," Star said. "It's trivial, even. What's a single—I mean, what're two souls to a Creator? This is child's play." She held her paw against his chest again, trying to keep it from shaking. "Just draw the spirit out. Just draw it out a little."
A golden sphere emerged partway—just the top of the orb—from Gawen's rising and falling chest. It swirled, two currents twisting and turning around themselves to make up the single, unstable ball of light. Star winced—almost gagged—and took another steady breath. But then she felt something almost break loose and gasped, shoving it back into him. His whole body jolted, but remained unconscious, and Star pulled her hand away.
"I—I can't do it," she said, hand trembling. "I c-can't keep it together. Oh, God, why can't I—this is supposed to be easy! I'm s-supposed to be a Creator! Why can't I pull myself together when it actually matters?!" She shoved her hands to her sides, hitting the air. Nearby rocks and trees split apart, startling Klent and the others. She slammed her hands over her eyes next, breathing in sharply.
Zygarde Hecto cleared his throat behind her. "Star."
"Not now," Star said, sniffling.
"This is important."
"I can't do anything right now," Star replied, shaking her head. "I have to fix Gahi and Owen. That's all I can think about now, okay?"
Hecto nodded. "I understand."
Klent, Amelia, and all of the other spirits all stared at something behind Star, eyes wide. The Mew eyed them all incredulously, but then spun around. "Ng—!"
Arceus stood before her, significantly smaller than usual. He was no larger than Gawen.
Countless tendrils of light emerged from Star's back, but Arceus held up his right hoof, lowering his head.
"I know I cannot fight here," he said.
"Y-yeah, that's right," Star growled. "Leave."
"I would like to help."
Star's tendrils wavered. She did nothing when the other Creator stepped around her and toward Gawen. He gently placed his hoof on Gawen's chest, the same as Star, and pulled back. The sphere emerged halfway from the aura, a semicircle atop his scales. Two tendrils of light emerged from Arceus' back next, slowly moving toward the fused spirit. Star watched closely, ready to push him away if he tried anything out of the ordinary.
The unstable swirling slowed. One spirit collected against the first tendril and the other half of the current spiraled around the other. Then, slowly, the two tendrils retracted. The two smaller spheres slid toward one another again, spinning together in a gentle, steady vortex. Arceus pressed his hoof forward, pushing the fused orb back into Gawen. The glowing subsided and Arceus stepped away.
He looked at Star, who quickly turned her head away and down, glaring at a boulder that she had shattered.
"The rest is up to you." Arceus tapped his left hind leg on the ground, creating a portal. "I know you do not want me around." He spun and walked through, the circle disappearing moments later.
Star's fist clenched, watching him go. "I could've..." She couldn't find the words to finish. Star's shoulders relaxed, though Klent and the other spirits were still tense.
"Star?" Klent asked. "What did he do?"
Star shook her head. "Barky's just being a showoff." Star forced a smile. "I could've done the same thing if I tried again."
Klent frowned, rubbing his pom-poms together.
Amelia adjusted the flower atop her head. "What's left?" the Lilligant asked. "It looked like their spirits were fused together the... right way this time. But how do you separate them now? Is there... a trick?"
Star steadied her breaths one last time, nodding. She went back to inspecting Gawen. "Everything about them has to do with their aura," Star said. "Bodily fusions are easy to fix for me. It's the aura and the spirit that's hard to do. It's like trying to separate red and blue from purple."
Klent nodded. "Mm. Or salt from the sea. Something like that?"
"Kinda, but it's equal parts salt and water," Star said.
The Jumpluff shook his body in understanding, the top dandelion puff bobbing. "Well... what if you had a way to attract out one part, but not the other? If you make water evaporate, it'll leave salt behind. I think that's what Arceus did with their spirits, if what I saw was right. Would there be a way to... get Owen out, and leave Gahi behind, or the other way around?"
"I don't... really know. That's one thing we could do... or try..."
Hecto cleared his throat. "He's awake."
Gawen's eyes opened, staring at the sky.
Star clenched her jaw. "Nobody move," she said calmly.
It was a moment of serenity, but it was fleeting. Gawen's eyes locked onto Star.
"Hey," Star said. "You feeling alright?"
"He's not moving," Klent said.
"Oh, he's trying," Star stated. "I have him immobilized with Psychic. He's pretty weak, so it's easy to keep him down, uh, gently." She floated closer. "Gahi, Owen... it's okay. Take a breath. Meditate, alright? Just a little..." Star waved a glowing paw near Gawen's cheek. He let out a slow growl, and then a huff.
"Gahi, this is the Grass Orb—a part of the spirit realm. Can you see it, in Owen's memories? It's safe here. Nice and calm."
"Can you reason with him?"
"I think so," Star said. "It's different... this isn't like the last time. I think because it's just two of them, and the meditation—you know, the stuff Rhys did—I think that's making it easier. They aren't totally broken this time. That's probably why Barks was able to fix him so easily, too. Maybe if we're careful..."
There was another long, tense silence. Star was working on Gawen while he was still awake, prodding at his aura, searching for anything she could untangle. Every so often, she sighed, mumbling to herself. They weren't sure what she meant for most of it. But eventually, she said something a bit more audibly. "This should help..."
A small spark of white energy pulsed through the fused creature. Star floated away and released her Psychic hold. A small shockwave warped the light around Gawen upon release. The forest spirits flinched. He was unsealed and free to move.
"Hey," Star whispered. "On a scale of one to ten... how badly do you want to fight right now?"
The Flygon-Charizard amalgamation stared at Star, and then at all the others. He looked at the trees. "Nine," he said. "Just 'cause I know what... ten feels like."
"S-Star! How did you—"
"Keep your voice down," Star said serenely. "I couldn't remove his instincts and I couldn't tamper with his head at all... but I was able to lower his stress levels and the mechanisms that contribute to being in battle mode all the time. I helped him feel less aggressive. The aura mimics the body, and I did some brain stuff. As Creator, you kinda have to know that sorta thing. But he could easily slip back into it, so no sudden movements."
Gawen looked down shamefully. "I'm... I'm just a monster," he said. "I've always been one. I've just been... sealed away. 'Til now."
"Pretty much," Star said. "But you're my monster, okay?"
Gawen winced. "Y-yeah..."
"May I touch your shoulder?"
Gawen nodded.
Star gently floated toward him and did just as she had asked. It was a tiny paw compared to the dragon. "I can see my reflection," Star said with a smile, looking at his scales. "The Gahi half of you really shines, huh?"
Gawen smiled slightly.
"...I'm really proud of how far you've come, Owen. Gahi. You never would have been this controlled in the past."
"It's so hard..."
"I know. I know. But it's okay, and you're doing it anyway. Just keep going, you two..."
"Two," Gawen said. He rubbed at his head. "I... I don't know... who I am..." His claws dug into his scales, voice rising.
"Shh, shh, it's okay," Star said in a whisper. "Let me help. Gahi... Gahi, is that name familiar to you?"
"Yeah... that's... that's me... that's me, and also someone I know..."
"Mhm, that's true. Part of you is Gahi. You were a Trapinch, and you always wanted to be the first one to evolve. Do you remember that?"
"I... I do. I was always jealous... because... because Owen.... He was always faster. And I hate... when people are faster. But... but Owen's me, too... I didn't know that Gahi was jealous... But I... but I liked me, too. Because we were family."
Star nodded. She gently moved until she was sitting on their shoulder. "Owen, did you enjoy training with Gahi?"
"Yeah... I did. I liked training with me... with Gahi—Owen and Gahi, us, me..." He rubbed his forehead. "It... it hurts..."
"Shh, shh.." Star didn't give the fusion time to take it all in. The gentle onslaught continued uninterrupted. "Owen... Amia raised you all on her own. Do you remember that?"
Gawen was quiet. He looked like he had a splitting headache. His eyes were shut tight, creases forming along his muzzle. Scales ground against one another with every fold of skin. Star rubbed his shoulders.
"I... I remember," he finally said.
"Gahi, did you miss Owen?"
"I... I did... missed him a lot... missed'm all the time..."
"Gahi, do you remember how you coped? What did you do?"
"...Slept in his bed... the Rawst Leaves... they smell a certain way... Owen smelled like Rawst all the time, 'cause he slept in it fer... I slept in them, and Gahi was always annoyed at how they smelled... But then I started missing it, 'cause even if it was annoying... I guess Gahi really liked it..." Gawen gulped, trying to hold down his nausea. "S-Star... m-my head... I... I can't think about this."
"It's okay. Gahi, Owen, it's okay. Keep thinking, okay?"
"I can't..."
Star rubbed his shoulders more. "This is good, you two. Keep holding it through. You've got this. I'm going to keep going, and I'm not stopping. Owen, did Gahi ever win against you in chess?"
"Star... p-please, stop..."
"Gahi, did Owen ever beat you in a race?"
"Yer killing my head..." He was clutching his head so tightly that his claws were piercing his scales.
"Owen, do you remember when you tried to sleep like Gahi, underground?"
"I hated it...!"
"Gahi, have you ever read a single paper in your life?"
"I totally read a few! But Owen, he reads... everything he can... I..." His grip wavered; his whole body had tensed, and then relaxed.
Star blinked. "...Owen? Gahi? Hello?"
Their eyes were closed, but gently. There were no crease marks of stress; his aura felt... more serene. The gashes in his skull vanished away.
Klent, confused that Star was confused, stepped forward. "S-Star?"
"Star," Hecto said, "is this not part of the procedure?"
"It, uh, no," Star said. "Owen? Gahi?"
The fusion went half-limp, falling forward. Star had to really push to keep the creature from collapsing on top of her. "Ng—guys, c'mon!"
Gawen came to his senses, shaking his head. "S-sorry." He sat up, but he looked dizzy. "I... I feel better," he said. "I'm... I'm Owen, right now. Gahi's resting."
"Excuse me?" Star said. "That's not—supposed to happen yet. Hello? Gahi?"
Owen was quiet, eyes closed. Gahi opened his eyes. "Yeah, what? I'm... feeling a li'l better."
Gahi closed his eyes. The same body opened them again. "Star, I think... I think I'm feeling better. I think if we switch... it hurts less. I still... really... really want to fight... but at least I know who I am."
Closed, opened. "I never saw yeh fight befer, Star. So, what, yeh think yer any good? Can you fight?"
"I—uh—I mean..."
Hecto spoke up. "Star, perhaps your methods were simply more effective than expected."
"No, I'm pretty sure they had to go through a few more steps before finding a way like this. But maybe Owen's just—smarter and figured it out on his own."
"N-no, I don't think I did. Star, I think you helped me. Heh, yeah, I figure yer real good and just didn't think yeh could do it so easy. I—I mean, maybe that, because I didn't get any ideas. It hurt a lot, so it was... y'know, was hard ter do the thinking, 'specially when I was messing with Owen's good thinkin' parts."
"Ugh, now my head's starting to hurt," Star said. "Okay, new rule. Pause before you switch control so I'm not listening to one voice two ways."
"O-oh, um..." A pause. "Sorry fer that." Another pause. "It came a little naturally." Then, the fusion, with Owen in control, looked at his claws. "Actually, Star, um—I wanted to ask... a-and I don't know if I want to know the answer, but... a-are... are we dead?"
"Uhh..." Star rubbed her ear. Her tail flicked as if she wasn't completely sure. The three flames on Gawen's tail flickered anxiously. Then, Star nodded. "No, you're alive. But that's actually making me wonder something..." Star observed the fusion making strange motions, such as brushing his tail pensively on the ground or pushing at a wall that wasn't there. "...You okay there?"
"Everything feels... soft."
"Uhh—"
Little specks of light leaked from the fusion's body. "The air feels... soft. Does that make sense?"
"Not rea—"
The fusion vanished.
Klent blinked. "D... did they wake up?"
"Yeah. So at least they're alive," Star said.
"Will... what happened carry over to the real world?"
Star sighed. "Boy, I hope so. Let's just watch and see."
"Mm..." Klent, along with the other spirits, closed their eyes to tune into what their host was experiencing.
<><><>
At first, he thought he was back in Hot Spot Cave. Everything around them had a dim, cyan glow, just like the mushrooms, or Aether Forest, or the aura sea. But everything felt too close—and too soft—to be the caverns. Owen tried to turn but was met with great resistance from a soft, solid wall. He felt like he was in some sort of crawl space; there was light ahead of him, so he pulled himself out of what he imagined was an alcove in the wall.
He heard the murmurs of a quiet conversation. "Ngh... ugh!" He was out and in an open area, though it was still very dim. "Finally!" he said. "Arceus, it felt like Anam in there..."
He turned around, realizing that was a very strange way to describe something, and inspected his surroundings. It looked like some sort of shiny, red wall with a cyan glow. He came from a crease in the wall, like dough that was folded over itself. The whole place was like this.
And then he recalled his previous moments of being conscious. Amia staring at him, the ocean rapidly advancing—and that Lugia. And then darkness, perhaps from the impact of where he had landed, but perhaps also because—
"Oh... oh, no. Nooo, no, no." The fusion paced. Every step he made was squishy against the ground. "N-no, no, no, that's not it," he said. "Absolutely not. I ain't gonna accept that. Ain't no way I got ate. Th-that just isn't how it works—this is—this is just a strange dream! 'Cause this ain't how bodies work—I'd be dead! Long dead! Some sea monster woulda made me lunch by now! Ain't no way that... maybe I just escaped and..."
Owen's half realized that there was an easy way to determine where he was. With great apprehension, he turned his attention to his Perceive.
He was in the center of something large. It had a giant, central chamber, and six offshoots that appeared to be moving. The one at the front of this chamber swiveled to the left and right subtly; the one in the rear twisted with the currents—he realized that this thing was underwater. And there were four more structures attached to the central chamber—two were shorter, and near the rear offshoot, and two were longer and beating hard against the water, propelling the entire structure forward. They were wing-like, yet also hand-like.
It was a Lugia without anything inside. No heart. No lungs. No real organs of any kind. "I... oh." He wanted to collapse but didn't want to know what the ground felt like. What his feet felt was enough. The fusion gagged and covered his mouth. "Why...?"
The murmuring returned. Gahi and Owen tried to gather themselves and turned toward the sound. At first, they were unfamiliar—and with newfound worry, he wondered how much his memories may have been shuffled by this incident—but soon, he could put a few of the voices to names.
"...That's... Zena," he said. "And Willow, and... is that—Demitri and Mispy? That is!" Pushing aside the circumstances, Gawen rushed toward the only familiar thing he had left. "Hey, guys!"
Zena perked up. They were all gathered nearby, opposite of the great chamber. "Owen? Er—Gahi? Both...?"
Amia recognized the tone. "Owen! Y-you're... you're okay! Oh, thank Arceus, I—" She sniffled; it seemed like she had it together until she finally saw him awake and sane. She ran toward him and tripped over her own feet; the fusion caught her.
"H-hey, Mom, it's—it's alright," Owen said, rubbing her back. He realized how tall he was, now—even larger than he was as a Charizard. "I think Star helped us in the spirit world."
"Us—so Gahi's still...?"
"Yeah, I'm still here," Gahi nodded. "It kinda hurts our head ter fight fer control at the same time, but if we swap like this, it ain't so bad, and if we merge our heads, it ain't too bad, either. Still weird, though, eh, so we'll try'n keep it separate."
"Oh, that's... that's interesting!" Amia said delicately. "But..."
"Interesting? That's cool!" Willow piped up, hopping from Amia's hair onto Gawen's snout. She skittered forward until she was between his horns.
Owen grinned. "I think we can get better at being 'as one' too, but..." He looked at his claws. "I'd like it if we were two bodies again. I like being close to Gahi, but—maybe not this close..."
Gahi sighed. "Yeah, ain't that something yeh'd expect outta Demitri an' Mispy? But not us, I figure."
Mispy huffed; Demitri rubbed at one of his tusks, avoiding eye contact.
"Oh, that's... quite odd to hear two kinds of people from the same voice," Amia said. "It's almost like when Eon mimicked my voice—oooh, I still get shivers from that..."
"Eon seems really familiar, but..." Demitri frowned. "He's a lot less friendly than I thought he'd be."
"Don't remind me," Owen grumbled. "Um, so... I really, really don't want to know... but I have to... Where are we?"
"We're being carried by an old friend of mine," Zena said. "Her name is Emily—she's a Lugia. I didn't think she'd still be alive, but... this is definitely her. I remember it all now."
Gawen crossed his arms incredulously. "Your friend?" he said. "She... eats people."
"Well, it's not eating if you aren't food, don't you think?" Zena suggested.
"No, this is pretty strongly like eating," Owen said, eying the walls suspiciously. "How does this even work? My Perceive is telling me Emily doesn't have anything going on inside her. I don't even know if she has blood. It's like a Drifblim shaped itself into a Lugia. And how big is she, anyway?!"
"She's really, really big," Willow said. "I tried to shrink Emily so we could try to escape, but it just bounced off the walls and shrank us a little instead..."
Owen looked up at the fleshy ceiling with a grimace. This place reminded him of the Hot Spot training grounds in terms of size, though the ceilings were closer and it generally felt more claustrophobic. He had the vaguest of recollections of how big Emily was, and somehow she seemed bigger on the inside even after considering Willow's power.
Zena hummed. "I don't know why she's like this, either. But she has a certain power about her. Can't you feel it?"
"Yeah, but—it's subtle. I felt it when I was—nghk... when I was lodged somewhere in the walls. Up against it I definitely felt something strong, but now that I'm just standing here? Not really... But her aura is strong. I can't see anything outside."
Owen scanned the group again and felt the presence of somebody hiding behind Zena's tail. "Um? Who's that?"
"Eep—!"
"Oh," Zena lifted her tail, revealing—nothing. "That was Tanneth. She lives, er... with Emily. She's a Vaporeon, but I think she's still a little nervous about you, Owen, Gahi."
"She is? How come?" Owen asked, feeling stupid seconds later.
"It's okay, Tanneth," Amia said. "This one's friendly. A friend of ours, Star, must have helped them!"
"A-are you sure?" someone said beneath Mispy.
Owen and Gahi got a good look at Tanneth; it was indeed a Vaporeon, though she seemed to be partway inside the floor. Once again, it reminded them of Anam.
"Actually, um, Emily was the one who helped you," Tanneth said. "She said that she felt your aura was in a lot of pain, so she healed you with a lot of her power."
"My aura was in... pain?" Gawen said. "How? Y'mean like, I was ripping apart?"
Tanneth nodded. "Emily doesn't like when Pokémon are hurt, but she can only heal others if they're very, very close to her body. But she can heal anything!"
"Anything," Owen repeated slowly. "But—but what if I went crazy? I'd've really hurt Emily, all the way in here!"
Tanneth shook her head. "Emily can't get hurt. She's really, really strong! ...Defensively!"
"Defensively? So, she can't attack? But Lugia are supposed to be really strong—I read that Lugia was supposed to know Aeroblast! That could rip anything to shreds!"
"Emily.... Now that I think about it, I don't think she ever was that powerful," Zena said. "She should be strong, but her Aeroblast... I think the worst it ever did was make little whirlpools for us to play in." She looked up. "But maybe when she gets back to wherever her home is, we can talk more."
"Still strange," Owen said, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "But yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Actually, while we're waiting, I... want to try something. Can you guys give me a little bit? I want to de-fuse..."
"You can do that?" Willow asked, tapping her leg on his left goggle.
"I think so," Owen said.
"We better," Gahi said.
"We'll try," Gawen said.
Reluctantly, Gawen sat down to meditate. Demitri and Mispy crept closer to get a better look at their sparring partner. Demitri tapped at his right tusk thoughtfully. "Wow... So that's what it's like to fuse together... And you're sane, too! Who would've thought that a little healing energy would've helped, huh?"
"Star was helping, too," Gawen said. "I think it was the healing that made it feel better, but... Star was the one that helped us actually separate. We just have to finish it off."
Mispy inspected the flame at the end of Gawen's tail—the three blade-like spires of fire. "What if you... went Grass Type?" Mispy theorized.
Owen's half was intensely curious and distracted by the remark; Gahi's half was just annoyed that they couldn't concentrate in peace. The two conflicting thoughts were too much for the fusion and, in an instant, one head split off from the main one, turning irritably, "Shaddap, I'm trying ter concentrate!"
"Wah! T-two heads!" Tanneth squeaked.
"Eh?" Gahi looked down. He could move the right arm, but not the left. "Oy, lookit that!"
"Gahi! I can't feel my right side!"
"Well, I can't feel my left! C'mon, let's just keep going!"
"Um—" Mispy, in an effort to help, wrapped her vines around their arms and pulled.
The two heads grunted in strain, but, thankfully, this was the correct approach. With a little tug and some concentration, the dragon and the pseudodragon split apart, their respective halves regenerating in a dim light. They tumbled to the ground with a series of plops and damp splashes.
"Ugh! Finally!" Owen said. He shook himself off and tried to ignore the empty feeling in his chest. "Glad to be me again. No offense or anything, Gahi, but I think you dumbed me down a few pegs..."
"Feh," Gahi stuck his nose in the air. He paused as if something had dawned on him. "Hey, I ain't crazy!" He looked at his claws. "How 'bout that, eh?" And then he flexed his wings.
"I think we're going to go a little crazy when we evolve," Demitri said, looking at Mispy worriedly. "Um—when that happens, do you think you'll be able to..."
"We'll help," Owen said. "We just have to beat you and then, um... help you straighten out after that. Maybe Emily can help!"
Just then, the ground shifted. "Earth—earthquake?" Owen said. "W-wait, we're not on—"
The ground heaved, throwing them all backward. The entire area turned sideways, floors becoming walls. Owen and Gahi hit the new ground; Amia and Willow landed on top of Owen, followed by Demitri and Mispy atop Gahi, and lastly Zena, whose lengthy body pinned them all down.
They all groaned.
"Everyone okay?" Owen wheezed.
"I think I squished my webbers," Willow whined.
Tanneth's head stuck out of a nearby wall, giggling. "Hey, everyone! Emily's gonna let you guys out, now!"
Owen's expression darkened. "Please tell me she has a better way to—"
A giant wing-arm burst violently through the walls of the Lugia, presumably through her belly, fishing around her own insides like one would search for a snack in the dark. The wing was big enough to grab them all in one go. Without thinking, Owen shrieked, and they were pulled back to the outside world.