Another Day at Unity (13) (Patreon)

"It won't work," Hayden whispered, dropping beside the princess. She kept her voice low, never making eye contact.

Still the princess responded sharply, looking up and glaring. "The kitten has no honor-guard! Her miracle child will drown in the dark!"

"Oh. She did, yeah. But... Lady Gracidea doesn't love me. She won't cry when I'm buried. She'll just be furious. The Mews will too—they'll unite with Shaymin House to destroy Pokélantis."

"Me," Seraphine repeated. She let go of Hayden's shoulder, her whole body going stiff. "Who are you?"

Hayden stood up. "Adeline died right here?" Hayden asked. "In this room?"

Princess Seraphine stood up too, facing her. "When the Shaymin begged for a treaty, I called them to this spot. Only blood can pay for blood. They will know a bond broken and a heart shattered."

"When was it?" Hayden asked. She lowered her arms to the water, scooping Liz from the edge and holding her against her chest. Now she saw the advantage of their outfits—dark cloth and little of it meant nothing to get stiff and hinder her movement. Besides, it was warm.

Wish I could jump that way.

"How long ago, exactly?"

The princess's face was cold again, those eyes as ruthless as the crushing depths outside. "I know you. Hayden of House Shaymin. So compassionate, your house, so grateful. Did that bitch mother tell you how old Adeline was when she sliced her to pieces? Or did she even care if you understood? You're the breeding mare, that's all."

Hayden sniffed but let the tears flow freely. "I almost lost my little sister too. Liz and I would have defied the universe to save her—and we did."

She took a deep breath, then changed. She needed to be older now, more confident than she really felt. She didn't just need to be a single pokémon—she needed to be a single person. Fortunately for her, this was the one she knew as intimately as two humans ever could.

The outfit constricted her chest, its straps too tight for her older body. At least the back had room for her wings. Liz took off from her arms, bobbing gently up and down. Her antennae were already probing, but not forward this time. "How long?" Hayden asked, commanding. "When did she die?"

The princess lifted one hand to her chest, eyes going huge. "Abomination. Only the Eldest..."

"The Eldest is too wise to change history," Hayden said. "He can glimpse the confluence of causality and paradox, binding every fool mad enough to unwind them. Me, though... I'm imitation and falsehood, born of weak blood. Cancer in the body of the Great Families. That's... what you called me. Or I guess you haven't yet?"

"Whatever plot I'm witnessing here... your mother won't succeed. We will not be intimidated. If you wish for war, Shaymin, you will—"

"No! Stupid, I want a date! Your sister, how long?"

The princess drew something from her belt—a dagger, with a blade of blue crystal hammered flat. "You want a date? Ninety years, almost to the day. But you already knew! That bitch Gracidea had the gall to sue for peace. From this?"

She tossed the blade into the air, catching it backhand and dropping low. "She'll never find the body. Let her leave flowers on an empty crypt. She deserves no less."

That's a long way, Hadie.

Don't have a choice!

The princess lunged, but Hayden was faster. She jumped backward, along an axis the manaphy could not even see. Time expanded before her in a vast, incomprehensible spiral. Threads wove and tangled, many now trailing to her. Hayden kept jumping back, leaving an inelegant mess of knots around the thread of Manaphy House.

I can't just stop her from dying. That might change history so much I'm not even born. The cold war with Manaphy House is too important.

There! The ocean had a temple again, filled with screaming and blood. Was she too late?

Can't hold it anymore! It didn't matter—she reappeared on the platform, wings beating furiously. Liz dropped into her arms. Hayden barely held herself standing, eyes struggling back to focus on three dimensions.

Corpses floated in the water—Myrmidon warriors, each armored like Gareth and the others. A single warrior advanced on the Sea Crown, a man with brilliant green hair and a scarf made from red blossoms. On the ground in front of her was a girl—Hayden's age, with a trident piercing her chest and deep red blood soaking into the platform. She looked up towards Hayden, struggling to form words.

I did look just like her.

Hayden changed again, faster than she ever had. She wrapped herself in illusion, and Liz took off again, a blur of white and green with an armored helmet just like Beur.

"Lord Gracidea!" Hayden yelled. "Wait!"

The figure turned. Sure enough, the face there was familiar—the same man Hayden had seen when Victini attacked her. Only instead of weary, this one was bloody. "You shouldn't be down here. I will destroy the Crown. Victory is ours—see to your brothers."

"Havalina sent me!" Hayden yelled, louder. "The Crown—it's a bomb! You can't destroy it!"

Lord Gracidea froze. His sky-forme shaymin landed in front of Hayden, sniffing at his false armor and false body. That daemon was far more powerful than she was—yet he was also wounded, and exhausted from who knew how much terrible battle. "If that is true, then you should fly. I will end this."

"No, I will. Seraphine is still alive. None of us can fight her. If you're gone... she'll get revenge. I'll do this."

A dying princess watched from the ground, whimpering in pain as she bled. They didn't have much time left to save her.

Lord Gracidea stalked over to Hayden. He opened his mouth to speak, but something far away exploded, making the whole temple shudder and rock in the water. "Alright."

"Go!" Hayden pulled away from him, spreading his arms in front of the Crown as though he were preparing some powerful attack. "Now! All the way to the surface!"

Lord Gracidea took off, blasting water and debris away from the platform. He leapt up into the air, lingering near one of the upper doorways for a second. Then he shot away, vanishing down a dark hallway.

Hayden rushed back to the fallen manaphy, abandoning her disguise completely. Her own shape took far less energy. "Sorry about the wait, Adeline," she said, taking her hand in hers, while gripping the trident with the other.

"So... cold," Adeline whispered. She stared up, looking at Hayden, then past her. "It's not fair. There's... so much sea I never saw."

Liz hovered over her, holding her paws in front of her. This injury was beyond anything Hayden's powers could manage—good thing she had backup.

"You're right, it's not. That's why I'm here." She yanked, tearing flesh and making the wounds even worse as she did. Adeline screamed, her voice twisted with agony.

It might've killed her, if Liz wasn't there. A few drops of clear water lifted from the pool, infused with the mending strength Cody had taught her. Time to grow.

Adeline screamed again, but quieter this time. Her eyes suddenly focused, locking on Hayden. Her little daemon squirmed into a sitting position on the platform beside her, his voice feeble. But he hadn't been stabbed.

"Which mew are you?"

"Not born yet," Hayden said. Liz landed on her shoulder, power still focused on her target. This took perfect concentration, to transform a corpse into a living girl. It was not without its side effects.

Adeline's skin broke above her breasts, and a dark red gemstone emerged from within. Her eyes stained from hazel to dark blue, and little yellow splotches appeared on her skin to replace the smeared makeup.

"You... enemy of the Shaymin?" Adeline finally asked. "Mew never cared about... us."

"That was my mom, actually," Hayden said, gesturing up the way they came. "The more I think about it, the more I think she knew what I was gonna do here. She's had ninety years."

"You... don't make... sense." She closed her eyes, collapsing to the stone. Hayden touched her neck, searching for a pulse. It was there, however faint. We weren't too late.

Hayden tried to stand, then gave up. She was already so weak, probably too weak to keep going. But there were footsteps in the distance, metal pounding on the heavy door. All of time gets ruined if I can't keep going a little longer.

She changed again, but not into Cody, that was too hard. Herself as a celebi was a little easier—it took less power to be younger. She wrapped her arms tight around the fallen princess. "Get her... daemon, Liz."

She did, landing on the unconscious manaphy. Liz lifted into the air, her voice high and shrill. They didn't slip elegantly forward in time so much as trip over each other, tumbling into a dimensionless void of spindly threads and confusion. Hayden's mind burned, her stomach emptied in a quick spasm of acid and fruit.

That's her! The woman she was looking for, alone in this room. She slashed violently through the air, then dropped to the ground again, screaming in frustration and pain.

Drop us!

The ground jerked into being beneath them. Hayden whimpered, then rolled sideways off the princess. Liz landed on her chest, transforming back into herself before she touched bare skin. She curled up against Hayden's silly clothes, burying her head in the cloth. I never wanna time travel again.

Hayden fought to stay awake—not easy, with her daemon already unconscious from exhaustion. She fought anyway, struggling with every second.

Seraphine gasped, flinging herself at Hayden. But she missed, landing on someone else instead. "Adeline! You're alive!" She let go, eyes on Hayden. Somehow she had the dagger in hand, pointing at her chest. "You can't fool me again, daughter of..."

Hayden tried to speak, but her mouth just wouldn't work anymore. She rested her limp head on Adeline's shoulder, and the world turned black.