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Whisper Wind Comb

Reader mode
"Stabbed myself to prove a point," Mhynt replied plainly. "I feel... that I should return to normal in an hour or two. It's temporary."

Her shadow shifted unnaturally. Nova felt like he was being watched by Mhynt even when she wasn't looking at him.
 
Nova's fur stood on end. "Y-You stabbed yourself?!" He frantically looked her over, but didn't see blood. "Do you need a berry? I don't know any healing moves."
 
Mhynt shook her head and conjured her Enervation blade, which was notably not tangible. "Aura based. It'll heal." It dispelled and she lowered her hand.

She remained silent for a while. Something clearly weighed on her. Then...

Mhynt marched forward and embraced his left foreleg. Nova couldn't see her face.
 
Nova stiffened from the contact. Then he leaned his head over to wrap his head around the treecko.

"What did you see?" he whispered. "Did... did anything hurt you?"
 
"You have seconds," Mhynt said quietly. "...But even then, don't lose hope. That corruption... it latches onto anything. Defy to the very end... and maybe, just maybe, there will be a miracle.

"It's how I survived... what you saw."
 
Nova's crest drooped. "I waited for a miracle," he whispered. "That Overseer... he's not well-liked. Impulsive. Rule-breaking. He can break souls apart." His cheek bolts turned slowly. "I held out hope that he could do something. But I--"

His voice got really, really quiet.

"I belong to Arceus."

A water droplet hit Mhynt's head. Slightly salty.

"There's no way to save my world without returning to him."
 
"But you exist," Mhynt said gently. "You exist here and now. You're something separate. Even if... your power may belong, that's not to say you, here and now, are condemned in the same way." She pulled back. "...Something... similar is happening in my world. I don't know if it's the same. But there are two people... who have the same soul. Who cannot stay apart forever, by their very nature." She gestured to her shadow. A Lunala's silhouette stared back, hollow eyes focused on Nova.

"But even when they combine... they are not gone. Surely, there is still a way... even if it may not be in your hands."
 
Nova looked at the silhouette. Then, turned a tearful expression on Mhynt.

"Do those people... have to become an Eternal Seal?"
 
Mhynt frowned, thoughtful at that. She closed her eyes. "...One does, if... the term is what I think it is," she said. "But... that person..." She smiled faintly. "Well. It's not important right now. But there is one thing very... curious about this." She tilted her head. "If you belong to this person... do you have that person's memories here? Or is this person... separate? I don't see him around here at all... meaning you must be your own person, surely."

She crossed her arms, thoughtful.

"It's not much better... but I wonder if that burst of power... is that person's plan. To separate your soul from your power, let you go free... er, in a sense... and your power returns to the other. I can't see why two people need to become a seal, after all..."
 
Nova sighed. A heavy, weary sigh. He'd heard this before. Directly from the person Mhynt was talking about.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "There isn't anything to separate. My spirit... is that power."

On the ground he traced a rectangle, hoping that would get the message across as to his true nature.
 
Mhynt frowned, looking thoughtful at that. She seemed to be puzzling that out himself, like something about it didn't add up to her. "Perhaps your world is different from mine," she said. "But in some ways, perhaps some time was bought for you. Even with all this... you can still have hope. Think about it... strategically." Mhynt shook her head. "It can confuse your opponent, you know. Especially one... of the nature you're fighting."
 
Nova sat down. He looked tired. "I'd rather... give that hope to people who can use it." He stared at a cavern wall. "I've fought and resisted for so, so long. I'm exhausted. I don't like thinking about it anymore. So, I'll give Forlas what I can before I fizzle out."
 
Mhynt sighed, looking him over again. A tired, old soul indeed. She... related to that.

"Hope isn't a finite thing," she said, "but... I agree with being tired, and not wanting to think about it. So... perhaps, while you're here... I'll... help you enjoy yourself. You don't need to think about those things all the time. Maybe when it's time to go... consider things in those last moments, try to get something to carry over. That's my plan, at least...

"Or... was my plan, until it followed me here." She had a feeling they had it easy compared to if Nova's problems had followed him, though. "With... what you saw..." she hesitated. "How much... did you witness?"

And once again, she wasn't looking directly at him. She seemed even smaller.
 
Nova kept his gaze trained on the dark depths of the cavern. Where things presumably continued down. Probably. Maybe.

"It was like being in Twilight Quarry." He lifted a gold foreleg. "There were these shapeless void shadows. The dungeon told me to kill them. I resisted but... when one ran into me I seemed to... make what little power I had disappear."

He lowered his foreleg. "Then I was in a castle. In front of a door. Dungeon told me to 'serve the king.' I walked away from the door... then you showed up." Nova paused. "Or an apparition of you. Went inside the room. I think an Alexander apparition was there. And after that... nothing."

Nova remained quiet for a little bit, before turning his concerned gaze on Mhynt. "It was brief, but you looked... empty."
 
Part of Mhynt looked relieved that Nova hadn't seen more. The rest looked ashamed at something else, quite possibly the same thing.

"...I wasn't forced so much as coerced," Mhynt began. "If I... fought back, Alexander held the key to my soul. I was under his Shadow influence already; there was no defending against that as I was. I'd become a Void Shadow if I disobeyed, so I had the choice between... obeying and losing everything of my 'self.' And then I'd obey anyway. It... it seemed like the only option while I waited... for an opportunity.

"When one finally came, I..." Mhynt was trembling. "I wonder if it was worth it. All of that, just to be saved. The people I'd sacrificed just to stay alive myself..."
 
Nova leaned over. Trying to stop the trembling by gently resting the tip of his crest on Mhynt.

"I don't know what he made you do besides being a soldier," he whispered. "You've kept it to yourself all this time, haven't you?"
 
She took in a slow, shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut. She appreciated the gesture and didn't recoil from it; that was progress. Realizing they were lingering in a Dungeon of illusions, she started walking forward, figuring it'd be wise to go ahead.

"I... I prefer this body most of the time," she said, looking at her fingers again. "It's tiny, but it... gets less attention. For all that time... I..." There was a hesitance, of course. A deep scar felt nearly tangible to Nova, even without his Psychic disk active.

But finally, over the walk, Mhynt quietly explained to Nova the truth of what was beyond that door. She spoke evenly, meticulously, nearly in a trance, perhaps to defend herself. By the end of it, she was shaking again, but not enough to halt her walk.

"...And that was my life," she concluded as if summarizing a math problem, "for over five hundred years. To be honest... I lost track of the time. Voidlands didn't have a natural sun or seasons. I'm only estimating."
 
This time it was Nova's turn to hug Mhynt. Or, at least, curl his head around her protectively.

"No one should have to go through that," he whispered. And his tone was one of... unfortunate familiarity. "I'm so sorry."
 
Mhynt nodded evenly. "Thank you," she said, looking... numb. "I really appreciate it, I do. It's just... hard to talk about. Even if people understand... Those with the Wayfarers, I'm sure they can. But... I don't see what use it brings. Everyone already understands he has to die." Mhynt finally let out a more forceful breath, which helped to normalize her pace. "That's good enough. They already have the information they need. Besides..."

Briefly, Mhynt looked puzzled.

"Of what little we know about him, I think... the transfer to this world messed up his mind slightly. That aspect of him... it's soup now. Honestly, I'm not sure if I should be relieved or disturbed."
 
"I'm not just thinking about here, though," Nova said, crest drooping. His cheek bolts slowly turned in opposite directions of one another. "What about back home? It sounds like... you finally have hope for freedom. But that's... not going to heal the scars that are there.

"I can't bear the thought of you going back home, getting rescued by Owen or whatever, but still ending up isolated. Cuz I think we both know we're... not the same people the ones who care about us remember."
 
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