Chapter 24

Hayden floated in the girls' bath. It was much bigger than anything on the other side, big enough for several to share it all at once if they wanted. Importantly, there was no one to tell her that she couldn't do it. There was no one to tell her not to fill the whole thing with hot water, and dump all kinds of different soaps in. These were her rules to make, or to break, however she wanted. 

She was still embarrassed when she looked down at herself in the water, at least some part of her was. But knowing there was someone out there, somewhere, somewhen, who thought she was cute this way—even if she didn't exactly understand it, it still helped. 

Somewhere out there was a celebi, tangled up in her timeline tighter than the time she'd unspooled a whole bobbin of thread and her parents made her slowly wrap it back up. Maybe it should scare her, but it was the opposite. Any second now a time traveler might show up, and whisk her away on another amazing adventure. Maybe the next one would be a little further from home. 

Liz floated in the steamy air above the water, rather than getting wet. She'd already washed in the first few minutes, and now she was slowly drying off, sharing in Hayden's relaxation. She was also the one to notice someone coming.

Hayden felt it through her, but didn't open her eyes. She was too relaxed, and there were enough different colored bubbles that she wasn't worried about being seen.

"Hey," Eleanor said. Weight shifted on the edge of the bath, but there was no splash.

Hayden opened one eye to look. Eleanor perched on the railing, fully dressed. Her daemon plopped right in at the other end, well away from where Hayden might accidentally brush him. 

She closed her eyes again, continuing to float there. "Hey."

"Brought something for you. Package from your family, I think. It's in your room."

Hayden pushed herself back to the bench, still fully submerged. "Thanks."

Eleanor eyed her. After a week with Cody, Hayden could see differences now. Eleanor's eyes didn't linger the way Cody's did. Her curiosity was a very different kind. "I was wrong before. Getting upset—I know you don't have a lot of friends right now. I shouldn't make this any harder."

Hayden smiled weakly up at her. She wanted to tell someone what she'd been through—about the secret valley of the shaymin, and the ones who lived there. Hell, she wanted to fly there with chocolate to pay them for their lessons, and maybe get some more.

But she couldn't, not without revealing Cody. If she did that, he might not be able to come back. Or… she? It would be hard to think of the older, girl version after spending so much longer with the boy one.

"I'm sorry if we did something wrong. If you don't want us to be shaymin again, we don't have to do it around you. We don't mind learning other transformations instead."

Eleanor nodded. "Impossible promise, kid. I've seen the way you two are. You chase whatever's hardest, whatever's the most out of reach. And even if you didn't, my mother already knows you can do it now. She'll make you do it for every holiday and special occasion where we aren't meeting with other great families, you'll see. Better to have at least one daughter who can look the way she should."

Hayden floated over to where Eleanor sat. She didn't touch her leg, considering she was still wet. Everything was, really. "Have you thought about… putting more time into Unity?" she asked, as gently as she could.

Eleanor choked back a laugh. "Once we settled, my family didn't make me study Unity again. Common pokémon who serve the great families are still permitted in the shrine. But it wasn't required of me. Why should I bother?"

Liz landed beside her on the railing, just out of reach. Not as close as she would've done for Cody. "When we got this far, I got a lot stronger. Hayden is too. Her brain has all kinds of things inside it that weren't there before. If you keep studying, you'll get a lot stronger too. Maybe you could copy legendaries for longer. We don't mind if you want to practice on us. We like being around other mythicals."

This time Eleanor did laugh. "I doubt that. The only one you're ever with is my mother. I don't think there's a soul alive who enjoys being around her. Not since I settled, and all her ambitions started crumbling. Failure after failure."

Right. "You did pretty good copying us this morning," Hayden said instead. "And dealing with all this hair. I wish I hadn't got rid of it. I tried to do what you did, but even with Liz helping I couldn't get it right." She gestured over her shoulder, where her greatly inferior braid still hung in the water.

Eleanor squinted down, then stood up. "How'd you get it so dirty so fast? There are sticks in there this time. And… some orange. Is that fabric?"

"Probably vulpix. It helped keep me warm one n—their fur kinda goes everywhere."

Eleanor snapped her fingers. "Well, untie that. I'll help you again, but this time you're gonna pay attention. You don't have a long time to learn. Now that you've changed, my mom isn't going to let you rest long. She'll move forward with her plans for Mew House. If you think Mrs. Boylston is bad, just wait until you meet those jerks from Johto."

She didn't try to borrow more clothes from Eleanor this time. After seeing what happened to the last outfit she'd loaned, the true heir of Shaymin House didn't seem eager to share it, anyway. 

So she wore only a towel when she finally crossed out of the shared bathroom and into her own new quarters. Of course they were on this side of the estate—Lady Gracidea didn't care about how Hayden felt. There would be no cooperating with her desires, no matter how strong.

Her new bedroom was the same size as the old one—but that was about the only thing it had in common. The entire space still smelled like fresh paint and drywall, obviously just rebuilt. Gone were the shaymin gardens of Eleanor's own space, and the little fountain of water that kept it smelling so natural.

There was a fresh mural, but entirely unlike the pine trees and alpine environments. Instead it was dense jungle, with cliffs that bordered on the sea. Huge trees towered across both floors, with vines that somehow became real, growing down from the balcony window all the way to the ground. Her bed was up on that floor, entirely suspended from the ceiling without any physical method to reach it. 

The bottom floor was styled like the shrine, with strange swirling patterns on the floor and several large crystals to form the focuses for her meditation. She had storage and a desk—but those too were on the second floor, along a walkway without rails about twelve feet up. 

The only other feature on the ground floor was a large walk-in closet, bigger than Eleanor's awkward arrangement of wardrobes.

Hayden stumbled inside, to shelves and hangers that were almost entirely empty. They'd given her none of her clothing from the other side. There were a few drawers of identical folded underwear, and a handful of old dresses and nightgowns. There wasn't a single pair of trousers.

"Was honestly expecting… more from in here," Hayden said, glaring at the nearest dress. These were all meant for casual wear, the kind of thing Eleanor wore to their tutoring sessions. At least they hadn't given her dozens of fancy gowns covered in bows and many pounds of fabric.

"They'll want to make it all from scratch." Eleanor lingered in the doorway, with a little fox perched on her shoulder. An eevee, though whether in solidarity or mockery to Hayden she still didn't know for sure. "Tailor wanted to see you earlier today, but you went out. Probably tomorrow instead."

"My parents were tailors," she said. "Do you think the family would let me commission them instead?"

Eleanor laughed. Loch hopped down from her shoulder, and started poking around in dark corners, sniffing at everything he found. "The price they would've charged? Don't even bother asking permission, just ask the steward for some money. Don't expect to be able to wear it very often. You have to reflect well on the family. You're my mother's golden gamble."

Hayden removed her towel, and dressed in fresh underclothes. Her week with Cody was amazing, but lacking nice, clean clothes had started to grate on her. She couldn't stay out in the woods like that forever, not without some soap and a proper laundry. She needed one of those buckets and metal boards her mom used at home.

Nothing else she saw quite appealed to her, so she left those behind, making her way back into the bedroom. So long as the door was shut, she didn't have to worry about anyone else seeing her. Eleanor didn't care.

She found the package from her parents resting on the floor below her desk. She stared up over her head, glaring at the desk from below. "There's not even a chair. How the heck do I use this?"

"Fly," Eleanor said flatly. "I've never seen a mew walk. They float everywhere, all the time. They don't sit on things, they just go wherever they want, whenever they want."

Liz mewed weakly. "Float her everywhere? I'm tired just thinking about it."

Eleanor shrugged. "You think they care how we feel? What happens is we do exactly what they want, and thank them for the opportunity. I don't envy you, going over to Mew House. No idea what living with them is like. I've never even met their kid. He's… not allowed to meet common pokémon."

Loch slunk his way out of the closet, then backed towards the door. Eleanor followed. "Enjoy this time off while you get it, Hayden. Mrs. Boylston will be back with a vengeance next week. She’s got a lot to teach you in a very short time, so I'm sure it will be… miserable."

Not exactly selling me on it, Hayden thought. But Eleanor was right about one thing. No one cared what the two of them thought. They'd be expected to do exactly what the family required, and all of their complaints would be ignored. 

The ditto left her alone, and Hayden finally had a private moment to open the box. Her parents probably sent it over a week ago, maybe longer. She didn't actually know how long it took boxes to travel around the world.

She had to sit on the floor while she opened it, untying the twine and then peeling away the paper from around a box.

Inside were a few outfits—pink trousers, and a few plain white shirts. They still smelled like home. She held them close against her chest and cried for a little while, smelling the familiar scents on the fabric. Mom had made these, and Evelynn helped. The stitching wasn't half as fine as what the legendaries wore, and the fabric was much stiffer and rougher against her skin. She didn't care. Hayden put the trousers on, then the shirt. It hung so loose over her shoulder that it slipped off on one side. The trousers wouldn't stay up either, not without a belt. The legs hung to her toes, so she had to roll them up. She didn't care.

There was a letter too, a single page written in Mom's handwriting.

"Hayden,

Everyone still misses you. We would rather have you back than all the money in the world. But at least we won't have to worry about that anymore. Ellie is finally back to normal. She's upset she never got to see your daemon. But I think she still understands how much you did for her.

No matter what happens out there, we know you'll make us proud. Visit as soon as you can.

Love,

Mom"

Her sister didn’t remember their last meeting together. For her, boy Hayden stopped existing the moment she got sick. In a way, maybe he had.

Her mom that didn't even know what had happened to her. Her family didn't know Unity existed. Since changing, not even Holland had come back to visit. Maybe they could, one day. If she was going to visit Johto to meet with mew, she'd have to take a boat. Could she persuade them to go through her old town instead of another port?

That was a question for another day. At least for the time being, Hayden felt much better. Her body would take some getting used to, but she'd figure it out. The hardest part was finding a way to tell them.

Better put it in my next letter, or Holland might be the one to tell them. 

She could worry about that after a good night's rest. She deserved a break.