Chapter 39

Hayden had been small before. Her new skill with transformation let her change into people who were several years younger, if she wanted to. She could be big muscular pokémon, or small ones. But whatever Lord Moonstone had done to her was on another level entirely.

She was small enough to hold in someone's hand. But—would anyone be allowed to touch her? Was she a daemon now? 

She still had one. Liz circled around her, inspecting her in the dim light emanating from the cloth entrance. Her daemon was the one holding up the room, she felt that in the subtle warping of gravity just past her own body. 

"He told me what would happen," Liz finally said. "While you were talking, we were talking too."

Hayden stretched her strange limbs, trying to orient herself. This was bewildering, but not as confusing as she had feared. In some ways, she'd been a mew for months now. Part of Hayden had been pokémon since she was born. She had all of Liz's own coordination in there somewhere. They had the same memories. Until that moment, she had never needed to understand them.

Finally, Liz's words penetrated the haze. "You didn't warn me! You could've told me not to drink it."

It was hard to think of her daemon as a kitten right now, not when they were twins. She floated directly in front of her, then started tugging by the neck. Since Hayden was floating, she had no leverage to resist, and started drifting towards the opening.

"Then he would've just made you drink it anyway. You know how they are. We never get to choose."

She chose to float along willingly, out the opening in front of her. There wasn't a sitting room out here anymore.

Instead, she saw trees, so large they were barely curved walls of wood stretching out of her view. Brush and shrubs surrounded her on all sides, ferns that curved as tall as buildings. 

Hayden clutched onto the edge of her gown with her teeth. They were sharp enough to bite little holes in the silk, holding her firmly. "It's too big out there!"

Liz stopped tugging, floating past her, out into the starlight. The moon was full overhead, and the jungle thick with life. Yet somehow, the two of them were still connected. The kitten could fly away a short distance, but any further and it would hurt. "Big as it always is. You're not actually scared, are you?"

The question was pointless. Hayden was terrified, and Liz would know even if she wasn't a powerful legendary. Her tail curled around her several times, but that offered little comfort. She was naked, she was tiny, and she was surrounded by confusion.

Hayden stopped biting her dress. It didn't taste good. "Why would he do this to us? I can't give his son an heir like this! We could both fit in one of Julian's shoes."

Thinking about him made her fear settle to the background, replaced by a far more important emotion. It would be nice to find another mew to play with. Aerie could teach them way faster this way! Or Ilene, even. Where was she?

"His reasons were… confusing," Liz said. "You have no idea how smart he is, Haydie. He's so big and powerful and wise. Even if I don't get it, he must have a good reason. He doesn't hurt people just because he can."

What about all those people he dueled to death? Hayden thought. Scared or not, she couldn't just hide in her dress. It was boring to stay in one place, just like it was boring to stay as one thing. But she felt no desire to transform now—she already felt enough confusion in the body of the pokémon she knew best.

She floated up a little higher, close to where human head-level would be. She could almost pretend nothing was different, except for the wind in her fur, and the long tail standing almost straight down underneath. 

"Bad people, bad kings. Tyrants and abusers. They always think they're stronger, they get baited into fights, and he wins. He really does rule the world."

Hayden spun on her, her coat puffing up to several times its previous size. "You're not mad! Look what he did to us! He can't take my humanity away and kick us into the woods!"

"I don't think he did." She circled past Hayden, rubbing up against her. It slowed her breathing, calming her for reasons she didn't understand. Not as nice as a huge hand against her back, but it would have to do. "You're right, he wants a partner for his son. He wants an heir."

They weren't alone anymore. Hayden hadn't noticed until that moment, or maybe she just didn't want to notice. If there were eyes, creatures would see her. She drifted closer to Liz, floating a little higher. "Then what do you call this?" she asked, her tiny voice turning into a shrill squeal. "See this? Paw, little claws when I stretch… Arceus that's weird."

Her daemon licked her once, right over her face. It should've felt gross, but the disgust just didn't come. "Breathe, Hayden. If you keep panicking eventually it will be stronger than me and we'll both freak out."

The first dark outline appeared from the gloom, approaching with a slick, moist sound. But whatever hope that it would be Loch appearing to rescue them was instantly dashed.

This creature was larger, with a purple-gray skin that held it almost solid. Its eyes were gooey green dots, more distinct than the fake imitations that Loch used. It waved up at them with stubby limbs. "Mew? Are you lost?"

"Yeah!" Liz floated down to them, albeit not quite within reach. "Very. Where are we?"

Hayden followed, keeping behind her twin, further away. They might look the same, but only one of them knew any pokémon attacks. If they had to fight, Ahuiliztli would have to protect them.

"Warm, damp. Nicer than home. Mother says that's far away. Flew here from another place."

Was this little slug even capable of hurting them? Its eyespots weren't even pointing at them. Its antennae waved frantically through the air, exactly in their direction. So, it could see.

"Do you have a human?" Hayden asked, tentative. "Are you a daemon?"

The slug answered with a simple gurgling sound, maybe a laugh? It radiated amusement. "Came here to get away. Only the mew come here, and you don't tell us what to do."

"Maybe we're not lost," Liz said, floating closer to them. There were other creatures watching from the darkness around them—a strangely varied band of different species. Hayden recognized a single umbreon in the group from their glowing marks. "Where do the mew go when they come here? We don't know anything."

"Course you don't," said someone else. A kirlia stepped out of the woods. Wild kirlia? Hayden hadn't even known they could be wild. She advanced on them, spinning as she came with graceful arcs. "Look how small you are. First time."

There aren't any people here. I'm talking to pokémon. She could understand them, without using a connection to her daemon to translate. She could understand pokémon!

"Are we allowed?" she asked, floating in a slow loop. "We just want to… visit."

"Mom says you gave us this place," the slug said. "Nobody would say you can't be here."

It wasn't the pokémon that scared her—Hayden had already seen the way they acted in the wild. They weren't threatening or scary. The scary part was being tiny. "That’s good. Where's the safest place we could go? It's… big. Here is big."

"Visitors," someone else said. She wasn't sure which pokémon it was—a grass type she couldn't name. It was bigger than a human. "That would be safest."

"You could go there," the slug-thing agreed. "You don't know where. Want help?"

"Please," Liz and Hayden said, in the same breath. "We don't want to get more lost."

It wasn't the first-time wild pokémon had shown Hayden where to go. Even so, this was the first time she had ever understood what they were saying. More than the general sentiment of curiosity and protectiveness, she could overhear some of their conversations.

Maybe calling them “conversations” was a little too strong. They spoke in very simple phrases, often to ask or answer very simple questions. As they traveled, they attracted a growing crowd of curious animals, who each needed to find out what was so interesting in the middle of the night.

Hayden didn't know where they were going, they only repeated that the visitor would be taken to the safest place. They believed it, that was what mattered. If these animals were even capable of deception, she would've felt it from them. 

She flew in relative silence, listening to the pokémon talk.

"The mew is here."

"They smell different."

"Are different. New kittens from the big place."

"Too small to be on their own. Where's their mother?"

Finally, someone got brave enough to ask—the kirlia, dancing her way closer to them. "Why are you out here, kittens?" she asked. "You should be in the nest. Even friendly places can be dangerous."

"We want to be in the nest," Hayden answered, glum. "I think we're supposed to be here, but we don't know why." 

A hand touched her, running gently through her coat. Well—it was almost a hand. There were a few short fingers, so it was close. She was nervous and lonely enough that it felt nice either way. "Growing up is hard, kittens. But you can do it."

"Hayden," she said, more relaxed. "I'm Hayden. This is Ahuiliztli."

The pokémon laughed. "Hard to remember. Maybe try, maybe not."

"Almost there," said the slug. "Are you going in?"

"No!" Kirlia said, almost instantly. "It's not for us. You go, kittens. Through there."

She pointed. Hayden's eyes were sharper in the dark than she remembered, she didn't need to rely on Liz to see for them both anymore.

Could this be a trap? Hayden sensed no hostility from the pokémon around her, but that didn't necessarily mean she was safe. Powerful legendary pokémon could hide their thoughts from her. Even these pokémon might be wrong without being hostile. There could be danger in there.

"There's not," Liz thought to her, absolutely confident. That was enough to convince her, even if she couldn't understand what would make her daemon so sure about it. Liz floated away, through the curtain of leaves into the strange hollow within.

"Thanks for helping us!" Hayden called, floating reluctantly after her daemon. They were still connected, and any attempt to get away from her was utterly vain. She would be pulled, one way or another.

"No problem!" came the reply, from kirlia. "See you again soon, kittens!"

Then she was through, into a distinctly artificial space. The walls were made from bound leaves and branches, forming a living enclosure that curved in the middle. The hollow center was enormous from her size, though it would be fairly cramped for humans. There was a sleeping bag here, and sitting on it—

She stopped in the air, tail curling around herself again. That wasn't just anyone—it was Cody.

Cody was older than she'd seen since their first meeting, about the same age as Ilene. She wore tough ranger's clothing, though Hayden couldn't identify the material. Something reflective, whatever it was.

She had a little flashlight too, so small she could've held it in her fist, yet as bright as indoor lights. How often did she have to change the batteries to keep a torch that bright?

"Been waiting for you," said a voice, close enough to make her squeal with surprise, and nearly drop out of the air. Sierra floated up to her, except—the fairy was so big! She stretched to twice Hayden's size, both huge eyes locked on hers. "How is the kitten doing?"

"Small," she answered. Hayden floated vertically, letting her tail straight down below her. "Lost. Confused."

The daemon flew up to her, then pulled her in close for a hug. It didn't matter if she was pokémon-sized now—the intimacy was as strong as ever. Cody's trust for her was complete. And the trust she had to have in return. "So pretty much the same as always. Only now you're lost at pocket size."

Hayden hissed under her breath, looking away from the daemon. "I'm doing my best! We can't all see the future."

Sierra carried her lower, right into the shelter. Liz flew up to Cody, up against her hand. For a few seconds it got hard to think. Cody knew exactly where to pet her to make her the most comfortable as fast as possible. But Sierra held her in place, so she wouldn't drift.

"We don't see into the future," Cody said, gently. "But we do visit. You travel through time too, Hadie—you're just slower at it. One second at a time."

That time Liz shared her frustration. She stretched out, biting one of Cody's fingers. Not hard—she didn't taste blood. Just enough to express her kitten annoyance. "You never warn us!" Hayden exclaimed, floating free of Sierra. "You should've told me I was going to—"

"What?" Cody interrupted. Her other hand was too fast, snatching Hayden out of the air before she could get away. She pressed one finger gently against the back of her neck, relaxing her enough that she couldn't struggle. Hayden's legs stretched out behind her, tail curling around Cody's wrist. "I thought Ambrosia was your favorite food."

Before her unwilling transformation, Hayden had tasted the most wonderful thing, so sweet that she couldn't have described the flavor even if she wanted to. It was the aftermath that gave her pause. Shame that the side-effect of something so delicious was to make her into a tiny, defenseless cat.

"Can you at least tell me if it will wear off? Or maybe… where I can find an antidote?"

Cody leaned back against the shelter wall, settling Hayden down on her knee. Liz vanished into her shirt, curling up somewhere warm. Some of that comfort would reflect back onto her, whether she wanted it to or not. 

"Doesn't last long for someone as powerful as you. The real danger is understanding your daemon too well. Unity means sacrificing your humanity, Hadie. Keep at it for too long, and you won't have any left."

She brushed two fingers down Hayden's back. She arched it reflexively, leaning into the pressure. "I wouldn't… want…" She started purring. It was too hard to do that and talk at the same time, or think, for that matter.