Chapter 65

Vision swirled through her mind, ancient memories that were not hers, yet became real through Uxie’s mastery of recollection. Just as it could take away the knowledge of all things, so too could it make those memories present and real.

An ancient throne, surrounded by marble pillars and stained glass. Intricate, impossible patterns filled the space, where smoke billowed and darkened silhouettes moved.

She couldn't even imagine how many years this must be—yet one was familiar to her. Camael stood before the throne, flanked by two others. Those must be Moltres and Articuno, though she didn't know them by name.

Most of that smoke wasn’t coming from inside the throne room—but without, staining the light deep amber.

"This destruction will only increase," said the emperor, pale makeup stained with tears. He floated before the throne, rather than sitting on it. Even in memory, that pain was genuine. "Thousands this time. It could be more."

"It will be," said another Pokemon—Mesprit, their voice high and melodious, echoing down from the rafters. Hayden's own vision came from a similar angle, no doubt where Uxie watched. How many other legendaries attended the mew's court? "Souls of great power, untempered by wisdom. This war was brief, the upstart easily felled. The next might rampage through the population for months before they're discovered. Or years."

Another mew spoke from beside the throne. She had more pokémon features than the emperor—a long tail, a braid down her head, and huge blue eyes. Her daemon was nowhere to be seen—how could she be so far away?

"There is another solution—one that does not require the people be so closely watched, their lives controlled. We could instead guide the mighty souls, so they find homes among the Enlightened. We need not adopt them—instead, I and my sisters could give them life. Then they would grow wise, power tempered."

Silence descended on the great courthouse. At first Hayden had no idea what she meant. But the watching legendaries clearly did. This mew asked for an outrage, one that passed through the room in an angry murmur.

It was a stranger who finally interrupted their silence. Something shadowy, concealed in darkness. A human stood beside the pokémon, though it was the daemon that spoke. Both were pale, radiating the strange gray light of death.

"It is natural for the living to tremble at death. Those who live should think more clearly before they make such demands of the soul. The unborn can be shaped and moved only so far. Like a spring pulled beyond its length, so the world would warp and distort, building pressure from beyond. The flow of great souls would shrivel to a trickle, until at last no more could be found, and the bonds would break."

Others appeared from the shadow of memory, standing beside the throne. One was a shaymin, wearing a dress of bright green, and holding their daemon in their arms. Not that different from Lady Gracidea, though there was something so much more alive in those fronds. Even the plants of that ancient day were so vibrant and full.

"I agree with the ghost. Life should not bend, it must grow to its form. Even when the forest is ashes, that returns the strength to the soil. The next generation will surge, free from disease and parasites. The pain of death is a natural part of life."

"You have a heart of bark and thorns, Lady Gracidea," said the mew, glaring at her. "So easy for you to proclaim that death is natural, but none of your cities were razed. Would you say differently if Jubilife had crumbled instead?"

"Something should be done," added another pokémon. They emerged from the shadows, with a body like polished white steel. Jirachi rested on their shoulder, eyes unblinking. "We were given charge over a garden. If Father returned to see such chaos, he would rule us unfaithful servants and find others. This solution of souls seems perhaps—overbearing. But I hear no alternatives. Do you have one, Eldest? Or would you wait for the next mad upstart?"

The emperor said nothing for a time. With each second of silence, the weight on him seemed to grow. "The garden is ours. When it burns because we did not act, Father looks back in judgment. We must be better caretakers—even if it means we must reshape the flow of the unborn. Can it be done, Azelf?"

The blue guardian descended from the rafters, until they were before the emperor's court. It bowed to him, with a respect Hayden doubted these pokémon would show to Lord Moonstone or any other modern pokémon.

"Not forever. A river might be forced into a new course with a great dam, but still the rain falls hard on the mountain. Snow billows in the winter, and when spring comes, the thaw brings a river."

"Not forever," the emperor repeated. "An unstable system. A wheel without balance, wobbling further and further in its course until it tore loose." He shook his head once, turning away from the guardian. Maybe he would have denied the plan then, if his wife remained silent.

She did not. "We would not need forever, Eldest. Think on that strength—great souls would not be born across the world, dying before they settled. Instead, they would be nurtured well. We would become a multitude, flooded with new strength. Enough to find new solutions to our old problems. By the time our alterations failed, we would have generations of mighty rule."

"And generations more of slow decline," whispered the dead. "Inevitably. First the surge, first the flood, then comes the withering. We would have invited it."

"Are you saying we couldn't find another solution?" demanded another pokémon—small, bright red, and burning with heat. Strange that this one lacked a human, instead of the other way around. The assembled court did not react any differently to them. "In so many years? Victory is certain. Only the method is obscure."

The ghost faded, darkness sliding back to the floor on either side. "Your decision is made. I will speak no further."

They spent the next few minutes arguing over the specifics. Most of that made no sense to Hayden, but it didn't have to. The overall truth remained—somehow, these beings would change the world so that legendaries could not be born to other families anymore. Instead of finding and adopting them, all the great pokémon would come from their own bloodlines.

As the conversation advanced, Hayden felt genuine concern for lives lost replaced with greed. With such control and greater numbers, these families would become powerful as the world had never known.

"None in this room will still rule when this power begins to fade," Uxie said, when the votes were cast and the decision was made. "You entered into this covenant, and none in the world outside had power to turn your will. When this power fades, your children will be brought to accept regardless of their desires. The world will choose for itself, with a flood as mighty as the one you held back."

"We accept this possibility," said the emperor's wife. "In the years that follow, our families will prepare. They will be mighty. When new souls come, we will have answers to the old questions."

As quickly as the memory began, it faded. Hayden was suddenly back in her own Human body, reclining in the soft grass of a forbidden grove. She couldn't say exactly how she'd gotten there, but maybe that mattered less. The Lake Guardians could obviously have killed her many times over if they wanted.

These pokémon were somehow older and mightier than any of the other legendaries—with the possible exception of the legendary birds. But maybe not, considering the role these three played in somehow controlling the fate of unborn souls.

"You're saying… there's a way to tell how someone will settle? Liz was a mew before she was born—I would never have been anything else?"

"None can be certain," said Uxie, floating close to her. Their eyes remained covered, never looking directly at her. "You less than any other who ever entered this grove. You were the first. First shard of broken glass, first splinter in the wheel."

"A thin line cut for water soon becomes a flood. You have seen it already. Others followed you, or will. Across time, space, and form." Azelf hovered just in front of her, close enough to touch. She didn't, of course. True or not, the stories of what might happen terrified her.

"You aren't mad," she realized. "Because you… didn't think it was a good idea to start with. You knew it would all break down eventually."

She felt their agreement more than saw it. Of course they didn't want the world to form in such a strange shape. Whatever pain it prevented could never compare to the suffering it caused.

They've been waiting for us, Liz thought. Maybe not us exactly. Who we represent.

"Not all from the Great Families realize who you are. Some whisper that your lineage is a lie, hidden to grant Mew House another strong matriarch. Others realize, or they will. The way you left, sheltering a celebi under your wing."

She wasn't even sure which of them had spoken that time. Their voices were different, personalities distinct—yet all three were so much more powerful than she was, and could erase her without effort. She wouldn't give them a reason.

Hayden stood up, backing away along the soft grass. She could never hope to escape them, and not just because they flew so much faster than she could. "Thank you for showing me the past," she said. "But I still don't understand the choice. What am I supposed to do? I can't choose not to be born, I'm already here."

Laughter passed energetically through the three. Though exactly what amused them—maybe she was better off not knowing.

It was Azelf who spoke first. "You opened the flow. You could close it if you wished. Reinforce their order, bind up what comes undone. If you did—others like you might not be born for another generation. The great families would continue to wither, but face no challenge. Order would be preserved."

Mesprit floated past her, then lifted higher than the others. "Another generation of decay, atrophy, and failure. Another generation for the wild powers to grow stronger, lashing out against their bonds."

She nodded weakly. Hayden knew better than to protest how unfair the decision was. If there was some other way, someone else to make the choice, she wouldn't be in that position to accept. The Lake Guardians might have turned her away until she was older, just like Camael wanted to do.

"What do you think I should do?" she asked. Part of her already suspected how they would answer. But she couldn't possibly understand everything these beings knew. Maybe inviting them would prompt one to speak more.

The three lake guardians all shared a look, floating a short distance away from her. Though none spoke, she felt the pressure of their attention, engaged in some fierce discussion. She wasn't included in the argument this time, though.

Finally it was Uxie who floated back down to her. It bobbed slowly up and down in place. "Yow saw what we did. The ancients were not driven only by control. Many mighty souls went undiscovered, growing in power and slaying many. That will begin again, and the innocent will die. But if nothing is done, the families will weaken until they cannot maintain order and the wild powers strike out from their domains and slaughter."

And somehow she was the one who had to decide—not the ancient legendaries who took the world to this position, or some representative of the ordinary pokémon who would be forced to live with the consequences.

We know them both, Hadie, Liz thought. Her daemon landed on her shoulder, nudging up against her cheek. Not many do. The great families don't respect smaller lives. Common pokémon don't understand how dangerous the world really is. We do.

No matter what decision Hayden made, there would be deadly consequences. At least now she knew what the guardians meant. The Great Families would hate to see their monopoly ended, even if it was slowly killing them. How many years did it take Mew House to create an heir?

"We have to fix the world," Hayden finally said. "Obviously. Make it so… people can settle properly. That doesn’t mean they have to run wild and grow up into monsters. If they can find me, they can find the others, raise them properly. Adopting me worked out pretty good."

The guardians nodded their agreement. "The path of change, the path of pain. But perhaps, the path of wisdom."