Chapter 33

Quinn didn't stay in Absentia for very long, even by the standards of the immortal Mythical Pokémon. Within a few hours of his arrival, he started sensing discontent from the Pokémon passing outside the little capital building where he, Stella, and Cedrin gave their account of what they'd done. Soon he sensed enough anger through those doors that he paused the conference to retrieve his daughter and keep her with him through the rest of their conversation.

Vitari hadn't harmed Rose while caring for her—the Victini was no monster. But she sat on the edge of a bench in the otherwise empty playroom, not watching closely as Rose built herself an increasingly precarious maze of blocks and toys. "I heard," she said, as Quinn floated inside. "Heard what happened. Celebi who rescued us decided he would rewrite history."

He floated over, wings buzzing faster than they had to, to keep him up. The heat was still uncomfortable but didn't weaken him as it had the day he arrived at the hospital. Quinn was a stronger Pokémon now.

Importantly, his kitten was with them. He had good reason to protect them now. "You don't remember what it was like before," he said. "If you did, you would know."

She floated out of her seat, throwing up both hands. "You want me to ask to see your memories, right? I'll be amazed, and I'll get down on my knees to thank you. Perfect little Celebi and that bitch you were supposed to recruit. Is that right?"

He shrugged. It was the first option he had considered. But she had already prepared herself to refuse.

Not strong enough to stop me now. Avery had taught him how to hide thoughts or pierce them. The plan was to teach Rose together since she would have to hide her parentage one day.

Somehow he didn't think that would convince the Victini even if she saw. "No. I can see you've suffered in this timeline too. Things I don't even know."

"You should see what they did to my sister." She spread her tail feathers, flapping out of her seat. "Tail feathers don't grow back. I sometimes wake up across the house from her nightmares."

By then, Rose had stopped playing and retreated to cower behind him in a corner of the room. If he sensed it, Vitari would too. Even so, more distance meant more time to protect her. Quinn couldn't teleport, but he could do some other things.

Quinn met her eyes. "Your sister was a name on a mass where I came from, Vitari." He sent his image of the hospital—just a few seconds, and the numberless names there. He hadn't looked very long at any of them. Only the phrase at the top, explained by someone else. "To our friends who could not endure their treatment."

She didn't stop him—but her anger didn't change; her stance remained defiant. "You don't get it. You really don't get it."

She zipped past him, circling the room in a few seconds. Each window opened with a snap, letting in the sunlight from outside. A few Pokémon peered inside, then hurried past.

"You said I had infinite power, I could never lose. You have more than I ever will. You can change the past. So why did you settle for survival? You could've reconciled the admirals, could've reformed them. Instead, I hear my sister crying every night. I'll never forget my mother's body when she—"

She stopped, looking past him at the little kitten on the floor. Poor Rose had curled up into a tight ball, hiding herself in the confined space. Quinn kept himself between Vitari and the kitten as the Victini's anger grew.

No attack came. "I accept you made things better. If you hadn't, the three would not let you stay here. They might do more. But you remain. Instead, I demand you answer why. Why did you settle for good enough? If I had the power to change everything, I would go all the way back. I would stop the ideas that made cats into monsters before they began. Or maybe even… found a way to stop us from getting stuck. You could've warned everyone at the beginning."

Quinn sighed. "What I can do isn't infinite, Vitari. I wish it was. I don't want you or your sister or anyone else to suffer. But some things just can't happen. You can bend a branch only so far before it snaps. We changed what we could."

Vitari turned her back on him, floating to the window. "I trust the three. So you're right. This is the best you could do. That doesn't mean I have to forgive you. I don't think anyone will."

"I know." He floated down to the ground, scooping up his kitten into his arms. "I'm glad you get to be with your sister, Vitari. I hope she heals one day."

He did not stay long beyond that night. However word had spread, it meant remaining in Absentia became increasingly dangerous. In some ways, it wasn't even the world he had left behind. As soon as the three had learned all he had to share, it was time to leave.

Azelf and Cedrin followed him and Rose through the city, then up an elevator to the surface.

"I wonder why you have not asked about your mate," Azelf said, once the grassy floor closed around them, hiding the passage down. "You left her behind. Do you wonder after her success? Fear for her safety?"

"I wouldn't want to bring her back here with me, would I?" he asked. Rose remained in his arms as he floated, dozing lightly. But like all of her kind, part of her mind remained aware even while dreaming, enough to mitigate the weight of gravity and float her. She could be easily roused if something happened.

But after such a difficult day, Quinn wished he could sleep, himself.

"Do you know what happened to her?"

Azelf circled once around them, lifting higher. They flew through the canopy, prompting Quinn to follow. "None do. Officially, she was murdered by a persistent variant, enraged that her faction had separated their family. But no body was ever found, and the killer was never apprehended. I have considerable doubt the story is true. We allowed investigators from Starfall to search the city, and they did not find anyone who had harmed her. Perhaps no one did."

Because someone took her somewhere she wouldn't be found. No one killed her.

"You intend to travel again, Quinn? To leave this age behind?"

He nodded slowly. "I have another task, one I cannot accomplish here. The persona of Starfall, Sinnoh—it helped achieve this, save countless lives. In the future, it will be destroyed, erasing all it knows and every record of the past. I am going to travel forward and… save it.”

Azelf bobbed in the air, dropping a little lower in sudden thought. “The loss of our persona would be… a serious blow. One day, those who forced us to flee in the Sinnoh might find a way to cross the intergalactic void. If their hatred burns bright enough, they will come for us. Without that knowledge, our descendants of that future day will become casualties of a war they never saw.”

Quinn followed the Pokémon back down, matching eye-level with it. “Can you help me save it?”

Azelf laughed. “You’re a time traveler. I’m sure you can find the time to study.” They gestured, and the air beside them fuzzed, brightening. A tablet appeared there, somewhat larger than the usual model, with a ruggedized bumper around the outside and an opaque section. “I will see a new node is constructed beneath this village, deep enough that it should not be disturbed. Bring the copy there.”

Another mission—the same mission he was already on. A worthy cause, protecting a future he would never see. And for once, he had no desire to jump ahead and look.

The Pokémon nodded once to him, then turned back for the city. "Some of us may still be there. Pain fades, wounds scar over. One day they heal. The three will do what we can to change this story. You deserve no enemies for your kindness."

The fairy vanished in a flash of pale light, leaving the three of them alone in the trees.

Cedrin joined them just above, floating over to a nearby branch. He rested there, staring out over the jungle. No longer corpses covered in lichen; this place was vibrant, with many Pokémon audible there. As darkness descended, nocturnal creatures emerged from their shelters for another night of hunting, foraging, or whatever else it was they did. All alive now thanks to their work.

"Do you think Dialga will stop you?" Cedrin asked. His wings stayed open, though he wouldn't need them to balance on a branch. "He didn't seem like the forgiving type."

Quinn shrugged. "It's something Rose said—the older one, I mean. I think she grew up where I came from. But we won't know until we try."

Cedrin glanced at the kitten in his arms. "What about me? My mom—I'm sure she doesn't want to see me in this version of Starfall any more than she did in the one we left. Shoved me into the isolation hospital to die, so…"

He floated a little closer, close enough to touch the kitten's tail where it dangled. Rose opened one eye, obviously groggy. "Cedrin?"

"Sorry to wake you up, little sis. But this might be the last time I see you for a while."

"N-no." She sat up, then floated free of Quinn. He kept his eyes on her, in case she had trouble flying. She had strained herself a great deal that day, so it wouldn't surprise him. "Do you hate me too?"

"No!" He hugged her, as affectionate as any real sibling. But considering the way his actual parents had treated him… "They don't hate you. Even the ones who hate your mom and dad only feel that way because they don't understand."

"We're leaving, Daddy?" she asked, in a voice almost as small as she was. She let go of her brother, then floated unsteadily back to him. "Can we go home now?"

Her question came with memories—of the comfortable home on the jungle floor, her Pokémon friends, watching the sunset through the windows. Flying up for school at ISO-88 a few days a week, then spending the rest of the time in homeschool instruction with her mom. One day she would get to visit the big city—as soon as she learned to hide thoughts like Avery was trying to teach her.

If we go back there, this future can't exist. Quinn caught her. "We'll go somewhere safe," he said. "In the future, there's a group of Mythical Pokémon. We just have to find them, and they'll help us."

He barely remembered anything about Team Infinity—broad claims about their connections with Pokémon, claims of recapturing an ancient legacy. Not that different from what Avery had cared about more than anything. Even more than staying together for their own sake, or for their daughter.

"Are you coming too?" Rose asked, squirming in his arms until she could look back at her brother. "Do you really wanna stay here?"

"I dunno if I'm allowed," he said. He retreated a short distance, then moved closer again, as though buffeted by a wind. "Dad is going back to where he came from. I'm not from there. I think I belong here."

Quinn rolled his eyes. "You're a time traveler, Cedrin. You can belong anywhere you want. Though you're not wrong—it's a very different place. More dangerous in some ways, but safer in others. No Admiralty there, no large groups of Pokémon hating each other for no reason. But there's still evil there. Otherwise, I would be old."

He held out one hand for the other Celebi. "It's a long way to go at once. Not just centuries, a lot further. It would be easier to go together. Maybe you'll come back here after." He nodded at Rose. "We know she does. Someone must've brought her."

Cedrin took the offered hand, then squeezed. "If it's a very long way, we should focus on sympathy instead of watching time pass. Otherwise, we could miss it by a long way and end up helping in some future war. I don't wanna fight either."

"I think I know a place," Quinn said. "The day I became this. I'm sure I left enough of a footprint on that day. Thought there were some humans there who wanted to catch me. I think that's what they wanted? Not… entirely sure if they knew I used to be one of them or not."

He held up the tablet Azelf had given him. “From there, I guess we… set up somewhere, and I start homeschooling. We’ll learn together, Rose.”

The kitten giggled, nudging his leg with her head. “I’ll be a good listener, Daddy!”

Those Plasma agents were lucky he'd been so new to his powers back then. If they knew him now… the conflict would be very different. He didn't need his old partner to protect him anymore.