Chapter 13

Hayden had hurt before. He'd spent his entire life essentially on his own on the streets of Sunyshore. That meant plenty of little fights with other kids, it meant falling off things he tried to climb, or tripping off a pier into the ocean. Mostly it meant bruises and cuts in the constant pressure of street war between the sailor kids and the townies.

Other kids could be vicious and cruel, but none of them had ever hurt him like his new sensei. Should he feel better that she wasn't trying to cause him pain? Liz couldn't read a single thought from her mind, not while she was fighting for her life, but Hayden saw no pleasure on the woman's face. 

She guided Hayden through one painful stance to the next. With each one, she coached him through another step in the meditation. But how was he supposed to understand what it felt like to be a mew while his own body shook from pain, and any time he tried to relax she smacked him with her bamboo cane?

Liz put up a good fight. But in the end, she was the first one to give out. Loch never let up, not giving her an opening in his frequent attacks to transform into something with less of a disadvantage.

When she collapsed, so did Hayden. He dropped to the grass, his whole body shaking, and limbs refusing to respond. He'd seen plenty of competitors drop this exact same way in the battle league. He never could've imagined just how much pain they were in.

Tears blurred his vision. He managed a faint crawl across the grass towards where Liz had fallen. He ignored the other daemon, ignored the threat of his sensei's wrath, and pulled Liz into his arms, sheltering the bruised and bloody daemon with his own body. 

Not even Corrin would've beaten him this badly. No new territory was worth this, no street war mattered this much. 

"Why would they do this to us?" Liz squeaked, desperate and confused. She was no longer rational, no longer able to even float in his arms. If she'd fought any longer, she might've been seriously hurt. 

"It is at the very edge of your strength that the power of Unity is manifest," Maylene said. She dropped down beside Hayden, resting one hand on his shoulder, helping him into a sitting position. "Both halves must be strained to breaking. Extreme danger can sometimes cause this to happen. Civilized people prefer a safer option. The pain is real, but so are our results."

Hayden could barely even focus on her as she held up a little reflective mirror for him to see. He stared back, and at first saw nothing at all. Suddenly, it became impossible to miss: his eyes. One remained hazel, while the other was crystal blue, exactly like Liz's.

"Give your daemon this," Maylene continued, settling something into his hand. A berry, bright yellow with little orange spots. He'd eaten one very like it the night before.

He lowered it down towards Liz, then helped her take her first bite. By her third, the life had returned to her. Her tail began to twitch, and her eyes were no longer glazed. 

The sensei stood. "Eleanor, you've done well today, you can go." 

The girl stood up, bowed, and made her slow way back to the lockers. She kept glancing back towards Hayden, obviously concerned. 

Only when she was gone did Maylene continue. "There exists a bond between human and daemon. Invisible, intangible, yet critical to your survival. Without it, you would both die. What we do here—strengthens that bond, well past what it would ever naturally reach. When your lives are threatened, when your strength fails you—your instinct is to reach along that bond, to provide strength to your other half, or to draw on them for support.

"I am sorry we must cause you so much pain here, mew. But Shaymin House requires that you ascend the first two pillars of Unity. As difficult as this will be, please trust that it will be worth the pain."

She offered her hand, and Hayden took it. His legs almost gave out under him, but he kept standing. Barely. "How many of those pillars did we do today?"

Maylene laughed. Even her daemon joined in, if only briefly. "Your older sister has not yet crested the second pillar in years of study. I suspect she will, as soon as she braves her first encounter with a Guru. But her mother would never summon one of their kind for Eleanor. You, on the other hand—Lady Gracidea will bring one of the Ancient Masters here as soon as I believe you are ready for their teaching. Learn swiftly."

She turned, leaving Hayden alone on the grass. He cried for a bit, sheltering Liz close to his chest. "Were we weak?" he whispered. "I don't feel weak. We fought so many battles."

"In the gutter," Liz answered. "No one ever fought like this before. Eleanor was right about how much danger we're in." She was too small to finish the whole berry. She shoved it back, and Hayden took the last few bites. He felt a little better then, his bruises throbbing less intensely. He stumbled to his feet. His ceremonial robes were now covered with dirt, sweat, and blood. 

At least there was no one left to accost them all the way into the locker room. Inside there was a basket waiting for dirty clothes, along with somewhere to shower before dressing again. There was no privacy in that space, but thankfully the soldiers from earlier were long gone.

When Hayden finally emerged, he found Eleanor and Loch waiting in the hall. She caught him by the wrist before he could walk away. "Hayden. I… I'm sorry about in there. We didn't know—"

She fell silent. Her daemon spoke for her, a little blob in her arms. "You're mew! You're the strongest of Arceus's chosen! I thought you would beat us easily!"

Hayden sighed, keeping Liz tucked away against his chest. For the first time, she made no move to try and escape. She said nothing, but her shame radiated through Hayden like a dirge. She felt like she'd failed him, even though she'd done nothing wrong.

"How long have you been battling, Eleanor?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "Liz and I have never been in a Gym before. Fights for us were always—one or two quick moves, then you know who the loser and winners are. Regular people don't learn how to fight like that. I don't know if we could. Hurting another person's daemon like that, just feels wrong."

Eleanor let go of his shoulder. "You won't get a choice, Hayden. Great Families—we're not like regular people. We sometimes have to stop rampaging legendaries. We have to protect our regions from threats the army can't handle. And if that isn't enough, there's a constant risk of assassins, coups, and rivals from inside our own families."

She wandered past him, barely even whispering. "Those are the most dangerous of all. Can't ever show weakness, can't edge an inch out of line. We're the chosen of Arceus. When we fall short, we show our people that we may not be worthy of our divine right to rule."

"That's not how families are supposed to be," Hayden argued. He didn't follow her, just raised his voice. "I love my family. If they were here right now, they'd make everything better. They wouldn't stand for this… Unity training."

"You have to learn," Eleanor said. "Shaymin are the gentlest of the Great Families, Hayden. If you run into Mew House as a defenseless little kitten, they'll hollow you out and turn you into their pawn without you ever realizing it. I know how much it hurts, but my mom is trying to protect you. You need Unity to survive what's coming. Your daemon needs to be strong. I'm sorry we hurt you, but we were just trying to help you get there."

She left.

A few seconds later, Hayden made his slow way back to his bedroom. He finally dug out the pen and paper, and started to write. 

Of course he knew there would be no privacy in its contents. There was no point begging for help, because they couldn't give it. Even if they wanted to, Shaymin House would not let such a letter leave.

"Dear Family,

I hope Ellie is feeling better. I think about you guys every day. I miss your cooking, Evelynn. I miss helping around the shop, and exploring the streets of Sunyshore. 

I've seen some amazing things since coming to Shaymin House. They really are just as special as everybody says. They have very high expectations, and I worry I can't measure up. But I'll try my best.

Having a mew for a daemon still feels like a dream. I know life would've been simpler for all of us if I didn't. I'm sorry it didn't work out that way.

Are the Shaymins giving you the support they promised? Next time somebody needs medicine, they should just be able to buy it.

I saw Holland today. He was just promoted to the personal guard of Shaymin House, so I'll see him a lot!

Mostly I think I'll be in school a lot. But Lady Gracidea says I can have more freedom once I've mastered more of my powers. Maybe when I get strong enough for her, I'll be allowed to go home and visit!

I have a new sister here—her name is Eleanor. She is hard to get along with, but I'm learning a lot from her.

Could you ask Hunter what he knows about Celebi? What were they like, before they went extinct? I'd like to know everything he knows.

Love everyone. Miss you.

Hayden"

He sent it the next day, just before class. Predictably, he spent those next few hours getting berated by Mrs. Boylston for all the holes in his schooling. She built a long list of all the things he would have to learn in order to be a “good match,” whatever that meant.

As it turned out, Unity instruction came only every other day. The rest of the time, he was expected to be inside the shrine, meditating on his own. That meant several boring hours, but he would gladly take a little dullness over pain and violence. 

As for the rest of his time, he was largely on his own. For the first week he wandered the grounds, avoiding Eleanor and anyone else who might interrupt his solitude. But the truth was Hayden craved company. His family was huge, and time alone basically didn't exist. The longer he spent alone, the more insane he started to go. 

After another week, he followed Eleanor out of their morning class, stopping her in the hall. "You think we could—maybe see some more transformation?" he asked, timidly. "Liz and I have practiced on our own, but we'd do better with an expert around."

"That is what we're best at," Eleanor said. "I guess so. Just don't get us into trouble. Mom already hates us enough without your help."

He wouldn't have called Eleanor a “friend” after that, not so soon. Every few days his sensei still made them fight. Liz always lost, but by less and less each time. Whenever Loch used an interesting new move, it didn't take long for her to figure out how to throw it right back. Most of the time she didn't even need to change to do it. 

When it finally felt like Hayden might win their next fight, Maylene turned everything upside-down, and finally made good on her promise to step in and fight Hayden herself. 

All Ahuiliztli's progress felt suddenly struggling and feeble compared to an opponent like her lucario. Loch's fights were playful, changing into something else each time, and trying to catch Hayden off-balance. Lucario just attacked with perfect martial technique, striking Liz down over and over again.

There were some other battles along the way—house servants who volunteered, and gave them Liz's first real taste of victory. But after a few of each, Maylene herself would always rejoin the fight, and leave Hayden bruised bloody by the end.

It did make a difference. Hayden's other eye changed to Liz's blue after the first week. By the end of the first month, he had streaks of pink hair in his dark brown. Maylene praised him for it, but when the lessons were over, he still felt self-conscious. 

He told Eleanor as much, while they both waited in the shrine one afternoon. "Don't you think that pink is…" He ran one finger through that side of his bangs, which seemed to grow faster than the rest of his head, no matter what he did. "A little girly?"

She shrugged. "I guess. Just try and remember that you're getting stronger, Hayden. One day you'll be pink, but anyone who mocks you for it won't make that mistake twice. I don't think it's that bad—kinda goes with your eyes."

"If you don't like it, you can always change," Loch suggested. "You can be any color you want, not just pink."

Hayden got his first letter back after two months living at Shaymin house. It had a few photos of the shop, looking noticeably less run-down than he remembered. The front windows weren't cracked anymore, they'd replaced all the old wooden shelves, and the stock on every shelf looked new.

"We wish you were here," his mom wrote. "But you don't have to worry about us while you're gone. Half the world knows about you now. Every ship that docks in Sunyshore has a handful who want to see the place a mew grew up.

Ellie is walking on her own now. If the business keeps going this well, we might be able to send Hunter to an actual university!

Your father wants you to know that he loves you too. We're both proud of you. We were proud of you before you turned into a miracle. The real miracle was what you did for your sister, not how your daemon looks.

I will make you some new clothes with mew colors instead of eevee browns, and send them soon. We've written to Holland and told him to keep an eye on you, but I'm sure we didn't have to. He's proud of you too, despite that shock you gave him the first time.

Your brother says it will take him more time to research Celebi, like you asked. He’s going to write on his own. Probably isn’t urgent, since the house is dead and all. But if I know him, he’ll be digging through every old book he can find until he gets the one he’s looking for.

Miss you.

Love always,

Mom"

He cried a little, then pinned the photos to his wall. It hurt not to see them for this long—he'd spent many nights curled up and crying in his bed, missing them. But seeing his family were okay gave his own life meaning. 

By pleasing Lady Gracidea, he made sure the ruler of their region would continue to honor her promises towards them, and never had any reason to punish them. That was enough to spend endless painful hours in the shrine. He had people to protect.

And at least a little piece of him wanted to see just what they could turn into, together. He'd spent his young years as a person who couldn't change much, only accept it. But maybe, with a little time and a lot of work, he could turn into something else.