Chapter 26

Hayden couldn't hold still so easily in the air, not with the wind buffeting her to either side. Even on a relatively calm day, the clouds beneath her began to drift, taking her with them. She'd be riding them wherever they went, with very little ability to resist.

Liz tucked up against her dress again, though this time it was more than just being shy. What would happen if the little mew got caught up in a gust of wind and blown away? They could think of few more painful ways to die. 

Her dress billowed about her legs, and her ponytail wrapped around her from one side in the constant gale. "I think I've… been more comfortable before," Hayden admitted. "I like the forest. But this high up…"

She looked down, and wished she hadn't. Most of the sky was covered with clouds, but there was a little gap almost directly beneath her. Through it, Shaymin House still stood, so small she could cover it with a finger at arm's length. That had to mean… they were above where most airships flew. They were higher than the birds, so high the air got hard to breathe. 

Her companion floated without difficulty, seeming not to notice the absence of a floor beneath her. The wind didn't lift her dress, nor did she shiver in the cold. "You're still a stranger to the upper air," she said, and somehow didn't need to yell. "You'll want to get to know it better before you come to our domain. Your parents in law will rarely see you on the ground. Their eyes are above the petty concerns of those who walk."

Hayden was getting used to strange accents by now. But Ilene challenged her in a way no one else but Camael had. She would've failed completely, but the mind beneath seemed like she was actively helping her. Ilene wanted Hayden to hear and understand.

"Okay," she said, wrapping her arms around her chest. Hayden had just about overcome whatever remained of her fear of heights, but this was certainly putting that to the test. She let go after a few seconds, then shook herself out. She wasn't falling. Liz wasn't going to drop her.

"It's not the heights, really. It's the cold. They put me in this silly dress. It's okay in the middle, but the top doesn't cover anything, so my shoulders are freezing."

Ilene drifted over to her and caught her by the hand. As she did, the wind abruptly fell still. Her ponytail fell limply behind her. That helped.

"Arceus created you to live in the jungle. That's where you'll feel most comfortable, no matter how human half of you is. Study some fire-type moves. Some burn within your chest, giving you warmth to overcome even the tallest mountains. You do not need them, but I suspect you'll be happy you learned."

Hayden nodded gratefully. Who could teach them fire-type moves? Maybe that typhlosion out in the woods would, if she could find him. For all the ancestors of Shaymin House were friendly with her, that was obviously beyond their power. "I guess this is the part where you're really hard on me. Everyone says it. You're… really strict or something. I dunno, it's all new to me. I thought Master Camael was pretty strict. But he didn't want to be so hard on me, Lady Gracidea made him."

Ilene watched without a word. Her daemon's attention was fixed continually on Liz. Obviously, he was watching for something, but what?

"Mew House is the oldest and most powerful of all the great families. Our power stretches back to the first empire, and to the hooves of Arceus himself. An old, great creature can feed very many parasites. Their little jaws latch on and suck away the blood."

Hayden shuddered at the thought. "Is that what I am?"

"I don't think so, but we'll find out." Ilene gestured at the empty space below them, then let go. "Our spies know of the true character of the Shaymin heir. You may have other clever imitators, trained to deceive me. Your daemon is perfect, and I detect no flaws in your mind. But there's only one way to know for sure."

Rael continued for her, speaking just as flatly. "The imitation is a pale shadow of those we serve. It can't remain in our likeness for very long. As you fly here, you strain your powers of imitation at the same time. You will fall."

"That's cold," Liz thought. "If we were a ditto, she'd drop us." 

Hayden looked down. "How long can you fly?"

The cat stretched, emerging from her dress again. "I'll die of boredom before we hit the bottom, that's for sure. Ask her if we're supposed to just sit here."

Maybe there was some truth to the reputation this Ilene cultivated for her house. She could think of no one else who could've gone to legendary families, then killed someone they claimed was an adopted member of the family. 

"Can we do something to pass the time?" Hayden asked. "Like maybe—can you tell me about you? You're… I've seen pictures of your daemon before. My brother had a book about the great ones."

Ilene and her daemon shared a look. Their steely eyes never changed, but Hayden imagined she could feel amusement from her. Hayden's response was either quite strange, or very much expected. "Jirachi," she said. "There was once a house with that name. But no longer—when I was born six centuries ago, I was the last. My parents perished, and our holdings were too small to maintain. Mew House made me an offer, and I accepted. So, I will remain, and my children after me."

"She just told us," Liz thought. "Aren't they supposed to be keeping secrets?" But the longer they floated there, the braver her daemon became, floating further and further from Hayden's dress. The wind wasn't so bad, it was just inconsistent.

"I'm sorry," Hayden said. "About your parents, and that other stuff. I don't know what I'd do if I lost my family. Leaving them was hard enough."

She shrugged one shoulder. "They rejoin the chorus of all creation, as all will in time. If you are what you seem, you will have far less time with yours than I had with mine. Perhaps I should be offering you my condolences instead."

"I…" She opened her mouth, then shut it again. Ilene had more of her respect in a few minutes than almost anyone she'd met since coming out to Shaymin House. She said what she meant and didn't try to trick her. So, Hayden wanted to give her that same respect. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Your family, what were they?"

"Eevee," she answered reflexively. "But that was just my parents. Before that, we were all kinds of things. My mom and dad were the only eevees in their families."

"Eevee," she repeated. "I can see a little of that in your face, now that I look. How long do eevee live?"

"I…" She had no answer, or no good one. "Longer than I would, if I was a ditto."

Ilene laughed again. "Not as long as we do. The Great Families would be long extinct if they were the same as other creatures. But your daemon—she lends you her strength. The more like her you become, the more of your human nature is replaced with hers. So here is my second piece of advice. If your family are common creatures, cherish your time with them. Give them all the love you have. Be there for them when their time is exhausted. Take many photographs and preserve them well. They should last better than portraits."

Hayden withdrew. She pulled her legs up to her chest, and no longer cared what it did to her modesty. Those words were far worse than a little height. "That's not fair," she whispered. "I don't like this."

She felt Ilene's hand on her shoulder. But not dragging her around the way Lady Gracidea might. Her touch was gentle, even if her fingers were unyielding metal. "I'm sorry, Lady Hayden. Nothing in this world ever will be. Not to you, not to me, not to anyone down there. Fairness wasn't what Arceus promised. He promised joy and sorrow, love and hate. You will find all of those ahead, Lady Hayden. Perhaps you already have."

She remained silent for a few seconds. Every word Ilene spoke had hidden depths, even if her tone remained incredibly flat. "You started calling me 'lady,'" she said cautiously. "What does that mean?"

"We know you aren't lying," Rael answered. He caught Liz right out of the air, zipping in a straight line instead of bobbing up and down like she did. His grip on the daemon was as firm as Ilene's. "Even if you didn't start melting yet, there's no mental conditioning that could keep you from thinking about it this long. This mew is just bored."

"Not of what you're telling us," Hayden said hastily. "People don't normally tell us the truth. They think we can't tell because we haven't studied as much, but we can always tell. They’re always in costumes, always dressed up and fake. You're not fake."

Ilene caught her hand. "I can see Shaymin House put you in a costume too, kitten. Fortunate for you they weren't dressing coal for a diamond. This is the opposite… it's a shame I can't take you with me. I fear you will have to endure more of this treatment. Years, probably."

Hayden shrugged. Maybe she should still be afraid—this woman had threatened to let her fall to her death if she was lying. Somehow, she found she didn’t care. Hayden wasn't lying, so the threat was meaningless anyway. "I don't like everyone here. But most of the servants are nice. My sister is… okay. And the wild shaymin said I can go back and spend time with them, so I probably will."

Ilene smiled. "I hope you live, kitten. Mew House needs someone with your optimism. The Great Families have spent so long fighting for power they don't spend enough on more important things, like… living. Maybe you can teach them when you visit."

Hayden nodded, though the request made very little sense to her. What did it even mean to teach someone how to live? They were already alive, and probably knew way more than she did. But if Ilene said it, it was probably true. "Oh! If you're going to teleport us back, could you explain how? Liz and I would really like to watch. We haven't figured it out yet."

"Oh. Sure." Ilene let go of her hand, patting her on the head instead. "They expect me to be grilling you on pointless nonsense anyway. If anyone asks, tell them we discussed the history and culture of Johto and the lineage of the Eldest, but that I swore you to secrecy. That should fit their expectations."

Hayden nodded eagerly. Without being told, she sat down in the air, watching intently. Liz landed in her lap, and she used her usual two fingers to keep the kitten calm. "Short-range teleportation is the easiest to learn. When you have line of sight to your destination, the orbital velocity vectors in your destination and origin cancel, so the math gets much easier. It's really just about…"

A few minutes later, they reappeared in the ballroom. Hayden's hair still looked like a mess; all her pretty makeup turned into a white smear. But Ilene didn't say a word or seem to care. "There's a separate equation for displacement of air when you reappear. But if you know the volume of your origin transpose, you can displace the same volume back where you came from, and not make noise. Make sense?"

Hayden landed on the ballroom floor. Not so much because Liz was tired as it was just nice to have the floor near her again. 

"You should practice with short distances. Breaking line-of-sight is too dangerous for a student, don't try those. When you do, use objects first. Nobody cares if you stick a glass of water into the wall. But you've only got one you."

Hayden nodded eagerly. Not all of that made sense, but Liz radiated much more comprehension than she felt. It was a power for her daemon anyway, it wasn't like Hayden would ever be teleporting herself. A little telepathy was enough.

Someone rushed inside—one of the house servants, along with a soldier. They stumbled into the open room, looking Ilene over, then Hayden. The servant wasn't one Hayden recognized exactly—someone who usually tended to the lady of the house. Her voice shook with terror as she finally spoke.

"L-Lady Gracidea reminds you that… she expects her daughter r-returned undamaged," she stammered, not looking anywhere close to Ilene's face. "Th-that she did not agree to any… potentially destructive tests of her child."

Her child. The words were like acid in Hayden's mind. Lady Gracidea, who called for the Awakened Masters and tormented her without explanation. Hayden might have even agreed to following the path of Unity, if only she had the chance. Now she never would, that opportunity was forever stolen from her. I have parents, and they aren't here.

Whether or not Eleanor would ever count as one of her sisters—that remained to be seen. She was leagues better than her mother.

"I am finished with her," Ilene said. "Inform your mistress that I will be returning to Johto with positive news. Against probability, against reason itself—you have in your possession two drops of old blood. I suggest you investigate her lineage closely. Her family are eevees—they may have brought some distant relation of the First Emperor with them across the sea, long ago."

"Does that matter?" Hayden asked, tilting her head to one side. "I thought anyone could settle as anything. Liz and I are what we are because… it's what we are."

"Yes, sweetheart. It should not matter to you. But the ancient threads of sympathy may matter to those who care about such things." She patted Hayden on the shoulder. "I believe the young master will like you. Practice your flying before next we meet."

She vanished from the hall. Hayden felt the rush of air around her, lifting her fancy ponytail and the disheveled mess Ilene had made of the rest of it.

Hayden felt relief fill the room around her. The soldier lowered his rifle, and more servants came rushing in. The servant's eyes fell on Hayden, as confused as she was relieved. "You lived. And she called you 'sweetheart'."

She nodded. "I like her."