Chapter 61

Hayden knew in that instant why the child had seemed so familiar. She'd never known Cody this young, much as she'd never seen Sierra before she settled. But now that she was exposed, no doubt remained.

"No way that's real." Julian turned towards the noise, the same as so many others. He could barely wait two seconds before a half-dozen soldiers appeared from nowhere, rushing to separate them from the intrusion.

More precisely, the guards of Mew House took hold of Julian, pulling him away from her and back towards his family. "Hey! I'm not in danger! Hayden's right here, and she's a better fighter than… leave me alone!"

Their obedience did not go so far as to obey his dictates. Meanwhile, some of the watching people moved towards the shouts, rather than away from it. Servants scattered, while soldiers all converged, moving to form an enclosure around a single position.

Hayden flew towards it, as fast as the ancestors among the Shaymin had trained her. So fast that the hem of her dress whipped at the heads of walking legendaries, and trailing silk ripped off from the force.

Importantly, her rush of speed had the desired effect, blasting her towards her target. A servant stumbling backward through tables of food, clasping his arms protectively around his daemon.

As she approached, a guard who had already been on this side rushed towards them, club raised to beat Cody into submission.

But then the grass at his feet rose up in a sudden rush of thick vines, knocking the man flying through the air. "Get away from us!" they yelled together, loud enough that the common guards all dropped to the ground. A few had blood dribbling from their noses, while some others just looked confused.

Hayden's mind was far too disciplined to be affected by such an attack. Unfortunately for Cody, the other patrons were similar.

"Don't get any closer!" they yelled—this time not out at everyone, but only at Hayden. "We'll kill you if we have to!"

Hayden landed a few feet away from them, tearing the beautiful hem of her silk kimono in the process. She turned both hands out and spoke with the gentlest telepathy she could.

“Cody, listen to me. I'm not going to hurt you.”

His attention focused instantly on her, instead of the dense crowd of others. A vine grew up between them, covered in thorns several inches long. It lifted towards her, ready to swing. "You don't know me!"

“Not from your perspective!” Liz flew closer, dodging around the vine from one side. Without a word between them, Hayden picked the other side. “But we did! We're very close… the closest two people can be.”

He gestured sharply with his arm, bringing the huge vine down on the ground. It wasn't aimed at either one, and instead it smashed into the dirt, scattering grass and wildflowers in all directions.

He whimpered, dropping to one knee. He looked around, at the approaching crowd. None of the assembled legendaries had dared get as close as Hayden—but that was changing fast. If Lord Moonstone decided to lift a single paw, Cody would never escape.

“What do I do, Hayden?” he thought back, desperate. Tears streamed down his face, streaking the mud and dirt there. “They want to kill me. I feel it, don't you?”

They did. Starting with the common soldiers, who were already beginning to recover. The other mythicals seemed content to let their men throw their lives into danger. They're terrified of Cody. Even the lords of great houses!

Maybe not Lord Moonstone himself, but his feelings were impossible to isolate from such a large group.

"We can't let the creature escape," someone said—an arcanine. The Victini lord agreed, ordering more of his soldiers to join the assault.

As soon as they realize what's going on, they're all gonna kill him, Liz thought, just to her. They're still confused, but they won't be for much longer.

She stumbled over to him, dodging past the thick vine on the way. Spines tore through the soft silk of her dress, but she ignored that. She stopped beside him, wrapping both arms around his shoulder. "Breathe out. Sierra too."

"You know me too?" the celebi asked, floating near her shoulder. Much closer than the leafeon had come before.

"We do." Liz landed on Hayden's shoulder, resting her head sideways against hers. There was no time left for doubt, no hesitation. A crossbow-bolt shot sideways past them, directly for Cody's chest.

Hayden shoved it away without a thought, pulling Cody's head close. "Ready? One, two…"

She wasn't ready. But she didn't have much of a choice, either.

Liz reached out, expanding their view until it encompassed an entire planet. She felt its motion, hurtling forward along a path that was not quite circular, despite how the models drew it. She saw rivers, mountains, forests and valleys.

Then she saw somewhere familiar—a distant mountain, where intruders faced something worse than death and the icy wind blew cold. Even in spring distant glaciers remained, creaking and shifting as the sun warmed them by day and they cooled by night.

She felt the rough reeds against her bare skin, the gentle way some of the shrubs recoiled at her touch. She smelled the sweet gracidea, perpetually blooming in dense patches of bright red.

Air exploded around them like a thunderclap, sending dirt scattering in all directions. The ground beneath them gave way, dumping huge clumps of soil directly atop the local plants. A table of fish desserts crashed to the floor, no longer connected to its other half.

The fading orange of sunlight now reflected from the other horizon. They'd gone across the planet—instead of sunset, there was dawn.

Shards of something cold crumbled down Hayden's bare chest, scattering onto the ground in front of her. She reached up, grasping Julian's moonstone necklace—or what was left of it, anyway.

Only a tiny shard of crystal remained, glowing much dimmer than a candle.

"What just happened?" Cody asked. He stood weakly, brushing away a thin film of ice. He hopped off Hayden's little mound of dirt, and onto the true ground. "We teleported. Like the mew can do."

"She's a mew," Sierra observed. "So that makes sense."

Maybe it did, technically. But Hayden reeled—she hadn't just teleported, but crossed continents with a passenger, and neither of them had their insides on their outsides!

That's what Gale meant about coming armed, Liz suggested, gathering up the glassy chunks of moonstone in her levitation. She floated them back together, almost into the shape they'd been before.

She tried, anyway. She could never get it exactly right, and many pieces remained missing. She let them fall away, dropping dull and lifeless into the dirt.

"I told you I would keep you safe," Hayden said. She looked down at her kimono, took hold of it with both hands, then tore. The fabric parted just above her knees, leaving a jagged ungraceful line.

"That's what friends do, Cody. We look out for each other."

He faced her, Sierra settling onto his shoulder. "How do you know me? Looking at you is like… a memory. But I know we never saw you before. I never forget a face."

She shrugged. "Time was always more your area than mine. But I wasn't gonna let them just…" She shuddered, skin turning faintly green. She couldn't bring herself to say the words, but they both knew the truth.

Dozens of total strangers at that ball wanted Cody dead. There was no time for a trial, no interrogation, no conversation. They would've ripped him apart, right there.

Why would they do that?

"They're looking for us," Liz whispered. She spoke quietly, but loud enough for both humans to hear. "Their minds are probing. The Eldest… he already knows. He hasn't come here yet. I don’t know why. Maybe he's waiting for someone else to lead. The others won't wait. We aren't the only ones who can teleport.”

Ilene will figure it out. If they ask, she'll take them. Hayden rushed between the two of them, taking Cody's arm in both hands. "Cody, Sierra. Listen to me. We need to go back in time. I don't know how far—it doesn't even really matter how far. Just back, so they don't know about you yet."

His eyes went wide. "B-back in time? Are you… Hayden, I don't know how to… we settled like five minutes ago! How would we know how to do that?"

Light flashed in the distance, far overhead. A figure appeared there, still wearing her glittering dress covered in stars. Ilene! She was alone, and so high above that she might not notice them among the weeds. At least, not right away.

But finding four powerful minds down here wouldn't take her long, even with the ancestors close.

Too bad she couldn't count on the wild shaymin to come to their rescue.

"Try," she begged. "Please, Sierra. I know you didn’t have anyone to teach you. You're the only celebi there is—but you’re good at it. You can get me anytime I want within a few days. You can do this."

"It's your antennae," Liz added, nudging the little celebi with her body. She made no attempt to stay far away from Cody—if the human reached up at just the wrong moment, he would definitely touch her. "They can see into the time dimension. Kinda like space has the three we can see, and a fourth we use to teleport. There's a temporal direction the rest of us usually use to move forward."

The celebi wobbled, opening her mouth in a pitiful cry. Whatever attack she tried to use was powerful enough that she would've dropped right into the mud, if Hayden wasn't there to catch her.

Cody gasped; eyes fixed on Hayden's arms. She was mostly covered by the silk kimono, except for her hands. He froze, somewhere between shock and a sudden, profound relaxation. "You're…"

"I can't," Sierra pleaded, directly into Hayden's ear. "Not alone. Help me… maybe we can do it together."

We promised we would wait for a good reason, Hayden thought. Can you think of a better one?

Liz landed on Cody's shoulder, paws touching directly against his skin. She nuzzled up to his neck, voice gentle and soothing. “Go easy on us when you're bigger. We couldn't figure out another way.”

He looked down, but the shock of her presence was too powerful to manifest as anything other than a nervous nod. "We promise."

This change came far easier than anything she'd done for her trial—though the pressure on her was no less intense. If she failed now, Cody would get caught, and probably killed before her eyes. What would happen to her own future?

She couldn't let that happen. She changed. Her hair became short and green, rising over her head. Instead of feline ears, antennae emerged from inside. Skin on her back split painfully, and a pair of transparent wings emerged, compressed by the fabric of her kimono.

She took Cody's hands in hers, so they faced each other. "Look up with me, Cody. Look up and look back. Before they knew. Before they were hunting you."

She touched his mind, sharing her thoughts with him as she had rarely dared with anyone else. This Cody was much younger than most that she had met and might not be strong enough.

But she no longer had a choice about waiting. Ilene was flying towards them now, gaining speed rapidly. She wasn't the only one in the air either. Others had followed them here.

"I… see it," Cody whispered, awed. "Before. Where we could be."

"Where we are," she said.

It wasn't her who did it—Hayden felt herself moved along that axis more than she felt herself moving. But whether the strength came from Liz, Sierra, Cody, or some combination, she couldn't say.

The broken table vanished, right along with Hayden's torn dress and the pile of soil. Instead of the first shoots of grass, the ground was mostly barren, with red flowers scattered and shriveled against the oncoming winter chill.

Green light faded, returning them to the full sun. Cody collapsed into Hayden's arms, breathing heavily. His daemon was already there, so she held them both, careful not to squish either.

With a little focus, the plants came rushing back, carpeting the ground beneath them with familiar grass. Old red flowers bloomed again, surrounding her with familiar smells.

The new form might still be largely obscure to her, but at least parts of its powers were familiar. She knew more about plants than most.

Cody cried, hugging up against her like any other small, terrified kid. Hayden held him close, running one hand down his back and occasionally making soothing sounds. "It's okay, Cody. You did it. We're safe now."

He didn't say anything coherent for a long time. She felt his gratitude, along with growing, powerful trust. And something else, something he wanted very much to suppress.

He thought she was pretty—more now than before. Her cheeks warmed a little against the cold, but she didn't let go.

Finally, he stiffened, and managed to sit up on his own power, resting on his knees. "You really think we're safe now, Hayden? And…" His eyes lingered on the other Celebi, hovering near his face.

"Ahuiliztli," she said, touching his cheek. "Liz to you, though."

"And I'm Haydie," she added. "Hayden is for strangers. We're a lot closer than that. Or maybe we will be? Time travel is… your area, not mine." She reached up with her free hand, touching one of those sensitive antennae.

They shuddered, retreating from contact. But she needed to get rid of them, or else she'd keep looking in directions she shouldn’t. She could already see that would lead her down dangerous roads, closing other ones she would prefer to fly instead.

So, she changed, shifting back into the version of herself she liked best. The real one, with pink hair and a long tail and a silk kimono torn beyond recognition. She was still older and bigger than the kid, by at least two years. Maybe more—legendary ages were hard to read.

"There. This is usually how I look. I'm the kitten, you're the sprout. Together, we…" She took his hand, squeezing tight. "I'm not sure. But we do it together."

He looked down at her hand, then to the kitten on his shoulder. "You're… from the future? From my future. That's how we're so close."

"Kinda," Liz said. "Basically. Sounds right to me."

As she spoke, Sierra floated closer to Hayden, slowing in front of her. She wanted to be held, like Cody was doing to Liz.

Hayden caught her in one hand, holding her against her chest.

"I… feel it," he whispered. "I think in the future… I love you."

"Yeah," she agreed, resting her back against his. "You do."