Chapter 69

Hayden floated through a strange place. She had never seen its like before—yet she had visited many, and knew them all. Time was often this way for her now, bending backwards and curved inwards. Better to accept the strangeness of every moment, without ever trying to completely understand them. Much easier for everyone that way.

The future was one with electric lights in every hall, but thick stone walls, fine polished floors, and the distant hum of climate control. Heat at that moment, emerging from hidden vents with a constant warmth from below. Warmer was generally more comfortable to a mew, so that was fine. Maybe one of her kind had built it. Those she saw wore more or less the same things—uniforms, divided into simple dresses and trousers, and marked only with a small symbol for their family crest.

She borrowed one from a closet as soon as she could, though the fit wasn't perfect. Still better than wearing an illusion, given how many of these beings could pierce them. 

"Thought you'd gone home for the holidays, Haydie," someone said, catching her shoulder as she turned a corner. A shaymin, with flowing green hair and flowers visible above her forehead. She radiated friendliness and comfort—but Hayden had no idea who she was looking at.

She could pretend. She smiled back as warmly as she could, spinning free in the air. "Soon! Not quite yet. There's someone I want to talk to."

"Someone." The stranger folded both arms, and her little daemon hopped down to the floor in front of her to stick her tongue out. "You're gonna break the rules again, huh? You don't think you'll get in trouble."

She shrugged. "I mean…" Get in trouble about what? But if she asked, the stranger might realize she wasn't supposed to be here. Yet. "I do that a lot."

"With him you do," the shaymin said, exasperated. "If you get caught, you'll bring shame on the house. On my house too. Don't get caught." 

She nodded conspiratorially. "I'll try not to. Do you know where I can find him? If you saw—"

The shaymin rolled her eyes, exaggeratedly. "Out on the grounds. Looked like he was waiting for someone. But everyone's home for the holidays, so there's no one to wait for. Except you, apparently."

Out on the grounds—that didn't mean much, but at least it pointed her in a single direction. She floated away, kicking off the ground occasionally to pick up speed. Not fast enough that she couldn't hear the shaymin calling after her.

She broke into the fastest flight she could manage in otherwise tight halls. She flew so fast that Liz had to lead the way in front of her, ready to direct her if some sudden turn or fork rose unexpectedly. Sturdy as mythical pokémon were, she could still break her neck on a wall.

Then she found an open window, though the open section was at least twenty feet off the ground. Not so high that she couldn't arc her way up towards it, then straight through to the other side. Hayden dove, holding her arms in front of her to make herself as small as possible. 

She twisted through the air, swirling with little flecks of white. A wintery garden floated past underneath, with trees taken from all over the world. Some had gone brown and skeletal with winter, while others remained evergreen, instead buried by the great weight of snow.

An artificial river flowed through the garden, mostly covered with a thick sheen of ice.

The cold here reached straight through her uniform, turning her breath to a cloud and her fingers instantly numb. This mighty building was far north, far enough that the cold might freeze and kill any lesser pokémon unprepared for it.

If her visit had any other purpose, Hayden would have changed into something warmer before she hit the ground. Instead, she let Liz worry about it, directing a little sphere of warmth around them.

Mew House would call such a large manifestation wasteful and unfocused, and maybe it was. But if it kept her from freezing, it would have to do. Besides, she wasn't the only one using it.

One other was already out here, lounging casually on a bench in the cold. His discipline was greater than her own, tight enough that he didn't melt a wide area of snow. Still, the ground beneath his chosen bench was black and wet, all the snow melted and dispersed. He wanted to look like he knew what he was doing. But he couldn't make a perfect illusion.

Hayden landed in the snow a few feet away. The warmth turned it instantly soft, but it still chilled her skin on contact. She brushed it away with brief bursts of force. Otherwise she would get wet, and be at even more of a disadvantage.

The boy on his bench wore the same uniform as everyone else—albeit with trousers and a long-sleeved shirt, along with a black vest. His daemon lounged near his shoulder, as though pretending not to be alert to the world around her.

Aerie wasn't just floating there—she saw Hayden before she'd even reached the ground. Julian looked up, then snapped his attention forward again, pretending not to notice her.

It didn't work of course. Hayden hurried up to them, only occasionally touching the ground. She wrung both hands together, eyes on the snowy floor. Once she was close, she slipped into the bubble he'd made.

"Hi, Julian. Been a while."

He laughed. "A few days. Kept me wondering how you were going to be here. I saw you leave on that train." He gestured to the seat beside him. "Come over here and help me find out."

This wasn't the Julian she knew—this version was taller than she was, his voice deeper and more confident. Even Aerie flew higher, floating expectantly towards them and waiting for Liz to greet her. She was bigger than Liz, just like Julian was taller than Hayden.

She sat down next to him anyway, in the empty place on the bench. He had obviously been guarding that exact spot for her—it would be rude not to take it. Besides, she knew from personal experience that mew bodies ran warm—warm enough for whatever winter chill slipped through Aerie's bubble.

He wrapped one arm around her, pulled her up against his chest. There was no hesitation, or any sign that he expected resistance from her. "That's not the answer I was expecting. How old are you?"

She spun, then stuck out her tongue, defiant. "Enough."

He looked away in thought. As he did, she felt his fingers in her hair, occasionally caressing her ears. He wasn't the first to touch her like that, of course. But he'd never been old enough to understand how. This Julian expected her to welcome him without hesitation—but maybe she did.

"Old enough to get your timeline all tangled again. You weren't standing me up, you were just… remembering." He caught her head, turning her to face him. At that same moment, Aerie pounced on Liz, driving both of them into the snow. Her daemon vanished with one final squeak, slipping away into a snowdrift. 

Despite the shock, it wasn't cold in there. Mew bodies ran warm.

"Right in one," she said, resting one hand on top of his. Her heartbeat raced, as every version of this encounter played in her head. Getting past her memory of Julian would be effortless—not this one. She couldn't escape him if she wanted to. 

Did she?

"Easy guess though. You can do it too. Time travel, I mean."

"No I can't. No one knows how you figured it out. My mother can't even do celebi. Only you and Father. Last I checked, you're never supposed to do it without his permission."

Her ears pressed flat, and she looked away from him. "Is this the part where you ask if I got permission?" 

He gestured, and they both floated up off the bench. He kept one hand on her wrist, setting her on her own feet otherwise.

Despite his power, Julian had very few signs of Unity himself. His hair was dark brown. He had no pokémon features at all, except for the vibrant blue of his eyes. Blue and sharp, never looking away from her. "That's not the question. The real one is: why?"

He was almost a full head taller than she was. Still a mew, so not muscular exactly. He radiated a kind of confidence that reached deeper than muscles—mental discipline, the same kind Hayden knew from the other members of Mew House. But never Julian, not until that moment. But was he strong enough to force his way into her mind? 

Maybe he wouldn't try. That would be quite rude for one legendary to do to another. Maybe his father could get away with probing like that. But Julian wouldn't, if he wanted to stay her boyfriend. "Why did I want to see you? It's not obvious?"

He tugged her arm, pulling her in closer. Maybe she was imagining it, but the shield against winter's cold was much smaller than before. She couldn't wander more than a step from him before she retreated into the full brunt of it. Not a mistake she'd make twice. "Not obvious to me. Every time you get weird with time, you say something like that. But it never makes sense. You could've come out here before you got on that train. You wouldn't have to risk upsetting the Eldest and leap through time. But you keep doing it anyway."

She nodded weakly, floating closer to him. "How often do I get caught?"

He settled his other hand on her back. In the same moment, Liz emerged from the snow, dusted with a thick layer of powder. Aerie chased her through the air, leaving a little trail behind them as they flew. "I don't think anyone ever caught you doing it. But then you do things like this, and it's so obvious."

One hand tugged on her blouse, then stopped short, releasing her. "Not yet." He pushed her away from him, letting a brief wave of cold wash between them. That cold smothered whatever she'd been thinking of, returning her firmly to the realm of things that wouldn't get a student disciplined. "Better be careful with your powers, Hadie. I learned Transform from you once. One of these days I might make you take me through time too. I know that's your thing, but I'd still figure it out. You're not that complicated."

She took his hand again with both of hers, tugging hard. But for all her mythical strength, this Julian didn't budge. She couldn't pressure him if he didn't want to go. "Right now? We could go somewhen warm. The hottest part of summer, maybe. We could see the Lake Guardians. Or we could go back so far there was nothing here but forest, without anything but the wild pokémon for company."

He wanted to accept. He couldn't keep his emotions completely sealed from her, not when she was touching his bare skin. Of course that worked in the other direction—but as he said, she wasn't that complicated. 

"After I graduate," he said. "You don't have to be Eldest one day, Hadie. Your reputation works for you. Little voice of discord in my ear—people like it. The Great Families need disruption. But if I try to take office after breaking all the rules, plenty of people won't accept me."

He pried her fingers off with a little telekinetic force. "Go on, betrothed. Fly back to when you came from, before you get yourself in more trouble. Unity only has so much patience. The Headmistress must know you're back here. Get out before she catches you."

She nodded nervously, floating away from him. She caught Liz in the air, tucking her back against her dress. "Be nice to big me. I bet she doesn't let you talk to her like that."

He smiled slyly. "Get back when you came from, kitten. We can finish this conversation when you're older. You look like you have somewhere to be."

Maybe she would. Not right in front of him, of course—no matter what Julian thought, she would feel much better about time travel with Cody's help. She had to get far from the grounds before they could do that—then find somewhere to camp with Eleanor while they waited for the Eldest to arrive.

Was it cheating if she already knew the school would work out? 

The real question would be convincing Cody to let her meet her kids. Or seeming contrite enough that the Eldest didn't kill her. She would take them one at a time.