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Volo always wondered about the red string tied around his pinky finger. His mother had explained to him, years and years ago, that the string connecting him to his soulmate was something only the Ancient Sinnoh people could see — a gift from Arceus above that allowed them to find their fated mates. She was wise and kind, teaching him everything he knew about the culture that had been wrested from them by the foreigners who invaded their land and took their histories for themselves. It felt like she knew everything there was to know, an endless fount of knowledge.
But even she could not explain why his string stretched high into the sky, vanishing into the heavens above.
In the years since her passing, the years he spent isolated and hurting and afraid, he wondered if perhaps Arceus had made a mistake. Had it tied him to a star, far beyond the reaches of man? What if his soulmate was the air, the wind, the very land he lived in? Was that even possible? There was no one he could ask so he kept his questions close to his chest, only letting his fears bubble over when he talked to his Togepi, the last gift his mother had ever given him. Though she couldn’t offer him advice, it was better than letting his worries eat away at him in suffering silence.
Eventually, he came to a conclusion: his soulmate must be none other than Arceus itself. What other option was there? No one else had a red string stretching into the heavens above. Even those still waiting for their soulmates to be born didn’t have a string leading into the sky. Volo didn’t understand why he of all people had been chosen to stand at his god’s side, but he felt… special. Loved. He played with the red string that tied him to the heavens and wondered how he could ever reach his soulmate if he were stuck in the mortal realm. Surely Arceus wouldn’t want to be separated from its fated lover, the soul it had breathed life into so that it wouldn’t remain alone for all eternity. There had to be a way to reach his god, the god that was surely waiting so patiently for him to grow up.
He scoured the land as a teen, travelling to distant ruins and forgotten temples, just to see if he could find an answer. While he didn’t find an answer, he did find something surprising: an elderly woman with eyes like his mother’s, hidden away from the changing world within a secluded cabin in the woods. She introduced herself as Cogita, and Volo, unfailingly polite after all of his mother’s lessons, called her Mistress. “Oh, dear child, what sort of fate does the Almighty One have in store for you?” she mused, staring at his red string with open curiosity.
“I think… I think I am to be its bride,” he admitted, hating how childish it sounded when said out loud. “I can’t think of any other reason for my string to be so odd when compared to everyone else’s.” All she did was hum consideringly and nod, never calling him stupid but neither confirming his hypothesis. It was a better reaction than he thought he would get.
Years passed. Volo grew older, wiser, falling into the employ of a travelling merchant guild. It wasn’t the life he had envisioned as a child, but it was better than remaining a scavenger. At the very least, his profession allowed him to build connections with the denizens of Hisui. Through it all, the position of his red string never wavered. It still disappeared into the heavens, a promise of bliss should he ever manage to reach his soulmate, his god. Volo remained devoted to Arceus even as he struggled to find a way to reach it. After all, how better to prove his devotion than to toil over a way to stand at its side?
Eventually he stumbled upon a strange ruin within a flooded caldera — an accidental discovery, the fortuitous consequence of a terrifying fall. Contained within was a caged god, one that introduced itself as Giratina. Volo had never heard of such a deity, but the power it exuded even in its sealed state proved the truth of its own words. He hesitated to free it, but whenever Volo was in the area, he would pray to the sealed deity and leave offerings within its temple. After all, even a caged god had wandered the heavens once. It would be rude to ignore it.
One day, as he was sitting within Giratina’s temple, a thought occurred to him: would the power of another god be enough to allow him to reach the heavens? When he queried the sealed god, it answered him with a thoughtful rumble. ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴀʀʀʏ ʏᴏᴜ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴꜱ, it said, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴀ ᴘᴀᴛʜᴡᴀʏ. ᴡʜʏ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀꜱᴋ?
Volo gnawed at his lip, uncertain of his plan. Would Arceus hate him for what he was about to do? But… it had been years. For years he had toiled away, searching for a way to reach his soulmate, only to find nothing. No matter how much he tried to pretend, it hurt knowing his soulmate was somewhere impossible to reach. Could Giratina finally provide him the solution he so desperately sought? So he steeled himself and asked, “If I freed you from your chains, would you tear the heavens open for me in return? I… I must reach Arceus. I have to.”
The god considered his offer. ᴛᴏ ᴀꜱᴋ ꜰᴏʀ ꜱᴜᴄʜ ᴀ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ʙᴏᴏɴ ɪɴ ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴ ꜰᴏʀ ꜱᴜᴄʜ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴏꜱɪᴛʏ… it mused. ꜱᴜᴄʜ ᴀ ꜱᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ. Volo wrung his hands together nervously. Had he somehow offended the deity? But all Giratina did was let out an amused huff. He got the feeling it was shaking its head at him. ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴡᴇʟʟ, it said. ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴍᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛᴇᴀʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴꜱ ᴀꜱᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ꜱᴏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ɢᴏᴅ.
Freeing Giratina had been a gruelling affair, but Volo did it without complaint. Finally… finally, a pathway to his soulmate was within his grasp! Volo ascended the steps of the Temple of Sinnoh with eager feet, Giratina calmly lurking within his shadow. When they reached the apex of the temple, Giratina revealed itself with a loud roar, extending its great wings for the first time in aeons. Volo winced as the god sliced open the heavens, a crackling rift forming in the clear blue sky. No matter how desperate he was to reach Arceus, seeing its realm so violently changed hurt Volo deep within his soul. ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀᴛʜᴡᴀʏ ɪꜱ ɴᴏᴡ ᴏᴘᴇɴ, Giratina said, tilting its head towards the shattered sky. ʜᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴀʀᴄᴇᴜꜱ ᴏɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ.
“I understand,” Volo replied, staring at the red string that vanished into the great maw of the heavens. Soon. Soon. He bowed his head before the great god in reverence. “I humbly thank you for your assistance,” he said. “It means… more than I can put into words.”
Giratina nodded and vanished into smoke and shadow, leaving something behind: a small stone tablet inscribed with an unfamiliar verse. Volo took it in his shaking hands, feeling the power radiating from the item. “Could this be…?” His hands traced the words engraved on the tablet in disbelief. His mother had once told him of how Arceus, afraid of destroying the world it had so carefully constructed, sealed some of its powers away within stone tablets scattered across the land. Had Giratina gifted one of those very tablets to him? Was he holding a piece of his soulmate within his hands?
The tablet was safely tucked away within his bag of wares as he traversed the land, a precious piece of his soulmate’s heart. He wondered if there were other tablets scattered across the land. Above him, the heavens continued to crackle and roar. Though he hadn’t figured out how to access the pathway opened by Giratina, the fact it was there at all was a balm to his nerves. When he finally reached Arceus he’d apologise for his transgressions, but for now… all that mattered was reaching it. Until he finally managed that, all his sins could be overlooked. It was for Arceus. Everything he did was for Arceus.
One day, without any warning, the red string that had stretched into the unreachable heavens his entire life suddenly changed. Volo watched in disbelief as something fell from the rift, a piece of starlight that dragged his red string with it as it plummeted to the earth. Had Arceus… come to him? Part of him wanted to scream with betrayal and hurt. If Arceus had always been able to come to earth, why had it forced him to suffer alone for so long? Why hadn’t it simply descended from its throne to be with him? But Volo forced himself to think rationally and consider the circumstances. Giratina had opened the rift mere days ago. If the rift was a pathway into the heavens and it had been sealed all this time… had Arceus been trapped as well, unable to reach the one its heart desired above all? Had his god seen the opportunity Volo had unknowingly gifted it and decided to take it? Just like that, his ire was soothed. Arceus hadn’t been willfully ignoring him — it had been waiting for him, just like he always knew it had been.
Volo followed the red string towards the horizon, trying to control his emotions. No matter how badly he wanted to meet Arceus, his soulmate, he didn’t want to embarrass himself. There was little he could think of that would be more embarrassing than meeting his soulmate and immediately bursting into overwhelmed tears. It was lucky he had a Garchomp, a Pokémon famous for its speed — he couldn’t bear the thought of waiting any longer to finally fall into the embrace of his other half. The dragon sprinted across the land, attentive to Volo’s precise directions as he came closer and closer to where the piece of starlight landed. He couldn’t help but be thankful Arceus had landed in a isolated corner of the Obsidian Fieldlands, one few people dared to tread due to the amount of Alphas roaming the area. If his god had taken the form of a Pokémon and some idiot from that Galaxy Team tried to capture it… Volo shuddered. It would’ve been a disaster.
Garchomp came to a stop next to a field of blossoming flowers as Volo dismounted. He waded through the flowers carefully before finding what his red string was attached to: a small girl garbed in strange clothing, curled up in a ball with eyes shut tight, sparks of heavenly light dancing over her skin before fading away. Volo felt his heart swell with adoration. Perhaps he hadn’t been meant to be a bride the way he had always assumed, but a husband instead. He could be that. For Arceus — his soulmate — he could be anything at all. He knelt next to her, gently brushing her dark hair away from her face. Though he would’ve loved Arceus in whatever form it took, there was something about her current form that made his blood sing. She was perfect. How could she ever be anything else?
The girl stirred at his touch, eyes slowly blinking open to reveal irises that shone gold before fading to bright silver — a perfect match to his own. “What…?” She rolled onto her back, squinting up at him with a sweet, dazed expression. “Who are…?” Volo smiled, entwining the hands that were connected by the red string and pressing his lips against the back of her hand. Her eyes widened as she focused on the string binding them together, gaze tinged with wonder and soft adoration. “It’s you,” she breathed, untangling their fingers to gently cup his cheek. “It’s you!”
Volo relaxed into her palm, more content that he’d ever been in his life. She was here. She was here. “It’s me,” he replied, unable to help the besotted smile that graced his lips. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to find you.”