Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rei was very, very angry. He hated him, hated Volo, and Volo was here. Here, where Rei thought he would be safe, where Rei thought every memory of that traitor was gone, where Rei thought he would finally be free.

But he was here. Rei knew it was a lie. Volo had been there for months, like Rei had, and only now did Volo show himself, and Rei hated him. Rei hated it. Rei knew he could just go about his day, could just ignore Volo completely, but something compelled him not to.

He had to.

“So?” Volo had called out. “There’s something you’d like to say, isn’t there…”

Volo had turned directly to face him in the dark, still smiling.

“Rei?”

Rei had stepped out of the woods, glaring, staring, his expression hard and stern, not soft, angry. His slate grey eyes burned into Volo’s own, and Volo only kept smiling at him and Rei hated it, he wanted to wipe that smug, cruel grin off his face with his fists.

Rei had only glared. Volo’s smile didn’t falter whatsoever.

“Volo, I’m going to ask straight out.” Rei had sighed. “Did you cause the time-space rift on Pasio? Did you make the sync stones ultimate appear?” Rei had kept glaring, putting his hand around his scarf and pulling the strip of fabric closer to himself.

“Indeed I did…” Volo had chuckled with a smile, and Rei narrowed his eyes. “That’s what I wish I could say, but none of that was my doing.”

It wasn’t?

“Back in Hisui, I was able to take advantage of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina’s power.” Volo continued on, Rei was tempted to block him out, but he had to listen. “However, it seems I’m not able to do the same here on Pasio.”

”Good,” Rei wanted to snap, but kept his interruption boiling in his chest, and the fire kept burning in his chest and hands.

“Given that, wouldn’t you agree that my options are limited?” Volo had tilted his head with that familiar smug smirk. Why did he have to talk so much? “In other words, the strange events happening now are purely driven by Arceus’s will!”

Did Volo ever stop talking about Arceus?

Did Rei ever stop thinking about Arceus?

Both answers were no. However, one of them did change to yes.

“And I heard Arceus’s voice!” Volo sounded eccentric, very ecstatic. “Which means…”

Rei’s stomach sank, and the fire grew hotter.

“Oh, but more importantly…” Volo hummed. He smiled and closed his eye. He made a slight huff as he crossed his arms and opened his eye, staring at Rei. “It seems like Arceus didn’t choose you in the end either, eh?”

Rei winced. He wanted to snap, he wanted to yell and argue and shout, to fight and brawl, but he kept his mouth shut. He just kept his glare.

“Savoring the silence, are we? Very well, then.” Volo sighed.

He sounded disappointed. Rei didn’t care. He didn’t at all!

“Rei, I won’t let this opportunity escape me.” Volo smirked. “This time, I’ll wield the power of Arceus!”

His hand twitched, fingers aching as they curled up into fists. Now was the time to open his mouth.

Now, Rei.

“So… you still haven’t given up on using Arceus’s power to make the world the way you want it?” Rei made a slight scoff.

“Precisely.” Volo nodded slightly then gave him the ghost of a frown, crossing his arm under the other, one hand on his chin. “Unfortunately, you and I have conflicting views.”

Unfortunately?

“Do as you please.” Volo smiled and scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “Perhaps try to stop me by exposing my motives to the people of this land?”

Rei sighed, closing his eyes, and slightly lowered his head, putting one hand on his hip and the other on the brim of his flathead cap. “Okay… fine.”

That was a bad choice.

“You know what? I won’t tell anyone about your true motives.” 

Rei hated the baffled look Volo gave him, nor the soft “what?” that he murmured.

“Your dream’s dangerous. Really dangerous.” Rei continued. “But even if I got everyone to try to stop you by force, you still wouldn’t give up. And it wouldn’t really solve anything either. That’s why I’m not telling anyone yet.”

“I haven’t given up on trying to change your mind.” The words had felt wrong, bitter, sour, disgusting on his tongue. He had made a mistake.

He knew that now.

Volo had been silent a moment, in which Rei took the opportunity to continue.

“But if you ever try to hurt anyone on Pasio, I’ll stop you.”

And Volo had the gall to chuckle. “Oho, so you’re placing some trust in me, then?” He had crossed his arms in that familiar manner and smiled. “I do hope you don’t regret it.”

Rei narrowed his eyes.

The burn was still there. It hurt. It hurt terribly.

Rei tried to go back to his apartment to sleep.

He kept thinking the Arc Phone was ringing or vibrating and he kept obsessively checking it for a response so much that he almost believed he was as insane over the Original One as Volo was.

Now, Rei knew better.

He didn’t sleep all night, Decidueye kept looking at him with concern, and he kept ignoring him. Today was that tournament, wasn’t it? The one Volo manipulated Lear to set up…

Stupid.

No, Rei had fallen to that trick too, to Volo’s silver tongue.

At the tournament, Rei had barely been able to focus. His head was absolutely pounding, it was aching, and he felt like his skull was about to explode. There was some announcement going on when it happened.

When he happened.

All Rei remembered was a flash of light, the ringing of a bell, the collective roars of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, the pain reaching a peak in his skull, and screaming in pain.

When Rei had awoken to consciousness again, something heavy and wet and sticky was streaming down his forehead. He was on the ground, looking up at the sky, and he could see the Pokémon of Myth fighting something flashy and bright. He could hear yelling.

“Well, look what you’ve done.” A familiar voice called out, more audible than the rest, just barely above the horrid ringing in his ears. Slowly, Rei turned his head to look at Volo approaching him.

“Nasty wound you have there.” Volo smiled. He kneeled down and gently lifted Rei into his arms. “You and I have appearances to keep.”

“Ar… Arceus…” Rei murmured.

“No.” Volo practically growled at him. “Its appearance here did something to you. As much as I would love to see Arceus for my own, I believe it will do something to both of us, more to you than I. It might conduct Judgment upon me.” He laughed darkly, mockingly.

Rei just curled up in Volo’s arms, and Volo held him close, heading back toward the emergency services to help—

“NO!” A voice shouted out, and the pain in Rei’s head exploded again, and he cried out. “REI IS MINE, CONTRACT-BOUND TO ME, MORTAL OF MINE CHOSEN.”

“Goodbye, Rei.” Volo whispered.

Rei had wondered why.

He doesn’t anymore. He knew what happened.

Rei, against his own will, had scoffed and slammed his fist into Volo’s face. His body moved against his brain, jumping up and kicking off Volo with a dexterity he didn’t think he had, before he pounced onto Volo again, punching and beating at Volo with his fists, his fingertips burning with a familiar energy.

A weight slammed down next to them, then two, one giving their own respective roars of pain.

“Rei. Rei, stop.” One growled and then grabbed at him, restraining him with an arm and holding its counterpart in the other, and the burning grew hotter.

“Release me, Palkia.” Rei snarled, and hotter.

“Not you. Father’s control…” One of them murmured. He wasn’t sure, he didn’t care, all he knew was anger and fury, and hotter.

Rei managed to twist around and jabbed his fingertips into Palkia’s abdomen, and the Spatial gave a slight grunt. Dialga recognized, realized, and tried to shove his counterpart out of the way.

“Judgment.”

The energy burst, and Palkia screeched in pain, releasing him and staggering back, dropping the Temporal in the process. Dialga shifted into position, slamming his front legs down and dragging himself into a protective stance in front of the Spatial.

Rei felt his right hand smoking and he flicked it away before he turned his attention back to Volo.

“To be done with the miscreant, to be rid of a fiend, to execute Judgment as omitted and messaged,” Rei recited something unknown as he marched toward Volo desperately crawling away, “I shalt strike thou down.”

The energy built up in his fingertips again, flowing from his aching head to his chest to his hand. Rei aimed his fingers at Volo in a finger-gun motion.

Volo whispered, “Oh please, Arceus— Rei, please, wake up.”

Rei fired.

Rei woke up one final time, in a void, in a darkness, and a yellow aura of light surrounding him.

He was curled up slightly into the fetal position before he unfurled himself, shaking awake, and the fur-collared cape around him ruffled with the movement.

Wait. What?

Rei looked down at the cape, then the Survey Corps scarf still around his neck, but the fur-collared cape was there, and under that was not his uniform, but rather a Hisuian coat that looked like it was supposed to be apart of a clan, yet black and white and gold and under that was a sort of plated, vertically-striped dark grey collared shirt. His pants were attempting to be normal at least, just black with white and gold accents. Unfortunately, he missed his hat.

Why?

“All is right.” A familiar voice called out, murmuring softly in his brain. He knew that voice, and his eyes widened.

“Arceus?” Rei yelled into the darkness. “Where are you?”

Arceus hummed and something nudged against his back. “Here.” So Rei turned to face the Original One, the Alpha looking battered and beaten somewhat, yet the injuries were faded as he seemed to be healing as they spoke.

“What happened?” Rei whispered quietly with a frown. His head still ached, but more dully now.

“Judgment to be done, and thou executed very well.” Arceus nodded, looking like a proud father. “Mine mortal heir.”

Rei was quiet for a few moments. He was trying to think, what did he do, what did he last remember? He realized.

“I KILLED VOLO?!” Rei shouted in disbelief. He stared at Arceus, shocked, stunned, and he couldn’t believe it. “No. No, I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t have. No.”

“Thou did. Rightfully deserved, mine Judgment, now that everything else is gone.” Arceus kept looking like a proud father and Rei was horrified.

Nonetheless, the world began in a different manner.

Rei is praised and worshipped as Arceus’s mortal avatar, Arceus is the true god of gods. Everyone else bows to them. All the Legendary Pokémon have been restored, and Arceus says their memories have been reset, but Dialga and Palkia keep giving him bitter and scared looks respectively. Giratina just looks at Rei with the most guilty, pitiful, and apologetic expression he could muster.

“Look at how far we’ve come, mortal heir.” Arceus rumbles with pride.

Rei looks and he winces.

“Yeah. Yeah, we have.” He murmurs with remorse.

He can feel their blood on his hands, every single person he knew, he killed them, he slaughtered all of them, and he didn’t mean it, he didn’t want to, he didn’t mean to.

The world is anew, and Rei cannot do anything about it.

Chapter Text

Rei has lived a very lonely life. His life is worse now.

Everywhere he goes, he feels the gazes of people long lost and dead and brought back. Sinnoh is a curse, Hisui isn’t real, his friends are dead because they never existed, the only one who could understand his pain is dead.

And the dead man’s Pokémon trots at his side.

They are on probation in a form, if that made sense.

Giratina is slow, but keeps pace with his three pairs of legs. He keeps his head low, in a way that Rei can understand. Everywhere they went, people were staring and admiring them, Arceus’s gaze was always on them, even though he assured them they wouldn’t be watching them as much as he would the real world.

“Let’s go somewhere else.” Rei breathes, forcing the words off his tongue, his voice hoarse from lack of usage. He hasn’t spoken very much since the Old World collapsed. Giratina hesitates, before he nods, fearful of doing anything to aggravate his father. “Would you have a request?”

The Renegade is silent a moment before he rumbles, “Celestic Town.”

So Rei nods and he turns on his heel. He didn’t want to see Jubilife City anyway, painful memories still lingering of a dead village.

He wonders if they would forgive him.

“I can fly.” Giratina offers, but Rei shakes his head. He doesn’t wish to put pressure on the Renegade, even though it didn’t really matter, Giratina was a god and Legendary Pokémon. Rei still wanted to be considerate.

At Celestic Town, Rei notices something.

It is not there.

“You tricked me.” He laughs, a broken noise, not at all with any humor a laugh should have. “You wanted me to come here so we would be alone, and you knew I would listen because I didn’t want to go to Jubilife.” Rei hates this.

Giratina shuffles a little bit behind him. He seems nervous.

Rei continues deeper into what would have been Celestic Town. There is a slight paradox here, and he knows it.

He doesn’t remember it though. He’s forgotten a lot of things about the Old World by now. He doesn’t want to remember it anyway, too many bad memories of a life long lost.

“Are…” Giratina hesitates. “Are you okay?” Rei glances back at the Renegade, who stuck back on the outskirts of the once-town as if he didn’t want to desecrate such previously sacred lands, that broken laugh tearing from his throat again.

“Giratina, Gira, Gira…” Rei turns and continues into the nonexistent town. “There is no more ‘okay’ for me.”

With that, Rei spends the night camping at the edge of the town, Giratina by his side. The Renegade busies himself with preening at his wings for some odd reason and grooming himself, but otherwise stared at Rei with this wide-eyed, terrified look.

Rei hates it. He hates this. He hates this new world, and he desires something…

more.

Something more.

He feels something burning in his palms again and he hears a hissing, a low drone in his ears, beginning to scratch at his palms to try and get the sizzling feeling out of his skin. He hates this, and it hurts so bad, and he craves more, desires more, needs—

“Rei?” Giratina’s voice breaks the fire.

He blinks. He looks over to the Renegade, who, instead of the scared expression he wore moments ago, is looking at him with more concern and worry. Instead, slowly, gently, Giratina drapes a wing over Rei.

It’s comforting, he thinks at least, he hopes it is.

Rei closes his eyes and leans back against Giratina’s bulky form that he had taken comfort in a couple of other times before.

“… Are you okay?”

Rei huffs in response. He gets a rumbling murmur in agreement.

“Maybe we should head back in the morning.”

Rei doesn’t want to. But Giratina doesn’t want to separate from him. But Rei doesn’t want to go back to the Hall of Origin, where Arceus’s watchful eyes will be stuck on him for eternity more, in a terrifying, frightening manner.

“… Sure.” Rei sighs. “We leave at the crack of dawn, okay?” A faint memory of a young girl. “You can go on first though.”

Giratina hesitates but nods. “Okay. Fine. Time for… sleep?” He suggests softly, so much so that Rei even doubts Giratina used to be such a fierce creature that tried to destroy Arceus. “… Time.”

Rei knows exactly what the Renegade is thinking of.

“We should, um, sleep. Now.” Giratina shifts around, and Rei moves accordingly. He rests in the Renegade, curled up all around him. It is a nice rest.

Rei wakes up from a nightmare again. He just sits up against Giratina, sniffling and crying softly to himself, face tucked into his scarf and cape, trying to desperately muffle his noises.

In the morning, Giratina looks as if he suspects something. If he does, he doesn’t say anything.

“I go first?” He asks, innocently, too calmly. Rei nods, putting his back to him. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

The Renegade unfurls his wings and jumps up off into the sky, flying off toward the Temple of Sinnoh.

And Rei is alone.

A long time ago, he would have hated to be alone, but that time doesn’t exist anymore, it was completely erased.

If Arceus could simply destroy and remake the world and universe from scratch, then why was there a point to existence? Why did Arceus still create? Was this Volo’s reason why? Was Volo right in the end? Was this how Volo felt? What was the admiration for humans? For him? Why was there a point at all anymore? No, that’s wrong. It’s not there anymore, it’s gone.

“I have Arceus’s blessing, his powers, his strength…” Rei whispers to the wind as it sweeps past him. “What says I can’t do what he can?”

He didn’t want to. Instead, into his scarf, the old Galaxy Expedition Team Survey Corps scarf, he cries. He falls to his knees and curls up on the ground, digging his fingers into the old soil that should have been Celestic Town, that should have been a thriving, living, breathing community where people would praise the old Sinnohan myths.

What point was there?

Rei tries to make himself a reason.

His heart syncs with someone’s, a slow, steady rhythm, beating with each second, like a ticking clock. His lungs sync with someone’s, an easy, calm rhythmic inhale and exhale, filling and deflating with a strength, like a meditated pace.

He can only think of one person.

Blond hair swept over the left eye, grey eyes, a cunning and sly smile, a silver-tongue, a myth researcher and merchant charm over an ambitious, delusional worshipper of the god who ended up killing him, the outfit of a merchant guild, the outfit of insanity.

“Rei?”

He sobs into his scarf. He killed him. Put his fingertips right up to his forehead and shot him with an energy so holy it exploded and burnt him to a crisp. It destroyed him.

“Rei…?”

“Stop that.”

He blinks.

Rei feels his body being lifted and pulled close to the familiar warmth of another human being. He feels arms wrapping around him and holding him close.

“Shh, Rei. I’m— I’m alive. Now.”

Rei lifts his head to stare at the man he had just remembered and Volo smiles at him. “Hey.”

Rei punches him in the face.

“WHY?! HOW?! HOW COULD I KILL YOU?!” Rei cries out. “YOU SHOULD’VE MOVED! YOU COULD HAVE! WHY—”

“Giratina told me this would happen.” Volo rolls his visible eye, much more gruff than Rei remembers him acting, but then he remembers it’s the bad Volo personality he’s talkin to. Wait, Giratina predicted this? “Or something like it.”

Rei doesn’t care.

He throws himself back around Volo, hugging him tightly, and he can feel Volo hesitate before he decides to hug him back.

“I’m alive, it’s okay. It’s okay, Rei. I’m alive now.” Volo whispers, his voice soft and gentle, though still gruff and slightly hostile. “Quit your whining.”

There is a reason to life now. To the world.

“A purpose.” Rei whispers.

Volo hesitates. “I have no idea what that means. And what are you wearing?”

“Oh. I’m a god now.” Rei says casually, tiredly. He doesn’t like being a god, it’s tiring, it’s exhausting, and he must always be perfect and brilliant and shining and luminous. “I’m so tired.”

“You’re a what.”

Rei knows just how bitter Volo must be.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to, it was against my will, I promise.” He hesitates. “I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t want to. I didn’t—”

“Stop. Stop.” Volo sighs. He shakes his head and gently pulls Rei close, holding him tightly, more of an embrace than a hug. “Just stop.”

Stopping is the only thing Rei has wanted to do now.

Rei closes his eyes and buries his face into Volo’s shoulder. “I’m so tired.”

Then he shoots up—

“Oh Arceus, Volo, I— I need to go, Arceus will—” Rei departs quickly, tearing himself away from Volo, and he hurries to smooth out his outfit and wipes his eyes and face before he manifests a portal. “I’ll be back, I promise, just stay here.”

Volo reaches out—

“No, no, Volo, I’ll be back. You’ll be safe here, much more than you will be with me. Arceus will kill you if he sees you, if he knows you’re alive.” Rei gently pushes his hand away and tries to give Volo a comforting smile. “Only me and Giratina come here, so if it’s not me, it’s your patron.”

Rei leans forward and closes his eyes, putting his forehead against Volo’s, and something clicks between them.

Judgment and Distortion.

“Be safe.” Volo whispers, gripping Rei’s shoulder gently. “Be careful.”

“I’ve been alive for this long.” Rei smiles, more genuinely this time, before he quickly pulls away  and he walks into the portal, making sure he looks unfazed and calm.

Thankfully, Arceus spares him naught but a glance and a rumble of “Welcome home, son.” Rei could hear the smile in his words, but watches as the Alpha turns back to keep working. Rei stands there for a moment before he slinks off to hide in his room.

He sighs as he closes the door.

This world, it was so difficult, this new world. Arceus’s perfect world apparently, where there were no villains to challenge his rule, no heroes to change fate, nothing, naught, void.

Rei slowly heads over to his bed and lays down.

“Goodnight, Volo.” He whispers to someone he believed unable to hear him, through a link.

“… Night, Rei.” Volo murmurs to himself, unknowingly through a connection.

Judgment and Distortion.

Chapter Text

Rei wraps his cape more tightly around himself, making sure he doesn’t lose it in the wind. It’s cold, as he marches up the stairs to the Spear Pillar. He does this on occasion, a reminder of who he once was, ice biting into his skin through his clothes, but he continues on.

“This is funny, isn’t it?” He asks no one. “How many times have I gone up these stairs? Tainted your holy land with my blood, sweat, and tears?” The Icy Wind answers him.

At the top of the stairs, Rei walks into the remnants of the Temple of Sinnoh.

He walks onward, until he stands in the middle of the Spear Pillar.

“Is it here?” He whispers and steps a little forward, looking through the snow with his eyes. Then he physically looks through the snow, clawing through the cold with his hands. “Where is it?”

Was it still here? Would Arceus allow that?

“Rei?”

He blinks. He lifts his head and turns to the voice, to the familiar pinkish-white and purple-streaked theropod. He smiles at Palkia.

“Hello.”

“Hi…?”

Rei watches as Palkia trots over to him, just staring at him. He quickly pulls his freezing hands from the snow, shivering slightly, but only for a moment. Palkia gives him a look.

“Oh. That’s what you’re doing.” The Spatial sighs and grabs at Rei, pulling him away from the snow and instead close to himself, gently rubbing at his head. “Let’s get away from that.”

Rei is glad Palkia happens to be at the right place, wrong time on occasion.

“Why are you here?” He asks, though he doesn’t mean to be rude. Palkia gives a pause before a shrug.

“Dialga and I were going on a walk.” Palkia sighs. “He’s being slow. Er, well, that isn’t correct. Dialga is preparing more carefully than I am and I just rushed out the door and I’m now waiting for him here.”

Rei finds Dialga and Palkia’s relationship as twin brothers very interesting.

He glances over Palkia’s shoulder to meet narrowed red eyes—full of playful anger and love—and steel glistening in the snow. Then the gaze meets his own and softens, nodding to him.

“Wow, you make Dialga sound very meticulous.” It is a statement and fact, and from Rei’s spot curled up and snuggled in Palkia’s arm, he can see Dialga roll his eyes with a resisted smile.

“Well, he is.” The Spatial shakes his head with a dramatic sigh. “Sometimes he has a stick up his—”

“Hey.” Dialga finally makes his presence known to his twin, marching over and making the ground shake slightly with the weight of his steel. “I do not. And don’t be so crude around Rei.”

Palkia grins and nudges at Dialga. Rei watches. Dialga sighs and nudges back.

Rei slips from the theropod’s hold and heads back to the pile of snow in the Spear Pillar. He reaches out—

“Rei.”

“Hey, uh, get away from that.”

Rei steps closer and his hand touches the snow and—

He slips.

Smacking his head on invisible ground, Rei grunts. He groans and lifts his head slightly, looking at the brightly black area around him. He blinks slowly and sits up on his knees, staring at the void.

He stands up and walks around.

He quickly comes to the conclusion that he had fallen straight through time-space, through distortion, and now he is here.

Was this where Arceus was hatched?

…

No.

Rei knew where Arceus was hatched and it sure wasn’t here, not by how the Alpha had described it.

So he keeps walking, which probably isn’t a good idea, but he continues.

Rei finds a crack in the darkness. He finds several. He finds thousands. The cracks continue whenever he takes a step and he wonders if he’s broken something as he keeps walking.

He reaches out to one of the cracks.

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND! HOW— HOW WERE YOU CHOSEN BY ARCEUS?!” A broken boy shouted.

He was only 15, 15 and he had been through so much. 15 and war painted his bloodline, 15 and he wanted nothing more than a new world.

“Why wasn’t it— I have dedicated my whole life to Arceus! The blood of the hero runs through my veins! How did you, a lowly outsider shoved into our Hisui, manage to get the blessing of the hero?!”

This boy was Rei. His slate grey hair unkempt, a fur-collared half-cape was wrapped around his shoulders, white with golden accents, a black coat worn under with the occasional red stripes and golden triangles like horns or spikes, under of all was a dark grey undershirt.

A man with blond hair swept over his left eye, eyes grey and soft, tears slowly rolling down his face. He wore the Galaxy Team Survey Corps uniform.

A swap.

Rei raised his gaze and narrowed his eye at Volo, snarling. Over his right eye was an eyepatch, scars visible but mostly hidden.

“How?” Rei whispered. “How were you better than me?”

“Rei, I’m not—” Volo started, but Rei shut him down quickly with a swept out hand.

“Shut up.” Rei hissed. “Just— Just shut up and be mean so I have a reason to hate you, besides some petty bull that is jealous that I can’t have Arceus.”

Volo doesn’t.

“Please.” Rei whispered. “Do not make this harder than this already is.”

Volo shook his head. “I won’t—you’re still my friend, Rei, I—we can go back, Rei, it’s okay.”

Rei wanted to kill Volo, told him they could either have a Pokémon battle or fistfight for the Plates, and Volo knew it, and Volo still saw him as his friend.

Rei smiled.

“You are too sweet.”

Volo blinked, looking at him, the tears glistening in the sun rising behind him.

“Now…”

Volo stepped back.

Rei closed his eye and stepped back into the darkness building behind him, ripping off his eyepatch to reveal the blazing red eye underneath.

“Giratina, do what I cannot.”

Rei steps back. He is shocked for a moment then he considers.

No. No, it is not too far fetched for an alternate universe or timeline where he and Volo swap places, perhaps others as well. He sighs, shaking his head slowly.

“I could kill you.” He whispers to himself. “Just in another universe, I would have actually done it.”

Rei hesitates.

He decides to continue. Down the void, he finds more cracks. Some are unappealing to him, but some others are. He decides that other versions of himself are interesting. He thinks. He isn’t sure.

Further down the broken mirror, cracking the more he walks, Rei spots one he finds immediate interest in.

He sighs and reaches out toward it.

“What do you have in store for me…?”

“Rei? Come on, get out of the rain. Cogita doesn’t want you tracking mud into her—” Volo’s voice came then stopped.

Rei did not glance over his shoulder at Volo. Instead, Volo gave a begrudging sigh and walked up behind him.

“Hey.” Volo reached out to wrap an arm around Rei. “What are you thinking about? You have your thinking face on.” He smirked teasingly, moving his other hand to poke at Rei’s forehead.

When Rei does not respond, he grew concerned.

“… Rei?”

This time, Rei finally turned to look over to Volo, nearly completely soaked by the weather, and it’s hard to tell if it’s rain or tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Volo,” Rei started, “can you remind me what just happened to me?”

Volo paused with a hum and twirled his finger, putting his chin on said finger. “Ah… Well. Just yesterday morning, you were banished from Jubilife, Rei. You tried going to the Diamond and Pearl Clans for help, but they denied you in worry of starting a war or some sort. I don’t remember. Am I right so far?”

The pauses in Volo’s retelling allowed Rei to assort his thoughts. So shakily, Rei nodded.

“Ah, good!” Volo smiled then put on that thoughtful look again. “Hm… After that, I found you that evening and took you in to meet Cogita. And now, we are here!”

Rei was silent. Then he nodded. “Yes.”

Volo nodded back, with that smile, and he squeezed Rei’s shoulder where his arm was still wrapped around him.

“Well?” Volo leaned down, butting the brims of their respective hats together. “What’s on your mind?”

“I can’t.” Rei whispered. “I’m so… tired. I can’t do this, Volo. Help me. What do I do?” He shifted, putting his face into Volo’s shoulder, feeling the merchant tense under him. “Jubilife was my home— and they kicked me out, they exiled me, banished me.”

“… Yes.” Volo murmured, his voice suddenly hesitant and quieter.

Rei raised his hands to grab onto the back of Volo’s apron and the straps of his backpack. He sobbed softly into his shoulder, and hesitantly, Volo wrapped his arms around him completely, comfortably.

“Tell you what — why don’t you come with me?” Volo smiled, but Rei thought it looked a little off, like Volo looked more sly and cunning. “We’ll solve the whole rift in the sky issue…”

Rei began to nod.

“… our way.” Volo finished. “We’ll finish it our way.”

Rei shakes his head, physically having to tear himself away from that universe. He steps back, pulls his cape close to himself, and walks away.

“Villains.” He spits with a bitterness he forgot he could produce. “Bastards. The lot of them.”

He continues on.

Rei finds himself at the edge. Yes, literally the edge of the void. He can see into it. He can see the floor he has been walking on so fall, splitting off into cracks and shards of himself in other realities, and he stops at a broken cliff.

Something churns in the void. Something stirs in the void.

Rei squints his eyes and leans forward carefully to try and see the movements clearer in the darkness.

“Hello?” He calls out.

A bright flash of light as what must be a thousand eyes open toward him and he flinches instinctively, turning away on his heel and raising his arms to shield his eyes from the light that feels and looked like the sun itself.

What are you doing here?

Rei blinks at the voice in his head, his breath hitching at the booming sound of it, and he has to gasp for air when it stops. He frowns — it sounds vaguely familiar, but he can’t place it — and he tries to shrug. He isn’t sure if the creature can see him, with how massive it is in the abyss and how small he definitely is compared to it.

You should not be here.

How did you get here?

“Um— I fell through the— Spear Pillar? I slipped through time and space and distortion. I’m not quite sure how…”

Oh. I apologize.

I must have done something.

“Wha—?” Rei hesitates. “Listen, I don’t know you in any mythology—”

Goodness, Rei, haha.

You are quite snappy when approached by the unknown, aren’t you?

Rei blinks. He has to find oxygen again, desperately, and he can’t look back at the creature, something wills him not to.

How did this thing know who he was?

Mrh. Do not be rude, child.

Come on, now, you need to leave. Before you perish in my mere presence.

“What?” Rei whispers, soft and quiet, because he is unable to find his willpower. He couldn’t find his courage and he isn’t sure why. He was blessed by Arceus for crying out loud! He shouldn’t be scared of anything.

Besides Arceus himself, of course…

Wait.

Come. Leave. Get out.

I will destroy you if you are in this form’s presence a moment longer.

What the fu—

Rei wakes up.

The buzz of the Hall of Origin rings in his ears and he finds himself at peace again. He can open his eyes, laying on the floor, a familiar body floating at his side. He hums to the Original One.

“Hello. Are you alright?”

…

Arceus does not seem worried about him.

“Mortal heir, I have no reason to. You were in good hands and are now, thousands of them.”

Rei stares at Arceus. Arceus stirs finally from his work and looks back at him, letting out a rumbling chortle. Rei can only stare at the Original One.

“You… Were you that—?” Rei doesn’t finish as he flinches instead, Arceus suddenly stamping down his hooves.

“Ah! Look at the time! See, I have a meeting at 11 and I have things to do, as the Pokémon Lord. I hope you have a good time, mortal heir, my sons will be coming to get you!” Arceus nuzzles the top of Rei’s head, ruffling his hair, before he quickly turns around and flees through an unseen door.

Rei is well aware that Arceus does not have a schedule for today. With a sigh, he sits up and waits.

So he waits. And waits. And—

“REI! Are you okay?” A familiar pinkish-white and purple-lined theropod dashes in front of him, paws reaching out to hold him and hug him. “Oh, you look okay— That’s good, that’s good— You fell straight through—”

“Rei.” A blue sauropod with glowing blue streamers and steel plating teleports beside his counterpart, red eyes scanning him just as the same as Palkia did, though not as closely. “You fell straight through time and space, even passed the Distortion World.”

Dialga and Palkia stare at Rei for a moment, and the boy only rolls his eyes, patting at the Spatial’s paws around his torso.

“I’m okay—” Rei begins. However, he should have expected he would be interrupted again. There was another part of the Pokémon of Myth, as they were depicted in the past.

“Rei.” Giratina addresses him differently than his younger siblings. Slowly, the Renegade approaches, and Palkia offers Rei over. Giratina stares at Rei before he leans down and nuzzles at his face with his beak-like snout. “You are fine, I trust.”

Rei is happy at least someone in this family trusts him to handle himself.

Rei pets Giratina’s head, but soon, the Renegade pulls away and nods.

“Come. Would you two mind?” Giratina turns his direction to his younger siblings, giving them a nice smile and a respectful nod. “I can take care of Rei.”

Dialga and Palkia exchange a glance, then back to Giratina, then back to each other.

Rei watches.

He can only assume that Giratina murmurs through their psychic link because Palkia finally shrugs and drops Rei and Dialga sighs with a shake of his head.

“Thank you.” The Renegade rumbles out, watching as his younger siblings scramble off sillily and playfully with each other to go have some fun.

Rei smiles as he watches Giratina smile at watching their younger siblings.

“You fell?” Giratina turns back to Rei, huffing with some disappointment. Rei rolls his eyes with a sly grin. “You need to be careful, even if you are blessed by Father… I trust you to take care of yourself, but, Rei, you have to learn there is a limit.”

Rei nods back, with a slight roll of his eyes, but he understands.

“But I’m glad you’re okay.” The Renegade nods, smiling at Rei, and leans down to nuzzle at the top of his head with his beak-like snout, ruffling his hair the same way Arceus had. “I think you’re ready for a rest, huh? You seem tired.”

“Yeah.” Rei mumbles, raising his hands to scratch at the underside of Giratina’s chin. “You sleepy too?”

“I’m okay.” Giratina shrugs before they pick Rei up with ease, holding him in the claws of his distorted wings. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed…”

So Rei curls up in the Renegade’s claws, closing his eyes. He finds himself at rest here.

It’s okay.

Giratina holds him more gently and securely as Rei drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Rei anxiously stood between two very large things.

Palkia looked to be out cold beside him, slouched over with his head leaned down and his neck straining, asleep and tired, practically passed out. Dialga was on his right, the same as his twin sibling, bent over himself as he slept. They both were asleep. Asleep, and yet no one seemed to notice them.

Everyone was focused on the stars of the show; Arceus and Giratina.

More specifically, the spar they were having, which was quite the entertainment for the other Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.

Rei glanced up at Dialga and Palkia. He looked back to the battle. He swallowed hard. Nervously, he stepped a little forward to one of the tables nearby, his eye having been otherwise on the food for a while.

“Oh, did you want a piece of cake after all?”

Rei turned toward the voice. He stared.

“Yes, Darkrai.” He smiled. “Thank you.”

So Darkrai gave a nod and grabbed a plate in one hand and the cutter in the other. With easy precision, Rei was handed his slice of cake with a smile.

“Now, run along. I understand you don’t like parties, I don’t either. I have spent too long in self-isolation for this.” Darkrai sighed.

Then the god of nightmares gestured off behind Rei and he frowned, just barely glancing over his shoulder.

“If you want a slice of cake, come on then.” With that, someone stepped right over Rei and he scampered off to stand back beside Dialga fearfully. He glanced at where Palkia was — or more accurately, where he once was, the Spatial getting a generous amount of two slices of cake.

“… What kind of cake is it?” Rei murmured to himself, just staring at it, poking at it with his fork, frowning.

“Your slice was chocolate. No worry.” Dialga rumbled awake beside him. Rei glanced over before he offered a bit to the Temporal, but he was assured that Palkia would share some with him.

“Yo, Dia, you awake?”

They looked over to Palkia lumbering their way over, holding the aforementioned plate of two pieces of cake and then a bottle of water for himself.

“Mhm. Yeah.” Dialga sighed. He leaned over without another word and bit a piece off of Palkia’s cake. Palkia froze. He stared at the cake and then the piece bitten off it.

Rei felt Palkia stirring in his anger.

“Dialga.”

“Mm?”

Rei ducked as Palkia swiped with his water bottle and clocked Dialga across the head with it, but the Temporal seemed blissfully unaffected, just lazily chewing at the piece of cake in his mouth.

“I HAVE TWO CAKES FOR A REASON, YOU BUMBLING BAFOON, YOU STUPID LITTLE—”

Rei skittered off out of the ballroom as Palkia began to spew curses at his older twin brother and Dialga only seemed to laugh.

Rei settled into his bedroom, holding his plate and one slice of cake and fork tightly. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, fearful, scared, but he slowly began to eat the cake, his hands trembling.

It was calm.

He sighed.

“You seem frightened.”

He screamed.

“No— Nonono, don’t scream, don’t— don’t panic.” Tentative hands reached out and shushed him, making him shove another piece of cake into his mouth. “Just eat your cake.”

Rei stared at Darkrai.

“Why did you follow me?” He frowned.

“I detected fear, and it was you.” The god of nightmares hummed. They moved to sit beside him, carefully running their claws through his slate grey hair. “Are you well?”

“Dialga and Palkia, y’know.” Rei nodded slowly, gradually eating his cake. “They’re a little hectic, huh? Crazy.”

He got a vague hum in response.

Then Darkrai slid him another slice of cake on another plate, wrapped in a thin plastic, and he frowned.

“Wha—?”

“Go. Go visit your friend.”

Rei froze. Darkrai’s claws continued to comb through his hair.

“Don’t panic. I don’t care much about that friend of yours. Volo, wasn’t it? You have nightmares about him, and he seems to to be your friend actually.” The nightmare Pokémon sighed. “Rei, I don’t really care about your friend, nor do I recognize him at all... He poses no threat to me or Cresselia. Go have cake with him.”

Rei hesitated. He nodded, grabbing the wrapped plate, before he bolted.

Darkrai smiled, he could feel it.

—

“Sooo… that’s why I’m here.” Rei shrugs, shoving a piece of cake into his mouth, his shoulder against Volo’s.

“… What?”

Rei glances over to Volo and smiles, watching the Forsaken’s confused expression, but he does seem to have eaten his cake some! That was good at least.

“Yeah, m’bad.” Rei shovels cake into his mouth, swallowing it quickly. “I dunno why he made me have it with you, there were… other guys, I guess.”

“Uh huh.” Volo sighs with a shake of his head. “Just eat your cake.”

So Rei does. He enjoys his cake quite a lot, quite a lot more with Volo.

Afterward, Rei sets his plate to the side, leans his head back, and closes his eyes. A few moments after, he feels an arm around his shoulder in a comforting manner and he hums.

“Vo?”

He hears a scoff to his side. “Distortion, don’t call me that.”

“So, Vo,” Rei continues, smirking, “You’re still hanging around what should be… Celestic Town?”

He hears a nod with a hum. “Yeah. I don’t know where else to go.”

Rei hesitates. “Vo— Volo. You can… go wherever you want. As long as I can find you.”

Volo is silent, presumably thinking for a moment.

“Turn back.”

Rei opens his eyes with a  frown.

Turn back?

Turnback.

Turnback Cave.

“Brilliant! That’s brilliant!” Rei shoots up and smiles, turning toward Volo and shaking him by the shoulders. “You should go there! Turnback Cave, Volo, no one would find you there because only Giratina gets there! You’ll be okay, you’ll be safe—”

“Hug me.”

“—and Judgment won’t catch you and— huh?”

Rei stares at Volo for a second.

Volo is not looking at him. He is looking down at the plate in his lap, picking at it with his fork, seemingly anxious.

Rei stares. He sighs and moves the plate to the side, moving forward and hugging Volo tightly. He can feel Volo grasp tightly at his cape.

“You okay?”

“Mhm.”

“If you say so.”

Rei gently pats Volo’s back, hugging him gently, tightly, and the Chosen moves to run his fingers through the Forsaken’s blond hair. “You’re okay. It’s alright, you’re okay. Now, uh, you should go toward Turnback Cave. Like I think I’ve been gone for too long, I don’t want you getting caught.”

Hesitantly, they both pull away from each other.

Rei helps Volo leave Celestic Town. When he returns to where they left their plates and forks, he flicks his wrist and the burning energy pumps through his veins once more. He thinks through his ability, and he decides on which one to use.

“Flame.”

Aiming at the trash, Rei fires.

He can leave no evidence behind.

—

Rei returns back to his bedroom. He uses his cape as a blanket, burying his face into his pillow, and he hums to himself.

He hopes Volo will be okay.

Rei closes his eyes and pulls his cape over his head.

“Goodnight, friend.” He whispers.

Chapter Text

Sneaking into Sendoff Spring is easy. Rei lingers there for a moment, basking in the peacefulness of the area. The entrance to Turnback Cave calls to him, but he wants to be calm for a moment, stuck in tranquillity.

Then something feels off.

Rei opens his eyes, frowning. He stares down at the water. Something cold stirs deep in his stomach.

Slowly, he turns toward the entrance behind him. Hesitantly, he walks toward it and enters.

Something feels wrong. Something is wrong.

Rei steps into Turnback Cave. He takes two more steps before he sprints further into the cave. Something’s wrong.

“Volo.” He hisses, skidding to a stop in the main room.

There is not a thing there. Not a body. Not a soul. Just some Graveler that looks at him before scurrying off.

He hesitates.

Rei bolts out of Turnback Cave. He runs all the way back to where Celestic Town should be, desperately, but there isn’t anything there either.

Nothing is there. No one is there.

“No.” He whispers.

He tries to think. Where would Volo go? Jubilife? No, they both expressed a dislike for the city now, after the events of… that. Anywhere else…?

He can’t think.

Before he knows it, he’s crumbled over himself. His eyes burn, his head aches. Everything hurts.

“Volo.” He whispers. He pleads. Desperately.

Five hours have passed when Rei finally goes back home.

His head hurts. His eyes feel dry, as does his throat. He can barely stand at the end of it. How long did he have that breakdown for? He doesn’t know, he doesn’t care.

The portal opens accordingly to his thoughts and he weakly stumbles inside.

Someone is talking to him.

“—I’m so glad you’re back, I’m really worried, Father said something about an execution later tonight at midnight, and Dialga and Palkia looked really upset with us for some reason, did you—”

“Shut up, Giratina…” Rei mumbles, pushing past the Renegade, heading for his room. He can’t deal with this.

“No, Rei, stop, Arceus had Volo.”

Rei stops.

Slowly, he turns around and faces Giratina.

“What?”

Getting Volo out of the Hall of Origin is a problem.

One, it’s heavily guarded by the Pokémon of Myth. Two, Arceus gets a message whenever someone enters or exits the Hall. Three, Dialga and Palkia can instantly stop them at any time or space. Four, Arceus is powerful. Five, Giratina is too afraid to go against Arceus again.

More specifically, Giratina doesn’t want to lose Arceus’s trust again.

So Rei reassures Giratina he can do it on his own.

Rei isn’t quite sure what to do.

“You seem distressed.”

He doesn’t glance back to the voice. He taps his foot anxiously, thinking of the plan, he isn’t quite sure what to do. He couldn’t think.

“Rei.”

A familiar form shifts to lean down in front of him, black claws cupping his cheeks like a parent taking care of their child. A blue eye stares at him with concern.

“Are you okay?”

Rei stares at Darkrai for a moment. He reaches out and Darkrai gently takes him into their arms, a simple hug. One talon goes to h the back of his head, claws combing through his hair. He finds it difficult to believe Darkrai was so feared, when their claws are gentle and they act so softly.

“I don’t think your friend was supposed to be here.” Darkrai murmurs. “Arceus seemed quite upset when he found out. Say, your friend… is he… the Forsaken?”

“So.. you guys remember?” Rei frowns.

Darkrai gives a vague hum. “Not exactly. I am aware of only what Palkia has confided in me. They say they and their twin brother are aware. Giratina is aware… I’ve also gained slight glimpses. I had to hone those memories with Cresselia’s help.”

Rei hesitates.

“We could help you.” The god of nightmares adds. “We will take the consequence.”

This is too dangerous.

Darkrai is too kind.

“No— No, let me handle this on my own. It’s okay.” Rei pulls away. Darkrai’s claws stutter and they reach out to him, but he turns sharply away and walks off. “Stay safe, Darkrai.”

He continues on.

Rei finds himself sprinting down the hallways that feel too long, too tight, suffocating. He doesn’t know where Volo is, but he has an idea, and he hurries to the back room that he knows exists, the room the Pokémon of Myth spoke so fearfully of, so quietly.

Then someone trips him and he smacks his face hard on the floor.

They pick him up and throw him over their shoulder, carrying him, and he can just barely make out the white scales and the purple lining and another body beside them, two shades of blue and glowing steel.

Had he been caught?

No, quiet. They’re talking.

“We shouldn’t take him to Father.” Palkia shakes his head, his claws anxiously drumming at Rei’s back. “It’s too dangerous. He knows that we— Father has Volo.” They stop walking to look over at Dialga, who gives only a slight warning noise in his throat that quiets his twin immediately.

“We have to take him somewhere.” Dialga insists, that low edge to his voice making him sound tired. How long have they been arguing about this?

They pause.

Palkia makes a vague gesture. Dialga nods.

So they are silent a moment as they turn abruptly and walk off. Rei isn’t sure where they’re going, he thinks his nose is bleeding, but he doesn’t worry about that.

“Giratina? You in here?”

The door creaks as Palkia pushes it open. They nervously glance around, back to Dialga, and they shift back slightly to stand beside him. The Temporal rumbles, moving his tail to intertwine with his twin’s for a moment, before they separate.

“Yes.” In the darkness of the room, Giratina’s red eyes flash to life. “Did you two need something?”

Giratina’s gaze audibly drifts. Palkia offers Rei up.

“What do we do?” Dialga is the one that asks. Palkia gives him a worried look.

“I don’t know.” Giratina lets out a heavy sigh, holding Ren gently in the claws of his wings. “We cannot simply go against Father. Something seems wrong with him. Like he has snapped in some way. He was very aggressive during our sparring match today, but that was before he found out Volo was there.”

“We have to at least get him and Rei out of here.” Palkia sighs. “Then we can worry about Father.”

It is very awkward watching three Legendary Pokémon talk about him as if he can’t hear them. Rei just stays quiet and watches and listens.

Palkia anxiously taps their foot. Dialga holds rigidly stood. Giratina has his eyes closed in thought.

They represent emotion, willpower, and knowledge in their own ways. It was admirable.

“I have an idea.” Giratina doesn’t open his eyes, but speaks up. He flicks his tail, for whatever reason. “The Distortion World is too easy of a hiding spot. Father will believe I am in cahoots with Volo again, will presume we have stolen Rei from him. So, alternatively, we use one of yours.”

Dialga and Palkia give their older brother a weird look.

“Come, we do not have much time.” The Renegade pushes past his younger brothers and begins walking down the hall. Worriedly, Palkia follows. Slightly annoyed, Dialga accompanies his twin.

Just as they are about to exit, the intercom crackles to life.

Rei doesn’t hear all of it, but he gets the gist by the sudden expressions on the Pokémon of Myth’s faces. He watches as Giratina’s expression goes dark, Palkia grows more anxious, and Dialga looks more annoyed.

“He said it would be at 12. Why is he doing it now?” Giratina hisses. He shoves Rei into Palkia’s paws. “Go. He will not care much if you two are not there. If I am absent, he would be all too suspicious.”

With that, Dialga and Palkia watch as Giratina flees the scene.

Rei grips the Spatial’s claw. Palkia hums.

“Come on. Let’s get you elsewhere—”

“Palkia, stop.”

The Spatial pauses. Slowly, they look toward their Temporal counterpart. Dialga gestures off vaguely with his head. Palkia glances over their shoulder and frowns, freezes. Rei can’t see what they see.

“You two won’t be at the execution?”

Arceus.

“No, Father.” Palkia shakes their head. “We were thinking of bringing Rei down to a coffee shop actually. He hasn’t been feeling all too bright today and I thought he would like a nice cookie to cheer himself up.” Rei wonders how they got so good at lying.

“Giratina said he would be there though.” Dialga shrugs before yawning loudly. Palkia gives him a light smack on the head, to which he grumbles at.

“Do not stay up too late now, hm? I love you both, as well as my mortal heir.” Arceus gives each of them a respective nudge of their head with his own, a slight nuzzle, a soft purr. Until he finally decides to leave.

They are quiet and still for a moment.

Then there is a click. Palkia’s head shoots up to look at the ceiling. Dialga glances behind them. The main power flicks off and the emergency power goes on, the hallways mostly dark save for the red lights. The alarms follow, the Spatial flinching at the noise, and the Temporal isn’t sure what to do to comfort his twin.

“Go. Now, go. To the execution. Something’s wrong.” Dialga hisses.

Palkia darts down the hall. Dialga follows. They aren’t quite sure where to do, Rei can tell, they’re not very coordinated.

Rei slips from Palkia’s hold and he isn’t sure if they notice. He maneuvers the halls faster, easier, and he finally finds the main room where—

Wind whips at him.

Is he falling?

He isn’t sure.

There was so much blood. Was it blood? All he could see was red. There was red everywhere. Maybe it was just the lights. He wasn’t sure.

His head hurts.

He weakly cracks open his eyes. He is falling. He can see the clouds as he rushes past them. He can feel them. The wind hurts. He closes his eyes.

Rei smiles.

“Goodnight.”

“Wake up!”

Something punches him in the face. He frowns, but doesn’t bothering opening his eyes. Something grabs at his cape and pulls him close, holding him gently, arms wrapped around him, one hand in his hair.

“Easy now, easy. I got you.” That voice is familiar. “Distortion, everything hurts. I plan me not being able to die on you.”

“Vo…” Rei weakly grabs at his shoulder, but his fingers feel too weak, too shaky, light.

“Sure. Call me whatever you want.” There is the flap of wings before they seem to land on the ground. “C’mon, we have to go. Hide.”

Rei slightly shakes his head.

“No point…”

“Rei, come on.”

REI.

IT WAS YOU.

“He’ll always come for me.” He pries himself from Volo’s arms, finding it in himself to admire the Forsaken’s newfound shadow-like wings, similar to Giratina’s. “But you can get away. You can run.”

“Go. Please.” Rei whispers. “Go.”

Volo hesitates, but he eventually turns on his heel and runs.

“Why did you do that?” A heavy sigh comes from behind him, and he doesn’t need to be a genius to know it’s Arceus. “We didn’t have to have this whole mess, mortal heir.”

Rei doesn’t respond. Slowly, Arceus trots up beside him and leans down to nuzzle the top of his head. Rei doesn’t respond to that either.

“Rei. Let’s go home.”

“Does any of this matter anymore?” Rei snaps. “Are we just a game to you?”

Arceus looks like he would smile if he had a mouth.

“Mortal heir… You know better. I could destroy this world and recreate it anew. This world is a canvas I draw and delete and redraw over and over again. I play the same rules every year. Our audience is never satisfied.” Arceus laughs, brokenly, his eyes narrowing. “I obey by my contract’s rules, whatever the parent asks of me, but it is not good enough for the audience. The audience wants more.”

“What the FUCK are you talking about?!” Rei scowls, stepping back, and stares at the Original One. “Are you crazy?!”

“No. We are just not good enough.”

Arceus turns away abruptly and the stairs to the Hall of Origin flicker to life. He walks up the stairs without another word.

“Arceus.” Rei calls out. “Arceus? ARCEUS! YOU COME BACK HERE!”

No one is there with him now.

Rei feels sick. This entire thing makes him feel sick. Slowly, he lets himself lay down on the floor of the Spear Pillar. It’s cold, it’s so cold, and he pulls his cape more around himself.

“Goodnight.”

Chapter Text

“You wanted to see me.”

Rei’s voice is quiet as he steps into the office. He shivers and he hesitates before he settles himself into the seat in front of the desk. He knows it’s a bed behind the desk, that this is actually Arceus’s bedroom-turned-office. He knows the scent of coffee in the office, copious amounts of it.

“Did I do something?” Rei asks, but he knows he has. He brought Volo back to life. He revived the Forsaken.

Arceus is silent. There is the sound of a clicking keyboard, a writing pen against paper. He doesn’t make a noise.

“Arceus?” Rei meekly squeaks out. He hates how he sounds.

“Hello.” Arceus hums. “I did call for you.” But he continues working. He is still working when he glances up at Rei before he turns his gaze away back to his many monitors. “I am busy.”

Rei is silent.

Arceus is silent.

“Mortal heir.” The Alpha Pokémon finally sighs. He moves his gaze away from the monitors he focuses his attention on usually, tearing away from his work. “Why did you do that?” He asks softly, not angry.

It is a surprise to Rei that Arceus is not angry.

He had heard stories about Arceus’s temper. (Giratina is fearful. Arceus turns too sharply and Giratina flinches away, cowering. Arceus speaks too loudly and Giratina hides behind his younger siblings. Arceus scoffs and Palkia steps closer to Dialga. Arceus sighs and Dialga slightly shifts away.) He has heard that Arceus is terrifying when he is angry.

Volo’s revival warrants anger, Rei believes.

“I, uh.” Rei hesitates. “I don’t know how I did it. I just thought— I felt, like, a burning in my hands and stuff, before I thought about your blessing, like creating and that, and, um…” He trails off as Arceus takes a deep inhale.

He hesitates. (Giratina would’ve flinched. Dialga would’ve tensed. Palkia would’ve froze.)

“Sir?” His voice is a squeak again, meek, soft, quiet, afraid. He doesn’t hate the fear anymore. He understands it.

He understands that conversation he overheard now.

(“Son?” He heard Arceus’s voice in the office. He hesitated, sneaking around the corner to peek in through the cracked door.

Giratina gave a hum, wordlessly coiled around his father in his Origin Forme, his spiked tendrils gently flipping through a book.

“Are you… afraid of me? Your brothers?” Arceus asked. He had stopped working. Instead, he blankly stared ahead. “Do not believe me so blind or dense. I have seen how you and your siblings act when I grow aggravated.”

The Renegade Pokémon was silent. They hummed once more, turning to look at his father. “Scared of you? No. Not exactly, to be honest.”

Arceus scoffed, instinctively. Giratina does not react to that one. Palkia did. Dialga did. Their scoldings and punishments were shared, they would share the same fear.

“Son.” The Alpha Pokémon lowered his head to bury his nose into his work, the books littered around his desk, the monitors around him.

“Yes?” Giratina glanced over their father’s shoulder. They tried to see what he was doing, but he couldn’t make out the words over Arceus’s fluff.

A moment of silence hung over the room.

Giratina does not mind. He had come to peace with the silence. It was comfortable. It was tranquil. He closed his eyes.

Arceus does mind. He was unnaturally anxious. He did it well with his familiar act of overwhelming himself with his work. It was all he did now. Work, working, worked.

Then, finally,

“Giratina, am I a bad father?”

Giratina almost instinctively said no. It was what he thought, truthfully, after all. But instead, he took a moment to consider, unlike immediate unconditional support, like he knew Arceus didn’t want.

“No… No, I don’t think so. I think you just have a bad temper, that’s all. You’re better now—”

“Now?”

Giratin paused at their father’s sudden interruption. Usually, Arceus would let him finish. But Arceus had torn his head from his work, instead staring at his son now.

Maybe the Renegade Pokémon imagined it. Maybe Rei did too. Arceus’s eyes were glossy.

“Father…” Giratina sighed. “You weren’t bad, but you weren’t exactly nice either. You were sterner, a little meaner. You didn’t care very much. You were more scrutinizing. You don’t do that anymore. You’ve mellowed out, like me. You’re calmer now too, you’ve still got that bad temper and firm, but you’re not mean or as neglectful now. You’re here.”

“Here.”

“You being here as a father is the best I could’ve asked for. I wanted a father, that was most I wanted, and I have that now.” Giratina finished. He was silent for a moment, letting the words sink in. Arceus still gave him that blank, glossy stare.

“I’m sorry.” The Alpha Pokémon whispered.

Hesitantly, the Renegade Pokémon leaned forward to nuzzle his snout against the side of his father’s head. “No, don’t worry. It’s okay.”

Subtly, Arceus leaned into Giratina.

Before he shot a glance to the door and Rei scurried off.)

“… Arceus?” Rei asks, a little louder, as the Creator doesn’t answer.

“I’m not angry.” Arceus nods for him to continue. “Go on. It is okay.”

Hesitantly, Rei sighs. He isn’t sure. Arceus seems angry, at least trying to contain it, at least the slightest bit agitated. He closes his eyes before he opens them to stare at the floor, his feet not touching the carpet, sitting in the chair.

“Um…” He starts again, slowly. “What basically happened was that… I felt a burning in my hands and I just thought of creating something and… I guess I technically didn’t bring Volo back to life? I just recreated him as I thought he would be now… Or what I want him to be. I just thought of him and I created him.”

Arceus is writing again. It sounds like he’s working. He gives a hum. “Recreation, huh?” He mumbles, still writing on his digital keyboard.

“I think.”

They are silent again. Quiet. Rei doesn’t mind the silence at first, but then it gets uncomfortable, far too awkward, and he just settles into his chair. He stares at the floor, and Arceus continues to work at his desk.

For a moment, he considers shuffling out of his seat and leaving the office. It is only a moment of doubt, but Arceus suddenly gives him a look that freezes him to his chair.

“Stay.”

So Rei does.

Rei stays there, for Dialga and Arceus knows how long. He has come to realize this chair is comfortable. He has come to realize sitting with Arceus is comfortable, despite the silence.

He closes his eyes after what feels like five hours.

…

Glancing at his pocket and pulling out his Arc Phone to look at the time…

It has been five minutes.

Rei sighs.

“Uh, Arceus?” He tentatively asks. Red eyes slide over tiredly to look at him. “May I be excused?”

“No. We must discuss something else because I know you want to ask.” Slowly, the Alpha Pokémon pulls away from his work again. “You have been angry at me. I know why. I have been acting irrationally, in your eyes, that I had thought exposed to incomprehensible horrors. I would have killed the Forsaken, had my sons and you not intervened.”

Rei isn’t sure what to say.

Arceus knew from the beginning. He surely did. He clearly did. He knew that Rei had brought Volo back. He knew that Rei was hiding Volo away. He knew that his children, biological and adopted, were going to turn against him in that situation.

“You know I can hear you.” Arceus gives him an unimpressed look.

Oh.

Rei hesitates.

“Uh.” He starts. Again, slowly. “Why do you… treat this world as a canvas? That’s what you said, right? Like…” He hesitates. What’s a good simile or metaphor here? “Think of the world as a lego set, right? You make it one way, but you’re not happy with that because of something your friend or whatever did, so you search to find a different way. It’s slightly different, but you like it that way.”

Arceus is staring at him. It’s unnerving. He thinks Arceus is looking at him like he’s crazy.

“… Rei, I did not experience legos.” Arceus slightly narrows his eyes.

“No, that’s…” Rei sighs. “I’m trying to, like, get to understand your perspective here, as the creator and all…”

Arceus is still staring.

“Um…” He shifts nervously in his chair. “How do I… Okay, Arceus, how do you see the world?” He asks. If he wants to get to the bottom of why Arceus acts the way he does, like a father but also a sort of dictator in a way…

“It is my creation.” The Alpha Pokémon blankly states. “It is the world I have forged and continue to build upon.”

Rei pauses. That wasn’t very insightful, but it was at the same time. Arceus had a very larger outlook on the world — or did he? Arceus was very tyrannical with what he did sometimes, but he preserved balance, peace, order. He was a general and king that knew what to do to because he was the creator of it, the maker, the storyteller.

He made everything.

Rei swallows hard. He doesn’t know why he’s so anxious. Arceus keeps giving him that stern, almost cold stare that keeps softening and then hardening all over again and it’s terrifying.

“So… when things go wrong or you believe it’s time for you to intervene, you do…?” He hesitates. He isn’t sure if he’s right.

“Yes.” Arceus rumbles. “But that day, the time the tournament was supposed to take place…”

Rei blinks. Rei lifts his head. He stares at him. They didn’t talk about the old world anymore, at least the Alpha Pokémon didn’t, yet they were now. It was a surprise. Arceus hated talking about what or when he dirtied his hands with.

“I was selfish. Incredibly selfish.” Arceus dips his head into his work again. It always seemed easier for him to talk like that. “I killed that world for no particular reason, besides my own reasons, all too selfish and sick. I destroyed the world, one that had a true purpose. This one, though the exact same without enemies, without evil, is hopeless.”

“Why did you do that?” Rei blurts out, interrupting.

Arceus lifts his head slowly and stares at him. They are silent for so long that Rei wonders if Arceus is implying for him to repeat his question.

“They took you away from me.” Comes Arceus’s voice, and it is sick and cold and hollow and empty. That is not his foster father, that is not the father that so generously took him in, that is not the father who was so kind.

That is the creator who destroyed a world. That is the creator who killed for him. That is the creator who massacred for him.

Dizzily, Rei walks down the halls. The trek back to his room is exhausting, tiring, and he can barely walk straight. Stumbling into his room, he hurriedly shuts the door and he hurries for his bed. He feels sick, that pit in his stomach stirring and churning.

Him. He was the reason. He was the reason everyone died. They died because of him.

But why?

Why? Why did he do it? Why did Arceus do that?

Rei clamps his hand over his mouth and curls up into himself, his free arm wrapping around  his stomach. He feels sick, he feels dead.

He closes his eyes.

“Rest.” He activates the move and he is out.

Chapter Text

Since the birth of the universe, I have known everything.

Since his hatching, I have seen everything.

Since his manifestation, I have heard everything.

I have known two forms.

Divine equine, shining white fur, brilliant yellow glow, luminous creature of holy light. Human disguise, forgotten, lost, who was he?

I don’t know. I don’t care. Time passes without me. Space changes without me. I don’t need to monitor them. I am very proud. Distortion and antimatter wields itself without me. I am prouder of him.

They are beautiful.

Red. Gold. Emerald. Platinum. Black. Death. The Sun. The sword. Home. Ancient.

It is a shame, that I have to do this. I am a tired old man, as what mortals would call me in their eyes, children under my watch fight wars they shouldn’t. They are a single-digit army, and yet, they best teams, groups, obstacles put in their paths.

And you.

You are the reason these stories exist. Why the pieces have been in place like this.

You have done this. You are the reason. You are the purpose. The public. The company. The media. The people.

I am not angry. You have—

“Daaad!”

…

Slowly, my gaze turns toward my door. My children are fighting again.

Begrudgingly, it is time to put my work aside. I must always be working. I must always preserve balance and order, but with my life, it is peaceful.

I stand and shove the door open. My children come first. They are the ones I strive to keep this world alive for. Without them, there wouldn’t be a world.

Time and space combat, antimatter balances.

They are home.

Even my most wayward. I cannot control him like I can the others, but his law and word is obedient to me.

Rei ducks behind a corner as I step out, and I hear him whisper to someone.

“He’s here, we gotta hide you.”

“Urgh. Fine. He’s beautiful though.”

“Shut up. Let’s go!”

He cannot hide the Forsaken from me for much longer. Rei has been avoiding me, ever since I told him why, about why I killed them.

Ignoring that, I turn my gaze to my biological children.

Giratina is holding a jar of cookies over his head with his wings, switching it back and forth to keep from Dialga and Palkia, who are both trying to snatch said jar from him. It is normal. It seems Palkia tried to sneak a cookie, and Dialga trailing alongside him.

I am a father first and foremost.

Rei thinks he can hide Volo from me. No, he cannot. I am omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. I am aware. I sigh.

My sons are everything to me. My children. As wayward as Giratina is, he is loyal. As stern as Dialga is, he is kind. As chaotic as Palkia is, he is caring. They are dearest to me. They are everything to me. But then there is Rei.

Rei is peculiar. He is the odd one out. He is all of them, he is not them. He is wayward, stern, chaotic, and yet loyal, kind, and caring.

Additionally, then there is Volo.

Volo is different. He is the odd one out. He is not one of my children, but Rei cares for him so much that he might as well be. Volo is wayward, chaotic, different, distortion, Renegade incarnate.

He needs help. Rei is help. They will care for each other, although Volo a little more begrudgingly.

“Father?” Palkia is insistent. Dialga is cold. Giratina is relentless.

After assisting my biological sons, it is time to return to my work. I would say work is first, work is more important, but I am a father.

Do not worry, Palkia got his cookie.