TRIAL OF STEPS: LAGUNA

Laguna closed her eyes as she re-appeared within the Everworld, focusing on all the little details that had never mattered before now. The stale air that blows from a door closing, as if Seta had a room upon to themselves within the grand hall.

Seta's words were the same as they always were. Unchanging, never different. The only alterations began whenever she had been finally allowed to take a trial. She idly wondered, just how the caretaker of the dead felt? Who were they, deep down?

Laguna slowly looked up at the cloaked figure, scanning over their golden mask, empty, without features.

The statues wore masks of Pokémon, those lost and currently wandering the vermillion halls. But, what about him?

Did he ever need saving?

She supposed it didn't matter just this second. She was here for her friend. Diving deep into the whirlpool to try and save her Cetoddle, hadn't worked out as planned. She Whited Out, and Bertha was taken to the Everworld regardless of any physical pain or suffering they might have experienced.

At least, she hoped it was painless.

She finally pulled her mind from her wandering thoughts, focusing on why she was here. A frown formed on her face, and yet she nodded all the same.

"Seta, I'd say it's good to see you again, but we both know I never visit without a reason. I'm here for Bertha." Her voice would warble a bit, but she forced herself to remain strong. "There was... a whirlpool. I had no choice but to try and spare them suffering herself. I... I sacrificed myself, this time. I tried. But, it wasn't enough. I failed."

Laguna let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding. "Bertha refused to let me do it at first, she didn't want to see me hurt. And, I suppose... I know what that feels like."

"For her to be clutched by the jaws of fate, even when I tried to do everything to save her. It's not fair, but the truth is, it never will be. It's up to me to make it right. I know Bertha is waiting for me, to finally save her."

Her eyes slowly drifted back down to the ground, admittedly feeling nervous. It had been a long time since she had come, was she even ready? Almost every Trial in the past had involved such pain, such struggle, but was that only because that's what she needed? Some lesson to be learned from it all? Or was that because she couldn't find a path through change that didn't involve hurting herself?

The floating frozen platforms that sliced up her arms, legs, and broke her nose. The freezing cold rapid river that swept her downstream and nearly drowned her. The endless desert sands, where the force of her Pokémon's presence burned her.

She needed a moment.

Tabby's Trial had been different. She was just in a koi pond with thousands upon thousands of Magikarp. It was peaceful, there had been no need to wound herself. And yet, she attempted to grab nearly every single fish until she tired, exhausting herself even then.

Maybe it was just her.

She was determined to do things differently this time, if she could.

Maybe she couldn't help it but view the most painful option as the only solution, but that wasn't healthy.

Was this all something that Seta was teaching her? Or was she somehow teaching herself?

"You of all people, know I can not promise that I won't be back. The world is dangerous, and sometimes we lose people we care about. But I will never sit idly still when there is a chance I may yet help them."

"So, please? Take me to Bertha? I need to tell her I'm sorry."