TRIAL OF RUST: KYUKON

ZERO

I feel a change in you, Heartspawn.

Arthur lifts his head up, surprise breaking the gesture of desperate respect. Had he changed? He knows now that the approach he took previously was not going to get him anywhere, and a part of him, looking at it at hindsight, doesn't really know what came over him either. He had listened to Seta's question more carefully now, when he asked his questions again.

What makes you think your ghost wishes to return after what happened?

What will be different this time?

And so he answered truthfully. Shamelessly. It was thankfully enough.

Seta does not wait for him to follow, so he quickens his pace for the first couple steps before he is walking behind him. The jet black smoke that disperses from the figure's cloak catches underneath his shoes, but they do not react, only looking forward. Arthur's eyes glance over at the other statues, and even if they are all sparkling and gleaming gold, a gut feeling tells him that some have been here for a long, long time.

They stop after a turn. There is a rectangle where a door is expected to be, but instead there is only darkness waiting. Some of it takes the form of globules, spilling out onto the floor before evaporating into the light of the vermillion halls.

There is no gesture, only emotionless anticipation. Arthur looks at Seta, gold ever gleaming. He clenches his teeth and turns to the darkness beyond.

And then takes a step through.

ONE

❝Gou?❞

He thinks that in spite of everything, he is still naive. Of course Gou is not waiting for him at the other side. That wouldn't be much of a trial, now would it?

But where exactly is he? Arthur looks down and finds that his feet are standing on a rusted staircase; edges flaying, chewed on by time and nature, and when he takes a step, the metal echoes underneath, hollowed out.

To the left, there is nothing but abyss. There is enough light to see that the bottom is obscured by a mist that is both familiar and foreign. It is not red, but deeper, darkened over time. He thinks that if the Hearteater was a steel type and rusted all over, perhaps that was how the mist would look like, rather than the deep blood red that takes the form of his right hand.

The mist is not his nor Hearteater's, thus it cannot be called nor gathered.

A realization kicks in that he has nowhere to go but up…or down. He turns around, looks back, and his recently reacquired heart stops.

He is not alone.

The steps above him clang and groan, crying out as something else stomps on them, sending pieces of it falling into the depths below. Everything trembles. Arthur almost falls sideways, finding that there is no railing to support him, but he manages to use the mist to hold onto the rust.

Nonetheless, he stumbles. He does not know whether to turn away, because despite the distorted form, large, scorching, a sun in itself--

He knows that face.
His breath catches.
But it's not him.

THREE

This time, the mirror is located underneath him. His hands are smaller, and so is the rest of his body. He looks like a child, he realizes, another uncanny approximation of his younger self. He stands up and notices that he is wearing a snow white blouse with neck frills, dressed to attend one his mom's fancy parties. He doesn't remember hitting the ground nor entering another place - he suppose it is one of the traits of the Everworld.

Hold on, he is supposed to be on trial, is he not? What is he being tested on here? Is he just going to keep falling, memory after memory, until he runs out of them? He straightens his posture and looks for the way up.

As it turns out, it is the way down this time. It is a stairway seemingly surrounded by walls and frames, some of scenery, others of vague figures that look like human portraits. Before he steps in, he realizes that in his hand is what appears to be a white shard, almost like a broken piece of glass, except it glows faintly, a hum of life.

He makes sure to hold onto it firmly as he descends.

Something that looks like rust has corroded the edges of the carpet floor, creating uneven marks as he takes steps downward. Not surprisingly, he feels that the paintings with eyes are following him. He makes sure not to meet their gaze, and it works for the most part if he keeps his focus on where he's stepping; that is until he hears a voice.

"What're you looking for?"

He looks up to see a painting of an old man in a red cloak eyeing him, or at least as far as the eyes could move without ripping his neck. Arthur lingers there, brows furrowing. The painting repeats his question and the player notes that he is not moving his lips.

"I said sonny, what're you looking for?"

Arthur opens his mouth to reply before hesitating. ❝I'm looking for my Po--my partner.❞ he freezes, registering that even his voice sounds higher pitched now. Is that how he used to sound? He can't remember.

The painting did not appear to notice his predicament. "Hm. No pardners here. How bou' you lot?"

Suddenly, the other paintings burst into life, a cacophany of curious onlookers, asking what happened? Are they lost? Are you lost? Who has a partner they can lend? Anyone? You twat, she's old enough to be his mother!

A child's voice, not exactly like his own but close, then spoke up. ❝I'll go with him.❞ an arm sticks out of a painting before being followed by the rest of his body. His texture, including his skin, looks bumpy and rough like paper, and his colors look muted and watery. Nonetheless, he smiles, wearing an outfit similar to Arthur's, but his hair is fiery orange; eyes wide with eagerness.

It's Gou's voice.
What are you afraid of?

❝Come on, or are you scared?❞ he sounds teasing, and in spite of himself thinking it should not take so little to taunt him, something else reacts instinctively, something long hidden comes out.

❝I'm not scared.❞

The boy outstretches his hand. Arthur takes it. They go down the short carpeted steps; the paintings suddenly go silent. He isn't sure what makes his words catch on his throat, unable to ask burning questions.

❝Do you think your partner is around here?❞

He thinks he can't say it, not just yet. ❝I don't even know if he wants to see me.❞

The boy frowns. ❝Why? Did you do something to make him angry?❞

❝He…I don't know if he was angry, but because of me...he was sent here.❞

He doesn't want to mention death. Death is permanent, this place is not.

❝This place isn't so bad though. Lots of people to talk to!❞

❝That's the thing. I...I want to bring him back.❞

❝Ohhh.❞ the boy mulls over any potential implications before saying matter-of-factly: ❝Then you really gotta find him and ask.❞

FIVE

He wakes by taking a sharp breath as if he had come from underwater, reminiscent of previous experiences to whiting out. For a moment, he thinks he has failed the trial and has been ejected somewhere in the server, but when he tries to move, he realizes that can't be the case.

After all, he finds himself standing up on all fours. He looks down and sees tiny white paws, round and dainty, and after some circling around, he spies a fluffy tail that, as it turns out, are six different tails puffed together. He blinks before muttering in disbelief, <Vul...pix?> it reminds him of the one that Josh Devlin has when they were trying to unlock the Freezer class. Is the game making a nod to his username or something?

He also notices one other thing: there is a string around his neck, and hanging from the center are two white shards. They seem to be growing in number? Whatever they are supposed to mean...

He shakes his head, finding the fur on top to be somewhat annoying, and he remembers how he needs to clip Rou's bangs so that she can see properly. He then takes a better look around, finding that he appears to be in some sort of jungle with the trees soaring way above him, covering some parts of the sky with their foliage and branches. Vines hang down, though none of them are currently close enough for him to grasp, and with his current form, he can only really grab it with his teeth.

It is loud here, and yet uncannily artificial, like someone is playing a recording of sounds from the wilderness and putting it on a loudspeaker. There is that scratchy quality that itches him, making him want to cover his ears.

But he does not have the luxury of sitting around.

A familiar pattern bears itself: behind him, trees topple over, crashing with a thunderous boom. He sees a silhouette moving through before it emerges into the path that is reminiscent of a stairway, but it is instead a chipped, upward slope that has a splash of iron (to keep up with the rust theme, he supposed).

At this point, Arthur is frustrated, but he still cannot see any means to escape, so he runs.

Gravity somehow feels like it has less of a hold on him here. He is light, and he calculates his jumps before he takes them. Is this how it feels to be a house cat? And yet he knows that he cannot keep this up for long; eventually he will lose enough stamina or make a misstep and it'll be all over, and then what?

He had tried to ask Gou to come back. He doesn't even remember him.

What if...that is for the best?

A large, ghoulish hand coated in miasma reaches for Arthur, and he thinks this is it before a Flame Wheel comes out of nowhere and knocks it away; the monster lets out a screech and somehow stumbles back. Arthur can recognize that move anywhere.

<Come on!>

The Chimchar gestures him to keep climbing. He tries to match the other Pokemon's pace, but he is starting to catch his breath, and sputters his next words in between pants, <Gou, do you--do you remember me?>

He takes one good look at the Alolan Vulpix before shaking his head. <Can't say I do, but now's not really the time for that, there's a monster on our tail!>

Arthur grits his teeth, trying to gather energy through exasperation to reply. <It's me, Kyukon! Your trainer!>

<Huh?? You don't look human!>

<That's irrelevant! Do you remember me? Kyukon?>

<Uhm...I'm not sure-->

An ear-piercing screech cuts off any chance at further conversation as the monster closes in on them. One hand tries to grab the Chimchar and something wells up inside Arthur, a scream to stop stop get your hands off him!

He opens his mouth, feeling energy from deep within him pooling towards a singular point before a ball of rainbow energy forms. It then [tangent=Aurora Beam]releases into a beam[/tangent] that makes a direct hit at the hand, blasting it aside. He gasps after the energy disappears, realizing that this thing, whatever it is, isn't invincible. In this form, he can actually attack it! Maybe they can beat it!

Instead of running, he stops and makes a sharp turn so that he is facing the monster. He hears the Chimchar shout, <What are you doing?!> but he doesn't understand - after all, for the first time in this whole damn trial, he feels he can fight back. Letting energy once again pool to his mouth, he releases another [tangent=Extrasensory]multi-colored beam[/tangent], this time with the full intent to distort the monster and tear it apart.

He is met with the consequences of his hubris.

The attack lands, but the creature is too big for the beam to slow it down. It towers over him with the full intent to crush him, but once again the Chimchar leaps in to intercept, throwing himself without any regard for his own safety to buy Arthur some time.

Why? Why does Gou keep doing this, every time?

Why is he so powerless to do anything?

Why?

His vision blurs as he tries to pool another attack, but isn't fast enough. The Chimchar is thrown aside. The creature's hand is raised, blotting out the sun.

Has he learned nothing at all?