Trial of Fog: Laguna

The very first thing she notices was how hard it was to breathe. It felt silly, knowing all this was just virtual reality, a simulation, and yet breathing was difficult. It added to the realism, but it did genuinely freak her out. Would she have had an easier time if she didn't select the realistic pain option? She wanted to be able to fully feel and experience everything, but this... was almost too much.

Laguna gasped for air as she slowly looked around. She really couldn't see much at all, the fog obscuring her vision in every direction. She couldn't even tell where any light was coming from, it was all diffused through the fog. It was a little disorienting, and she hadn't even stood up yet. These platforms were frozen, slippery, keeping balance on just one was going to be a nightmare. Let alone trying to jump to another.

Her eye scanned all around as she attempted to take in what was going on. Had hell frozen over? And yet, in between her gasps for air as she desperately attempted to breath, she heard a noise.

A single cry echo outwards, freezing her in place.

"Berg-"

"Glacia!" Laguna immediately called out, only to regret the outburst of air. She had to take several deep breaths to come back from that. And yet, despite the struggle she called out again. "I'm here! I'm here! We're safe, we-" She has to pause to catch her breath, the struggle almost overwhelming.

The cry was heard again, but this time it was more distant. Her Bergmite was clearly moving away, as if it had no choice. The pain in their call almost evident, a lingering sadness that Laguna couldn't quite handle.

It was then she realized just what she had to do. Laguna had to chase her.

She struggled to find the next platform for a time, only to realize that it was actually father upwards than she expected. There would be no simply jumping over to it and collapsing like before, she'd have to grab onto it with her hands and somehow managed to pull themself up.

There was no time to second guess herself, she had to climb. She once again went at it with a running leap, her hands desperately grasping at the platform. Her nails dug into the ice as she hung there helplessly for a few moments. Her arms strained to support her weight for a few moments before she finally managed to scramble on top.

Her hands had been torn up, but this was only a game. It didn't matter, the pain wasn't real. The throbbing in her head and the ache in her lungs also weren't real. She could ignore them. There wasn't anything bad that would happen if she hurt herself too bad, her character would be fine the next time she loaded up the game.

But Glacia might not be, and she only had one shot for this.

Platform after platform, was climbed and scaled, seemingly going in some kind of spiral upwards. It was hard to truly tell with all the fog, no real sense of direction. Her body had taken a beating, however. Multiple slips, lungs screaming for air, and hands that had seen better days, Laguna was in terrible shape. After the latest platform, she had to spend a whole minute just attempting to catch her breath with what little air remained.

It was like torture, hanging what she wanted so desperately in front of her, only to continue moving the moment she got anywhere close. And the worst part of all was that she couldn't even see her pokemon.

And yet, she had to press on. She couldn't give up on Glacia.

She leaped for the next one, arms outstretched high once more. And yet, the platform was much closer than she could have told. The fog obscured her vision and she had no way of seeing it until she was right upon it.

Her face slammed into the platform, bloodying her nose as she tumbled down. Her hands desperately attempting to grasp for something, finding nothing but empty air.

She fell.

Laguna had no idea how much time had passed, if any at all. She could hardly focus on anything. Her pokemon was gone.

So why did she keep hearing it's voice?

"Berg, Berg! Bergmite!"

It was so faint, barely even audible, but it was almost as if it was on loop. The worried, panicked tone present even now as it called out to her trainer. Over and over again. It sounded so weak, barely even able to make noise, and yet it still kept shouting its heart out.

Even now, she wanted to protect her. Even when she was dead, moments from being unable to ever return, Glacia wanted to help.

The cries burrowed into Laguna's head. She couldn't ignore it even if she tried, her heart broke. What was she doing? She hadn't failed, she was still there. This body might have given up, but her mind refused.

She had always been too stubborn for her own good.

And so she screamed. Screamed with every ounce of energy she had, forcing herself back onto her feet. They refused to carry her, but that didn't matter. She forced them to support her weight, forced them to move. Laguna let the tears fall, let herself cry out in pain, and yet she continued to move.

Each platform was considerably harder to reach than before, but she refused to stop and think about it. There was no time, no stopping, only leaping and climbing, over and over again. Every step painful, every breath difficult, and yet she still refused to give up. This might have been a game, and nothing was real, but that didn't matter. This world was ones and zeroes, nothing but code.

And yet, this world made her happy. Glacia made her happy, and that's what mattered.

At some point, she finally reached the last platform. The fog had thinned here, but the air was even thinner. Her body had been moving on auto-pilot for so long, she finally allowed herself a moment to pause and simple breathe as she looked around.

And yet, her Pokemon wasn't on the platform. She had arrived late, her fall had cost her everything.

Nearly everything.

Another cry filled the air, or what little of it remained, from behind her. Laguna quickly turned around to see her Bergmite was slowly floating out into the sky. Away from the platform, spinning as it desperately attempted to reach out to her.

Laguna didn't even think, she acted entirely on instinct. She leaped off the platform.

At some point, her arms wrapped around her Pokemon, physically holding her in her arms as she caught her. Whatever magic had been pulling the pokemon away had vanished, the two tumbling back down. Laguna's arms squeezed around Glacia, refusing to let her go even as they fell down, further and further through the clouds.

And through it all, Laguna was laughing. The widest smile on her face.

Glacia was home in her arms, she'd never leave again.