Episode 6: How Long is Forever?

"It... can," Rainbow says. "The further I span, the further I can sort of... push myself in space, too. So, I wasn't intending to end up in the forest specifically, more I was intending to show up where the glow felt that I needed to be, and pushed myself that way. Dunno if that's because it was a really lush, healthy forest, or if it's because you and Yellow were there."

"I've never had it where I - or anyone else that I've known - has intersected with anything," she adds. "It's just a mental instinct to... not."

"Enjoy your vacation," comes the dry reply.

Rainbow grabs Bea's hand, instructs her to keep a hold of Yellow, then reaches out to touch the glowing, clear, sparking stone before her. She concentrates for a moment. And then things go white.

Things resolve into a white endless, weightless void, stretching out into eternity. Above... no, below, uh, somewhere in the non-space space lies a rolling, endless line of what can only be described as stuff. It feels like a miniaturization of what might be representative of that time. Far back seems to just stretch into forests and mountains before blurring away, the area below has industrialization - and a little ways back, an endless tussle between a small pair of red and blue kaiju. In one area, later, there's a meteor, with a twisting insubstantial serpent... and from that moment onwards, things get progressively, slowly, darker and more cloudy...

Peering ahead, things are just entirely shrouded in an ominous, roiling black cloud. Tendrils of smoke writhe on the surface, like tentacles. Crystals bob and appear and vanish in the haze. It's impossible to see what lies beyond. The time spent here seems to be momentary, and yet endless. Insubstantial cries almost seem to echo in the void. And then Bea finds herself going forwards, Rainbow concentrating, moving them along, cutting a glowing swathe through the nothingness, far above the ribbon of darkness. Yellow, for her part, seems to mostly be keeping her own eyes shut, concentrating, not peering out into the strangeness that is... wherever they are.

The darkness seems to stretch on for eternity. Ever more vast... until, at one point, things abruptly seem to clear. As the smoke fades, the silhouettes of people on the ribbon can be seen to be rebuilding. People return to doing things, cities begin to rise again. Pokémon attack, but there is clearly survival happening. It is dark... but not so dark as to be unlivable. There is light.

And all too soon, after an eternity, the ribbon ahead seems hazy. There's a soft glow before that haze, and she can't see anything clearly beyond it. Things exist, but she can't tell which. And then Rainbow dives for the light.

And they're back almost where they were in the beginning. In the same style of room, everything. Though there's more clutter, more filth, just a general... lack of the same sterile atmosphere as before. There's the vague sound of people that can be heard. Rainbow falls to her knees, relaxing, letting out a clear, pure laugh.

An older man comes into the room, with a concerned look on his face, brilliant green leaves forming his hair and adorning his elbows. "Chrysanthemum?" he asks with surprise, "...what? Who?"

All Rainbow can seem to do is grin and laugh.

"Yes, yes, we're here!" Rainbow says, still laughing.

"Who are these people, Chrysanthemum?" the old man asks, again, confused.

"Oh, uh, well this is-" she begins, before Yellow interrupts her.

"Yeah, pleasantries later," the girl says. "Things can't be fixed right now, you need to do something first. There's a nexus of some sort somewhere in the land, that's the center of all the corruption. Find that, bring me raw crystals from there. At least as much as got us here. Then I can fix things." She grimaces. "Anyways, I'm gonna go crash on that couch over there in stasis so I can stave off this sickness, come and get me when you've got the stuff. Preferably put it outside, that should make things easier for me. Okay? Thanks." She just ignores the curious looks, before going over to the indicated seat and flopping down on it, basically immediately falling asleep.

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" the old man asks, exasperated.

Rainbow grins. "This is what we set out to do, Michael. We're going to save the world."

"This is Michael Aaron Liam Samantha na Whitston Mossdeep Grovyle Lorekeeper," Rainbow says. "He's been essentially my mentor with this whole 'past' thing, trying to find out things that could help. He was the one who found the book recording the prophecy of the Yellow Star."

"Well, pleased to meet you," he says, before grumbling a bit. "Would have been nice if it explained that the star was a person. What's she supposed to do?"

"She'll help us fix things, don't worry," Rainbow reassures, before looking at Bea. "Hmmm. You think so? I don't really relish the thought of going to Dewford again. Maybe there's something in the Archives that would help us, now that we have an idea of what to look for. It would... probably be better to know which way we should go, before we try to go there."

"Generally, unless you know a person well in a personal sense, then you will use their given name, rather than the chosen one," Rainbow explains. "While Michael and I may have done work together and had a professional relationship that way, neither of us are really close enough to grant the other the use of our chosen name. Using that before it's granted is a sign of immense disrespect. There is never a situation under which you should assume that you can use a chosen name - even with families. Since a chosen name only is chosen when you come of age, parents will just use the given name, and the child has to allow them permission, just like any other. Also," she adds, "do keep in mind that even when you have name permissions, unless you know the other person also does, you should use one's given name instead."

She thinks for a moment. "Well, the only person who ever really knew I was going was Michael, and I'd rather not inform the monarchs until we actually have a concrete plan. Bothering them for nothing would be..." she shifts in place, uncomfortably. "I'd just... very much rather not. I don't know if they exactly have the best of opinions towards me, overall, until I can prove we can make results."

"Uh," Rainbow seems taken aback by Bea's sudden frantic energy. And electrical energy. "It's not that far. A little bit of a walk. I uh, don't know this system, they're just... kinda by subject, as best I know? Mom would know better, she's probably there. And... if we had something restricted, I probably wouldn't be allowed to know about it. But... you could ask her?"

"I was meaning," Rainbow says, amused, "that it was never a question that had occurred to me, if there were things in there that I'd not seen, that weren't allowed."

"And, it should be fine in between here and there. It's really only on the outskirts that things happen on occasion. But, we're pretty safe here, compared to the rest of Hoenn. Being on an island helps. Easier to scour places. Can't wipe them all out, of course... otherwise we'd die, too."

Walking through the familiar-but-grimier halls of the laboratory, it's clear that Beatrice probably isn't going to go around unnoticed. She's a stranger here, in this land where everyone's probably familiar with the locals. While in the city itself there'll probably be more outsiders... around here, she's definitely clear to be from elsewhere. Most people just give a bit of a wary look, as though making sure she's not doing anything problematic. Might be a bit worse if she wasn't with Rainbow - the people who say hello to the Celebi are the ones who seem most comfortable with Bea's presence.

And then comes outside. It's a bright, sunny day, much like the one that they'd left. Some clouds hang in the sky, a little dark. The wind blows. It's all... normal. But something feels a little off. The light almost seems tinged a little darker, like through very light sunglasses. The wind a bit sharper. The air a little heavier. But it doesn't logically seem to be the case, it feels like it's just... a psychological thing.

Looking around, it initially almost feels like the place is abandoned. But it's not, as closer inspection shows that houses mostly seem to be built on the hillsides, grass and planterbeds used on the roof to camouflage from above, gently masking the hills. The stones of the front of the houses follow the contours of the land in a bit of an organic shape. And, while the soft hum of electricity can be heard, there's no wires aboveground to really indicate that. The only real obvious signs of civilization come from temporary stalls that look to be up further down the mountain, where people of all shapes and sizes sell their wares. For the rest, it seems as though it tries to blend in as best it can with the land.

"It's good to be back..." Rainbow says, smiling. "It's... not the same as things were, but it's still home."

"It's definitely... much less grand than in your time. Where you had monuments to humanity's power, we simply have survival in mind when we build." She nods. "It's... different."

"Anyways, uh, Archive's over here." she leads Bea towards a very large building, "towering" up two stories up the hill, even as it maintains the shape of the other, generally more sprawled out buildings. She seems a little bit nervous now. Walking inside, it's immediately noticeable to be warm and dry, to best protect the shelves of books that are on pretty much every surface around, going far back into the mountain.

"Mom? You in here?" Rainbow calls out. There's no particular response. "Hrm. Maybe she's further back. Gets into her work sometimes."

Looking closer at the books as they go deeper in, Bea's able to see a vast variety of styles. Some look to be indistinguishable from ones that would be in her own libraries - though much aged - while others are much more... manually printed and bound.

"Mom?" Rainbow calls out again, and this time there's a response.

"Chrissy? Is that you?" a woman's voice calls out, a bit faint and high up in an area between two bookshelves, where it would be a tight fit. "Hold on a minute, just need to finish reshelving these."

"Yeah, I've brought a friend to see you."

"Oh? Is it that Earthshaper girl again? What was her name again?" The voice is finally getting closer.

"No, not Aurora, she's not much of a book person."

"Oh? Someone new?" The person the voice belongs to steps out of the narrow shelf area she was in before, brushing herself off. She has green feathers all over her arms, forming wings, as well as a birdish face, and deep piercing eyes. There's a brief moment of happiness and curiosity... before she sees Beatrice, and bursts into tears.