Eevee Therapy for Little Magi Chapter 52: Cracking

Illya shaded her face against the morning sun, looking out over the brown and greens of the Mirelands stretching out before her. “So you don’t know anything about Lady Ursaluna?” She looked over at their temporary travelling companion, raising one eyebrow.

“Nothing I haven’t already told you, Miss Einzenbern,” Donovan said, the Pearl Clan ‘observer’ having come to check in on the kids after their confrontation with the currently-in-disgrace clan head. “While all of us know the legends of all ten of the Nobles, and I know all the legends of the Pearl Nobles in particular, I only met Lord Avalugg, Lord Braviary, and Lord Kleavor before this journey of yours. Lady Ursaluna is known to be quieter than most.” 

Illya nodded, looking back into the trees towards their overnight camp. “Well, I suppose a few days wandering the Mire won’t be a problem,” she said, trotting back to their campsite. As they approached, she frowned, the sounds of crashes and yelling audible over the din. “Okay, what’s going on now?” She huffed.

“...not to put too fine a point on it, but as people of importance, probably another problem,” Donovan said, sprinting to keep up as the two emerged into camp to find Shirou cold-clocking a Golduck, his four partners frantically fighting off a mixed group of Psyduck and Croagunk.

Shirou looked up at his sister, breath heaving. “Illya, watch the camp,” he gasped, darting over to collect his folding spear and mud waders. “We need to track that bastard before–”

“Stop,” Illya commanded, Shirou freezing in place at his older sister’s tone. “What’s going on Shirou? Context first.”

Shirou took a deep breath. “One of the ringleaders of this group stole the egg,” he said bluntly, his voice flat. Even as he spoke, the rest of the Psyduck and Croagunk were driven off with a flurry of moves, retreating with their tails between their legs. Idly, Illya unwove a wire from her hair and formed a Storch Ritter, sending the familiar after them. That’d handle the tracking, for now. She’d add more of them later, once her brother gave her more context.

No one touched her and hers.

“What they were saying was… disjointed. Not unusual for their kind, but…” Vulpix spoke, emerging from a mess of frozen muck. “Very odd nonetheless.”

“Disjointed how, Vulpix?” Matilda asked, eyes sharp as her ribbons and tail lashed two and fro, “Forgive me for my irritation, but we’ve been caring for that egg for weeks now.”

“Saying things like ‘there’s the kidnappers’ and ‘they brainwashed a Lucario’. Ridiculous rumors, babbling at each other about being heroes,” Vulpix sniffed. “Golduck here was more trying to ride herd on his family, but between him and Toxicroak, they managed to pass the egg and carrier off.”

“So someone was likely spreading rumors that we were abusive trainers, or bad for the egg,” Illya hummed, narrowing her eyes as she added more Storch Ritters to the skies. “Well, we’ll track them down soon enough. Shirou, start cleaning yourself up, and get prepared. My familiars are following them, and we’ll want to make a plan once we know more so that the egg doesn’t get hurt in the fighting.”

“The Toxicroak darted off ahead of the rest, so try to track him down in particular,” Shirou said, moving over to his gear.

“Working on it.” Illya noted, adjusting some of her commands to her familiars. Thankfully, being flying constructs made from alchemy, it didn’t actually take them that long to canvass the area and find the target that Shirou had mentioned, “Found him. He’s running towards the lakes to the southeast, still has the incubator.”

Donovan coughed. “I’m calling Isabella and the local Rangers; hopefully we can get Clan or government help. Anything else you want me to tell them?”

Illya shook her head, Matilda at her heels as she moved over to pull on her own mud gear. “You might as well stay here and watch the camp; you’re not dressed to follow,” she ordered, the Pearl Clan boy giving a snap salute.

Shirou growled, pulling on his waders. “Let’s go.”

--(o)--

Normally, a trek through the Crimson Mirelands is something to be done slowly and carefully, avoiding mud pools, water, treacherous ground, and Pokemon habitats. The siblings’ headlong rush ignored all these things, putting to use both their own enhancements and the strengths of their teams. Thankfully, the kids had a major advantage over most in their position.

“No, I can guarantee my friends would never do such things! I swear upon my youth and soul!” Yagi barked, giving a thumbs up as he disarmed a group of Roselia who’d nearly ambushed their pursuit.

“He’s fine.” A Gardevoir poked her head out from behind a tree. “No influence on him, I think there’s been a miscommunication.” She advised, emerging fully.

“Thank you. We’ll be on our way…” Shirou said, then trailed off as the Gardevoir moved to block them from progressing. “What?”

The Roserade leading the group coughed. “That way’s heading towards the Holm of Trials. You should go around; they’re a rowdy bunch.” He explained.

“But that’s the direction where the kidnapper went,” Illya growled lowly, eye twitching in irritation as she looked towards the Gardevoir. “Miscommunication?”

“Word came from trusted sources that a group of humans had stolen an egg. I can’t imagine a Chansey lying about such a thing, but rumors get garbled over distance and time.” Gardevoir shrugged. “You can cut around the Holm by following the river to the cliffs, scaling them, then heading East until you hit Slipstream Pass,” she offered.

Filing away the potential source of the… slander leveled at her and her brother for the moment, Illya nodded curtly. “Thank you. We’ll be on our way, in that case.”

Shirou looked at the cliffs in the distance. “...Illya, we need to split up,” he said bluntly. “I don’t know how long it’ll take to scale the cliffs, and we might lose the trail.”

“I have several familiars following them, Shirou,” Illya pointed out, not actually denying the possibility of losing the trail. It was, in fact, possible. Just currently unlikely. “But if you insist, I’m not exactly against it.” She paused, looking at their groups. “You take the cliffs, then. I’m assuming that Yagi won’t be a deterrent in the Holm.” She looked at the locals, who nodded in agreement. “I’ll blast my way through, and we’ll meet up on the far side; maybe you can cut Toxicroak off.”

“Better you than me for endurance fights,” Shirou offered with a nod. “I’ll see if I can’t catch up and cut off our thief."

“Good. Stay safe.” Illya gave him a brief hug, before heading towards the river, releasing both Fubuki and Milotic. “Ready?”

“Always,” Fubuki hummed as they reached the creek, a quick gesture with her hand forming a raft of ice her partner leapt across to the far bank. Immediately, she could feel the eyes of dozens of Pokemon fix on her. 

A Lopunny hopped out of the tall grass, looking over the little trainer and her team. “Okay, can you warn your trainer that she’s about to head into dangerous terrain?” she drawled, inspecting her forepaws.

“I can understand you just fine,” Illya remarked, eyes sharpening. “And I’m aware. I just don’t particularly care at the moment. The safety of the egg I was entrusted with comes first.”

“Oh, chasing that asshole?” Lopunny barely seemed surprised that Illya could understand her. “Right, well, if you don’t wanna get jumped by everyone here looking for a novel brawl, you should probably make a Challenge. You’ll need to go through with it, of course, but no one’ll jump you if you’re going for a fun fight.”

“So long as it’s friendly I don’t really mind,” she replied instantly. “Is this… ‘asshole’ a known factor?”

“Yeah. He’s a known factor, never stops for a fight. A shame, I need practice against fighting types.” Lopunny blew on her paw. “And if you’re following him, that means crossing the whole Holm. Better make it a big challenge. If you want, I can go ask the Tyrant to fight; she’ll just have one of her kids handle the actual challenge.” 

“That works for us.” Illya nodded decisively, “If you wouldn’t mind, Lopunny?”

“No problem.” She skipped back and barked into the air. “Alright, this girl and her team are challenging the Tyrant, let them through!” she screamed, the swamp and grasses moving rapidly. “Follow after me, I’ll go set things up. Tootles!” She bounced off, and Illya started following at her heels.

Ten minutes of slogging through mud and through waterlogged grass, Illya came to a large clear pool of water, a pristine lake in the middle of the mire. Goomy and Feebas splashed in the water, while both a few Milotic and many more Sliggoo watched over their younger cousins, the Milotic rising up to wave fins at Illya’s partner of the same species. At the edge of the lake, a Goodra with a metal shell sat in the mud, rising to turn and face the human and her partners, Lopunny backing away as the Tyrant rose to her full height.

“Heya. Here for passage?” The dragon type asked lazily, waving one arm. Despite her easy tone, her eyes were intent and fixed on the four guests in her domain. 

“We are. An interloper stole an egg from us, and we are on the way to retrieve them,” Illya ground out, eyes more than a bit flinty. This disruption wasn’t ideal - to be tolerated more than anything else.

Goodra leaned back. “I see–”

“Mother, may I?” Looking over, one of the Sliggoo popped out of the water, rolling to face Illya. “I will test her heart,” he said, puffing up out of his shell with his horns swinging. “Not her team. Her.” The watching pokemon murmured in interest as they looked at Illya.

Goodra peered down at Illya, eyebrows rising. “...hmm. She has power, yes. She is a viable challenge, but only if she accepts,” she reasoned.

“I’m down for it,” Illya said, shooing her team aside.

Sliggoo smiled as the area before the pool cleared, readying himself as Illya did the same. “If you are following a noble quest – and I believe you do – you cannot waste time. Release your restraints, and show me your steel; I shall do the same,” he intoned, before he took a breath, light forming before his head in a spinning ball of silver.

Illya immediately yanked a single hair out, flinging it forward into a dagger-like blade which detonated her opponent’s Flash Cannon before it was fired, the flash barely staggering Sliggoo but rocking him slightly, giving her an opening. She darted forward, reinforcing her limbs and slamming an open palm against his shell, letting out a burst of force which spun him across the battlefield.

Sliggoo shook off his unsteadiness, quickly blasting at Illya with a burst of Dragonbreath, the purple flames barely blocked by a quickly formed barrier, the wire-frame shield eroding under his assault. He immediately launched himself into a rolling strike, the Flail clipping Illya’s leg as he skidded past, leaving her limping but still well enough to blast his back with a few curses, each one lowering his defenses, before forming an orb of purple fire which smacked into his rear.

“I didn’t know a human could learn Will-o-wisp! Did you die?” Sliggoo asked, ignoring the lines of fire now coating his shell and sapping his strength.

“No, but I am using magic,” Illya chirruped back, an amused expression flickering across her face. Because what she used in this world, at least, the magic of this world, was magic. Sure, it was maybe replicable by technology here, but, well… It wasn’t really magecraft. Besides, when in Rome…

“Spirits, fae… and aura. You use magic to mimic the powers you’ve encountered,” Sliggoo trilled as the burn seared him. “Fun! Can you mimic water?” He opened his mouth and gave a cough, an undulating disc of water blasting across the battlefield. With a grimace, Illya formed a Protect before her, the move parting like waves before a wavebreak against the cocoon of protective energy. Her response, was, perhaps, a bit prideful, but the Scald she fired was one that Milotic was proud of.

Even if her silly little water snake couldn’t aim to save her life.

The hot water seared into the dragon’s burns, and he winced in pain before rearing back for another Flail – only for his mother’s tail to land between the two.

“Enough. Someone get him a Rawst,” Goodra ordered, one of the Milotic diving into the pond and emerging with a berry. “I think she’s proved her mettle, and seeing as she’s not here for glory, let’s not see a human wounded here.” She said as the burn was treated.

“Quite right. Apologies, I got a little too into it. Your win, young lady,” Sliggoo offered, inclining his head.

“Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, I do have an egg to retrieve,” Illya curtsied daintily, looking the Matriarch in the eyes.

“If what I expect is true, you’ve got more than that to deal with.” Goodra’s words were heavy. “Sliggoo, are you recovered enough to escort them?” At the dragon’s nod, she continued. “Go and herald their victory and quest, explain on the way.” She turned one green eye to fix on Illya. “When you depart the Holm, know your protection is over, understood? Next time, I’ll take your challenge myself, should you use this method again.”

“Thank you, Matriarch,” Illya nodded sharply. “Your kindness is appreciated.”

Goodra tossed her head, and the group set off, Sliggoo heading off at a roll beside them. As they slogged through the mud the dragon slid over with ease, he explained what he knew. “I know not how much you understand of Pokemon communities, but we honor healers. Always have, and always will. Chansey are regarded well.” He paused as the group made their way through a stretch of reeds, following the trail of the Toxicroak. “The Lady of Cliffsides, though… she’s not been well these last few seasons.” He said sadly.

“I can’t imagine a Chansey ordering an egg be stolen either, not from us, anyway.” Illya agreed, filing away that particular nugget of information for later.

Sliggoo shuddered. “When I say not well… her hatchery was caught in a landslide last year.” He said mournfully. “Two dozen eggs, crushed. The whole region was distraught, none more than she. Of late she has seemed better, but desperate to rebuild, and erratic in her care for those few eggs trusted to her.”

“That’s… not great. Have any of the more emotionally inclined Pokemon tried forcing her to talk about it?” Illya asked, more for insight into their culture than anything else. There was no sense in not asking questions about it, after all.”

“I think some have?” Sliggoo said hesitantly. “The local Gardevoir court did the rounds after the disaster. Beyond that I know not.”

Matilda gave a quiet chirp as they emerged from the fen and reached the river, spotting a lanky blue Pokemon evading mud blasts from several Whiscash, juggling a glass dome. “My princess, there, the egg!”

“Then we go after them.” Illya barked out, “Matilda, Fubuki, both of you keep our path clear. Milotic, focus on getting us close!”

All three of her partners sprang into action, while Sliggoo dove into the water alongside Milotic. Toxicroak whirled, clutching the egg incubator as the group approached him knee-deep in the water. “Oh hello there! Just keeping this safe for you, taking it for a checkup, you know?” He giggled nervously as the Whiscash were driven back and the two swimmers began to circle him.

“There was no request to do that, and a Joy checked up on the Egg, along with her Chansey, not even a week ago,” Illya ground out, eyes flinty. “I’d appreciate it if you returned it, but I am not opposed to forcing the issue if need be.”

“Listen…” Toxicroak started, backing up towards the shore only for Sliggoo to cut off his escape. “...yeah, no, I’m not doing this. Here.” He offered the egg to Milotic, only for a thump to sound from the shoreline. Sliggoo immediately bounced into the air on a burst of water, intercepting a pink missile with a grunt of pain.

Chansey bounced off the dragon’s shell, landing in the mud with a splat. Her eyes were bloodshot and narrowed, feathers ruffled. “Now children, that egg needs to be kept safe,” she chirped, eyes flickering over the group.

“And she’s perfectly safe with us, Miss Chansey,” Illya declared neutrally, eyes narrowed. “I mourn for your loss, but that does not give you the right to steal eggs from trainers or other families passing through the area.”

“You cannot keep a child safe on the road like that, dear.” Chansey launched into another Seismic Toss, Milotic barely warding off the strike, her sickly sweet voice completely at odds with the way she bashed into the defender. “Much better to have them safe in my home, You can come pick up the kit in a few moons, hmm?”

A full body shudder ran through Illya at the sheer wrongness of those words in the utterly deranged tone of voice the Chansey was speaking in. She was… Definitely not okay. Probably hadn’t been for a while. But even through all that the matron was still… motherly. If in an extremely creepy, dark way. “Matilda, move to assist Miltotic, Fubuki, keep the rest of them off us.”

Toxicroak took one look at the battle, then threw the egg carrier into the air, drawing a hideous shriek from Chansey and a quick move from Fubuki, who snatched it from the air. Toxicroak darted out of the battle, Chansey screaming after him. “Wretched, cowardly little beast, I’ll have you buried for that!”

Chansey darted in, small fists catching fire as she blurred at the ghost, trying to wrestle for the egg carrier. “You can’t let it get cold! You can’t keep it safe!” she cried, Matilda and Milotic bouncing off her bulk as she struggled with the ghost. “Listen to me!”

“WE ARE!” Matilda roared back, panting as she struggled to keep the Pokemon away from her fellow member of the court, “You are overstepping, motherly one! The egg is already fairly close to hatching, and we have been taking good care of them - even better now that we have a Vulpix in our group that KNOWS what an egg like this needs, even if only secondhandedly!”

“IF I COULDN'T KEEP THEM SAFE, HOW WILL YOU?” Chansey shrieked, bashing aside the Sylveon and trying to charge in, only for Sliggoo to interpose himself, triggering Shelter to endure the bash. Chansey smashed two more Fire Punches into the dragon before he retaliated with a Flail, knocking her into Milotic, the serpent landing a vicious Aqua Tail and knocking her back to shore. “IF YOU CAN’T STOP ME, HOW–”

She was interrupted as a pair of Pokemon slammed into her side, Fafnir and Ritsuka both smacking her to roll along the beach. Behind them, Shirou, Vulpix, and Yagi closed in, with a much larger form rustling through the forest behind them. “Illya! Is everything alright?” Shirou asked, his face slightly flushed from his headlong rush.

Illya nodded as Fubuki set the incubator into her arms. Chansey came upright, light flickering around her as she tried to rise for another attack, before the large shape behind Shirou leapt from the woods and slammed down between her and the incubator. For a moment, Illya could only gape at the massive wall of brown fur sitting between her and the crazed healer, before she recognized the form before her.

Lady Ursaluna gave a long, sad growl. “Chansey. I’d hoped you’d recovered from the catastrophe. It seems I was wrong.”

“My Lady, you need to take that egg from them, it’s, it’s stolen, it’s not safe, it’s–” Chansey’s protests slowly trailed off, devolving into nervous ramblings as she tried to find some way to right a situation which had only ever been terribly wrong.

Ursaluna looked over her shoulder, one paw gently reaching forward to push Chansey to the ground, the Pokemon almost melting as her eyes rolled up in her head. “Challenger, come forward. We must speak, you and I.”

“I.. see?” Illya blinked, doing as she was asked, hands clenched tight around the incubator, her eyes scanning over the readouts even as her magical energy scanned the incubator and egg to make sure everything was fine.

Ursaluna shifted slightly to the side, showing her Chansey’s form, the maniac energy which had driven her into battle absent, leaving her barely conscious upon the ground. “Do you know the story, how Lady Akari harmed and helped my ancestor in that time when the sky cracked?” she rumbled softly. 

“I’m reasonably familiar, yes,” the snow-haired girl nodded swiftly, eyeing the Chansey with a strange combination of pity and distaste.

“Then you know her actions were born of suffering. My Ancestor suffered, to signal to all that attention needed to be brought to the mire; and Akari had to inflict yet more so all suffering could be relieved,” Ursaluna said simply. “You and your brother both know personal suffering, and you already seek to inflict it. There are two other forms of suffering here, exemplified before you. Do you know what they are?”

“If you’re talking about the suffering that’s occuring,” Illya stated cautiously, humming to herself as she took some time to settle her anger and thoughts, “Chansey is suffering because she’s bottling up her feelings and trying to pretend nothing is wrong. She’s also suffering because she believes she failed in her purpose - despite the events that caused it being likely completely outside of her control. Natural disasters aren’t… something you can reasonably predict. Not always, anyway.” Pausing, the homunculus took a deep breath again. “There’s also the ‘suffering’ you’re undergoing by not being able to fix the problem. Kinda like Shirou. He doesn’t like it when he can’t help people, and from what little I can guess of your personality I doubt you do either.” Another breath. “And Chansey inflicted suffering on us, by taking the Egg from us.”

“Well said. Many of those who seek my Trial come not understanding that suffering is not just pain, but pain that one cannot alleviate. You knew this already. But to emphasize enough to understand the suffering of others is the first step to fix it,” Ursaluna turned sadly to Chansey, who now lay unconscious. “This suffering will end, though it will be a long road. But I am glad you understand the gravity which comes from a loss of purpose. Your brother and you both are learning to be more than the weapons you were forged to be; and thus, you escape suffering yet to come.” Ursaluna turned to Illya, peering down at her. “I don’t think you need to suffer to understand my trial, and thus, I declare it done.”

Blinking slowly, Illya nodded.

She would take that. It’d been a… pretty shitty day, all things considered, and this definitely helped make it a bit better.

Ursaluna dug one paw into the earth, pulling up a clod of the loose soil before shaking her paw slightly. As the dirt fell away, a familiar brown slab was left behind. “My Earth Plate. May the ground be steady beneath you.” Illya took it from her, and the bear turned to face Sliggoo. “Dragon, you know what being sent from the Holm means for you.”

“I do.” Sliggoo bowed, then turned to face Illya himself. “It is the time of my wandering, when every dragon goes to seek their own strength.”

Fafnir rumbled, nudging Ritsuka. “One of many variants of a coming-of-age trial. Don’t worry about it.”

Ignoring the peanut gallery, Sliggoo bowed. “Noble Lady, would you allow me the honor of being at your side in your future Trials and challenges? You know much more than I, and I can tell you would be a good master to serve.”

“I would be honored.” Illya nodded sharply, inwardly buzzing with excitement. While the dragons of Garde weren’t NEARLY as impressive as the true dragons of Earth, they were still dragons. And she could not deny that there was a part of her that was practically cackling with glee.

Illya blinked as she realized the buzzing she was feeling wasn’t just because of her glee. The incubator in her hands was chirping quietly, the egg rocking rapidly. “Ah!” she said, setting it down on the ground and having it open. “What do I do?”

Ursaluna chuffed. “Hold it steady, and just wait. Unless everything goes wrong–” Her ominous speech died as the egg erupted into bright light, shell fragments flying off as the light within resolved into a tiny, red-furred Vulpix, a single white tail curled around his body. “No, it’s alright.”

Illya bent down and stroked the little fox, watching as he opened his eyes. He rose up on shaky legs toddled forward two steps, and fell into her arms. Wordlessly grumbling, he curled up and went back to sleep.

“You’ll want to let him sleep,” Vulpix of the more feminine inclinations stated, trotting over towards the smaller fox and looking up towards Illya. “You’ll want to wait to ball him too. We’ll wanna make sure we see a Joy before we do that.” She tossed a glance towards the Chansey, “We could ask her if she wasn’t mentally unstable, but I don’t think it’s a good idea right now. Could help, of course, but it’s not worth risking a kid to help an adult. Especially not a newborn.”

“Right.” Illya stood, shooting Shirou a regretful look. “Sorry Shirou, I know–”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shirou laughed. “I know you’ll take good care of him. Now then, I suppose we’re heading back to camp?”

“And from there, back to the Clan Village.” Illya nodded. “Come on, let’s get moving.”

As the group began their trek back to their camp, Ursaluna remained behind, sitting beside her broken subject. “...what a mess… I suppose the Rangers might be the best place for her…” she mused, sniffing the air. “At least there’s been something of a happy ending, despite some suffering,” she sighed.