Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 140 - The Last Remnant

Sun. Sky. Warmth. Light. It was approaching winter, and yet somehow even the bitter cold felt warm in the afternoon daytime. Because it was the first time many of them had truly been able to experience daytime at all.

It didn't matter that it was just outside of a collapsed cave. It had once been Owen's home. Yet, that history was small compared to the feeling of freedom and proper air on their real scales and living bodies.

It was different. It was something Owen hadn't realized he missed. This whole time, when he'd visited the living world for however brief it had been, they were shielded by the light crystals. Their bodies could not stand living beyond a Dungeon, let alone in the world itself. They were not "alive."

But that also shielded them from the pleasant elements. They never truly felt the sun. What they felt from within the Voidlands was a sad echo of what they had been torn away from. But with Xerneas' blessing, with that final power to push them back to living, Owen finally felt the sun again.

He cried. He didn't sniffle or sob, but the overwhelming sensation of warm stone under his feet and fresh air over his belly was too much. He went to his knees, felt the little pebbles. Then he wandered just outside the remains of the cave and touched the grass and the dirt, fascinated by that familiar sensation of green blades along his scales. He dug his claws into dry soil and marveled at the healthy, firm roots that clung to the earth and refused to let go. He laughed at that valiant effort and let it stay.

The others were reacting in their own ways. Mispy was stretching her sharp flower petals and plunging her vines like roots into the soil, basking without a care. Demitri was hugging the ground like an old friend, spreading himself to absorb more of the sun. Gahi had taken to the skies, flipping through clouds high, high up with whoops and hollers.

They were alive.

Next, he checked on Zena, who had also been freed of the Voidlands' bonds. The sea serpent had coiled around a warm rock to enjoy it in some basic, instinctual way. When their eyes met, she jolted and tried to look regal.

"I, er—"

"It's so warm," Owen said.

"Oh, it... yes. It is. I'm... not sure why I..." She relaxed her stance, less graceful. Owen smiled at that, and she smiled more.

"I could just stay here forever," Owen said, falling onto his back to stare at a partly cloudy sky. Delicate wisps of cotton across a perfectly blue canvas.

"We do still have work to do," Zena admitted. "I don't want to lounge around all day when we could be doing something productive..." But despite this, she made no gesture to give the warm rock some space. And Owen couldn't blame her, not when he was using the grassy hill as an infinite bed.

"Goodness..." Lucario took a long, long breath, stretching his limbs, soaking the sun. "Eons, so many eons it must have been... Well, perhaps not literally. From studying the calendar, it had only been a thousand years or so..."

That pang returned, that strange dissonance of staring at 'Rhys' yet knowing it wasn't actually him. Owen still didn't know if the others could tell or not.

They had been part of the second wave to emerge from the Voidlands. Jerry, Eon, the Trio of Mind, and Jirachi had gone ahead to Kilo Village to see if they could use their powers with Jerry's guidance on the area to help rebuild quickly. That left Team Alloy, Zena, and their mentor to investigate Hot Spot.

"Hey, Rhys!" Demitri called, sitting up. "Are we ready to go through Hot Spot and, um, recover a few things?"

"Recover?" Lucario asked. "Ahh! Of course. It may be in ruins, but there is still certainly a chance to rebuild. Some Rock users can certainly help with the cavern reconstruction..."