Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 157 - Rip Across Realms

It felt like Owen had slept for at least two whole days. Perhaps that was because his mind had split five ways. When the dream ended, he woke up five times.

Regardless, he felt stiff and big and heavy. And everyone else looked like they'd gone down to half their size.

He stretched and tried to wipe the grogginess out of his eyes. He stretched, yawned, popped a few segments of his spine, and then it finally hit him.

"Oh no."

His voice was deep, and he gasped in surprise.

"Whoa!" Azelf shouted, alerting almost everyone else.

"Owen?" Zena asked, guarded and tense.

The room was still dark, lit by the red glow high above them through the spire's vertical column, but most came from Owen's flame. Thankfully his scales were still orange and cream, but he'd grown... again, and this time to his old Wishkeeper form.

"Necrozma!" Owen called. "This was the one thing I didn't want back!"

"I thought you liked being big," hummed another light source in the room. To Owen's left, covered in a thick blanket, was Necrozma. He was so bright that the blanket only partially masked him.

"I do, but—when did you get better?"

"A few hours ago," Necrozma said. "Once I'd siphoned enough energy stored in you, I was able to jump-start my energy reserves. The divine energy keeps me sustained without the need for external light... A terrible Shadow blast had taken that away from me for some time."

"And the blanket..."

"Too bright," Mispy explained, glaring at Necrozma, who lifted his wings from beneath the blanket in apology. Owen noticed that Mispy had also shoved their bag of supplies under two layers of dirt from outside. He wondered if the light crystals were also glowing brighter in reaction to Necrozma's presence...

"Thankfully, this body only burns voluntarily," he said. "You may have the blanket back, now."

"No!" Demitri said. "I—I mean, um... maybe you can take that off... when we're ready to wake up?"

Mhynt sighed. "I believe we're as awake as we can, thanks to that scream. Azelf." She rolled to a sitting position and rubbed her snout. "Honestly, you've seen Owen like this before."

"W-well, yeah, an' last time I kinda..."

Owen winced. "Good point... Necrozma, can I shrink down now?"

"I believe you have control over your form," Necrozma said. "That must be your maximum size. A side-effect of too much contact with me. It may also be your default again..."

"Great..."

"You're huge," Demitri whispered.

"Is that bad?" Owen asked, nervous.

Zena was staring but then shook her head. "I think it's... different," she replied, "but as long as it doesn't bother you..."

"I think I'll stick to being... smaller for a while," Owen said. His Perceive told him that Zena seemed to like it, though. He kept that in mind later.

"...Is it time?"

It was Valle, still in the corner of the room, the statue he always was.

"I have grown weary of... anticipating this. But I do not like how much you move."

"How much I... move?" Necrozma asked. "I'm made of divine energy, crystal, and concentrated light. Two of my three components are in constant motion."

"Stillness. Do you value stillness?"