[Plot End] [Past Dealings] Check In: Tor
Tor was in her room brushing her hair when someone knocked on her door. Now that it's been a few days, Tor finally found the time to tend to herself in between caring for Lati and spending time with Sapphire and Daiyu, and she decided to spend that time changing up her appearance. Nonetheless, she paused and turned around to try to sense who was at the door.
"...Miss Lacey?" Tor turned back to the mirror. "You can come in! Door's open."
Tor's door was opened and The True Arceus walked through it. "Heyyy, Tor. Hope you don't mind me visiting."
Tor shook her head, but kept her eyes focused on her task. "I don't mind. Are you doing one of those 'checkpoints' on me?"
Arceus nodded. "I don't know why, but the moment I came back to this world, I had the feeling that I needed to check in on you."
"That's fine." Tor nodded. Now that she was finished, Tor turned and looked at Arceus. "Okay! We can start! Though uh… is it okay if we can just keep the place as my room? I feel comfy here."
"Oh! Yeah. That's fine. Let me just lock the door, then." Arceus snapped her fingers and the door locked. She then sat at Tor's desk. "You look really nice by the way."
"Thanks!" Tor giggled. "I know it's not much different, but I wanted to make a little change!"
"Well, I like it! It suits you."
Tor walked over to her bed and sat down. Even though she's had one of these "checkpoints" before, it was always nice to have another one to talk to a version of her big sister. Tor hummed a little bit as she tried to collect her thoughts. Was it okay to talk to this version of Heidi about what she went through earlier? Would Heidi find out through osmosis and not when Tor was comfortable? Maybe that's why the Arceus wanted to check-in on Tor so soon after their last checkpoint -- maybe she sensed Hyde already.
"Is… it okay if I can tell you something? Can you… promise not to tell
The Great Ninja…?"
"Well, if it's important enough, then unless it concerns your immediate safety, then I promise that I won't. Still, something tells me that this'll be something that you're thinking of bringing up to her yourself?"
Tor nodded again. "Just… not now. I… don't want to get her upset."
Arceus tilted her head. Now that she thinks about it, there was something with Tor's energy and aura that felt… very different. "Okay. Well, tell away. What's on your mind, Tor?"
Tor sat back some more and started swinging her feet. She was starting to get a little anxious now that it was time to talk about what had transpired, but just then, she felt a wave of comfort wash over her, as if it was giving her the permission structure to speak. Could that have been Hyde…?
"I… went back to my home world while Heidi was away."
Tor sheepishly nodded. "Big Sis Lauren helped me get there. I… I wanted to find my brother… or, at least his Soul Dew."
"Oh, right. He sacrificed himself to save you, right?"
"Yeah. We… were running away from Nyx when he held her back to give me more time to run away. He gave me a lot of time to run from her, but she eventually killed him and went after me…"
"But then you got away from her because of Lillie and Tsukuyomi and them, right?"
Tor nodded. "I wouldn't have been able to get away if it wasn't for him… but I still wanted to go to find him and bring him home." Tor placed her hands in front of her chest. Just then, a small light emanated from her hands for a few moments. Then, she showed the source of the light to Arceus. It was a Soul Dew! "...so, he's home now… with me."
"!!!" Arceus reached over and took the Soul Dew. Tor allowed her. Arceus gave the item a closer look. It was almost like every other Soul Dew, but she could sense that it was slightly modified in some way. "So, this is Hyde?"
Arceus looked up at Tor. Without the Soul Dew, while she could sense that Tor seemed more confident, Tor didn't feel all that different from when they met the last time. Perhaps the strange feeling came from this Soul Dew, instead.
"...Nergal hid it in Alola, but she also apparently added some powers to him like Mega Evolution. I can Mega Evolve with him by my side!"
"Oh! That's interesting!"
Arceus gave the Soul Dew back to Tor. Tor grabbed the Soul Dew and pressed it against her chest. The light showed once again, and, when it dissipated, the Soul Dew was gone. Tor seemed giddy and happy for herself as another wave of elation washed over her as well.
"I missed him so much. I'm happy that we can be together again."
"I'm happy for you, too, Tor." Arceus nodded.
Arceus got up and sat next to Tor, but they sat together in silence looking out into the distance. Even though they didn't say anything to each other, Arcues could feel Tor's newfound emotions of satisfaction, determination, and wonder all at once. At the same time, though, she could also sense a more bittersweet feeling from the little dragon. Maybe she was still thinking of what to say from here, or of how to say it. Maybe she just was happy enough to
"You said that you're like The Great Ninja but from another world, right?"
Arceus nodded. "I am, yeah."
"And you said that you've seen other versions of other people?"
"Have you seen other version of me? Have they been like me, too?"
"Well, sort of." Arceus took some time to think. "There's potentially an infinite number of other versions of you, and of different species, to. I've met other variants of you throughout my journey. Some have gone through some of what you have. Others not so much."
"Oh. Okay." Tor nodded. "How… do I compare to them?"
Arceus gave it some thought. It wasn't exactly a question that she was expecting. "Well, I don't… really compare people to all of their counterparts, really. If I were to say anything, I think that you're… at least still on the right path."
"Thank you." Tor nodded and looked at her guest. "...Also, I got in a fight with Nergal."
"Nergal, she…." She shook her head. "She hurt Lauren really badly in a fight while I was talking to Hyde. So I had to fight Nergal to defend my big sister."
"Nergal attacked Lauren? Do you know why?" The True Arceus could probably infer the situation, but that wasn't for Tor to know.
"I--I don't know. I thought it was just to finally try to kill us but--" Tor shook her head. "--but I don't know or understand anymore."
"Why is that? Was there something that she said to you?"
Tor summoned the Soul Dew again and looked at it. "She… she said that she was the one that changed Hyde to have Mega Evolution and Ultra Energy, and that she did it to help me…. She's the one that placed my brother's Soul Dew in the Altar of the Sunne and buried him. She… she said that she wanted to test my bond with him to see if I really wanted him back--"
"Do you believe that she did all of that?"
"I…" Tor was silent. There was still doubt of everything that Nergal said in the encounter, from Nergal claiming that she was testing Tor to the information itself. Then again, it was also Nergal that led her to Hyde's Soul Dew in the first place. Could she really do everything that she said that she could? "I… I don't know. Deep inside, I can feel that she's telling the truth, but… but I-- I don't want to trust her. I'm… I'm too scared to."
Arceus scooted herself over and gave Tor a little hug. "I understand. Nergal was partly responsible for the destruction of your world, and she attacked you and Hyde when Nyx came after you, right?"
Tor nodded, but then paused, especially as a wash of doubt covered her. It was almost as if Hyde conflicted with one of the statements…. "Yeah… but… I don't know. There was something that I felt when it comes to Hyde and me--"
"I'm… I'm not sure… but I felt from her… some sort of guilt, I think? I was too angry to ask about it, but…." Tor shook her head. "It made me think… maybe there's something that I'm missing--" Tor continued looking at the Soul Dew. "...I can't trust her because of what she did, but I-- I'm just feeling like there's something that I'm missing, and I don't know why--"
"Maybe it's Hyde's influence." Arceus nodded. "Maybe the feelings from his point of view are influencing your feelings. If so, that's totally okay."
Tor recalled the Soul Dew back into her body and looked at Arceus -- well, not directly at her, but to the side of her. Tor was still a little nervous and shaken. "I… I think so."
"Well, maybe it's not something that you'll have the answers for now, but that's okay. Spend some time thinking about it. Maybe talk to your family. If you need to check, you can always ask her to see if you can get any additional information from her."
"I guess." Tor nodded and leaned into Arceus. "Anyway, Nergal and I fought after she attacked Lauren… and I beat her! I was prepared for some things, but I think the Mega Evolution changed some things in me that I need to train to understand."
"Oh! Wow, that's… that's a big deal! You must have gotten really strong from that Mega Evolution!"
"Yeah!" Tor chuckled. "I… I thought that she was going easy on me, but she was so surprised during the fight that I realized that she wasn't. It's so crazy…."
"I know, especially since you said that you wanted to be strong like Heidi during wartime, right?"
"Uh-huh! I wanted to be strong, like how The Great Ninja was strong back then. I know she's a lot stronger now so I have a long way to go to match how she is now, but even if I can be strong enough to hold my own, it makes me so happy!"
"Hehe. Aww. That's what I find cute about you, you know? Always finding a positive in your journey, even if you think you have a ways to go." Arceus giggled and turned the small hug into a larger one.
Tor returned the hug. "Thank you, Miss Lacey."
The two let go relatively quickly, enough for Arceus to have a follow-up question. "So, now that you've gotten this strong with your brother, what do you plan to do with that power?"
"I…." Tor had given this some thought, but never has she put this into words just yet. Considering everything, now was as good of a time as any to start. "I… want to get even stronger. I want to push myself to be better-- not just for myself, but for my ultimate goal. I… I want to protect my family. This world has been so nice to me and even the creatures that aren't from my home have treated me like I was always a part of the family. I… I wanna return the favor and do whatever I can to defend them, just like The Great Ninja does. Even if I can't do everything like her, maybe I could help whenever she's busy with a bigger threat, or maybe I can keep the world peaceful when it's too much for her. Maybe, one day, I can go back to my home or to other worlds and find survivors to take in, just like the Great Ninja did with us and with Daiyu and Sapphire! I just want to help as much as I can."
"Hehe. So you wanna keep the ideals of this world as well?"
"Yeah!" Tor sounded giddy. "I think the ideals are great, and I wanna uphold them! Not only that, but I wanna help other worlds adopt the ideals if they want to, too! Maybe we could make new friends that way!"
"Maybe you can." Arceus rubbed Tor's head. "If you're willing to keep at your pace, then maybe others can follow your lead, too."