The Soul

Fire made a point of sticking to his word. He took a picture with the taxi driver just as the sun was setting. We’d parked outside of a two-story cookie-cutter house with a traditional, white picket fence. All that set it apart from the samey houses along the street was its newly painted red door. There were black burn marks along the bricks and the glass. The grass in the front lawn was torn up and turned over. Some parts of it showed signs of recent frost. It so rarely snowed in Angel City that the last recorded snowfall was fifty years ago.

“What kind of training do you do here?” My nose twitched slightly, catching a faint scent like overcooked food still sitting on an old grill.

Fire spun a keyring around his finger, “This place? I mean, it’s not mine. It’s my great uncle’s house, but he said I could use it while he’s on vacation in… I don’t even remember.”

My tail flicked behind me, “Surely, he doesn’t want you destroying the place.”

“I’m me. I raise the property value just by looking at this junkheap.”

“I know how being a champion works.”

Fire jammed his key into the lock, yanking it to the side until the lock clicked, “Ever challenged the annoying HOA president to a Capmon battle?”

“Are you asking if I use my status to bully people into giving me what I want?” My ears flicked back, “I’ve only done that sometimes.”

He tugged at the doorknob, pulling fiercely, “Oh… I left it unlocked again!” Fire laughed to himself. This time, he turned the key the other way and properly opened it.

Zane scratched the back of his head. “Why’d you bother to lock it then, just to unlock it after?”

“It’s funny,” Fire scoffed. He poked his head inside, “I forgot to turn the lights off, too,” his hand lowered to the Capture Balls at his belt. He quietly took a step inside and whispered, “Just, uhh… Keep your voices down, you know?”

Chii set Nyaro down on the ground. She whispered, “Go on ahead. Be quiet.” I tried keeping pace with Nyaro as she padded silently across the linoleum floors. Dust danced in the little beams of orange light that drooped between the half-open curtains. A ceiling fan creaked in quiet circles in the center of the hallway. It spun gradually slower, stopping as I passed under it. In one corner was a grandfather clock softly illuminated by a single lightbulb hanging down from the ceiling by a string.

Nyaro strutted around a corner, then darted back out of the room. “There’s someone here!” Her claws scratched against the floor as she passed back around me.

“Who?” I asked. A rocking chair creaked in the room just beside me.

“I don’t know! I’ve never seen him before,” she hissed. Zane, Chii, and Fire finally caught up to us.

Fire heard the warning, then confidently stepped into the next room. I turned the corner with him to see a middle-aged man wearing a black suit. His red tie shone in the light of the lamp beside him. It had a calm, floral pattern across it. He adjusted the too-small, circular glasses on his nose, “Ah. If it isn’t my favorite two people in the world. Good evening!”

Zane poked his head in, “I’m one of your favorite people?”

The man nodded slowly, “Why, yes. Yes, I meant you, Boy.”

My fur rose on end as I heard the man’s voice, “You’re Dr. Fine, aren’t you?”

He slowly clapped, “Indeed,” he raised an eyebrow to Zane, “she makes impressive deductions. Did you teach her that? It’s such a cute little trick.”

Zane nodded quickly. Fire rolled his eyes. He took a step forward, “Dr. Fine, we’ve spoken in the past. I don’t believe I told you I was staying here.”

“Oh, yes. Your sweet uncle told me. I paid to extend his vacation by another several months. Now, I’m here to cover your expenses, also… for a little favor.”

I growled, “I told you before, we could answer to each other properly.”

Zane blinked, “Well, I’m flattered… uh… Doctor, but who are you?”

He slowly lifted himself out of the rocking chair, clicking his cane against the ground as he hobbled over to Zane. Dr. Fine eagerly reached out to grab his hand, “My boy! I am the CTO of SolveCorp. I heard you helped rescue an extinct Capmon that was stolen from us. You’re a heroic young man, Zane. I respect that.”

Zane shook his hand quickly, “W-well, I intend to be a champion someday.”

“Right…” Fine offered a fake smile, “and I’ll be watching your career carefully. If anybody has the… raw gumption… to win, then it must be a strong soul like yours.”

Chii stepped forward, “Well, Doc… I beat him in the Jubilee Cup already!”

“And, I saw that, my sweet girl!” Fine put his hand on her shoulder, “This here, is this the Nyrao that took you to win the whole tournament? I know many trainers who have nary the talent to accomplish a victory like that so early in their journey! You have a bright future, oh, very bright. You’ll have to excuse me for rooting against you that match, wrong as I was, I am quite partial to certain kinds of Capmon. Kichi, Kachi… They were my favorites as a young child.”

“Zane didn’t use Bianca in that match,” Chii frowned.

“And of course he didn’t,” Fine smirked at me, “she went off somewhere… that is why Zane lost, after all. She must feel rotten about that choice.”

Zane shook his head, “That’s not right at all. I chose to use the Capmon I did for a reason.”

Dr. Fine made a shocked expression, “Oh! Excuse me, then. Please, do pardon me! I’m a fan of Capmon battling as anyone, but I’m no battler myself. You know how fans get too excited about certain things, and we don’t always understand the decisions real trainers make. You’re smarter than us fans are.”

“W-well… It’s not like that either!” Zane sputtered.

Fire cracked his knuckles, “You said you wanted a favor in return for some compensation?”

“Indeed!” Fine smiled broadly, flashing his perfectly white teeth, “See, I’m looking for any information related to Deiiarch itself.”

I blinked, “You want us to help you capture the creator of worlds?”

“Capture!” He put his hands out in front of him, “No, not at all. I’d just like to learn more about it. I’ve never been a pious man, but I feel like there is a little Deiiarch in all of us, and I need to know more about it.”

Fire took a deep breath, “Dr. Fine, what are you offering for this? For just any information?”

Fine held up a piece of paper, “You see, your sweet uncle was spending so much time, so many resources on his travels. He completely forgot about actual finances. One debt turned into another. Well, this very house has been foreclosed for the past week. It happened to come into my possession.”

“My family’s history is tied to this home,” Fire reached for the paper.

Dr. Fine put it in his hand, “And, I know that all too well, Champion. Here. The deed is yours. I ask nothing in return for it. If you’d like to do me this favor in return, I would only compensate your efforts further.”

Zane smiled, “I promise we will, Doctor. And, this is all for your own research?”

“Mostly, I study a new concept. Inner spirits. The kinds of things we really are, the true self of a person that comes out under extreme, supernatural duress,” Dr. Fine announced, “humans are able to speak to Capmon not because it is a talent we can manage to learn, but because we are much more like them deep down than anyone really thinks. Our souls are each bound to a specific kind of them per one theory.”

Fire glanced down at me. Chii raised an eyebrow, “And, you think Deiiarch caused that?”

“Exactly,” Dr. Fine nodded. “If we could learn from him how to harness this, we would open the doors to a new age. There have been attempts by humans to do these things in the past, but… they’ve been faulty.”

“Faulty?” I stepped forward, “What does that mean?”

“Uncontrolled. Unstable.” Dr. Fine leaned on his cane, “Predetermined. With the power of Deiiarch, we could dictate what spirit forms people even have. We could rewrite the soul.”

Fire clenched the deed in his hands. “What does that entail?”

“A new era of medicine. Of technology. Of freedom.”

Chii beamed, “Well, of course we’re bound to help! That sounds wonderful!”

Fire softly put his hand on his shoulder. He leaned next to her and whispered something in her ear. Her feet shifted under her, and she looked down at the ground. The champion nodded to Dr. Fine, “I think it’s time for you to leave, sir. Before it gets too dark out.”

“Is that a no?” The doctor started hobbling away.

I started after him, “You know what happened to me, don’t you?”

He swung his cane at me, just slowly enough for me to hop away. Dr. Fine scowled, “Did I not just tell you, child? Or do I need to put it more plainly? I saved your life.” Zane darted after me as Dr. Fine walked away. Fire and Chii and Zane allowed him to walk away.