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The sound of the fabric of space-time tearing was followed by a soft POP! inside the immense complex hidden in the tree of Kuoh Park.
Sylvie kept her eyes tightly closed and her hands pressed against her chest, expecting the sudden change in temperature to be the prelude to further punishment. However, instead of the damp, bloody, and moldy smell of the basement, her lungs filled with warm, clean air, faintly scented with pine and polished metal.
—You can open your eyes, little one. We're home now.
Kaiju's voice, soft and devoid of any trace of the vengeful divinity he had displayed minutes before, encouraged her to slowly raise her eyelids.
The girl gasped. The place defied any logic her battered mind could grasp. It was a gigantic space, larger than her former, cruel master's mansion, but with walls that combined polished steel and living wood. There were warm lights, endless shelves, unlit monitors, and strange tools floating neatly in the corners. It was a technological and magical sanctuary.
"W-where...?" Sylvie stammered, her voice barely a hoarse thread, feeling her legs tremble with weakness.
Before she could collapse, Kaiju knelt in front of her, holding her extremely gently by the shoulders.
"You're in my home, Sylvie. No one will ever hurt you here again. But before I introduce you to the family, we need to do something about all that pain, okay?"
Sylvie looked down at her own arms, wrapped in grimy bandages covering chemical burns and festering scars. She nodded weakly, used to her former master's doctors only causing her more agony when they tried to "patch her up."
Kaiju closed his good eye and took a deep breath. When he opened it, the natural brown was replaced by a brilliant and intense Ocean Blue, the manifestation of the Healing and Vital Infusion of his Celestial Eyes.
"It won't hurt. I promise," he whispered.
A warm light, like the first rays of sunlight in spring, emanated from Kaiju's pupils and enveloped Sylvie's small, fragile body. The girl let out a small gasp, expecting the burning sensation... but instead felt absolute relief, a comforting warmth that penetrated to her very bones.
The filthy bandages crumbled to dust. Before her tearful eyes, the horrific chemical burns on her skin began to recede, the scabs disappeared, and the scars vanished completely. In a matter of seconds, her skin was once again pale, flawless, and perfectly healthy. The constant pain, that background noise that had accompanied her for years, faded away.
Sylvie touched her arms, incredulous. Then she brought her hands to her face, where a huge scar used to mark her cheek, and found only smooth skin. Tears began to stream uncontrollably from her eyes.
"And one last touch..." Kaiju added, his eyes changing to Immaculate White. With a simple glance at the girl's rags, the fabric transmuted. The dirty clothes became a beautiful and comfortable light blue cotton dress, with clean, soft shoes.
Sylvie dropped to her knees, sobbing, and hugged Kaiju's legs, burying her face in his pants.
—T-thank you... thank you, Master... —the girl cried.
Kaiju crouched down and gently stroked her gray hair. "Don't call me Master, Sylvie. Just call me Kaiju. There are no slaves here."
The moment of peace was interrupted by the soft sound of approaching footsteps. Sylvie instinctively tensed and hid behind Kaiju's back, only one eye peeking out.
From the shadows of the immense laboratory emerged a tall, elegant figure. She was a beautiful being, wearing a white dress that seemed to float above the floor and a hairstyle that resembled a chic pale blue cut, adorned with a reddish horn on her chest and back. Lala had finally evolved to her ultimate stage: a majestic Shiny Gardevoir.
"Kaiju... you've returned," Lala's telepathic voice echoed in the young man's mind, soft and maternal, before she fixed her immense red eyes on the small, trembling figure hiding behind him. "And you brought a wounded soul."
"Lala, this is Sylvie," Kaiju introduced, gently stepping aside to reveal the little girl. "Sylvie, don't be afraid of her. This is Lala. She's the heart of this place."
Gardevoir knelt with impeccable grace, reaching the child's eye level. As the quintessential Empathy Pokémon, Lala needed no words. She extended her white arms and enveloped Sylvie in a hug. A wave of pure psychic calm, love, and compassion flowed directly into the child's mind. The lingering terror in Sylvie's heart melted like ice in the sun. Sensing the creature's absolute kindness, Sylvie returned the embrace, burying her face in Lala's chest.
"I think they'll get along very well," Kaiju smiled, feeling the heavy pressure in his chest ease a little. The lab still felt immense and strangely quiet without Tohka's constant mental notes, but Sylvie's arrival brought a new light to the place.
Suddenly, the metal floor shook.
Sylvie let out a little squeal, clinging to Lala. A low roar and the sound of heavy claws scraping against steel echoed in the main hallway.
"Guys, watch out for the furniture!" Kaiju warned, putting a hand to his forehead.
The heavyweights emerged from the training area. Char, now an immense and fearsome Charizard with a scar on his snout, poked his head out, exhaling a small puff of smoke. Behind him, Tiburoncin, the alpha Garchomp, and Tanque, an Aggron the size of a small truck, revealed their fearsome faces.
Sylvie was petrified. They were monsters straight out of her worst nightmares, creatures capable of bringing down buildings.
But the tension broke in a comical way.
Tiburoncin, the Garchomp, pushed Char aside, waddling clumsily over to Sylvie. He bent down as far as he could and, with a soft growl that sounded eerily like the purr of a giant cat, offered the girl a shiny, juicy berry he'd been saving. Char, not wanting to be outdone, used the tip of his flaming tail to quickly light one of the laboratory fireplaces so the girl wouldn't get cold, sitting down beside her and wagging his tail like a giant puppy.
Sylvie blinked, looking at the enormous berry in the shark dragon's claw, then at the warm campfire, and finally at Kaiju, who shrugged with an amused smile.
"They're a bunch of spoiled crybabies when they're not training," Kaiju explained. "Sylvie, I present to you your new family. No one in this world, neither gods nor demons, will be able to touch you as long as they breathe."
With still trembling hands, the little girl took the berry from Tiburoncin's paw. The Garchomp let out a joyful sound and gently rubbed his scaly snout against her hair, taking absolute care not to hurt her.
That night, the lab didn't feel empty. Kaiju transmuted a feast of real, hot food: stew, fresh bread, and sweets. Sylvie, who had lived on rotten scraps, ate until her cheeks puffed out, crying tears of joy with every bite, flanked by a Gardevoir gracefully wiping her mouth and a Charizard using his tail to keep her soup warm.
Hours later, in a newly created room with pastel-colored walls and a bed so soft it seemed made of clouds, Kaiju tucked the little girl in.
Sylvie looked up at him from under the covers. Her eyes reflected a glimmer that had been stolen from her long ago: hope.
"Kaiju," she whispered, testing the word timidly. "Is this a dream?"
Kaiju sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her forehead with a serene smile.
—No, Sylvie. This is reality. And from now on, every day will be like this. Rest.
Kaiju turned off the lamp and left the room, leaving the door ajar where Lala was already silently keeping watch. The young man walked toward the laboratory's immense window that overlooked the outside of the illusory tree.
...
The morning sun filtered gently through the immense leaves of the illusory tree, bathing the interior of the dimensional house in a warm, golden light. The days of cold, damp, and terror were long gone. Several months had passed since that rescue in the basement, and life in Kaiju's sanctuary had settled into a peaceful, domestic, and sometimes comically overwhelming rhythm.
Kaiju opened his eyes, blinking to wake up, and let out a sigh. Before he could even try to get up, he felt a familiar and comforting weight snuggled against his right side.
Sylvie was there.
The girl who had once been a bundle of trembling bones and scars now had pale but healthy cheeks, and her grayish hair shone, clean and carefully brushed. She wore a loose nightgown and clung to Kaiju's arm with the strength of a koala clinging to a eucalyptus tree, breathing peacefully.
"I'll have to remember to teach her the concept of 'personal space' someday," Kaiju thought, managing a tired but genuine smile as he tried, unsuccessfully, to free his arm without waking her.
In these months, Sylvie's personality had blossomed, but not exactly like that of a normal girl. The extreme shyness of the beginning had given way to an absolute, almost consuming devotion. Sylvie wanted to be with him all the time. She wanted to cook for him, she wanted to clean his clothes, she wanted to comb his hair, and if he let her, she would probably try to feed him.
It was just a few weeks ago that Kaiju's otaku mind connected the dots and remembered what kind of work Sylvie originally came from.
"It wasn't a survival game... it was an adult visual novel," was the revelation that had left him frozen in the middle of the room, holding a cup of coffee. Seeing Sylvie approach shyly, blushing to her ears, asking sweetly if he needed her to rub his back in the shower to relieve his stress, Kaiju had spat out his coffee, nearly choking.
He had a teenage daughter who was deeply attached to him and willing to cross any line for him, and he, as a reincarnated being with some decency, had to juggle channeling that devotion into a healthy, ordinary life.
"Kaiju..." Sylvie murmured sleepily, rubbing her cheek against the boy's shoulder before slowly opening her large eyes. Realizing he was already awake, her face instantly flushed crimson. "I-I'm sorry! I fell asleep next to you again! I-I was going to make breakfast before you woke up, I..."
Kaiju let out a soft laugh and, with his free hand, ruffled her grayish hair.
"Relax, Sylvie. It's Sunday. There's no rush for breakfast," he said, sitting up in bed and stretching his arms. "Besides, today is one day you're not going to lift a finger in the kitchen. That's an order."
Sylvie blinked, sitting up abruptly, her expression shifting to one of mild panic. "Did I do something wrong, Kaiju? Was yesterday's food not good? I-I can improve my stew recipe, I swear, just tell me what..."
"Sylvie, listen to me," he interrupted, taking her small hands in his to stop her nervous trembling. "Your food is perfect. But today is a special day. Today you turn fifteen."
The girl tilted her head, genuinely confused. "Fifteen years old? But... I don't know what day I was born."
"I know. That's why we decided it would be today," Kaiju explained with a wide smile. "We're in the same year now. We're both fifteen. And in this house, birthdays are celebrated in a big way. So go take a shower and put on something comfortable. Lala is waiting for you in the living room."
Sylvie nodded, still a little disoriented but obedient as always, and left the room with light steps.
Once alone, Kaiju leaped out of bed. His eyes glowed with a white flash. With absolute transmutation activated, he dressed in a millisecond and sprinted toward the kitchen area of the gigantic laboratory.
There, the squad of pocket monsters was in complete tactical chaos.
Char, the immense Charizard, was using a tiny flame at the tip of his tail to melt chocolate in a pot with surgical precision. Tiburoncin, the Garchomp, was wearing a ridiculous pink apron tied around his neck and was slicing strawberries at hypersonic speed with his claws. Tanque, the Aggron, was whipping cream in a giant bowl simply by vibrating his metal arm.
"Quick, guys, the birthday girl has woken up!" Kaiju whispered, joining the assembly line.
In less than an hour, the enormous dining room table was unrecognizable. Kaiju had used his powers to transmute festive decorations: colorful garlands hung from the metallic ceiling, warm lights twinkled in the corners, and in the center of the table sat a perfectly frosted, two-tiered strawberry and chocolate cake, courtesy of the "delicate" claws of an Earth Dragon and the pyrokinesis of a Charizard.
The sliding door opened.
Sylvie entered timidly, accompanied by Lala, the Gardevoir, who had brushed her hair and placed a beautiful pastel pink bow on either side of her head. The girl was wearing her favorite dress, a dark-colored one with a white collar that Kaiju had custom-made for her weeks before.
Upon seeing the table, the balloons, and the immense team of lethal creatures wearing paper party hats, Sylvie froze in the doorway. Her eyes scanned the scene, finally settling on Kaiju, who was holding a small plate with the first slice of cake.
"Happy birthday, Sylvie!" exclaimed Kaiju, and all the Pokémon let out soft roars and celebratory squeals. Tiburoncin even blew a paper horn that tore from the force of his lungs.
The girl took a step toward the table. Her hands trembled as she brought her fingers to her lips. She had forgotten what it was like to celebrate. In her previous life, the passage of time only meant she was one day older and one day more tired.
"Is all this... for me?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"For no one else," Kaiju said, approaching her and handing her the plate with the cake. "You're fifteen, Sylvie. You're free. You're safe. And you have your whole life ahead of you to eat sweets, sleep in, and, if you want, learn to cook new recipes with Char."
Sylvie gazed at the cake. A perfectly sliced strawberry rested atop the whipped cream. Heavy, warm tears began to well up in her eyes, trickling down her flushed cheeks. But they weren't tears of pain or terror. They were tears of such immense relief that it could barely be contained within her small body.
She placed the plate on the table with trembling hands and, breaking all her shyness, lunged at Kaiju, wrapping her arms around his torso and hiding her face against his chest.
"Thank you..." Sylvie sobbed, squeezing him tightly, her voice muffled against the fabric of his shirt. "Thank you, Kaiju. I promise I'll try my best. I-I promise I'll be useful, that I'll make you happy, that I'll do whatever you ask..."
Kaiju sighed softly, returning her embrace firmly. The girl's devotion, born from her trauma and her origins in that dark script, was still there, burning with an almost overwhelming intensity. But he wasn't going to take advantage of it. His job was to teach her that she didn't need to earn her place.
"You don't have to be useful to stay here, Sylvie," Kaiju whispered, resting his chin on the girl's head. "You just have to be yourself. And for now, your only obligation is to eat that cake before Tank and Sharky decide they've waited long enough."
Sylvie lifted her face, her eyes swollen but shining with absolute happiness, and nodded, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
The morning passed with laughter, the heavy Pokémon's failed attempts to eat with forks, and the warm feeling of a home that both of them, in their own way, had been desperately seeking. It was a perfect fragment of time, a respite from everyday life, isolated from the multiverse and the battles. For today, Kaiju wasn't a harbinger of divine death, nor a supersonic fighter. For today, he was just a fifteen-year-old boy watching Sylvie smile as she blew out the fifteen candles on her cake.