Previously on Oranges to Grapes...
After the arrival of the fourth and final Hell-Sent Cure, Cure Envy, settles the leftover Diademon once and for all, the other three girls still have a few questions for Dina...
-
"Okay, what do you want to know first?" Dina asked.
"Well, obviously, the first thing we want to know is where the domes came from," Rosita started off, "and how you know that."
"Alright," the axolotl girl said as the others got comfortable. "It all started about a week ago in the evening..."
-
(Flashback)
-
As the sky over Montenevera began to shift from blue to orange, a small flurry of snowflakes began to sprinkle on the surface, as if a funnel cake was being given a fresh coat of powdered sugar. In the southern brown house decorated with icicles, Dina had just opened the front door, ready to pick up some dinner from Every Wich Way. "Okay, just gotta get some food and Fresh Water bottles for my gill-buds, then I can turn in for another day."
"Wait!"
-
"What is it, Eartha," Dina said as the flashback was paused.
"Gill-buds?" the fennec fox inquired. "What are those?"
"They're little water-filled capsules that I put over my gills so I can walk on land and breathe," Dina explained as she moved her fronds forward to show the others. "They're like those old water headphones from way back when, only more compact and discreet."
"Oooh," Rosita and Jessica said in unison. "Compact and discreet."
"Now," Dina said, letting her fronds fall back, "may I continue my story?"
"Sorry," Eartha said as she settled back down, "continue."
-
"First, the water," Dina said as she approached the vending machine near the house next door... but as she inserted her coins and made her selection, the air around her started to shift. "Huh?" She found it peculiar, but shrugged it off and obtained her purchase. "Eh."
But a few steps over to the restaurant later, the sky started to shift back to blue a little, which struck Dina as odd; so much so that she walked down the stairs to the bridge that led to the outside of town. "What is?"
As she squinted her eyes and looked over the bridge, she saw something that definitely wasn't natural: the sun was setting lower in the west, but at the same time, it seemed to be rising back up in the south!
It turned out that that was the day the Dooctohedron set its grand master plan into motion and launched itself into the night skies of Paldea... but Dina didn't know that part. All she saw was a massive column of light that erupted from the Great Crater, then a bright explosion in the sky that resembled the Terastal symbol spitting out different-colored specks that fell back down to earth... one of which seemed to be getting bigger until she realized it was actually getting closer!
Acting on instinct, Dina rushed across the bridge and down the mountain to the next bridge, hoping she could gain enough distance from the coming impact to survive the fallout. But as soon as she reached that lower bridge, the massive chunk of lavender light collided into her hometown, jostling some snow from higher up the mountain to fall into piles... one of which landed on top of Dina's head!
Ordinarily, as an axolotl, Dina wouldn't mind being hit with cold water, but the form that water was in made her unable to see anything for a few seconds. When she managed to shake off the snow, she looked back up to wonder what became of Montenevera, but saw tanzanite crystal begin to engulf her hometown!
After the crystal formation crossed the bridge, it quickly angled upward in a circle that climbed up high... then higher... And higher... AND HIGHER until it all reached a point where it met in the middle and closed itself up, encasing the town of Montenevera in a huge, lavender, crystal...
"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMME!!!!!"
-
(End of flashback)
-
"And that was how I discovered the source of the domes," Dina wrapped up her explanation with.
"So," Rosita surmised, having listened carefully to the story, "the domes came from a pillar of light from the Great Crater, which shot colorful masses of light that crashed down on different areas of Paldea and encased them in these domes. Is that the gist of it?"
"That would be the proccess of events, yes," Dina confirmed.
"Then I have an idea of how to find out how to stop them," the caracal said with certainty, "but it'll have to wait. First, thank you for telling us what you know about the domes, Dina. In exchange, here's what we know. The domes seem to be targeted to areas with Gyms, Titan dens, and Team Star bases, but not every area in Paldea fits that criteria."
"It's true," Jessica confirmed. "There wasn't a dome over Porto Marinada when we bought Berries from the auction."
"Nor was there one over Los Platos when I set out and this whole kerfaffle started," Rosita agreed. "As such, I've decided to name these areas 'safe zones,' and if my hunch is correct, our next destination will be one of those safe zones: Mesagoza itself."
"Why?" Eartha asked. "Do you know someone who can help us there?"
"As a matter of fact... I do."
-
To be continued.
