Heaven's Slice
A/N: Cover art courtesy of the incredibly talented Sa-Dui (no spaces in the hyperlink to her design for this story) fav . me/dbi4cpi
Thank you for your readership. Enjoy the story.
Chapter 1: Heaven's Perpetrator
Nia stood close beside a lithe nineteen-year-old girl with golden eyes.
"A secret lair," said the girl to her Weavile. "Gotta find the basement, Nia. That's where we'll find our mark."
Arching her back against the hardwood casing of a door, Nia stood sentry in the opulent hallway, while her dark-garbed mistress devised the plan. As Nia waited, her fluffy crown feathers on her head quivered in the still air. She was on full alert. Being a skilled hunter, Nia could sense the slightest of motion, though at present her skill was hardly being taxed. Guards paced about with heavy footsteps on the interior's wooden floorboards, making them creak and groan. Their Pokémon made a fair deal of noise, too.
"Back around to the main foyer then," the girl whispered, her lips concealed behind a cloth face mask.
Acknowledging her, the grown Weavile exhaled a tiny cloud of mist filled with glittering ice. On all fours, Nia concentrated on placing her weight on floorboards where the wood was fastened as not to give away her position, trusting the guard's rhythmic squeaking to alert her to any that might come her way. Although reflected moonlight glistening off of the polished brass, smooth marble, and blown glass figures decorating the hall kept catching her eyes and stirring within her a primal urge to possess them, she took it as a reminder to stick to the plan. A carpeted path lay ahead, a path welcoming her to move swiftly, silently, and safely to a position where her mistress could see her and receive the information that she needed. Her crest flattened reflexively as she peeked over a railing for a split second. Stepping back toward the hallway, she reached behind herself and raised two claws twice: "Two guards, two Pokémon."
Cautiously, the young girl peered down the stairwell, inching close to Nia's cool body. Her long dark hair and sleek black coat covered the two of them as well as any shadow. She caught a glimpse of the four, a man and Pokémon paired, each. The first man had a shaven head and an Electabuzz close beside him; so close that she wondered if he shaved his hair to keep it from standing on end from the amount of static those things can throw off. The second came into view wearing a strange uniform featuring a tall collar and a crimson cape. In his hand he held a chain leading a Druddigon that looked no less fierce than any other and judging by the marks of past battles scarring his neck, he was not just for show.
The man wearing the cape spoke with a threatening voice as the sturdy chains holding Druddigon prisoner jangled. "Slack off a second time and I'll reassign you to the pyre myself!"
"Won't happen again, Sir Drake," replied the man, his broad shoulders pulled back in a hunched gait.
"I don't expect it to. This is your last chance." The uniformed man removed his other arm beneath his mantle, revealing a peculiar jeweled staff with a silver ring attached to it.
She felt Nia shudder from excitement at the sight of the glimmering crystals of all colors decorating the rod. Giving her partner a quick pinch on the belly, she signaled to Nia: "Snap out of it!"
He raised the crystal cane, his withered hand grasping the silver hoop near its decorated base. To everyone's surprise, he smacked the Electabuzz's temple with the rod.
She and Nia winced in unison, expecting retaliatory lightning to fly from the beast. The man with the shaved head recoiled back, likely from the unwelcome prospect of kilovolts being set loose.
Instead, the burly monster whimpered. No electricity, not even a weak buzz, came from its horns. Its eyes narrowed, helplessly glaring at the mysterious item that struck such a humiliating blow.
"Fool!" spat the caped man. "Have your Electabuzz give you a shock if you can't manage to stay awake!" Again, he prodded the Pokémon with his cane, boasting domination over the striped beast. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Very." Doing his best to muster a salute, the guard tried not to lose completely his already shaken composure.
Druddigon let out a cantankerous growl as its heavy chain rattled.
"She grows impatient. And yet, there's nothing but sacks of spoiled meat." With a grunt, the mysterious Sir Drake began to turn. "That won't do…won't do at all…"
She saw he wore a twisted grin on his face, an ugly, ferocious look. The manic expression dissolved, if only slightly, as he stowed the staff beneath his cloak once more.
"All the meat is the same. All of it. All of it reeks—" He paused, giving the guard a double take. "Something's amiss."
"Sir Drake?" asked the guard.
Crap! She yanked Nia away from the railing just in time as the men gazed up at where they had been spying.
From below the floor, Sir Drake gave a rough sigh. "Send out a few more patrols to cover the perimeter. Can't have anyone upsetting tonight's plans. Our offering must be without disruption."
"Understood, Sir Drake!" answered the guard.
Druddigon's stomping echoed through the vestibule together with its clattering chains, becoming muffled as the men and their monsters parted ways.
She squeezed tightly onto Nia, her fingers squeezing her velvety coat. "Way too close!" she whispered into her friend's feathery ear.
Smothered by her, Nia squirmed out of her mistress's arms and got back to her feet. Nia turned her head, her feathers bristling, then leapt forward on all fours. She darted towards a festooned mahogany end table inside a room adjacent to the main hall.
Following Nia, she entered the room. She was greeted by a collection of statues, in the likeness of monsters she did not recognize. Some were spreading grand wings wrought of granite, others raising their limbs in meticulously chiseled battle stances. Seeing the only residents of the room were these stone figures, she let out a sigh of relief, and closed the door behind her to soften any noise.
Nia affectionately rubbed her feathery head against her hip and purred. "Close call." Though Nia lacked the ability to speak, her mistress understood her catlike noises to the point where she hardly perceived anything save for their meaning.
"What a creep. Good thing we're not looking for that stick. More importantly, didja see those stairs down near the guard, Nia? We gotta get past him and his 'buzz. Would've been easier if he was still dozing off. He's on high alert now. Don't think he'll be nodding off anytime soon after that stern talkin' to he got from Sir Drake," she sneered. "Maybe we can use his paranoia to our advantage."
Nia picked up a porcelain vase from the posh end table. Clutching the cerulean piece and brimming with a proud smile, Nia revealed her sharp fangs. "How 'bout this, Syl?"
She held out her hand, covered by a long glove with extendable claws and a silver ring around her wrist, which stretched all the way up past her elbow to her bare shoulder. A circular cluster of hexagons gave off a faint red glow as she took the urn from Nia. "The Armadas is responding," she whispered. "So, this piece is an anomaly as well. The old man was right about this place. Always is. Or else he wouldn't be worthy of his title as legendary thief and assassin: Night Blade, Mathias."
Patriarch of the Nightshade Shadows, colloquially known as the Thieves Guild, Mathias was a broad-shouldered man with receding gray hair. The diagonal scar of a blade, which he claimed was a memento of an old acquaintance, ran under his magisterial nose, across pursed lips to his virile jaw. He possessed charisma, wisdom of a gentleman from a bygone generation, and the mind of a brilliant thief. Despite his purported villainy as a heinous criminal, an assassin no less, his exploits exposed deep corruption within the influential upper echelons of Castelia City. She wondered if he had an origin in those lofty societal ranks. It would explain his charm, courteousness, and diplomatic demeanor – incidentally, all qualities young Syl lacked. Contrary to his old age, Mathias stood tall and proud next his faithful Absol, Dareveth, or Dare, as he often called him. She vividly remembered the golden hour four nights ago, when the four of them gathered on the end of a sparse train platform in Anville Town. It was her sendoff to the outskirts of Orre for tonight's mission; her bright eyes were fixed in the direction of the late sun descending upon the distant tracks.
"Sylisa," Mathias had said to her then in his composed, yet stern voice, "you don't realize it yet, but this mission is more important than me or the Shadows. No matter where you go, it's a dark world. Yet, even in darkness, find your path under its cover, and carve forward your own path. The decisions you make, the company you keep, those are treasures worth more than fame or fortune." Mathias looked at Nia and slightly nodded his head. "You'll only get one chance, but, with her by your side, you'll only need the one."
"Why me?" Sylisa wondered. In a mixture of her adolescent uncertainty and veneration of Mathias, she pointed out, "You're the infamous Night Blade, doesn't that count for something?"
"Spare me," huffed Mathias, a dangerous glare on his jagged face. "Remember what I taught you: Labels aren't important to professional thieves – a good thief is named by notoriety, a bad one by the crime committed. Stealing a treasure, they'll call it larceny. Breaking into a safe, burglary. Using a little force, banditry. Raiding a tomb, grave robbery. Key difference between us and those thieves: We get away with it."
"Oh…" A tight knot in her chest from the weight of responsibility made her voice barely audible. She felt frozen in place, unable to answer her mentor, much less say goodbye without tears. The longer the silence persisted, the more her doubts multiplied. Without warning, Dare approached her, in a coy stride he was well-known for when seeking an affectionate pat or delicious treat. Sylisa ran her hand through his shaggy fur much to Nia's jealousy. She steeled herself with a deep breath, her trembling fingers clasped Dare's thick mane, mustering every ounce of courage she could. "I'll be the best thief there ever was with Nia!"
For a split-second she could have sworn Mathias was about to smile. "Now go," he said, holding fast to his consistently serious aura. "Before I regret bringing you into this twisted world even more."
Coming back to present, Sylisa forcefully shook her head to dispel the lingering bits of reminiscence. I sounded really stupid. Gotta get results, that's how I'll prove myself!
Sylisa scrutinized the vase Nia had passed along to her, trying to cast off the heavy doubt weighing on her heart with her passion for archeology. "Ooh, look!" she exclaimed, studying its intricate design. "It's baby Articuno taking flight for the first time. Hmm. Judging by the blue porcelain, it's from special kaolin unearthed by Dugtrio all the way in Kanto. Oh wow! This is one of a kind! Nia, look at this fancy inscription in the corner. Famous craftsmen from long ago used to imprint their work here by the base with this special marking when it was custom made. Made it impossible to forge a replica!"
The reddening collar of Nia and her annoyed purr impressed on Sylisa that she was off-track. "That's not why I got it!"
"Whoops, erm, I got a'lil carried away there," replied Sylisa, concealing a sheepish grin.
Nia pouted.
"Shame, this Articunurn must be worth a month's worth of fancy meals, not to mention its historic value. But none of that's what we're here for." Sylisa sighed, spinning the priceless vase into the air and nimbly catching it. "We'll use it to draw attention away from the stairwell. Will raise suspicion, but it'll give us a clear opening. You fling it, and then book it down the stairs while they're distracted. I'll jump from landing to landing right behind you. That thick carpet will muffle the noise. Whatcha think?"
"Simple plan. I like it." Nia mewed in agreement.
"Ready?"
After handing off the vase to her, Nia nodded.
"Here goes nothing. Three, two, one!"
Nia flung the vase in a long arc down the hall and into the next room below the base of the steps.
"What was that?!" blurted the man next to Electabuzz. He and his Pokémon scattered in the direction of the shattering sound, giving Sylisa and Nia the opening they needed.
Sylisa's boots were made of hard leather and had a soft sole for absorbing sprightly jumps. As she leapt to trace Nia, Sylisa's featherlight jacket fluttered behind her, its split back forming two obsidian coattails that followed her deft bounds. Following a series of acrobatic jumps, they passed the guard's post and entered the dark corridor leading down into the bowels of the mysterious mansion.
Having reached the vacant bottom of the spiral staircase, the two of them took a quick breather.
"If I had known we'd be jumping around so much I wouldn't have worn such a short skirt," groaned Sylisa, her fingers tugging on her snug black outfit. "Nia, you made my corset way too tight!"
Nia's cheeks blushed, she held her paw slackly over her mouth, trying to not stare at Sylisa wrenching and squirming in her skin-tight clothes.
"Ugh… Yeeesh, what's that stench? Smells like garbage day in the city." Sylisa adjusted her face mask to better cover her irritated nose.
So offensive was the mephitic odor, Nia wore a scrunched up face and covered her nostrils with one of her paws. She hissed and spat in disgust. "Spoiled food?"
"Eww. I think so," she said, feeling ever queasier. Making dexterous jumps the envy of many a trapezist was nothing compared to weathering the pervasive, rotten stench. The darkness grew along with the rank pong the further down the path they went. The floor was no longer made of hardwood, but large slabs of stone, carved out of the foundational bedrock. "It's quiet," whispered Sylisa. "Too quiet. You'd think there'd be guards down here."
"Feel that?" asked Nia.
Pausing, Sylisa felt a rhythmic vibration in the floor. "Huh. There's something shaking."
Eventually the tunnel ended with a landing leading to three hallways. The underground architecture was curved and consisted of dome ceilings that resembled a Kabuto's shell. Along the corridors there were dim lamps, housed in glass boxes that once held candles prior to electricity judging from the wax remnants present at their bases.
Nia begrudgingly sniffed the foul air and pointed to the passage where the stench was coming from. She pointed. "Thataway."
Sylisa gave a mute thumbs-up and followed Nia down the very darkest of the three paths. They began to hear heavy breathing. The labored sound shook the entire floor. Even the wall lanterns were rattling. Her eyes frantically scanned to make out what lay ahead in this abysmal, reverberating pit. "What could be making such a sound? Is it a 'mon?"
"Gonna find out." When a wall at the end of the hall approached, Nia turned into what appeared to be an archaic underground pantry.
Sylisa held her breath as her best friend disappeared.
However, Nia bounced right out back into the hallway with a look of utter confusion on her face.
"N-Nia? What's wrong?" Sylisa asked in a panic. And then there was a grumble unlike anything she had ever heard. It was deep, grumpy and brash all at once. Not only that, the putrescent odor was worse than before. "What the heck—!?"
A huge wall of flesh came hurtling out through the passageway. Sylisa could not believe what she was seeing. An enormous Snorlax broke down half the wall charging after Nia.
"Oh shit! Leap to the lamps!" She dodged to the other side of the hall.
Nia evaded, jumping up and swinging from the old lanterns on the wall to dodge the living wrecking ball. But Snorlax was just getting warmed up, tumbling forward with impressive girth in an all-out attack.
"Dammit!" Sylisa helplessly watched as Nia struggled to slide from Snorlax's wild charge.
The momentum of the beast's Giga Impact hurdled Snorlax past Nia and into a brick wall, breaking it down, and revealing a hidden area behind it. There were very bright lights coming from within the once hidden room, which caused Snorlax to angrily cover its tired eyes from the blinding light. It growled deeply, slumped backward, and swatted loose bricks with its chubby hands.
Seeing an opening, Sylisa said in a hiss, "Nia, Spite it!"
Nia's shadow grew and stretched underneath the massive body of Snorlax. The ghostly shadow tugged down on the enormous creature with phantasm energy.
Snorlax rumbled, his behemoth form tried to lift off the ground and roll into another fully charged Giga Impact. When Snorlax realized the shadow had pinned his body, it grabbed onto the broken wall to help leverage itself to its feet.
"Oh no you don't, fat-ass!" chided Sylisa. "Nia, quick, use Ice Shard like we practiced. Then Low Kick!"
Nia shot multiple shards of ice from under her claws, forming a thin path of ice in front of her. Like a figure skater, she dashed rapidly on the ice path gathering momentum and charging right for where Spite had locked down Snorlax. With a graceful pirouette, the cat ballerina spun into a kick after launching from the end of the ramped ice path and powerfully nailed Snorlax right in the side of the leg.
Snorlax tottered from side to side, trying to balance its absurd girth, it fell flat on its big belly, then rolled into the side of the wall it had not broken down. The Snorlax let out an absolutely filthy smelling belch as its massive stomach pressed against the earth. Finally, it fell back into a deep, noisy slumber.
"Phew, lights out, big boy." Sylisa sighed, hugging Nia protectively in her arms, close to her pounding heart. "I hope the racket didn't alert the guards." The supernatural ice path Nia had made had already begun to melt into an unrecognizable path of water, easily mistaken for drool tracing to Snorlax. "Looks like Chubby had a bad dream, nice work. We better dash, girl." Sylisa and Nia hopped over the wall Snorlax's Giga Impact wrecked which led them into a brighter room.
"Wow…" Sylisa said as her eyes adjusted to the artificial light illuminating the huge storage bay. "This place feels like a different era. The architecture is all different. It's all new construction." Thousands of crates were kept in this giant warehouse. Aisles held hundreds of metal boxes, rectangle in shape, about three times as long as they were wide, stacked up to the ceiling on either side of the room. "You think this is the place, Nia?"
Nia shivered, her feathers bristled against themselves despite a lack of air movement. "I don't like this, Syl."
"Looks like underground storage. Don't see anyone down here. That's good for us, right?" However, Sylisa's intrepid words did not stop a chill from running up her spine as she stooped against a nearby crate and peered around for any signs of life. "Everything's so still," she whispered. "What's the point of guarding all this with a friggin' Snorlax?"
Nia growled lowly, as she sunk her body onto all fours, bringing her belly close to the ground.
Sylisa quietly snapped another round of pictures on her phone. "These boxes, all identical metal caskets. You don't think they could be ALL holding treasure? There's gotta be millions of 'em down here. We'll never find the right one at this rate!"
Nia did not have an answer, her crouched body language showed her general uneasiness.
Sylisa groaned, trying to pry open one of the solid crates with her Armadas. It was stubbornly bolted shut like all the others, its construction as seamless as possible. After struggling for a minute to find a keyhole or other access point to no avail, she moved on to another, and another. "Hey, what's gotten into you? Don't you want to see what's inside these things?" asked Sylisa as she squatted from fatigue.
"No way." Nia sat up, crossed her arms, and shook her head. With her sharpened claw, she pointed at how the crates surrounded them, as though it were a tactical disadvantage on one of her hunts. "Don't like. Too many."
"Wait!" Sylisa gasped. "The treasure we're looking for can't be inside one of these things."
Nia's feathers lofted in mild intrigue.
"Don'tcha see? Would be a real hassle if it got lost in one of them since they're exactly the same. There aren't any numbers, symbols, or ID marks on 'em. So… How would you know which one is holding what unless you grew gray hairs like Mathias trying to open them all?"
Growling lowly, the feline made her attitude clear. "Don't think they're supposed to be opened, Syl."
Sylisa stood back up and ran her fingers over the metal, touching the iron latches. Her hand froze. "Like ice," she whispered. She tapped on the side of one of the crates. She didn't know why, but the moment she did, she expected to hear a response. When no noise came, she sighed in relief. That wouldn't make sense. There aren't any air holes. Nothing could possibly live in there. Of course not. What a silly thought.
As Sylisa turned around to check on Nia she heard another whisper. Soft, unintelligible sound at first, but then it morphed into louder syllables resembling foreign words. It sounded like a child. No, a group of children. Playing. Or something. It sounded like muffled giggling, but something was off. The noise did not sound human. Their sound was stretched out, distorted, like a warped record played on an old phonograph.
Sylisa was about to scold, "Cut it out, Nia!" before she realized the voices were coming from the opposite direction of her feline, from the crate. She quickly spun around to face the distorted cluster of whispers. They were invisible, but the source was unambiguously coming from the sealed coffer. Sylisa realized she was shaking. Get out of my head! The warped voices grew louder, then there was a bright flash of light. Ahh!
Suddenly the room she was in changed completely. She was somewhere high in the sky, a place only Pokémon with strong wings could reach, and the clouds were all below her at the edge of space. She saw figures in the distance. A woman garbed in purest white vestments hung limply in the air, controlled by an invisible force that held her aloft like a marionette. It was then she realized the woman's chest was blood red. Stained by a massive, bleeding gash where her heart should have been.
What…what is this!? Sylisa thought in delirium. This can't be real! None of this is real! Stop! Make it stop! Frightened, she started to walk backward, moving away from the disturbing scene. The distorted voices seemed to follow her, yet she could not turn around away from the woman. As she moved backwards, the back of her ankles ran into a piece of metal and she tripped clumsily despite feeling as though she were somewhere high in the sky. As she fell, she saw from her peripheral vision that it was the spire of a tall tower overlooking a region she had never seen before. Unintelligible sounds and the whistling of air filled her head. When her rear hit the ground, she felt a sharp jolt of discomfort. The voices and visual hallucinations abruptly ceased.
"Huh?!" Her entire body was sweating and shivering. With an unsteady hand, she nervously wiped away the wetness off her forehead. "What just happened? Did you hear that?"
Nia gave a confused head shake. "No." She brushed her body up against Sylisa, who held her with both arms. Nia wailed, "Why're you all soaked?"
"Oh God! Am I going crazy? When I touched that crate," said Sylisa, staring down at her fingers, now impressing her friend's mink fur. "I started to hear voices. It had to be a hallucination. Maybe it was a psychic's trap!"
"Told you to stay away." Nia shrugged.
The bright lights above suddenly flickered.
"Bad news," Sylisa whispered, coming back to reality rather unsteadily. "We need to hurry before we're discovered. And catch that eclipse. Only way we're getting out of here is under the cover of darkness."
"You better not go anywhere without me." With a nudge, her feathers tickled Sylisa, causing her to smile.
"I won't. Thank you for keeping me safe." After hugging her friend's velvety coat one last time, Sylisa picked herself up off the ground and pointed to the far end of the underground warehouse which lead to a massive steel door. "Back there. The trap's voices, the hallucination, was all coming from that way. If it's any indication, that's gotta be the place where the treasure is."
Together they darted down one of many aisles filled with the flush metal containers. Eventually they made it to the rear of the giant room. The hanger was much bigger up close. "A Wailord would be able to fit through here," mused Sylisa. It was shut tight, chained down to the cement floor; however, there was a regular sized door leading to another room on the left of the garage.
"Break it?" asked Nia, pointing to Sylisa's special glove.
She placed her palm on the door. "Far too sturdy to break down with the Armadas." Sylisa pressed her ear against it and her shorter partner followed suit. "Hear anyone inside?"
"No."
"Me neither," said Sylisa, grabbing a pick from her belt and getting to work on the lock. "Basic pin tumbler, nothing too special."
Nia ruffled her collar. "Showoff."
"Hehe. Almost…got it." The door's lock clicked open.
Inside was a darker room. It looked like an office, furnished with several desks and file cabinets with a couch opposite a wall with a mirror. On the back wall, there was a giant painting of a Pokémon soaring high above stone towers on wings made of flame. Sylisa scanned the perimeter and closed the door softly behind her. Walking in, she peered at her reflection in the dim light. "My hair's a little messy," she grumbled, running her hand through her long jet-black hair, vainly tucking it behind her ears to show off her earrings, a matching set of dangling hoops with a suspended red feather in each. "Lookin' good, all things considered."
"C'mon!" Nia urged, tugging on Sylisa's coattails.
Sylisa adjusted her black and green Dusk Ball on the back of her mini skirt's belt above her derriere and walked to the other side of the room. There were no more strange noises, just the dull hum of an air vent overhead. She perused through some of the texts on the bookshelf, searching for a hidden lever while glossing over the various titles to get a better feel for whoever made this their office. "Ancient Pokémon and Ultra Space, Where and When the Pokéball Manipulates Space-Time, A Primer on Apricorn Malfunctions, Horrific First-Generation Mistakes, Not Your Grandfather's Paradox, Druidic Rituals and Contemporary Scholarship, Psychics or Predictors … Geez, someone needs to lay off the fiction. Reminds me of dad's old library. Concerning the Paranormal and that sorta stuff… Huh, looks like this old book is not even written in English. All these cryptic symbols on the binding. Spooky. They kinda look like eyeballs."
"Wrong place." Nia growled. She pointed to the painting of the mysterious Pokémon on the back wall, jumped up onto a cabinet, and started using her claws to pry the painting loose.
Sylisa assisted her partner, exposing a metal wall safe with a satisfied grin. "There you have it, it's not just a cliché. Hmm. A cylinder lock…and a number-pad code," she said, analyzing her opponent. "Tsk, tsk. The buyer's paying for the novelty of having multiple ways in, which can be taken advantage of. Nia, a gust of Icy Wind, if you don't mind."
Nia simpered deviously into her paw, then blew a small cloud of frost on the combination keypad. The shimmering ice powder revealed tiny ridges: fingerprints where numbers had been pressed. Judging by the placement and orientation, it was clear they went straight onto the eight, moved downward to smudge twice on the three, then took a long diagonal turn to press seven.
"8-3-3-7" Sylisa smirked as she entered the combination. "And presto! We're in, baby!"
Inside the safe, she saw exactly what she had traveled all the way here for. A sparkling translucent orb with a fine ruby crystal in the center. It was partially wrapped by a white silken cloth which it rested in like an egg in a nest.
"Not so fast." Nia knew better than to snatch the mark the same way she would steal a Pidgey's egg from an unguarded nest. "First, check for traps."
"You're right. Better to be safe. Don't see any motion detectors, but just to be sure." Sylisa picked up a snow globe paperweight from the nearby desk and got ready to swap the two items in case there was a pressure sensor alarm. Sylisa deftly wrapped the treasure in the silk it was resting in and proceeded to switch it with the paperweight.
Nia purred, a smug grin on her face. "Well, that was easy."
Ruffling her corset's lacing resembling the pinnacles of a crown round her bust, Sylisa placed the loot inside her vest pocket under her breast and turned to face Nia. "Phew. We got what we came here for. Let's get the hell out of here, girl. We'll write a spooky story about it online for the laughs. I've got some spooky pics here on my phone. Can't wait to rustle someone's jimmies."
"Not-uh." She did not agree. "Mission first, Syl."
"C'mon, Nia!" whined Sylisa. "Why are you so serious all the time?" In truth, Sylisa was too afraid to confront, let alone kill anyone. She was even more afraid of whatever horrible power dwelled here. All she wanted to do was run off with the loot back to HQ and show off her infiltration skills online.
Nia shook her feathery head. She then hugged onto Sylisa's leg, securely clutching her long black stockings so she could not run away. "No running!"
I'd make a terrible Pokémon, I'd cut and run from my trainer at the first sign of trouble, she thought. "Don't worry, I'm going to stay with you."
Nia defiantly held Sylisa in place, and nuzzled her crown feathers against her long and warm stockings.
"Fine, fine. You win. We'll do what we can to put these crazy cultists outta commission. But, no sense following orders to the letter if we wind up dead." Hmm, best way to handle this by doing the least amount of work possible… Sylisa rubbed her chin, pondering. "Ah-ha! We'll use the environment against them. The air is very dry here, isn't it?"
Nia tilted her head. She mewed. "Go on."
"We can start a fire," Sylisa explained. "Arson's a serious crime. It'll get noticed and that grumpster Mathias won't be able to say we didn't try. At the very least it disrupts those robed guys we saw out in the courtyard and we'll have proof we were here." Sylisa pointed to her phone. Patting her vest, Sylisa followed up with a toothy grin. "Plus our treasure of course!"
Nia nodded, agreeing with the plan. "Not bad."
"Let's go back behind that room with the Snorlax. We'll start a fire there, on our way out by setting flame to the old storehouse's wooden pillars."
Her ice cat's shoulders slumped. She growled low and set her sharp claws out, unwilling to fight Snorlax again.
"Aw, Nia. Don'tcha give me that cranky kitty look," said Sylisa. "I bet the big loafer is still knocked out. Don't worry, we'll flee before it wakes up."
Nia tried to force a nod but it came across as half-hearted. "Then what?"
Sylisa winked confidently. "Ahem! Following Shadow, Chaos is a thief's second-best friend!"
"That's not it at all." Nia seemed skeptical of her stitched-together prerogative and even less amused by her butchering of one of the adages Mathias always spoke about as central to the Thieves Guild.
"Blah, blah, blah! Ain't nobody got time to remember all those old sayings. Hurry up." Together they raced back out into the hallway, into the big warehouse room. There was an ominous groan from behind the giant hanger. It sounded like metal moving, but the steal door was still tightly sealed shut. Sylisa and Nia picked up the pace and raced for the broken-down wall.
To their surprise, Snorlax was gone. "Huh?! Something that big doesn't just disappear. You think an investigating guard recalled it after seeing the damage it did to the wall?"
"Don't care. Glad it's gone." Nia sneered, darting to the interior of the underground kitchen that had been blocked by Snorlax before. It was very rustic, and had probably not been used in ages for actual cooking, instead becoming a storage facility.
"Weiiiiird…" Sylisa exhaled dramatically. "Here, the sooner we get out of this creepy place the better. Let's get this kindling lit." She gathered some dried supplies and built a small pile near the wooden supports. With a flourish, she lit a long match using the side of her boot. The flames burned brightly as she set the kindling pile alight. In the aridness of the desert air, the flames began to spread to the other parts of the structure. Thick smoke rose beneath the fire, which licked greedily at the combustible material to rapidly spread.
Nia groaned and pointed to her ice claws. "I'm not gonna melt, am I?"
"Not if you're quick," teased Sylisa. "Time to make like thunder and bolt! C'mon!"
Before they had gotten too far through the tunnel, Nia made a sharp and perky noise reminding Sylisa: "Smell of fire will alert the 'buzz."
"A little too late for that," sighed Sylisa. "We need to run or we'll get cooked for real."
"What's that? Something's burning!" said the voice of the man who had been with the Electabuzz. Their heavy steps were approaching.
"Crap," said Sylisa. "Too soon. They're going to block our exit."
Nia gave Sylisa's jacket tail a tug. "Plan?"
"Stun and run." Placing her index finger on the control ring of the Armadas, Sylisa felt her synthetic glove purr to life. "You go for Electabuzz, Nia, I'll stun the man." Sylisa whispered over the charging hum of the Armadas, "Remember, I only got one shot before it goes idle."
"The offering pyre is supposed to be outside, dammit!" yelled the guard from earlier. "Why is there smoke coming from inside? Hurry up, Buzz, we need to check it out or we'll get roasted by Drake!"
As soon as the guard's bulky profile appeared from around the bend of the twisting spiral stairs, Sylisa stuck out her left arm, palm face-out directly in front of him. She turned her head to the right and covered her left ear with her right hand. Activating the burst, she felt an incredible force of energy from her extended hand, pushing her backwards. It sounded like an explosion straight out of an Exploud.
The guard ran smack into the thunderous blast, and fell back. His shaved head bumped against the stone wall behind him and he collapsed.
Meanwhile, Electabuzz was just as shocked by the ambush. Rounding the corner to follow the noise, it stumbled over the stunned guard's body. Stupefied by the escalating calamity, Electabuzz let sparks fly wildly from its horns, illuminating the claustrophobic stairwell with bright flashes of pulsing light.
Nia threw a sucker punch, jumping on the stunned guard for leverage, then leaping, landing the hit square between Electabuzz's eyes. After a sprightly landing on uneven ground, Nia snatched Electabuzz's yellow and black tail, and forcefully yanked the striped tail underneath the Pokémon's legs causing it to trip and fall as well.
"Run!" said Sylisa. "Friggin' blast must've alerted every guard in the building!"
After climbing to the top of the stairs, Sylisa saw at least six guards racing in through the front door. They all had their Pokémon with them. Hitmonchan, Granbull, Pawniard, Gabite, Watchog, and Darmanitan, each a significant threat, but together a huge problem.
"Give 'em the business, boys!" shouted the lead guard to the group of Pokémon.
Throwing one of her special smoke grenades, a prism bomb, Sylisa managed to interrupt Hitmonchan from striking Nia with a speedy Mach Punch. The dazzling light and smokescreen from the bomb created a chance to escape the onslaught of attacks from the other Pokémon. Sylisa did a backflip and Nia used Substitute to dodge several of the Darmanitan's fireballs thrown wildly at them, however, Sylisa's facemask fell off.
"Back door!" exclaimed Sylisa. She spun around on her heel and ran down the hallway. The corridor seemed to stretch on forever, and she could hear her pursuers noisily chasing after her. Ahead was a large glass door leading to the courtyard illuminated by the ominous orange glow from outside. Sylisa said between hurried breaths, "Nia – Icicle Crash – through the glass!"
Nia jumped into the air and blew a spear of ice in between outstretched claws. With impressive strength, she flung the icicle javelin at the glass which shattered into a sea of shards.
Sylisa heard a loud thud from the other side of the glass and then a buzzing groan. The ice missile struck something solid. The spike wobbled at a near vertical position. As she leapt through the broken glass, she saw a big Heracross wearing a Choice Band like a bandana. Heracross was illuminated by a red light, Sylisa looked up to see a dark red moon consistent with the eclipse.
Nia didn't skip a beat. She ripped the Choice Band right off with Thief and hastily tied the item around her arm. "Hurry! It's almost time."
To the left, more guards from the estate's entrance were closing in. To the right was the ominous orange glow from where the cultists had been spotted before. And ahead of them was a huge hedge maze. "Only one way to go," said Sylisa, dashing into the maze.
Nia twisted and turned through the labyrinth at sharp angles making Sylisa dizzy, but she did not give up or slow down. Just then a massive fireball came searing down from above, burning away a huge portion of the maze right in front of them. Sylisa and Nia stopped and looked up, barely avoiding the towering inferno. It was a Charizard. And a really massive one at that. Its wingspan must have been the length of three city buses.
"Oh…shit." She gasped, out of breath. "You gotta be kidding me!"
Charizard let out a deafening roar, firing more fireballs at the hedge maze to cut off their exits. It breathed one after another, without breaks between attacks. They were surrounded by the firestorm in no time.
Sylisa stared up at her daunting opponent in an intense mixture of fear and anger. It was then she realized that someone was riding the giant Charizard. She could not tell who it was due to the flames and rising waves of heat distorting her vision like a mirage, but it appeared to be wearing robes like the cultists.
The figure boomed from atop Charizard's back, "THE MIRARI! WHERE IS IT?!"
"Must be talking about the treasure." Sylisa looked at Nia.
She returned the glare and tightened her Choice Band.
"The wings," said Sylisa with a defying point at the gargantuan monster blotting out the bloody heavens. A growing sea of orange wildfire reflected off the hooks on her Armadas and Nia's claws. "Ice Shard!"
With a twin slashing motion, Nia fired a hailstorm of crystallized ice missiles at Charizard's huge wingspan overhead. As the blizzard of sparkling shards flew into the cold night air, they reflected the orange glow of the flames below and the blood red sky above, creating a dazzling display.
Charizard breathed out a sweeping stream of fire, a Flamethrower with no end. It melted all the ice projectiles, turning them into harmless steam.
"No!" exclaimed Sylisa. Her heart was pounding, her whole body was sweating. This is the end of the line. We're surrounded and there's no way to escape!
"Any last words before I burn you to cinder?!" hollered the voice from above the mighty dragon.
"The thing he wants. It's our only chance." Sylisa removed the orb from the pocket inside her corset. Silently, she held it high up into the air for the rider to see.
"Yes! YES!" The voice resounded from atop the enormous Charizard's back. "THE MIRARI!"
"You want it?!" asked Sylisa angrily. "Or are 'ya just gonna gawk?"
"Insolent, wretched thief! You have no idea what limitless power the Mirari possesses! Relinquish it from your heinous claws and I shall make your death a swift one!"
Her body felt hotter from anger than from the surrounding flames. She was livid and not about to relinquish her hard-fought prize. A feverish emotion of wrath overtook her and her eyes narrowed. "I don't think so!" she hollered, glancing down at her left bicep, noting a soft illuminated outline, indicating her glove had recharged. Adjusting the Mirari with her fingertips, she placed it against the amplifier housed in her palm. Staring back up into the face of death she shouted, "Better take a picture, 'cause it'll last longer!"
The Charizard lurched, rearing its gigantic head back. In its maw, an inferno of flame grew to a massive proportion.
Sylisa took one last look at Nia and activated the Armadas as the colossal blast of hellfire fell upon them. She intended to launch it straight into the fire. However, as she activated the burst, it emitted a brilliant flash of light.
"AHHH!"
Everything around her started to pull away. Sylisa felt nauseous as the color was drained out of the world. The Mirari shone brightly in her hand, but the strange orb had started to warp light around it. Sylisa saw countless eyes all around her, black, colorless watchers, floating in midair, staring into her soul. What the…! What's going on?! What's happening to me?!
Everything blurred together. The bizarre eldritch horror scene around her became a waterlogged sea, leagues under the sea. And then pressure. She began to feel not only the weight of the staring eyes, but the aquatic environment pressing down on her whole body. The sensation only got worse as she felt a terrible migraine. Through dense miasma of the underwater world, she noticed the swirling eyes that had turned into bubbles. Beyond the maelstrom of their chaotic congregation, a bright sun was out exactly where the eclipse had been not a moment ago.
This isn't right! But the words would not come. She felt paralyzed by an invisible weight pressing her down into the ground. Help! Sylisa's thoughts screamed. The whole world had changed around her. None of it was familiar. She felt dizzy and sick. Everything distorted beyond recognition. The manor she had just been in was completely gone. The outdoor courtyard where she and Nia had fled had become a sweltering sea of sand. The cool night sky, the bloody moon, all replaced by a scorching midday sun. Even Charizard and the rider were missing from the now clear blue sky. She felt her eyes watering in tears of extreme discomfort. Wherever she was, it was not a place she recognized. Very confused, she tried to focus on simply breathing. She could not remember where she had just been, only what brought her here. "The Mirari," she rasped. However, her hand was empty.
Sylisa could not even move from the crushing sensation pressing down on her body. If I can just grab my Dusk Ball and summon her to my side!
Her fingers felt like they were miles away. Suddenly there was a loud screeching noise from overhead. It did not sound like any bird Pokémon she knew of, it reminded her of the squealing breaks of an automobile in the city, or the sound of a subway train halting suddenly. The blazing noontime sun made it difficult to see, but she did notice a shadow cast over her paralyzed body. It gave her a jolt of adrenaline. The mirage-like haze of the surrounding world began to dissipate. As the bright sandscape finally came into focus, she felt like she was a part of the world around her again. Her hands started to move properly and she dug her glove covered fingers into the scorching sand in order to crawl her hand to her belt. As her bodily senses came back the discomfort of lying in the desert became too much for her. In every direction she looked, there was nothing. A land devoid of life.
"I have…to fight…" she groaned, trying to push herself out of the pile of sand. Nevertheless, her fatigue was too great to fight the oppressive heat. She could only momentarily lift her head above the scorching earth for a moment before feebly falling back into the sizzling sea. The instant the side of her face hit the sandy grit, she could have sworn she saw a glimpse of her Pokémon. Something about her was different, she did not look like Weavile.
Sneasel? Wait, wait, no. That can't be right, she thought in a daze. Yet the silhouette above her collapsed body was undoubtedly smaller than Weavile with a single featherlike plume above the ear. Then her body began to fade like a mirage.
"Wait…! Come back!" yelled Sylisa, feeling as though her thoughts had been irreparably muddled by whatever had just taken place. "Don't…don't you dare leave me here!" she screamed in feverish delirium. "No! You promised you wouldn't leave me, NIA! I can't remember the name I called you! Your real name! The one I called you when we met! What was your—"
Her friend's shadow vanished into a stream of blackened sand. She was gone.
"No!" cried Sylisa, her parched lips gasping against the burning sands. "Please! Don't go! NIA! You're my best friend!"
After Sylisa mouthed those heartfelt words her heavy eyelids closed. In the darkness behind her shut eyes, she saw four crimson lights, a pair of glowing eyes beneath a set of red horns. As her consciousness faded she sensed the shining redness speaking to her, directly into her mind. It sounded like the faint voice of a young girl, yet profoundly more eloquent and melodic.
"Another Child of the Eclipse."