The eon twins slowly paced down the royal hallway. The lilac feline's face showed that nothing could disturb her equilibrium, eyes as hollow looking as an old oak tree: they were almost glass like at the same time - her pupils a bright white colour. Her twin however was several shades different in colour. Black as night, his hound like complexion gave off a wild look to him. His body was covered in yellow circles: one on his forehead, around his ears and tail and at the sides of his body.
"When will the others arrive Aurora?" The darker twin asked, his voice hitting to his annoyance.
The female sat suddenly and closed her eyes. The red gem on her forehead began to emit a faint light, a smile formed on her face, "Very soon Crowe, they're coming up the stairs as we speak." Her voice was soft and elegant, just like her body.
On queue a large group of familiar looking Pokemon entered the hallway. Crowe hadn't been in the Queen's guard for that long so every time he saw the group of Pokemon that were walking towards them, he grew fascinated. He had always looked up to them and when his sister had gotten in, he would always make her tell him stories about her time serving under the Queen. He had tried for so long to get in and had trained under his sisters guidance since he was a small cub. She taught him everything he knew. His attention was drawn back to the group of Pokemon and he had saw some familiar faces, Pokemon that he himself looked up to, such as Needle, the Bisharp, he was the Queen's personal protector and was one of the most high up members. He could also single out a Togekiss and a Rapidash which his sister had told him about, the rest however he didn't have much knowledge of. Needle's voice filled the room quickly.
"Alright is everyone ready?" He exclaimed deeply.
A grouped reply of yes could be heard and the Bisharp nodded in reply. He then signalled at them to enter the room ahead of them. All the Pokemon including the eon twins trailed behind the Bisharp into the room ahead.
All of them slowly walked in a line and turned to face the Queen. Crowe looked around, the room was magnificent with a lot of pearl and polished surfaces around. He could feel a small force giving him a light push, he looked to his left to see his sister - who was obviously pushing him with her psychic abilities, to see her glaring at him, he wondered why until he realised he wasn't bowing, he became flustered and did so.
The Queen sat regally on her golden throne of swords, her huge crown placed neatly above the red gem on her forehead. Her wings were abnormally big too, and her long abdomen resembled a beautiful gown. Her eyes were fixed on Needle: his head still low in respect to her power and radiance.
"Queen Titania, strongest in the line of Vespiquen's, mother of Combee's and ruler of the Queendom of the south has summoned the diamond Queen's guard for a royal matter," One of royal guards announced just before the Queen fluttered her wings and took a stand.
"Mysterious events are occurring in the country Granderia. There has been several reports received from local villagers that a evil force has been tearing through villages all over the country abducting residents, as well as the wild folk who live around the areas. However, I only control the southern realms of our country therefore I can only command the guards to protect my villages and towns." Her voice was full of power, yet a slight rasp formed after her r's.
"To get to the point, I need six of you to travel north to send a message to King Pagos and Queen Glacium and plead for some form of alliance to investigate then, I need you to travel to Illunois and speak to the elders of the mountains and retrieve a scroll.
It will be a long and difficult journey but I picked you as my Queen's guard for a reason. The six I have chosen to for go this plan are: Aurora, Crowe, Iris, Scarlett, Silver and Serena. Reasons don't need to be applied and group changes are un-discussable. I have chosen you six because I have and there shall be no questioning about it."
Aurora's eyes widened, her brother had only been serving in the Queen's guard for a month and he was already being sent out on an important mission? She wasn't too sure about this, her brother was still quite young and naive and she didn't think he would be able to handle it and she didn't want to put him at risk. She could see a small look of shock in her brother's eyes too, a mix of excitement and nervousness at the same time. She however, could not question the Queen and her orders were absolute.
"You leave in a days time, you are dismissed," The Queen stated with a wave.
Everyone, except for Needle left the room. The group that had been called out to do a mission and all gathered to discuss their plans.
Crowe felt so adult like, being with members of the powerful Queen's guard. He only recognised a couple of them. He remembered briefly meeting the Togekiss, Iris, while he was very small.
"It is a pleasure to be working with you again Aurora, its been a while hasn't it?" Iris asked.
Her voice was very soft and motherly like.
"Yes I look forward to it," Aurora answered smiling.
"I actually have never worked with you or Iris, I look forward to seeing all your battle strategies," A voice said.
Crowe looked at the source of the voice to see a beautiful Ninetails, her tails shimmering despite there being no windows emitting sunlight.
"I suggest we start packing as soon as possible," Yet another voice stated.
This time it came from a Scizor, he had met this member of the Queen's Guard before, he had helped Crowe in some stamina training a very long while back when he was young. The Scizor looked very well built and extremely intimidating, Crowe could vouch for that, remembering how harsh his training was.
Before Aurora said anything else she decided to introduce her brother as she knew that Crowe hadn't gotten to know many of the members at all.
"Everyone, this is my brother Crowe, as you know he recently got abducted into the Queens guard. I hope you all accept him," She stated.
"N-Nice to meet you all," He stammered not expecting her to introduce him.
"Well I just hope he doesn't get in our way," The last voice said.
It belonged to that of a Serperior as her huge body slithered forward to the group, she had dark eyes that looked very intimidating. Crowe could only assume that this was Serena. Females out numbered the males in the group, but Crowe didn't mind.
"I don't mean to give any offence," The Ninetails spoke up, "But I do wonder why little Crowe was picked and Needle was not? Taking into consideration that Crowe is a new addition and Needle is the Queen's highest guard, why not in-trust the swords master with such an important mission?" The fox questioned with such intelligence in her voice.
The group was utterly stunned by the question, however, they all thought the same. Crowe too pondered upon the reasons behind his picking.
"She picked him because it's her way of showing that she has faith in him," The Scizor said, "Why keep him locked up in the Queendom if she doesn't know what skills he possesses? It's a test at most, as well as choosing him to be our wild card on the journey."
"I guess you're right Silver, but a wild card has it's name for a reason. And if he messes up, by the gods he will regret it." Serena replied with slight venom in her voice.
Biting back an argument, Aurora smiled and parted ways from the group with her brother. It was time to train him with the little time she had spared.
The cobble stone streets were filled with towns people in the market. Potions and items were displayed neatly on each stall, Crowe stared in awe, still it amazed him how much the Queendom had imported into the main city. He followed his sister through the maze like streets, turning corners and greeting people they knew.
However the city was hitting an age were technology and new trends were flowing in an out like a gust of wind. Crowe noticed a lot of the bipedal type of Pokemon were walking with wild folk in chains and collars like little pets. He did not agree with this trend but had no authority to tell them otherwise. He saw it as barbaric and rather outdated, but it was very hard to educate a wild Pokemon so he could see why people would do it.
"Where are we going sister?" Crowe asked tilting his head.
"We need some supplies for the journey," She simply stated back.
Crowe was both excited and nervous, he was finally picked to go on a mission, but he was scared of messing up as he may only get one chance.
"Crowe i know you're nervous but you'll be fine, if you just follow your orders and listen to what i say," Said Aurora.
She knew her brothers strengths and weaknesses and she thought of him as quite a well rounded person. He was a well rounded fighter and had decent physical characteristics and abilities, but where he really excelled was in intelligence and battle planning and strategies. Aurora stopped thinking about the mission and instead thought about what items they would need. She went to multiple shops checking out products and anything that she thought would be useful.
The sun was now setting and the eon siblings had everything they needed, it was all mostly medical supplies in case anyone got hurt, but there were a few different items here and there that would help them in battle. Crowe had the chore of carrying the rucksack, he held it by a scruff in his mouth and it was definitely heavy. He was shocked at how much they had bought. Some of the stuff they bought he had never even heard of before, which was why he was excited to see how they would use these items.
"They're mainly herbal remedies made by the healers," Aurora said answering his mental questions. He forgot she could read minds, "There's a variety for different types for wounds. I got elixirs and berries too, a few battle items and some plates I need for my own research." He was so astounded by her intelligence, she was one of the only psychic types in the city and undoubtedly the strongest he had seen.
"What do you mean by plates?" Crowe questioned his voice muffled from the bag.
She was silent for a moment, her inner core telling her not to breathe a word of her experiments and investigations - he was her brother, he could be trusted. "You see we are dwelling in an age of prosperity and more technology is being created as we speak. I've been studying something far more ancient though, a lost work called 'witch craft' it's not forbidden but it has a bad reputation to it. It's unnatural for a Pokemon to posses many abilities outside of it's core element as you know: it's not like you can breathe fire or summon the mightiest winds? But this magic I've indulged in has given me words and letters that somehow allow me to use other types of elements. The Queen herself knows of my actions which is why I was chosen to join her Queen's gaurd but not many people are allowed to know Crowe, so please don't let these words slip into another's ear, okay?" Aurora was stern with her warning, but somewhat pleased she could share her discoveries.
"Oh of course! My lips are sealed sister." Crowe promised, still slightly confused that she needed plates but decided it was best not to question anymore.
The twins entered the courtyard, flora of all kinds decorated it elegantly with an array of colours. Berry tress grew around the large fountain that was placed in the centre before the steps. In the water resided many wild folk small enough to fit in. Aurora helped Crowe pull the bags up the white marble steps into the living quarters of the diamond Queen's guard. It wasn't that far into the castle and was on the right of the first set of stairs.
They kept walking up the stairs until they reached a hallway and continued on walking until they found the doorway to their living quarters. The room was both basic yet very polished and pretty. The carpet was blue with a lighter blue for the wallpaper. Crowe dragged the bag of supplies to the corner of the room and then sat down sighing, glad to have not been lifting the heavy bag any more.
"Crowe get ready for bed we're going to need an early rise tomorrow and you'll want as much energy as possible," She said in a motherly fashion.
Crowe huffed a little, he often didn't need to sleep and could stay up for long periods of times but he could see where his sister was coming from. He yawned and leapt up to his bed which consisted mainly of pillows and cushions. He curled up and closed his eyes.
Aurora on the other hand wanted to stay up for a little longer. She looked to her brother who looked to be asleep already as he had a relaxed breathing rate and expression on his face. Aurora used her psychic abilities to open the doors leading to the balcony. It was starting to get dark and the moon was showing, a little ray of moonlight entered the room and gave her some light. She laid out some of the plates she had obtained on the floor in front of her.
In total she had five, each one varied in colour. She drew a strange diagram on the ground with white dust which resembled the stances of the moon. Carefully she used her psychic abilities to place the plates in a pattern, four were placed in a circle shape with the light pink one settled in the middle. Closing her eyes, Aurora allowed her powers to be transmitted into the plate. He red gem glowed intensely as she recited foreign words. The plate which she had put in the middle began to glow the same colour as the moon as it floated into the air and faced Aurora, suddenly a raw ray of power shot from the plate to her gem. It brought distress to the Espeon as her faced flinched and and a tear slowly fell from her eye. She let out a small grunt of pain, willing herself to endure it - before she knew it the procedure was over and the plate fell limply to the floor.
Aurora gasped for air as her eyes snapped back open. The worst part about it all was the pain. Putting her equipment away, she finally settled on her lavender coloured bed and snuggled into the wide arrangement of pillows.
The morning sun came with heavenly rays of light. The windows allowed it to pass through into the bedroom of the twins. Aurora opened one of her eyes, it was early and she considered herself an early riser. She slowly uncoiled and stretched letting out a petite yawn. Her brother however was the complete opposite of her. She slowly wandered over to him.
"Crowe, get up and get ready, we're supposed to be leaving soon," She said quietly.
Crowe's ear twitched, signifying her had heard her. He lazily opened one eye and stared at his sister. Aurora sighed and prodded him with her paw.
"Up, now," She simply stated getting slightly annoyed.
Crowe made a noise similar to that of a groan before getting up slowly and stretching.
"What time is it?" He asked tiredly.
"Early, now come on lets get the gear and meet the others," She replied bluntly.
Crowe simply rolled his eyes in annoyance due to his sister not answering his question properly. He however followed her instructions and walked toward the bag of supplies and picked it up.
"You ready Crowe?" Aurora asked.
"Yeah I guess," He answered back.
The two could feel the morning air as they walked toward the gates of the city. Crowe could make out the figures in the distance. As soon as they arrived they were greeted.
"Good morning Aurora," Iris said extending her white wing to the side as if she was bowing. Crowe looked at the owl like pokemon, her feathers were so prestine it hurt a little to stare at them. He noticed she had blue and red triangle shapes on her under belly, they were small but neatly layout out, he also noticed her size. She was a very large bird however rather thin and nimble and her wings were of vast size.
"I take it we're leaving now then?" Silver asked the group, his large crimson red pincers dangled at the side of his body as his tiny wings buzzed rapidly keeping him in the air, he was wearing a necklace with a rainbow coloured stone securely placed inside.
The group replied with a simultaneous yes and began to load all their equipment onto the cart. Aurora noticed that there was Bouffalant at the front of the wooden cart with reins and straps attached it, however, she avoided asking any questions to save time. Once all the bags were loaded Silver hovered over to the seat and picked up the rains. It was very weird seeing another Pokemon in control over the other - it was just society evolving and unfortunately Aurora had to adjust to it.
Crowe and his sister has decided to sit on the back of the cart enjoying the sun whilst they good. Whilst begin a moon loving Pokemon he did like the heat of the fiery sun on his back from time to time. He noticed Iris flying above them humming gleefully and melodically in the soothing air, her wings were larger than he anticipated. Serena and Scarlett however were both moving either side of the cart. He felt uneasy though, like they were protecting it from something in their own city.
Silver motioned at the guards to open the gates. Two Machokes walked to either side and started twisting a crank. The gates slowly opened revealing the lush fields that land outside of the Queendom. Crowe hadn't been outside of his home that much so he was already excited. The clean air and sun got him excited for this mission.
"Do you know our orders?" Iris said as she swooped down to fly right beside the eon twins.
"Yes, but i wouldn't mind you going over them again," Aurora replied.
"Well, we've had reports from multiple villages having Pokemon go missing and we've just lost contact with some completely," Iris explained.
"Hm strange," Said Aurora.
"So you just completely lost contact with them?" Crowe spoke up.
"Yes, we find it extremely strange so of course we're going to start an investigation," Iris replied.
Both the twins thought to themselves. Whatever had happened it wasn't good. Knowing this made Crowe very nervous. What if the threat was stronger than him? What if he couldn't handle it? All of these thoughts rushed through his head.
Aurora could hear her brothers thoughts and sighed to herself mentally. He was not ready for this trip. Her own thoughts were interrupted by the golden fox strolling beside them;
"The area outside can be quite hostile so don't be expecting all fun and games," She humoured to the youngsters, the Espeon noticed a golden head dress neatly weaved in Scarlett's fur. It was small yet so eye catching and regal.
"What do you mean?" Asked Crowe, intrigued by her statement, but before Scarlett could answer, Iris screeched a warning noise.
The whole cart drew to a stop so sudden it gave Aurora whip lash. Iris was circling way too high in the sky and Serena had dispersed into the wilderness. Aurora sensed something skirting around the perimeter of the field they had entered, the grass was too long to see if anything was lurking by but her psychic abilities allowed her to sense shifts in the atmosphere. She leaped down from the dart and covered Serena's side of the cart whilst Crowe stood, eyes peeled for any movement and ears perked up.
Crowe's heart was racing, his legs were stiff as a tree as he focused his eyes on the surrounding grass. But silence hit them directly. He looked up to see Iris forming a larger circle, and Serena was still no where in sight. He turned his eyes to Silver who was still grasping the reins to the cart and Scarlett was doing the same as his sister. It was intense. Not even the wind howled loud enough.
"I can smell them," Growled the Ninetails, "it's them wild dark hounds that have been slaughtering the local wand Deerling: Houndoom's." Her voice dripped with anger and venom. Her anger clearly ignited by their presence.
Crowe thought of many different ways they could be caught out. He jumped up to the top of the cart to see if he could spot Serena in the tall grass. He could see rustling which he assumed to be Serena. All looked fine until he saw something that made his heart stop. He could see a bunch of other rustling parts of the grass all closing in on Serena. He immediately shouted out.
"There's something in there with her!"
All of the members of the Queen's Guard flashed a look of concern and immediately went into the tall grass.
"Crowe stay here!" His sister shouted at him before running into the grass too.
Crowe impatiently waited for the members to come out. He could see different attacks going of from where he was, he wanted to follow orders, but he wanted to help. He leapt of from top of the carriage and went into the tall grass.
It was unexpectedly silent in the grass despite the sound of battle being audible. He decided to go toward the battle to see if he could provide support .He reached a small break in the tall grass and was thinking of what direction to go in next. However he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a snarling noise. The grass parted where a massive Houdoom had come from. He had saliva dripping from his mouth and chin and had a crazed look in his eye. He was extremely muscular and yet despite the crazy look in its eye he could tell it wasn't a wild. Crowe gulped it was a lot bigger than him, but he wasn't going to back down. He was snapped from his thoughts when the Houndoom spoke.
"A young Umbreon in the outskirts of the city?" He questioned in a mocking tone.
"I am one of the members of the powerful Queen's guard!" He shouted back in response, keeping his figure tall and strong.
The creature howled in response, his laughter raspy and cackle like. The Houndoom started to circulate around Crowe, his heart beating faster and faster every second to the point he thought it would explode from his chest. He couldn't fight him by himself, so he decided to escape with his own little trick. Closing his eyes the yellow circles on his dark coloured body started to glow as his entire body disappeared into the shadows leaving his opponent confused and angry. Given the chance he bolted into the grass again still invisible. Running towards the sounds of battle, as he exploded through the thicker parts of the grass, he was drawn back by the power of his allies. Iris had gripped a smaller looking dog and hurdled it into the sky before slamming it back into the ground, leaving it's body lifeless.
Aurora used one of her only effective abilities to take on the beasts, her tail glowed a shiny silver colour as she smashed it into the skulls of the smaller dogs. Looking around she saw Scarlett tear into the larger ones with her majestic fire powers, blasting columns of flames so hot the ground was scorched black, leaping over her she saw the golden fox demolish one of the Houndoom's which tried to escape. She was a formidable fighter.
The Espeon noticed Serena in the corner of her eye. The large grass serpent constricting two beats with her concrete like body, her coils dripped with blood. Diving in and out of the enemies she slashed and cut down many with her power grass blade move. There was about five in total left that Aurora could see, the fight had turned out to be in their favour until a malice aura inavded the atmosphere. Her lilac fur stood on it's end, like a ghost type had walked over her grave. Her hollow eyes darted to her brother who she noticed observing in the bushes, she tried to use her psychic abilities to lift him up but they had no effect what so ever. She mentally screamed at him, his eyes met hers as he listened to her commands. Ducking his dark head to it's lowest points, Aurora summoned all the energy inside of her tiny framed body, pouncing in the air her mouth opened wide releasing a huge beam of raw, powerful energy which was shot just above Crowe.
His eyes were clenched shut as he heard the sizzling energy blast above him. Assuming it had stopped he darted to his sister's side only to be followed by the same huge dog that caught him earlier, his legs couldn't carry him any quicker as he stupidly turnt his head back to see the distance between them. The huge jaws were inches from clamping down on his body until a flash of silver light and the sound of a body slamming against glass could be heard. Skidding to a holt he cringed and turned his head once more. Silver stood with a huge barrier separating them and the Houndoom, he was as quick as ever. Crowe gasped for breath, he had only escaped by a few hairs.
"I told you to stay at the cart!" Aurora said to Crowe in an angry tone.
"I just wanted to help!" He said back trying to get his voice over the sounds of battle.
She looked at him with an annoyed expression, she was mad that he had ignored her orders but she was happy he was safe. Arceus forbid what would've happened if he didn't find them sooner. He could've been hurt or even worse, killed. She looked at the Houndoom that was being held back by Silver.
"Crowe, i want you to stand back while Silver takes care of this one." The Espeon ordered.
Crowe watched as the barrier smashed and Silver leapt into the air and landing behind the Houndoom. It let off some fire attacks, but they were rather clumsy and Silver was able to dodge them with ease. Before the Houndoom could react, Silver dashed and clamped its neck in between his red claws and smashed him into the ground. Silver then looked into its eyes and immediately crushed its neck.
The sound made Crowe cringe but he was amazed at how fast Silver took care of the threat. He barely even saw what had happened leading up to Silver getting the dog like Pokemon in a choke hold.
Iris flew back down to the ground as the rest of them regrouped in the centre. Around them the grass was ablaze and blood smeared into the dirty. Countless dead bodies lay in the field but they were all glad to be safe, bar the few cuts and scratches. Crowe smiled and the white bird, her embrace was warm and welcoming just like his mothers. However his fuzzy nostalgic thoughts were interrupted by the stern voice of Silver.
"We're heading back now. Hopefully the cart is still in it's place." He grunted hovering through the field, the grass parting as he graceful moved through it. The others followed his steps and made their way back, luckily the cart hadn't moved and the Bouffalant was casually grazing.
Since the attack, the group had travelled for about an hour. Still trekking down the blank canvas of fields and dirt roads. Nothing special came to view other than a heard of Sawsbuck running across the field next to them. Aurora sighed, the sun was at it's phase of setting, the light slowly getting dimmer and oranges and purples danced across the sky. She was afraid. Afraid the this mission would take it's toll on her younger brother. The night was coming too, and she still didn't know where they'd be setting up camp - her ritual might not be able to take place either.
They would have to rely on Silver to make the camp fire and put up the tents. That was one thing that always concerned both Crowe and Aurora about society and it was that some Pokemon just naturally had more reliability and advantages over others, being bipedal was an immediate advantge.
When Silver was done he rubbed his claws together and admired what he had put together. He had made a neat little camp fire in the middle and three tents surrounded it. They would have to go one between two, but it was fine with everyone.
"Scarlett can you light the fire?" Silver asked the Ninetails.
She slowly nodded and went over to it, bent down and spat a few little embers on to it. it slowly set alight and the fire roared into life.
"Okay everyone gather round," Silver said as he motioned the group to get together. They all came over and sat down, getting comfortable.
"We need to talk strategy, we don't know what awaits us at the village." He told the group.
Crowe jumped up immediately, "I can do that!" He said excitedly.
His sister smiled at his eagerness. Crowe quickly scampered off and came back with a stick in his mouth, He started drawing a square which represented a village.
"Since we don't know what we're expecting it would be best we have someone scout the area first. The best person for this would be Iris, after you have scouted you can come back to us and explain if you saw anything" He explained, while holding the stick in his mouth, everyone was still able to understand him however.
He then drew a letter I to represent Iris and arrows to show her flying over the village.
"Then we go in from different sides of the village if it is populated by hostile's, Silver can go the front way by himself as he is the strongest. Me and Aurora can go from the side. Serena can go from the back as she is quite strong as well and Scarlett and Iris can go from the other side," He continued explaining as he drew letters to represent Pokemon.
"However of it isn't inhabited by hostile's then we can go in pairs and search the village and try get information as to why we lost contact with the village," He explained dropping the stick having finished his diagram and explanation.
"Is that okay?" He asked.
"Yes I have one question though," Scarlett asked.
Crowe nodded for her to go ahead.
"What happens of one of us encounters a problem?" She asked.
"Then fire your most flamboyant attack in to the air to act as a signal," He replied.
That seemed to be the only question so he went back and sat down next to his sister.
"Okay now that that's done we should all get a rest," Iris spoke up.
They all agreed and went to their designated tents. However, Aurora sped off into the night with a small bag for her ritual. She found a spot directly under the moon, on a ledge above the river bank. The water made calm and sensual noise as it flowed past, the moon projecting a beautiful light. Aurora layed out the plates in the usual position and drew the diagram. Saying the correct words, she began.
The plate in middle was one of a dark pink colour. It was the one that enhanced Aurora's psychic powers, she needed to improve as soon as possible. The same routine occurred, the pains, the lights and the new granted powers. This time was different, her gem seemed larger and her fur was more vibrant than usual but the damage took it's toll on her mind. She was exhausted but packed her stuff and headed back. The night was beautiful she had t admit, but being a sun blessed creature she preferred basking in the warm rays of her guardian. The camp came into view, the fire was out but she still managed to find her way to her tent. Setting her stuff down, she curled up in a large spot using her psychic powers to move the blanket over her body.
Tomorrow would bring sorrow and mystery, she could just tell.
