Chapter 29
Knocking on Heaven's Door
{I'm sure I'll be frowned upon by the others, but you did save me, so I'm in debt.} Melody replied to me. {But just this once.}
{I understand. Thank you, Melody.} I looked calm on the outside, but inside, I was a cauldron of emotion. I was excited by the fact I might see Kiara again, but I was also brimming with rage at the prospect of seeing Rayquaza, her killer. All in all, I was hoping to get there as soon as possible.
{I'll lead the way, Zack.} Melody said, but I stopped her, saying,
{I need to check in with my friends first. They'd be worried sick if I just disappeared.} I walked over to Team Rocket's hot air balloon, and started to fire it up. That would get me back to Chapperton easily, since I could see it from the air.
About half an hour passes. I spent it blissfully in the air, enjoying Sinnoh from the air and listening to Melody's beautiful… melodies. I touched the balloon down just outside of the town, and asked Melody to stay by it.
{Alright, but don't bring anyone else with you, even Pokémon.} She warned.
{Why?}
{I'm going to get in enough trouble with one non-legendary creature, let alone more than that.}
{Alright.} I walked into the Pokémon center in the center of town, and was tackled by Joshua. He clung to my chest, digging his small eevee claws into my skin.
{Help… me… Zack…} He said, panting heavily.
{From what?}
{Sara and Brock… won't leave… me alone!} I rushed Joshua into my room, where I saw Aelita sitting at a desk, tinkering away at an electronic device with her Emolga sitting next to it. I let the scared eevee down, where he hid under the blanket.
"Uhh… hey, Aelita…" I said, rubbing the back of my head with my natural hand.
"I know that kind of tone. You broke your arm, didn't you?" She said.
"Uhh…"
"Yeah, you did. Detach it and I'll take a look and fix what I can." She sighed, all without turning around. Honestly, it's like she was a psychic-type. I lifted my arm, and hit a small button in the underside of my shoulder. I felt some pain as it popped off my body, but I laid it down on the desk.
"What did you do to mess up five million Poké's worth of cutting-edge of technology?"
"An Absol bit it off."
She started to take her tools to it, opening up the palm to remove the broken glass. "Pan- I mean, Talia?"
"No, another Absol I found next to her. He-"
"I don't care why, all I care about is the how. If I know how he broke it, then I know how to fix it."
"Sheesh, you're sounding like my mother." I thought. But, I said out loud, "He bit it. Hard, I might add."
She tinkered for a while, and I sat on the bed, reading a book entitled The Munchlax Games. It was a good read, and I'll have to read the sequel, Catching Moltres, when I could. An hour passed, and Aelita fixed my arm back to my shoulder.
I tried out the map function, and tested the X-Transceiver with Aelita's Pokégear. Everything worked fine.
"Thanks, Aelita," I said. I opened up my arm, and gave her Talia's, Joshua's, and Ace's Pokéballs.
"Huh?" She said, taking them. "Why are you giving me these?"
"I'm going to be… somewhere for a while, Aelita." I said. "I can't bring them with me, so I'm trusting you to look after them for me."
"I will, but what are you going to do?"
"I'm gonna knock on Arceus's door, and see if he's home." I replied. I said farewell to Joshua and her, and waved good-bye to Ace as he slept in the opposite bunk, completely oblivious to anything.
I had to track down Talia, though. I started by going to Abita's grave, but saw nothing but tracks. I followed them to a secluded grove, where I saw her sitting next to Dusk, talking with him while he wrote responses in the dirt. I crept out slowly, only to acquire both of their attentions.
"Zack? What are you doing here?" Talia asked. Dusk merely growled.
"I'm saying goodbye." I explained to her my plans, and why she couldn't tag along. She nodded in agreement, and I added on, "I'm also leaving you in charge of the others. Joshua's too lazy, and I wouldn't trust Ace to keep things… normal."
"I understand, Zack. Good luck." I made my way back to the balloon after Dusk said nothing, where Melody sat on the edge of the green basket.
{You ready?} she said.
{Yeah, let's go.} I hit the flame on the balloon to raise it. For those of you who may doubt my abilities to fly this, it's fairly simple. Flame makes it go up, and a small fan underneath the basket controls direction. The fan is probably an addition by Team Rocket, but I'm not complaining.
(Two days later.)
I never thought flying could get so boring, but Melody announced our arrival to Spear Pillar. I set the balloon down slightly outside the area, and walked out over the large stone structure. Several small Pokémon came out to look at me, but none attacked.
I looked around, then asked, {So, where's the door to the Hall of Origin?}
Melody flew around, and picked up a small stone. She dropped it in my hands, and said, {You need to play a certain song to make it appear to you. Follow after my voice with this.} I looked at the stone, and realized it had small holes all over it, bearing resemblance to an Ocarina. I found the mouthpiece, and blew a few experimental notes out to test it.
Melody sang a lovely five-note song, and I followed along as best I could. Soon enough, a pearl-white staircase appeared, leading up into the sky. {I'll go in first. I'll calm them, get them ready for you.}
{Alright.} I walked up with her, up to a giant white door. She shooed me to the side, so I couldn't be seen when she entered. I listened in to the conversation inside, to know when to drop in.
{Melody!} A thundering voice said. {Just who we were waiting for!}
{Hello, Lugia.} I heard Melody say. {Am I the last one?}
{Yeah, you have a knack for being fashionably late.} Lugia said.
Another voice chimed in, {Can you sing us a song while we wait for Arceus?}
{Sorry, but I hurt my voice during last night's serenade. I can barely sing a note.} Melody lied.
{Then how'd you get up here? You always sing the song.}
{I used the flute. Stop bothering me, Ray.}
Ray?
{Alright, alright. My neck still hurts from that human anyway, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much as I could.}
Rayquaza!
{Really? What happened?} Melody asked.
{Oh, I was in a little scrap with Deoxys over there,} I heard a faint grunt, presumably the Pokémon in question, {When this crazy human comes out of nowhere, stabbing my neck with a knife. He shouted something like, 'You killed her, you killed her!'} He seemed to mock the last part, sending most of the other legendaries into a frenzy.
{Oh, what did the human look like?} Melody said.
{He was short, with green hair. I don't remember much over the little one's details, but he was pissed. Don't know why.}
That was the last straw. Sorry, melody, but I have to. I barged into the room, the Hall of Origin, with my knife drawn. I got everyone's attention as I stared Rayquaza in the eyes.
{How would you like a refresher course, you bastard!}
(A/N: and here it is, the second-to-last chapter of the story! So, as I forgot to mention last week, Melody's voice sounds like Vanille from Final Fantasy XIII. Now, I hope that all you loyal fans will join me and click on this story anytime Saturday for the conclusion! Blood, sweat and tears will be lost! Feelings renewed! Love strengthened! Be there or be square! ~Nano.)
