After the long, previous chapter, here's another relatively short one.
It's not much but here you go.
Enjoy.
PMD 2: A Novelization
Chapter 33: Arriving at the Hidden Land
"So, how'd you find us, Grovyle?" Eve asked as they went the short distance towards the back of the cave.
"Wigglytuff came and found me. I was coming to find you anyways so it worked for me."
"You found all the time gears then?" Alex deduced.
"Yeah… saw what you did back there by the way, we arrived just in time to see what happened to Chatot… remind me never to get on your bad side, Alex." Grovyle said, shaking his head in disbelief. Alex blushed a bit and pushed his ear back up as it tried to flop over his eye.
They came to a part of the cave where there was an opening into the cave and what was evidently sea water was ebbing up and down along the wall on the left. Light was streaming in from that direction and when Eve went up the opening, she looked out to see an orange sky outside.
"Wow, time's really flown by while we were in there."
Alex's attention though was drawn by the right-side wall that was directly opposite of the opening leading outside to the ocean. There was a large, circular and very intricate pattern on the wall that looked like a large extension of the pattern on the Relic Fragment. The pattern looked like an array or some sort of magic circle, with a thick circle right in the center.
"Hey Grovyle, Eve, come take a look at this." He called behind him. They came up and Eve, of course, also recognized it.
"It looks just like the one on my relic fragment." She commented and pulled out the Relic Fragment to compare them. She yelped and dropped it when the Fragment suddenly glowed and started pulsing with a soft blue light. A few seconds later, the entire pattern on the wall also started to pulse as well with the same light in sync with the Fragment.
"Are they responding to each other? –Ack!" she yelped again when the wall pattern suddenly glowed with a blinding light and they all looked away. A single beam of light, like a laser, fired from the center of the wall pattern and went shooting out across the water outside. Both patterns ceased glowing.
"What was that all about?" Alex said as Eve put the Fragment away.
"Hey, there's something coming!" Eve said pointing outside.
Sure enough, a dark shape was appearing as if conjured by the ray of light.
It only took a few moments before the figure arrived and quietly swam into the cave through the opening. The pokemon was primarily blue in color and had a grey shell on its back, lending it some of the appearance of a turtle. It also had a long neck that showed a white throat and underbelly (though it couldn't be seen as it was under the water) and a smooth head with calm, gentle eyes. Just looking at this pokemon, they could tell he or she was not an enemy.
"Greetings," she said, "I am Lapras. I will take you to the Hidden Land."
Alex and his partner blinked, a little stunned. Alex couldn't help saying "Really?"
"That ray of light was the sign that you are chosen to go to the Hidden Land. I've been waiting for you."
They approached Lapras and she turned to show her back to them… her shell had looked small but now Alex wasn't so sure about its size. Lapras smiled in an understanding way.
"Don't worry. I can carry all of you and more. Get on board and we'll head for the Hidden Land." She said gently. They carefully got on her back, Grovyle sitting up near the base of her neck while Alex and Eve settled down behind him on the shell. Once they were settled in, Lapras seemed to drift outside and across the ocean.
The ride was so gentle that Alex could hardly believe they were actually moving. Lapras was unbelievably stable, even when the ocean became turbulent and they were never in any danger of falling off or getting knocked off.
o0o
The ride turned out to be a long one and night fell as Lapras swam along. A little bored, Eve spoke to Lapras.
"So you knew we were coming?" she said. Lapras glanced back as she responded.
"Yes. Wigglytuff told me about you."
This stunned the team a little and Grovyle also became interested in the conversation.
"You know Wigglytuff?"
"Some years back, Wigglytuff came exploring Brine Cave with Chatot as you might know." Lapras explained "I witnessed everything that happened and I hadn't planned on showing myself to either of them. But when Chatot was hurt… well, I felt I had to help. Wigglytuff clearly was panicking and wasn't sure what to do in his situation. He was afraid he was going to lose Chatot there, unable to help him alone as he was. I… had to help." Lapras said, not sounding at all like she was ashamed of her actions.
Alex smiled. It was heart-warming to hear. He remembered Wigglytuff's words back at Brine Cave... he could see some similarities in the relationships they all had. Alex cared about Eve as much as the guildmaster clearly cared for Chatot. He had little doubt, after all they'd been through, that Eve felt the same way about him.
"I helped them get back to safety and I made a deal with Wigglytuff. I explained to them that I couldn't be sure of the nature of their team… I couldn't be sure if they were just honest explorers or pokemon set upon riches and greed. So I asked Wigglytuff to never tell anyone about the pattern in the back of Brine Cave, to keep it secret. He agreed to it quite readily. I think he was happy to honor it." Lapras explained.
Alex and his partner were completely wrapped up in the story.
"Wigglytuff came to meet me last night. He told me about the two of you then and about Grovyle. He said that he wouldn't be able to keep that promise anymore. I understood though and I know what you are going to the Hidden Land to do."
"Where is the Hidden Land exactly anyways?" Alex asked.
"It's slightly hard to explain…" Lapras said hesitantly "but Dialga was concerned about wicked entities invading the Hidden Land so he hid it in the space between halves of a second."
All three were astonished at this news.
"No wonder no one's ever found it before…" Grovyle murmured "There's no way to get to some place like that."
"No… that's not true." Lapras said gently "Dialga left one way there… the key-stone you call the Relic Fragment. It is the one way to the Hidden Land."
It was a lot to take in but Alex had listened through it all and as Lapras finished, he couldn't stifle a tired yawn from how late it was. Noticing this, Lapras laughed softly and gently.
"Go ahead and rest. You will need your sleep for what lies ahead."
Alex and Eve went ahead and laid down across the shell, dropping off to sleep almost immediately. Grovyle eventually dozed off as well.
o0o
They woke up to daylight.
"It must have been a long night…" Eve said, yawning as she got up "Are you okay Lapras?" she asked.
Lapras smiled, amused.
"I am fine, Eve. I can swim for very long periods of time without rest. Besides, we are almost there now."
All three looked past Lapras's neck in front of them. There didn't appear to be an island.
"You see where the water appears to be rippling?" Lapras asked.
Alex looked down at the water ahead of them and noticed that it and the air over the water seemed to be bending in various directions.
"The water… it's distorted…"
"That's the pathway to the Hidden Land." Lapras said, continuing towards it "Here we go…"
Lapras stopped moving herself forward and she started to move forward of her own accord. Her pace through the water sped up. Then Alex and his partner couldn't withhold a gasp when she slowly but definitely lifted out of the water entirely, rushing just over it.
"Whoa! Lapras is flying!" Eve exclaimed. Grovyle looked around though and shook his head.
"No, this isn't flying. We're crossing a sea of time!" he said.
They held on tight to the shell they were on, though they were no danger being blown off.
After several moments of "flying", there was a flash before them and they were confronted with an awe-inspiring sight:
Before them lay a large landmass, floating in the air. It was covered in forest and looked wild. In the sky over it, was a series of hovering rocks with a path that ended in mid-air. At the top of those rocks, was what was clearly a dark blue tower with clouds swirling over the top of the tower. The clouds over the tower were a sinister red.
"Is that-?" Eve started, looking over all the land before them.
"Yes… this is the Hidden Land." Lapras said.
"That must be Temporal Tower." Alex said, pointing at the only tower they could see.
Eve frowned…
"How are we supposed to get to it though? You can't take us there, can you Lapras?"
"No, I'm afraid I can only get you to the edge of the Hidden Land. To get to Temporal Tower, you will have to find the Rainbow Stoneship."
They all looked a bit confused at this.
"The Rainbow Stoneship is somewhere in the Hidden Land. I'm sure you can find it." Lapras said confidently as she approached a small segment of clear ground that stuck out from the rest. She came to a halt at the edge and the three carefully disembarked, making sure to not fall off.
"I will remain here for when you wish to return." Lapras said, giving them an encouraging nod.
They all returned the nod, expressing their gratitude to Lapras for her services and looked at each other.
"We're here. We don't have that far to go now." Alex said, and he could feel his heart speeding up.
"Yes…" Grovyle agreed "We can't give up now. Let's save time." He said calmly.
"Right." Eve nodded and they turned and set off as a group into the Hidden Land.