In the hours of the early dawn, the faintest rays of sunlight snuck past Formora's curtains and began a cautious dance across the floor. As one brave sunbeam began to creep up her bed with the intent to tickle her cheek, the serenity of the scene was broken by a sudden tremor.
Formora opened her eyes with a shock at the unexpected quake, watching incredulously for a brief moment as her table rattled away from its position underneath the window and towards her bathroom before survival kicked in. She leaped out of her bed, struggling to grab the lock on her door amidst the constant shaking. Naturally, just as she managed to snag the lock, the trembling subsided.
"Because why should I get two good days in a row…?" she muttered under her breath as she kicked her table over before diving back under her covers.
"Lady Formora! Are you alright in there?!" One of the Cinccino servants yelled.
"Go away!" Formora shouted in response, cushioning her pillow firmly against her ears.
Sometime later, another persistent rumbling sound woke her. Not from another earthquake, but by unyielding knocking at her door.
"Shut up!" she roared from underneath her pillow once she couldn't ignore it any longer.
"So sorry, but Lord Giratina is summoning us for a mission!" she heard Kia's faint voice from her living room. Upon hearing that she got to her feet at once, striding over and whipping open her door.
"And who, pray tell, said you could enter my room uninvited?" she inquired in a saccharine-sweet voice, smiled down at the startled Vibrava.
He gulped, and suddenly found the floor very interesting. "Ah—you weren't answering, so I—"
She cut him off by gently patting his head. "Now, now. Have we not learned about what happens when I'm angry, hm? Fortunately for you, I'm inclined to forgive you just this once, as I am still in a very good mood from yesterday."
Kia bowed. "I thank you for your mercy, My Lady."
"Run along, and I'll be there in a moment," she smiled, noting how well Kia had learned to play the game.
He was all too eager for the dismissal.
Once he was out of her room, she let go of the sugary demeanor, sinking down into a couch with a heavy sigh. It was all too easy to pull up the façade, to deliver empty threats, she mused as she stared up at the ceiling, tugging at her Bow. She could put on so many faces without effort; why was it so hard to feel the emotions tied to the acts?
Good thing he didn't call your bluff. Then he'd realize just how far you've fallen from your supposed 'place', her father chuckled.
She sighed. This mission had better be worth it.
It was not.
"I'm sure you three are well aware of the earthquake that ravaged through the land this morning," Giratina was droning on in the cafeteria. Formora was only half-listening, finding that stabbing blueberries was a much better use of her time and interest.
"Everywhere else on this continent felt it too, for Celestial Spire was its epicenter as well as cause. The time has finally come: the Spire is beginning to crumble. Stronger earthquakes will occur as the dungeon gets closer to its end. While you are out and about, please take heed of this and stay safe."
"How long do you estimate it'll take for it to collapse?" Firnen asked as Formora attempted to balance her spoon on her nose.
"Same as the timeframe in which our enemies will strike: anywhere between now and a few days. I've been expecting these tremors for a while now, but I must hand it to Arceus, It's certainly held on for far longer than I anticipated!"
"You've been expecting them for a while? And why are we just hearing of this now?!" Formora demanded, grabbing the spoon and slamming it down on the table.
Everyone stared at her.
"Um…he did. Like a week ago," Kia said slowly.
"I think she was off on one of her vacations that day," Firnen whispered, just loud enough for her to catch.
"Anyway, My Lord, what is our task today?" Kia intervened, seeing the look Formora was giving Firnen.
"You are to go to Mt. Gale and summon Rayquaza," Giratina said, more than happy to take the cue. "I have been calling in our allies here to fortify our defenses. Most have been eager to accept, but Rayquaza…has been rather silent. Technically, he is on our side, though a part of me believes he only agreed to get me to leave him alone…"
Formora's heart sank. Another fetch quest.
Because what else are you good for? She and her father echoed.
"Why us, if I may ask?" Firnen piped up.
You're useless, they chorused.
"Should things go south with Rayquaza, you three have an excellent advantage over him. I would rather you not force him to come here, but we need all the legendary power we can get. He is an ornery loner, but he appreciates strength in non-legends. You've defeated many legendaries before, and he will delight in that. Appeal to that side of him and you should be able to convince him without need for fighting," their leader directed.
As the trio stood up to depart, he added, "When you return, I'll have an item to give you. It will be a huge asset in the fight against Ezra."
Because he doesn't believe in you.
Formora put on a smile, and thanked Giratina.
Mt. Gale ( watch?v=B5n-s2JKCq4)
Mt. Gale, as it turned out, was in the same region as Sealed Abyss and Rainbow Mountain. Whereas the latter was southwest from the Abyss, Mt. Gale was due east.
A faint breeze had picked up as Team Renegade entered the hilly forest that housed the mountain, and with it came the faintest tinkling of windchimes. Following the path led them to the source of the noise, as well as their destination.
The base of the mountain was located at the bottom of a hill behind a miniscule clearing. Poppies, daffodils, daisies, and black pansies covered the grassy clearing in a peculiar array, and looking down upon them from the top of the hill revealed an optical illusion of Rayquaza turned towards the trio where they stood at the crest of the mound.
Guarding the entrance to the dungeon were two maples, whose bottom branches were outfitted with silver windchimes that sang sweetly in the noontime sun.
"Huh. This is a lot more…prettier…than I imagined," Firnen whistled, staring at the optical Rayquaza illusion down below.
"They're just flowers. They grow everywhere," Formora said, a strange emotion she couldn't identify welling in the pit of her stomach.
Not wishing to dwell on this any longer, she hurried down the hill, past the flowers, and into the dungeon.
1F-4F
She barely paid any attention to the scenery aside from noting with a brief hint of appreciation that there was a noticeable wind chill. She raced through the first couple of floors with abandon, letting her team deal with fights and picking up items. On 3F she slowed down enough to pay attention to her surroundings.
The dungeon was much like the outside in that it was covered in grass and flowers with a brisk breeze. Moss blanketed most of the rock walls, and she could have sworn she could still hear the windchimes.
Though she had slowed to a walk, she still ignored the Staraptors, Jumpluffs, Ribombees, Ivysaurs, Chimechos, Vivillons, and Swannas that harassed her by ducking into walls and letting Kia and Firnen deal with them instead.
5F
"…Hey, um, Lady Formora?" Kia piped up after spending most of the floor in uncomfortable silence.
She didn't answer.
"My Lady?"
Still nothing.
"Formo—"
"What?" she demanded with an annoyed sigh.
Kia flinched. "Um, I just wanted to say I'm glad the tremor this morning didn't hurt you. And I wanted to apologize again for my intrusion. Teysa wasn't sure if you were injured and you know, we were late for a—"
"Who?" Formora cut in.
Kia and Firnen shared a nonplussed look.
"Your, uh, day servant," Firnen said slowly.
Was that what her name was? That didn't sound quite right but whatever.
"Oh. Right. Silly me."
6F-8F
On she went in silence, running on autopilot as her mind went blank aside from the ever-present dull feeling in the pit of her heart. As she meandered through the place, she realized that Ezra must have noticed the earthquake as well.
Where was she? Safely surrounded by friends, no doubt. Surely she must know that the end was coming for them, and fast.
Wait…Ezra was with Cresselia yesterday for the rescue mission. Obviously she was destined to survive Yveltal's explosion, but did anyone else…?
She found herself at the Stairs before she could find out.
9F
"Did they determine if anyone survived Yveltal's blast yesterday?" she asked upon arrival.
"Yes, it looks as though everyone but him survived somehow," Kia sighed.
"Cresselia does know Lunar Dance," Firnen added.
"That is so. I suppose she must have given Xerneas enough strength in order to shield them. Pity," Kia said.
"Makes sense that the Light keeps triumphing against all odds while I keep losing," Formora sighed.
"You had nothing to do with that though," Kia protested, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She shrugged it off. "Aren't I supposed to be the face of the Dark or whatever? Ezra would be dead already if it weren't for her friends. Cresselia would have been dead if it weren't for Darkrai. Xerneas would have been dead if it weren't for Giratina. His suicide never should have happened, but because people keep getting in my way of my goal, we're all paying for it."
Kia and Firnen could not think of anything to say to that, and Team Renegade was silent thereafter.
10F-13F
The next few floors were spent in utter silence aside from a shout or cry from battle. They ate on the go, for Formora gave no sign of wishing to stop, and her team knew better than to try and ask her.
14F
Weather Condition: Cloudy
Clouds greeted them upon coming to this floor. The halfway point must be near…
15F
Weather Condition: Cloudy
They were fortunate enough to have arrived in the Stair room.
—Waypoint—
The halfway point had no walls.
They came to a bare rock chamber with thick pillars supporting the floors above them. A sharp wind whistled through the chamber, threatening to blow them off the mountain should they let down their guard at any moment.
"Whoa. Look how high we are," Kia whistled, hovering near the edge and peering down.
"Let's not," Firnen winced as a particularly strong gust sent him stumbling backwards. He regained his balance and quickly moved back towards the center of the room.
Formora said nothing, merely brushed up against the Kangaskhan statue and trekked up the stairs on the opposite side.
Upper Mt. Gale ( watch?v=s5wZQdhRsuU)
1F-3F
The upper floors had taken a page out of the waypoint terrain and got rid of almost all of the walls. The wind was not as strong as it was on the previous floor, but still quite noticeable. Team R had to talk louder in order to be heard.
The floor was still grassy, though with less flowers, and the moss had mostly subsided from the remaining rock faces. The clouds had returned, and remained henceforth.
The dungeon layout, they noticed, had become rather linear with multiple winding side paths that turned out to be dead ends. Unfortunately, it was usually impossible to tell which path in each room was a wrong turn until they found out for themselves.
"Why are there like, fifty gazillion hallways everywhere?! Who decided that dungeons didn't have enough paths, because I have a Guillotine for him!" Firnen shouted after the twentieth time they found themselves staring at a blank wall.
"Maybe Rayquaza uses it to discourage visitors? If so, I must say it's working," Kia agreed with an annoyed sigh as the trio turned around and tried a different path.
4F
Weather Condition: Cloudy
A Masquerain was blocking their way out of a dead end. Kia and Firnen were keeping it plenty distracted as Formora rose to its height, her entire body glowing a faint blue.
Weather Condition: Hail
As she raised her arms to summon the storm, she noticed she had a good view of the dungeon layout. Of course, from her vantage she couldn't see items or Stairs, but she did get a look at all the walls and dead ends.
The linear dungeon layout with its endless side paths was intentional, she realized with a shock. Just like the outside, looking down upon the dungeon yielded an optical illusion of Rayquaza reaching towards his tail. The walls provided the outlines for his body and markings.
She came back down just as her team knocked out the Masquerain.
"It's another illusion," she told them. "This whole place is shaped like him."
"Wow, wonder what his favorite topic of discussion is, huh?" Firnen whistled.
"We can use that as an angle against him," Kia nodded.
5F-8F
With that revelation, Formora and Kia began rising high into the air in order to determine which way they needed to go. Every floor yielded a different picture of Rayquaza: sometimes he was straight as an arrow, claws outstretched, sometimes the layout was of him in a spiral.
Formora only paid attention to where the right path lay. This maze was Arceusawful enough as it was.
9F
The clouds had disappeared. Team Renegade must be higher than them by now. Looking down into the abyss below, Formora could indeed confirm their height. Kia paid no mind to this, while Firnen always made certain he was squarely in the middle of the room or hall.
"Quick question, if I may ask," Kia piped up as she came back down from scouting out the floor.
Weather Condition: Hail
Formora turned away and began walking but waved a hand for him to continue.
"What is our game plan for Rayquaza?"
"Talk to him. Or fight him. Didn't you hear His Lordiness?"
"Well, yes, but what I meant was, did you have anything specific in mind for either route?"
She turned to face him with exasperated resignation. "We schmooze him or hit him till he drops. That's it. I don't care."
She resumed walking while Kia stood there with his mouth slightly open in shock.
10F
The first thing Formora saw was a giant fancy tree sitting in the middle of the room. She took a startled step backwards, bumping into an equally confused Firnen.
"What in the…?" he trailed off as Team Renegade got a good look at the entire room.
The fancy tree—bonsais, Kia called them—was joined by other sculptures and paintings. To their left was Darkrai in hedge form. On the other side of the room lay a giant stone slab that nearly spanned the width of the chamber. On it was a cave painting-styled depiction of an epic battle between Kyogre and Groudon. Formora could have sworn she heard a faint roar from the two brother locked in their fight.
"Whoa," she said softly, gazing in awe at all the art around.
"Why is this all here…?" Kia asked, coming to join her.
"The beginnings of an art museum-slash-dungeon? He ran out of room on the summit?" Firnen suggested, ducking underneath the tail of a stone sculpture of Rayquaza himself.
"I wonder if there's more," Formora said, rising high to get a quick peek at the layout before racing down the correct path.
Weather Condition: Hail
Going through the rest of the floor yielded more fantastic pieces. They saw a painting of Unbound Hoopa reached for a fiery Victini, more odes to Rayquaza, and even a bonsai shaped like a Bonsly.
But in the Stair room lay the most wondrous piece of all. There, leaning against the far wall, was a painting of Formora snarling down at Xerneas and Zygarde at the Deadlands.
"Oh, wow…" was all she could manage to say, staring jaw agape at the nearly lifelike piece.
There she was, surrounded by lava geysers, throwing a Shadow Ball at a prancing Xerneas while dodging Draco Meteors from Zygarde. This Formora wasn't wearing any safety gear, as if she cared not a whit that she was in a place that actively tried to kill her. All that mattered was her mission. The lava, the toxic environment, the entire place was but a minor inconvenience to her.
Is that who I am? Do I always look so…angry? She thought in awe. How did Rayquaza find out about this? I would have noticed a giant green serpent in the sky…
Looking at Painted Formora was getting uncomfortable. She was not this Formora. Not this idealized, fearless, flawless version. She was…
Nothing.
She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Well! I suppose we'd better get back to the mission…"
Mt. Gale Summit
Formora's first thought when they arrived at the summit was that she had accidentally wandered into some rich guy's garden. Hedge art, bonsais, and other sculptures covered the entirety of the peak, barely leaving enough space for flowers to grow, let alone the grass. Her team marveled at each decoration as they slowly made their way towards the center of the summit while Formora gave each object a glance and nothing more. The wind had picked up considerably, but was hardly felt by the team due to the sheer mass and crowdedness of the statues and plants.
They found Rayquaza engrossed in what must have been his latest project. It was too soon to tell what it would turn out to be, but Rayquaza seemed to know exactly which leaf, which branch needed to be discarded or altered.
"What do you want?" he rumbled without preamble as he used the side of a claw to slice off most of a leaf.
"Ah, we are here on behalf of Lord Girati—" Kia was cut off by a snort from the green serpent.
"Not interested."
"Aw, c'mon now. Don't you know who's talking to you?" Firnen asked in a friendly tone.
Words before fighting, dummy.
"What he means is, it would be an honor to fight alongside you, Rayquaza," Formora stepped in, resigning herself to another game of pretend.
"Obviously. But I'm. Not. Interested," Rayquaza repeated, still focused on his sculpture.
Formora crossed her arms, thinking for a moment. How was she to appeal to this hermit?
"Because that would mean you'd have to be alongside other people, other legendaries?" she surmised.
"And I'm very busy. As you can see. So go away."
Signaling to her team to stay still and quiet, she walked over to the edge of the mountain, looking over to the west. Off in the distance there was the beginnings of a dead wasteland.
"Did you happen to see Yveltal's tantrum yesterday?" she asked.
Rayquaza paused, then chuckled. "Did I ever. This entire week there've been his lackeys intruding upon my land. Then when his brother one-ups him one too many times—BOOM! Dumbass decides to kill himself. What a loser. And he didn't even kill his brother, Cresselia, or the two kids with her! Hah! Ah, he deserved it. I only wish I could've given him a piece of my mind before he bit it."
Aha, his weak spot.
Formora nodded. "Oh yeah. Giratina had to come collect his corpse for safekeeping, 'cause you know he wouldn't be able to keep his own corpse in one piece for a thousand years. Did he give you a lot of problems?"
"Hrmph, you know it. Blah blah blah, 'Get out of my sky', blah blah blah, he says. I'm the friggin' King of the Sky, who the hell did he think he was?!"
"So arrogant," Formora sighed, shaking her head. She came back to where her team was, and motioned towards the piece he was working on. "So what's this one supposed to be?"
"Yveltal's suicide. The moment he blew himself up, I had to capture it. When he resurrects I think I'll send it to him."
She pouted playfully. "You didn't send me the Deadlands one on the last floor."
"Is that where I put it? No, my art is for me and me alone. With one exception, but I'll have to wait a while…Did you like it?"
"How could I not?" she answered honestly. "How did you make it so perfect when you weren't even there?"
"I'm pretty great at capturing the essence of a thing, even if I've only heard about them," Rayquaza cracked a proud smile.
She laughed and agreed, then pretended to realize something. "Hey…you know, there'll be a lot of legendaries fighting at our base. Wanna bash some heads while getting an up close and personal feel of the 'essence'?"
Rayquaza paused, looking at her for the very first time. "Hm, when you put it that way…It's very tempting, but no."
"Don't be silly; this is your chance to show the entire land who is the real legend around here. Besides, I can pull some strings for you. Maybe…let you take a look at certain moron?" she smiled coyly.
Rayquaza's eyes lit up. "You can get me into the Reverse World?"
She shrugged. "Giratina will agree to anything so long as it means you're here with us. It'll only be for a couple days at the most anyway, so you'll be back home in solitude soon enough."
"Agreed. I shall arrive tonight, and I expect full unfettered access to Mr. Sore Loser."
"But of course," Formora said, shaking his talon.
"Good. Now, please leave."
She was sitting in the cafeteria after a successful mission surrounded by what most people would call friends with more food than she could ever imagine a year ago, and yet she could not find enjoyment in any of it. As the Pokemon beside her laughed and joked around, she could only poke holes in her salad with a fork while she stared at the Icy Globe in front of her.
Giratina had been confused by Rayquaza's demand, but agreed to let him inside the Reverse World to see the cocoon. After heaping what Formora knew to be empty praise onto her, he had presented her with his 'gift': an Icy Globe. It was the ultimate item for ice-types, and would block any fire-type attack that came for her. She had tried her best to sound grateful, but she knew her words had fallen flat.
An Icy Globe. It was meant for baby teams that couldn't deal with a little fire. Had she not proved time and time again she could trounce Ezra whenever she felt like it?
You know he doesn't believe in you anymore. It was getting difficult to differentiate between her own thoughts or her father's.
"Are you doing alright Formora?" Manectric asked, putting a paw on her shoulder.
She jerked at the touch, having been too engrossed in her food pointillism. She opened her mouth to tell him to shove off, then remembered at the last second people were expecting her to be happy.
"I am, just wishing the Light would hurry on up already. I'm so antsy with all this waiting around. If only they had a base or something—we should be making the first move!" she said, forcing out an apologetic laugh.
I need Frigid Tundra. Can't I just stay there until after the war's done?
She was mulling over the logistics of it when Katrina mentioned something that caught her attention.
"—tely. A new dungeon popped up last night and we won't be able to explore it until after the final battle! I hate waiting too."
"New dungeon? Where at?" Formora asked, ceasing the destruction of her food.
"Within the same snowy region as Frostbite Taiga. Miles, what did you call it?" Katrina replied, turning to Miles, who was busy inhaling tortellini.
"Hm? *gulp* Oh, I've been referring to it as Crystalline Snowfield until we're able to get an exploration team down there." he replied before scarfing down another forkful.
"Remember to breathe there, buddy," Manectric chuckled.
"Crystalline Snowfield…It sounds nice," Formora mused, propping her head up on her elbows.
A nice quiet place that's closer to the island…I wish it were more remote, but eh, it would save me the trip across the continent I suppose. Thank you, fate, for putting this in my hands.
She stood up abruptly, startling everyone at the table.
"I just remembered something I have to do. Please go on without me," she said, racing for the exit.
Happy New Year!
Rayquaza only likes talking about three things: himself, art, and talking mad trash about other legendaries.
The next post will contain: the Beginning of the End.
