Chapter 1: A Cold Calling
A voice echoed through a young girl's head. Please… Hear us… She tried to speak but she couldn't as if her mouth just disappeared. Suddenly a small ball of light pierced the surrounding darkness, the voice said again. Please hear me… Hear us… Again she tried to speak, but again she couldn't.
The girl was in some sort of dark void, she had no form as she could only think. Suddenly a ball of light appeared. The ball of light started to grow along with strange shining rays of color, eventually, the young girl felt as if she was moving towards it, an unusual feeling of anxiety soon overcame her. The voice spoke for a final time. Do not fear this light Xelia… I need your help… This world needs your help… You are the catalyst, for the salvation of these people… Soon the bright light engulfed her and the surrounding darkness.
Then, an incredibly sharp and harsh icy wind suddenly ran across her body. Xelia struggled to open her eyes, eventually, she could finally see the world around her.
Snowflakes calmly fell from a large hole in the ceiling, staggering up Xelia laid in a large bed of bright blue flowers. As reality finally came back to her, she attempted to think of the current events that had just transpired. What in the world was I dreaming?
Checking her surroundings, Xelia realized that she was inside some sort of colossal temple. Constructed out of brick and stone, the whole temple was littered with collapsed pillars and plants, all of it frozen in a layer of ice.
Huh? A temple…? Why am I here? Wait a minute. She tried to think of a reason why she was here, but her mind was blank. Hold on, why can't I remember anything? Where am I?
As Xelia looked down to try and comprehend the situation she was in, she suddenly realized that she had bright silver fur and a strange bushy tail. A small puddle of still, frozen water provided a near-perfect mirror, looking at her reflection Xelia suddenly jolted back and yelled out loud. "Wha-what?! Why am I a fennekin?! Am I still dreaming?"
She frantically looked at herself, indeed she was a pokemon, but she did not remember if she lived her entire existence as a fennekin. But something was telling her that all of this was not normal.
Xelia tried in a futile effort to remember how she got here, but while she was thinking there was a sudden cold burst of wind that ran across her fur again, there was a massive blizzard approaching. She shivered and braced against the wind, it was so cold and harsh that Xelia nearly slipped on the frozen puddle and fell back into the flower bed.
As the wind slowly she knew that the blizzard was on the approach. As the wind stopped she started to explore the temple in an attempt to find any signs of life other than herself.
The first area of the temple was a large hallway filled with long wooden benches and on the walls were strange depictions of what seemed to be different types of pokemon carved into stone. Looking at the flowerbed, Xelia saw what appeared to be a worshiping area with a now forever ruined carpet. Formally decorated in an ornate pattern that was in the shape of a snowflake.
Above it was a large stained glass window, with the depiction of a bird colored in blue and on its head was a large ornate crown made out of ice. While the rest of the temple was in complete shambles, and looked like it was about to collapse. It seemed that the window was in near pristine condition.
Xelia stared at it in fascination for a bit, until the cool wind picked up a little interrupting her thoughts. She began to walk down the main hall, all the benches had frosted over and the wood was rotting along with thousands of littered books.
The young fox stumbled over one while she walked, its golden title scratched off, she opened it by its dull blue cover in curiosity. Unfortunately, most of the pages had been ruined, the ink on the pages faded away and the paper was so fragile that it was too easy to tear.
Finally, after what seemed to be a minute, she, at last, reached the main area of the temple. It was a massive grand hall with a huge dome overhead, while it was in a slightly better condition the area was still in some obvious form of decay.
On the left of the hallway, there were two other hallways presumably leading to similar areas of the temple. She soon called out. "H-hey! Is anyone here?!" Her voice echoed through the grand hall.
As the wind outside continued to blow against the temple, a feeling of isolation came back to the young fox. Although she could further explore the temple, it was slowly getting colder and colder by the minute. Weighing her options, she decided to risk going out into the snow to hopefully find a sign of civilization.
After opening a large broken door, she saw a massive winter blasted landscape, all of the trees were completely frozen over in ice, and the mountains were coated in snow. It was just clear enough to barely see the horizon, but she couldn't see any smoke.
Treading forward, the young fox felt the cold icy snow brush up against her paws, looking back, the outside of the temple was in a far worse condition than the inside. The layers of snow and ice that covered its walls made the ruined temple appear to be made out of terribly sharp, broken glass.
The whole land was very bare, with the only things that stood out were the mountains and a few sparse pine trees.
For what seemed to be at least half an hour, Xelia tried her best to move at a decent pace through the snow. She shivered when the wind would pick up again, and further struggled to walk as her paws slowly grew num, from walking in the cold snow.
Eventually, she began to feel tired. She tried her best to continue through the snow while resisting the urge to lay down and rest.
As she continued, Xelia began to stumble over. It was beginning to get colder as the wind intensified. Shaking to her feet, she felt as if she could not go on.
Realizing the mistake of continuing through this strange land, the young fox did her best to huddle up to a tree to stay warm. The wind started to blow again, and once more she shivered in its presence. "Someone… Anyone… It's too cold!" She called out.
Suddenly her ear jolted upwards, a twig suddenly snapped somewhere in the area. Startled by the sound, she began to look around in all directions. Something was here, the icy wind was loud and deafening but she could hear something moving in the dead snow-covered overgrowth.
Xelia tried to remain calm, but it was difficult to not shake in the cold. Suddenly, as she was about to call out, an arrow flew past her with terrifying speed as it lodged itself into the tree trunk. The young fox jolted back in a panic, she looked around to see who shot the arrow.
Then like a fury of thunder a large humanoid figure wearing a hastily made cloak, colored in blue and black pounced out and attacked her with a spear. Xelia acted fast, with the breloom's spear just barely grazing her silver fur. Fully realizing the situation at hand with as much energy she could muster up, and she ran away.
The breloom yelled at the bushes. "Come on you fools! We can't let this one get away!" Charging from the overgrowth was a raticate and a sneasel, both of them wearing similar cloaks, began to chase after the young fox.
Xelia ran into a large ravine, with the three other pokemon following close behind her, despite her tired and worn out state she refused to stop. "I've gotta get out of here! I have to survive!"
She began to run faster, taking in as much air as she could. She grew more tired and worn out as she ran, but as she looked behind her the three hostile Pokemon were far behind.
But as Xelia thought that she was about to lose them, she suddenly slipped on an icy rock causing her to lose her balance and fell off a large cliff. Her body slammed against the rocks, before tumbling violently through a thorn bush.
Now she was in a far worse condition than before, cold, tired, and now injured she struggled to stand up. She could hear the others yelling above. "There! She fell there!" "Alright, get your bow ready. We've got this one now!"
Her breathing quickly grew uneven, as the young Fennekin struggled to run. Eventually, she encountered a dead end, there was nowhere left to go. As drops of blood fell from her nose, Xelia turned to see the breloom with the sneasel drawing his bow, and the raticate pointing a short blade at her.
Once more she began to shake, both from the cold wind and from fear. As she backed to the wall, tears began to form in her eyes. No! Why here?! Why now?!
The Breloom pressed the edge of his spear on the young fox's tiny frail neck, blood quickly slid down. Xelia stared back at him, he looked as if he was about ready to lob off her head. "Don't run from this fate young one! From your blood, we shall let loose the chains of this eternal winter!"
He soon lifted his spear and readied himself to strike. She closed her eyes as she braced for what would've been her end. "Whisper to the skies for her forgiveness! From thou sacrifice, may the chains lose and a new dawn sha-"
Suddenly before he could finish, something struck the fanatic breloom. Opening her eyes, she saw an arrow sticking out of his chest. Looking up at the cliff behind her, the young fox saw a small hooded figure in a tattered green cloak with large purple ears sticking out of the hood.
The figure held a strange seed in their hand. "Now I've got you! You'll pay for what you have taken from me!"
The figure suddenly tossed the seed, as it began to crack the group began to panic. With a loud ominous boom, pieces of snow and soil flew outwards as the rest of the two other pokemon were caught in the explosion.
The figure suddenly landed in front of Xelia, she then turned to her. "I'll save the introductions for later. Run to the west from here and don't stop," She then drew a dagger. "Just get out, I'll meet you there!"
Not taking any chances, Xelia limped past the struggling group and she did not dare to look behind her. She could hear the sounds of a scuffle gradually fading as she ran with the wind.
It was night time now, the blizzard was in full effect, she was now exhausted. The only light that she was provided was in the form of the moon. She kept on repeating through her head. I won't die today… I can keep on going… I… Won't…
Soon she began to collapse into the snow, ice was beginning to grow on her silver fur and it was hard to keep awake. Eventually, she barely reached a small rock that provided some cover from the blizzard, attempting to find some form of comfort as she laid up against it. She felt as if she was going to cry again. Please, I wanna go home!
Suddenly, like an angel shining in the dark, a warm orange light slowly crept up to her. Struggling to see in the blizzard, it was the hooded figure again dragging a small sled of various supplies.
With what little strength remained, she just managed to get the figure's attention. "H-Hey! Please help me…" The short figure illuminated the young fox's face.
"Thank the Gods, I was starting to think you didn't make it." She reached into a small bag and pulled out a bright red berry. "Here."
Placing the berry in her mouth, Xelia chewed and swallowed the strange cherry-flavored fruit. Suddenly her body began to glow an orange aura. Soon all of the ice fell off of her fur, although she was still cold.
Without another word, the hooded figure picked her up and placed the young fox on the sled and wrapped her in a blanket. "W-Wait… Who are you?" As she struggled to stay awake.
The figure looked at Xelia with her green eyes piercing the blinding snow, it was obvious she was concerned. "We've been through a lot today, please you need to rest."
She laid her head on the wooden sled and closed her eyes. "Yeah… Rest… I-I just need… Rest…" She quickly passed out, but not before hearing the figure saying to her. "Such a poor creature. I'll get you to safety I assure you."
Xelia soon heard the wonderful noise of crackling fire, as she opened her eyes a feeling of warmth surrounded her. She was in a small shanty cabin, seemingly constructed out of whatever supplies were available. A small window was open to the outside, on the wall was a small unloaded crossbow. In front of the fireplace, a purrloin sat at a small table crushing up strange berries she had never seen before.
Looking down at herself she was still a fennekin, instead of ice and snow, she was now covered in bandages. Although she felt safe in the cabin, she didn't want to get too comfortable.
As she watched the dark purple feline, Xelia decided to speak. "Um… Hello? Could you tell me where we are?"
She did not respond, as she poured something into a crude makeshift cup and placed a small glob of the crushed berries in. "Hey, are you listening to me?"
Yet again she didn't listen and continued to mix the unknown concoction. Finally realizing that she wasn't going to get any answers, Xelia decided to explore the cabin. As she took the blanket off and struggled to her feet, she turned away from the fire only to suddenly see the purrloin standing right in front of her.
"Are you still hurt?" Startled by her sudden appearance, Xelia stuttered back before curling back in pain, her body was still sore.
The feline sighed and reached behind her to give Xelia the crude cup. "Here, drink this in one go." She examined the cup. The drink was a deep red liquid with a small leaf, it was fairly cloudy.
"What is it?" She asked. "When you mix Maple tea with Oran berries, it can make for a good pain killer."
Hesitantly she grabbed the cup in her paws and did her best to drink the warm maple-flavored liquid. After finishing the tea she sighed and felt slightly better. "Thanks for the tea… Um… What is your name?"
The purrloin quickly said. "Oh, my apologies! My name is Callie, and your name is?" She stuttered for a moment as Callie awaited her response. "My name? Uh… It's Xelia. My name is Xelia."
Callie smiled a bit. "Xelia? Huh… That's quite a name, doesn't sound native to any tribe in this region."
She placed her paw on her shoulder. "Now tell me, what in all that is holy were you doing so far up north?! I've never seen anybody go that close to the Trio Temple before. Let alone a fennekin!"
She didn't know what to say, Xelia couldn't remember anything relating to her past, in an attempt to satisfy her question, she gave Callie an honest answer. "I-I don't know… I can't remember, I just… I woke up in the temple and… And… I don't know…"
Callie looked slightly concerned again. "Well then, I guess you have forgotten quite a lot." She said before walking over to the small table to pour herself some tea.
Xelia then decided to ask her. "Hey, um Callie, why exactly did you save me?" After sipping her tea, Callie opened a small box.
From it, she pulled out a small stone. At first, it looked like any other rock, but then Xelia noticed how the stone was a dull red. It was also broken in half by what appeared to be by force, rather than any natural means.
"I got these three stones, from a Mystery Dungeon. Those cultists stole one of them, and when I reached their camp they already broke it for one of their… rituals…"
Callie visibly grew frustrated as she held the broken stone. "Took me months just to get these out of all times, why now?!" She sighed and placed the stone back into the box.
Xelia responded with a look of confusion. "Cultists? Mystery Dungeons? What in the world are you talking about?"
Callie suddenly grew confused. "Wait a minute… Do you not remember anything?" The young fox nodded her head.
"So you don't know anything about the Trio Temple, the Mystery Dungeons, the Cult of frost, or anything about the land of Crinoth?!"
As wooden windchimes blew in the distance, Xelia looked at Callie as if she were speaking absolute gibberish.
"Man… I never thought I'd meet someone with amnesia. I guess I'm going to have to teach you a few things." She grabbed something from another area of the cabin. "I am no info master, but there is a library here in the village."
She handed Xelia a small folded pile of clothes. "Here you'll need these."
As she exited the cabin, Xelia now dawned on a small brown coat with a hood and a bright red scarf around her neck. The two of them were in Pinehill village, a small isolated community far away from civilization.
Along a snow littered path were large shanty triangular houses made out of wood, while there were much more traditional shacks with icicles running down their roofs. Overhead a large cliff supported a large forest of pine trees, while a tall waterfall near-frozen, still trickled down into a sizable lake dividing the village in two.
The river ran through and drained through ice-covered hills till it reached a large coastline off in the distance.
Callie pointed to a massive two-storied building on a hill that overlooked the village. "There, that's where we are heading. It's a bit of a walk, you probably should be resting but you seem fine enough." With a single nod, Xelia and Callie began their walk.
While it was still terribly cold, the wind was far calmer and the clothes that Callie handed her did its job of keeping her warm while they walked.
She also noticed how quiet the village was. While the dirt road was very empty, the village was far from uninhabited. There were some pokemon, mostly normal and bug types, who were selling items and occasionally talking to each other. At first, it seemed that Pinehill village was fairly peaceful.
But suddenly there was a sight that caught Xelia's attention, in the village square was a female mienshao talking to a vibrava, she bore the face of desperation. The young fox wanted to stop, but she was too far to listen. So she simply continued.
It didn't take too long for the two of them to make it to the library, Callie pushed open the large red doors and led her in. The quietness of the area, along with the smell of the library hit her all at once. A large circular balcony provided light that shined down on the first floor. Meanwhile, a staircase leads up to the second floor, at the front desk a noctowl wearing glasses stood on a large stand, he appeared to be resting.
"That's Mr. Russel, he runs the entire library," Callie said to Xelia. "Is… Is he sleeping?" Callie giggled a bit.
"Yeah, not that many Pokemon come here. Besides he's nocturnal, Mr. Russel usually has someone else here." She then raised her voice a little. "Hey, featherhead mind waking up?"
The old and somewhat frail Noctowl awoke completely startled. "Huh!? What, who?!" He looked down from the desk while straightening his glasses. "Oh, it's just you Callie… Wait a minute, you don't even come here to read books, and who is that strange fennekin with you?"
"Long story short, this is Xelia, I found her outside of the village and she seemed to have forgotten something about her past. I was wondering where the historical section is?" Mr. Russel looked in curiosity, before pointing them to a section of the library.
"Of course, the second floor on shelf D-3. You can't miss it." Callie nodded. "Alright, thanks for your help."
Xelia sat down at a small table before Callie returned with a large stack of heavy books. She slid one of them to Xelia, what surprised her was that although she had never seen the runic characters before, she could read the name of the book. Historia of Crinoth the cover readout.
Callie flipped open the pages of the book, there was a map of a large continent with most of its land being up north, while a tooth-shaped peninsula jolted downwards.
She then made a circulating motion with her hand over a far northeast area of the map. "That's where we are, the Kingdom of Welvern. The far east where Pinehill is located is mostly independent of the crown." Callie then pointed to a small diamond near a large lake.
"Everfall city is not just the capital, but the main headquarters for Hope's Guild is here." "What are the guilds?" Xelia inquired.
Callie took out a small paper from her coat, on it was a large rose-colored circle surrounded by three diamonds that looked like a sideways Pokeball. "The guilds are a collection of different teams, although they mainly explore Mystery Dungeons, there are all sorts of professions that you can take."
Xelia examined the symbol. "Incredible, but what are the Mystery Dungeons? You got three stones from a Mystery Dungeon, correct?" She noticed that the feline's smile dwindled slightly.
"Right, Mystery Dungeons are not just places you can freely enter. Whether it's a mountain or a ruined temple, one thing is consistent with them, they're dangerous everchanging mazes filled with feral Pokemon."
She paused for a moment. "Those stones, we call them False Rubies. Sometimes they appear in Mystery Dungeons, to join a guild you have to have three of them. Proof that you can survive in such places."
"I'll let you put two and two together." She then sighed. "As much as I can answer all your questions, I think we should just read together." The young fox agreed.
The two of them soon began to skim through the book. As they did so, Xelia learned all about Aluma, the world that she was in, along with the Continent of Crinoth. As she kept on reading she realized how odd the history of the continent was, it seemed in the early years the continent was once far more habitable than it was now. A small description in the book would soon give her a strange answer.
"Hey, I've seen that bird before!" "Articuno? The guardian of frost?" Xelia looked in fascination. "I saw a stained window with her on it."
She read the description, it was very brief compared to what they read before.
Long ago, the ancient Trio protected the world from the Chaotic Beyond…
However, as time went on Articuno hungered for power. In an act of great betrayal, she turned on her brothers Moltres and Zapdos and grew corrupted by her hatred…
Soon with her new foul powers, she would bring forth the Eternal Winter.
Xelia turned to Callie. "Is this true?" The feline looked at her as if she told a joke. "Excuse me? Look I know you've got no memory where you're from, but don't tell me you believe in these children's tales."
She looked a bit stunned. "Well… I didn't think that-" But before she could say anything else, there was a sudden loud creek at the front.
"Is she here?! Is Callie here?!" "Hush Ma'lee! This is a library for crying out loud!" Almost immediately, the two of them looked down from the balcony.
The large doors were wide open. Meanwhile, at the front desk, it was the mienshao that Xelia saw earlier. "What is going on here?" The feline shouted from the balcony.
She looked very relieved when she saw Callie. "Oh… Thank the heavens you're here! Please I need your help." The two of them quickly headed downstairs.
Callie spoke. "Alright, um… Ma'lee, was it? What in the world is going on, what happened?!" Ma'lee quickly held Callie's paws.
"Please, early this morning my daughter, Aki was fishing near the outer edges of the river. But when I checked up on her, she was gone!"
"Th-There were rumors of kidnappings in the region. If they are true she was taken to Mire Heights by the Cult of Frost! I'll pay you anything, please just save her!"
The feline looked in shock and confusion. "Um… Madam please, I'm no raider. I can't help you." Both Xelia and Ma'lee jolted back and yelled. "What?!"
"Her daughter was kidnapped, and we're not going to help her?!" She held up her paws to try and calm the young fox down.
"Xelia, please! As much as I want to help, this is a job for the local Sheriff." Ma'lee held her arm. "That's the thing, Hugh is busy with an investigation outside of Pinehill. I heard you often go into Mystery Dungeons, that's why I came to you!"
The young fox was quick to respond to her. "Come on, we have to help her! A life is on the line, I can help if you want!"
Callie quickly began to think. Huh! For a Fennekin who nearly got killed in the snow by some maniacs. She is sure hella courageous! Although her species is powerful, I don't know if she is that strong… Damn it! I've already made my choice!
"Xelia this is an important question, can you fight?" The young fox was quick to respond. "Yes I-I… Um…"
Callie pressed on with her question. "It's a simple yes or no, Xelia!" "Yes! A definite yes!" She quickly responded.
The feline looked back at Ma'lee. "Alright, we shall accept this task." She looked very relieved now. "Thank you! Thank you, Callie! I promise I'll pay you more than enough for this!"
Callie paused her before she could continue. "Please Madam, we don't need any money. Just take us to Iron Watch, that's all we request."
She then looked at the young fox. "Come Xelia, we need to pack for this." The three pokemon soon prepared to set out.