Not a second was wasted as the candidates raced into the first stage of the exam: a forest of towering trees and a thick canopy that Crystal couldn't see even a sliver of land back when they arrived on the island. The murkrow took to the skies, veiling the blue with a sea of scattering black and falling feathers. Her gaze was drawn to that collection crafting dark clouds on this sunny day, watching their shadows make the light flicker above her head.
Emizella was running on ahead but paced herself to not lose sight of the fennekin amongst the scrambling crowd. But Crystal wouldn't let her hold herself back, shoving away the brief distraction and closing the gap between them. Her paws could feel the constant thudding tenderizing the earth around her, quick signals telling her where she could step next in her gallop to keep from having any part of her trampled or tripped over. She found her rhythm, buried her mind in the melody of her body and each push and pull in her muscles, and ran.
A short chuckle sounded in her ear and the flash of smirk flinted at the side of her eye. Adrenaline decorated the crimson in Emizella's eyes, giving them a rich hue that made Crystal's heart thump just a little harder. Maybe it was a pack mentality—the idea of running alongside someone she trusted towards the same goal—that made her heart work just a bit harder in her chest. She couldn't be sure if she was at all athletic where she came from, but right now, she felt like her body could do just about anything.
They crossed the line of trees that marked the beginning of the change in terrain. The forest path forced a slowdown to the fastest sprinters, low branches and knobby roots calling for a more cautious step to make it through without getting smacked in the face or tripped over by mischievous trees.
It was like night and day under its canopy; not even a dot of sunlight could break past the leaves. The only indication that Crystal could gleam that it was still daylight outside was the path they came from, but the further in they went, the less they could see of the place they came. And there was still plenty left to go moving forward.
They slowed their pace from a run to a jog and, eventually, down to a walk that tiptoed between the shrubs and the roots. Crystal's heart calmed down, a lingering buzz settling into her toes that shot a swift tingle up her legs with every step.
"Everyone must be pretty spread out by now," Crystal noted, her ears shifting and rotating on her head, "I can hardly hear anybody else aside from us."
"I wouldn't be surprised. You'd have to be pretty reckless going through a thick forest like this at a full sprint. They've probably calmed down a bit since we're not in the open anymore."
Emizella jumped over a fallen log, standing on its trunk before turning her head sharply behind her body. She stared into the space between the trees and the shadows hanging within their voids, feelers standing with a soft tremble to them.
"Emi?" Crystal called her but her gaze remained fixed into the distance.
She stared for a moment longer before the appendages on her head finally relaxed. She knelt to help Crystal up but she could see that whatever caught her attention was still lingering at the back of her head. "We'd better keep our guard up," she told her, offering her a paw, "I'm getting an off feeling about this place."
Crystal nodded her head, "Of course."
They went deeper and deeper inside, keeping to a straight line to keep them grounded on their destination. Crystal couldn't tell how long they had been going but something in her paws told her it had been a good, long while since they started. Something in her paws and something in her stomach told her that any further would be pushing into exhaustion.
"Emi… Do you think it'd be alright if we took a break?" she asked, her hips sinking towards the ground despite her efforts in keeping her tail up.
Emizella turned to look at her before placing a hand on her stomach. She had to be feeling it too, the hunger in her body and the humming ache in her limbs. Her eyes closed and she pursed her lips, brows knotting into a contemplative frown. "I guess we have been going for a while, haven't we? It's so hard to tell down here, I hardly noticed," she muttered, eyes trailing up to the canopy that remained unchanged. She hummed once and nodded her head. "Yeah, let's take a break. I'll go find us something edible to eat. You stay put here."
"I can come with," Crystal offered, pushing herself back up onto her feet.
Emizella smiled, "Thanks but I need you to mark this spot as a checkpoint. I'll be fine on my own. Just hold tight, okay?"
"Okay…" she waved, watching Emizella's back meld with the leaves and the branches of the bushes and vanish into the spaces between the trees.
After she had chewed away several twigs into nothing but tiny nubs, she found herself regretting the word of contentment and cursing her passive self for letting Emizella go alone. Her feet itched to go after her faded image but her mind spun in circles with its indecisiveness.
Go after her or stay put? Which was smarter? Which was right? Emizella was more of the expert than Crystal, living years of her childhood in the forest. She was more in-tuned with her naturalistic side. If their roles were reversed, what would she do? Knowing Emi, she wouldn't have let me go alone either way, Crystal figured before wailing in defeat. That doesn't help at all!
She held her head, counting out three deep breaths. When she reached the end of her last exhale, she shot straight up with her tail standing stiffly at the end of her spine and her ears perked and ready to work. Every second spent wasting on fretting on her indecision was a second taken from Emizella's dream. Passing the exam was top priority for them, for her, and she couldn't pass without the riolu.
"Alright, I can do this. Just put those big ears of yours to work and you'll find her in no-" Her pep talk was put on hold as a familiar silhouette teased at the corner of her eyes.
That couldn't be… "Emi?" she called and the faint shadow stilled from a moment, looking like it recognized the name as her own but, instead of answering the call, it turned and hurried through the forest.
"Emi!" Crystal called again and darted after her. "Wait! Wait for me!"
She chased after her without a second thought, breaking past the bushes and feeling their sticky branches cling and rake and pull at her fur. She leapt high over the logs and cleared the twisted roots and their snares. She didn't mind the rocks kicked beneath her paws or the leaves trying to shift her footing.
Heavy pants made the air around her muzzle dewy, her breath manifesting into billowing clouds. Those clouds multiplied and grew, wispy and transparent at first but they quickly thickened, shrouding the dark form she had been following and forcing her to give up her pursuit. Crystal had to stop before she smacked herself face-first into one of the many trees, the blanketing mist too thick to see more than a mere few feet in front of her nose.
"Dammit… where did this fog come from?" Crystal muttered, eyes shifting around for any sign she could find for Emizella's whereabouts, but she really couldn't see any clue of her through the drifting white clouding her vision. And with that in mind, she didn't have much clue to her own whereabouts either. Perfect…
"Emi!" she shouted, her voice carrying much further than she could have anticipated and Emizella's warning came flashing into her head. She gave a soft gasp and covered her mouth before she could repeat the mistake.
She peaked an ear into the air, listening out for any sort of response and what she heard back sent a chill seeping past her fur and flesh and settling into her bones. A haunting howl, hollow and eerie, loomed over her head, surrounding her with its ominous sensations and creeping into her heart. Her tail tucked itself between her legs and her hips lowered closer to the ground while her eyes scanned for the source. There was nothing, the howl just coming and going and dying back into a still silence that filled the air with dreaded anticipation. Her ears lowered with the weight of the atmosphere, unbearably heavy and gathering in her stomach to settle into a quiet ache.
Just what was that? What was in these woods? For a moment, Crystal thought she saw a flicker of lavender off in the distance but soon found it a trick of the mind, overlapping experiences and making her body grow wearier. The mist began to seep into her mind, thick clouds obscuring her thoughts and fogging up her priorities. She needed to get out of this situation. She needed to leave. Something screamed into her ears that she couldn't do this, that she was too much of a coward to continue forward. That a fennekin like her, that a person like her, was only meant to turn back.
"What are you doing here?"
"I… I don't know," Crystal answered the voice, her body lowering to the grass and sinking into its blades.
"Why did you even bother coming this far?"
"I don't know…" she repeated, hopelessness weighing down on every strand of fur lying on her body.
"The guild has no use for flimsy cowards. So what will you do now?"
The fog became thicker in her mind. There wasn't much difference between having her eyes opened or closed. She could close her eyes now, give up here. Who even told her she could be an adventurer? Who even said that she had what it takes?
"I…"
"Hey! Don't go underestimating her!" a second voice broke through the haze, a flashing light illuminating her way back to solid ground. "She may look like she's all fluff and no bite but she can be tough when she wants."
"All I put down was that you had potential and you were tougher than you looked behind that meek demeanor," a third joined in the mix, the light flashing brighter and Crystal could see the shore.
She saw Ippona Village smiling, adults and children alike crying but smiling through the tears. Weeping hearts and joyful laughs broke through the shadows of despair and a curse was lifted from their home. And the final voice added an echo over the scene, "We did this."
"So," the first voice spoke up again, "What will you do now?"
"I…" Crystal blinked through the mist, shook out the clouds and stood back to her feet, "I'll keep going forward!"
The howl came back, a piercing cry that struck her brain and made her body wince. "You? A heart like yours, full of uncertainties and doubts, truly thinks she can carry forward? What enchantments has you believing in such delusions?"
"They… They aren't delusions!" Crystal's body shook out the shivers and planted steel where her gelatin bones once stood. "My friends believe in me. And I… I believe in them! I believe in their judgment and I won't let some shapeless blob of smoke tell me differently!"
Her eyes scanned around once more, gathering her surroundings and searching for her next move. There, in the fog, she could see lighter wisps moving past in the wind. Her eyes could peer through them, seeing the trees and the path between them opening up before her. The haunting howled sounded louder in that direction but it felt less like a warning and more like a call, beckoning her to take the invitation. No, daring her to take that first step forward.
She didn't let her mind think about it, didn't let her brain speculate the ramifications for following the howl. She only moved her paws, one after the other. Step by step until she was sprinting through the veiling mist and smoke. And in her sprint, she only felt the shock of her gallop bolting up her legs and focused only on the command to keep their momentum going.
She followed the path, turning and bending as it did. The howl grew louder, the intervals of silence shrinking with her progression. Its sound tugged at her ears, stringing her along to its heart. Pulling her deeper and deeper to where she could see a faint figure silhouetted in the fog.
Crystal thought for a moment that she had found another candidate, but that impression was shattered when she discovered the size of the pokémon standing and waiting for her arrival. A massive, towering beast even bigger than Ace by a large margin. It gave her body a moment of pause, skidding into a firm stop and grounding her toes into the forest floor. Dewy leaves pushed her closer than she would have liked and she felt the full brunt of the silhouette's stare piercing through the mist.
She could tell in an instant as it stared her down and picked through her flesh to reach her soul that this mysterious veil was its doing. That this thick blanket shifting through the tree trunks and settling snuggly under the canopy was under its command. It took a step forward and her ears went to follow the sound but found nothing. Not the sinking of the earth or the whispers from the grass. This large pokémon, probably just as heavy as its body would imply, was as silent as a phantom. Crystal's body winced but her hind legs refused to start her backstep. Her joints locked in place, remembering what it was that pushed them to run in the first place.
The silhouette stopped before the shadows could lift from its face and the voice trickled back into her ear. "Do you still believe yourself brave? Do you still believe in those delusions?"
An ear flicked at the whisper, shoving the ghosting sensation from its inner lining. A growl rumbled in her throat and a tingle raced along her back. "I told you, they're not delusions!" she snapped back, feeling something in her stomach sizzle and pop under the voice's taunts.
"Then step forward. If you are truly not a coward, if you are truly worthy and belong in this place, then step forward."
She swallowed down her fear, feeling it weigh in her stomach like a stone but she couldn't turn back now. Whoever this was, whatever this place is, it had Emizella. She was certain that the riolu was just as trapped in this fog, either taken or lost by the master of this mist. To turn back now, to run away after coming this deep, would be a betrayal not only to herself but to the Emizella that believed in her.
Not again… I won't abandon you again.
A trembling paw picked itself up, moving up and over the grass blades before being followed by another. And then another and another, her mind's focus remaining solely on turning the gears in her legs to cross the distance between them. The figure became a little clearer with each step, the dark shadows slowly shifting to deep cyan fur. What once looked like tendrils taunting her with their long reach turned out to be nothing but a twin set of pink braids flowing in a windless breeze. And eyes that she thought would be full of violent intent and monstrous bloodlust were nowhere near as terrifying as her imagination had pictured. Sure, they looked hardened and weary from a tiring past that placed countless scars on her body, but there was a hidden gentleness underneath, one that said she didn't regret a single battle. One that said she'd do it all again if she had to.
The pokémon's name dusted Crystal's tongue just as her heart began to swell in her chest. "Z-Zacian…?" she whispered her name, hardly believing her eyes. How could such a legendary hero be here? Weren't there more important things for her to be doing than being a part of the Adventurers League exam?
What are you supposed to do when standing in front of a legend? Crystal's first instinct was to lower her head and that instinct killed off the support of her legs, sending her falling face-first into the grass.
"No need for any of that. Raise, little fennekin."
Her eyes peeked up, hesitation hooking into her gaze and making its climb slow as it scaled along long legs to find the hero's sharp stare still watching over her every move. Despite the wobble in her limbs, Crystal found the strength to stand back up, shaking off the leaves and dew that clung to her fur. "Are you really Zacian?" she dared to ask, her throat feeling rough and her voice coming out small.
"I am she and yet… I am not," she seemed to speak but the words weren't leaving from her mouth, her muzzle remaining still and unchanging with each uttered syllable.
What is that supposed to mean, Crystal wondered, her head tilting at the baffling answer. Did that mean she could trust her or that she shouldn't? Should she still be weary or was she safe standing before the image of a legend she had only heard stories about.
"It'll become clear in a moment. For now, just follow me." she gestured with a slight toss of her head, urging Crystal to follow her even deeper into her mist.
She blinked out of her perplexion, seeing Zacian's form turning to leave in the opposite direction. She had no intentions of waiting for Crystal to come out of her stupor, proceeding back into the fog without a single backward glance.
"Wait!" Crystal called after her, starting up a light jog to catch up before slowing to a trot to keep pace.
Her strides were much larger than a small fennekins and so a single step from her meant five steps for Crystal. But the legendary canine paid no mind to the difference, leaving it all on Crystal to keep her in sight. She had to do a few short gallops when the distance between them was becoming too great and a skip to keep herself from tripping over the forest's protruding roots. Her body was already so exhausted and her hunger became a knocking pain in her stomach, her dried lips craving at least a small drink of water but Zacian continued to push forward mercilessly.
There was only one thought that kept Crystal from collapsing; one relieved smile that kept her body going. Emizella. If she disappeared into this fog, then perhaps Zacian knew what happened to her. Maybe the place she was leading her to right now was where Emizella was waiting for her. And, if not waiting then where she'd find Crystal waiting instead. There was not a single doubt in her mind that Emizella would be there—that they'd be reunited at the end of this trial.
"The source of your resolve… it comes from love, then."
"Pardon?" Crystal asked past her pants, nearly forgetting to breathe with the sudden abruptness of the statement.
"It is a powerful source, one to be admired. A hero is nothing without something or someone to fight for. Those that draw from it will do the impossible. They can fashion miracles in the name of those they love."
Crystal gave a contemplative nod, taking Zacian's words and letting the advice stick within her heart. She spoke with an assertive certainty that rang in her mind to know it to be true, speaking from a well of knowledge and wisdom that spanned back centuries.
"But…" her warning interjected with a soft ping in Crystal's ears, "…there is always a dark shadow looming underneath the surface. They can see the world plunged into darkness, curse the world with a plague the likes of which we could never fathom. Love walks a thin line between hope and despair and the scales are easily swayed. You must be careful to maintain your own balance on this tight road lest the bards sing of your tragedy rather than your triumphs."
She felt something dark seep into Zacian's voice. Resentment, maybe? Or perhaps regret. Either one left something bitter lingering in her chest, its taste peppering the back of her throat. Curiosity skipped over her tongue, speculations seeking for clarification, but her teeth biting into her lips knew better than to ask. The silence that fell back over their heads spoke loud and clear on the hero's intentions on speaking anymore on the subject—or lack thereof. She simply let Crystal digest the words and let her mind ruminate their implication.
It got easier to follow along, her body adjusting to a regular pace that had her trailing right on the edge of her heels but not falling behind her tail. It was when the flowing gears of her limbs, the swinging of her legs that glided her body over the forest path, turned as effortlessly as a freshly oiled machine did their journey end. Zacian stopped at the mouth of a burrow dug beneath the roots of a tree, its depths stretching deep into the earth. Crystal tried to see how far it went but couldn't perceive an ounce of light within.
"Where does this-" She turned to look to Zacian for some explanation to the hole but found her figure gone from her side.
She jumped at the sudden vanishing act, turning her head left and right to find some trace of the legend but not a speck or a line of fur was left of her. The only thing left behind, hanging in the air with its haunting tune, was her howl echoing through the trees—hollow and fading.
A shiver raced down Crystal's spine, her fur prickling along her skin. "I think I'm starting to develop a phobia…" she muttered, turning back to look into the burrow's opening and staring into it with lowered ears.
She really didn't want to go in there. It seemed so stupid and reckless to go in there. Who knew what was lying in there, waiting for her to step inside? It could be a trap, a distraction keeping her from completing the exam or, worse, disqualify her then and there. But on the other hand, there was a good chance Emizella was down there, looking for Crystal like she was looking for her.
She didn't catch any traces of her by the entrance, not a whiff of her scent or her trail in the mud, but nothing in this forest made sense. She couldn't go off of anything but her understanding of how Emizella's head worked. And, if Zacian led her here like she led Crystal, then there was definitely a good chance she jumped in thinking Crystal would be down there—probably about a 99.9% chance she jumped.
She allowed herself one guttural groan, standing on the tips of her paws and turning herself in circles. "This is stupid," she repeated in her rapid spins, "Thisisstupidthisisstupidthisisstupidthisisstupid." She closed her eyes, turning the momentum she built up in her spinning towards the den and hopping inside, feeling the darkness and cool walls surround her on all sides. "Oh, Emi… please be down here…"
Crystal traveled down, following the burrow's slithering body as best she could. She tried to see through the pitch-black color of layering shadows, but without a single source of light to give her eyes something to work with, it was a useless endeavor. She really wished she had a charmander's tail right about now. Even a dim, little flicker would do. And, just like a shooting star, an idea crossed her mind, giving her chest a bit of hope in her bleak situation.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the simple gesture add an air of tranquility to her beating heart. Her mind focused, envisioning the little flickers she needed to traverse this dark path and feeling their pull adding a warm touch to the edge of her brain. She opened her eyes to her will-o-wisps floating by her side with their lavender light.
She kept their count low, about three little gouts to help show her the way without wearing her mind too thin. One to lead her way and two to blanket her in their gentle glow. "Much better," she muttered, if not for their light pushing off some of the shadows then for the calm aura they exuded with their delicate flickers.
Her eyes could pick up much more with their aid, their night vision kicking in and filling out the layout that the wisps' light could not reach. And not too soon with her paw nearly stepping into a pit that descended even deeper into the earth. She reeled her step back before it could sink her weight into the shadowy abyss and took another step back when she felt the edge crumble and fall. Dirt and pebbles fell and collided with stone, a soft echo rising up from where they landed below.
"That was close, huh?" she whispered to her wisps despite their lacking minds to perceive such things.
The thought of Emizella taking this same path, navigating this dark hole to find a pit hidden under the thick shadows, made her heart wince in her chest and she felt her ears lower on her head. She tried quelling the concern plaguing her body, telling herself that Emizella was a perceptive riolu. And if not perceptive, then resilient. Even if she did fall, she'd stand back up and keep moving forward.
"I can be like that, too. I can be resilient. I'll be persistent…" she muttered to her little attendants, staring into the shadows for a moment longer before hopping down the pit's gaping maw.
She slid down the edge, feeling the stone and pebbles crumble away beneath her feet. They tried to trick her into a tumble, but her body was too nibble to fall for their pranks. She jumped the last few inches, landing with a solid stance before looking back up to where she came from. Her wisp tried to see how far she had fallen, but once the light started to be eaten away by the den's shadows, she called for it to return to her side.
"No turning back now," she told it when it floated close to her face, "I'm not worried. Well, maybe a little worried, but there's no use being scared now, right?"
The wisp said nothing, idly floating with its soft glow bleeding gentle lavender onto the stone wall.
Crystal nodded, "Right! So we'll just keep moving forward. I'm sure the exit is…" she closed her eyes and focused her senses into her ears. It was far off, a faint whisper in the distance, but she recognized it as the remnants of a draft, its touch tapered out but the whistle was still there. "That way! Come on, then. We'll be out of here in no time."
So she marched on, ears at the ready to catch any inkling of another pokémon's footsteps or breath or even their heartbeat. A just-in-case measure, really, but the further she when, the more she was convinced she was the only one down here. "Well, only one plus you three. Thanks for the company, guys."
They didn't answer but they did do a little excited sway, rocking their bodies along the wall and bouncing with their giddiness. Of course, Crystal knew their movements were all her doing, but it really did make her feel better pretending she had little friends walking by her side. Their light swiped along the surface of the bedrock and stone, illuminating what was once concealed in the dark cavern and drawing Crystal's attention to it.
"Hold on a second," she told them—and by extension herself—to slow their happy jigs and stilling them back into their precise and steady movements.
The glowing orbs scattered along the wall, spreading their luminescence to highlight as much of the surface as possible. Crystal's eyes filled in the shadows, tracing over faded lines and worn out hues to understand the picture in front of her. On one edge of the wall was a cerulean canine, a massive sword clenched in her jaw as her frozen figure leapt towards some kind of behemoth. On the other was a crimson twin, the width of his body lengthened by a shield that consumed his mane and surrounded his head. He jumped towards the same target as his partner: a skeletal giant with its central orb glowing an ominous pink that spilled throughout the picture and illuminated the large silhouettes behind it with its color. Whatever was being depicted in the image, it was easy enough to deduce that the two wolf-like pokémon were jumping into a battle not easily won.
"That's… Zacian and Zamazenta, isn't it? But why is this here…" her voice trailed into a musing whisper.
The lights crossed over the mural, showing every wrinkle and crack that chipped away what Crystal could only assume to be once brilliantly proud colors. If the historians could have gotten their hands on this, they'd have a field day with it.
The highest wisp brushed its light along the edge of what looked to be the shape of letters and she willed it higher to read the text. The words were just as faded but their carvings into the wall made them impossible to be erased by time. Sunken shadows outlined the engravings and made the name of the legend known to the young fennekin.
"Slayers of Behemoths"
Crystal didn't recognize the name. In the books and stories, they're always referred to as "The Heroes of Many Battles". But it was possible that the title was given to them long before the many battles they had won. Was this an earlier name then? Back when the world desperately needed these heroes. Back when the legends were just pokémon roaming freely across the lands to lend their strength and support to those who needed them most. How long ago would that have been?
The questions kept coming the longer she stared up at the mural. What was is doing here? Why was it here? Who put it up here? Pondering question linked itself to another pondering question, creating a web that desired answers. However, despite its cravings for some kind of conclusion to fill in the gaps, the fennekin decided to push herself forward. Who knew how much time she was losing trying to pick through history in this dark space with untrained eyes? Best to just admire and move on.
The deeper she went, the more she found to admire along the walls of this underground passage. Legends upon legends painted into the earth, etched into history and memorialized in time. A set of three quadrupeded heroes, warriors for justice with blades drawn for the innocent and the oppressed. Beasts of raging infernos, thunderous skies and calming springs sharing their gifts with the pokémon below so that their tragedy may not repeat again. All recognizable pokémon whose stories had been replicated in library texts and easily accessible books. But it was the recounts of the average pokémon, the ones that didn't carry on in the legends, that caught Crystal's eyes and made her pause for just a second to read something new.
She saw an absol's cry save a village from utter destruction. As the ground quaked beneath their feet and soot and ash rained down over the scene, the absol led the crowd of villagers to safety before the erupting earth and its molten fury could claim them all.
Crystal could see the day play out in her head, feel the frantic emotions run rampant in her heart and thud madly in her chest. This wasn't some legendary pokémon with an overabundance of strength and power at their arsenal. It was just an absol. Possibly a bit bolder and more valiant but an average bodied absol, nonetheless. And yet, it was proudly displayed alongside demigods, sharing the same walls as if status and birthrights didn't mean a thing to ancient scribes.
She hoped if Emizella saw this. Even if she was always so confident and self-assured in her aspirations and her dream, it felt like something she could still appreciate. Something that could inspire her and show that those ideas weren't farfetched in the slightest. She'd have to ask her if she saw anything in here, and if she didn't, she'd have to remember every detail to describe it to her later.
Crystal carried on, her wisps starting to dim with the strain on her head. She had to pick up her pace before their lights went out. No more distractions, she had resolved despite her curiosity begging for more sweet, historical sustenance. Her footsteps went to a light trot, toes careful for the shifts in the earth and cracks that waited to trip her up. But her footing got used to them quickly and she was gliding with purpose towards the exit.
The sound of the draft coming from the end of the passageway became more prominent, beckoning her with a feeling of urgency weighing on her exhausted muscles. Her trot turned to a light gallop, the faint light of a starry sky coming from just beyond her vision's reach. "Just a bit more," she told herself and the wisps slowly dying by her side, "just hold on a bit more, my friends."
But something stopped her, a peculiar grove in the stone beside her tugging at the corner of her eyes. It called for her to look, a strange force snagging her fur and making it bristle. The lights fell at the edge of the deep carving, falling into the crevice that mutilated the design painted on the wall. Deep gashes scratched across an unrecognizable face. Maddening slashes tore its body to pieces. Desperate claws, frantic with an unknown fervor, scribbled over the mural and gave their best to erase the piece from these walls.
There was no indication of what the once painted pokémon had done, what disgraces had overwritten their triumphs. There was just its name, barely legible but Crystal still tried to read it.
"The Hero of 1000 Faces," she said the name slowly, engraving it into her memory. Something told her to hold onto it. Not quite the same as a voice calling to her from a sacred tree but just as powerful and potent enough to put a wary hum in her bones and bade her not to forget the sensation.
She said the name one more time, feeling the force holding down her paws lessen their grip and allowing her the opportunity to escape from the defaced mural. Each step she made lifted the gravitational pull that had grounded her body, her legs feeling light and her vision narrowing into a single point. The three gouts of flame finally gave out, fizzling away into nothing but Crystal wasn't left completely blind.
The opening to the exit became more pronounced. The spilling moonlight was getting brighter on the stone wall and Crystal could pick out the brightest star among the night sky. She followed their guidance up to a small opening that hung a few feet above her head. She wouldn't let the climb deter her, finding the ledges in the layered stone and foot holes within the cracks to make her way up. Her hind leg slipped once from an unsteady edge and nearly sent her falling back to the ground but she caught herself quickly, only losing a couple of inches from her progress.
She kept going, gritting through the ache and clenching through the headache until the soothing glow of the night sky found her ears and filled her head with its gentle chirpings and sweet whispering breeze. Her front paws scrambled up the final ledge and her back legs scooched her bottom up onto the final stone. Haste amongst her exhaustion made her hind paw slip once more over the edge but it wasn't detrimental enough to send her falling. Just a quick recovery from the tiny scrape and she was bathing herself in the outside air and breathing in the scent of the trees and grasses.
She took in a deep breath, the relief of fresh air flushing away the old, stuffy air of the underground gave a bit of life to her trembling, throbbing muscles. Each step felt like walking on jagged rocks but it was better than feeling the cave's shadows still playing on the tip of her tail. She gave the exit one fleeting look, testing her memory for the last name she saw on the walls and turned when it echoed in her head. She won't forget. She'll remember the Hero of 1000 Faces and see if she could find out more outside of the island.
Crystal made her way down a gentle slope into a flowerbed whose petals still stretched towards the celestial light coming from the sky. Whites and pastel yellows and rosy pinks and gentle baby blues refreshed her sight, reminding her how delightful colors were and how the simple hues added so much joy after the bleakest hour. They all circled and surrounding a large tree with rich leaves so plentiful that Crystal suspected they had not known autumn's chill or winter's bite in a long time. Its nurturing shade fell over a stone statue that the fennekin could not recognize the shape until she was standing before its large majesty.
"Zacian?" she whispered but she knew it wasn't the same Zacian she had met in the forest.
Whereas the wolf she had met had a body weathered by battle and war, this one looked pristine, regal and exuded a kingly aura with her decorated mane and armored body. The only thing she felt that matched the other Zacian better was the old, rusted sword clenched between her fangs. Crystal guessed that the sword must have been the same one she was depicted within her mural but it had definitely seen better days. It probably had plenty of amazing stories to tell if it could speak. I wonder if honedge could relate to such an ancient life…
"Crystal?" a familiar voice turned her ears and her eyes quickly followed. Her vision became bury before she could clearly see the source of the voice but she'd recognize that blue blob even within the cave's dark shadows.
"Emi…" she whispered, her heart's glee bouncing into her throat and nearly choking her.
She tried to take a step towards her but the riolu was already bounding down the hillside to meet her, her arms outstretched and her cries tearing their way through her body. "Crystal!" she shouted, colliding with the fennekin's body and sending them both falling into the flowers. "Thank Xerneas! Bless her mercy! I thought I was never going to see you again! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she sobbed into her fur, the sound wrenching Crystal's chest and stinging at her own eyes.
She didn't think she would ever hear Emizella cry like this, blubbering away into her fur and sniffling beside her ear. Even if there was no helping it, she didn't want to see Emizella crying like this.
"It's okay, Emi," she reassured her, raising her arms to hug her back and nuzzling her cheek into hers, "I'm fine. Really, I'm fine. There was no helping it so it's fine."
"But-"
"She's right, you know," a gravelly voice raked over her head. Crystal didn't need to look to confirm who it was. The sableye walked over to the two, patting Emizella's shoulder as she joined the young candidate's comfort fest. "No matter how you had done it, the result would have still been the same. That's just how this part of the exam works."
~uwu~
"Wait! That was the real Zacian?"
Their small little band joined the other candidate that had made it out of the mist, some of them huddled by the small bonfire they had going for the group while others decided to call it a night and rest up for the next morning. There was a pool of food piled up for everyone to share—some berries and nuts and a few pieces of dried meats. Crystal had a small ration from the pile, chewing on a bit of jerky while laying with Emizella beside the fire. She let their sides press together, a hand resting on her back while a digit worked gentle strokes into her fur. Honestly, she felt like the riolu probably needed the contact more than she did but who was complaining?
"Well, she's as real as she can be," Sabrina clarified, biting into an oran berry with jagged teeth. She wiped away the juices that dripped down her lips before continuing. "That's actually the real Zacian over there," she pointed towards the statue, "She's been sleeping there for about a century or so. These days aren't as hectic as hers so she and her brother have taken to sleeping on these islands. I got her brother last year, now I can say I've met the twin behemoth slayers. Or, I could if the guild allowed me to talk about this place. Which it doesn't but I can at least brag about it to you guys," she cackled, her eyes glittering brilliantly with the embers and her giddy amusement.
"What's up with that? Why does the guild put us on these islands to meet with those two?" Emizella asked, her curiosity mixing with excitement that pulled Crystal's body even closer.
"Well, it's not just those two. Cobalion, Virizion, Terrakion, Reshiram, Zekrom, Latias and, of course, Latios too. These legends and demigods had all agreed to help the guild test their recruits and candidates and have been doing so since the first established Adventurers League Guild. You know why? Because they stand as much to gain from having worthy adventurers out on the field as the guild does. That's just the way it should be, right? No need to have these superpowered pokémon solving everyday problems when we are just as capable of taking care of ourselves."
Crystal's head began to hang, leaning its weight onto Emizella's leg as Sabrina continued to go on and on. The more she talked, the more used to her voice her ears got; and the longer she went, the more aware if her own exhaustion her body felt. And with Emizella's gentle scratches combing through her fur, her eyes barely wanted to stay open to hear the rest.
"Well, that explains why they'd want to help with the exam but why did the guild want to ask them in the first place? They don't bother with us unless we really need them, right? So what made us go to them for this sort of thing?" Emizella asked, adjusting her arm over Crystal's side when the fennekin shifted her position to lay her head down in the riolu's lap.
"Oh, that's a simple one, actually. You see, the guild has no need for the cowardly and the stupid," Sabrina's voice dropped an octave, a chill creeping in at the back of her words—merciless and unsympathetic.
Crystal's ears perked at the sudden tone change, an eye peeking up to the sableye. The jewels in her head were dulled, their brilliant shimmer hidden away behind the subtle shifting light of the crackling flame. Their frontal facets pulled the pair into their reflective surface, piercing through the distance and past their flesh to "see" them.
"You saw how many of us entered this island. Now look at how many are left," she gestured to the ones who had made it this far, once an army of bright faces and optimism was not a reduced crowd of about half. "The guild gets hundreds of applications throughout the year that they then dwindle down to about fifty promising candidates. But you know, anyone can sound good on paper. Everyone likes to exaggerate their stories and add a bit of garnish to look more appealing than they actually are. No one has time to filter through all that manually, but demigods and legends? They have nothing but time. They can judge us with a single glance with about a 99% accuracy rate. It's faster and way more reliable than our mortal judgment, so of course they would want the help. Might as well use the most efficient way to trim the fat, am I right?"
Crystal felt Emizella's fingers dig into her, her gaze glancing towards the coiling digits and watching the golden fur pinch between the tensing joints. Her eyes, a glistening sunset within the dead of night, spotted the distant look placing a heavy stone on Emizella's brow, concentration hardening the rubies of her eyes and adding a dulled sheen.
Crystal could sympathize, it was a lot to take in on their first night out here, but even with all that against them, they still made it out of the first stage. Even after staring into Zacian's eyes and facing her scrutinization, they were still here. They had a tomorrow in this test.
Her tail moved to brush against Emizella's, sunny yellow mixing with lunar cerulean to give what little comfort her tired, limp body could muster. She felt the riolu's tail flinch under the gentle ministration, her attention shifting to Crystal and seeing the soft reassuring smile that laid on the fennekin's lips. The subtle shifts in her gaze traced the curling line, reading the message laying unspoken between its crease. It gave the signal for her own lips to reflect the gesture, letting it come with a quiet exhale of everything built up in her chest.
"Honestly, I thought this wasn't going to be easy but I didn't think the exam would be this brutal. I mean, shoving us in front of legendary pokémon like that… seems a bit much, don't you think?" Emizella asked, a soft chuckle helping to work out the tension in her shoulders.
Sabrina gave a shrug, the clarity in her eyes returning mostly save for the slight shadow lingering at the back of her gems. "Yeah, it really threw me for a loop my first year too, but it doesn't really matter knowing the method behind all this madness. What matters is that Zacian saw something in us. She saw something worthwhile that made us good enough to pass. So, even if we don't make it to the end, even if we don't pass, we're still worthy of something great," she said, a wide grin bursting from her mouth and scissor-sharp teeth clicked together in her eager cackle. "As long as these legends keep telling me I'm good, I ain't quitting!"
Emizella breathed out a brief chortle, "That sounds pretty good. Mind if I steal it?"
"Of course! It's only right that one as brilliant as I share my wisdom with my underlings. Take as much as you want, there's plenty more where that came from," she boasted and barked, her cackles and snickers filling the serene quiet air like a witch's cry.
She gained a few eyes on her, some weary of the noise reverberating from her throat while others looked with mild annoyance and heavy bags hanging from their glaring gazes.
"Yeah, how about we just take the positive thinking thing for now?"
Sabrina froze, her jaw hanging open for a second before clenching her teeth back into a silent grin. "Alright," she conceded, letting the soft popping of the burning wood take over the air once more. Her attention shifted down Emizella's body and a claw pointed to the golden bundle huddled close to her side and over her lap. "Guess we ought to be following her example, huh? It's been a long day and it's just going to get longer from here on out."
Emizella laughed softly, the taste of exhaustion laying a bitter tang to the sound. "Your brilliance knows no bounds, big sis," she told her through a yawn, a soft snicker sounding in response before the sound of shifting dirt and soil filled Crystal's ears.
She looked back over her shoulder, seeing Sabrina smother the fire with a large mound of dirt before patting the dying embers and their ashes into the earth. With her body roused slightly out of sleep, Emizella moved to lift her, adjusting the limp bag of flesh that was the fennekin so she could get as comfortable as Crystal was. She allowed it, letting Emizella move and shape her body as she needed to get herself a goodnight's sleep, all while playing too tired to lift a paw to assist the riolu's efforts.
She peeked an eye open when all was settled and calm, the last remnants of her strength pushing at the heavy eyelids to get one last look at her partner. She laid beside her, looking as snug and comfy as she did in her own home. Warm, gentle eyes even more tender than Crystal's smoldering flames caught her sneaking glances.
Adoring affection tickled Emizella's lips into an endearing smile, eyes squinting into their own little grin. She reached a hand out to her and gave her head a quiet pat, "Looks like you didn't have that much to worry about," she whispered, her voice only stretching the short distance between her face and Crystal's. "You did pretty good, even without me. I… probably shouldn't have worried as much. It gets a bit suffocating, right?"
"Not at all," Crystal matched her tone, the soft, muttering chatter warming her chest with its secretive intimacy. "I want to be able to stand on my own… but I prefer to stand together with you even more. I'm glad we can keep going together," she smiled and the night seemed to get brighter because of it. Like her eyes were siphoning the heavenly glow of the stars above and making them her own.
Emizella blinked once and then again to be sure to clear her sight completely of its daze. She returned the gaze, reflecting it brilliantly and sharing its effects with the fennekin. She closed her eyes before the echoing lights could blind her and gave a firm nod of her head. "Yeah. Let's give it our all tomorrow, too."
"Of course!" she barked, her enthusiasm raising her pitch slightly but it all remained in their personal bubble.
They settled their heads into the clinging grass blades, feeling their bodies sink further into the soft earth and fragrant leaves. The plants molded to their shape, flattening where their bodies fell and springing their ticklish teases around the edge. Crystal's eyes blinked a few times, peering through the long, dark green lines obscuring her vision to see the peaceful look taking over Emizella's face. She imagined sweet dreams taking over her mind and hoped that perhaps her subconscious thought of her enough to include her in the riolu's adventures through the lands of tranquil sleep and restful slumber. Maybe they could even share the same dream if she held onto her image long enough.
Tomorrow would surely be a long day, tiresome and grueling with its own tasks to weed out the unfit and unqualified. But that was for tomorrow. For the next morning. For the new dawn just around the horizon. Now was the time for dreams and a dream with her partner sounded pretty good right about now…