Charmeleon cut through the horde of angry Sandiles, knocking most out and causing the rest to flee. In the dark passageway, Chameleon began to glow and shake as Bronze looked on from a distance.
After the brilliant flash had gone, Chameleon was now a Charizard. Bronze was very happy at this final evolution of his first partner. Now, he and Tess could fly around without having to rely on public transportation. Charizard was now putting out more ever-burning fire, causing the ruins to become less dangerous.
Bronze continued on for another half-hour, carefully marking his path and having Magneton and Electivire map a magnetic image of the crypts to his Pokedex. He was getting close to the bottom floors, and the tomb and throne room were definitely visible as magnetic disturbances. Still, without a incredibly advanced device such as a Pokedex, it would be nearly impossible to find a way to the bottom as quickly as Bronze had.
There was also a faint aura in the ruins. It far more subtle then the evil of Cypress or the power of Dialga and Palkia, although it was definitely there. It was old, tired, angry, a thing living a terrible, cursed existence, a half-life, far beyond its time. Over the centuries, the menace had leaked into to the very foundations of the old halls, giving a feeling of terrible dread. Bronze felt like he had to keep moving, or he would be caught by something he could not perceive.
Reaching the final dead end, Bronze had Magneton life some rocks out of a small hole, which he promptly crawled into, calling his Pokémon back. The hole opened to a narrow, claustrophobic tunnel which then dropped of into a large hall. Bronze was surprised to see burning torches flickering across the massive walls, along with some modern, technological litter. Along the grand entranceway was a massive, ornate door covered in Old Nurian glyphs and sigils. It also appeared to be locked, with a complex array of puzzling key holes connected by a system of bronze gears, which probably went deep into the door.
Bronze crawled down the angled support beam from the open shaft, and sent out his Pokémon. Seeing that the entrance to the hall was blocked of by debris, Bronze first assumed that he had gotten in the only way, but them he saw many other small tunnels and gaps in the walls that were presumably made by Pokémon or adventurers.
Looking back at the massive door, Bronze saw that it was almost completely pristine. Not a single bit of rot or dust covered its great height, and the bronze did not rust. Attuning his senses in the still place, Bronze felt that a both a terrible and great presence was behind the door, along with a pure and victorious one. This was the central antechamber, the nethermost hall of the ruins, old and tired.
Bronze felt a saw a abnormal shadow cast its way across the walls in the torchlight, and he turned to see if it was not just one of his Pokémon moving. Instead, he was met with a iron claw being pointed right in his face.
Raising his hands, Bronze saw a young man in casual clothes with a red-jeweled winged crown atop his head, with a Excadrill staring down Bronze. The man glared at Bronze. "What are you doing in this place? Coming to steal the treasure for yourself, huh? Well, my lineage had guarded these ruins since the fall of the old empire! No one will ever open those doors!" The Excadrill pressed slightly closer.
"I am not here to steal any treasure." Bronze calmly began, "I came through the ruins to see if I could do anything to stop a dangerous organization from capturing the entity behind the doors. I only was able to get here because of my Pokedex." Bronze showed the stranger his device.
The man's eyes widened. "Oh, you're a Pokedex Holder? Excadrill, stand down!" The Pokémon relented its guard on Bronze.
"Dangerous organization? Are you talking about Team Eclipse?" The man said, now with a much more trusting tone. "Yes, I think that this place could be a viable target for them. Do you know anything about their activity in this area?" The man nodded. "I've seen some grunts, but usually the ruins scare them off. Its just too dangerous. The only way I can get here myself is with the tunnels my Excadrill dug." The man have the Pokémon a slap on the back.
"Of course, I am Prince Ryan Nespelem Arthienion the Second. Being the current Gym Leader, I usually go and guard the eastern ruins on my off days." Bronze was surprised. "I was actually going to challenge you later! I am pleased to meet you." Shaking hands, the two trainers sat down as Charizard started a fire in a small pit.
"So," Ryan began, "I guess you know that this place has some pretty dark history." Bronze agreed. "Yeah, I mean, this place is almost...evil. Not in a very strong way, but like a faint, old rot. And I think whatever is causing it is behind those doors." Ryan grimly confirmed Bronze's suspicions. "Spot on. Treasure and secrets are not the only things that lurk behind the closed gates. I have only a faint idea of what, but I will tell you the legend of the King's Red Jewel."
Ryan began to tell his tale. "Long ago, the great Nurian empire was under siege by southern invaders. Centuries of corruption and complacency had weakened it, causing their united enemies to be able to conquer territories all the way up to the very capital itself. As many men and Pokémon poured force upon the walls, the last Nurian emperor summoned his most trusted adviser."
"The emperor knew his time was short, so he gave the last instructions of his life to the advisor. After he had readied the spells surrounding the treasure vault, the emperor gave the adviser a red jewel which he said was the key to opening the doors when the time was right. The emperor then walked through the vault one last time, lied upon the dais prepared for him, and the doors closed with a crash, sealing the leader inside to perish."
"The advisor escaped through the tunnels with the woman and children, carrying the red jewel. After over thirty years, the invaders finally left to return home after all the pillaging was finished. The lost Nurians had been wandering through the desert, surviving using their Pokémon and wits. Seeing that they could return, the remaining Nurians established a settlement in the still intact outpost of Aredia. The advisor was crowned king due to his relationship with the former empower, and the red jewel was kept as a family artifact."
"A hundred years later, after the defeat of the Enemy by the Logarians, a new king from the descent of the old advisor came to power. This king was haughty and rash, and he wished to reopen the prophesized doors to the horde of treasure that was not yet recovered. Sending his people a farewell, and a promise of riches and victory, the king travelled to through the ruins with his head servant, which were not as inhospitable as they are now."
"The king reached the door, and with a moment of hesitation, inserted the jewel into the foremost socket of the lock. Three other jewels, green, violet, and blue, were revealed as the other three keys, hidden from sight in chambers until then. As the king retrieved the jewels and finally unlocked the door, he looked into the treasure with greed. However, a terrible shape rose up from the dais, and the king was consumed by consuming black fire."
"A voice then said to the terrified servant to keep the red jewel for the throne, and to seal the other keys. The servant did so, and returned to tell the people of the kings fate. After a ceremony of mourning, the king's son, who was far wiser and patient then his father took the throne, guarding the red jewel once again. To this day, the descendants of the advisor-turned-king still guard the jewel, waiting until the allotted time when the gates may be opened."
Bronze considered this. "And that means that you are..."
Ryan smiled. "The descendant of the advisor? Yes. I am next in line for the succession of the throne, and the red jewel lies in my crown. I will not open the door, until the allotted time. Whatever lies in the vault is surly twisted beyond measure, great and terrible. But, the Lord of Victory came in a flash from Unova and sealed itself inside. We can feel it even now."
"Did any true good come of the fall of Nuria?" Bronze asked. "It seems like a needless tragedy."
At that question, Ryan's face turned grave. "While the loss of history is mourned, you must understand that the Nurians were quite wicked, and worshipped Darkrai as a blood-god. Since the Hisuians and Logarians were the ones allegedly responsible for the imprisonment of the Black Enemy, if Nuria was still active at the time, they might have failed, for Nuria would have come to the aid of the Evil Djinn. Aredia purged Darkrai-worship from its culture, and returned to the giving of homage to Arceus, even after the fall of Logaria. That is indeed a sad part of history, and I know a poem of it:"
"The Hisuians were mariniers,"
"That tarried at the shores of Logaria."
"But now they are gone, their fair sails never to return."
"The stones lament the fall,"
"And still they speak."
"They say, 'High they built us,"
"Fair they wrought us,"
"We remember them,"
"But they are gone."
When Bronze heard this, he suddenly felt quite sad. Names swirled in his mind without obvious cause: Tar-Adunakor, Lucius, Atun-Kaah, Regigigas. It was like a ancestral memory, and the Fall of Logaria was remembered in the very earth. Bronze reminded himself to purchase the Downfall, a collection of writings about the Fall of Logaria, only recently assembled, once his journey had at last ended.
The prince and Bronze talked for a bit, and then they both prepared to leave.
Then, several shadowy shapes came out of the darkness at the far and of the hall into the flickering torchlight. Ryan turned, and sent out his Excadrill. "Who goes there? I am the Prince of Aredia, and I will defend these gates to the death!" Bronze also sent out his Pokémon.
A man stepped into the light a bit more, revealing the dreadful uniform of Team Eclipse.
"Greetings from the Eclipse Alliance, Prince. Now, step aside."
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Cypress slammed the old man into a wall. "Tell me how to make it, you old fool! I require your services!"
Kurt gasped. "I will not! If I give you such a thing, it will allow you to do terrible deeds! I can only say that you do not deserve to be given the device you want!"
Cypress was furious. He dropped Kurt and attempted to clear his head. Finally coming upon a solution, Cypress outstretched his hand, grinning. Suddenly, a teenage girl flew through the doors to the building, drawn by his psychic grip. Summoning cords to bind her, he drew a flaming blade out of space and held it to the terrified girls throat. "If you do not believe that your life is valuable enough to reveal the design, perhaps you will change your mind for the sake of your granddaughter."
Kurt went white, and finally relented. "Fine! I will give you the device! I beg you, do not harm her!" Cypress smiled, his eyes glowing dimmer, and the blade dematerialized. "Good, good." He purred. "I am sure you will agree that this is the wiser path. Give it to me!" Kurt staggered over to the stairs and opened a small hatch on the underside. In his hands was a Poke Ball so dark that it seemed to absorb the light surrounding it. Cypress levitated it to him, and grasped it in victory.
Kurt got the courage to speak. "I am warning you, the consequences of using that successfully will be immeasurable! I regret ever making it, but it could not be destroyed. If you die a terrible death, do not believe that I did not warn you!" Cypress leered down at Kurt. "I assure you, my little friend, that death is the least thing on my mind. Bonne chance!"
Cypress walked through the smashed open doorway, and ignited a circle of purple fire around the building. "In case you were going to follow me!" Cypress yelled back. "Don't worry, I will write a very supportive consumer review!" Cypress waved, and disappeared.
Traveling through space at such vast distances, even aided by technology, would have immediately disintegrated a normal human being. Cypress, however, concentrated his molecules to remain intact as the teleportation device sped him toward his established anchor in his throne room.
Arriving with a flash of smoke, the demon brushed himself off and sighed in victory. Putting the device in his personal supply locker, he debated on when he would have to use it.
The Lord of Decay rests sleeping, but that shall not be so in only a little while. The light of my flames will pierce his cocoon, and I shall be his master. But not yet. Patience, my servant. Thank you, master. I had simply been debating. Do not forget, I am you. I am lesser. You are my masterpiece. You are my master. I am the night. I am the vessel. I walk through the earth and under it. I walk through it with your stead. I appear as a being of void. I appear as a being of flesh. Return to your mind as if it was yours. It will be done, lord.
Cypress woke up and corrected his eyes from being pure gray to glowing red. Standing up from his trance, he now knew what he must do. Walking out of his throne room to the tech department, Cypress had wondered why he had not done this sooner.
Former Aether President Lusamine was effortlessly manipulating transactions, messages, signals, codes, and data at such a blinding pace that she had nearly eradicated the need for a tech department or unadaptable AI. However, after she had been cured of her coma, she still retained some characteristics of the Nihilego poisoning that Cypress found...unpleasant.
Lusamine noticed him approaching and momentarily paused her work. "Lusamine, I must know of your beliefs of what I intend to do to this world. Please tell me, I am listening." Lusamine was surprised that he would ask her such a thing, and then began to talk.
"I think you know that some humans and Pokémon are very ugly, and you want to change that by making the world again. With your help, all things will be as beautiful as the Ultra Beasts, and even my precious Necrozma. I don't think you want to hurt anyone, especially beautiful humans. You wanted my help to process all this information, and that's why you took me from the clinic. Am I right?"
Cypress was amused at her almost childish ignorance. "Yes, Lusamine, I do intend to make everything as beautiful as the Ultra Beasts. With your help, the world will change anew. And no, I would never hurt any beautiful human, especially your daughter and son!" Lusamine was relived. "Good. I used to think that they were very ugly, but now I see that Lillie and Gladion are perfect, even though I wasn't sure. I hope that Mohn will come and see me soon!" Cypress had to restrain himself from laughing. "You will see Mohn very soon, I promise. I will be leaving now."
Lusamine waved goodbye and resumed her calculations. Cypress grinned as he walked to his throne room. Of course, with the right motivation, she could be useful in combat. He was certainly not going to tell her that Mohn was likely going to die in the creation of the new world, and Lillie and Gladion too. They had been searching for Lusamine ever since he had broken her out of the Psychiatric ward...they would not be another chink in his plans!
Cypress entered the throne room and sat down, going into a deep trance once more.