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This chapter will be entirely concerned with the Then storyline, as I need room for a long conversation. The next chapter will be entirely the Now storyline. Also, the Logarian's speech is intentionally self-aggrandizing and obsessed with Life or Death. If you have questions about Logaria or its Fall, read the final appendix of the Legends of Arceus.
Then, The Last Moment of the Middling Era
Tree of Darkness: figurative symbol for the unceasing and regenerative nature of Evil in Imbar Corrupted, or the Earth in a fallen state.
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The Logarian accepted the arrangement at once. He believed that the hour of his death had come and he was determined to utter all he had to say, and which he had begun to say. He cleared his throat, almost struck a rude gesture, and began:
"To you, I may seem a cruel brigand, but upon the shoulders of the Logarian Man, I bear the destiny of the Race of Men. Your tribal life with its weapons of primitive Elder Days and wooden huts, its primitive armament, and elementary social structure has nothing to compare with Logaria the Downfallen-with our science, medicine, and Law, our armies as great as forests, our architecture, our limitless commerce, and our transport systems which are rapidly annihilating the barriers of Space and Time that the False One Arceus had so cruelly thrust upon us. Life-"
"Hold for a moment!" the interpreter cried. "That is about as much that I can manage in one period." Turning to the Twin Princes, he began translating as well as he could. The process was difficult and the result was somewhat unsatisfactory for the Galarian people's understanding.
"He says that among us, Zacian and Zamazenta, there is a kind of Man or Pokemon who will take other people's food when they are not looking. He says that he is not an ordinary one of that kind. He says that what he does now will make things very different for people who come after him, even those that are not yet born. He says that among you Galarians, Men and Pokemon live together and the warriors have spears like those used a very long time ago when Eternatus walked the Earth, and your huts are small and round and your boats small and light like our old ones, and you have one ruler. He says it is different in Logaria. There is a thing that happens there when the body of a living creature feels pain and becomes weak, sometimes they know how to stop it. He says that they have many evil people and they kill them or shut them away in prisons and then they have people for settling quarrels between the evil Men about their homes and mates and other things. He says that they have many ways for Men to kill those of another land and many are trained to do it. He says they build very big and strong homes of stone and other things like some Pokemon. And he says that they exchange many things and can carry heavy weights very quickly over a long way. Because of all this, he says that it would not be an evil thing if all his people killed all of our people.
There was a minor uproar in the assembly that Zacian and Zamazenta silenced. As soon as the interpreter finished, the Logarian continued.
"Life is greater than any system of mortality; her claims are absolute under the Mbelekoro's authority. It is not by tribal taboos and strange anathematic traditions that she has pursued her relentless march of Progress under the guidance of the Great Djinn."
"He says," the interpreter began, "That living creatures are above whether an act is evil or good-no, that's wrong-he says it is better to be alive and evil than to be dead-no-he says, he says...ah! Have mercy on me, I cannot say what he says, Zacian and Zamazenta, in the Galarian tongue. But he says that the only good thing is that there should be many creatures alive if the Evil Djinn controls them. He says that nothing that people say will stop things from getting better, but it has nothing to do with what is said that is good or evil to the young by their elders. He says that the Tree of Darkness is a good thing if the Evil Djinn guides this process of getting better, and he says that it is good that the Evil Djinn does not feel pity."
"She-" the Logarian began.
"We are sorry, Fallen One, Zacian said. "We have quite forgotten who She is."
"Life under guidance, of course!" the Logarian snapped. "She had ruthlessly broken through all obstacles and liquidated all failures and today in her highest form-civilized Man-and in me as the Mbelekoro's representative, she presses forward to that inter-dimensional leap which will perhaps place her beyond the reach of the Doom of Men, which is Death. In Deep Heaven, there is no Death, and thus we might conquer it and dwell there."
"He says," resumed the interpreter, "that Life in Logaria has learned many difficult things, except those that have not; and those ones died, and the Men and Pokemon that lived did not pity them. And he says now that the best kind of Man is the kind that makes big houses and carries heavy weights and does all the other things I spoke of, and he is one of those and he says that if the Evil Djinn knew what he was doing, he would be pleased. He says if he could kill you and bring all of Logaria to live here in Deep Heaven, then they might be able to go on living forever, even if something went wrong in Logaria. And they would never die out."
"It is in her right," the Logarian said, "the right, or, if you will, the might of Life and the Mbelekoro themselves, that I am prepared without faltering to plant the banners of Logaria in Galar and all lands through all worlds, until all is under the Dominion of Men. Logaria has Downfallen, but step by necessary step, another shall rise. More empires will succeed us, and they will complete the deed that we have failed to do."
"He says," the interpreter translated, "that because of this it would not be an evil action, or else, he says, it would be a possible action, for him to kill you all and bring his people here. He says he would feel no pity. He is saying again that perhaps they would spread over the world-I do not know if he speaks of this world or worlds that orbit other suns-he says that Logaria is gone, but over time, in very little pieces, another race like Logaria will become strong. More of these will come later in time, and they will do all the things that Logaria wanted to do but did not."
The Logarian had finished his statement and now looked for a chair to sit in. Finding none, he stood with his arms crossed and started with a certain dignity about him.
"It is well that we heard this," Zamazenta said. "For though your mind is feeble, your Willpower is less Evil than we thought. It is not quite for yourself that you would do all this."
"No!" the Logarian proudly said, in primitive Galarian. "Me die. Logaria live!"
"But we have dwelt in Deep Heaven before the Count of Time, and we know that mortals cannot walk it or enter it. And if they could by some strange errantry, you should know that these creatures would have to have bodies most unlike you before they lived there. And even then, it is not that Deep Heaven makes one Deathless, it is that the Deathless dwell in Deep Heaven. You would perish in the Light of Arceus like a moth in a flame too strong and great. For no mortal can behold the Light of the Original One and live, or perhaps at the very least unchanged."
"Yes, me know! Me not know yet what we will do to change ourselves! All new. Strange creatures! Big creatures!"
"Then it is not about the shape of the body you care about to know what is Man?"
"No care for low-men. Care for Logaria! Care for Man! Care for Mbelekoro!"
"But if it is neither of man's mind, which is as the mind of Pokemon in many ways-is not Arceus maker of them all? Nor his body, which will change-you are neither for these, what do you mean by Man?"
"Me care for Man-care for Logarian race-what Man begets-" He had to ask the interpreter for the words race and beget.
"Strange!" Zacian said. "You do not love any of your race, for you wish to slay Ishmael or all others present. You do not love the Mind of your race, nor the fragile body. Any kind of creature will please you if only it is begotten by your kind as they are now. It seems to us, Fallen One, that what you really love is no natural Man or Pokemon but Life itself: for that is all that is left when you take away the others."
"We see how the Mbelekoro has dealt with you," Zamazenta said. "Do not worship him. Your cries of worship go to a phantom that has no power within the world, and only within the folly of your heart might you perceive his dark Will still working in the Circles of Earth. And there are Laws that he knows that all Men and Pokemon know, of pity and straight dealing and shame and the like, and one of these is the love of kindred. He has taught you to break all of them except this one, which is not one of the greatest laws. This one he has bent until it became folly and has set it up, thus twisted, to be a little blind Arceus within your mind. And now you can do nothing but obey it, though we ask you why it is a law you can give no other reason for it than for all the other greater laws it drives you to disobey. Do you know why the Evil Djinn has done this?"
"Me think that Mbelekoro good. Me wise, new man. No believe all that old Arceus talk."
"I shall tell you," Zamazenta continued. "He has left you and all of Downfallen Logaria this law because an evil Man or Pokemon can do more evil than a broken one. He has only twisted you, but there are others that he has broken and left nothing but void within them. They are but talking animals and in this land, they could do no more evil than an animal. If you were ours, we would unmake your body, for the soul inside it is already dead. But if you were ours, we would seek to heal you. Tell me, Fallen One, why have the Folk of Logaria so swiftly forgotten that they were among those who fought against the Mbelekoro?"
"That myth! Mbelekoro-people say so!"
"You have been lied to," Zacian said. "Only wickedness moves your mind: fear, murder, and rebellion. The weakest of our people in Galar do not fear Death, and with good reason, for Arceus has not made Men or Pokemon long-livers, although this was not intended in the Beginning. It is the Mbelekoro, the disposed of Lord of the Earth, who wastes lives and befouls them by saying that one may fly from Death, which you know will overtake you in the end."
"Liars! Defeatist propaganda!" the Logarian shouted at the Two in Black Logarian speech; then, drawing himself up to his full height, he added in his best Galarian, "You say Arceus let all die. Other one, Mbelekoro, he fight, move, live-not all talking. Me no like Arceus! Like Mbelekoro better, me on his side!"
"But do you not see that the Mbelekoro shall never be on your side nor can," began Zamazenta, and then broke off as if recollecting himself. "But I must learn more of Logaria and its Downfall from Arceus, and for that, we shall need much time. I will not kill you, but our thoughts are inclined to it presently. We shall now converse with the Original One."
The Twin Princes fell still, and then the merest whisper of light, the smallest diminution of a shadow was travelling along the throne surface to the old King Wulfhere, who had not spoken in ages. Ishmael felt a tingling in his blood and a prickling of his fingers as if lightning were near him, and he heard the sound of falling water and rushing thunder.
...
And then the Twin Princes spoke in a more inhuman voice that Ishmael had yet heard, sweet and seemingly coming from afar, an unshaken voice that as one the Alolans said afterwards, "with no blood in it. Light is blood for Elohim."
The words were terribly alarming.
"A new Age of the Earth has begun," said the Two in unison. "And with it comes the Dominion of Men and Pokemon, and the fading of the Elohim. The Middling Days have ended, the Younger Days have come, for this is decreed by Arceus Elyon. We can no longer guide you, for it is now the appointed task of Men and Pokemon to order the world without the aid of Elohim, and to preserve what may be preserved. For though much has survived the tumults of these dying days, much must now pass away, and the Power of the Mbelekoro is also ended in great part. All the lands of Earth, and those yet unknown, shall be dwellings of Men and Pokemon, and Elohim will desert them. For the time comes for the Rule of the Children of Arceus, and the Elder Spirits shall fade or depart."
It seemed as though all had fallen silent, being struck witless by the words of Zacian and Zamazenta. The old King Wulfhere set his face down and grief, and then cried aloud, "But we shall falter without you, for we are Mortal Men, and though being guided by the Teachings of Arceus, we will endure longer than most others. But that is only a little while, and the Tree of Darkness will grow in your absence! What shall we do to prevent this?"
"Turn your face from darkness and fear, and look where all seems fair!" Zacian said, and a white tear was in her eye. "We love this land more than we would return to Deep Heaven, and shall remain on Earth with many other of our kindred. But we will diminish, and fall into sleep, and the rustic winds of Time shall sweep our memory away. We must either fade into impotent spirits or pass away into the Undying Lands, slowly to forget and to be forgotten. And I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are evil! The Doom of Arceus has passed, and there is naught that we might do to refuse his Will."
"And why should you not resist His Will, and remain our rulers?" a guildsman shouted. "Why must we be unguided by a higher Will?"
"You speak Evil, although you desire Love," Zamazenta said. "We desired the Earth too greatly and tied our fate to it, and our doom is to be immortal in a mortal world, and love beauty while it lasts, to bring it to full flower as we have done in Galar with the powers of Rule and Perfection, to last while it lasts, never leaving it even when made houseless and without a body, but returning ever on, until every moment is weariness and we must leave or become witless. The Gift of Men and Pokemon is Death, freedom from the Circles of the World at the last. We cannot rule you, for if we flouted the Will of Arceus we would become Tyrants in our desire to do Good."
"Where shall you go?" the old King said as he wept. "We know what must happen well, dear friends, but we would still have your counsel at the last."
"We shall go to the Slumbering Weald," Zacian said, weeping luminous, pearlescent tears. "And make it a place of wraiths and horrors, so that none may disturb us until the time for our awakening has come when all other hopes fail in a future era that we know not. For with time and rest we might become mightier than we are now, even in this Fading Era of Elohim and Magic. And take heart, for many Elohim, among the mightiest that still breath upon the Earth, will live ever on, and lose little strength. The Deeds of the Elder Spirits are not yet finished, and a great number will not desert the world even at Arceus's command. Rayquaza Sulumno, Lord of the Breath of Earth, will continue to govern from Sky Tower. Cobalion Iarwen-ben-Adar, Oldest and Wisest, will remain to defend the Pokemon that cannot aid themselves. But we must leave now, you must forget us or make folly of our memory."
"Alas! Alas!" Zamazenta lamented. "The Western Seas shine! The winds are calling, the white foam is flying! O Slumering Weald, Slumbering Weald, do you hear us call, the voices of our people? We shall leave, we shall leave these mortal lands; for our days are ending and our years failing. Deep in the hearts of all Elohim lies a longing for the Light of Arceus, which is a sorrow and a joy to us when we are apart from it; and this desire is perilous to stir. We shall sleep, sleep a dreamless sleep, forgetting War in Earth or our kindred, until the time comes again for us to awaken from our slumber when all other hopes outside of our power fail. Alas for the Doom of Arceus! We shall have no peace ever again until the world is mended."
"What must we do while you are gone?" Theon cried. "We might govern ourselves for a time, but how can the Dominion of Men and Pokemon come to fruition if the memory of the Twin Princes endures? But we would not cease to remember you, and would rather cast away all that we love rather than submit to forgetfulness."
"You must twist our memory until it becomes centered upon Men," Zacian proclaimed. "Let us be remembered not as Elohim or even Pokemon that we bear so much likeness to and oftentimes assume the forms of. Over the countless years in endless aggregation, a new belief must emerge that we were two heroes of Men who cast down Eternatus. And we have nothing left to say, for our time to depart comes. Goodbye, goodbye! Although the sun sets upon the Era of the Elder Spirits, a new day shall come again!"
To the dismay of those that stood by, about the specters of the Two a grey mist gathered, and rose slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as two pale shrouded figures that loomed over their thrones. For a moment they wavered and almost agglomerated into a concrete form again, but out of the West came a cold wind, and they bent toward it, and with a sigh fell into the distant fields.