Sinnoh Arc II: Turn the Tables
Soon, a chain of islands appeared on the horizon. "That must be them, right? The islands of the former land bridge?" Jacky asked. The captain of the boat turned his head toward them. "They're called the Sinjoh Islands. They lie right between the two regions. Cianwood is on the northernmost of these islands.",
"Wow... That means we're as close to Johto as we've ever been. That's kind of cool." The closer they got to their destination, the colder it seemed to get. They could see that a blanket of snow covered the islands, making them sparkle brightly in the light. "Cynthia wasn't lying when she said it's really cold here..."
They stopped at a small pier. "Destination reached," the sailor announced. The girls turned to the ruins perched on the island. They were locasted in a small canyon, and to the left and right towered the sheer turn of the cliffs. Snow was falling down. Elesa stepped onto the pier first. "... This place is well hidden among the cliffs. It is impossible to see it from another side.",
"I will wait for you here," the sailor said, heading for a hut that lay at the foot of the ruins. "If you want to warm up, you are always welcome in there",
"We appreciate it, thank you." Jacky nodded at him. "I wouldn't mind some warm soup... But before that, small question: What exactly do you know about these ruins?",
"They were built by pilgrims who wandered from Sinnoh to Johto", he explained. "They missed their homeland, so they built a temple here that would remind them of it. The ruins house an altar called the 'Mystri Stage'. It is said that many travellers passing through left offerings there to secure the blessings from the deities of the Sinnoh region for a safe arrival. Murals can be seen on the floor of the altar, which appear to have a connection to the Dimension Trio. But you should see this for yourselves.",
"Thank you." She nodded and turned to the others. "We should look at the ruins directly. Maybe, they contain a riddle or something.",
"We'll see." Elesa nodded and the three entered the cold stone ruins.
Even on the ground, remnants of snow could be seen as they entered. An enormous triangular podium spread out before them, with a huge mural on it. To their left and right were statues of the legendary Pokémon, but they were so damaged that some of their body parts were missing or quite severe cracks could be seen in the stone. They stepped onto the altar and looked at the murals. "Wow... It all looks very cryptic," Mari commented. The mural showed a large circle in the center, and three smaller ones in each corner, pointing at the large circle. The smaller circles contained various symbols in red, blue, and pink. One reminded of a triangle, one of a crystal, and one of a cogwheel.
"The symbols must represent the members of the dimensional trio", Mari surmised. "Judging by the colors, Giratina's symbol is at the top, Dialga's is on the left, and Palkia's is on the right.",
"Then, the big circle in the middle must stand for Arceus", Jacky concluded.
"So it seems. Look, the signs all point into the big circle. I would interpret this in two ways. Either these three symbols are emerging from the center, or they're pointing at it, which could mean they're still part of it despite being separated.",
"Makes sense..." Jacky nodded. "What I don't understand is... why doesn't Arceus just come here and destroy the red chains? It can do that, right?",
"..." Elesa looked at the mural. "It is said that after the creation of the world, Arceus dwelled in a hall above the world and remained there in a meditative state. Only its consciousness is still roaming this mortal world.",
"Why is that? Because being a god and creating things is exhausting?" Mari asked.
"Maybe, but I rather think it has something to do with the concept of eternity.",
"Eternity?",
"Yes. Arceus has created this world, but does not act as its ruler. Rather, it has transitioned itself into a state of complete stasis to allow the world to prosper and progress on its own. The land changes, but Arceus' presence remains eternally unchanged. Its consciousness is a spirit in this world. However, it can only leave the Hall of Origin physically when it is "called" by its believers.",
"Oh... so you mean, Arceus does not want to be omnipresent as a suppressing force and take action unless the world truly calls for its aid?",
"Exactly. And the medium to reach Arceus is the Azure Flute.",
"Huh... Okay... So when we find the Azure Flute, we will be able to summon Arceus and it will restore order in this world?",
"I believe so. But that is exactly what Cyrus is waiting for. In the blink of an eye, he would remove both red chains from Dialga and Palkia and shackle Arceus with them.",
"That means we cannot allow him to summon Arceus and have to find another way to shatter the chains", Jacky concluded. "So we have to get the Azure Flute and keep it far away from him.",
"Yes."
"...Hey, i don't mean to interrupt your presumptions, but we may have missed something." Mari pointed at a stone slate beside the altar. The other two stepped in front of it. "I only see gibberish", Jacky admitted. "that's Unown script, isn't it?",
"Yeah, but thank Arceus I did a course for ancient scripts back at school." Mari winked at Jacky. "Give me a moment to translate gibberish into English." Elesa and Jacky made space for her so Mari could read. "Three spirits must offer their prayers towards the heavens under the watchful eyes of the three aspects of order. Only then shall their voices reach the abode in which eternity sleeps."
"You may have translated it into English, but it's still all Johtoan to me", Jacky commented.
"It is hard to understand, I agree..." Elesa muttered. "Let's dig deeper into those lines. They must have a meaning.",
"The three aspects of order should be the most obvious thing in those lines", Mari stated. "Time, Space, Antimatter.",
"With 'the abode in which eternity sleeps', they must mean the Hall of Origin, where Arceus sleeps", Jacky assumed. "But what about the three spirits? What does that mean?",
"Maybe they refer to the lake guardians...?" Mari asked, unsure. "There are three of them, they are called 'the spirits of the lakes' and they are connected to Arceus as well.",
"Do you think we have to drag the lake guardians out to offer some prayer to Arceus?" Jacky crossed her arms. "I mean... theoretically, it would make sense, but... they have disappeared after they were freed. They have not been seen again after what transpired, so how should we be able to find them?",
"No idea... I'm at a loss here..." Mari sighed. "They also mention 'a prayer'. 'Offering their prayer'.",
"What if the 'three spirits' aren't referring to the lake guardians at all?" Jacky questioned. "Could it be that there are three people who have to gather here and pray to Arceus?",
"Hmm..." Mari looked back at the mural. "'Under the watchful eyes of the three aspects of order'... Would that mean there has to be one person standing on one of the symbols each?",
"It would make sense." Jacky nodded. "But they're talking about prayers. So it has to be something special then? Or do they all have to be religious people from some sort of church? True believers of Arceus?",
"We ain't any of that..." Mari shook her head. "We have to imagine it like this: It's an emergency. The whole world falls apart. We need Arceus here asap. Would a summoning ritual for such a drastic matter be so restrictive?",
"Huh... you're right... it shouldn't be... But maybe it is because there are always those with evil intend?",
"I mean... yeah... A true believer of Arceus would never try to betray its trust...",
"... Oh!" Jacky's face suddenly lit up. "Hey, Mari! We have something that could qualify us for this ritual anyway!",
"...Huh? What are you talking about?" the black-haired girl asked in utter confusion. Jacky rummaged around in her bag and... pulled out Jayden's pendant. "We have this! A religious symbol!",
"..." She stared grimmly at the pendant as if she wanted it to run in fear upon the sight of her.
"'Only then shall their voices reach the abode in which eternity sleeps', it says", Jacky recited cheerfully. "That would mean, if we succeed with this, we might get the Azure Flute. I hope it's true, at least.",
"Mari?",
"..." She still stared at the pendant in annoyance. "Why do you think this thing will do the trick?",
"Mariii... I know this is Jayden's, but can we leave that aside for now?",
"Ugh... fine. Let's try." Mari turned around and positioned herself on the red symbol, the symbol of antimatter. Jacky stepped onto the symbol of time, and Elesa on that of space. Jacky closed her hands around the pendant. "Okay... I have no idea what we should say, but... we only have this one chance.",
"Feel free to express your creativity," Mari said. Jacky laughed nervously and then closed her eyes. "Okay... Arceus, god over this world, evil seeks to destroy your world and create a new one. Time and space are falling apart. Please... help us."
The symbols under their feet began to glow and the light traveled to the ring in the center. There, it gathered and... shortly after, an object appeared on the ground. Jacky looked up and reached for it. It was a purple flute.
"...It's not blue at all," Mari commented. "Are you sure this is the azure flute?",
"Hmm... I mean... Maybe the 'azure' indicates that it hails... from the sky...? Well, anyway... we have the flute. Now-" She was interrupted by a beeping sound. Elesa tapped her Xtranceiver. "...Oh no.",
"What is it?",
"A message from Skyla. Apparently, several people from Team Galactic were stationed around Celestic to observe the village. Cynthia and the rest have completely taken down the camp and many of the members have been arrested, but... Cyrus arrived shortly after and they managed to warn him. Now, he has a message for us. You shall bring the Azure Flute to Mount Coronet by dusk tomorrow, alone. Should you not do that... he will destroy everything in his path to take it from you personally by force.",
"He doesn't even bother to chase after us?" Mari crossed her arms.
"Why would he? We did all the work for him. It would be tedious for him to chase us down. He has us at bait", Jacky stated. "If we don't want him to burn all of Sinnoh to ashes, we better show up where he wants us."
Elesa sighed. "...Our plan was good, but we didn't account for people listening in on it. We were stupid. We played right into his cards.",
"Well, whatever." Mari crossed her arms defiantly. "Let's march up there and face his ass.",
"...Huh?" Elesa blinked at her.
"We are coming prepared, as well." She raised her arm with her mega bracelet. "He thinks he's smart, but he doesn't realize that WE have the weapon. He won't think we will put up a fight, but boy, we will have the audacity to challenge him before the eyes of the god. We will face him down."
Jacky chuckled. "Yes. I don't think he is taking us seriously... In his eyes, we're just kids. Well... let's stand up against him and show him the consequences.",
"I agree. Let's turn the tables on him now." Mari nodded at her best friend and smirked.