Hey guys this is a real short chapter. Probably one of my smallest for a matter of fact, but this is probably one of the most important chapters on top of that. All I will say is that I've been waiting for this chapter for awhile because its... well important. Anyways I won't keep you waiting enjoy!
PS: I redid the first chapter of this story for a third time, except I added a lot more info and a real prologue. It still has the original content but a much, much different beginning that I thought would catch more reader's attention. So if your interested go check out the remastered version of the already remastered version of chapter 1. (Chapter 1 re-remastered.) Also if you do check it out I'd love some feed back because the first chapter is the absolute most important chapter in my opinion. (First impression is the lasting impression)
Chapter 54: Sanctum
Point of View Stark
"We are practically here" Vincent told me as we walked through yet another forest. Although this forest was different, this forest was gigantic and full of old runes everywhere. You could travel the whole world and never see anything like this forest, it was rather unique. There was a huge variety of runes in this forest such as giant stones with writing on them, spires and some building like runes along with some arcs. The runes reminded me a little of Geosenge town except in a forest. To add to the scenery the moon's lunar rays shined through the tree branches and lit the area below that and on the ground was a thin layer of fog.
"So Crimson's base was in this forest the whole time" I asked Vincent. It was just Vincent and I for now since Merrick had some other things to attend to.
"Yes but I'll let you see this for yourself" The white espeon responded as we walked into an opening in the forest.
My jaw dropped as I looked at the civilization that was built in the forest. In this civilization there was a variety of homes such as straw huts, tents and a few small homes made of braches and leafs. There were pokemon of all kinds in this village inhabiting it and carrying on with their daily lives.
"What is this place" I asked as I observed all the pokemon carrying out their tasks.
"This place is known as sanctum and this is a place where pokemon can live without humans controlling our lives" Vincent answered as he led me into the small village.
"Are all of these people part of Cri-" I began to say before Vincent cut me off "No these are just normal pokemon, we just hideout here and provide protection in exchange for sanctuary."
"This place is very different from a normal civilization though. Unlike the human civilization we all seek to escape there is no violence here nor are there frequent problems. Everybody helps each other here and everything functions perfect."
"I never knew such a place exists" I said in astonishment.
"You probably want to speak to Mandus now, so I'll give you what you've been waiting for" Vincent said and my ears flickered up from hearing those words. After all this hard work I was finally going to get some answers.
"He's down their" Vincent pointed to a stone alter with a statue of arceus standing on a giant podium. The podium had a giant opening and inside the opening was stone stairs that led down. But to where?
Vincent led me down the stairs and I followed without a word highly anticipating what to expect. At first when we walked down the stairs it was dark even for a night creature like me but after a while there were blue stones on the walls that illuminated the dark runes with a mysterious blue light.
After a small walk down the stairs we finally reached a hallway. We walked down the hallway until we came to a door. In front of the door was the black scyther known as Kane, the scythe I worked with briefly but never spoke to once.
"We wish to speak to Mandus, he's been expecting us" Vincent said with a small bow of respect to his colleague. The scyther didn't say anything and only bowed in response and he pushed the door open for us.
Lunar ray's shined through the door as me and Vincent entered a giant opening in the underground runes. We were now in a giant circular room that was kind of shaped like a dome and towards the top of the dome was a hole in the ceiling that allowed the moon's light to shine down. Vincent and I walked down the center path to the center of the room. There were multiple spires that leaned towards the center of the room and all the spires made a circle around the center of the room.
Standing in the center of the room I spotted Mandus standing in the center where the moonlight was the strongest. Mandus had his back turned to us at the moment and it appeared he didn't know we were even here.
"So you two have finally arrived" The lucario said with that powerful deep voice he had as he turned his head to look at us. Mandus looked the same since last time I saw him and he still wore that black cloak for some reason.
"Yes and Stark passed all of our test's and he is eligible to join us" Vincent said with a confident voice.
"Okay then, you may leave then Vincent. I'll call you when were ready to begin our mission" Mandus said and Vincent nodded and left the room we were in. For a few seconds there was nothing but silence as Mandus looked at me with a look that made me feel small compared to him. After all I'm a umbreon and a lucario is a lot taller than I am.
"I only have a few questions for you" Mandus asked me in a monotone voice.
"Shoot" I replied back.
"Why do you seek world peace with us" Mandus asked and caught me off guard. The question bounced around in my head for a few seconds until I came up with an honest answer to why.
"Because you brought me back from the dead and I don't really have a say in any of this" I answered truthfully.
"We only brought you back for your skills but I would have thought Genesis told you all of this was up to you" Mandus said. I almost crapped myself from hearing that. I could have walked away free right after Genesis brought me back and I would have been free! Although I'm sure it wasn't an accident, I'm sure Genesis had this all planned from the start to tell me this was all optional.
"If you wish to leave we will not force you. When we brought you back we never wanted to enslave you, but if you do wish to fight for the same dream we all possess then tell me why" Mandus asked. I pondered that question for a few seconds as well and I had two reasons to why, one being the Genesis hostage thing.
"Because I don't want to see more pokemon like me alive ever again" I responded honestly. This was the truth and I always found it disgusting seeing other pokemon who didn't think anything of killing. I know it's wrong and I always wished I did feel something but I don't and it has always bothered me.
"I'll believe those words. Now my next question is whether you'll pledge your loyalty for us and fight for a better world" Mandus asked. A pledge meant nothing to me, I've lied to so many people just to screw them over that it's almost sad.
"You have my loyalty" I lied to his face.
"For your sake I hope so" Mandus responded as he crossed his arms and made me feel slightly compromised about all the lies.
"Now since you've went through the trouble of proving yourself I will answer all your questions" Mandus said and my ears flicked up in excitement. This was the moment I've been waiting for and I couldn't believe it. The real question I had is where do I begin.
"So how do you plan on achieving peace and what does Ryder have in all of this" I asked understanding that Ryder was a key piece in their plan.
"Our plan goes by the code name project Kurokami" Mandus said with a dramatic pause at the end. "Tell me Stark do you believe legendaries" Mandus asked. My confidence in this organization instantly dropped from such a childish question and I feared to where this was leading.
"No of course not and if they do exist they left this world to parish long ago" I responded back with slight hatred towards the idea of gods.
"I see" Mandus replied with a pause. "Legendaries do exist and they aren't that far from our reach either. You are right though, they have left us to suffer" Mandus continued to blabber on about this childish concept.
"I'm sorry but this is ridiculous, how could you believe that legendary crap" I said disrespectfully.
"Because I've encountered legendaries" Mandus responded.
"Okay fine let's say these magical creatures are real then what is project Kurokami" I asked waiting to hear a farfetched idea.
"There is three legendaries known throughout Kalos Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde. Each of them possesses a unique ability that makes them essential in this plan. But everything has to be done precisely or we will never have a chance again at accomplishing our goal" Mandus said as I thought of where the hell this was leading to.
"Xerneas has the power of eternal life and creation, while Yveltal is the polar opposite of Xerneas he has the power to steel life and energy from other living things and also has enough power to destroy everything in this world" Mandus enlightened me on the silly story.
"And you seek to go against something that can destroy everything" I said dumbfounded by the logic of thinking.
"I'll explain just listen for now" Mandus said with slight anger. "Zygarde acts as a guardian for the ecosystem. Zygarde has the powerful to link up with the world and see everything that is a part of the ecosystem practically making it all knowing in a sense of speaking."
"So what do they have to do with the plan" I asked Mandus.
"We know the location of Zygarde" Mandus said and my jaw dropped from what he said. "When more preparations are made we will seek out Zygarde and capture the legendary."
"And you expect it to just cooperate with your plan" I questioned.
"We are simply capturing it afterwards we will have a psychic take control of Zygarde and use his ability to track down the other key legendaries to fulfill the plan. After we capture the last two we initiate phase three" Mandus said with a pause as he looked me dead in the eyes. "Once phase three is finished we will have the power to alter this world as we please. Then we begin phase four" Mandus said completely skipping over the third phase, I'm just going to assume it's not worth mentioning or it's something small.
"What's phase four" I asked the lucario.
"By phase four we will be unmatched and we will have divine power on our side. That's when we seek out all the other legendaries, they can join us under our rules or die" Mandus said with a dark tone. "By the end of the first four phases we will have the power to alter the world as we please and bring true peace in a world where there is no suffering" Mandus said.
"The dawn of the new world can only be achieved through bloodshed. That is what Crimson Dawn truly means" Mandus said as I stood there in complete shock from the overly creative plan that was insane.
"How does Ryder play into all of this" I asked the lucario as he looked me into the eyes.
"Ryder is the key piece in this whole plan, an umbreon like him is almost impossible to find and he may be the only one of his kind that is truly unique" Mandus said as he looked into the hole on the ceiling and into the moonlight.
"Ryder's role in all of this is-"
Chapter End
Author Note: What I forgot to finish the last sentence? No that was done purposely lol. So this was a huge chapter that had a lot of info to take in. If it doesn't quite all seem to add up yet I will get more detailed in future chapters about the plan. I'm really curious to hear what people think of this chapter and what you all think is going to happen. Feel free to also tell me what you think Black/Ryder's role in all of this is (You do remember Black and Ryder are the same person right?) I have been dying to get around this point in the story where things in Crimson's plan start rolling and spicing things up.
Anyways thank you for taking the time to read this far and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.