IMPORTANT! hey I accidentally screwed up something last chapter. I wrote that two weeks passes, when I meant to make it one week. Sorry about that, but it isn't a huge deal. Second. I am just going to continue the chapters as if this was all one book, even though it is broken up into three. I'm just doing this to keep things less confusing, so this chapter will be 79. Thank you.
Book II: Impending Twilight
Chapter 79: The Guardians
Location: The Hall of Origin
"I suppose you all know why you were called here today?" A pokemon asked four other members in a very large hall with towering pillars supporting the ceiling. A set of glowing orbs hovered around the room, giving off a bright blue light, tinting the room the same..
Celebi looked around the room acknowledging his four colleagues surrounding him: Mew, Entei, Articuno, and Xerneas.
"I am aware," Mew responded as she levitated in the air with her arms crossed, not really caring to be where she was today, "Hopefully you didn't bring me half way across the world for nothing."
"I know it involves Zygarde," The Legendary known as Entei spoke.
"Yes, I'm aware of what happened to Zygarde, and this act of heresy cannot be tolerated," Articuno added into the conversation as the avian stood on the ground.
Standing on the other side of the room was Xerneas. The deer like pokemon stood there in silence, not stating how much she knew of the situation. Celebi noticed how quiet Xerneas was, and he flew towards her, and levitated at eye level with her.
"Xerneas, is something bothering you, you seem… withdrawn?" Celebi questioned.
Xerneas looked Celebi in the eyes, "I'm fine, I just didn't expect something like this to happen," she answered with a small nod. Celebi gave her a nod in response, and he flew to the other side of the room. Celebi flew up to a collapsed pillar and took a seat on it as he prepared to make a more formal statement of why they were meeting.
"So, as you all know, Zygarde has been captured by a group known as The Crimson Dawn," Celebi began to say, "This group is rather small, but they are admirable for their skill in not only combat, but knowledge," Celebi said as he gave the info he reported a moment to settle in.
"The leader is a lucario who goes by the name Mandus. From what I have learned, he is very powerful, and is solely responsible for the capturing of Zygarde," Celebi informed the others.
"You're telling me that a mere lucario took down one of the guardians?" Entei said in surprise.
"I wouldn't underestimate normal pokemon. This lucario is rather interesting. I'd actually be interested in meeting him, but it seems that isn't an option," Celebi told Entei.
"Ridiculous! If he truly is committing acts against us, then we should just go there and make an example of him," Entei said with a growl in his voice.
"I told you not to underestimate him. Zygarde is much stronger than you, and as I looked into the past, I saw that Zygarde was easily outmatched," Celebi told Entei. The Legendary just rolled his eyes at Celebi.
"What is it that they are after?" Articuno questioned.
"I honestly do not know, but I have noticed that they have taken interest in an eon," Celebi answered as he leaned back a bit, and used his hands to hold him up.
"An Eon?" Articuno repeated in surprise.
Entei grinded his teeth together before speaking, "I thought the eons were killed off long ago, why is there one still alive?"
Celebi sighed as he looked over towards his tense colleagues, "We thought we killed them off, but from time to time they are born, even for us it would be impossible to track down each individual eeveelution that contains the blood of an eon. Most eons live their whole lives without realizing what that they are different, but this eon seems to have some control of his powers, even if he is very confused about what he is."
"Then he'll have to die. It was a mistake that that thing was even born," Entei said with fury.
"Hold on!" Mew spoke up, and attracted the attention of all the Legendaries, "I have been watching the Crimson group for a while now. And yes, they are planning to use this eon for something big, but I think it is in our interest to keep him alive for a bit longer," Mew suggested.
"You knew of Crimson all along and you never warned any of us about this?" Articuno said as his eyes narrowed in on Mew.
"I do know of Crimson, but I didn't expect things to escalate this much," Mew answered.
"Mew you are aware that keeping this kind of information from us is a serious crime, and you can be outcasted for this?" Celebi said in a serious tone.
"I am fully aware, but outcasting me will do more harm than good, because I have knowledge of these people. You will all need me as of now," Mew said as she looked into Celebi's eyes.
"So tell me then, Mew, Why keep the eon alive, how does this benefit us in any way?" Entei questioned Mew with a snarl.
"Simple, use the Eon as bait. Crimson will come for him eventually, and once Mandus is taken care of, I will personally kill the eon," Mew suggested, as Celebi began to think about her plan.
"Interesting, that will be taken into consideration, as will you refraining from informing us. But for now, I will not make a big deal of it, since your assistance will be needed," Celebi told Mew, as he turned towards Articuno and Entei.
"Now then, this leads to the next thing I would like to discuss," Celebi began to say, "With Zygarde's absence, a new Guardian is needed to fill his place. Articuno, Entei, you two are the next nominee's. So what I have decided is to make you both Guardians, but only until this whole situation is sorted out. Once this situation is sorted out, only one of you two will remain a Guardian, the work you put in from here will determine who stays."
"So, I finally get a chance to move up the hierarchy," Entei said in surprise, as he looked over to Articuno.
"This will be interesting," The avian Legendary responded.
"Now, would you both like to take the oath now?" Celebi asked the two Legendaries. Both nodded in sync. "Very well, follow me,"
Celebi led the two Legendaries into another room, and down a long hall. After a minute's walk, the entered into a colossal room. Occupying the center of this room was a mountainous spire with a blinding sphere of light at the top and stairs circling around leading to this source of powerful energy. Its mysterious aura filled the room with a nearly overwhelming feeling of divinity.
"There she is, the mother of all creation," Celebi said as he led the other two up the stairs.
"It has been a long time since I've been here. I'd almost forgotten how powerful Arceus's energy was, even if she has been asleep for as long as I can remember," Articuno stated.
"One day she will awake, and when she does, a new world shall be born," Celebi informed the two.
"We know the prophecy just as well as you do, no need to remind us," Entei spoke back to Celebi.
"Of course," Celebi said with a nod as the three reached the peak of the spire and stood below the shining sphere above them. Articuno landed on the ground and bowed his head, Entei bowed his head as well.
"Alright, we shall begin the oath of the Guardians," Celebi said as he flew in front of the two who were bowing to Arceus. "Articuno, and Entei. You two have been chosen to help protect this world. Along with keeping peace amongst the world, you must also vow to protect the Creator Arceus with your lives, no matter what the cost," Celebi said, as the two continued to bow their heads.
"Do you two agree to solemnly dedicate your lives to the Creator?" Celebi asked the two.
"I will dedicate everything to the Creator," Entei said as he continued to bow.
"My life is Arceus's," Articuno replied.
"You two have now accepted the oath of being the next two Guardians. From now on, you all have control over the Legendaries below you in the hierarchy. Everybody will put their trust in you two to help the other Guardians protect the world. May Arceus guide you two down the right path," Celebi finished, and the two Legendaries raised their heads.
"So, we're now officially Guardians?" Articuno asked.
"You two are now on equal ground with Xerneas, Mew, Jirachi, Zygarde, and of course me," Celebi answered the ice type. "Anyways, your first priority will be stopping the Crimson Dawn and saving Zygarde. As to whether you choose to kill the eon first is your call."
Entei acknowledged his two colleagues before he began walking down the incline back towards the Hall of Origin "You all do as you please, I will be heading out to kill this lucario soon. We'll have to see how he deals with the three Legendary beasts."
"Entei, Don't underestimate the enemy, I sense that there is more to all of this, but I can't foresee anything yet," Celebi warned Entei.
"I won't lose to a feeble lucario," Entei scoffed as he walked away.
Point of View Black
"So, are you ready for this," I said with a toothy grin, as Flare stood a few meters from me with a toothy grin on his face as well.
"I warn you Black, I may be small, but I'm stronger than I look," Flare responded, with a confidence.
The two of us were now just outside of Cyllage city, in a grass field that was vacant of anyone. Kana stood to the side, as she spectated us two, she was also going to be the ref of this friendly spar we were about to engage in. A breeze gently blew through the air, and the two of us waited for Kana to give us the green light to go. It was kind of weird thinking that this was our first time ever fighting, and I was nervous, since I didn't want to lose to someone smaller than myself.
"Get ready," the jolteon began to say, as Flare and I both got in our fighting stances, "and, begin!" Kana shouted.
Flare inhaled a deep breath as he jumped towards me, and his mouth opened, and embers of all sizes sprayed towards me. The embers singed me, and I cringed as I ran through them and swung my paw at Flare's face. The fennekin quickly jumped back as he inhaled another breath.
"Get back here!" I yelled at him as I ran after him. Right before Flare attacked me, I slammed my body into him, causing the fennekin to misfire a flamethrower into the air.
Flare groaned as he lied on his back. I jumped in the air and targeted his small body. Flare then revealed a sneaky smirk, and he shot a fireball towards me. My eyes widened as the fireball collided with my chest, and I flew the opposite direction, and soon smashed onto the hard ground with smoke rising from my burnt fur.
"Dammit," I groaned, as I felt the singed fur on my chest. Luckily Flare was smart enough not to use full strength, or I'd be back in the pokecenter. After a moment, I shook off the pain, and I got back up. Flare was patiently waiting to see if I'd recover from his sneaky attack.
"You alright?" Flare asked me.
"I'm fine," I replied back, as I began charging up a dark energy in my mouth.
Flare's eyes widened in surprise as a shadow ball flew towards him. He jumped back, and the ball exploded in the spot he was just standing on, and it created a black smoke. Taking advantage of the smokescreen that had formed, I charged through it head first. Flare flinched back as my skull smashed into his right cheekbone, and the fennekin flew back and rolled along the ground, creating a dust cloud in his trail.
"Owww," Flare moaned as he quickly got back up, and faced me, "Okay, try and beat this," Flare said as a few flurries of fire surrounded him, until his entire body bursted into flames.
I nervously gulped in response. Flare was using his most aggressive attack against me. I then let out a grunt as I began concentrating the dark matter around me, and a few particles of darkness became visible around me, but my concentration broke, and I began panting in exhaustion from the failed attempt of using dark matter on a higher level.
"Still not there yet," I said in disappointment. When I looked up and saw Flare charging at me. I quickly dove to the side, as I felt a wave of heat pass me. I quickly crawled back up to my feet in time, just to avoid another tackle from Flare; this time I felt the heat barely singe me.
Inhaling a deep breath, I charged a shadow ball in my mouth, and I launched it towards Flare. The fennekin jumped to the side as he kept his pace, while running towards me. I moved away once again, but this time Flare stopped in place. Flare opened his mouth wide, and all the flames around his body were sucked into his mouth.
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I realized what he was doing. I quickly darted towards the nearest piece of cover, which was a rock that was about three times my size. I clenched my eyes shut as Flare blew a Hell storm of fire my way. The rock shielded me from the flames, and I could feel myself over heating from the scorching flames that impacted my cover.
It took a moment, but the flames eventually died down. I exhaled a breath of relief as I crawled out from my hiding spot, and I noticed all the burnt grass. Standing a few meters away was Flare, the fennekin just patiently waited for me, being a good sport in our spar.
"You're holding out pretty well Black, but you're going to continue to struggle if you can't be more offensive," Kana said to me, from a safe distance.
"You wanna get in here?" I responded to the jolteon.
"Nah, I like my fur how it is," She answered back smirking. Taking note of the fur comment, I looked at some of the burns on my body, and I noticed how burnt my fur was. It was rather depressing in a way, since I liked how I looked.
"Alright Flare, let's finish this game," I spoke up to the fox as I readied myself to get third degree burns.
"If you say so. Didn't know you were so eager to lose," Flare teased, as he dashed towards me and shot a spray of embers towards me. I zigzagged around the embers as half of them further singed my fur.
"Ah, damn, ow!" I shouted as I got close to Flare, and continued to get scorched. Flare then inhaled another deep breath, and he exhaled a thick smoke from his mouth that clouded the entire area around me. I began coughing violently as my eyes stung and began to water up from the thick smoke. Suddenly, I saw a bright light coming towards me.
"Arceus n-" I tried to shout, but Flare tackled me with a fire charge, and I felt a fiery explosion against my side as I tumbled to the ground not even knowing which way was up and down. I lied on the ground as the smoke cleared up, as I lied down, I fazed in and out of consciousness.
"You okay?" Flare asked me, as he stood over me, and wore a worried look on his face.
"Did I really just lose to you?" I said in a weak voice.
"And what made you think I was weak? Sure I struggled in the past a bit, but I was just rusty since I didn't fight a lot at the time. But, with all the stuff going on, I feel like I'm getting back into the rift of being a decent fighter again," Flare spoke back to me.
"I feel so lame," I said in frustration as I began to force myself up, but my legs gave out.
"Hey, take it easy Black," Kana said, as she stood next to Flare.
"I seriously lost?" I continued to say in disbelief, "I… lost," I continued on. Never in my life had I expected to lose to Flare, he was just so… small and he looked harmless.
"Don't beat yourself up, you're prone to lose to me. I'm just an offensive fighter, and umbreons are more defensive. Well, if you mastered dark matter, you'd probably chew me up and spit me out," Flare said with a reassuring smile.
"Yeah well… your attacks are just cheap and unfair," I replied back.
"Don't be a sore loser, umbreons can be very scary when they have complete control over dark matter. Just remember back to that one white umbreon we fought back in Ambrette," Flare added.
"I don't even want to talk about that prick," I replied back tensely.
"He's still out there you know, and we may face off against him again. Do you think we'll get that lucky again? Because I don't think so. We'll die if we're not prepared for someone like him," Flare reminded me.
"I know-I know," I replied back in frustration.
Kana randomly walked over me, and looked into my eyes as she pinned her paw to the scar on my chest, and I felt a stinging pain spike through my body from my burns, "I've been meaning to ask you something, has something been bothering you lately, you have been quiet ever since-"
"I said I don't want to talk about it," I interrupted her.
"Here we are, back at square one," Flare said as he faced his back towards me.
"Square one?" I repeated.
"You're being withdrawn from everyone, you act somewhat normal when we're in groups, but when we're in private, it is very clear that you're bothered by something," Flare said. Kana continued to hold me down with her paw, as she continued to look at me, almost as if she was breaking down the barrier between us.
I sighed as I laid my head back, and I looked past Kana, and up into the evening sky, "I'm just worn down. Things just seem to be rough, and I don't like the fact that nothing has happened, because I am literally not able to sleep at night because I am terrified. I mean we have so many people out to get us, I mean we can all be killed in our sleep the moment we let our guard down" I confessed to them.
"And that's it?" Flare questioned me, almost as if he knew there was more I was bottling up inside me.
My head turned over, so Kana nor Flare could see my face, "I'm still disturbed with what happened to Nia," I answered in a pained tone.
"Why do you care so much about her, she was a mean pokemon, and sure she helped us, but she was a murderer," Flare said, as he walked over to the side I was facing.
"Yeah well, you just don't empathize with us," I bluntly told Flare.
"Empathize?" Flare repeated back, as he tried to grasp what I was getting at.
"She and I were kindred spirits. As you know, I spent some time getting to know her. I learned that we both had a lot in common. It just disturbs me to see someone like her weighed down so much by her sins that she looked for an escape and went through with it," I said in melancholy.
"I mean, will that be me one day? I'll get so worn down that I'll just give up," I said in a hollow tone.
"Black, you shouldn't let that stuff get in your head, she's probably in a better place now," Kana said, as she released her paw off my chest.
Point of View Naomi
"You're leaving tomorrow, but you literally just got here!?" Dante said in surprise, as we sat in front of the pond at my old home.
"Sorry, I really want to stay, but I really need to get back. I have something I need to do," I replied.
"And why can't you at least tell me what you're up to after all these years?"
"Because, I don't want you to get involved," I answered.
"Well, when can I expect you back?" Dante curiously asked me.
Those words repeated in my ears as I stood there speechless. In all honesty, I didn't know if I planned to come back, my mindset has hardly changed since that night Skull Face stopped me from killing myself. Sure, I had Dante who would try and help me, but I could never tell him what I've done, and he couldn't help me if he didn't understand me.
"I don't know," I bluntly responded.
"This is bullshit," Dante spat out. Dante sat up, as he looked directly at me, "You can't just randomly disappear one day, and then come back years later and leave the next morning," Dante told me as anger became present in his body language and tone.
"I've already wasted too much time coming here. I need to hurry back tomorrow," I sternly told Dante.
"Why would you even bother coming back then, just so I can be reminded of you, and then so I can wait day after day sick to my stomach thinking my sister is in danger. Do you know how hard it was, I love you so much, and I've been so worried about you every single day and minute," Dante bitterly responded to me.
"I came back, because I don't know if I'll ever see you again. I don't know if I'll be able to live with myself much longer," I said with years of pain in my tone.
"Naomi, what are you talking about? You aren't thinking about-"
"I don't know what I am thinking of doing. I would've already done it if someone didn't stop me. I would have tried again if I didn't have one last thing to finish. I feel like I'm only being kept together because I have to set things right, and tomorrow will be the day I begin to make things right," I answered Dante.
"Naomi, you aren't speaking any damn sense, and you're starting to piss me off!" Dante yelled at me as he stomped his paw on the ground, "I can't believe you're acting like this, what the hell happened to my sister? You use to be so open, and now you're withdrawn and you're being distant," Dante said in anger as he leaned close to me, and I felt my body shiver from seeing him so upset.
"You just can't empathize with me, you'll never understand me either," I truthfully responded, as I avoided eye contact in fear of his response.
"Naomi… I'm your damn brother. I may not be able to relate to you completely, but I'll always be by your side. Plus, we're the only family we have left, so don't just shut me out like this."
"I'm sorry, but it has to be this way," I responded with guilt building up inside me.
Point of View Stark
I was now far out in the forest, so far that it'd take me all day to get back to Sanctuary. I looked around cautiously in every direction until I was sure that I was alone.
I inhaled a deep breath before I spoke, "Zero, I know you're listening, I demand answers now," I said in a stern tone as I awaited a response.
"I am here," Zero responded through the technology in my head.
"Is what Vincent told me true, and don't even think of lying," I asked him in a dark tone.
For a moment I received no response, "The espeon is absolutely right. We did create you to only live a short amount of time, and your expiration is expected in around three to four months, just as Vincent told you," Zero replied.
"You…, You-" I began to say, but I found myself to infuriated to actually for words.
"Calm down Stark," Zero said in a calm tone.
"I knew I was just going to be thrown away after this whole thing!" I yelled at Zero.
"Stark, I said ca-"
"Don't tell me to calm down, I just found out I'm going to die!" I yelled at him.
"There is a method behind what we did," Zero replied back to me, "If your espionage mission is a success, I can make you healthy, I can give you back your life expectancy."
I suddenly fell silent as I heard the possibility of survival, "You can fix this?"
"Of course, if you do as I tell you. So far you have done great and if you gain a little more trust, they will tell you about what we are looking for," Zero reassured me.
"And how do I know you aren't just lying?"
"I guess you just have to have faith. I'm a pokemon of my word, I will see that you live through this."
"I… I think this over, I will contact you later," I told Zero, and after that his voice stopped talking to me. I let out a stressed sigh as my limbs fell limp and I fell to the ground without a clue on what to do. Truthfully, I didn't trust Zero or Genesis. I knew that Zero couldn't be trusted, and I highly doubted I would be allowed to live.
Chapter End
Author Note: It was about time I got some Legendary stuff put into this story, and I actually had to rewrite the beginning part a few times to make myself like it. Well, hopefully it came out good, and it was fun to write, but also tricky. Anyways, thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who supports this story.
Also thank you genericgamer207 for helping me edit this chapter, and putting in extra hard work to help with dialogue between Legendaries.
Fun Fact: It has recently come to my attention that fennekin is actually based off a certain fox. The fox is know as a fennec, and it can be found in Africa. These things really do resemble a fennekin, obviously with some differences, but look it up, I'd actually say it looks cute, and I don't say that often.