Author's Note:
Shout-outs to Klingkan and Theblazeingtiger for the Follows, as well as to 21X and V1DEOGAMER for both the Follow and Favorite!
… Man, I really need to come up with more stuff to say here…
Disclaimer:
Pokémon and any other referential materials found in this story do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners and subsidiaries, and I claim no ownership of them.
Of Children, Men, and Monsters
Chapter Ten: The Enveloping Darkness
Marza was once again on her way home from the building that paid host to her primary education source, idly whistling some tune or other as she read the pages necessary for her homework. A Deeper Delve into the Mind and Soul was the title, to which Marza found a touch of mirth at. 'Sounds like some sort of monk-in-training's first book,' she bemusedly thought, despite the fact that she actually found it to be quite an interesting read. She was about to turn to the next page when she noticed that her house was but a few seconds' worth of driving distance away, and she closed the hard-covered book with a small sigh. 'Time seems to just fly by when you're having a good time…'
She clambered between the mess of legs and bags as she walked towards the entrance-exit door of the bus, tripping when a girl stuck her leg out in what was clearly an intentional manner. Marza barely caught herself, with both hands chafing painfully against the segmented and sharp surface of the bus' isle flooring. A small grunt of anguish left her as she got herself up, and the sapphire-eyed girl checked her hands. She was frustrated to find that there was a cut on each hand, and that they were already starting to bleed.
She shot the girl responsible for this slight a harsh glare, clenching her mildly wounded hands tightly before resuming her walk to the exit. The lass appeared only somewhat perturbed by Marza's stare, as she shrugged it off with a chuckle and a few whispered words to her friends. The blue-eyed girl just sighed and shook her head at this, taking the bandages kindly offered to her by the bus driver and applying them before she walked into her house.
Erise opened her mouth to ask the obligatory daily question, but Marza cut her off, voice sounding slightly irritated. "Before you ask, my day went decently enough, except for the way here on the bus. Some girl decided she wanted to see me trip and fall, so she stuck her leg out and made me do so." She presented her bandaged hands to her mother. "It was roughly three minutes ago when I decided that I no longer like sitting near the back…" Her mother appeared indignant at this series of events.
"Did they get a berating for their misdeed? Please tell me they did."
"No, loathe am I to admit that they didn't. The bus driver doesn't really like to keep the other kids waiting, and even he acknowledges that their obnoxiousness grows even more when they get impatient. I did shoot her a glare, though, and I think I frightened her a bit." Erise sighed.
"Well, I suppose that that's about as much as you can do in that situation, besides walking over and giving her a slap to the face." Marza hummed in agreement. The door opened as the sapphire-eyed lass was grabbing her snack, revealing her father to be the one who walked in. Julius spotted her daughter's bandaged hands, and his eyes widened in worry. "Marza! What happened to your hands?"
She regaled her short tale to him; Oscura came down the stairs, likely hearing Marza's voice and coming down to check if it was really her. The Larvitar paced over to her just as she finished talking, gazing up at Marza expectedly. The girl promptly picked the little alien up, noting that she was beginning to get a bit heavier. "A fast grower, aren't you? I swear, you gain at least three pounds every day…" The Pokémon didn't really mind her words; it was the truth, after all.
Julius once again spoke: "Are you going to report it to the school tomorrow? Because I believe that that would be wise of you, especially if you want to avoid such things from happening again."
"I probably will, yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some reading to do." A pointed glance from Oscura. "And yes, you can use the computer. Not before some education, though!" Oscura gave a sigh of her own at this. Learning is certainly fun in a sense, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't get dull after so many hours of it!
Cue music – Fire Emblem Awakening soundtrack – Monstrosity (Intro)
"Milord… The being draws close. I would give at approximately two more minutes, if even that. Are you certain that you wish to get involved in this potential battle?" inquired the time deity worriedly.
"Mmm. You two, of all of my creations, ought to know that I shall not back down when it comes to a potential threat to my realm and children. If I perish, then I shall gladly do so if it means protecting all of you."
"Milord…" the siblings said synchronously, touched by their creator's care for them. Unfortunately, however, they didn't have the time to continue strengthening their familiar bonds; the entire realm suddenly shook fiercely, as if it were experiencing some inexplicable earthquake.
"It would seem that the entity is nearly here… Palkia! Dialga! Ready yourselves! This just may be the fight of our lives!"
The space continued to shake for a few more seconds until all went unexpectedly quiet. All was perfectly still for a short while, even the three god-like Pokémon, until the edges of the compact world began to turn a bloody red. They then went black before shattering in a manner not too dissimilar to glass, the loose fragments of the barrier of the world shrinking before dissipating entirely.
A few moment later, and the enigmatic entity flew in, finally revealing itself.
The thing was… simply inexplicable. It was shrouded in a veil of black and red, and its raw, unadulterated power literally radiated off of it.
The only features that the creator of the World of Pokémon could discern from it were its piercing ruby eyes.
It slowly began to float towards Arceus, its eyes trained on it and it alone.
Palkia and Dialga moved in its way, the time deity inhaling sharply and the space deity orienting an arm behind him, prepping their signature moves in an attempt to stop the veiled entity, but the being brushed them both aside before they had the opportunity to launch their attacks with a wave of red-tinged darkness. The Temporal and Spatial Pokémon growled in pain before their eyes abruptly closed in unconsciousness, red, electric-like arcs of energy occasionally sparking from the twos' bodies. Arceus would likely be grimacing if it were possible for it to do so; 'If it can incapacitate those two so easily – simultaneously, no less – than this likely does not bode well for anyone…' The Alpha Pokémon moved over to stand between it and its first children, glaring at the being harshly.
"If you want to get to my children, then you must go through me first, craven fool!"
The being's eyes glittered in… was that respect that Arceus noticed? Arceus brushed the thought aside as he began charging his most powerful attack, angling his head to point upward, a small ball of pure, concentrated energy slowly growing bigger. The thing seemed to simply ignore the growing threat as it drew closer. Just as the being reached the threshold of becoming dangerously close, Arceus unleashed its strongest attack: Judgement. The ball of energy exploded into white lines of pure, destructive energy, which flew up and then came crashing down not a second later, all of them homing in directly on the entity.
They exploded violently around the entity, bathing it in a brilliant white glow. As the hundreds of moderately sized explosions ensued, Arceus created a small, artificial platform for it to kneel upon. Normally, it would be able to execute a relatively large number of attacks of this caliber before even beginning to grow exhausted, but in its de-powered state, it found that firing off even a single Judgement was rather taxing.
As its attack subsided, Arceus noted that the being was nowhere to be seen, and it couldn't sense the being any longer. It sighed in heavy relief. 'The threat has been dealt with, it would seem…' Taking a deep breath, it stood upon all fours again, rendering the temporary flooring beneath it destroyed before flying closer to its children in concern.
The attack of the entity was still affecting them; their eyes closed shut, twitching occasionally, and the arcing electricity was still present. Arceus tapped one of the more consistent spots of the red energy before drawing back almost immediately, hissing in pain. It looked down at the tip of the limb before humming in curiosity. 'It hurts quite a bit to touch, yet apparently leaves no wounds…? What, precisely, is this strange energy…?'
Before it could attempt to investigate further, however, Arceus felt a malevolent presence just behind it. Its eyes widened, recognizing what it was immediately, and hastily turned around.
Indeed, the being was still very much kicking; it appeared to be entirely unscathed, in fact. The Alpha Pokémon mentally gasped. "… How did you…?" it mumbled, very clearly flabbergasted. The being merely resumed its floating towards the godly Pokémon, though its speed was very clearly faster than before. It took but a few seconds for it to reach Arceus, with the latter cringing away as they came face-to-face.
"… If I surrender myself, will you spare my children and their world?" asked Arceus, acknowledging that it was very clearly out-classed, at least in its current state. The being gazed upon him for a few seconds before a shockingly young, evidently male voice responded:
"You needn't even surrender. I am not after your creations or your world. I am after three relatively simple things, all of which you shall discover eventually." An arm, pale in skin and clothed in white, reached out for his head. Arceus once again attempted to cringe away, but found himself incapable of the simple action. Small tendrils of the energy lashed out from the field of energy surrounding the being, restricting its movement quite thoroughly. The rope-like tendrils felt like they burned to the touch, even though Arceus knew that they didn't truly inflict any injuries.
"I am sorry for this, but I am afraid that this must be done for everyone's sakes, if not mine…"
The being's hand finally reached Arceus' head, and all went black for the Pokémon…
