Chapter 5
Rite of Passage
Slowly, her eyes gained focus. The sky was a transition of blues over her, black clouds permeating the sky. "Dusk." Her eyes shot open. It was late morning when she had first arrived!
She pulled her body upright, gasping as her back stretched. The wounds had sealed up thanks to her faster Pokemon healing properties, but it still stung and itched.
She looked over. The small empty crater was only a few yards away, but the body was nowhere. Hopefully he had run off and wouldn't be back.
She pushed herself up, going against her revolting body. Her bag still sat on a nearby rock. She pulled it open and fumbled for the small mirror inside as she unzipped the top half of her Morph Skin. The wound wasn't as bad as it felt. A pink scar ran from her shoulder blade to halfway down her spine. It seemed a miracle that nothing broke.
A tiny bottle of antibacterial liquid was poured over it and the Morph Skin was resealed. The beacon left by Prof. Oak was only a few hundred yards away.
She changed into a Geodude and slowly floated across the rocky landscape.
--
The red-vested man kneeled before the metal throne. "Forgive me. I failed to retrieve the target."
Another man sitting atop the throne simply laughed. "You were never intended to complete the task. You have done more than expected.
"The girl will soon play her part and begin the next phase."
--
Sarah crested the small hill. Just over it, a flat section of rock held a small beacon stand. She glanced over it, but then was drawn beyond it.
The rocks dropped off into a large valley. The floor rose and fell in jagged areas and was almost completely covered in moss. The sight was gorgeous.
Or it would have been had she been focusing on that.
Instead, her eyes were following the paths of rocks, admiring the flow of the moss. She knew this had to be it. This was the valley of her vision. The city was here.
She dropped her bag and changed into a Pidgey, dropping off the cliff and gliding down. When she landed, the configuration of the rocks was much more clear. To anyone flying overhead or even someone just randomly walking through, it would look like just a valley of random rocks. But if she looked close enough, the rocks formed rough outlines of buildings.
She had done it. She'd found her ancestor's lost city!
Yet even as she admired it, a thought crossed her mind. "What for?" Everything was destroyed. Sure, the outlines were here, but there was nothing that could possibly have any kind of historical importance.
For the moment, she concluded that there wasn't really anything else to do here. So she changed back into a Pidgey and flew up to the rock ledge.
From a quick glance, she couldn't find anything helpful. There was nothing but rock aside from the beacon. She swept the place over twice as a Growlithe, but couldn't find any kind of scent trail except for the way he came in. The trail ended here, as if he had simply vanished.
After an hour of hopelessly searching the immediate area, she went back to the beacon to collect her bag. When she picked it up, drops of water fell from the bottom. "What the…" She reached in a pulled out a broken canteen. "Oh, that's just great."
More water spilled onto the ground. A good portion of it near the beacon was drenched and turned a darker shade of grey. Except for one place that caught her eye.
Inside of the grey, several lines of white formed a few designs. From on angle, they resembled "gr". But anything else was outside the watered area.
"That can't be natural." She dropped her bag back to the ground and changed into a Squirtle. Using a Water Gun, she gently coated a stretch in water. As she did, more white letters became visible. When no more appeared, she changed back and looked over it.
"grandfather"
"Definitely not natural." It had to be some kind of message. But why just "grandfather"? That could be a reference to anything.
"My grandfather had a saying…" Oak used to quote his grandfather. He had only used one, but he used it over and over. Argh, what was it?
"My grandfather had a saying, 'We rarely ever see what is right under our nose.'"
Oak was sending her a message, she just knew it. "Right under our nose…"
She went back to the beacon. It was the last scent her nose could pick up from the Professor. She gently picked it up and moved it aside. Below it sat a small rock in a crevice, which she also moved.
Underneath of the rock, a hole opened up into a tight tunnel. Sarah pulled out a flashlight and shown it into the hole, but the light went only a few inches.
It could have been natural. A small Caterpie could wiggle down. But Caterpie only lived in forests, so there wouldn't have been any reason for it. Another quick Water Gun showed a large arrow pointing down into the opening.
"Way-to-go, Oak."
She quickly changed into the tiny worm Pokemon and slunk down the crevice.
It continued down for several yards, which took her almost an hour to traverse with her smaller legs. Eventually, it leveled out and began to expand. When it got to a sufficient height, she changed into a Growlithe and then to a human.
After another two hundred yards, the tunnel ended in a large spherical chamber. The far wall was covered by a pile of rocks. The floor was carved in intricate circles, on inside of the other. They continued growing smaller until the innermost circle held a podium.
A few torches burned around the walls. She moved over and examined one. It burned, but the wood was miraculously uncharred. And the flame itself didn't give off any heat. The fire gave off only light. She wanted to take one, but the podium drew her attention.
The podium was also beautifully adorned. The base to the peak was carved with twisting lines of ancient text. The letters were strange and Sarah didn't recognize any of it, but she could somehow make out their meaning.
She knelt to the ground and read on line that curved upwards.
"The unholy parish, the pure fulfill the earth."
"Oh, that's not at all creepy."
The top of the podium held a strange handle protruding from a slit. When Sarah placed her hand around it, it shifted, and she drew out a short rusted dagger.
Just as the blade left the rock, a new ring of glowing text appeared around the hole. Sarah backed up for a moment, thinking it to be a trap. But nothing happened.
So instead, she stepped forward and read.
"The seed of the pure moves mountains; the hand of the vile shall be struck down."
Her mind recalled what Smith had told her earlier. "Only one of re-awakened Mäytonian blood can enter their city."
"So, they want some of my blood as a test."
The blade she held was too rusty and dull. Instead she drew her own pocketknife and cut a thin line along her thumb. She used that to smear a long streak of blood across the dagger and moved the dagger back over the slit.
For a moment, her hand stopped. "Should I do this? Do I really want to see where I came from?" The question tumbled for several seconds before the blade was plunged back into the rock.
A beam of light shot up from the rock, surprising her and causing her to take a step back. Like water, light seeped out of the blade-hole and fell across the floor, filling every crevice of the circles.
A rumble began and quickly grew. A rock shifted along the far wall and the entire section suddenly came crashing towards her. Smoke filled the air, causing her to cough several times.
Just as quickly as it started, the sound and light vanished, leaving only the flame-light flickering through the dust. It became easier to see after a moment. The pile of rocks was gone. It its place stood a brilliantly carved archway. Beyond it lay total darkness.
Sarah grabbed a torch and walked over to the arch. As she approached, more light spilled into it, filling gaps to form a single word at the top. "Carnath."
The darkness beyond became filled with light. Hundreds, then thousands of torches suddenly became lit until they ceased at the far end of the cavern, easily miles away.
Sarah stood in awe of the sight, suddenly understanding why it was named "City of the Gods."