Chapter 8:
Legacy
Sarah floated silently over the city. No one stopped to look up. And those that did look up by chance merely passed their gaze through her.
Without a sound, she slipped into the shrine. Millar was standing in the center of the room, directly under the crystal. The guards were stationed at the door.
Suddenly an alarm blared from outside. The guard's radios beeped. "Intruders. All men move to contain." The men looked over at Millar. He gave a wave of his hand and they turned and left.
The moment the moved through the door, Sarah shifted and launched an ice beam, creating a thick wall of ice. She dropped to the ground as a human. Now she and Millar were completely alone.
Millar didn't turn to address her. His gaze remained on the crystal. "The Mäylong is an incredible piece of gemstone. It is fragile to the slightest touch and so must be kept in these special shrines. I'd love to know how the Mäyto moved such large pieces without it shattering."
"You're plot ends here, Millar!"
"Oh, I don't think so." He finally turned towards her. "You see, I know this is my destiny. I am to lead the Mäyto in a glorious conquest of the modern world. No one shall stop us. The only piece holding me back was not having the Mäylong crystal. But you solved that problem."
"So what's keeping me from blowing that crystal to shreds and stopping you?"
Millar laughed deep in his throat. "You can't. You are a Mäyto."
She hid her scowl. He was right. She wanted so desperately to destroy that thing, but her body just wouldn't listen. And even as she stood, that sense of pride from earlier began to creep into her mind. Damn that crystal!
"You can feel it now, can't you? The crystal is taking over, turning you into what you are destined by blood to become."
She had to get out! If she stayed much longer… But the ice she had created kept her sealed in.
"In a way, I was hoping you would manage to escape." Millar slowly reached into his jacket. Sarah instantly thought it was a gun, and she readied an attack. But instead, he pulled out something smaller, hidden in his grip. He moved it and held it up between two fingers: a tiny piece of glowing orange crystal.
"You have a Mäylong shard? H…how?!"
"I stumbled across this little beauty several years ago in the Hoenn region. That was when I knew what I had to do."
Something happened in Sarah's mind. Something dark was creeping in. It slowly washed over, pushing her out. Sarah fought back, but it was too strong. It was starting to take control.
"You see, the Mäylong has the ability to re-awaken any Mäyto and puts them under my control. Soon, I will have an army of unstoppable warriors."
She could feel her body start to morph. Her arms flexed and expanded. Her toes lengthened and became sharp talons. Fur started to sprout over her fur. She was changing into a horrible creature she didn't know. Her back hunched, tearing open the still-young scar on her back, which brought a scream to her mouth and a red stain to her fur.
She howled in rage, her mind also being influenced. Hatred poured through her veins. She dug in and fought back, using all of her strength to return to her human form. But still her body gave over to the transformation.
"Why do you resist?" Millar had started to ascend the stairs. "You have suffered the same cruelty your people did all those years ago. You deserve your revenge."
"Yes! I want to kill!"
"No!"
"Come. Take up your legacy."
Her mind slowly transformed into a beast. Sarah could only watch in horror as she was pushed to the back of her mind. And then it came for her.
"I mustn't. They're counting on me. They're… They're weak! Humanity does not deserve to be ruled by such weaklings. I am superior! Better than… Better than…"
A picture flashed through her mind. Luke, Sarah, Ivysaur, and Lars were standing outside the clinic on the day it first opened. That day had been so happy, so peaceful.
"Better than this."
She pushed back again, keeping the image of her and Luke in the fore of her mind. The darkness fell back, and she pushed harder.
"Come. Help me bring up your people to their full glory!"
She opened a pained eye. Millar was standing before her, hand outstretched. In his hand rested the Mäylong shard.
She forced her will over her body, keeping the beast just at bay. He brought her hand up and clasped it around Millar's. "If this is my legacy… I renounce my name."
She pulled her hand away, grabbing the shard. With a heave, it flew into the air.
Millar's smug face shattered as he watched the crystal fly. "No. NOOO!"
The shard clinked against the larger crystal in the air. For a moment, there was painful silence. Than a small crack flowed over the face of the crystal. It spiderwebbed through and the light inside grew in intensity. It held for a moment, and Sarah wondered if it were enough.
With a loud crashed, the crystal exploded. A massive shockwave swept over her body. The fur and muscle were ripped from her body, causing her to scream. She could also hear a crack of ice. Millar screamed into the air.
The shockwave passed and Sarah fell to her hands. Human hands. She looked over herself. She was back to a human. And the darkness was gone.
"WHY?!" Millar was down at the bottom, kneeling in the pieces of Mäylong crystal. "YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!"
Sarah slowly stood to her feet. "It's time the Mäyto created a better legacy."
The building shook, almost throwing Sarah to the ground. "What's going on?"
"The crystal was the only thing keeping this place up. Without it, the cavern's going to collapse."
"Luke! Oak! There still down here!"
Sarah spun and ran out of the room, leaving Millar screaming in the shrine.
Everyone else had already started to panic. Jobs and possessions were forgotten as they ran for the only exit. Sarah knew they were too far. Most of them wouldn't make it. She leapt into the air and changed into a Dragonair. She slithered through the sky and fell down into the improvised jail.
Luke was already working on Oak's cuffs, Ivysaur next to him. "What's going on?"
"The whole place is going to come down any second." The place shook again and rocks began to pelt the roof. "Change that. It's coming down now!"
She looked out the door. Huge sections of the cavern ceiling began to rain down. She spun back. "Everyone get close!"
She shifted into a huge Onix and curled around the others just as a boulder came crashing down. Outside, just over the roar of the collapse, she could hear the screams of those stuck in the open.