Chapter 4

Nate

Nate scaled the rough ruins feeling the history of the place soaking into his hands. The ruins were built of some sort of brick, but it was really old and crumbly. The ruin was built like a pyramid and probably once had a point on the top of it;

Now it just bad a flat top so it looked kind of odd. It had one large entrance which had a walkway with pillars on either side. The professor told him that once the pillars held up a roof and was meant as a sort of tunnel to get into the ruins.

It was nates third day out in the ruins, and he had been looking for the odd yellow stone of the professors. The ruins were much larger than they appeared and filled with traps. Two days ago while walking in a tunnel Nate had tripped on a piece of wire which was supposed to drop rocks on him. However the trap had already been sprung because the flap opened and no rocks fell down crushing him. At least he had luck on his side. But that seemed to be about it. These ruins had been built by some paranoid people as everything was hidden. Nate so far had been exploring the large entrance to the big cavern that leads outside. It seemed to have no tunnels leading out of it. There was one giant painting on the end of the wall which was beautifully painted. Under it written in dishally was a phrase Nate could roughly translate.

School on mirage island was virtually nonexistent. Some of the rich parents had a small school they sent their kids to, but Nate was far from rich. His mother could barely scrape by so they went by the tradition of the island. The tradition was that at 8 years old they send their children out to live on their own and learn to survive. It was a cruel practice and only a few could actually complete it. Nate was the first one to do it since Blair but that's a different story. Anyways, Nate had gone to the professor who didnt have any work for him, which would be the story most people told him. It was then he left the city and lived In the wilds. It thought him a lot about Pokémon and eventually he met Gus the rancher. Gus had work for him and let him stay with him for a year. It was hard back-breaking work but Nate enjoyed it and learned a lot from the aging man. After the year ended Nate said his goodbyes and returned to the city victorious and began working with the professor. The professor thought him dishally which was a cryptic language.

Anyways the phrase translated roughly into 'to answer the pokémon's cries, the guardians rose into the sky' this was written under a large mural which depicted a beautiful scene. There were three large birds: one yellow one, a blue one, and a red one. They were beautiful and the painting depicted them like a Jesus kind of figure with the sun rising behind them. Under it showed people bowing and some crying. This confused Nate, why would they be crying upon such a magnificent sight.

It was on his fourth day that Nate found there was more to the chamber than meets the eye. It happened when Nate was staring at the painting looking for something more; a clue, a sign, anything as he was getting desperate. It was pure luck really, but it was when Nate tripped on a small pebble he didnt see originally. His hand smacked against the wall in the middle of the three birds. Silently the wall slid down and Nate fell on the ground scraping his knees. The wall slid down to open a large tunnel, cylinder shaped, and was more ancient that anything else in the ruins. It had obviously been built many years before the outside had been built.

Nate walked into the tunnel slowly, looking all around him. This tunnel was built with dirt, not stone. It seemed to go on forever, until Nate saw a bit of light shining at the end. It may have been his imagination, but he felt it was getting colder the closer he got to the light. Once Nate reached the light he found out it was no imagination. He could see his breath and found himself shaking from the cold. The light had been coming from a chamber. He had no idea where the light was coming from but the room had an eerie bluish glow to it. This room had paintings all over the walls with more writing underneath all of them.

The first painting showed the blue bird in the distance and had snow falling down. It was evident that the villagers were unaccustomed to cold, as they had nothing covering their arms or legs. They had on shorts and short-sleeved shirts. They were very angry and had spears in their hands. The inscription translated to:'the first lesson the cruel would learn, was how to deal with a cold that burned'

The second painting had the villagers getting frozen by an icy blast from the blue bird. The villagers were being frozen solid, but only the men; women and children were not frozen. 'The men learned there were powers beyond their reach, but still a lesson to the bird they would teach'

The final painting was on the back wall and showed the bird under nets. The villagers had trapped the bird under many nets and were viciously stabbing it with spears. The birds pain was so well captured that Nate shed a tear at the painting. 'With hate in their hearts and death on their minds, a winning strategy the villagers did find. The bird lay fallen and villagers victorious, but another came more glorious'

Nate searched for another passageway as the stone was not in this room. Once again he craned his eyes searching for anything that could open another door. It was then when Nate found a shining handle. The handle was part of a lever that was sticking out of the bottom left corner. Nate pulled it and the wall slid down revealing yet another passageway.

This tunnels was as ancient as the last one but different. The ground was harder, and Nate felt it get hotter the farther down the tunnel he got. By the time he reached the chamber he was sweating buckets. This chamber was also adorned with paintings and scriptures.

The first painting had the red bird in the distance and the villagers, adorned in heavy furs falling to the ground and sweating. The wall seared nates hand to the touch. 'The next bird adorned with flame, would show the villagers true pain'

The next painting showed a man receiving a dagger and a vial. The vial was purple so Nate assumed it was a poison of sorts. The man was nude and was kneeling in front of what Nate assumed was a villager elder. 'Unable to win with direct force, the villagers used a way without remorse'

The final painting was yet another brutal one. The red bird, which was normally adorned with beautiful flames was now as normal as any fearow. It had the dagger from the last picture and the man was in the corner. He had an odd grin on his face and it struck Nate eerily. 'With poison rod and an evil grin, death did strike again. The lesson still had not been learned, another lesson must come in turn'

Once again Nate looked around for another passage or lever. He touched his hand to the paintings and did everything he could think of, but to no avail. It was then that Nate remembered a day a few years ago working for the professor.

The professor had stumbled into the lab weak and disheveled. Nate was the only person still in the lab, as he was working late on an assignment. As the professor came in Nate turned of the light and his behind and desk, not wanting to get in trouble for staying past closing time. The professor was hosting his right arm and bleeding profusely. His hair was disheveled and his clothes ripped. Nate was confused by this because the professor was just going to the ruins for a quick study on ancient masonry. The professor sat at his desk and began bandaging his arm.

"Sometimes sacrifice is required for enlightenment" he muttered to himself as he bandaged his arm.

On that note Nate found a knife stashed in the back corner of the room. Dried blood was on the knife and Nate understood what had to be done. He shakily grasped the wooden handle and touched the blade to his left hand. It was icy to the touch, and seemed very brutal. The odd part was that it had a striking similarity to the knife in the the final picture. It was a black metal, and seemed to have an evil mind of its own. Nate swallowed and shakily drew the blade across his skin. Maybe the blade was magic or sharp, but it cut his skin like an apple. Nate gasped as the blood poured thickly out of the cut. He quickly pressed his hand against the wall and few it away after he felt enough blood was on the wall. Ripping some fabric off of his shirt Nate bandaged it up and watched the wall slide back into the ground.

This tunnel was different and was humid. All of the hairs on nates arms stood on end. Nate was suddenly reminded of his nightmare the other day, and this tunnel felt the exact same. At the end of the tunnel this chamber was very humid and had lightning bolts all over the sides of it.

The first painting had the yellow bird in the distances and the same villagers under it. It was storming hard and the villagers were miserable, some were even electrocuted. 'On a stormy night and humid day, this bird came to stay'

The next painting showed the bird electrocuting the people, who looked exhausted, and they didnt attack. All they did was cry and bow down. 'Tired of all the conflict the villagers did digress, they discovered others beings were the best'

Nate then went to the third painting, which had no inscription, only a picture. This picture was the biggest one of all of them. It showed the yellow bird in the sky, which was coursing with glorious light. The villagers, now wearing chains building the ruins. But in the painting it was a glorious golden temple. But it all seemed backwards. Pokémon were controlling the humans. It would be beautiful it wasn't it. It was right yet wrong, like when you wear a shirt inside out.

Nate was stuck for the longest time in that chamber trying to figure out how to proceed. It was then in his moments of thought he discovered the writing in the floor.

'To relight the ancient spark, one must come that is of true heart. Place your hand inside the hold, and let the shock test your soul'

This wasnt cryptic at all and seemed to be pretty straightforward. There was a handhold in the ground with lightning bolts leading to it. Shaking Nate placed his hand in the hold. The lightning bolts in the ground lit up and the light reached the handhold. It grew warm and then the pain. Nate felt the electricity course through his body and screamed aloud. Nate hit the ground and passed out, escaping from the pain into darkness.