"This temple is a maze. When will it end?" Sarah complained, her ears and tail drooping as she lay slumped on the lioness' back. Abbey, the luxray, glanced back and continued to walk down the hallway. "Please, can we stop for a moment? My back hurts."
"There is a room we can rest in just ahead." Abbey informed, picking up the pace.
"Finally" Sarah groaned as the group pick up their pace to reach the room.
The lioness entered the room, and crouched down so Sarah could slip off. Vigil stepped into the room, studying it for an exit to the outside world.
He couldn't see one, though. The room was large, probably one of the largest he had been in. The floor was circular, with an intricate mosaic of blue and teal tiles. The walls were covered in Unown script, with barely a spot left blank.
Above them, a vaulted ceiling stood proudly, with thick beams arching through the middle. A couple pipes allowed air circulation through the room. The lack of windows left it dark, but the middle of the vaulted ceiling shone with a white light. The light from above framed the mosaic perfectly.
An exasperated sigh sounded from all around, causing the group to tense. "Did you think you could escape?" A low voice whispered from every rock and tile. "The past has returned to haunt these ruins. The city will once more be the paradise it was."
"Did you both hear that?" Sarah squeaked, curling up against the wall.
"Yeah, I'm not death." Abbey looked about. "Who are you?"
"Death is fleeting. All will be as it was." The voice was growing louder, as an Unown appeared in the floor peering up at them. The Unown began to rise out of the floor, giving view of a round, patterned body, and colorful wings. The Unown-like creature resembled a bird. The creature towered over them, causing the group to retreat back. "The past will return. All will be as it was. All will be as it was…"
Vigil crouched "It's eyes… It's the same as the Unown."
The Sigilyph flapped its wings briefly as it looked over the intruders. "Trespassers invade the city, searching, hoping, maddened with their greed. But all is inconcequential, for their findings will return the city's glory. They desecrate these grounds, but are the key to our return…"
"What is it talking about? Does he mean the others trapped in here?" Abbey inquired. "Well, fortunes or not, I'm getting what I came for."
The sigilyph interfered, however, cutting off the lioness with a beam of energy. He swung about the room, blocking the passageway. "Trespassers must not escape. The city shall punish…" It spoke.
"I don't think so! But if I have to tear you out of the air to get through, then so be it!" Abbey unleashed a bolt of electricity towards the creature, but it raised a shield to protect itself, halting the attack.
It's eye grew brighter, and burned with more red than they had ever seen from the Unown. "You shall not leave. My city demands it. You shall face justice!" It began flapping its wings, stirring the air around the room. Vigil clutched onto the mosaic for his life, hunkering down.
As the wind died down, Vigil unleashed a beam of multiple colors, which impacted the creature's shield. The shield faltered as the wind buffeted it, leaving the sigilyph open for attack.
Abbey pounced on the creature as the wind died, and electrocuted it with all her might. The creature gave out an unworldly scream of pain, and lay still.
"Finally, now I can get what I came for without this thing interfering." She stepped off of its body to look around at rooms beyond the walls. "Ah. There it is. There is a gate behind that wall. It appears to be a sealed cache, but it seems oddly empty."
"Only those of the city royalty have access to the vault." Abbey spun about. The creature was pulling itself back up, flapping its wings to bring itself airborne. "And I, as a guard of this noble city, shall not let you enter!"
A metallic ping sounded above them, like a shovel hitting another tool. From the ventilation pipes the Unown poured. The letters spiraled down the walls of the room, forming a vast dome over the sigilyph and its two combatants. The eyes of the newcomers burned crimson. Sarah, outside the dome, squeaked in fear, pulling into her section of wall as they passed.
Vigil looked around cautiously, while Abbey remained focused on her opponent. The winged creature contorted its body, seemingly stretching as it weaved back and forth. The letters circling them chirped and hummed.
The avian pulled back, and promptly charge them, raking its talons along the ground. The lioness and Vigil dodged its attack. The enemy veered about, skimming the surface of the lettered dome, and rushed them once more. Vigil was caught in its talons as he attempted to escape. The sigilyph dragged him across the ground before throwing him through the dome, and into a wall.
Vigil chittered in pain as he crashed into the floor. "Vigil!" Sarah called, crawling around the dome to his side. She gasped with horror, "You're bleeding. Part of your carapace is missing, Vigil!" She began to panic, as Vigil glanced up at her. "You can't die! Not now! You still have to help me escape the ruins! You promised!"
Vigil lay slumped against the ground. His purple blood matting his fur. "How… is she doing?" He panted.
Sarah looked through the living walls of the dome. Within, the lioness was delivering a powerful bolt of lightning to the ruin's guard. "I can't tell. I think she is winning. There are a lot of her."
The lettered avian screeched in response to the electricity, and its eye flashed. In response, the unown opened fire, unleashing a barrage of lasers towards Abbey.
"She wanted me to help her get what she wanted, and used you as incentive. You aren't safe… but I can still help her, if it's the last thing I can do." Vigil began to rise, and, getting as close to the Unown as possible, and set to disable the dome's attack. The Sigilyph had just erected a barrier, and Abbey had cast another bolt of electricity. The entire room began to flash with light. The dome trembled, as the formation weaved in and out. The blinding light was destabilizing their arena border, and the formation fell apart. The sounds of the Unown's cries of pain, mixed with that of the avian and lioness dominated the room as Vigil collapsed back down to the floor.
"Vigil!" Sarah cried out. The glow behind his eyes was fading to darkness. "No! Vigil! Stay with me! You can't die! You promised us!" The eyes darkened. Vigil was lifeless.
Sarah lay there, collapsed over the insect's body with a feeling of hopelessness. The gash had stopped bleeding, and was beginning to dry. Sarah's body felt weak, and she could hardly support herself anymore. Never did she imagine she would witness the death of anyone, or anything. She wouldn't have imagined it possible for Vigil, the one who so bravely led her through the ruins, to die.
The body twitched. Sarah looked up from her position of mourning. The carapace bulged again. She recoiled in surprise. Another bulge, and another. It was almost a sickening sight. Something was climbing out of his corpse. Sarah could only think of a parasite, some vile thing that had infested the gallant Vigil at some point.
The thing poked a leg out. It was long and thin. Another leg, and then a portion of its body. The thing, as vile as the sight was, was rushing to escape its confines. More legs, and now a head. Large, opaque eyes glanced about, with a black sore within. It's expression was through its eyes, eyes that never closed, and looked to have a look of permanent amazement at the sight of the world.
The thing pulled out of its host, and unfurled a pair of delicate wings. The creature was a light purple, as if it had been absorbing the color of its host as it lived within him. Much of the parasite was still very pale.
It sat there, perched atop the corpse of its host, twitching the base of its wings, and looking out across the room. Sarah could not take much more of the parasite's presence, and prepared her electricity, only to be interrupted by a bright light.
Covering her eyes, she peered through her paws. The parasite now fixated its gaze on her. "V-Vigil?" She inquired, lowering her paws slowly and gently approaching. "Is that… you?"
Another quick flicker as the insect gazed over the battlefield. The sigilyph, and the lioness were just recovering from their epilepsy-induced confusion. The letters, however, lay strewn about the floor, having been flung out of their formation to smack into the walls.
The wings were nearly dry, and were finally rising into the air as the insect tested them. They were massive wings, far larger than Sarah, and were patterned with a trio of large yellow dots on each large wing. The moth's fur had dried out as well, and it now displayed its full size as it stepped off the body of the Venonat.
"Strange feeling." It mumbled, adjusting its new voice.
Sarah approached it. "Vigil. It is you, right? What just happened?"
The giant moth cocked its head towards her. "I hatched."
"Hatched? So, you aren't Vigil?" She asked worriedly.
"I left my larval state. As comfortable as it was, my pupae stage was ending. My old body became too crowded." He pumped his wings.
The lioness had gotten to her feet. The sigilyph was just rising. "What is that thing?" She exclaimed with surprise. "You killed my tool! I needed that bug!"
"No, Abbey!" Sarah called out, "This is Vigil!"
The sigilyph began glancing around the room. "This interruption will not setback the return of the-" Vigil cut him off with a beam of energy from his crest.
"Battle is taking too long. Grab what you came for." The moth noted, skittering slowly towards the avian letter. The lioness glanced towards the hidden gate.