Chapter 13: The Oracle
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Julie surfaced in a dark room, dimly lit by a few sputtering torches. She found the edge of the pool she was in and with great effort hauled herself onto the surface, her feet almost slipping on the rock beneath her. She took notice of the blackness and cursed Parker's absence-she could really use his abilities right now.
Speaking of abilities, Julie felt completely drained after her last battle. Being underwater helped, it eliminated her need to conjure water; however the physical strain of swimming the entire time on top of fighting the incredibly large kraken was enough to exhaust three humans.
She, of course, was not a normal human, but the fact remained that she felt as if she were about to collapse. She would have, too, if she weren't confident that she would wake up somewhere entirely unpleasant, if at all.
With the last of her energy she summoned her staff once more, not sure if she were able to put its magical properties to use, but it would be good for support and, if it came down to it, she was positive she could put a large dent in the head of the next creature that tries to attack her.
She slowly moved further into the room, noticing how small it was compared to the large basin she just found herself in. The blackness was thick where the light didn't penetrate it, and it was hard to get a good grip on what was going on. She carefully prodded the area in front of her with her staff, making sure there were no holes, triggers, or traps waiting to maim, incapacitate or otherwise kill her. She's had enough of that.
After walking a good hundred feet or so her staff connected with a large piece of stone. The staff stopped with a jolt, almost knocking Julie over due to the near-frictionless rock beneath her. She sighed; keeping a firm grip on her staff as she slowly approached the rock.
Nothing happened upon her approach. She noticed that the stone's height ended around her waist. Curious to see what it was doing in the middle of the room, she placed the butt of her staff on it and probed the surface. She could make out intricate carvings, and some sort of node in the center. When she was confident there was no immediate danger, she reached her hand out to trace the stone before her.
The torches reacted to her touch of the rock, suddenly flaring to life, revealing that the only object in this room was the stone slab, which she now assumed to be an altar of some sort. She looked around for an exit, and saw two different paths leading out of the room directly in front of her. She made note of their distance from her in case she needed to make a quick escape.
The top of that altar was filled with intricate runes, a language lost in the passage of time. Julie noticed in the center of the altar was a picture of Darkrai. Was this used by a cult that existed in the void? How had this gotten here?
And, most importantly, what was its purpose?
Julie studied the altar for a few minutes before she heard a familiar gallop, followed by an intruding thought in her mind.
Julie! Thank the heavens you're safe!
She lookedup from the altar to see Suicune charging into the room through the entrance to her right. Suicune created ice in front of his footing so he could come to a halt more easily on the rock. He looked Julie straight in the eyes, What have you found? The others are waiting in the room I just came from!
"I have no idea, can you read these carvings?" Julie asked; her voice soft as a result of her energy loss.
These runes are ancient. Pokemon wrote in them before Arceus was exiled from this world.
"Can you read it?"
Some. I can tell it speaks of a future, of a prophecy that must be fulfilled. It seems that an offering of blood is needed for the full power of the altar to be released.
Julie pondered the statement for a minute, then looked at Suicune, "Do you have a knife, perhaps?"
Julie! No! We have no idea what this altar does! There's a good third of the script I am unable to read!
"Then to find out what it wants to say we're going to have to activate it, right?" Julie grinned coyly, "Don't worry, I'll be careful."
Clearly you're throwing all caution to the wind with this insane idea.
Julie looked at the node in the center, it was small, enough to hold a few drops of blood before it overflowed. She morphed her staff back into a sword and made a small cut on her palm, just enough to draw a few drops of blood.
She reached her hand out toward the node.
Are you sure, Julie?
"Suicune, we didn't get this far without taking any chances, you know."
The legend sighed and backed up a few steps as Julie let her blood drip into the node. It only took 3 drops for it to overflow, and then the reaction occurred.
The blood seemed to multiply in volume as it magically spread through the crevices of the altar, revealing pictures and patterns Julie had not seen before. In these patterns she saw a picture depicting Darkrai fighting against four symbols, those of lightning, fire, light, and earth. She noticed the absence of water and wind. Darkrai did not seem to be winning or losing against these forces, but he didn't seem to be losing either. Rather, it seemed as if he was locked in a stalemate. Neither side able to budge with their own forces.
Incredible.
"I'm not sure what this means…."
All conversation ceased when the room suddenly turned green, the torches, pool, and exits vanishing as if they didn't exist. Suddenly, blue hologram-like figures appeared before them.
This! I know what this is! An oracle!
"The altar predicts the future?"
Yes…well, one path of the future, that is. There are multiple ways one can change the future, you see. What this oracle does is show the result of everyone's actions if their mindsets and personalities remain unchanged.
"But humans change constantly, so whatever we're about to see is useless, right?"
It could be, but while people's attitudes and habits may change, it's very hard to change the base personality of a person. What we're about to see is what's likely to happen.
"Why is it here of all places?"
We banished all Oracle Stones to the Void as soon as humans started using them to change the future for their own needs. Some knowledge should stay hidden, some events have to happen, we couldn't allow humans to possibly hurt their own future by seeing into it and trying to change it.
"But you're about to let me see into this?"
I think at this time what we're about to see would benefit if we held the knowledge, seeing the world in its current state. What we're about to see is very important.
Julie gulped. She hoped it was something good.
The figures twisted and morphed to reveal the forms of Sean and Jordan. They were fighting together against shadow-like creatures, their pokemon tearing right through their enemies' defenses. They looked battered, but confident. She smiled. At least these two will still be fighting bravely in the future.
Soon Sean and Jordan's images twisted again, now morphing into Parker and Jessica. These two were fighting a large, undefined presence, but again, they were fighting bravely and did not seems anywhere close to giving up. She saw another human next to Jessica, a shorter girl. Perhaps Megan will regain her form?
The forms twisted once more, but shrunk. They were close to the ground now, only raising up to Julie's knee. She walked closer to the holograms as they formed what she feared most; two headstones.
One for her, that she already knew.
The other, she assumed, was for Matt.
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Sean sat down on the cold stone, "What're we supposed to do now? Suicune doesn't even know his way out of here."
Jordan shrugged, "I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, Amaranth's soul is in here."
Sean looked at Jordan doubtfully, "Under what evidence?"
"A hunch."
"Well that's reassuring." He said this almost spitefully.
"Hey!" Jordan yelled, "Look, we've been operating on nothing but your hunches this entire time! Why can't I have one? I think we were sent here for a reason, I think Amaranth is held prisoner here!"
"Then tell me where to look, Jordan! Tell me where to look!" Sean snapped back. He was sick of this. He was exhausted, not physically-the void wouldn't allow that-but mentally. He was tired of guessing. Of fighting. Of chasing. Of hoping. He was tired of all of it. He hadn't even graduated high school yet! Why did they all have to put up with this now?
Jordan was about to yell something back but Jo stopped him, seeing a now-somber look on Sean's face. A tear rolled down Sean's eye.
"Look, Jordan...I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." He was sincere, "I'm just...I wish this wasn't so hard. I wish our journey wasn't so vague and endless. I want to end this now, but I know that no matter what happens, this won't be over until we leave the Void and save our world."
Jordan nodded, "Right. I'm sorry for snapping at you, too. I could've approached that a lot better, but for some reason I felt attacked. I was wrong. I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted, and I assume by you apologizing you've already accepted mine" Sean said with a wry smile.
"Nope. I'm still extremely pissed." Jordan said with a wink.
"Well, all that being said and done, I think it might be worth exploring this place for Amaranth's soul." Jo interjected. Megan nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, Jordan probably has something there." Sean said, "Once Suicune comes back and finds Julie, we'll explore this place and see if we can find it."
"Jordan smiled, "Good."
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The images cut out, with Julie on her knees, "No...I won't believe it..."
That you and Matt are supposed to die?
"No. I've known about my death." She said, Suicune gave her a puzzled look, but she ignored it, "What came after that, though...it's impossible. It won't happen. We've come too far for that to happen."
As things stand, this is how things will end. Suicune sighed, It's...hard to grasp. But the good thing is now that we've seen it, we can take steps to prevent it.
Julie nodded, "Yup. And before I die I'm making sure I prevent it."
Shouldn't you be preventing your own death, Julie?
Julie smiled, "Suicune, I'm surprised! There's no way for me to know how I'm going to die. I put myself in life-threatening situations daily, you know that because you're always alongside me when I do so. The only way I can even affect how I'm going to die is by not fighting anymore, and you know I can't do that. There's too much at stake. Plus, that might not even be how I'm supposed to die. I could die from disease. From walking off a cliff. In a car accident..." she paused and gave the legend a solemn look, "There's nothing I can do."
Suicune nodded, I suppose you're right on all of it. It's just...
"What?"
It's hard to understand this...but we legends have been watching humans the whole time you've been walking this planet. I was able to see whoever I wanted in my sleep, I would follow whole lives of people to pass the time. When they died, I did not feel the slightest bit of emotion. But now, thinking of your death...
Julie walked over to Suicune and hugged his neck, "Don't worry, I'm not going to run off and kill myself to fulfill something a rock told me was going to happen. No, I'm going to fight to stay alive and help you all for as long as I'm allowed."
Suicune moved his nuzzle into her, Humans...Celebii is wrong. You are not a scourge. You are not the manifestation of all things evil. You're genuine beings. Now I see why your pokemon partners are so attached to you.
Julie smiled.
"Suicune, we're going to save this world, together. That horrible future will not become reality."
Human and pokemon, working together...
"Living in peace."
And creating a better world.
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