Note: First of all, I'm terribly sorry about not being able to update last week. I had several tests to warry about and this chappie ain't exactly short. Now, I need to tell you guys that this chappie is mainly a battle-after-battle chapter. If you guys enjoy battle scenes then I'm sure you'll enjoy this, if you guys don't... Well... Please bear with it for I'm already working on the next chapter currently. I'd normally say more but I'm in a bad mood today so I guess that'll be all...
Rose's POV:
Black... Darkness filled the entire place... There was no light... But what about hope?
I opened my eyes. Blade and I were at a dark place... It was empty for all we knew. Everywhere we looked, all we saw was darkness...
"B-blade?" I tried to speak as I stood.
"Ugh... Yeah?" he replied once he had finally stood. We had no time to worry then for our thoughts were interrupted by the echoing voices of Darkrai and Cresselia.
"Now, the second test," Darkrai started.
"Heroes, remove the darkness that surrounds you. Fill this place with seven colors! Good luck, your trial begins now!" Cresselia continued.
The voices soon faded and I began to hear something else. When my eyes had finally grown accustomed to the darkness, I saw that seven small pillars surrounded us.
"I guess that whatever this trial is, it must have something to do with those," blade informed.
"Let's take a good look then," I replied as we both looked at the northernmost one.
I noticed a gem stuck on top of it.
"Woah, what's this?" I said as I reached out to touch the sparkly gem.
"Rose! No! We don't know yet-" Blade started but stopped for I had already touched it.
"Oops!" I muttered.
The gem began to glow a light blue color. The light blue color filled the entire room, changing the empty place of darkness into a snowy mountain.
After the whole place was changed into the snowy mountain, all the pillars sank back into the ground.
"W-what... just... happened?" I muttered, my jaw hanging open.
"You have just started one of the seven trials for this test. Your goal is to finish all the trials. A tip to solving this... Listen closely to the sound that stands out," Cresselia's voice echoed.
It was only then that I noticed that music filled the entire place. The tune had a soft, quaint feel to it... I didn't get what would she meant by standing out.
"C'mon, Rose... Let's explore around," Blade nudged me gently as he trudged through the deep snow.
I nodded and followed him through the neverending maze... It all seemed like a repeat of the same labyrinthine pattern.
"Blade, I think we should-" I stopped speaking at that moment. I heard something off-tune with the divine melody being played. It was a flute being played.
"Blade?" I whispered.
"Umm... Yeah?" he turned back.
"I think I know what to do... Please trust me and follow me!" I told him as I began to follow the sound of the flute in hopes of trying to find its source.
I guess I was on the right track, as the more I followed the flute, the louder the sound became.
"R-rose... Do you feel uneasy?" Blade asked me as we walked.
"Well, yeah... I mean, in a situation like this, who wouldn't?" I replied.
Yeah, in a situation where the guy who is sending you to prison is right beside you... Really uneasy, my conscience teased.
"So, I guess that-" he cut himself short.
Everything became silent. The music stopped playing, the flute also stopped. I began to hear something break the silence. I began to hear something odd... Was that the flapping of wings? It soon began to snow.
It all happened so quickly. Blue symbols surrounded the huge field around Blade and I. It was then that I noticed something descending into the center of the trapped field... It was none other than the legendary Articuno.
It immediately started out with a Blizzard to plow through both of us. Blade had barely managed to grab me and jump out of the way of the attack.
"Well, I now see what the trial part is," Blade said as he set me down, "Ready? We have to win!"
"Right," I nodded, "Let's do this!"
Blade started out with a Psycho Cut, to which Articuno gracefully dodged, however, it left itself open to my Thunderbolt. The move was highly effective and, in a stroke of luck, managed to paralyze the legendary bird.
Blade charged forward for Close Combat, but failed in doing so as Articuno jerked its head sideways to fire an Ice Beam in his direction. I tried to use Thunderbolt, but Articuno dodged it and used Hail. It began to obscure my vision, I was afraid that we were too weak and we might get separated.
I was about to call out to Blade, but I heard him attempt to use Close Combat despite failing, as I heard him grunt from an Ice Beam. I immediately shot out a Thunderbolt towards the source of the Ice Beam. I soon heard a loud thud as the hail cleared away.
"W-we... did it?" Blade questioned himself.
I smiled as I began to run up to him. But as Iran up to him, all the snowy terrain... Everything vanished, reverting back to the dark space of emptiness. The seven pillars began to jut out from the ground again, the northernmost pillar, however, was already glowing with light blue.
Blade seemed to notice and he began to mutter to himself.
"Light the place with seven colors... THAT'S IT!" he suddenly burst out.
"What? What do you mean?" I asked back.
"We have to get all the gems to light up by passing each trial... My turn to pick," he chuckled as he beat me to a pillar which housed an unlit red gem. He touched it and every pillar soon sank again. The terrain soon changed to a heated volcano path.
"Well, here we go again," he sweated as the music began to play.
The tune sounded more powerful, making it harder to find the sound of an instrument within.
"B-blade? Aren't you finding it a bit too hot in here?" I sweated.
"W-well... Now that you mention it, I think my arm is burning up..." Blade replied, only to gasp upon realization that his arm was on fire. He wildly flailed his burning arm to output the flame.
"This doesn't look good... We have to clear the trial before the heat burns us to a crisp!" I breathed back.
I suddenly became silent for I began to hear something odd to be mixed into the divine melody that was about the place. It was... a percussion instrument... More accurately, a drum.
"Blade, I hear it! Follow me now!" I commanded as I ran, eager to escape the heat. Once I had arrived at a clearing, the temperature returned to normal. But before I could sigh in relief, red symbols immediately surrounded the area as a Heatran emerged from the center of the field.
"Looks like we have to fight again!" I signaled to Blade while jumping sideways and firing a Thunderbolt at Heatran.
The legendary barely seemed dazed by the attack. It pushed forward with a well-aimed Flamethrower knocking me back.
Blade began to close in for a Close Combat, but stopped when Heatran began to prepare Lava Plume.
"Blade, physical attacks do half-damage when you're burned! Be careful!" I warned.
"I know, but I have an idea! You know that Heatran are one of the few legendaries with a gender, right?" Blade called back, dodging a Magma Storm.
"What are you trying to tell me?" I asked back as I shot out a Thunderbolt.
"Erm..." he blushed while deflecting a Flamethrower with his arm, "Do you think you could... you know... use that move?"
Despite blushing, I hid it away.
I rolled my eyes, "You should've just spat it out straight. You know that's my trump card!"
I did as he requested and prayed that the huge deadly volcanic beast was actually a male. In a few seconds, the metallic hulk stopped moving and began to stare at me with a silly grin. Oh Arceus, I can't believe such a cheap trick worked. Such an opening allowed Blade to land a Close Combat at him.
The Heatran, for a moment, staggered backwards and fought off his infatuation long enough to launch a Flamethrower at me.
"Ack! His willpower is much more than I expected," I cursed as I tried to put out the flames on my gown-like appendages.
"So, we still win this round!" Blade's voice echoed from above as he landed a last Close Combat to the beast.
After defeating it, everything went black again, with all the pillars shooting up again, except that two gems were already lit.
"I think I pretty much know what to do now," I groaned as I touched an unlit green gem.
The black land transformed into a deep jungle. Then came the divine melody that enshrouded the entire place. It was a soft melody that gave a mystifying yet creepy feel.
"Hey, I guess a forest seems WAY better than a volcano, right?" Blade grinned as he sat down at the soft soil to tend to his burns.
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." I replied back while listening everywhere, trying to catch a distinct tune, "Hey... Blade..."
"Yeah, Rose?" he answered back, standing up when he was done resting.
"When we wake up... Will this friendship between you and me last?" I slowly asked.
He remained silent, but he broke it after a few minutes of silence.
"Did you hear that? I thought I heard a wind instrument being played in the distance," Blade called out suddenly, effectively changing the topic.
I sighed but listened closely and heard something. Now, if the legend was true, that instrument being played would most probably be the Grass Cornet.
Again, we followed the sound until we arrived at a clearing. Green symbols surrounded us again but we had already expected that. A Mew then slowly descended to the center of the field.
I grinned as I started off with Thunderbolt. It had directly hit the pink creature, even paralyzing it. I grinned as I saw that happen. My happiness was short-lived though, as my limbs became heavier and I found it hard to move. I then remembered Mew's ability, Synchronize, would pass a status ailment to the inflictor of the attack.
Blade was not held back though, he repeatedly slashed at our opponent with consecutive Night Slashes.
After taking sufficient damage, the Mew grinned mischievously as it began to glow white and... slowly change shape into a Gallade? One word dawned upon my mind then: Transform!
Both Blade and Mew began to quickly slash and parry each other, neither party getting the upper hand. I just stood there, confused on which Gallade I must attack.
"Rose! Help me!" one of them called out to me.
"Don't do it! He's the imposter!" the other one yelled back.
I began to get confused on who was who, as they both looked identical to each other. They continued to attack each other as I silently pondered on what to do. An idea then struck me, but I knew Blade wouldn't like it. I knew what to do. While Blade was a male, Mew was a genderless species. A sinister and mischievous grin found its way up to my face.
"All right, we'll soon find out who is who soon enough," I smiled as I fired off Attract.
The two were struck. At first, none of them made a reaction. But soon, one of them began to blush before losing his focus in the battle to stare at my direction.
"R-rose!" he scolded before falling down in confusion.
"Hah! I'm immune to that attack!" the other copy gloated.
"Exactly! Which is why I know who to attack now!" I grinned as I fired a final Thunderbolt, defeating Mew.
"Remember, I'm the only one here who's allowed to toy with Blade," I cackled as the whole place faded into darkness again. The seven pillars came up again.
"Ugh..." Blade groaned, standing up after waking up from his fantasy after being struck by Attract, "Please warn me when you're gonna do that next time..."
I giggled in response, "Sorry, couldn't help it!"
His face seemed to grow red after he realized that I had replied to his complaint.
"Whatever, we have to hurry now," he blushed as he touched an unlit translucent blue gem.
The black space immediately changed to a brightly lit undersea cavern. Oddly enough, we could breath and the water made everything seem so crystal clear. The melody soon engulfed the place with a soft and grand violin-like sound.
I sighed, "Wow, this sounds so... refreshing... I think my ears can finally take a break."
"Once I get out of here, I'm never listening to a single instrument ever again," Blade grumbled.
I continued to trudge through the area with Blade. I suddenly heard a splash and noticed too late that it had already sullied my gown.
"Oops," Blade chuckled.
I turned around to face the culprit. Blade took notice but he couldn't hide the mischievous smile he wore. I splashed some water at him and he splashed some at me. The lighthearted splashing soon became a playful quarrel.
"Who's wet now?" I playfully giggled as I stuck out my foot to make him trip.
"Well, you are... Whoops!" he yelped as he fell, directly on top of me.
His face seemed to be an inch away from mine as I held his body away from mine with my arms.
"Ack! You're heavy, y'know..." I yelped in irritation.
"Well, sorry... It wasn't me who stuck out his foot, y'know..." he mocked me, as he locked his eyes with mine for a tender moment.
I seemed to find the softening of his eyes captivating, and for a moment, I just stayed there looking up at his eyes.
All of a sudden, he seemed to have remembered something and his eyes hardened back into seriousness. This sort of broke me out of the somewhat romantic thoughts in my mind.
"Get off me!" I yelled as I rolled my body sideways, causing him to fall to the wet floor.
There it is again, I'm letting him play with my emotions... As his prisoner, I should at least practice caution with him, my conscience warned.
"Ow! That hurt you kno-" he stopped talking for it had begun to rain... Hard.
I looked around and saw what was happening. Blue symbols had already enshrouded around us while we were busy quarreling and fantasizing with each other. A Kyogre had already gotten Surf ready and swept Blade and I backwards.
"Rose!" Blade coughed up, "Trust me in this! Please focus on Thunderbolt when I give you the signal!"
I nodded in response.
Blade began to fight his way up to the humongous water Titan. It was hard to see in such a flurry of slashing and rain.
Suddenly, the flurry of attacks subsided, Blade had struck Kyogre with Leaf Blade. Kyogre resisted it and countered such a heavy blow with a Body Slam, I intervened with Psychic, though, giving Blade a chance to avoid the attack.
The fight pretty much lasted that way until Blade told me to launch Thunderbolt as the rain had gotten pretty strong by then. After Kyogre was defeated, the room with the seven pillars reappeared again.
"Blade, I think I'm getting tired now..." I coughed.
He smiled albeit being tired, "Don't worry, three more and it's over!"
His words somehow encouraged me to keep going as I touched an unlit purple gem. The whole place soon underwent change again, this time into a graveyard. A slow and unearthly melody filled the place, somehow giving the place an ominous feel. I immediately picked up the distinct sound of a horn being blown. It was obvious enough for Blade to soon follow.
"Come on, Rose," he rushed, "Let's get this over with..."
We continued to walk through the graveyard silently, the silence soon began to unnerve me. I honestly found the way I thought distasteful, as I began to hold Blade's hand in fear.
A small smile crept up Blade's face, but I ignored it for I felt that I was being followed.
The moment we reached a clearing, symbols surrounded the field again and a Giratina emerged from the shadows.
"A Giratina? You've GOT to be kidding me!" I screamed in horror, "Ugh, I have a personal fear of Ghost-types..."
"Don't be scared to attack, Rose!" Blade smiled as he launched a Night Slash at Giratina, "As a Psychic-type, I'm also weak to Giratina, but that isn't stopping me from trying to win!"
I smiled, his willpower was strong... Maybe I did judge him wrongly from the start.
"Okay, then!" I yelped as I pushed forward with Psychic.
All of a sudden, Giratina vanished into thin air.
"What... just happened?" I pondered, but Blade rudely pushed me backwards.
"Get back! It's Giratina's strongest move, Shadow Force!" Blade cried out as he took the attack for me.
I took the opportunity to strike back with Psychic, while Blade stood up to strike with Night Slash.
The fight went on this way for some more time before Giratina disappeared again. I couldn't do anything to dodge it but Blade took the blow for me again, this time knocking him out.
I struck back with one last Psychic, having finally managed to beat the legendary after several minutes of combined effort. The graveyard faded away, leaving the usual empty land of darkness with the seven pillars again, five of which are already lit up.
"Blade, are you okay?" I asked him, trying to hide away any concerns I pulled him up.
"Umm... Yeah," he groaned in exhaustion but quickly smiled, "That's fine... Let's push through! Two more left..."
He lifted his arm to touch an unlit sky blue gem. The whole place soon changed into a clear sky with several wispy clouds to serve as our footing.
A deep and beautiful tune began to play, to serve the challenge of hiding away our instrumental guide again. We continued to walk through the clouds as soon as we were ready.
I looked back at Blade. I wondered how he could be able to be so persistent for someone who was been through such a rugged past. He never gave up. Despite the odds, the heroic Gallade always pushed on. I actually found that trait of him quite admirable... I silently smiled to myself.
"Rose!" his voice tore through my thoughts.
"What?" I asked back, but I soon found out what he was trying to convey as I heard a stringed instrument being played in contrast with the melody, "Ahh, I see... You beat me to it, fine... Let's get to it then!"
We walked through the maze until we found a huge circular cloud the size of an entire field. As we stepped on, several sky blue symbols predictably enshrouded us again.
"Ready, Rose?" Blade asked as a Rayquaza descended upon us.
"Ladies first!" I smiled as I began to charge forward into battle.
I started it off with a well-aimed Thunderbolt, hitting Rayquaza solidly. Rayquaza fought back with a Dragon Claw but failed after discovering that it had been afflicted with paralysis.
"Score!" I smiled as I saw Blade land a Psycho Cut at the now-paralyzed Rayquaza.
The huge serpent soon flew up and retaliated with a Hyper Beam at Blade. Blade managed to survive, but he seemed to be fatigued from the battle.
I covered him by fighting back with Psychic to hold Rayquaza off. Blade tried to go for another Psycho Cut but Rayquaza had flown upwards to dodge the move.
Rayquaza slammed down at me with Fly, making Blade suddenly run up to me in concern. He began to fight more aggressively until I had regained my senses to rejoin the fray.
After a tiring fight, Rayquaza went down, leaving the two of us back into the empty dark space. I sat down and sighed in exhaustion.
"Blade... One more to go..." I told him.
"Yeah," he panted in reply, too tired to answer in a full sentence.
"P-please assist me, Blade. I don't want to admit it, but I don't think I can do this alone," I bitterly admitted.
Blade smiled when he heard that.
"Me too... Now, let's pass this so-called test, shall we?" Blade stood up.
With confidence, the two of us walked over to the last unlit gem, which appeared to be golden in color. We then proceeded to strike it, lighting the place up and transforming the dark space of emptiness into a huge desert.
We were immediately greeted by a sandstorm that blasted straight at us.
"Heroes! You have entered the final trial!" Cresselia's voice suddenly intervened, "Although I know the result already for you two have managed to acquire the very goal of this test during the previous six trials... I wish you two the best of luck!"
And with that, the voice faded away to be replaced by a somewhat low tune filled with the spirit of adventure yet a touch of mysticism in it. I immediately dissected the tune in my mind to find the distinct part, the low clanging of cymbals.
"C'mon, Blade... This trial is as good as over," I scoffed as I led the way through the sandy desert.
We soon made it to a clearing in the desert. The sandstorm subsided and the sun began to burn more intensely. I gritted my teeth, ready for what was next to come. The symbols predictably surrounded the place as Groudon emerged from the center of the field.
"Blade, I'll distract Groudon while you find a way to strike with Leaf Blade!" I barked out as I started off with Psychic.
Groudon began to shoot off a Solarbeam in my direction, but I dodged it, leaving Groudon wide open to a Leaf Blade from Blade.
The huge titan began to move, locking eyes onto me before blasting out an overwhelming Fire Blast towards me. I dodged it but I got burned from being grazed by the attack. Despite being burned, I smiled. My ability Synchronize kicked in, ironically sharing my burned ailment to the huge ground titan itself.
Blade smiled and charged forward with Leaf Blade, but Groudon tried to counter it with Slash. Due to being weakened by burn, Slash was entirely pushed away by the super effective Leaf Blade, bringing Groudon down.
"Is it finally... over?" I asked.
"I guess so," Blade replied, seeing that the empty room was already lit with the seven colors being reflected by the glow of the gems that were situated on top of each pillar.
"Well done... Blade," Darkrai's voice echoed.
"Nicely done... Rose," Cresselia softly spoke.
I was sort of tired and not in a good mood so I rudely interrupted them.
"What now? What is the purpose for such a 'test' anyway?" I rudely spat.
They both fell silent.
"Well, the test did achieve the goal of getting both of you to trust each other," Darkrai muttered.
"Rose, I don't think you should-" Blade tried to warn me before I cut him off.
"Blade, they put us through all this for a reason. After going through all this, I believe we have a right to know," I spoke up.
"Well said, Rose," Darkrai stated.
"Fine, we'll explain everything as soon as you two wake up," Cresselia smiled.
And with a small snap, our small trial chamber disappeared into blinding light.
Note: Well, did you guys find this chappie fine? It took a lot of effort so I hope you guys'll at least take time to eave a review. Another thing, have you ever wondered how the melodies for each trial sounded? Well, I'll list down the inspirational VGMs I had while righting this chappie. DISCLAIMER: This is a pure work of imagination, I don't mean any copyright harm...
Articuno's Trial: Mt. Freeze (from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Series)
Heatran's Trial: Guardian of Flame (First ten floors) (Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon)
Mew's Trial: Forest Temple (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
Kyogre's Trial: S.S. Anne (played with a violin) (Pokémon Series)
Giratina's Trial: Skyview Temple (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Rayquaza's Trial: Sky Tower (Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: First series)
Groudon's Trial: Gritzy Desert (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time / Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
'Till next time then... Seeya!