Interesting things ahead.

Enjoy!

Chapter 70
Aura's Fabrication

Cilice walked briskly across the vast gymnasium with Marina following close behind. She said not a word to the young girl, just as she had the previous day. Though she appeared calm, her thoughts were bustling with ways to phrase her knowledge and also decisions on whether or not to say them. She made sure to keep her composure, and especially not let her wings move just the slightest bit—allowing Marina know even that little secret would be too much.

The girls approached Pryce once they reached the other side, and the wise man seemed quite surprised by Marina's presence.

"Why, hello! I didn't expect to see you again so soon," he said in a friendly manner.

"Yeah," replied Marina with a giggle. "Good morning!"

"She and I are going to chat for a little while," Cilice informed him. "Will you be able to take care of the gym on your own for that time?"

"But of course, Cilice," Pryce answered, "I used to run this gym without an assistant—a little while of handling challenges won't be difficult."

"Thank you. We will need the Gym Leader's room, so please forbid anyone from going in."

He appeared inquisitive, as the both of them knew there was an office off to the side of the room in question, but Pryce also agreed to this request. Showing her thanks once more, Cilice led Marina into the Pryce's private arena of mist and ice. She allowed Marina to admire the battlefield as she went into the cozy office to fix some tea for them. The gears of her mind turned rapidly, and she fell into deep thought while she worked on the task.

Cilice and Suicune always had differing beliefs when it came to Marina's situation. Over four years ago, she had insisted that both of the young kids Suicune and Entei saved should learn to use their powers. Suicune, however, had greatly disagreed. Other legendary Pokémon—especially Ho-oh—also felt that it would lead to anything but good.

So in order to prevent friction of their ideas from occurring, Cilice always kept far away from Rainbow Island, the island of Shiny Pokémon, during the time the two children inhabited it.

She understood why. Suicune wanted them to be normal humans, to grow without their influence. Cilice saw it as a lost cause; Marina still had her link to Suicune, and the Legendary Beast seemed hesitant to get rid of it now. She imagined that Marina would eventually find out at some point in her life. But how far could Cilice go before going against its wishes? This was a question she was going to ask before Marina ended up in Mahogany Town, where she would certainly cross paths with Cilice. Since Cilice and Suicune failed to meet, she debated what to do. She had to say something; Marina was seeking closure on a certain event. The girl would not be here, otherwise.

In the end, Cilice supposed that she could do as she pleased with the information—so long as she knew it wouldn't make Suicune too cross with her. Suicune owed her for going through the trouble of sealing Deoxys, anyway.

Just as the boiled water had cooled enough, Cilice delicately poured it into the two mugs she had arranged. After dropping in the tea bags, she placed the cups on the coffee table and invited Marina into the sitting room.

Marina smiled in comfort and interest as she entered the warm little office. She took a moment to gaze at the walls, which were covered in various pictures of Pryce's family and artistic pieces, before Cilice ushered her to the seating area. The woman sat on the couch on the opposite side of her and politely waited for Marina to put some sugar into her tea before beginning their conversation.

"What is it would you like to talk about, Marina?" she asked.

"Huh?" Marina tilted her head. "I thought you wanted to talk to me?"

"Ah yes, that is true. I suppose I'll start simple. How long have you been a Trainer, Marina?" Cilice seemed to be rather distracted, but Marina did not notice it as she answered her energetically.

"Since last September. A lot has happened, but...overall I've really enjoyed it so far!"

"I can certainly see. And you are how old? Ten? You appear very young for how far you have gotten."

"Yeah, I'm almost eleven; my birthday's at the end of April," Marina said and took a careful sip of tea. Cilice stirred her own cup with a small spoon, smiling thoughtfully though not quite focused on her.

"Hm..."

"Um, the last time I met you, you said that you knew my older brother, right? Have you seen him lately? How is he?"

Her eyes flicked up at her with amused interest. "Quite good, the last time I saw him. Unfortunately, Chris rarely contacts me. I prefer to talk to others in-person, and he seems to keep himself quite busy with his own business. But more than once he has sat in the very same seat that you have, talking to me the very way we are now."

Marina gasped. "Really? What do you talk about?"

"He confides in me about many different matters. My skill in gathering information is unmatched, but there is one subject that... appeals to me most," Cilice fixed her posture and continued, "I refer to myself as an expert of unusual stories, ones that revolve around Pokémon and humans. I am well-versed in legends, in myths, and in the secret tales that most will never have the chance to hear in their lifetimes. My entire life has been dedicated to it, so I am confident in my knowledge in anything along those lines."

"Ohh..." Marina cooed curiously in response.

She's kind of like Eusine, then, she thought afterward.

"So before I continue, I would like to ask: have you had any unusual experiences that you would like to share with me?"

"Unusual experiences?" The girl stared at the expectant woman. She looked away for a brief moment, and then smiled as she made eye contact again. "Well, I've got a ton of them!"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, seriously, don't get me started," she sighed and lied back on the couch, "There are some things so weird that I doubt you'd even believe me."

"Do you mean what happened at the Ruins of Alph with Lapras and the Unown?"

"Not just that, but also—." Marina stopped mid-sentence. She never mentioned the Unown when she discussed her Lapras with Pryce; that she was sure of. Her suspicions were confirmed, and she was not quite sure how to respond.

After a few seconds of being frozen in shock, she sat back up and asked, "So you—you really do know! What—Why—How do you know about that? Were you there? Did you see what happened? Or—Did someone tell you? Was it Chris? I mean, I—."

"Enough, enough now." Cilice held up a delicate hand. "Your brother has told me the entire thing. And I assure you that I will not tell an unqualified person about it. It is a particularly unusual event, you see."

Marina was speechless. The woman sitting across from her seemed calm and caring as could be, and she tried her best to slow her own anxious heart.

"I have also advised your brother against telling anyone. However, it seems as though he may have thought that I referred to you as well."

"That means that you," the girl paused and then asked, "You believe it?"

"Of course. I know what you encountered, and I have a theory as to what occurred."

"Really? Then—please tell me!" She lowered her head as she made the request. "I've been trying to figure it out, but things just get more confusing and I end up with even more questions than I started out with. I have no idea what to think anymore."

"That is why you are here, is it not?" Cilice said with a patient smile, and her behavior earlier seemed to make more sense to Marina. She had fully intended to discuss this with her. "Now relax a bit, and I will tell you."

Upon her insistence, Marina took another deep breath and went to take a long drink from her mug of hot tea. She waited a little while longer before giving Cilice a ready nod. Satisfied, the refined woman began speaking.

"This is a legend not well known. Even though the last account of it happened just one-hundred fifty years ago, it is believed by many to be a myth. The basis of it is this: on rare occasions, a human gained a special connection with a potent Pokémon. Sometimes it was to rescue this human, in others a gift out of great thanks, and sometimes both. The process varied from spiritual connections to even changing a person's appearance permanently. The powers they obtained also varied, from enhanced senses to the ability to use the very same power as the legendary Pokémon they had gained it from. Many of them faded into history as they passed on, but there was one particular person that attracted a lot of attention—or, rather, brought attention to herself.

"This especially gifted human was a woman named Aura, who was believed to have a strong link to Suicune, the Legendary Beast of the northern wind. For much of her life, she lived in the Johto region, although she was from the northern part of the country. She was said to have the ability to command hundreds—no, thousands—of the Pokémon Unown at will."

Aura? Suicune? Unown? Marina's eyes went wide at this information, but she contained her questions as Cilice continued.

"With the Unown, Aura was able to create fantastic illusions—near-perfect imitations of any real life object. Now, follow me, and I will show you an example."

Cilice rose from her seat and beckoned her to the door. Putting her beverage down on the coaster, Marina walked quickly and curiously back into the pure white mist of the Gym Leader's arena. The adult turned and smoothly gestured beside her.

"Release your Lapras, if you will."

"What? Why?"

"You will see."

Though puzzled, Marina grabbed her azure Poké Ball and tossed it onto the ice. Her Pokémon appeared, sleepily looking about. After a moment, she appeared agitated for being let out without reason.

"Sorry, Lapras, but rest for a bit," Marina said, and Lapras huffed and closed her eyes.

Cilice snatched the ball out of her hand, causing the girl to jump. The woman observed its immaculate surface, which shimmered in a different manner than both Marina's ordinary and Apricorn-based Poké Balls. Opening it, closing it, tossing it in the air to feel its weight—Cilice did a number of different things to take in every detail of it.

"Hm," she hummed when she finished. She seemed pleased and nostalgic, like she had encountered an old relic from her childhood. "It is similar craftsmanship..."

"Um, sorry but—what are you doing?" Marina finally asked.

"Do you not remember how you obtained this? It was on that night."

"It's hard for me to remember almost any of it now, actually," she replied earnestly. "I mean, I remember all of the important parts, like Lapras and the Unown and Kenta, but that's it. I do have the details in my diary, though. I wrote it all down as soon as I could after it happened."

"I see... Yes, trauma can do that to a person, especially a child," Cilice responded.

Marina pondered, recalling what she had written in her journal. It took a little while; she had not cracked open the particular entry in some time. But she snapped her fingers together in realization. "It just appeared out of nowhere. That means—are you saying the Unown did it?"

"Yes. The ball is a fake. But I should be able to free the Unown making up this object with just this."

Cilice reached to one of her wings and frowned for a brief moment as she plucked a feather from them. Intrigued, Marina inched closer, but Cilice stopped her from getting too near. Still, she watched as her elder lifted the beautiful light blue feather over them. Cilice then, in a sudden motion, jammed the point into the Poké Ball. The sphere and the feather emitted a light that flashed, and both of them dissolved into thin air.

The silence in the arena was overtaken by a hoard of soft yips, and the empty space was quickly flooded by over twenty alphabet-shaped Pokémon. Marina backed away at the eruption of Unown, which all flew up into the air in a skittish cluster.

Where did they...? Look at them all! She thought as she gazed at them in awe.

Her utter amazement was interrupted by an angry roar. Lapras looked up at them murderously, suddenly angry beyond all rationality. Marina felt the ominous aura that seemed to surround it take an alarming spike in strength. Restrained by her fear for a second, Marina realized she no longer had a container to keep the Pokémon in. But she bit her lip and commanded her Pokémon in a loud tone.

"Lapras! Calm down! They're not going to hurt you!"

As quickly as the anger had come, Lapras returned to her senses. Her twisted expression was erased, and she stopped baring her teeth. She just turned back to Marina, blinking quietly. Marina sighed, and Cilice did the same in thought.

"I understand what you mean now," the woman said, "That Pokémon's temper is unusual."

"She gets like that when she battles, sometimes," Marina responded with an uncertain shrug.

"How unfortunate... Well, there is nothing more for her to get angry at."

"Huh?" She looked back up at the ceiling, which was all but empty now. With a gasp, she quickly looked around. "What? They're gone! Where did they go?"

"Teleported away, I would assume," Cilice said. "It looks like they were frightened off."

"There was so many of them though...!"

"Yes, and all of them made up just that one Poké Ball."

"That's... Oh my gosh. I was carrying around a bunch of Unown for the past few months, and I didn't even know!"

Cilice turned back toward Marina with a more serious expression. "Yes. This is the power that Aura wielded. If I am correct, then the spirit of Aura was present at the Ruins of Alph during your incident with Lapras, and she intended on helping you in your time of need. But as she no longer has a living body of her own, she had to use yours in order to guarantee your safety."

"I...I do remember someone talking to me. Saying something like that...it was a lady's voice." But Marina frantically moved her arms about as she asked, "Then if she was trying to protect me, why did she attack my friend Kenta? I never understood that! Why would she turn around and do something like that? All he did was—!"

"Calm yourself," Cilice reassured. "I have also been thinking about that for a while... Something undoubtedly went wrong."

"Went wrong?" asked the worried girl.

"The Unown are very sensitive to emotions, being of the Psychic-type. You were very confused and terrified at the time, and perhaps your feelings overpowered Aura's hold over the Unown. Feeling that fear, they retaliated, perhaps? That is what I think."

Marina stayed silent for a few minutes. She looked at her Pokémon attentively, her heart feeling heavy in her chest.

The thin cloud of fog around the three of them continued to fall along the walls, slowly but surely coating them in water. She shivered and raised a hand to her neck, where her mysterious neckband still stayed.

Then… maybe the girl that might be in here... She wasn't the one that got involved in that whole thing. But didn't the Unown tell me her name back when I first visited the Ruins of Alph?

Maybe I should ask Cilice about it. She might have an idea.

"Cilice, was there anyone else that could control the Unown like Aura could?" she asked.

"Hm? No, there was not."

"Oh..."

"What is on your mind?"

"Well, before I came here, I thought that the girl who tried to help me was named Maya, not Aura. Since it isn't, I wanted to...What?"

Cilice had formed a look of genuine surprise. There was a ghastly silence that made Marina a little anxious, as though she had said something that she shouldn't have. Cilice finally spoke up, asking her a question in an almost hushed tone.

"How... do you know that name?"