A Dragon's Tail
Tail 6: Baromyteus' Tail - Deception
Tail 6-Interlude: Eclipse
"Are you sure that you can enter the Tower of the God by yourself?" Ridley asked with a worried voice.
"Of course, Ridley." I answered with a calm and gentle voice. "I am a servant of Goddess Yggdrasil, so I must be prepared to face any trial in front of me, regardless how dangerous it is."
"Okay, if you wish that…" Ridley said. "I am sorry that, in the end, I am the only one capable to escorting you to this sacred tower."
I nodded to the Lucario's words, as right now, despite saying that every member of the Dayrise would accompany him to the Tower of God, in the end, Ridley was the only one that's able to do so, as Katarina and Eva had suddenly gotten a much more important work to do.
"I don't mind about it at all." I answered. "Actually, I would feel really bad if Dame Eva and Lady Katarina escort me too, and left Archbishop Zira alone."
A while before he and Ridley left the Solar Village, there was a group of Pokemon, which consisted of a Sceptile in the samurai armor suit, a Scyther in the ninja garb, a Feraligatr in the sailor uniform, a Heliolisk in the thief cloth, and an Aggron in the armor suit, come to this village to visit the 'Hero of Justice' and Archbishop Zira. However, because the Hero of Justice was absent, they went to the church of Solar Village to visit Archbishop Zira first.
I was also there, along with Ridley, Eva and Katarina, when the group of five Pokemon visited Archbishop Zira. I could see in her facial expression that Archbishop Zira seemed to grasp who they were, as she seemed to be surprised to see them. However, that expression couldn't be compared to her expression when she saw that Aggron in the armor suit. I could still remember her breakdown as she ran up to him, crying and hugging him like a mother who had finally reunited with her long lost child…
Because of this, I decided to leave the church them along as I could see that it wasn't a good idea to interrupt this. However, several minutes later, as I was waiting outside the church, Ridley came out and told me a grim news. He told me that Archbishop Zira had suddenly fainted after the conversation she had with the five newcomers, and, while he didn't say anything about it, I could see that the Lucario seemed to be troubled by the conversation between Archbishop Zira and the five newcomers, but I didn't ask him anything about this as I could see that it was something that I shouldn't know. Regardless, Ridley told me that, because of Archbishop Zira's sudden faint, Katarina and Zira were needed to stay behind in order to take care of her, and they also need to take care of the five newcomers too. With this, both of them couldn't escort me to Tower of the God, and both of they sent me a word of sincerely apologize.
"Can I ask you something, Ridley?" As we journeyed to Tower of the God, I decided to ask him something that I want to know, and I had already considered that it wouldn't be offensive. "Who are those five Pokemon who have just visited Archbishop Zira?"
"As far as I know, they are, like Eva and me, the descendant of the Heroes of Legend who saved Symmetria from the Fallen Crisis 30 years ago." Ridley answered. "The Sceptile is the son of the Forest Swordsman, Joshua Floratree. The Heliolisk is the daughter of the Lightning Thief, Ellisk Sparkvolt. The Feraligatr is the son of the Ocean Pirate, Magnus Aquamarine. And for the Aggron… He is the son of the Techno Knight, Kamui Rusteel… As well as the long lost son of Archbishop Zira herself and the older brother of Eva."
"!" I was shocked as I didn't think that what I thought would actually be true. So… That explained Archbishop Zira's action back at the church…
"And for the Scyther, while it seems like he isn't the son of the Hero/ine of Legend, he was one of the current Hero/ine of Legend, and so do other four newcomers." Ridley continued speaking.
'So… Five Hero/ine of Legend are here…' I thought to myself
Ridley didn't say anything else until we reached Tower of the God, including why Archbishop Zira had fainted. However, I could grasp a little about it, but I pray that what I was thinking wouldn't be true, as it would be one of the worst things that could happen to Archbishop Zira…
And now, both of us were standing at the entrance of Tower of the God, the sacred tower of Theocracy of Venturnome. While this place was one of the most outstanding landmark of Symmetria, not only because it once be the site of the final battle between the Hero/ine of Legend and the 'Dark God' during War of the God III, but it also marked the southernmost spot on the continent of Symmetria, just like how the Opera House in Dustorm Empire marked the westernmost point of Symmetria and the Solitude Island of Queendom of Riverbrine marked the easternmost point of Symmetria, there was no one around here because this place was a sacred site, so no one was around here, or they may be at risk of facing the wrath of the god, which would yield a harsh consequence…
"And so, I will be going now…" I said and bowed to the Lucario. "And so, this would be the parting of our time. Farewell, Sir Ridley. May the goddess bless you and protect you, as well as your comrades, from any harm.
"You too." Ridley said. "Farewell! I hope that we will meet again! Until then, see ya!"
After finished speaking, Ridley started running toward the direction of Solar Village, leaving me alone at the base of Tower of the God.
"… And so, here it begins… My trial…" I said to myself before I walked toward the entrance of the tower and entered it…
"ARRHGG!"
"OUCCCHHH!"
"AARRRRRRRGGG!"
"ARGG!"
"AUPOUGGHHH!"
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
"…"
"Already? Hm… Pathetic…" I mumbled as the last prey of mind succumbed to their injuries I inflicted on them during their torture. "Where was your dignity when you spit your arrogance upon us? Truly pathetic…"
I threw the lifeless body of my prey away to a pile of dead preys I killed earlier, before I grabbed my weapon and walked toward the exist of the dungeon, which located at the lower floor of my castle.
"Master."
As soon as I existed the dungeon, one of my minions approached me.
"What is it, minion?" I asked.
"Our preparation is finally complete." My minion said. "And you could start the ritual at any time you want."
"Excellent!" I exclaimed. "Finally, after a long oppression by those who bathes in the sacred light to our kind, we will finally rise again, and they would soon fear the terror of darkness!"
"When shall we begin, master?" My minion asked.
"Right now." I answered. "I will go to the ceremony site to perform the ritual. Meanwhile, go and tell everyone to be ready, and do not interrupt me during the ritual, no matter what! Are you clear?"
"As you wish, master." My minion bowed at me before he walked away, leaving me along there.
"…" After seeing that my minion had already left, I walked toward the stairs of my castle. However, instead of going up as I planned before, I went downstairs to the lower floor of the castle, as this would be the place where the ritual would be performed…
What ritual?
In the past, the World of Pokemon was inhabited by the creature called 'Pokemon'. This creature was known to have a great diversity, as there were several types, habitats and others. With this much diversity, a conflict between each of them ensued, and continued for several millennia, and will continue as long as there's still the existence of this creature…
However, there was a kind of Pokemon that… exceptional. While this Pokemon was actually not different than others, we were cloaked in the permanent shadowy cloak, giving us a sinister and intimidating look. And just because of this, other Pokemon branded us as an abomination creature and want nothing more than eradicating us as soon as they saw us or learn about us, regardless of our action, or worse, they merely saw us as their tool to be put into their ambition. With this, we were forced to live far from the civilization, far from any light where we couldn't even hope to touch due to our nature.
Yes, that's right. We are Shadow Pokemon. Everyone in this castle was the Shadow Pokemon, including me…
When I first arrived in this world after… a very long time, I found out that my own kinds were hunted down by the other Pokemon, those who bathed in the sacred light, despite us doing nothing wrong. The only thing we have done is to exist, and is that really wrong? Knowing that I couldn't forgive those who bathed in the sacred light for treating us light this, I gathered everyone of our kind and led them to the place where we could live together without having to associate with those who bathed in the sacred light. However, that wasn't enough. There were still many of our kind that I couldn't save, despite how powerful I was, and they must pay for their crime toward our kind, so I have planned for this ritual, in order to spread the vengeance of our kind toward them…
Those who bathed in the sacred light… They must pay…
My thought was cut off when I arrived at the end of the staircase, which was the lowest floor of the castle. This floor contained only a single room with nothing else but a ceremonial site at the center of the room. Because of this, this place was completely void of any light, but that wasn't a problem for me as I am the master of shadow and darkness.
"The eternal darkness and shadow… This is it…" I mumbled as I slowly walked into the darkness, and then I stopped when I reached the ceremonial site.
"And now…" I said as I grabbed my Dusk Trident and reached it forward. "Let the ritual begin."
"At last… I have arrived at the top of Tower of the God…"
The Pokemon who had just appeared from the staircase said as he arrived at the highest floor of Tower of the God, which contained nothing more than just a single large room with something that looked like a ceremonial site at the center of the floor. They were a big bird-dragon Pokemon with five pairs of plate on their back. Their long tail possessed a pair of spike. Their feet had three toes. Their large hand-like wings had five fingers. Their head had a horn and two plates that covered their eyes. They possessed a white body, light blue tummy, dark blue plates, spikes and eye plates and blue eyes.
"This must be the place where the Hero/ine of Legend fought a hard battle to bring War of the God III to the end." This Pokemon said with a sad voice. "War is always a terrible thing. There is always no good thing coming from the war, yet they still insist on making such a terrible thing occurs…"
This Pokemon slowly walked toward the ceremonial site of the tower. While he was walking, he slowly looked around the place interestingly as this place was very high from the ground, making it a very bright place as a result of being a place very close to the sky and the sun. He then kneeled down at the middle of ceremonial site.
"Goddess Yggdrasil… God Arceus…" This Pokemon mumbled. "Allow your humble servant to pray for you…"
This Pokemon then was about to close their eyes to start their prayer, but their attention was turned from their prayers to something else!
"W… What is this?!" This Pokemon spoke out with a shocked voice as they saw their weapon, the Dawn Scepter, started glowing with a dazzling white light, and then the whole ceremonial site started glowing with the very same light!
"?"
As this Pokemon stood up, but before they could say or do anything else, they saw something appearing before their eyes. It seemed like… a gate? Or a portal? No matter what, it soon became larger, making it clear for this Pokemon to see what's inside this portal.
"!"
"!"
As they saw the thing inside the portal, the very first thought that appeared in this Pokemon's mind was that the thing in front of them wasn't a portal, but was a mirror, as everything they saw inside this 'portal' was same as everything around him, but with the opposite condition! First, this place was the highest floor of the tower, which was a very bright place, but the place he saw in this portal was very dark, as if it was the lowest floor of the castle somewhere. Second, the place in this portal also held a ceremonial site too, but it was glowing with a sinister black light, contrasting with the mysterious white light of this tower's ceremonial site. However, both of this still weren't the thing that shock this Pokemon the most.
The most shocking thing they saw in this portal was the single figure that stood at the other side of the portal, looking at them with the very same expression he was having right now. Moreover, no matter how they looked, this figure in the portal possessed almost nothing different from him, except for the color of their body. Instead of possessing a white body, light blue tummy, dark blue plates, spikes and eye plates and blue eyes, this figure possessed a black body, white tummy, plates, spikes and eye plates and red eyes, which was fixed at their light counterpart on the other side of the portal.
"Who are you?!" This was the first thing that both Pokemon could say after realizing that the thing in front of them wasn't a mirror, but was a portal, and the reflection they saw in the 'portal' was actually a Pokemon that looked almost exactly like them!
"… Well… What do we have here…" After their first words, the dark figure was the first of them to speak with a sarcastic voice. "You there… You are those who bathed in the sacred light, right?"
"… I am just a humble priest of Yggdrasil…" The light figure answered with a calm voice.
"Humble, aren't we?" The dark figure continued speaking. "Do not try to fool me… You are not just a mere priest. You are an angel, right?"
"And you… You… You are a demon." The light figure said.
"That's right… I am a demon, and you are an angel… You know what this mean, right?" The dark figure continued speaking.
"… Are you trying to say that we are the enemy of each other?" The light figure said.
"Aren't we?" The dark figure said sarcastically.
"I don't think so…" The light figure said. "Why would we be the enemy of each other just because I am an angel while you are a demon?
"Ah… An idealistic angel, hm?" The dark figure said sarcastically. "But what if I have a plenty reason for you to hate me?"
"What?" The light figure seemed not to understand what their dark counterpart was talking about.
"Let me share you a piece of wisdom. Have you ever heard the news of Pokemon around this continent disappear mysteriously? Well… The answer to this little mystery is me. I was the one who ordered their kidnapping." The dark figure continued speaking.
"What?!" The light figure said with an unbelievable voice.
"And what terrible fate belies onto their soul?" The dark figure continued speaking. "Well… Let me tell you about what I have done to them…"
However, while the light figure and the dark figure were exchanging their words with each other, none of them noticed that, right now, the sky above them was dark, as if it was night time. The cause of this unnatural event was the sun, which was slowly being swallowed by the dark shadow that had just appeared out of nowhere in the sky, creating a phenomenon called Solar Eclipse, the phenomenon that occurred when light and darkness met each other and their equal but opposite powers clashed.
"Terrible…" The light figure seemed to be disgusted by what they had heard from their dark counterpart. "How could you do something so cruel like that?!"
"Cruel? Yes… What I have done was cruel…" The dark figure said sarcastically. "However, if compared to what I was about to do with all of those who bathed in the sacred light, it would be no different than comparing a single lake to the entire ocean."
"You… How could you…" The light figure mumbled.
"Starting to hate me, hm?" The dark figure said. "But before we go any further, let's not be rude to each other by introducing ourselves, shall we?"
"…" The light figure said nothing.
"First, let's start with me…" The dark figure said and bowed down to their light counterpart. "I am known as the demon who controls over the sinister force of darkness and shadow, as well as the lord of all Shadow Pokemon. My name is Lunoire Belialdusk the Shadow Lugia."
"… And for me…" The light figure spoke up and kneeled down after their dark counterpart had finished introducing themselves. "While I may look like a simple priest on a pilgrimage, I am actually an angel of light who always looks after everyone who bathed in the sacred light, and my name is Solance Aurieldawn the Lugia."
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Finally, after 5 interludes of unknowing, we finally learn who are both characters who appeared in each of all interludes, and they are what responsible for the phenomenon that occurred since the end of Tail 5-8…
With this, the next chapter would be the start of the 'sub-tail' that occurred between the sixth tail and the seventh tail. From this point onward, the story will gradually become more and more serious…